24: Day 5, Finale and Overview

The fifth season of FOX's real time drama thriller with the thunderous ticking clock may just be the best year the groundbreaking series has had yet. Day 5 in the life of former Counterterrorist Unit Agent Jack Bauer blew even the most seasoned "24" fans away with nonstop adventure and shocking turns of events. As goes one of the most refreshingly enjoyable aspects of "24," the story went places most other shows fear to tread and flew in the face of invisible boundaries imposed on material that is as action-oriented as it is political and relevant to the themes of current world affairs.

After four years with returning cast members that amount to just about a half dozen miraculously surviving familiar characters, the fifth season opened with former President David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert) being assassinated in the very first scene. It was stunning in its brilliance and its sadness. Palmer was one of the greatest fictional Presidents of the United States to grace any screen, much less a small one. He was a powerful ally and a good man, and in a split second, fans lost him to a lightning fast shot through the neck that surprised everyone. This audacious move also proved that the show is more than ready and willing to sacrifice its regulars to stay fresh, keep viewers on their toes, and ensure that nothing as well as no one is ever taken for granted.

Palmer's death was just the first of many. In the next scenes of the Season 5 premiere, Michelle Dessler (Reiko Aylesworth) was killed when a bomb went off as she started her car. Her husband and former head of CTU, Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard) was hit with the blast of a second explosion from the car, but he survived only to learn that his wife of 2 seasons, love interest for 3 (they became romantically involved in Season 2) had been lost. The miracle that Tony was still alive was one that it seems wasn't meant to last, because mid-way through the season, his want for revenge in the name of his murdered wife cost him dearly. Tony's own weapon (a needle filled with enough toxin to kill) was used against him, and he died. Tony was another of Jack's most trustworthy and noble allies, and besides Palmer he was the only other cast member killed off this season who had been there since the very first episode of the series back in 2001.

As if members of CTU and friends of Jack Bauer weren't dropping like flies already, mid-way through the season came another sad shocker, which was the death of Edgar Stiles (Louis Lombardi). Edgar was the only one who could truly match Chloe O'Brian's game at computer hacking, cracking, and sneaking, and he was also the one most charmed and attached to her snark and no-nonsense attitude. Chloe watched Edgar die from a nerve gas attack on CTU LA, having never openly requited any of his obvious feelings for her and theirs was a match that never got made, unlike that of Tony and Michelle's office crisis romance. That makes a total of four regular characters gone in the sweep of one mind-blowing season.

The finale itself brought about a lot of very satisfying turns. But, so have the other "24" finales before something else crops up to take one last stab at the audience before the clock comes full circle to the hour when it all began and ticks for the last time of that long and exhausting day. Resolution and closure finally came when President Charles Logan (Gregory Itzin) was exposed by a hidden audio recording device as having had an integral part in David Palmer's assassination. His wife Martha Logan (Jean Smart) and Chief-of-Staff to the President for the last 5 seasons Mike Novick (Jude Ciccolella) helped bring about the private downfall of a sitting President, thereby foiling his best laid plans and a despicable plot overseen by the most powerful man in the world. They both appeared triumphant in their moment and so did the fans who have been waiting to see this man brought to justice since the astonishing revelation that one of the most seemingly inept men to ever hold office was the duplicitous commander behind the day's horrific events.

It's anyone's guess what next season will bring, but the biggest question will of course surround the last minutes of the finale where the events of Season 4 finally caught up with Jack. Having escaped the terrible fate of being turned over to the Chinese for the death of their consulate during an infiltration of the Chinese embassy that Jack led on Day 4 of the series, Jack wound up being snatched by the Chinese and taken onto a freighter boat bound for China. Faking his death was the only way out in the Season 4 finale, and it was only a matter of time in Season 5 before the fact that he was alive reached his enemies. In fact, it was exactly 24 hours between the time Jack learned of Palmer's assassination and came out of hiding to the time he was kidnapped and taken prisoner.

It's ironic and fitting, and it's a consistency that most action heroes would never have to face. But, Jack will now have to face the consequences that he gave up so much to avoid to the extent that he abandoned his entire life, including his now estranged daughter Kim Bauer (Elisha Cuthbert) and nearly reconciled fiancee Audrey Raines (Kim Raver). This season didn't slow down for a single minute, and it never failed to amaze. The show is as riveting and engrossing as ever, even after five years of action-packed and endlessly complicated days. It's just as incredible and just as addicting as when it first started, which is not something that can be said of many shows that have lasted even longer than "24" has already run. I can't wait to see what's in store for Day 6.