Well, it's so long to Jack Bauer for what's perhaps the second series finale, although for all the producers' promises that this ending would bring some long awaited closure, I have to say that was a bald-faced lie, as the final scene was as open-ended and cliffhanger-y as any other 24 season finale. Which I consider a good thing in at least one respect, because I can't imagine them leaving Jack Bauer where he is now, headed off to prison in a foreign government for the second time.
But we pick up with Audrey hanging by a thread in the bullseye of a sniper, as she quivers on the park bench where all her security has just been shot. That includes her friend at the Chinese embassy, who's still moving, causing Audrey to make the very stupid decision to try to help her. When Cheng calls her and orders her back to the bench she says she just wants to help her friend, which of course leads them to shoot her again, this time killing her for sure. Why'd you do that Audrey? You know, she might have actually lived had you NOT told the shooters she wasn't dead yet. As Audrey waits for help, Jack, Kate and Mark are going through the dead Russian minister's stuff, where Jack finds emails of the location where Cheng and his men are being shipped out on the docks. He wants to head out but Mark suddenly gets a photo message from Cheng of Audrey on the bench. He panics and Cheng calls in to threaten Jack with Audrey's death if he comes after him. Mark wants to save Audrey but Kate says it's the president's orders to go after Cheng, offering to save Audrey herself. Jack agrees to it and tells her to go in covertly, without the CIA while he heads to the docks.
Meanwhile, Chloe is walking along the highway, all banged up after finally woken up from tumbling down the hill, and two passersby pull over to help. She calls Jack, who asks her where she is when she says she wants to help him apprehend Cheng. Jack's unsure, but Chloe insists that Adrian lied to her and she wants to make things right, so he agrees to come pick her up. When she gets in the car, Jack wants to know why she was with Adrian when he got the override device (which does not appear in this episode, by the way- nobody seems to care what happened to it), and Chloe again insists that she was used and the whole thing is partly her fault. Jack assures her it isn't and Chloe says she's still the only friend he's got left while she sets up equipment to run comm for the operation. Back at the CIA, Heller and his military advisors arrive to communicate with the Chinese president and keep trying to convince him to withdraw his navy ships, but the Chinese insist for the moment on retaliating for the sinking of the carrier, bringing the two countries ever closer to war.
Kate sets out to rescue Audrey as she sneaks up in the park with some covert CIA guys, and calls Audrey to let her know what's happening. She manages to communicate with Audrey and gets her to draw the sniper's fire so she can pinpoint his location, thinking Cheng won't really kill her (I have no idea why she thinks that, since Cheng's pretty ruthless). Cheng is on his way to the docks though, and just tells his henchman to kill her if he sees anything strange. Jack, Chloe and Belcheck (he returns!) make their own way to the docks, where Chloe sets up her computer to guide them through the buildings and alert them to where Cheng's men are positioned. Jack and Belcheck manage to take most of them out before Cheng and his men figure out someone's hacked their feed and are marching towards them. Chloe sees they've been spotted so she contacts Kate and tells her to get Audrey now before Cheng gives the kill order, and Kate and her guys go in, taking out the shooter and securing Audrey. Kate tells Chloe, Jack and Erik back at the CIA that Audrey's safe, leaving Jack with his mind solely on the mission, but uh-oh, she spoke too soon. For some reason, Kate decides to have everyone stroll leisurely through the open park now that Audrey's "safe," but suddenly a second shooter runs in front of them and opens fire, escaping in a car before they can respond. And it looks like this time he didn't miss, hitting Audrey squarely in the stomach as Kate tries to help her hang on. It's of no use though, as the long suffering Audrey bleeds out from the gunshot wound and is now no more, but for real this time and we know this because she does in fact get the silent clock treatment, unlike Heller did back in Wembley Stadium. And so another woman who was romantically involved with Jack Bauer dies a terrible death, continuing the curse (I think she's number five).
