24 Director and Executive Producer Jon Cassar believes he and the writers crafted a better ending than the one we saw four years ago in Day 8.
“I think it was more fitting than the end of Season 8. It feels more complete than 8,” says Cassar, who also recently directed Kiefer and Donald Sutherland in the upcoming big-screen Western Forsaken, in which the son and father play a son and father. “That ending had a kind of finality to it, too, but there’s just something about this year… I think we teed it up right, and the writers teed it up right, and I think it paid off better. So if this is end, this is the end. I would be comfortable with it.”
Do you agree with Jon? Vote in the poll and leave your thoughts below.
71 Comments
Comments ClosedXAM
July 15, 2014 at 3:26 pmSnooze
July 15, 2014 at 4:24 pmJohn
July 15, 2014 at 4:58 pmBrad
July 15, 2014 at 10:38 pm12345
October 23, 2014 at 5:37 pmAnd the glasses to help him break out
And there’s a possibility that for some reason George Mason is alive because of the goddamn credits. The credits ruined it for me in season 7, because it said in the first episode of season 7 Carlos Bernard.
I cried
And now it said Xander Berkely, this is George Masons name so the man on the phone to miss Diaz
12345
October 23, 2014 at 5:43 pmAnd the glasses to help him break out
And there’s a possibility that for some reason George Mason is alive because of the goddamn credits. The credits ruined it for me in season 7, because it said in the first episode of season 7 Carlos Bernard.
I cried.
And now it said Xander Berkely, this is George Masons name so the man on the phone to miss Diaz in the 7 minute video is probably George Mason.
He could of died in 3 ways
A nuclear explosion
Radiation poisoning
Or a plane crashing
It would be rather odd but it does fit in
PDFizzle
July 15, 2014 at 3:31 pmBut Jack being handed over to the Russians? That works for me, and I completely agree with Jon Cassar. It had a sense of finality to it, and in a way it’s what Jack never had a problem with. Ever since season 1, he was always willing to sacrifice himself. He never cared about going to prison, or dying for someone else, dying to stop something from happening, etc. Except now, it finally happened.
And he really did seem at peace on the helicopter. I think it’s a suitable ending for Jack Bauer, albeit an unexpected one. And it also works because this can be the end of Jack Bauer’s story, or they could just as easily pick up with a season 10. Either way, unlike the season 8 ending, it provides closure.
I couldn’t be more satisfied. At this point, if 24 continues? Then great. If not? Then I’m happy with the ending. And I couldn’t ask for anything more.
Mat
July 15, 2014 at 4:44 pmHowever as a fan of the show I can’t help but want some sort of happy ending. And by happy ending I mean Jack finally getting to rest, whether that be him dying in a way that we actually see and not have to guess his fate as this ending sets up or if they bring back 24 for another season maybe seeing Kate come to his rescue and while Jack is still the primary lead charter you can see a definite transition into Kate becoming the central character in a new 24 era. I don’t know maybe I have a wild imagination, but as an audience member I feel just a little bit cheated at the end.
I’m not “hating ” on your post. I like where you are coming from I was truly hoping for a little bit more from a character who time and time again gets America and himself out of the most stickiest of situations.
Chase
July 15, 2014 at 3:35 pmS8 – Jack as a free man on the run (lone wold scenario).
S9 – Jack as a captured man to be tortured for the rest of his life.
Brad
July 15, 2014 at 11:46 pmClayton
July 15, 2014 at 3:40 pmM
July 15, 2014 at 4:39 pmXAM
July 15, 2014 at 4:50 pmClayton
July 15, 2014 at 6:56 pmCTU Agent Bauer
July 15, 2014 at 11:12 pmMicah Mahaffey
July 15, 2014 at 3:45 pmM
July 15, 2014 at 4:42 pmIra Gaines
July 15, 2014 at 5:56 pmSo, FANS who disliked this finale are ‘haters’? So, criticism is no longer valid unless it is positive? Take Jon Cassar’s pecker out of your mouth for a moment and think. Is a ‘fan’ someone who loves something regardless of its merit, or is a ‘fan’ someone who constantly wants their favourite show to strive for better, and holds them accountable when they mess it up?
