Tuesday, May 29, 2007

The New Season of Anxiety at 24 Season's End

I finally saw the 24 season finale. As seen in a previous post, my weeks usually start with Anxiety on Monday (yes, I know today’s Tuesday, but same rules apply no matter when the week starts), for which I have several balms. One of the most effective anxiety treatments I have is Jack Bauer. When my own everyday worries give me jitter-frenzy, either when I first wake up or during the midnight insomnia, I take comfort that I don’t have to make a world-changing decision every 50 minutes, I don’t have to execute anybody, and I haven’t spent two years in a Chinese prison. Somehow, my real-life worries take on smaller significance and I’m comforted. Jack Bauer’s world is violent, torture-filled, grief stricken, and so forth, but it is simple in terms of decision making. With his gravelly flair, Jack Bauer says give me what I want or I will maim/torture/kill you. I wish I had that kind of simplicity when it came to my own decision making, even if it is a little too absolute. The soothing, simple, completely irrational and overblown violence of one guy protecting the country from all threats is astonishingly oversimplified and unrealistic for dealing with everyday life, not to mention foreign policy. I just like the thought of someone, even an unreal someone, roving around just outside my complicated little world, ready to cut through everything with a snarl and sharp phrase, knowing what’s right and ready to kick whatever ass gets in the way. Real life is complicated, fantasy life is simple. Jack Bauer provides that nice slice of simplicity I need in a complicated, anxiety-filled life.

But not so fast. Without ruining anything for anyone who hasn’t seen the season, I can safely say that the latest season finale is much quieter than previous ones. Whereas most previous seasons ended with nail biting cliffhangers, this season ends in non-violent fashion with a long silence. No going out with a bang this time, just a hush. My initial reaction was anti-climactic disappointment. Where’s the huge crisis that’s going to lure me in for next season? Why should keep watching if I don’t know what’s coming? Gimme my splashy ending! But on second thoughts, I think this muted ending is even more terrifying than the usual exploding sendoff. Again, without giving too much away, Jack Bauer is left with nothing to fight and nowhere to go. There’s a sense of being at a crossroads of uncertainty, instead of the comforting assurance of immediate action. There’s no big, bad crisis looming. Everything’s smooth in the 24-Reality USA now, despite all the nuking, gassing, shooting, killing, and exploding that’s happened on US soil the past day. It’s as if Jack Bauer might have to deal with regular everyday choices now instead of fighting off evil hordes of terrorists. Direct and simple just became complicated and unsure.

The constant uncertainty of the everyday world keeps me up late and wakes me up early with the kind of fear that I normally reserve for a good horror movie or high altitude plunge. The thought of Jack Bauer dealing with the everyday world is something completely outside my comfort zone. Dispatching of obviously evil terrorists is well within his means, but the everyday world is beyond anyone’s control. I don’t want complicated decisions infringing on my easily digested action-packed soothing reality of Bauer. But on third thoughts, I wonder if this isn’t a smart move from the producers of 24. Taking a character outside a comfort zone can create growth, as long as care is taken to avoid proverbial shark-jumping. We’ll see. In the meantime, I’ll move on to my other anxiety balms. I just hope there’s a “DAMMIT!” and a “SHUT UP! (sticks gun in thug’s face) Now you listen to me…” coming next season. Where would I be without at least some comforting certainties like these?

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