Orson Bean, writing at Big Hollywood has his undies in a bunch over Monday night's episode of 24. For those who don't keep up with the Jack Bauer franchise, Jack's love interest Rene Walker got taken out by a Russian assassin who gratuitously shoots her just below the heart so she would bleed out and die slow. Jack learns that the Russians were behind the dirty bomb that almost took out the Upper West Side and Dana Walsh has the goods. However, before he can interrogate her and get the goods, the President with legacy in her eyes who's getting played by Ex President and glory hound in chief Logan, shuts him down.When Jack catches up with the assassin who did Rene, he unleashes mayhem of a personal nature on Ivan to make him talk. Orson whines that this is nothing but liberal left writing ruining the show now because Jack is off the conservative anti-terror script. Methinks you should get over your self. Everything is not about liberal left wing stupidity (though the airwaves are full of it).
Come on. Jack is motivated now by the most natural and well understood motives: vengeance. With a capital V. Who can blame him? He's spent seven seasons in the service of his country, doing the dirty work at a price to his immortal soul. He's finally about to be out of the game and as fate would have it, finds a beautiful fellow tortured soul to share retirement with. One who's been down the same dark roads. But now, in an instant, she's snatched away and he's left with nothing. His natural instinct for justice goes into overdrive, the instinct that served his country, his President so well and what does the President do? Shuts him down, covers up an attack on our own soil and is blithely turning a blind eye to the killing of American citizens and any associated collateral damage by foreign operatives on US soil! All to protect a peace process built on lies that can't possibly last.
Orson claims the writers portrayed Bauer as enjoying the torture, that this was what it was about all the time. Thats wrong. He wasn't enjoying the torture for its own sake, he was enjoying meting out pure, unalloyed and well deserved retribution to the man who took away his opportunity to drag some happiness from his life and perhaps make the nightmares fade a bit. This time, its not about his country. This time's its personal. I don't know about you, but as far as I'm concerned, he's earned. Go get'em Jack.
