24

No other "24" finale has made my heartbeat race as fast as the S3 finale did. If I'd been in a seat while watching this episode, I would literally have been on the edge of it.
Just to raise the stakes placed on this final vial of the Cordilla virus, the environment shifts from the subway to a middle school.
There's a cool fight scene between Chase and Rabens, followed by a nail-biting sequence where the "race against time" thing is used to maximum effect. The timer on the dispersal device just drives you crazy. They don't cop out with the "they're gonna call back!" thing, I can tell you that.
And there's Tony, who's off to jail. And there's Palmer, who decides to resign. And there's Saunders, who dies—there's my big gripe, by the way. I'll make this brief: pure retardation!
The episode follows the formula of the S2 finale more than the S1 finale; it follows the main threat all the way through to the approximate 45-minute mark, after which all the storylines are nicely, cleanly, and warmly wrapped up with soft and quiet music in pure "Lord of the Rings" fashion. Jack, Chase, Kim, Palmer, Tony, and Michelle all get their final scenes in the closing minutes, and then there's something that not many fans were expecting: no last-second twist or surprise. Instead, a soft moment of drama for Jack. It's a fine way to end the season, better than my prediction that he would shoot up. S3 has come and gone, and there are no more episodes to review. My quest is finally over!
…oh, wait.

Hourly Highlight:
I just gotta hand it to this show. It's the greatest, hands-down. We should all give the cast and crew a big hand. Chase is so handsome.

This third season is a strong entertaining and pretty exciting long day in Jack Bauer´s life. It´s more complex and depends much more on the spectacular way of the episodes than of the intelligence in the plot. But, in the end, the ride of emotions and entertaining is pretty good.

Now, i have a problem with this finale. It´s a good ending, (the most relaxing for Jack Bauer due to everything looks like to come to a close end), but it lacks of some shocking surprise or some emotional tragedy. What it happens with Chase is important, okay, but maybe i was looking for something more.

Somehow the end of season three looks like end of first chapter of the serie as some important characters are out - Palmer won't be president, Sherry is dead, Tony goes to prison.. Nina is dead...



But to look back, this season has been amazing. I think the first season is still my favorite but this one really showed off with the very stable and always exciting episodes. There were no slow episodes and always was something major happening and that made is so enjoyable.



But on the last episode - the intense at the beginning was good. The whole thing with Saunders but it was so visible that they are going to kill him. I would have prefered little more surprise on that as much there was not too much surprise that Chade got badly hurt. If you are having talk like that on the final episode - we all know how that can end.



Somehow the end of this episode was not as good as the start. After they had got the virus, the tempo just died and even if Michelle's and Tony's departure was emotional and there is no way to describe Jack's emotional brakedown, it was somehow... and the ending did not had something shocking as season 1 and 2 had.

This present season of this fantastic show has been improving after the first episodes until have a great level.



In fact, this season is even a bit better than the previous. For me, this third season has a 9,7 out 10.

But in it's finale, the show goes down again althought giving us a satisfactory ending, overwall perfect and being one of the best episodes of the season, but weaker than the first and second season.



But despite that things, the ending is very good and so powerful, with an excellent action, superb performances (look closely last seconds of the season the emotional performance of Kiefer Sutherland) and tension in a lot of moments.



Overview, a superb ending to a superb season.

Logic/Details - » Trying to find the last man with the virus was not something that I could expected for a season finale. What I like Is confrontation between Jack and the Main Villain, however this was not the Case. This episode can Surprise you and have the last scene with the virus be very suspenseful. How Gael Wife´s take that Gun exposed and killed Saunders is another plot convenience that the 24 writers like to do.



Progress -» It is Over. Jack and Chase saves the Day, President Palmer will give up of his presidency when it is over, tony will be in jail or at least I suppose and Jack will have big problems in CTU because of what he done in this Day.



Emotions/Stimulation/Highlights -»Tony and Michelle last Scene together (touching), Jack Crying, Palmer acting etc.



Ending - » Not nearly from what Season 1 and 2 delivered.