So, you enjoyed this piece of shit. Good for you. You’ve every right to. And I’m not stopping you. Nor is anybody else. I’m not going to sit here and say that ‘so and so is not a real fan because…’ and all that rubbish. But I will say this. I have watched this show since the day it first aired. Hour one, Day one. I have been a loyal fan/viewer since then, I have lived this shows ups and downs, I have invested much of my time into watching, discussing, enjoying and (god forbid) even criticising this series, and I thought this finale was pathetic. The worst finale in the show’s entire run. So, I guess you can colour me “not a real fan”.
Joran
July 15, 2014 at 6:09 pmIra Gaines
July 15, 2014 at 6:42 pmAs for Season 2, we can certainly both agree there. :)
I wouldn’t say it is my least favourite, but one of the weaker Seasons of the show. Almost certainly. To be honest, Season 6 is SO bad, it just has to rank lower than 2 for me, and I do like some of the elements of Day 2. The first half is definitely executed better than the second, and I like the presidential storyline. But, it definitely doesn’t rank too highly for me, that said, so we can definitely find some common ground there.
M
July 15, 2014 at 7:17 pmIra Gaines
July 16, 2014 at 4:35 amOut of interest, M, what did you think of Day 6? This is probably a pointless question, but still. You know, of all your talk of “don’t attack the show… haters… not real fans”, etc., etc., I’m willing to bet high stakes that you are one of those same fans that whined and bitched like a wimp when Tony died in Day 5. Possibly even to Manny Coto himself on his blog, as many ignorant pieces of detritus did. Because, after all, how dare the writers make you feel uncomfortable whilst watching this show.
And that is essentially my point: it’s all become far too complacent and comfortable. The creators are in a happy little rut doing what they do, and they ain’t changing it. Little do they realise that that rut is fast filling up with pig shit, but they are too lazy to care to move.
Ryan lewns
July 21, 2014 at 6:31 pmXAM
July 16, 2014 at 3:37 pmMatt
July 15, 2014 at 3:45 pmAGREE –> Ever since the finale of Season 1, the writers of 24 chose to make it a dark show about an anti-hero, tragic figure in Jack Bauer. They could have opted for the alternative, which is Teri being alive and them living happily ever after despite the events of that day. But instead, Jack’s 24 hour nightmare culminated in the ultimate sacrifice, his own wife. That set the tone for the show. Jack going home and living happily ever after with Kim – while it might be satisfying to some, it goes against the show’s whole premise. However, Jack sacrificing himself one last time for his one and only (“best”) friend, voluntarily, and handing himself over to the Russians could easily be looked at as him walking to his death. He knows he won’t escape Moscow. One of the last people to even know who he is and know of the debt that the US owes him – Heller – will soon not even remember his own name. For that reason, one may believe this marks the end of Jack’s story. He sacrifices himself for Chloe and embarks on a long, painful journey towards his ultimate death.
DISAGREE – “Closure” has many different interpretations. As stated above, if you believe Jack just dies in Russia, maybe the ending is closure. But “closure” also implies that the story has been told, wrapped up, and that’s it, aside from the Behrooz’s and Simone’s of the world. This ending doesn’t give us that. In my mind it’s perfectly analogous to Season 5’s ending with some minor tweaks (i.e. voluntarily handing himself over vs. being kidnapped). If Season 5 had been the series finale, would we have been satisfied? I wouldn’t have. Which is why I also don’t think you can end a show like 24 without perfectly articulating what happens to Jack; the whole Soprano’s ending, aka “Jack hands himself over to the Russians – maybe he lives, maybe he dies” doesn’t provide ANY sense of closure.
