24 "Day 4: 5:00 am - 7:00 am" Talkback (Spoilers)

**The Penguin** · 05-22-2005, 02:28 AM

He's tried to escape it. He's tried to silence it. But for Jack Bauer... instinct never dies.

24: Season Four
Day 4: 5:00 am - 7:00 am

“DAY 4” COMES TO A TERRORIZING CLOSE IN THE TWO-HOUR SEASON FINALE OF "24" MONDAY, MAY 23, ON FOX

Super-agent Jack Bauer, along with CTU operatives, exhaust all options in attempting to prevent an imminent terrorist strike that could change the world forever in “Day 4: 5:00 AM–6:00 AM” and “Day 4: 6:00 AM–7:00 AM,” the two-hour season finale episode of 24, airing Monday, May 23 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. (TWF-423/424)
(TV-14; V) CC-HDTV, 720p-Dolby Digital 5.1

Cast: Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer, Kim Raver as Audrey Raines, Roger Cross as Curtis Manning.

Guest Cast: Dennis Haysbert as David Palmer; Carlos Bernard as Tony Almeida, Louis Lombardi as Edgar Stiles, Reiko Aylesworth as Michelle Dessler, James Morrison as Bill Buchanan, Mary Lynn Rajskub as Chloe O’Brian, Jude Ciccolella as Mike Novick, Arnold Vosloo as Marwan, Gregory Itzin as Charles Logan.

Comments?

Thanks to Bird Boy for posting the talkback last week while I was at WWE in Omaha.

It all comes down to this! The final two hours are tonight starting at 8 p.m. ET on FOX!!

Also, check out the Previous Episode Talkback.

**Killtacular** · 05-23-2005, 10:04 PM

An average ending to an average season. Not really better or worse than season 3. I didn't care for the more episodic feel of the season because it made the finale less climatic, but then I felt season 3's climax was terrible too. I hope season 5 makes up for it.

Wasn't it supposed to premiere in October? Why January now?

**Hatter** · 05-23-2005, 10:10 PM

Not a bad season. I actually prefered the Chinese situation plot to the missile plot, so I was glad that they got it out of the way fairly quickly. The last half-hour or so with Palmer and Jack was really strong. Great ending.
I just hope they parlay it into a lasting storyline next season. I don't want to see Jack reinstated at CTU by the end of the first episode again.

(PS. Did anyone else get an "Incredible Hulk"/Bill Bixby vibe? heh)

**The Landstander** · 05-23-2005, 10:23 PM

An okay season; fun, but 24 has done a lot better. It's a lot better if you just look at it in terms of episodes...on the whole, it was a bit choppy and it was the obvious the writers were making it up as they went along, but it definetely had its moments. Especially if you...ignored some plotholes and convient timings.

And this episode was about the same; Marwan's death was a bit anti-climatic and unintentionally funny, but I agree, the Chinese stuff in the last half hour was really good (they could've dragged out the inevitable missile stopping for 30 minutes and they didn't. gg)

Anyway, probably the weakest season, but still okay and worth a day's worth of my time.

**Fone Bone** · 05-23-2005, 10:25 PM

Yeah, definate Incredible Hulk vibe.

I KNEW Jack was going to have to answer for what happened at the consolate the second the ambassador was killed. Kudos to the series for actually making Jack a fugitive/witness protected. I had thought for sure he'd be going to prison.

I love David Palmer. He grants Mandy a pardon without missing a beat. And by the way, for those of you keeping score Mike Novak is officially cool again. Logan sucks.

The second the car blew up I KNEW Tony wasn't in it. In comic books and this show they ain't dead until you see a body. And that rule is NOT etched in stone.

Wow, I'm actually happy Tony and Michelle are back. I don't see how they could possibly believably bring them back next season so you know what that means... the return of Kim!

Good death for Marwan although I HAD hoped he and Jack would've had a final face-off. Or at least more of one.

