“24” went out with a bang last night. Or should I say, a chop. In one of the more gruesome scenes in the series’ history, Jack was forced to chop off Chase’s hand with an axe. You see, he had no choice since Chase’s hand was permanently clamped to the deadly biological weapon that they had been hunting all year. In other developments, President Palmer decided not to seek a second term, Tony is off to serve at least 20 years in jail, Saunders was killed by Gael’s widow, and Chase and Kim decided to live a calmer existance. The final scene featured Jack privately sitting in his car, overcome with tears... the first time he ever cried on the show. A quiet yet powerful conclusion. “24” will not return until January, 2005 when FOX will then present it without any preemptions. They might do so with Kiefer Sutherland but without many of the supporting players.

Busy week at work. Busy busy busy. Tomorrow’s blog entry will be entered a bit later than usual in order to provide a full recap of the Beach Opening Ceremony.