Clearly I could go either way. But i’m inclined to disagree more than agree. If this truly was 24’s idea of closure, then why not just have the Russians execute Jack right then and there? Same basic idea (Jack sacrifices himself for Chloe) except now we have closure, as tragic as it may be. I think that the writers deviated from their originally composed idea in order to make this ending more “open ended” per se, thus giving them an option for Season 10. Could be wrong, just a gut feeling.
rick
July 15, 2014 at 6:43 pmMj
July 15, 2014 at 7:57 pmTomW
July 15, 2014 at 3:51 pmJack Ryan
July 15, 2014 at 4:00 pmIt also doesn’t work because ultimately fans want to see Jack reunite with his family, especially the grandson he has yet to meet, and “be happy.” However, the writers have said that 24 is ultimately a tragedy.
I don’t think Jack will ever get the “happy ending” that many fans crave because it wouldn’t fit. It would come off as too hokey or fake or people would wonder when he’s going to get dragged into the next crisis.
Matt
July 15, 2014 at 4:28 pmFazil's Beard
July 15, 2014 at 7:34 pmI agree, I don’t want it to be a truly “happy ending” where Jack goes home with Kim and the grandkids smiling from ear to ear as a rainbow appears over the horizon. That would feel hokey.
On the other hand, I don’t agree that Jack is doomed to living on the run, not ever having any contact with anybody he cares about, or that he has to end up in a communist prison (again, never having any contact with anybody he cares about), and those are the only fates possible for him.
Remember the ending to Day 3? Jack sat down behind the steering wheel and cried like a baby. He made sacrifices that day, that wasn’t a happy ending; however, I would be satisfied with a series finale like that because I know that Jack’s done his penance, and he’s not going to just live happily ever after, but the rest of his life doesn’t have to be joyless, either.
Mj
July 15, 2014 at 8:00 pmTran
July 15, 2014 at 4:09 pm24 Spoilers
July 15, 2014 at 4:26 pmLive Another Day’s ending just felt like a poor mish-mash of several previous finales. The final shot of Jack on a helicopter and the silent clock was lifted straight out of 24: Redemption which just feels lazy.
MKs Guess
July 15, 2014 at 4:41 pm– At the end, the Russians could have executed Jack onsite (or Jack could have been wired with explosives, committed suicide and destroyed the helicopter) but instead the Russians took him for some undisclosed reason – trial, prison, torture, clandestine mission, etc. – take a guess but the point is that immediate execution was not on the table – there is/was a reason for Jack to be taken alive
– MLR says its a matter of when; not if there is another season or a movie
– The LAD DVD set will provide an update on Tony (no doubt they show us he regrets a bunch of his actions to set the stage for his redemption and inclusion in 24’s future).
– Ratings have been good and improving
– We know that YS said the finale changed a bunch – probably to create this open ended ending leaving the door wide open for more 24
– New leadership at Fox likes 24
I agree with MLR and it sounds like Season 10 odds are tilting in our favor. I also would wager that Season 10 includes Tony (I’m not one of these babbling Tony groupies – just sayin it makes sense to me). Now the wait begins…..tick…….tock
Matt
July 15, 2014 at 4:47 pmOtherwise, I agree with your basic analysis and premise: the writers purposely changed the ending for a reason, and they purposely opted not to have the Russians execute Jack Bauer on the spot. If the true intention was for this to be the decisive end of the series, then why have Jack fly away to his death with the expectation being that he would ultimately die, rather than just providing us with the “closure” we want?
With that being said, I understand where some of the finale criticism is coming from. Similar to Season 8, many people said it wasn’t a true “series” finale because it set up for a movie rather than ending on its own terms. If the producers edited the LAD finale to set up for a Season 10, then yeah, maybe it is a little lazy and a little short-sighted. Nonetheless, (maybe i’m in the minority here), I loved the finale.