Prediction for next season: Edgar and Chloe will be married.

As for the guy who gave up Jack, I couldn't really blame him. Sure, it may have been a crummy thing to do but what he was facing was horrible. I understand why someone would do that. At least he didn't give up the country.

I was laughing at how Jack still had ANY hope of him and Audrey being together.

You'd figure they'd have Heller on the season finale. And what happened to Behrooz? Arrrrggghhh!

I liked both episodes a lot and thought they were a pretty great finale.

First Hour: ****1/2.
Second Hour: ******.
Average: *****.

**Youko Recca** · 05-23-2005, 10:27 PM

That day was good. Wasn't as good as the last three days, but that doesn't mean it didn't do the job of making me like it. Last few minutes felt basically good being as it was an ol' fashioned wrap to a show's season. Still I'd rank the endings:

Day 1
Day 3
Day 2
Day 4

Anyway, the show has much to look foward to in Day 5. And I don't possiby know what it could be about yet. But for certain something from this day will come back. Mandy is pulling a Nina Meyers with the whole getting off from everything she's done. Not only that, but Palmer finally gets an answer to the end of Day 2.

Now I can't see Tony or Michelle dying until Day 6. Those two are the most lucky next to Jack when it comes to surviving. Curtis however is a character to keep an eye out for. Edgar and Chloe will most likely stay due to being the best tech the show's encountered so far. Bill I'm finding surprisingly anti-Ryan. Escpecially during these last two hours. He'll be interesting. Following suit, we can expect cast additions.

Finding it hard to form what the long post I wanted, so yeah, it was a pretty good day. Good feeling for the next.

**Parco** · 05-23-2005, 10:32 PM

Predictions for next season:

Under his new assumed identity, Jack seeks refuge across the border and joins the Royal Canadian Counter Terrorism Unit in Vancouver, where he and his new partner Dash (William Shatner) infiltrate Machine City 01 to stop the impending Robot Apocalypse. With Adam West as Director of Canadian CTU and Special Guest Star Earnest Borgnine as The Cap'n.

**solarflere** · 05-23-2005, 10:35 PM

I knew that those people walking to the car weren't Tony and Mandy but her neighbors all along, it was too obvious. Great season, great ending, great chinese subplot. Behrooz??? where is he? I assume dead. What happan to the guy the chinese kidned. And How can they justify kidnaping a Federal Agent on a US soil, its an act of war as well. A tooth for a Tooth?

**RD!** · 05-23-2005, 10:45 PM

I liked Jack's ending... but it will be moot since Jack will inevitably resurface next season.

Originally Posted by Parco

Predictions for next season:

Jack, who is then Cletus Vandamme in Mexico, is discovered by an LAPD special officer who believes Jack is a loose thread to his old partner. The two team up and form a bounty hunter team until a mysterious man has his way with Kim

**Temple Fugate** · 05-23-2005, 10:45 PM

This show delivered. In a season where West Wing took a nose dive, Enterprise ended disappointingly, and Episode III turned out to be an on-par SW movie (please, I do not intend to start any off-topic flames, that's just my opinion), I am SO RELEIVED that SOMETHING was AWESOME this month.

Mandy's return was something I've had my fingers crossed all season for, but was still damn surprised to actually see her again. Her chemistry with Jack was perfect, and the way Jack, Tony and Curtis pulled their collective stunt made me wish the next season is just the three of them on assignment somewhere where they can just kick terrorists' asses for 24 hours. Tony remains The Man. Nice "footwork." Heh, heh...I'm sorry for that.

One thing missing: A snide remark from Chloe. Michelle stole the moment by dissing Curtis herself. Ouch. Coming from Chloe, you can just brush that off, but from her that must have hurt, especially since it was undeserved.

Marwan's death was pretty much the only part I didn't like. For that man to evade capture for so long and then fall from a parking garage is a pretty pathetic way to go, not to mention anti-climactic. The knife in the hand was hardcore, though. And he still had a better death than Saunders.

