The final hours: ‘24’ counts down to explosive series finale on Monday

“It’s a fun show to watch. It really got crazy in the final season,” said Gerbert, who plans on hosting a “24” marathon at her home with several friends before the finale airs at 8 p.m. on FOX (Channel 2 in Detroit).

Debuting in 2001, the multiple award-winning “24” follows a day in the life of counter-terrorism agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) racing against the clock to foil a terrorist attack, often at great personal cost, often amidst many twists and turns as the audience learns not everyone is who they seem to be in a tangled web of espionage and intrigue.

Each season takes place during the course of an entire day with each episode representing an hour. To date, Jack has put in eight very long days (seasons to viewers).

“People love Jack Bauer so, so much. I was a fan of the show since the beginning and I was nervous at how people were going to respond to a woman coming in and going toe-to-toe with him,” said Annie Wersching, who played FBI Agent Renee Walker, a fan-favorite character, for the last two seasons. “Jack and Renee have such a really, really unique relationship formed even after only knowing each for just one day. There’s some people that you instantly know and you connect with them, so I think that’s what it was like with these two, even though they only knew each other for a few hours – 24 hours at the end of it.”

Wersching continued, “I think it had to do with the fact that she was no-nonsense and sometimes did what she needed to do, but she shows the human side of Jack that was in him earlier on before he went through so much and was hardened so much. It was that other side of Jack when he was younger and he was struggling with stuff. She helped make him a little bit more human and his ways made her a little less, so it’s a really interesting flip they did.”

In the final hours of “24,” Jack is out for blood. Just minutes after Jack and Renee make love, she is gunned down by a sniper’s bullet. He then discovers evidence of a conspiracy that could destroy the peace treaty President Allison Taylor (Cherry Jones) is relentlessly working on. 

However, President Taylor — aided and abetted by villainous former President Charles Logan (Gregory Itzin) — wants this peace treaty to go through, no matter what, feeling the needs of the world outweigh Renee’s death. She wants the evidence to disappear — along with Jack. As you can imagine, Jack — now named Public Enemy No. 1 — doesn’t go along quietly, outwitting his pursuers every step of the way.

“Kiefer Sutherland is one whale of an actor,” said Kurt Doelle, who teaches film and video production at DHS. “He’s very intense and the intensity never lets up.”

Jack does have assistance, however. Helping him out is mercenary Jim Ricker (Michael Madsen), who owes Jack a favor, and long-time friend/computer hacker par excellence Chloe O’Brien (Michigan native Mary Lynn Rajskub).

Chloe is not only Gerbert’s favorite character, but also that of former executive producer/writer Michael Loceff, a Michigan native and cousin of “24” co-creator Joel Surnow, also a Michigan native. According to Loceff, Chloe is the only character who can be written straight forward or totally oddball.

Tentative plans are underway for a “24” feature film. Upon conclusion of the series, “24” will become the longest-running espionage-themed TV series, surpassing the original “Mission: Impossible,” which ran for seven seasons from 1966-73; “The Avengers,” which ran for seven seasons from 1961-69; and “Alias,” which ran for five seasons from 2001-06.

Wersching gave her perspective on why “24” has such staying power: “On a broad scale, you want to hope that the Jack Bauers of the world can save the day. On its own scale, everyone wishes they can be Jack Bauer. You wish you have that willingness to do anything for your country. If something was going wrong, I would wish that Jack Bauer was there to help. It’s that faith you have in him, therefore the show, to fix things – I think there’s a nice security there. There’s so much that we don’t even know what’s going on in our world and government, that’s nice to see that the bad guys do get taken down – even if it’s just on ‘24.’”

“It’s a fun show to watch. It really got crazy in the final season,” said Gerbert, who plans on hosting a “24” marathon at her home with several friends before the finale airs at 8 p.m. on FOX (Channel 2 in Detroit).

Debuting in 2001, the multiple award-winning “24” follows a day in the life of counter-terrorism agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) racing against the clock to foil a terrorist attack, often at great personal cost, often amidst many twists and turns as the audience learns not everyone is who they seem to be in a tangled web of espionage and intrigue.

Each season takes place during the course of an entire day with each episode representing an hour. To date, Jack has put in eight very long days (seasons to viewers).

“People love Jack Bauer so, so much. I was a fan of the show since the beginning and I was nervous at how people were going to respond to a woman coming in and going toe-to-toe with him,” said Annie Wersching, who played FBI Agent Renee Walker, a fan-favorite character, for the last two seasons. “Jack and Renee have such a really, really unique relationship formed even after only knowing each for just one day. There’s some people that you instantly know and you connect with them, so I think that’s what it was like with these two, even though they only knew each other for a few hours – 24 hours at the end of it.”

Wersching continued, “I think it had to do with the fact that she was no-nonsense and sometimes did what she needed to do, but she shows the human side of Jack that was in him earlier on before he went through so much and was hardened so much. It was that other side of Jack when he was younger and he was struggling with stuff. She helped make him a little bit more human and his ways made her a little less, so it’s a really interesting flip they did.”

In the final hours of “24,” Jack is out for blood. Just minutes after Jack and Renee make love, she is gunned down by a sniper’s bullet. He then discovers evidence of a conspiracy that could destroy the peace treaty President Allison Taylor (Cherry Jones) is relentlessly working on. 

However, President Taylor — aided and abetted by villainous former President Charles Logan (Gregory Itzin) — wants this peace treaty to go through, no matter what, feeling the needs of the world outweigh Renee’s death. She wants the evidence to disappear — along with Jack. As you can imagine, Jack — now named Public Enemy No. 1 — doesn’t go along quietly, outwitting his pursuers every step of the way.

“Kiefer Sutherland is one whale of an actor,” said Kurt Doelle, who teaches film and video production at DHS. “He’s very intense and the intensity never lets up.”

Jack does have assistance, however. Helping him out is mercenary Jim Ricker (Michael Madsen), who owes Jack a favor, and long-time friend/computer hacker par excellence Chloe O’Brien (Michigan native Mary Lynn Rajskub).

Chloe is not only Gerbert’s favorite character, but also that of former executive producer/writer Michael Loceff, a Michigan native and cousin of “24” co-creator Joel Surnow, also a Michigan native. According to Loceff, Chloe is the only character who can be written straight forward or totally oddball.

Tentative plans are underway for a “24” feature film. Upon conclusion of the series, “24” will become the longest-running espionage-themed TV series, surpassing the original “Mission: Impossible,” which ran for seven seasons from 1966-73; “The Avengers,” which ran for seven seasons from 1961-69; and “Alias,” which ran for five seasons from 2001-06.

Wersching gave her perspective on why “24” has such staying power: “On a broad scale, you want to hope that the Jack Bauers of the world can save the day. On its own scale, everyone wishes they can be Jack Bauer. You wish you have that willingness to do anything for your country. If something was going wrong, I would wish that Jack Bauer was there to help. It’s that faith you have in him, therefore the show, to fix things – I think there’s a nice security there. There’s so much that we don’t even know what’s going on in our world and government, that’s nice to see that the bad guys do get taken down – even if it’s just on ‘24.’”