Overall - » This season provided some good moments, it was impossible not to do so, but overall I´m disappointed because I expected more from this season. There are rumors that the producers wanted to save the best material for the next 3 seasons to come, but I know that they don´t plan in advance and this make the guest writers work more difficult. it is notorious that the writers struggle to make some scenes that make a episode worth. At least, sherry and Nina are death, Tony, Jack and Palmer did things that may cause them to Lost their positions, but it is very difficult for me to believe that this show can survive without any of them. Nina and sherry are dead, this will be Palmer last administration, Jack will not work for CTU anymore, and tony will go to jail. This is a good ending, but it could be more exciting and special. This is why i gave it a 7



Overall, in this season I only gave 7 for episode filled with details and the was entertaining, 9 to an outstanding episode and 8 for that type of episodes that has some scene there that make this episode be special in some way or more than pure entertainment. This episode was pure entertainment for me and for some part of the audience, more than that with the material in hands, was impossible.

Wow. Jack's breakdown at the end was so powerful. You finally saw his emotion to everything that's happened. The call coming through at the end showed that this was just another day in Jack's hectic and troubled life.



Jack Bauer has been through so much. It's been such an amazing journey for one man. He get's paid such little credit for everything he's done. He's still always the one who has to sacrifice something. He's the one who suffers all the pain.



I loved the President's reaction to Wayne trying to forge a story. Enough was enough. He's an honest man, and he couldn't handle how deep they had gotten.



Awesome drama. This is THE BEST show which consistently provides great TV every season, unlike others which drop off considerbaly after the first season. It pulls at all of my emotions. I applaude everyone involved and thankyou for bring us this amazing show.

Lets admit it; nothing is going to beat the season 1 finale. Nothing. And coming from my opinion, I hated the season 2 finale. So to tell you the truth, this episode had alot of pressure on it. Alot.



The plot mainly continues off from where episode 23 ended. Jack and Chase are still in the subway station, trying to find Rabens. Palmer is waiting for Wayne to get back from Sherry's and Tony is look'n at 20 years.



First off, let me get over with the bad stuff. Nobody, and I mean nobody I have ever heard or met, has ever been pleassed with Saunder's death. He was such a great villain and to get rid of him so easily and wastefully..God..makes me angry. Any time a character that has come out of no where and greatly effects one of the main players, I can't stand it.



Wayne arrives to the President's office to give him some bad news.(well come on, I don't know if I would consider my ex-wife who pretty much ruined my life's death, BAD news) Anyway, Wayne gives it to him straight, and Palmer, so grieved over the death of Sherry, decides not to run for re-election. And I must say that I am kind of glad they didn't show the scene in which Palmer tells his kids that their mother is dead. I know it is just because they couldn't get the actor's who play his kids, but it just would've slowed the story down for the real drama.



Now back to Jack. As they continue to search for the vile carrier, Jack has his finale scene with Chase, as they clear up on their family issues. All comes to a complete halt when a citizen is un accounted for. This leads the two of them on a wild car chase throughout LA. I must compliment the camera crew and Jon Cassar on some exellent camera work during the chase. Rabens comes to an elementary school, which is of course, filled with inoccent little children, just waiting to die. As they continue to look for, Chase and Rabens himself duke it out in a science room. Jack saves Chase's ass in the nick of time, but the threat is barely over. Chase attached the vile casing to his arm, whcih cannot be taken off. The scene with Jack and the bloodly Chase remains one of the most intense scenes ever. It doesn't sound tense just hearning about it, there's just something about it. Maybe the scary sound of the ticking clock, or Chase's hard breathing after a beat down, or the fact that Jack maybe can't save the day this time. What ever it is, it means me feel like they wouldn't do it this time. Jack however spots an axe on the wall, and Chase ergues him to use it for the unthinkable. As Jack goes over to the wall, Chase prepares himself for the ultimate amount of pain. As Jack holds the axe to the hand of Chase and as Chase braces for imapct, there is this massive feeling of, "they're going to call back" in the air. This is why 24 is the best show ever; no limits. Jack does the dead and tosses the vile in an air tight frige just before time runs out. This remains one of my favourite 24 moments ever.



Few.... The season doesn't end with a big twist or shocking death, but the releasing of a tarnished and beaten soul. In his first real moment alone and peaceful, Jack lets it all out and just sobs it all out. The scene is very powerful and heartbreaking to capoff a brillant season.



Congrats guys, you did it again!!!