All of the regulars were above and beyond awesome. They operated in perfect sync and carried the final two hours almost effortlessly, despite the tough situations they were in. If this were the series finale, I would be completely satisfied. (Well, almost. I'd demand more closure from Audrey.) The plot was tight, believable, and intense. One real-time problem I just can't ignore, however, was the speed at which Jack's new identity was procured and he was evacuated from CTU.

I was afraid Michelle wasn't going to answer that phone in her car and commit suicide. And poor Audrey. I hope she doesn't start blaming herself for Jack's "death." These episodes certainly had their share of unneccessary remorse...a good throwback to season one's finale. I was a little surprised she would kiss Jack after what happened to Paul only four hours ago, but I'm glad they didn't part on bad terms.

Palmer was on point. Period. Great dialogue between him and Jack at the end. When it was looking as if Jack was going to become a prisoner of the Chineese, I started wondering what next season would be like if Jack were staging a prison break from the penitentiary he would eventually be sent to.

Umm...what else can I say? In a season with big ups and big downs, this was certainly the former. I even got my wish...Jack "died." Ramon was right when he said he had more lives than a cat.

I was 1 for 3 on my death predictions. Hopefully I'll have more luck with the annual "When will next season start?" wager. Two years in a row I was wrong. This time I'm going to guess Day 5 will start at midnight. I don't see how there could possibly be a season six (even Keifer's admitted to getting a little tired of this act), so another midnight to midnight run would bookend the series nicely.

24 #4AFF23: "Day 4: 5:00am-6:00am" - *****
24 #4AFF24: "Day 4: 6:00am-7:00am" - ****1/2
24 Day Four - ***1/2

Reset the clock.

**The Landstander** · 05-23-2005, 10:58 PM

Also Chloe was the best character this season and if you think otherwise well >=(.

**Carolina Red** · 05-24-2005, 12:06 AM

My prediction for next season: Jack, currently in Mexico, will enter his own mind to battle his inner demons, and Pete Townsend will be the man to guide him through it all, rowing a boat across the bloodstream.

On a more realistic note, it'll probably involve Jack working at a pharmacy at a Mexican border town and finding some illegal drugs being traded. But who knows, at least Fox is already interested in it.

I can definitely see Michelle and Tony getting married, but not Chloe and Edgar. And don't count on Audrey to ever find out what Jack's doing on Day 5, although I bet Tony and Michelle would find out somehow.

I can see the President recovering form the Air Force One crash, but to what extent I would not know. Either way I can't see him as a trusting kind of guy now.

The show is starting in January simply so that there is no need to take any weeks off between new episodes.

And the end reminded me more of a 1980s rock music video than anything else.

**bigddan11** · 05-24-2005, 12:13 AM

Originally Posted by Matt Wilson

Wasn't it supposed to premiere in October? Why January now?

Fox is doing just what they did this year. By premeiring it in Januray, they can run the episodes without any repeats for 22 consecutive weeks and end it in May sweeps, and they actually announced it for a January premeire when they released their schedule last week.

As far as the season finale goes, I guess they didn't lie when they said that a major character would die for a time. Jack did die, and he mysteriously disappears across the border now. Is he headed toward Canada or Mexico though, and just what twists are they going to have next season. We know Jack will somehow be brought back, but how will he return? It leaves that awesome question for us to ponder for 7 months.

**Killtacular** · 05-24-2005, 12:19 AM

It's already been confirmed that Jack, Chloe, and Curtis are returning next season (their actors have all signed on).

**Peter Paltridge** · 05-24-2005, 01:05 AM

Originally Posted by Fone Bone

Yeah, definate Incredible Hulk vibe.

I KNEW Jack was going to have to answer for what happened at the consolate the second the ambassador was killed. Kudos to the series for actually making Jack a fugitive/witness protected. I had thought for sure he'd be going to prison.

