Jack Bauer: 24's 007
by Maggie Van Ostrand
Friends have been trying to get me to watch "24" since it appeared on national television five seasons ago. I resisted. Pressure rose. Still I resisted. Three weeks ago, I could hold out no longer and, assigning my friends financial responsibility if I didn't like it, I bought Series 1-4 on DVD and sat down in front of my TV to prove a point.
The point I proved was not mine, it was theirs.
With a show that turned out to be as unbelievably exciting as "24," daily showers had to wait. The only time I used the remote's pause button was to fix something to eat, feed the dogs, and use the bathroom. You've heard of drug addiction? This is Bauer addiction. Betty Ford should open up a new wing just for obsessed "24" fans.
If the writers of "24" use means other than natural to come up with so many unanticipated plot twists ("spoilers") that it makes Mulholland Drive look like a straightaway, then, baby, the next round's on me.
This series, despite the occasional loss of a plot thread or a character, keeps you on the edge of your seat even tighter than the original best-car-chase-ever-filmed, "Bullitt," when it came out in 1968 -- and "Bullitt" had Steve McQueen. Never mind. By "24's" Season 2, Kiefer Sutherland, who rarely speaks above a whisper, became a mixture of Steve McQueen, Sean Connery, and John Wayne, with Johnny Depp for a chaser.
"24" is never still. Even when characters remain seated in front of their computers getting impossible-to-get information for lead character, Counter Terrorist Unit's Special Agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland), their blurred fingers are flying over the keyboard, brows in a virtual vibrato, especially those of the unsmiling computer genius, "Chloe O'Brien" (Mary Lynn Rajskub).
Everybody's favorite, "Edgar Stiles" (Louis Lombardi), had no trouble with vibrating brows. Instead, his lips puckered and his expression went from sad puppy to maligned pussycat. I wanted to hold Edgar and tell him everything would be all right. But that would've been a lie. Everything never stays all right on "24." That's part of the attraction.
Chloe and Edgar never fail to do the right thing for Jack, even though Jack's not Director of the Counter-Terrorist Unit (CTU), or even though the thing that Jack needs done might be against protocol.
There are no back stories to divert one's intense attention from the spoilers. Yet we know what's going on in in the lives of all the complex personalities from conversations in CTU's Los Angeles office.
Further credibility is given CTU and White House characters by "news reports" on the television-news-within-the-show, featuring real life Fox anchors and legitimate-looking banners across the bottom of the "Fox news shows." Before you start complaining that it's not CNN, remember, "24" is taped at the Fox studios in L.A.
When your favorite characters are killed off, which happens all too often, ongoing action is so fast that you don't have time to mourn. You may, however, post your obsession for the deceased on Fox's "24" website (http://www.fox.com/24/)
I hope the greatest Secret Service Agent who never lived, "Aaron Pierce" (Glenn Morshower), makes the cut next season. He's the kind of patriot the rest of us aspire to be, underneath all our public griping.
One of the best characters ever seen on television was "President David Palmer" (Dennis Haysbert) who made thoughtful presidential decisions that would make this country proud. If "President Palmer" were really president, the media would have only praise for his leadership. His wife, "First Lady Sherry Palmer" (Penny Johnson) is the most devious female character ever written for television, and so fascinating you can't take your eyes off her. No, I didn't forget Lady MacBeth, but she wasn't written for TV.
Then there's the ever-reliable, super-studly "Tony Almeida" (Carlos Bernard), a CTU agent you would want in the field to cover your back. Your front, too. Never mind his wife, "Michelle Dessler" (Reiko Aylesworth, real life current girlfriend of star Kiefer Sutherland). Aylesworth said in an interview about "24," "There's just this sexual charge to everything because of the urgency. We have to stop the bomb, now! This might be our last day on earth! We're all going to die, let's get our rocks off! That kind of thing. And then you've got Kiefer and his velvety voice. He's got chemistry with -- the lamp-post -- anything." I felt nothing when she was knocked off because now "Tony" is free to date. What'm I, stupid?
The man you love to hate, and like, and hate again, is "President Charles Logan," who carries a large amount of psychic baggage, is brilliantly performed by the real-life Richard Nixon look alike, Gregory Itzen. When he asks his Secretary of State, "Mike Novik" (Jude Ciccolella) to "pray with me," it's eerily reminiscent of real life's Nixon-Kissinger. "President Logan's" sometimes emotionally fragile First Lady, "Martha Logan," is played with a difficult balance of insecurity and strength, by Jean Smart, who finally has a chance to show how good she can be.