Top 3 moments

- Jack pointing the gun at the class room full of kids (No Jack, they are not the bad guys....:)

- the super tense timer scene, all leading to that handful of pain classic moment

- Jack's final emotional breakdown

Compared to seasons 1 and 2, this finale wasnt packed with a big twist or anything awesome. I suppose Chase losing his hand was pretty big, but compared to Teri dying and Palmer almost being assassinated in the other seasons, this finale seemed more like an average episode of 24 for me. Season 1 had a lot of action in the finale, season 2 had a great action scene and had a great twist at the end. Season 3 was a great season, perhaps the best in my mind... but the ending was kind of boring. The "capture" of the virus was ok, but the Jack and Chase scene in the school didnt really do it for me as the "big moments" of the season. Overall I thought it was a good ending to the season and I cannot wait for season 4 to come around. They have a lot of directions they can take season 4, I cant wait to see what its going to be.

This episode was great, compared to the end of Season 2 this ending was really really good! It actually concluded the episode and explained what happened I think they have really done well in this season and was the best one upto yet! An brilliant way to end the season and looking forward to watching season 4/5/6! The 100 words are pointless!

The 100 words are pointless!

The 100 words are pointless!

The 100 words are pointless!

The 100 words are pointless!

The 100 words are pointless!

The 100 words are pointless!

The 100 words are pointless!

The 100 words are pointless!

The 100 words are pointless!

The 100 words are pointless!

This is not a very great finale for 24. In fact, I'm rather disappointed that the day ends sort of anti-climatic. Sure, it's a shock that the man with the last viral of the virus was going to release it into a school, but that had being said, Jack's day ends with him crying in a car, with no twists or anything to go on to the next season. This episode doesn't deliver in a sense of a "24 Finale". It barely lives up to a regular finale. But I guess it's nice to put to rest one hell of a day, Jack got his revenge on Nina, This would be Kim's finally appearance (yay) until season 5 (boo). I just wish they had made this episode more graphic, sure, Chase's hand getting chopped off was pretty intense, but where's the blood and why can't you show a little bit of the aftermath? Well, I guess they could of made it, but FOX wouldn't air something that violent, but now things are way different that 24 has become ultra-popular and embed in today's pop-culture.

I'm so glad I didn't see season 3 on Tv. Waiting every week for an episode...



When I got hold of my 24 DVD's , I was so excited. Even more excited after seeing season 1... it was amazing. Then season 2. Wow. With season 2 24 officially made it to my favorite shows list.



I thought S3 will be just as good or even better - Unfortunately I was wrong...



The main problem this season had was the lack of a strong storyline. The writers probably made up the story episode after episode.



This season first disappointed me with the first episode - the resolution of brilliant S2 cliffhanger, and then continously disappointed me with the out of character Jack, and the terrible amount of filler episodes.



This finale was terrible too IMHO. 1st season finale had a very intense action scene which was driven by emotions. And a very shocking, dark ending. 2nd season had an even more intense action scene, which led to an amazing cliffhanger. And season 3...



season 3 had a weak car chase, and a really stupid 'shocker'. Oh, Chase's hand had to be cut. How can you compare Teri's death and Palmer's life threatening situation to a loss of an hand(which can be re-attached anyway). And we didn't even get a cliffhanger! It ended with Jack crying. Once again, this was out of character. I know why he cried.. because he kept everything in himself. But still, it was not Jack. Not Jack Bauer.



One more thing. Palmer's decision. That was probably the only good thing in this episode. It was sad, yet, perfectly understandable. However, it's just ridicilious how they never showed his children reacting to the death of Sherry.



Overally, poorly written season and finale, but at the end of the day, it's still 24 and Jack Bauer.

now almost everything is finished, one more crazy person to deal with. Jack and Chase goes after a contract killer who plans to release a chemical weapon in a school. this one bad guy is so determined to finish the job regardless of the consequences. Jack and CTU needs to deal with this crazy person, it'll take everything that they got to stop him. this episode raises the climax to a crescendo, the writers did a good job for the episode, they made sure season 3 will be watchable. this is a really cool episode, the finale is so dramatic, it's a perfect ending for season 3.

