Possibly the Most Feminist Season of "24" Ever

In seven seasons of 24, I've never given much thought to its gender politics. For one, I've mostly tuned in for the escapism of watching Jack Bauer save the world. For another, it's always had enough strong female characters—villains, heads of CTU, and the ass-kicking-yet-socially-awkward Chloe—to make up for the damsels in distress. (Yes, I'm looking at you, Kim Bauer.)

But two sequences at the end of last night's finale jumped out at me for their portrayal of the women. (Warning, if you have the finale waiting on your TiVo: Spoilers ahead.) To wrap one storyline, President Allison Taylor has to decide whether to turn in her daughter for having one of this season's baddies murdered. Given that one of the themes of this season was the Taylor administration's opposition to torture and lawlessness (usually), it was not at all shocking to me when Taylor handed her daughter over to the Justice Department. But what was remarkable was the scene that followed. Taylor stands weeping in the hallway, sagging under the weight of a decision that likely cost her her daughter and her husband. She allows herself a good 20 to 30 seconds of sorrow, is briefly consoled by an adviser, and then straightens herself up and continues crisply down the hallway, fully in charge and ready to take on the day. She's the president, damn it, and she's not going to let any womanly emotions or maternal guilt get in the way of her job. The scene told you everything you needed to know about the character.

I'm still chewing over the other scene, not sure what to make of it. The FBI has übervillain Alan Wilson—who's apparently been behind at least three seasons' worth of mischief—in custody. Agent Renee Walker has him in an interrogation room, and she's ready to go all Jack Bauer on him. She deactivates the surveillance cameras and handcuffs Janeane Garofalo's character to keep her from interfering. (Oh, why couldn't someone have done that by, say, Hour 3?) But Janis talks her down, and Walker comes to her senses. This comes not long after Jack had explained to Walker that he usually knew in his mind that the laws he was breaking were more important than the lives he saved, but that his heart wouldn't let him not act. So, was Agent Walker repudiating Jack and his reluctant torture? Were the writers trying to say that women are less likely to torture than men? The problem for me is that the scene was not done especially well—even by 24's low-believability standards, it kind of came out of nowhere—and it's not a perfect parallel. Jack Bauer's torture has usually been of the "imminent threat" variety: If someone knows a bomb is supposed to go off in an hour, can you torture him to find out where it is? In this case, the threat is over and the bad guy is under lock and key. It doesn't quite add up.

Are there any 24 watchers out there? What did you think? And do you agree that this was the most "feminist" season of 24 yet? Not only did we have our first female president and Jack's first female sidekick (well, besides Chloe, who's usually stuck in front of a computer), but Kim Bauer not only DIDN'T get kidnapped, she saved her dad's life. Twice.

Tags: 24, 24 season finale, jack bauer

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Rachael Larimore Slate copy chief and mother of three. Addicted to coffee, Facebook, and the Sprout channel.

Comments

good post,I think

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Strong females in 24

By: blondamy5 | Wed, 05/20/2009 - 07:27

First off this comment has lots of references to past seasons, so if anyone is in the middle of watching other seasons on DVD, consider this my spoiler alert! In contrast to Ms. Larimore, I've never felt that 24 has enough strong female characters; women in this show seem to me to be either on the bad side with no complexity (such as the red-headed Cara in this season), clawing backstabbers such as Sherri Palmer or this season's Olivia Taylor, or they ended up dead. Audrey Raines was smart but seemed to only serve to soften up Jack and provide a relationship for terrorists to exploit (much like Kim Bauer, although Kim slightly redeemed herself this season). Chloe is great but in past seasons her role has seemed one-dimensional as Jack's right-hand techno geek with no social skills (but again, I thought she gained some depth this season). And I'll never forgive the show's writers for killing off Michelle, who I think was the best female character to appear on the show to date. However, since Renee Walker survived the season she may fulfill that role, and I'll definitely be tuning in to see how the torture cliffhanger plays out.

Maybe I missed something, but

By: cityrat | Tue, 05/19/2009 - 21:05

Maybe I missed something, but can someone explain briefly the reason they actually look at this program? Neither political/feminist objections nor belief that TV should be high art prompt this question, just the opinion that the thing is so awful i'd rather watch the inside of my refrigerator.

Mea Culpa!

By: Rachael Larimore | Tue, 05/19/2009 - 20:55

I'd like to thank the commenters for correcting me. And I'd like to apologize for my mistake—I don't want to do anything to devalue all the excellent work being done on DoubleX. To clarify, I did notice when Agent Walker set down her badge. My confusion arose when she walked into the interrogation room. When the door shut, I thought she was shutting it on Wilson from the observation room, not from inside the interrogation room. As in, she'd decided he wasn't worth it and backed away.

Even with that clarification, the scene doesn't feel quite right to me. Walker had been quick to go along with some of the questionable tactics Jack employed during the day, and she had no qualms about toying with the ventilator of one suspect in the 11 a.m. to noon episode. But that behavior, I always felt, was the result of fear and her inexperience dealing with such grave threats. After everything she saw and went through during the day, it seems like she'd have grown more and not been so quick to succumb to rage and crazy eyes. Watching the scene again (thanks, Hulu!), it feels forced, as if he writers were trying to get from Point A to Point G while skipping everything in between. In the scene, Janis tells Walker not to dishonor Larry's death. To me, this scene dishonors the work actress Annie Wersching did in developing the character of Renee Walker.

Renee Walker

By: miss kitty | Tue, 05/19/2009 - 17:45

I agree with the other commenter. I think the author of the article missed the fact that Renee left her badge next to the computer, and walked into the interrogation room to beat on Mr. Wilson for a while. Kind of a BIG plot point for a cliff-hanger. This content on this Double XX website is quickly becoming questionable.

Walker and Torture

By: adelechicago | Tue, 05/19/2009 - 16:31

Maybe I missed something, but I'm pretty sure that when the scene moved away from Agent Walker after she'd handcuffed Janeane, it was meant to imply that she WAS going to torture the bad guy. She took off her badge and left it on the table, and she still had that Jack Bauer "I'm about to go torture some people" look. I guess I'm curious about what makes you think she changed her mind and didn't end up torturing him.