I love David Palmer. He grants Mandy a pardon without missing a beat. And by the way, for those of you keeping score Mike Novak is officially cool again. Logan sucks.

The second the car blew up I KNEW Tony wasn't in it. In comic books and this show they ain't dead until you see a body. And that rule is NOT etched in stone.

Wow, I'm actually happy Tony and Michelle are back. I don't see how they could possibly believably bring them back next season so you know what that means... the return of Kim!

Good death for Marwan although I HAD hoped he and Jack would've had a final face-off. Or at least more of one.

Prediction for next season: Edgar and Chloe will be married.

As for the guy who gave up Jack, I couldn't really blame him. Sure, it may have been a crummy thing to do but what he was facing was horrible. I understand why someone would do that. At least he didn't give up the country.

I was laughing at how Jack still had ANY hope of him and Audrey being together.

You'd figure they'd have Heller on the season finale. And what happened to Behrooz? Arrrrggghhh!

I liked both episodes a lot and thought they were a pretty great finale.

First Hour: ****1/2.
Second Hour: ******.
Average: *****.

Use your imagination on Behrooz, but it's not rocket science. He was turned back to the terrorists, whom he betrayed. And you can't shoot a boy on network TV.

Yes, they actually fooled me...."WHOA, THEY DECIDED TO KILL JACK!" But no....

I also figured there was no way all those plots could be resolved in one hour, especially the Chinese. I doubt that Chinese official is going away. He can't be outsmarted this easily.

Tony lived---that's three times they fooled me; I thought he'd be cruelly shot.

NO KIM AT ALL---that's four things done right.

What can I say that's bad? Um.....nothing, really. That would have been a nice ending to the series--it looked so much like an ending, Fox had to put a "BUT JACK WILL BE BACK....IN 2006" tag on the credits.

EDIT: You know what? I realized this is the last new episode I'm going to see of any of my favorite shows for six months. It ends here. CURSE ALL SPORTS!!

**Gokou Ruri** · 05-24-2005, 01:13 AM

Awesome season finale to an otherwise bumpy season. I was so moved to see the four regulars (Jack, Michelle, Tony, and Chloe) working together to set up the fall and then going their seperate ways in the end. A shame Audrey broke down when she heard Jack died, and nice to see Palmer in the loop again and Mike redeaming himself after the Lynn fiasco in season 2.

I can't imagine how they'll do a fifth season without screwing it up. Jack is dead, and he should stay that way. The only thing I can see is if he started his own underground anti-terrorist unit like Snake and Otacon did in Metal Gear. If Curis is back, then Curtis can meet Jack in the field like Raiden did with Snake and they can work together.

**Lord Dalek** · 05-24-2005, 01:25 AM

Next season on 24:

Jack and Palmer team up as travelling bounty hunters in Mexico, their escapades set to some groovy retro 70's Sean Callery music.

Kim learns that her father is dead only to be quickly mauled by a revenge crazed cougar.

Marwan joins Saunders, Nina, Peter Kingsley, Ira Gaines, and Ted Cofell at the great big 24 Evildoers pokergame in the sky. He loses his shirt to Nina of course.

Complaining about the lack of screentime he's had durring the season, Heller joins the Shriners.

Tony does.... nothing.

All this.... AND KUNG-FU ACTION CHLOE! Next season on 24!

**Gokou Ruri** · 05-24-2005, 02:21 AM

I'd prefer a "Gains, Kingsley, Nina, The Draizens, Saunders, and Marwan escape from Hell and Jack has to kill them again" plot. He could even see his wife's ghost and get help from a radioactive Mason.

**stwasm** · 05-24-2005, 07:48 AM

Originally Posted by Hatter

(PS. Did anyone else get an "Incredible Hulk"/Bill Bixby vibe? heh)

OMG, YES I DID!!!!!!!!! I couldn't help thinking about his eyes turning green when he got mad! Glad I wasn't the only one who picked up on that.

