A fond farewell to a fine pair of Jacks

I faithfully watched Jack Bauer save the world for eight years; and watched Jack Shephard search for redemption and a way back home for six. Bauer officially and permanently fled the country last night and LOST left the airwaves Sunday night in a 4.5 hour-long television event.

Needless to say, it's been an emotional 48 hours for this Jack² fan.


I generally prefer Dr. Shephard (Matthew Fox) to Agent Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland), and the LOST finale was far more emotionally-charged than 24's, but both endings left me with a feeling of bittersweet satisfaction.

Unlike many Losties who posted reviews and comments online, I genuinely enjoyed "The End." I got enough answers to keep me from going crazy and most of the characters I came to love were given closure.

Seeing Ben (Michael Emerson) go from a horrible bad guy to not so bad, back to bad and then to pretty good was so unexpectedly wonderful. His decision to remain outside the church was beautiful. I found his "redemption" one of the most meaningful of all the islanders - and he finally got his chance to feel "special."

But the last scene was absolutely perfect. Fox said he predicted this exact ending since the beginning of the show. Bamboo field. Jack. Vincent. Right eye. LOST.

The audience of Jimmy Kimmel Live was filmed watching the last scene before the Lost cast took the stage for the "Aloha Lost" show, and there wasn't a dry eye in the house. I'd been weeping for quite a while by then.

My one gripe: I thought the return of Shannon was really lame - I'm not a fan of Maggie Grace and I thought her character on the show was phenomenally annoying. I felt like her inclusion cheapened it for the rest of the castaways who made it back for the "group departure." But that being one of the things I liked least about the finale, the show was pretty great. Evangeline Lilly is a darn fine actress - I hope to see her elsewhere very soon. Did anyone see her in The Hurt Locker?

As for the final hours of 24, it was nice to see the king of douche nozzles, President Charles Logan (Gregory Itzin), completely unravel. Throughout the entire final season, his snake-like whispers in President Taylor's ear made me sick. What a slimeball.


I was also glad to see President Taylor (Cherry Jones) finally throw in the towel and admit her wrongdoings. I'm sure Jack's camera-phone video speech - stating that the path to true peace must be predicated on truth, honesty, understanding and a mutual willingness by all parties to move forward - helped her to see the error of her recent ways. Ahh Jack. Always good for spouting what might seem like holier-than-thou rubbish coming from anyone else's lips.

And who can say buh-bye to 24 without acknowledging the queen of awkward, Chloe O'Brian (Mary Lynn Rajskub). Her tearful lines were the last of the series, and they were pretty darn believable.

If they could've somehow brought President Palmer (Dennis Haysbert) back to life, I would've been completely satisfied. He remains my favorite of all the characters on 24. I guess I'll have to settle for his Allstate ads.

I'm gonna miss that big yellow time clock...bip-boom...bip-boom...bip-boom...bip-boom...

I haven't attached myself to many new shows in recent years, so the end of these two leaves me with far less prime time TV to look forward to. I guess I'll have to read more!