M
July 15, 2014 at 4:56 pmChlojack
July 15, 2014 at 6:39 pmAaron
July 15, 2014 at 4:47 pmI have a feeling that they were probably leaning towards the total, complete happy ending a few months ago, but the response to the show seems to have grown by a lot as the season has gone on. The interest to do another season seems to be higher now so I would be surprised if the show doesn’t come back again. Because let’s face it, Jack stuck in some sort of uncertain state of affairs in Russia is not the way the fans want to remember the show by.
Roger
July 15, 2014 at 6:27 pmI think that during the next Comi-con (scheduled for this 27 July) we have some “news” about 24 World…
Mat
July 15, 2014 at 4:51 pm1st hour Jack kicks ass and is ready to kill Suvarov.
2nd hour primarily focuses on the Presidents’ of the peace conference countries and all we see of Jack is him being captured, he bites a guys ear, then he gets attacked again and is about to be shot, then the President saves him.
Where the Season 9 finale is great is that Jack is in control of his destiny the entire time. Jack decides to save Chloe, Jack decides to go after Cheng.
Joran
July 15, 2014 at 4:53 pmBut overall, i really liked Live Another Day from start to finish, not disappointed at all!
M
July 15, 2014 at 4:57 pmNebojsa
July 15, 2014 at 5:18 pmDCS
July 15, 2014 at 8:02 pmPete
July 15, 2014 at 9:33 pmJoshua
July 15, 2014 at 11:29 pmTJ
July 16, 2014 at 1:32 amPhee
July 15, 2014 at 11:29 pmIt’s funny because we have a better idea of that this time, but Day 8’s ending still felt more final IMO, even though there were more options for where he’d go and what he’d do back then.
Maybe the fact that it matches so well with the end of Redemption contributes to it not feeling final, because Redemption had a very definite, “to be continued…” on it and then we saw what came next, so we’re anticipating it this time too.
I like that at the end of Day 9, Jack feels like he’s where he should be. Whatever waits on the end of that helicopter ride, he actually smiled as he went to that fate because it feels right to him. He wasn’t dragged away in cuffs, he was calm and compliant.
But sometimes I just wanna slap him because he doesn’t think he deserves the happy, peaceful ending, at home with the fam. And that belief of his makes me sad, because after all the good he’s done, the sacrifices he’s made, hell yes he deserves the happy ending. So even if he thinks the Day 9 ending is what he’s earned, I just don’t agree with him.
Day 9 didn’t give us closure for Chloe. Her family is dead, her partner is dead, all her friends are dead, except for her best friend who she’s just seen for the last time. Are there warrants for her due to things she did with Open Cell? Or can she freely go back to the US and start her life over? And if so, what would that new life for her be? I need to know what’s next for her. I need to know that she’s gonna be OK.
We didn’t really get closure with Kate, she handed in her badge and ended a chapter in her life and walked off to…what next? We know she’s a bit like Jack, and Jack never could walk away from the job without being drawn back in, so I expect the same with her and would like to see how that happens.
We don’t have closure for Tony, and I know we’re gonna get some of him on the dvd, but let’s be real, that won’t feel like closure, it’ll just leave us hankering for more Tony in the future.
All things considered, I feel that this worked well as a season finale, it wrapped things up well and our hero is content, so there’s the “closure”. But as far as the series goes, it still feels open ended IMO.
TJ
July 16, 2014 at 1:34 amThis finale has no such guarantee.
Joshua
July 15, 2014 at 11:50 pmJohnny
July 16, 2014 at 11:44 am2 episodes set in moscow (the season starting where it ended.. Jack on the heli, being brought to moscow, he someway or another escapes.. after torturing some russians off course.. He returns to LA… Beep Beep ***Time Jump*** 13 hours later.. Jacks plane lands in LA, He needs to find his daughter,grandkids and cloe, But as it turns out the russian president is holding them captive, since jack escaped. Jack goes on the run to find the people he cares for..all means neccesary, but he can’t do it alone, he asks the president to let tony almeida go, because he needs help! why will tony work with jack? Because he simply has no choice, because he could also rot in prison for the rest of his life. He helps jack, and they both find jacks family, and cloe.. And the final shot is jack bauer, finally laying on a couch.. falling asleep.. and the screen fades to black!
