24: Live Another Day

                                                        

Recently the twelve episode miniseries 24: Live Another Day concluded with a final episode so  devastating it took me a few days to gather my thoughts about it.  I enjoyed having 24 back and feel that Live Another Day is one of the strongest seasons.  There was enough plot for about seventeen episodes so the series ended up lean and fast paced with none of the usual filler, while staying true to its dark roots.  There is a change of setting to London and several characters from earlier seasons returned at different points in their lives.  I thought the first couple of episodes were solid enough but the series really took off around episode four. Kiefer Sutherland brought Jack Bauer back after four years on the run in an angered state.  

Please note I will be discussing many parts of the plot in detail so if you wish to remain spoiler free please check back in after you have seen it. 

The key event in the final episode is the death of Audrey Raines, played by Kim Raver, who was Jack’s love going back to Season 4.  Now to recognize the impact of this, I want to take a look back.  I have always watched 24 as it aired and have come to care for Jack since the end of his first scene in the first episode in Season 1 back in 2001 when he realized that Kim was missing.  In Season 2 after Teri died Jack was dealing with her loss and blamed himself.  In Season 3 Jack was past the immediate aftermath his wife’s death but was dealing with overcoming a heroin addiction, along with all the stresses that the day produced.  So by the end of the first three seasons, as an audience member I had watched Jack suffer a lot.

The trailer for Season 4 showed part of the first scene in the hotel.  Upon first seeing this part of the trailer I was a little concerned because it showed Jack and Audrey, played by the gorgeous Kim Raver, who was wearing a black bra.  I thought perhaps Jack was in a tawdry affair which would have cheapened him a bit.  One of the things I had liked about the two main women in Jack’s life up to that point, his wife Teri and Nina (played by Leslie Hope and Sarah Clarke, respectively) that we had met is that they looked like normal people.  

When I actually saw the full scene when the episode aired I was pleased that there was actually a strong connection there between the two characters and Jack looks happy, if a little scared of his developing feelings.   Audrey is a smart career woman and has a nice warmth and tenderness, and is also about Jack’s age.  Jack is working with Audrey for her father, the Secretary of Defense, James Heller, who is played an actor I have always liked, William Devane.  Jack and Audrey have been in a relationship for a few months and this is only possible because he is no longer with CTU.  Jack has been able to rebuild his life and losing his job at CTU was the best thing that could have happened to him.

Like Teri in Season 1, Audrey has a rough time in Season 4 as she is introduced to the dark side of Jack’s life and the front lines of the battle against terror in general.  Audrey and her father are kidnapped by Muslim extremists at the end of the first episode, and later rescued by Jack in a fantastic sequence.  This draws them closer but later Audrey watches Jack torture her estranged husband, Paul when he becomes a suspect, which confuses her.  Through some clever twists the show wisely makes Paul more of an ally and he later takes a bullet for Jack.  The situation leads to one of the best 24 scenes ever when Paul is in an emergency surgery and Jack forces the doctors to stop working on Paul to save a terrorist with critical information Jack needs to stop an attack, which ends up costing Paul his life.  Jack very much regrets hurting Audrey during this but knows this is the only way to defeat the terrorists and will put the greater good ahead of her needs. 

At the end of Season 4, when Audrey painfully ended her relationship with Jack it struck me as realistic, especially since Audrey had gone through so much, her stimuli and emotions were a bit overwhelmed.  I was sad that it did not work out for them but saw that Jack’s instincts when he is needed for a crisis will take priority.  

In season 5 Audrey, after discovering Jack is alive, reconnects with him.  Since they had thought they had lost each other they appreciate each other more.  Audrey is still a warm character but she also has a stronger skin and has come to terms with Jack’s tougher persona.  At the end of the year, after Jack has been through a very intense situation Audrey and Jack are about to head off together when Jack is kidnapped by the Chinese.  Audrey’s last scene is her discovering Jack is missing, and looking panicked. 

When Jack is released at the beginning of the Season 6 the first word he says in nearly two years is “Audrey”, asking about her to Bill Buchanan making it clear that Jack’s love for Audrey is probably what kept him going throughout his horrible ordeal in China.  Audrey does not appear until much later in the season however because Kim Raver was working on another show.   Audrey is really missed here because Jack returns in an extremely delicate state and if Audrey had been there to help him through it his transition back to a functioning agent would have been smoother and might have given some warmth to a season that really needed it.  Jack is instead forced to face a very bleak situation in a weakened emotional state and is even more on edge than usual.

