This isn't a shocker. Jack Bauer is the current ambassador of manliness to televisions sets all across the world. He is the diplomat of destruction, and the priest of pain. Bauer is just starting his sixth season of 24 and he already has over 130 confirmed kills (meaning the deaths were seen on screen). We could consider this an average count, considering that other TV action heros might waste just as many people over the course of a season, but we'd be fooling ourselves. See, those characters kill two or three people a day, while Jack kills upwards of 25. Let's consider what Jack's kill count might be if a day of 24 was equal to the day of other television shows. At Jack's rate of ~25 kills per day, multiplying that by 24 episodes, then we have an astonishing death count that no one could hope to match. Statistically speaking, Jack Bauer is the killingest man in television. This leads to his special man designation (each character will get a special name):Jack Bauer is the Grim Reaper of the 21st Century.
Unfortunately, Jack is a torturing machine as well. While males typically should applaud anything done to achieve mission goals, 24-viewing Christians cannot seriously support Jack in doing this. Jack sets the mission goal as his personal god, and does anything he could to accomplish the mission. This often involves Jack torturing suspects to gain vital information.
Jack and I disagree at this point. I am ideal-driven while Jack is driven by fear of terrorist success. Jack is willing to violate the image of God imbued by the Creator in every human being. Jack's blatant disrespect for his enemies is prohibited by Scripture, and the fact that we identify with Jack's "I need a hacksaw!"/Shoot-someone's-wife-in-the-leg mentality is just another example of our own depravity.
We are left wondering what could be done to stop evil if we do not take those drastic measures. Indeed, CTU's success on a daily basis depends on Jack's ability to pry information out of suspects, usually through threats or torture. We completely exonerate Jack because it seems that humanity is more diminished by a nuclear bomb than by the gruesome death of one man.
This leaves us asking question about our own lives. Do the ends justify the means in complex situations? No, the necessity of the ends and the confusion over the means justify one thing: prayer and supplication to God for wisdom and guidance. In our daily trials we should not heed temptations to take the easy road, but should persevere in what we know is right, because we believe in a generous God, and while the night may seem long, the day is quickly coming.
Jack's Final Man-Tally
Strength: 9.0
Intelligence: 8.5
Charisma: 6.5
Ethics: 3.0*
Final Man Score: 6.75
*Contrast the ethics of Jack Bauer with the ethics of Lt. Jim Reardon, another character of Kiefer's, in To End All Wars.
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