A teary-eyed Kate decides to call Jack in the middle of the operation for some reason to tell him of Audrey's death, and as a devastated Jack hangs up the phone, he gets a full minute to grieve like he did for Teri and Renee before going commando on the bad guys, which he pretty much always does in response to the death of a woman he loves. Jack takes out all the goons single-handedly (Belcheck seems to have gone in another direction), and finally gets to Cheng, whom he beats savagely before hauling him in front of the computers to send proof of his existence back to the CIA just as the Chinese army is crossing into U.S. waters. Gavin gets the video of a bruised and bloody Cheng, along with voice recognition, which Heller and the Chinese president seem to accept. China finally backs down and Jack avenges Audrey's death by grabbing an actual sword that was hanging on a nearby wall (uh-ok?), and slicing off Cheng's head samurai-style. Yikes. Good-bye Cheng. Although, was that not a pretty hasty move, considering he just showed everyone in the government that he had him in custody? Did they not need to bring him in? How will he explain the head-severing?
Heller's chief of staff receives the news of Audrey's death and has to inform the president, who refuses to believe it, since last he heard Audrey was meeting with the Chinese contact with Secret Service in tow. When he's assured it's true, he collapses in shock as the medical staff must run in to revive him. Jack and Belcheck run back to the dock entrance find Chloe, who they haven't heard from since they stormed Cheng and his men, and see that nobody's there, her stuff having been scattered and blood smeared on the floor. Jack is worried and shouts her name outside the satellite room, but no one answers. Just then his phone rings and he answers it, but we don't hear who's on the other end, just that it's someone who's apparently demanding a meeting time and place, which Jack agrees to immediately.
And now we finally, finally, get to the much-anticipated time jump, which was far too hyped in advance, as it really is just a quick "12 Hours Later" card, taking us to an epilogue that will complete the 24-hour time period. Yeah, not too exciting. Kate turns in her field report to Erik, who tells her it's not her fault that Audrey died, which she says she knows, but looks upset anyway. She then places her badge and gun on her desk and appears to quit, walking away from the station, but I hope if the show comes back, Kate does too, because Yvonne Strahovski was surprisingly good here, and one of Jack's best field colleagues (although I'd still really like to see Tony Almeida return once more). Erik then informs a destroyed Mark Boudreau that he's being taken back the U.S. in police custody as he harrowingly mourns his wife's death and asks about the President. Heller though, is having to board Air Force One and make the long flight back to the U.S. with Audrey's flag draped coffin. Prime Minister Davies apologizes and asks if there's anything he can do, but Heller just shakes his head and says there's nothing anyone can do, and that the only saving grace is that soon he won't remember any of this, not even that he had a daughter who died so tragically. It's a pretty affecting speech actually (William Duvane did a really nice job this season) as Heller sadly accompanies his beloved daughter back home (although it is very strange that absolutely none of the writers remembered that Heller had a son who played a pretty significant role back in Season 4- remember Richard, Mr. President? Your only son? Audrey's brother? He never died, as far as I can recall).
In the final scene, at 11:00 am, Jack and Belcheck pull up to the meeting place, and if you guessed that it was the Russians who kidnapped Chloe you were right, as it turns out they want to make an exchange- her freedom for Jack's life. Belcheck asks Jack if he really wants to do this and he says he does, walking up to the Russian's helicopter as they pull Chloe out in front of him. They also appear to have scrubbed all her makeup off, resulting in her looking better than she has all season. Jack demands that she walk first and as they push her out towards him, Jack squeezes Chloe's hand as he walks by her, telling her she's his best friend and to look in on his family once in a while. Awww. My heart breaks. Jack then threatens the Russians that if anything happens to her or his family their world will come apart, but they insist they only ever wanted him. Jack then smiles, seemingly content with his decision, as Chloe and Belcheck look on, Chloe giving him one last longing look as Jack gets into the chopper and it takes off as the clock counts down. Well, that was pretty much a redo of Season 5, with Jack handing himself over willingly this time to a foreign government, but it's nothing resembling closure. They can't leave Jack rotting in a foreign prison! I already see another series set in Moscow with Chloe, Kate and Belcheck teaming up to rescue him. Think it'll happen? One can only hope, as 24: Live Another Day ends with the promise at least, of continuing on, and since I thoroughly enjoyed this revived version of the show, I really hope it will. What do you think?
