Now, hear me out.
My wording in the título is important here. I said fitting, NOT ideal. I think I can speak for most fãs when I say we all just want a happy ending for Jack. He has been through so much, lost so much. He deserves true happiness, he NEEDS it. I need it for him. There's nothing I'd like to see mais than to have him settled down and retired, spending his days chasing Teri 2 around.
Now, think of the show. 24 is a constant tearjerker and nail-biter. Jack is put under stress around every turn. He's beaten, tortured, chased and hell even killed! He has (literally and figuratively) dodged many bullets, and been put through the ringer countless times. It is not a happy show.
So it's only fitting that it not have a happy ending.
They have toyed with the idea of killing Jack a few times, but never gone through with it for (I think) 2 reasons - 1 being that 24 is a cash cow and they know fãs only want Jack...killing him leaves NO room for a return ever. 2 being that fã backlash would be devastating and severe, probably something they don't want to deal with.
Many main characters have died throughout 24's time on the air. Most of them I cared about deeply, and their loss hit me like a ton of bricks straight to the chest taking all the air out of me. (David....RIP) Jack thankfully has managed to escape that. For now. The writers way of dealing with an unhappy ending is to not kill him, but put him in jail/confinement for God knows how long.
This is not a satisfying ending.
Don't get me wrong, killing him would not be satisfying either BUT it would follow 24's format. Nobody is spared. Everyone can die, it doesn't matter who you are or what you are to the franchise. Which is why I said it would be fitting that the series ends once and for all with Jack's death.
I feel a happy ending with him would be a bit too saccharine for what we normally get from the show. The "best friend" scene between Jack/Chloe at the end of Live Another dia gave me diabetes for how sweet it was...that's about as sweet and tender this show gets.
With all that being said, I amor Jack first and foremost and he will always always always be my #1 favorito character across any entertainment. Forever. What I WANT is a saccharine ending with the final picture being a family barbecue with Kim, her husband and a now grown Teri 2. My coração needs this for him. I don't like thinking of him in jail, and I would never recover from him dying. BUT for the sake of thinking realistically in terms of what we have already seen from the show and following those guidelines, it only fits that Jack dies.