The previews that lead up to the finale of this season made you want to watch it so bad. So it finally came and delivered a excellent end to the season. One last vial of the deadly virus is in the hands of a terrorist as Jack and CTU race against time to stop the threat. At the last few minutes of the hour Jack breaks down crying after the days events. This showed Jack Bauer has a different side to him and is vulnerable to emotions, he justs bottles it up until he does what necessary, when the threat or something else is over he reveals it.

This is one episode that had many different pros and cons.



On the pro side, there was a fair share of 24's signature action and excitement with scenes like where Saunders gets shot dead before he could identify Rabens, the car chase scene, the fight scene with Chase and Rabens, the race against the virus timer to get it off Chase's wrist, and the sacrifice Jack had to make in order to do so. Also, there was a lot of emotion involved with the final hour's events, on Jack and President Palmer especially. Palmer's ex-wife is dead, Wayne's love interest is dead, and it has been officially decided that David Palmer's glorious reign as President of the United States is coming to an end. Jack's best friend is dropping out of office, his partner's undergoing major surgery, and his daughter is making some changes to her life. I'm sure all that would be enough to make even the toughest man in the universe shed a few tears like Jack did in the last two minutes.



On the con side, the ending of the season was not up to par with the other season finales. The other seasons ended with really dramatic moments and major cliffhangers in a couple cases. We had season 1 ending with Jack losing his wife and the mystery of Nina Myers, season 2 ended with the assassination attempt on President Palmer, season 4 ended with Jack faking his death and disappearing to escape the Chinese, and season 5 ended with the Chinese tracking Jack down again and kidnapping him. But how does season 3 end? Jack lets out the waterworks out of grief for the day's events and then gets a call back to CTU to help interrogate Saunders' courier. And then when he drives away, the season ends. No real suspense there.



Although I was not impressed with the ending, I still liked the episode as a whole.

I didn\'t really like the fact that Chase got his hand cut off. Even though they didn\'t show it it was a little too gruesome for me. I think that the best part was were they had Jack cry at the end of the episode. Most shows won\'t have the big tough bad agent cry. Not the best that I have seen from the writers but still good enough to keep me interested. All in all they did a good job. I just wish Chase was still around.

When I started watching this episode, I thought I am going to see an EXCITING season finale just like the last 2 seasons. Season 1 finale was action and drama filled. Season 2 finale couldn\'t top that but it had an excellent gun fight, and cliffhanger.



Now, what does season 3 offer?



The whole storyline of season 3 is just... not right. It seemed to go 1000 directions, and we never moved with the story.



The first few episodes... well, nobody had the virus yet. After the 14? 15? I dunno exactly episode finally, the virus found it\'s owner.



So basicaly we had to wait 15 episodes to the story to start.



Until then, it was just about... nothing. Awfully nothing, I know CTU tried to get the virus but that wasa an awful step from the writers to drag it out for so long.



And now, this finale episode. The prevous episode, was about the bad guy giving up and giving the location of the virus keepers. Of course one of them is not that simple to catch.... anyway what is funny to me is that how easily he gave it up. I know, his daughter.. but still. It was nothing compared to season 2. Season 2 had incredibly shocker scenes, while S3......





The problem with the finale is the simplicity.. Ok, Jack had to cut Chase\'s hand uhoh. Nothing big ,really.Palmer givin it up? Its not the Palmer I know. Why not be honest just like before? Stupid.....



No cliffhanger, no silent ticking, no nothing.



Absolute lame episode, I just hope S4 is better.



Watching now.



finale 10/4

season 10/5.5(only because of certain scenes and Chappelle)

The finale was great.



Why did I have the feeling that Saunders was going to be shot by Gaels' widdow? From the moment she looked at his picture I knew. Why did he have to die, I think jail would have been much a better punishment.



I liked Chase's heart to heart with Jack, and how he told him that he was prepared to give up field ops for Kim & his daughter. I also felt that somehting was going to happen to Chase after his talk with Jack.



Jack had to chop off Chase's arm with an axe, that was the best part of the whole episode.



The end with Jack sitting in his car & crying was great too. After 24 hours of killing people & running around LA, it all finally gets to him & Jack breaks down and cries.