Later in the season it is revealed that Audrey went to China to look for Jack, and was held by Cheng, the man who came to represent the antagonistic Chinese, who blackmails Jack to steal a component from a stolen Russian missile.  This makes for good drama but also makes little sense.  If Cheng had Audrey captive why would he not have used her to get Jack to talk while he was a prisoner?  A tense sequence results from this when Jack makes the trade and gets Audrey back but I noticed that she did not say anything to him.  It turns out that Audrey has become catatonic.  Heller takes her away from Jack, after unfairly blaming Jack for the ordeal, and I thought that might be the last we see of Audrey.  However Jack goes to see Heller for the final sequence of the year. Jack is completely unhinged in this scene telling Heller that he is taking Audrey away.  Heller, a tough but reasonable man gets Jack to recognize he cannot care for Audrey and his inability to stay away from a crisis could get Audrey killed.  Also Jack goes to see Audrey, who is asleep and he quietly realizes that Heller was right. Jack’s goodbye to Audrey is sad and he declares his eternal love to her.  Jack walks outside and painfully stares at a waterfall, and for a moment seems to be thinking of throwing himself into it.  The season ends with a silent clock, indicating the end of their relationship.  Sean Callery composed a special theme for this scene. 

 

Season 8 initiated a series of events that culminated in Jack brutally killing several Russian officials.  These events were thrilling but Jack became so violent that it was unsettling and he was forced to end the year as a fugitive fleeing U.S. and Russian authorities.

In Live Another Day Jack resurfaces in London knowing that now President Heller is there, along with Audrey, who is now recovered and is married to Mark Boudreau, played by Tate Donovan, who is also Heller’s Chief of Staff.  Jack, working undercover, apparently supported by a group of Serbians, perhaps people who he had worked with in the mission to eliminate Victor Drazen, prior to Season 1, has learned of a threat to Heller and goes to protect him, saying he owes Heller, and his family, clearly meaning Audrey, I think as penance for what the Chinese had done to Audrey. 

Audrey is helping her father deal with the dual pressures of his presidency and early stages of dementia.  In the first episode we learn that Mark had helped Audrey recover and then married her afterwards (I wonder if he was a friend who had always loved her from afar and took advantage of her state to get closer to her). 

When I heard that the show was coming back I was excited but then even more so when I learned Audrey and Heller would be in the story.  I had always really liked Heller’s character, he shares some characteristics with Jack but is less hardened, and as a fan of the Audrey Jack relationship I was eager to see them together again after all the drama of Season 6, knowing that she would probably be recovered.  I knew Audrey’s marriage would complicate matters, which it does when Mark, aware of Jack’s presence before Heller and Audrey, authorizes him to be rendered to the Russians, forging Heller’s signature on the order. 

Mark, played by Tate Donovan, is the most interesting of the new characters.  He loves his wife but having nursed her back to health wants to watch out for her.  His actions early in the season against Jack are motivated by a desire to keep Jack away from Audrey for her well being but also knowing that she may have old feelings for Jack.  Jack states in episode four that Heller’s administration had declared him a terrorist and chances are it came from Mark.  When Jack and Mark meet in episode six Jack is kind of nasty to him and I think Jack knows that Mark was behind declaring Jack a terrorist.  I do not think Jack, even though he still loves Audrey would have been unfriendly to Mark just because he was Audrey’s husband.

Tate Donovan is an interesting choice. I know him as an actor in comedies, Love Potion # 9, and a couple of episodes in Friends, but he was more serious in Argo.  At first I did not like Mark but I did come to see his point of view and he evolved the most throughout the season.  Mark’s initial actions  end up costing him when the Russians blackmail him into revealing Jack’s location late in the season and it leads to some terrific scenes in episode 11 first when Jack confronts Mark in front of Heller and then in the final scenes in which Mark somewhat redeems himself by helping Jack.  Mark also has a key scene in episode eight after he helps Jack get Heller into the site for the drone attack, he is forced to answer to a very distraught Audrey.  Mark bravely owns up to his actions and tells Audrey that he respected Heller’s wishes and Mark selflessly does not admit Jack is helping.  Audrey’s expression certainly indicates that she at least thinks that Jack could be involved, but she cannot bring herself to say so.  When Audrey calls Jack in the next episode I think it might be in part to apologize to Jack for thinking that, though he would not have known. Raver and Donovan are terrific in this charged scene.  Mark’s ultimate fate is harsh since he loses his wife, his relationship with Heller and his freedom.

Audrey and Jack are reunited in the fifth episode.  Jack softens completely when he sees Audrey.  Both say they do not know where to begin, which Jack had said to Audrey in Season 5 in their first reunion.  I found Jack’s apology to Audrey that he killed the Russians in Season 8 compelling as perhaps he is apologizing to Audrey for not being the man he would have wanted to be for her.  When they press their heads together it was something they often did as a couple so they are falling back into their old patterns.

