24 Review:
"6:00 a.m. - 7:00 a.m." and "7:00 a.m. - 8:00 a.m." (Episodes 8.15 and 8.16)

In the larger sense, it is a gut-wrenching turn of events. Yes, Hassan is a charming, likable fellow whose intentions are nothing but noble. But more than that, he's been built up as the only hope for peace between his country and the U.S.—the implications of which pointed toward a more stable relationship between the Middle East and the West. The now-recovering Ethan Kanin explains it clearly to President Taylor: Hassan's support within his country is fragile at best. Without the charismatic leader to close the deal, all hope is lost. A dismal outcome, yes, but there's still a lot of time to change all that, too.

Which begs the question, from where's the next threat? Though arriving a minute or so late, Jack and Renee wipe out the last of the IRK terrorists. Next week's preview mentions something about the Russians, even though it appeared they were out of the picture weeks ago. 

Of course, our traitors are still alive and well. The president has Chief of Staff Rob Weiss and General Brucker locked up. And newfound mole, Dana Walsh, is in CTU custody after Jack and Chloe trace Tarin's cell phone log to her number. But she somehow manages a plea deal in exchange for President Hassan's location on the condition he's found alive. Needless to say, that doesn't appear to be happening, much to the delight of fans everywhere. Admit it, you sadistic sumbitch. Part of you wanted Cole to pull the trigger after he ended her kill-crazy rampage. Ah, how I will miss these types of immediate emotions 24 can stir inside me. A sign of great fiction is successfully putting the audience at odds with its beliefs—cheering on lowly characters and situations it wants no part of in real life. It's a hallmark of film noir. You want the heist to go down. You want those seedy characters to make it out alive. Like documentary, the camera has a funny way of manipulating the soft, gray areas of the mind. And this show exploited it perfectly for eight years.

Other stray observations:

- Lots of kills the past few hours. About 10 in the last hour alone, from my estimation. You can tell the writers are going all-out for the final episodes.

- Chloe's strange, awkward expression is priceless as she watches a security cam stream of  Jack steal some dude's Hyundai.

- Jack and Renee wave down a taxi for Hassan's wife and daughter. I don't know about you, but I imagine Jack going Grand Theft Auto in every scenario he needs a vehicle. When he puts up those fingers and waits for the car to come to him, I shake my head and wonder, "What's happened to you, old friend?" A sad day, indeed.