24 Series Finale: Ambushes, stopping peace, and more!

Cole breaks the law by talking on his cell phone while driving. Then again, that's hardly the most serious crime anyone affiliated with CTU has committed this year. Arlo gives him the grisly details of Jack's latest masterpiece. Arlo thinks that they need to take Jack down, and I'm thinking he's going to turn. Especially if Eden uses her charm on him. Cole pulls up to Michael Madsen's apartment. Madsen runs facial recognition on him, and starts to wipe his hard-drive before Cole can get to him. Of course, he's running a Dell, so he could just let it crash on its own.

Chloe is at the UN, and finds out that Reed has been arrested. Cole calls her, and tells her that Suvarov is the target. There's a backup recording (isn't there always), and Chloe wants to make sure that they get it before Jason does. Chloe decides to change Suvarov's route in order to buy them some time. You would think he would be wise to that trick now, especially after Logan did it to him in Season 5. Speaking of the devil, Logan is still shaken up when Jason approaches him. Logan decides to tell Taylor everything. He calls and assures her that he tried his best to "insulate" her. Again with the euphemisms. Logan tells Taylor about Novakovich, and assures her that Suvarov won't be asking any questions about Novakovich's "forced resignation." Taylor hangs up the phone so that she can go back to being "President."

Jason calls Eden, and finds out that Jack has been wounded. Jason is confident that they'll find Jack and, right on cue, Jack pops up in the back seat of his car. He makes Jason drive to the UN and tells him that, based on what he did to Pavel in a short amount of time, there's no telling what kind of fun he can have with Jason now that he has some time to play with. Jason looks truly frightened here, and I can't blame him. President-Select Hassan is informed that her daughter wants to talk to her, presumably to spill the beans about what Reed had told her. Before that, she gives Taylor a gift of a pen, which just furthers Taylor's guilt even more. Taylor looks like she's about to break down in tears, and I have to say that Cherry Jones did a good job in this scene.

Kayla tells President-Select Hassan about what Reed had said to her. Hassan agrees to call her, but I'm thinking she's going to be tough to reach. Apparently, the agent in charge is named Burke. It's not the same Burke that was in charge of distributing the sodium penthathol at CTU, is it? There's some friction between Burke and Cole because Cole is back in charge. Or maybe Burke is just upset because he watched Freddie Prinze Jr.'s last three movies.

Jason drives into the UN, and Jack takes some supplies out of the first aid kit. Jason goes through security and wants to tell them about Jack, but ultimately, he doesn't do it because, you know, he wants to live. Jack is bleeding like a stuck pig, and Jason tells him he won't make it. Jack knows he's right, and forces him to suture Jack up because apparently, one of Jason's skills is stitching people up.

Jason calls Jack a murderer, and Jack takes offense to that. Manson was a murderer. Gacy was a murderer. He's a patriot, dammit! He justifies his actions by saying that, by refusing to act, the President made him the judge, jury, and executioner. Well, that's one way to look at it. While this is going on, Jason makes, like, two stitches, and that's apparently enough to heal Jack. Jack then shows his gratitude by making Jason get on his knees. Jason starts begging for his life, and Jack hesitates before knocking him out with his gun.

President-Select Hassan can't reach Reed, and her Spidey sense is tingling. Hassan decides to meet with Taylor to inform her about Suvarov's involvement. We'll see how good Taylor's poker face is. Taylor is holding the pen when she finds out that Hassan wants to talk to her. Hassan comes in and tells her about Reed and the Russians. Taylor tries to play it off and reason with her, but Hassan refuses to sign the treaty until she speaks with Reed. Taylor then comes clean, and Hassan is not happy. You know, for someone who hated her husband's guts earlier in the day, Hassan's become quite attached to him. Hassan threatens to expose Taylor to the UN, and she doesn't want to play that game because Taylor says she'll use the nuclear rods as a pretense for attacking Kamistan. Speak softly and carry a big stick. Teddy Roosevelt would be proud.

Jack gets a room with a view of the UN, and gets a sniper rifle out of his bag. So, after all this time, he's going Lee Harvey Oswald on us? Can we assume Michael Madsen is hiding out in the grassy knoll? Hassan is upset, and wants to take this case to the Hague. She also thinks the UN can protect them. Man, is she naive – on both counts. She also thinks that they can reactivate their nuclear program, which would be exactly what her husband's enemies wanted all along.

Chloe realizes that Jack is inside the perimeter, and acts surprised that something like that could happen. I'm not even going to say anything. Chloe decides to go to Jack to talk him down, and she tells Cole to sound the alarm if she's not back in 20 minutes. Jack records a farewell message, presumably to his daughter. He keeps saying that he was close to Renee. Man, Jack sleeps with her once, and suddenly she's his soulmate. How much time did they actually spend together during these last few years?

Hassan comes down to greet Suvarov, and wouldn't it be something if she was the one that killed Suvarov instead of Jack? Hassan, Taylor, and Suvarov are about to sign the treaty and they stand on stage with Eriq La Salle, who is the UN Secretary General. Wow, he's come a long way since he ran Soul Glo. Cole orders Burke to send some men to the building where Jack is. Chloe finds Jack, and he puts her in the sleeper hold. Earl Hebner then comes in, and raises her arm to see if she's still conscious.

Logan gets a call from Jason's phone, and it's Jack. He has Logan in his crosshairs, and tells Logan to call Suvarov and get him to meet. Logan wants to know what to say to him, and Jack says: "Try the truth for a change" with a smirk. Not sure Logan knows how to do that. Suvarov sings Omar Hassan's praises, and his widow looks like she's going to puke. Suvarov picks up on Hassan's anger, and has a tense conversation with Taylor. He's interrupted by a phone call from Logan, and he doesn't look eager to take it. Logan can be quite needy, after all.