At the end of the scene with both of them barely holding it together Jack sends Audrey out of the room.  I do not know why but I think possibly Jack could not handle the emotion of seeing her again.  

Jack and Audrey speak a few times on the phone but never see each other again as Jack is in the field a lot and Audrey is usually in the residence.    I think Jack and Audrey should have been in the same space at least a little more since so much of the subplot with Mark relates to their past relationship.  Especially in the episode in which Heller faces the drones it would have added drama if Jack had come across Audrey during his scenes in the residence, or if Jack had made a quick visit to the residence in episode nine after Heller is saved from the drones. 

The final call between Jack and Audrey in episode eleven is touching.  When Jack calls to advise Audrey that “some things are going to happen” indicating that he has to go after her husband  but he never gets into detail because Audrey starts talking about Cheng who has resurfaced.  They are further united because they both suffered greatly from his tortures, which tore them apart.  Interestingly Audrey never finds out the truth about Mark’s scheming.  In the call, Jack opens up a little more and Audrey is emotional when Jack asks that she never hate him (when he let Paul die in Season 4, Audrey angrily said “I hate you Jack!”) and she says she never could, which is her way of saying that she loves him.

The scene is reminiscent of a phone call scene between Jack and Teri in Season 1 where Jack is going to trade his life for Kim’s and it does not look like he will survive but the viewer gets the feeling if Jack can somehow pull this off the family will be restored.  It was also in the second to last episode of the season.  In the call to Audrey Jack is sitting next to Kate while on the call and it plants Kate’s desperation to save Audrey later.

The scene in which Heller comes to say goodbye to her, without telling her why, is sweet, all the more because we have seen them together for so long and we know how close they are as father and daughter.  The goodbye scene between Heller and Audrey turns out to be extra tragic since Audrey was the one who ultimately died.

The triangulated relationship between Audrey, Jack and Mark comes to a head when Mark gets the text showing Audrey in the sights of the sniper and asks Jack to help.  Jack tries to push his feelings for Audrey aside for the greater good, which I was a little surprised by but it allowed Mark to acknowledge his loss in the battle for Audrey’s heart when he instinctively says to Jack “She loves you”, seemingly as he acknowledges it to Jack and himself.  Jack’s reaction “SHUT UP!” is perfect on several levels.  He does not want to admit to Audrey’s husband of all people that he still loves her, or open the can of worms that such an honest discussion would entail.  However Jack immediately starts plotting her rescue with Kate (and deliberately does so in a place where Mark cannot hear him). 

Kate’s rescue of Audrey is very suspenseful.  Kim Raver expertly plays Audrey’s terror at being forced to sit in the bench with an unknown gun on her.  Kate’s idea to draw out the sniper’s fire is effective and I liked the way that she bravely stepping into the sniper sight.  Audrey’s attempt to collect herself immediately after the rescue is good too. 

Audrey’s death scene, in part because it is unexpected, the assassin surprises them by opening fire right after Audrey says her last words to Kate “Is Jack okay?” is horrifying.  Audrey’s realization that she has been hit and her panicked look, also played against Kate’s frantic attempt to save her, is wrenching.  Kate lost her husband and becomes desperate to save Jack’s love.  Audrey sheds a single tear and then closes her eyes for the last time.  I was speechless. 

It is a little repetitive to have now three of Jack’s romantic interests killed (and all shot in the abdomen).  I do not think Jack needed Audrey’s death as a motivation to kill Cheng as he would have wanted to do so anyway.  There is no reason for Cheng to take such a risk to kill Audrey.  Audrey being pinned down was the only thing keeping Jack off of him.  By killing her, not only Jack’s love but the president’s daughter, Cheng was only going to draw an enormous amount of heat on himself at a time when he would have wanted to stay hidden.  

However the episode handled the death and the aftermath well.  Kate’s call to Jack was made at a questionable time since he was on a critical mission but her desperation made me believe that she would have done so.  Jack’s reaction was very powerful with his drop to the ground and his face showing the sense of hopelessness; he had very painfully sacrificed his relationship with Audrey years earlier to protect her and she was still killed because Cheng targeted her because he knew Jack loved her.  An interesting choice was to instinctively drop his assault rifle and pull out his pistol to shoot himself, reminiscent of a scene in Season 2 when Jack is feeling the loss of his family and he opens a drawer and there is a gun and he contemplates grabbing it.  Jack’s ultimate rage is of course brutal in his decimating of the henchmen (the whole sequence similar to his storming of Drazen’s shipyard after receiving false news of Kim’s death at the end of Season 1) and the final beheading of Cheng is in keeping thematically of Jack’s killing of Margot Al Harazi earlier in the Season and a worthy finish for such a longstanding antagonist.  I loved Jack’s line “You should have stayed hidden like a rat".