I thought it was a great ending. However, how do you follow that ending? The ending was more a series finale than anything else. I don't know how you can bring him back so easily.

I thought for sure Tony was road kill. I also thought Michelle was going to kill herself before she picked up the phone. Glad to see them get back together. I think an earlier poster meant that Michelle dissed Edgar, not Curtis. Poor Edgar. Everyone forgets that he saved the day at least twice with his skill. Yes, it would be interesting to see him and The Chloenator get together. And I must now admit that Mike is cool. I thought for sure he was going to keep it all to himself. And President Logan is a spineless weasel. He did nothing but panic throughout the entire operation. Then, when Palmer made a move and it failed, he Logan starts pointing fingers. And it made me ill to see him smiling, getting all the accolades he DID NOT deserve. I hope he gets his!

Meantime, forgive me if it's already been asked, but what the heck happened to Berhooz?

**DarkAngel** · 05-24-2005, 10:29 AM

Originally Posted by stwasm

Meantime, forgive me if it's already been asked, but what the heck happened to Berhooz?

Is it really that hard to read the other posts in the thread? Martianinvader had a good response when the same question was asked above, so I'll just quote him: "Use your imagination on Behrooz, but it's not rocket science. He was turned back to the terrorists, whom he betrayed. And you can't shoot a boy on network TV."

I liked these episodes a lot. My only serious problem was with that agent being captured by the Chinese. I know the show is all about twists and turns, and I've probably bought things in earlier episodes that were more outlandish or unbelievable, but it just seemed a little much. Once CTU got him to that helicopter, it should have been over. I have a very hard time believing they're going to be so careless as to allow him to be captured or that the Chinese would be good enough to get to him.

But ultimately, I guess I can't complain since I love what it led to. I was concerned about how good the finale was going to be and how much I was really going to care given that I was pretty disappointed with the last two. Especially last year's. Once they captured that guy (Saunders?), I really didn't care much about what followed. So I was concerned as we got closer to the end this season, since Marwan, while a good villian, was pretty much no greater than the last villain. So how were they going to ge t us to care? Answer: by putting Jack Bauer, who we very much do care about, in some serious trouble. Great move, because I loved the final half hour and the way in which the season ended. I found it to be the best season closer since Day 1's.

I also found this season to be the best since day 1. Yeah, there have been ups and downs, but that's been the case with all the seasons, including the first. IMO, the "downs" this year, have been a lot better than in the previous two.

I've always hated the storylines that simply exist to pad the storyline, such as the stuff we've seen with Kim, and those kinds of "intrusions" still were around this season. But, to me, they were far, far less intrusive. The angle involving Driscoll and her daughter, for instance, took place within CTU, at their medical facility, so even when the story shifted to her, she just had to walk down a hallway and she was there. A few minutes later, she walks back out and we're back into the meat of the story. That was great. And they wrapped that whole thing up way back. So it was far preferrable to me than some of the crap we've gotten in the past.

And there weren't any other big filler plotlines of that type. This season, most of the padding seemed to be within the main story itself, with more twists and turns. Yeah, maybe that meant greater implausibility, but it also meant more time with Jack, Tony, Curtis, Chloe...basically more time with CTU and what they were doing, which is what we want to see. That's far more acceptable to me. I don't care if some believability is sacrificed and the melodrama is raised, as long as it means more time watching Jack in action.

And, it was great to see Palmer, while at the same time bringing him in late and not having us deal with him and Sherry and the season-long nonsense we've gotten out of his storylines in the past. I hated last year's Palmer story with that guy in the wheelchair and his brother and all that. It was good to see him in a shorter stint, lessening that stuff, while still allowing the show to benefit from his presence.

Anyway, I put this season right behind season 1. It was far more enjoyable for me and kept me more consistently entertained than I have been over the past couple years.