One very big strength of this episode is the fact that Jack's conscience comes back to haunt him at the end, with Jack breaking down in his SUV with the events of the day bearing down on him; Jack having to kill Chappelle, having his daughter Kim exit his life, killing the woman that killed his wife, Chopping off his partner Chase's hand to secure the last vial of the virus, and etc. Another strength of this episode is that it balances it's action with character emotions. For example the car chase mid-episode, the goodbye between Tony and Michelle, and the conversation between Jack and Chase. Overall, this season ends with many series regulars leaving the show execpt Chloe and Jack, but leaves room for new characters to come into the world of 24.

24: Day 3: 12:00 P.M.-1:00 P.M.

How was your day, today?



After seeing this season as a whole, I have much more respect for it. I even like the Singer arc. Mostly, because those are the episode where the producers made a practical joke on us. I felt like I was on punk'd. Well, that doesn't really matter, now. I'll save that for my Season Wrap-Up article.



I am very partial to the Gael character, so the whole wife fiasco I liked, because it was Gael's wife. Now, had it been Ed Miller's wife, I wouldn't have cared so much. I didn't like that Saunders died. Would it really be that bad to have Saunders go to jail?





The Season Finale was more of an after-thought. The marine F-18s was the real end of the season. I much rather would've had that helicopter explosion in the finale with Rabens in the chopper, and Saunders running towards him. Too bad, you don't always get what you wish for. We did get a nice little car chase, but it didn't really mean anything, because we already knew due to previews, that they were going to find the virus.



The Season Finale was a mediocre episode. The season, however, went from sucky to super in an instant. Well, not an instant. Probably more of like when the towel gets pulled out of you and you're sitting there for like a week. The "super" happened when you died. Not the wisest words, but it describes the past two episodes, yes.



I wish we would've seen something with Palmer's kids. If this is Palmer's final season, I would've liked to see some resolution to the kids' storylines. They just left Keith's problems with his dad up in the air for two seasons. Oh well, it seems as if we'll never see that work out. On a side note, Dennis Haysbert was great in this episode.



The ax twist was beautiful 24. I never thought anything like that was going to happen. I was amazed when I saw that shot of the ax. Chase's reaction summed up what he has done all season. He just does it, because it is the right thing to do.



It was kind of let-down, but they did it because 24 fans were pissed off that they didn't conclude last season's cliffhanger. So, they decided to go without any loose ends. It was sort-of a happy ending type thing, only nothing is happy. Last year, we had huge gunfights in the finale. This episode we got a car chase. It's just not the same. Did anyone else think that last scene was "the suicide scene"? I had my fingers crossed whispering to myself, "Don't commit suicide, don't commit suicide". I guess I got what I wanted. I can't totally see why Jack cried. We haven't seen any of "Human Jack" since early Season 2(Beard Jack). I liked that Jack. I now realize the entire theme of this season to do this job, you have to be detached. That final scene just summed up the entire season in one scene. Jack has had all these things on his shoulders. One of the main reasons for the cry was Claudia's death. He had no time to react earlier that night, so he had to wait, until everything was finished. That final scene was one of my favorite 24 moments ever.



The odd thing about this season was that Jack didn't show any real emotion. No phone calls to his wife or daughter that let out his hate for himself. Jack just kept in all season until those final minutes, and yet the day goes on for Jack. Not for us, though.



Highlights

-FUNNIEST EVENT ALL SEASON: When Jack points a gun at five year olds.

-Chase gets a hand job.

-Mrs. Gael Ortega

-Kiefer's crying



Episode Rating: B

Season 3 Rating: 88.6% B



Theme of the entire Series: You have to be detached to be a government agent.

The Day 3 finale. Amazing episode. It wrapped up every storyline nicely and had the closest thing any season has had to a "happy" ending.



Strengths

-Amazing car chase scene

-Jack pointing the gun at the children

-The ticking countdown for the virus

-Incredible score by Sean Callery

-Jack actually chopping off the f'ing HAND of Chase

-Final scene with Jack crying



Weaknesses

-Implausibility (Axe in school? Schools still open during a Code Red alert and the threat of a terrorist attack?)

-Saunders's stupid death



Many people hated how Saunders was killed inexplicably by Gael's wife we had never seen before. While I hated that too, it was still very shocking and obviously did not really detract from the rest of the episode at all. And the final scene with Jack was incredibly powerful.