Cole gives the go-ahead for the team to go in and apprehend Jack. Meanwhile, Chloe tells Jack that Renee wouldn't want him to do this, and that seems to have an effect on him. He takes out his earpiece, and tells Chloe that she has to do exactly what he says. Jack gives the Chloe the audio file, and tells Chloe to shoot him. She refuses, and Jack yells at her to do it. Chloe won't, so Jack points the gun at his head. That forces Chloe to act, and she shoots Jack in the chest. Wow. That was a tense scene.

Chloe tells Cole about the recording, and tells him to send it to Arlo. Jack is still alive as EMTs are working on him. Chloe tries to leave, but Jason orders her to stay put. Jason gets a call from Logan, and finds out about the recording. Logan tasks him with recovering it, and warns him that they're all going down if that recording gets out there. Logan could just dispatch Miles to CTU, and have him erase the recording like he did during the nerve gas conspiracy.

Jason orders Chloe to empty her pockets, and even pats her down. I think he just wants to cop a feel. She moves her mouth while he pats her down, and it's clear that she must have stashed it under her tongue. Let's hope Jason doesn't give her a full cavity search. The EMT tells Jason that the shot went through without hitting any organs. That alerts Jason, and he starts to order Chloe arrested before Jack beckons Jason over to him. Jason leans over, and then Jack goes Mike Tyson on him by biting his ear. That was awesome. Chloe only manages to upload 22% of the recording before Burke stops her. They must not have upgraded to Google Chrome. He takes the recording and, because he's a mindless drone, calls Jason to tell him the good news.

Logan struts into Taylor's office, and produces the card. He's acting like he just made out with Heidi Klum or something. Logan says he's listened to it, and I was certain that it was really the recording he made for his daughter. Logan tries to convince Taylor to have Jack killed. Taylor seems conflicted, but doesn't say anything, even after Logan says that he already has a plan in motion. Logan doesn't even wait two seconds before saying that he would take Taylor's silence as tacit approval. He's like the guy who prays and says stuff like "Dear God, I want to eat this last piece of pie, even though I know I shouldn't. Please indicate your approval by remaining silent."

Taylor plays the recording and it is, indeed, the video he made for his daughter. Jack says peace has to be trustworthy, and says that this treaty is as phony as the Hitler / Stalin pact of 1939. Okay, he didn't say that, but he did say words to that effect. Logan and Jason are in a celebratory mood. Jason seems to be in fairly high spirits for someone who just lost part of his ear.

Secretary General Soul Glo (my brother came up with that and I had to steal – I mean – "appropriate" it) makes his introductory remarks as Hassan, Taylor, and Suvarov look like they're ready to reenact an episode of Jerry Springer and beat the crap out of each other until Steve steps in to break it up. Hassan hesitates before putting her Jane Hancock on the treaty. Suvarov signs, too, which means that it's down to Taylor. She takes out the pen that Hassan had given her earlier, and thinks twice before deciding not to sign. Instead, she decides to come clean, and walks out without signing. I guess all it took was Jack's video for her to come to her senses.

Taylor tells Tim to call CTU and tell them that Jack is about to be ambushed. We find that they're too late, and Jack's ambulance has already been taken out. Some men with gas masks then put a bag over Jack's head and take him away. Why didn't they just kill him? I'm sure they'll live to regret that. Secretary General Soul Glo makes a statement, and there's really no reason for me to type that, but I just wanted to refer to him as Secretary General Soul Glo one more time. Logan watches the press conference, and his phone starts ringing. He refuses to take the call before Jason convinces him otherwise. Logan tells him to pick up the phone, and he clocks Jason over the head with a bottle before calmly shooting him in the head. Wow, Logan has snapped, and he puts the gun under his chin. We hear a gunshot, and it seems like Logan has killed himself. Logan is still alive, but probably won't regain consciousness. Man, he can't even kill himself properly. What a screw-up! Taylor orders Chloe and Cole released. They try to find Jack with satellite surveillance, and they track him to some abandoned lot. Chloe doesn't think they'll get there in time, so she needs to think of another way to save Jack.

Jack is about to be executed when Taylor calls it off at the last minute. Jack says that he'll never stop, but Taylor tells him that she's withdrawn from the treaty, and will resign as President so that she can face the consequences of her actions. She tells Jack that he'll have to face the music, too. However, she then tells him to get out of the country before the Russians and American law enforcement can get to him. So much for facing the music. Finally, she says the words that we all knew were coming. "If I had listened to him, then none of this would have happened." Well, better late than never, I guess. Jack tells Chloe to protect Kim and her family. Jack then expresses his gratitude to Chloe, and thanks her for everything. Chloe breaks down and cries, while Jack turns and looks into the camera and smiles. Aww...

And like that, he's gone.

So, what did I think of the finale? Like the entire season, it was fairly underwhelming. I think we all knew that there would be no happy ending for Jack. He was not going to retire quietly to California with his daughter and granddaughter. Nor was he going to live happily ever with Renee. Instead, he'll have to go on the run because, once again, he couldn't stay away from the action. It's fair that he never gets to be happy, especially after all he's done. If you think about it, Jack Bauer could very well be one of the most depraved television characters ever created. He is completely amoral, and has no respect for the rule of law. He's patriotic, and will do anything to protect his country. However, as he's shown this year, that allegiance only goes so far. If you cross him, it doesn't matter who you are or what your reasons are. That makes him no different from Vic Mackey or Tony Soprano.