dcec
July 16, 2014 at 12:39 amChlojack
July 16, 2014 at 11:03 amTJ
July 16, 2014 at 1:27 amThe other side – which also seemed to apply to Audrey in a smaller range – is that Jack’s faced enough tragedy and loss despite all of his heroic and martyr-like deeds and he’s entitled to some final peace and happiness when his (and the series) end arrives. Maybe it’s not the storybook happy ending but at least being able to live free and without turmoil – a simple return to his home and daughter would have thus felt more fulfilling as an ending for those who shared the suffering of Jack over 9 seasons.
Personally, while I understand the first view, I’m a subscriber to the second view. I thought the more appropriate ending, if it really was the end of the series and character, was to use the time-jump more logically for a trip back to the US with his presidential pardon.
Joshua
July 16, 2014 at 2:32 amshafagh
July 16, 2014 at 4:01 amXAM
July 16, 2014 at 11:00 amCatherine
July 16, 2014 at 4:55 amDay 8 had real closure: Jack saying good bye and thank you to Chloe through a screen was like he thanks all the fans then his face fades and the countdown to zero , all was perfect.
Day 9 ends like Redemption, not very original it’s a cliffhanger not a closure IMO
Clayton
July 16, 2014 at 5:49 amIt is objectively better. It is more emotional. It provides closure. It feels important. It is iconic.
What’s more? It didn’t resort to cheap thrills in order to accomplish those things. No token deaths that only occur to “elevate the finale.” No ridiculous action sequences that rob us of valuable character development. No phony World War, but instead poignant commentary on peace. No telegraphed fakeout twists. No direct ripoffs from previous seasons.
Frankly, the season eight finale works because it never tried to be more than it was. It is beautiful and just as well-acted as anything in Live Another Day. I’m sorry, Mr. Cassar, but you’ve missed the mark.
I will always treat the season eight closer as the 24 finale.
Brad
July 16, 2014 at 9:41 am“Lasting peace cannot simply be political. It has to be born out of trust and honesty and understanding and most importantly, a will on both sides to move forward.”
Brad
July 16, 2014 at 10:01 amXAM
July 16, 2014 at 11:00 amThe fact Jon Cassar wasn’t there was one of the best things about it.
Ozgur
July 16, 2014 at 11:51 amI would have taken S4 and S7 as series finales if it had happened that way though.
Reese
July 16, 2014 at 2:08 pmThis Season 9 finale is overall the same than 5. Why the scriptwriters have wrote the same ending ?
The ending of the season 8 was better.
Mat
July 16, 2014 at 2:45 pmI feel if you are still going down this road where the Russians take him then let Jack either go out his own way or at least an on screen death.
This ending was cool but as a fan I want to know my hero will be relatively ‘ok’ and the easiest way to do this is by having a normal countdown. That way it closes it out by saying Jack is in prison and at least you can still have the same decision making process about more seasons or none at all and the fans are happy either way.
Now I will say the dialogue between Jack and the Russian makes me 80% certain he is alive because why go to the trouble of saying all of the oh I’ll kill you and your gov’t if anything happens to my family or friends (I’m paraphrasing). And then the old Russian says you are going to enjoy Moscow but you’d know I was lying. So I’m leaning more towards torture and a life long prison sentence.
Johnny
July 16, 2014 at 3:51 pmMatt Wolff
July 16, 2014 at 6:43 pmBrad
July 17, 2014 at 10:23 amdcec
July 16, 2014 at 6:46 pmalso the fact that they said they were changing the ending a bunch, chose this ending which happens to be a cliffhanger, that to me gaurantees another season. if fox didnt give the go ahead for 10 i think the writers respect the show too much to end on a cliffhanger of this magnitude. much more than s8. and jacks last dialogue absolutely foreshadows continuing events.
Sam
July 19, 2014 at 9:45 am