Sutherland's "Jack Bauer" is as good as it gets. He portrays Bauer as a flawed hero, a patriot who's willing to give his life for his country, and a mastermind of complicated solutions to unimaginable situations. Jack Bauer thinks faster than a speeding bullet, is smarter than Ian Fleming's 007, and has electronic "toys" to make Bill Gates green with envy. Jack Bauer can drive, fly commercial jets and private 'copters, and never misses his target. He's brutal when it comes to getting information from a "hostile," is compassionate, tender and sexy with women, and never sleeps.
"24" offers something for everyone. New characters on the show can range from teen to old, there can be at least as many females as males, and characters, both lead and background, come in all colors.
I'm not saying I've become an addict or anything like that, but I had to shop Shanghai to get a DVD of Season 5 because Season 5 won't be released in the U.S. until December 2006. Unlike many television shows, "24's" Season 5 may be the best yet.
Scott Rowell, one of "24's" three full-time editors, says it takes 25 hours of filmed material to create one 43-minute show (air time, allowing for commercials). They shoot eight angles of a scene using two cameras. Same dialogue and the same action, done eight times.
Rowell's (and the two other editors) job requires many hours in front of his computer, enhancing the visuals which later receive further visual FX by CBS animation, combining real elements with special FX.
For example, in Season 5, the scene with Jack Bauer bringing a jet in for an emergency landing on an L.A. freeway, the shots of the ground coming up at an alarming level of speed were shot by low cameras on a truck, the reverse thrusters and smoke off the landing gear were visual FX. These are called "money shots" for obvious reasons.
For playing Jack Bauer, Kiefer Sutherland received a sweet deal from Fox on signing for the 2008-2009 season: In addition to a raise in pay (you've heard of a six-figure income? How about eight), he'll be promoted from Co-Executive Producer to Executive Producer (ka-ching), his new production company will be funded by Fox (ka-ching), Sutherland will develop new series for Fox and other networks, the internet, and wireless devices (ka-ching), and further funding for "a development fund" to help him realize his vision, reported the show biz trade paper, Daily Variety.
Execs at 20th said Sutherland has the chops needed to develop and execute series projects. Fox President Dana Walden added Sutherland "is fiercely intelligent and has fantastic taste in material."
Fans don't care that much if Jack Bauer's dialogue is repeated in each episode of each season, notably the following phrases:
What's going on?
Do it! Do it NOW!
I don't understand.
I need that list.
You have my word.
Keep me posted.
I don't have a good answer for that.
You'll be safe with me.
I did it for your protection.
I promise.
Drop the gun!
Don't make me use force.
You're coming with me.
Set up a grid search.
I need your help.
Get back to me.
What are you talking about?
Tell me what I need to hear.
I'll see what I can do.
You're lying.
I don't know what you're talking about.
I don't know if I can do that.
This doesn't make sense.
I need you to patch me through on a discreet channel.
I'll get back to you.
That's not protocol.
There's some new intel.
What's happening?
I understand.
Copy that.
Trust me.
These often-used phrases are only obvious if you watch Series 1-5 consecutively over a period of a week or two. You'll also find your kidneys are stronger than you ever thought possible.
My favorite of his dialogue, said as he questioned a hostile, is "The only reason you're still conscious is that I don't want to carry you."
After Season 2, I didn't care what Jack Bauer said, how many times he said it, or if he spoke at all. I was so into the compelling characters, impossible real time situations shown on split screen, and the spoilers, that I didn't recognize my own living room when I took the time to look away from the television. Talk about escaping!
A full-length feature is being planned for "24," though it won't be possible to play the real time angle; it will have to be condensed into two hours. No date has been set so we'll have to wait for the movie.
As long as the writers keep coming up with those spoilers, the waiting time for the movie will be brilliantly filled.
If "24" earns the 12 Emmys it's nominated for, the writers' drinks are on me. Yours, too, Jack.
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EPILOGUE: Reader, Susie, a long-time fan of "24," writes about a college drinking game where, every time Jack Bauer utters "Dammit," beer is chug-a-lugged. Kiefer Sutherland heard about the game and, on a late-night talk show, announced that he'd try to say it more often, now that he knew what was going on with "24's" college fans. Reader Susie says, "[This pronouncement came] "straight from Kiefer's mellow mouth."
Copy that.
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