A fan says farewell to '24'

After eight seasons of fighting terrorists, Jack Bauer will stand down for good as the clock ticks its final tock on "24."

In those eight incredibly long days of Jack's life, we watched a man of modest means become a national symbol as the "go-to" guy in a crisis. He didn't always play by the rules, and certainly his methods of extracting information from the bad guys made us wince. But he was a hero nonetheless.

Simply, Jack Bauer was in the right place at the right time. Fox debuted "24" on Nov. 6, 2001, almost two months after terrorists made a successful attack on U.S. soil. We needed a hero, and we found one in Jack, a federal agent for the fictitious Counter Terrorism Unit.

Like "Die Hard's" John McClain, Jack was a normal-seeming guy, torn between his duty to country and love for his family. In that first season, Jack stopped a terrorist plot and saved presidential candidate David Palmer, but he lost his wife to an assassin's bullet. His commitment to his country alienated him from his daughter, and his inability to walk away cost him any chance at a "normal" life.

But Jack's loyalty to the greater good made him, in essence, the Superman of our time. Year after year, he foiled evil plots and overcame insurmountable odds to save our country - in 24 hours flat.

In reality, we were shocked when the Bush administration supported torture techniques on enemy combatants. But on "24," we had no problem when Jack broke a few fingers or used a live electric cord to extract information from the enemy. To conservatives, he was our Rambo. To liberals, he was our guilty pleasure.

Although the show's events were supposed to be in real time, we accepted that Jack never sat down to a full meal, stopped for a bathroom break or took a nap. We believed cell phone batteries never died and hospitals were conveniently located around the block from wherever a key character was seriously wounded.

But, above all, we believed in Jack to do the right thing. And he always delivered.

So thank you, Jack. The world's going to feel a little less safe after you're gone.