On the Heller side of the story Audrey’s death carried an interesting arc.  No one informed Heller that Audrey was in danger (though one would think the failure of the Secret Service agents protecting Audrey to call in might alert the detail at the residence to check on the situation).  I liked Ron Clark clearly receiving word about Audrey’s death but, with obvious difficulty, not telling Heller about it while the crisis is on.  Then as soon as it was over Ron has to tell Heller, whose relief at stopping the crisis gives way to denial and then a collapse, just as Mark comes in, presumably realizing what must have happened. 

The time jump was well used too.  It allowed Heller to process Audrey’s death a little and come up with the heartbreaking monologue about how his dementia would relate to the loss of his daughter.  Heller is somewhat composed but lost.  The scene and the underlying score, showing Audrey’s coffin being loaded onto Air Force One, gives the character her due, although I felt Jack should have been shown watching from the sidelines but perhaps the producers wanted to give the entire scene to Heller. 

Heller is also a memorable character of the season.  Heller’s first appearance in Live Another Day, looking much older and wearing a cardigan and talking in a lighter tone is a little disconcerting.  Heller’s confidence has been weakened a little by the dementia but he is still shown to be smart, and is trying to balance his health problem while fulfilling the responsibility of his job.  However as the season goes on Heller shows plenty of flashes of his tougher self.  His first conversation with Jack is as usual, between the two, direct, and actually has a funny line in it.

Heller is always honest and will not flinch from a difficult situation.  The best episode from the season is probably episode eight where Heller agrees to surrender himself to Margot Al Harazi.  Heller, fearful of losing his faculties and part of himself, sees the chance to go out on his own terms and is at peace with it.  The episode plays similarly to the episode from Season 3 in which Ryan Chappelle is executed.  This sacrifice is consistent with Heller’s character who tried to sacrifice himself for the greater good in both Seasons 4 and 5 but was saved each time.  

Chloe’s subplot with Adrian Cross was not very interesting.  When she left with Adrian at the end of episode nine I never thought she would betray Jack but was still working on Adrian’s cause.  Michael Wincott is a fine actor but the character was the weakest part of Live Another Day.  I did enjoy the scenes where Chloe was helping Jack as always and thought it was very touching that Jack turned himself into the Russians to save her, along with his line about Chloe being his best friend.

Belcheck, Jack’s badass Serbian partner who flits in and out of the story as needed, is a fun character.  I have a theory he may have worked with Jack in Operation Nightfall prior to Season 1 and it might explain Belcheck’s loyalty to Jack.  He is tough and funny and almost as good a soldier as Jack.  When Jack warns the Russian at the end of his whole world coming down, the viewer knows Belcheck would head up the effort.

Kate Morgan is a reliable young field agent, similar to Rene Walker from Seasons 7 and 8.  Like Rene Kate can handle herself well and I was glad there was never a romance suggested between her and Jack.  Kate’s resignation at the end of the season was understandable.  She had lost her husband and, blamed herself for it, and now felt responsible for Audrey, feeling that because of her Jack also lost his true love. 

Margot Al-Harazi is a strong villain.  24 has had many great female characters over the years but Margot is the first time lead female antagonist.  Margot had a good motivation, was scary in her stillness, and was believable as a person who would even sacrifice her children toward her cause.   The threat she posed with the drones was thrilling and led to an exciting chase scene in episode seven.  Margot’s defenestration was one of the most memorable deaths of the series.

Jon Cassar’s return to the series as Executive Producer and lead Director was very welcome.  Cassar had directed many of the key episodes between Seasons 2 and 7 and his ability to draw great performances and maintain the suspense was as strong as ever.

The London setting was fresh, even though I wonder if the CIA would really operate there quite so openly.  It might have been a little more realistic to have Jack work with MI6 but I enjoyed seeing Jack operating in Europe, which emphasized the global appeal of the show. 

The final scene in which Jack turns himself into the Russians is reminiscent of the end of Season 5 when he is captured by the Chinese but this plays differently.  Jack chooses to surrender himself.  The music is neither triumphant nor mournful.  Jack actually smiles a little, presumably because he has saved one of the last people alive who he cares about, but also because he is no longer running from his actions and his last words threaten the man who is taking custody of him.  He walks into the helicopter looking ready to face whatever misery the Russians have in mind for him.  Jack may live or die but if this is how it ends, while it is not a happy ending but I found it strangely appropriate.  By turning himself in, Jack is facing his destiny head on, true to his character. ****