"24": It's Getting Hard to Watch

Over the years, there have been a lot of things that have been difficult to watch on my beloved “24.” Its gritty realism is part of what makes the show great.

But those closing moments of last night’s episode had to be some of the hardest to watch in the history of the show…

After Tony (Carlos Bernard) switched sides last week and murdered Larry (Jeffrey Nordling), I was hoping that there was more to the story. That maybe Tony was really still a good guy and that Larry just had to be sacrificed for the greater good Tony was trying to do.

But after last night, I don’t see how that’s possible any more…

You could see that Tony was unhappy when the FBI helicopter landed and Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) got out, because he knew that even a debilitated Jack was still a smart one. And sure enough, little by little, Jack started to unravel Tony’s story. And little by little, Tony got shiftier and shiftier as watching Jack shoot up with his anti-seizure medication, he tried to convince him to get out of the field—even showing concern for him when he realized that Jack was dying.

But finally, Jack put all of the pieces together and went after Tony, pulling his gun on him, yelling at him to confess his role in everything. Tony tried to talk his way out of it, even trying to convince Jack that the toxin was making him question his judgment. But Jack wouldn’t budge, even as he began twitching and blinking even more violently. Finally, Jack collapsed to the ground in a full-blown seizure. As he lay on the ground reaching in his pocket for his medication, Tony calmly walked over and took Jack’s gun. As Jack looked at Tony with those bulging eyes (Kiefer Sutherland is WAY too convincing with those seizures.), Tony reached out his open hand to reveal Jack’s medication kit. “Is this what you were looking for?” he asked quietly, as I gasped out loud. “'I never wanted to hurt you, Jack. I told you to stay out of it. But you wouldn't listen, would you?”

Hearing the paramedics approach, Tony put the kit back in his pocket, asked the paramedics to help Jack and then just strolled away.

It physically hurt me to watch that scene. I think I’m still hurting a little bit today…

Tony has always been my second favorite character on the show. I hated the way he died, so I was thrilled when the show resurrected him—regardless of the circumstances. And when they revealed he was not a bad guy after all, I was positively giddy. Last week, when that changed, I was miffed, but I was willing to go with it. After all, I like bad guys, so why did Tony being a bad guy mean I had to hate him?

But after last night…

Heading into these last five episodes, there was only one thing I wanted to see—a cure for Jack. But now there are two things I want to see: A cure for Jack AND Jack taking Tony down—by any means necessary.

And yes, it physically hurt to even type that…

The final five episodes of season seven of “24” begin Monday, April 27th at 9 p.m. on FOX…

Photo Credit: Kelsey McNeal/FOX