Unofficial 24 Page "Best Of" Clips #1 -- Chappelle's Death

Before I get into clip number 1, I thought I'd share this amusing red carpet interview with Carlos Bernard, who seems like a pretty funny guy. As you know if you read me, I firmly believe Tony is dead and is not coming back... but I do like how Bernard casts a shred of doubt on it. Hey, you never know, right?

As for the clip, yes, number 1 is the death of Ryan Chappelle. As previously stated, these clips are just one man's opinion. However, this clip is the one that got me to thinking about doing this list in the first place. I watch this clip several times a year, especially to get amped for upcoming seasons of 24. The scene never gets old for me, so let's just check it out.




First, Paul Shulze and Kiefer Sutherland act the hell out of this scene. I never made any secret of the fact that I loved the character of Chappelle and loved his recurring nature. He was a hard-ass beaurocrat who had gotten where he was by following the rules, but in the end he could be counted on to make the right decision (most of the time). He might have been a hard-ass and had a grudge at times against the LA field office, but he was a patriot at heart who wanted to do what was best for his country. If that meant following orders, all the better.

Jack and Ryan had developed something of a relationship over the years and they actually were working together well at this point. You'll recall that just before this scene, CTU had been duped into thinking they were about to locate Stephen Saunders and it was a terrific scene that Chappelle and Jack were listening in on via their chopper headsets. When Chase Edmunds radioed that the mission was a failure, you could see Chappelle's eyes close and him realize that he was, indeed, screwed.

This scene has too many outstanding moments to go over one-by-one, but I will make note of several.

It opens with Jack telling Chappelle "We have to go, Ryan." Go to your death, little man. Jack is soft and kind with his words -- as kind as he can possibly be. Chappelle is soaked in sweat and confides in Jack that his legs are shaking. A nice touch to the scene and a touch of true reality. I think all of me might be shaking.

Ryan looks embarrassed to admit that he's scared and Jack tells him he's got him and they make their way to the train yard. We then have the slightly -- darkly -- amusing part where Chappelle, when asked if he wants to call anyone, comments that he hasn't talked to his lone brother for years and how he doesn't have many friends. He sort of says this with a very faint smirk (or what I perceive as a rueful smirk), while (sadly) commenting that his only friends are "just the people at work." Who, really, don't like him at all.

What has always bugged me about this is that Chappelle always wore a wedding ring. So what about his wife? Children? His Pomeranian?

Regardless, Jack then has nothing left to do but get down to the business of executing his co-worker. Now, this is some serious shit. Of course, I'm sure many reader have had co-workers they wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice to please a madman. Or their CEO. Or the mailman.

Anyway, Jack gets Ryan on his knees by saying, "I'm sorry Ryan, we gotta do this." After some back and forth about Ryan taking his own life and an impressive speech requesting to do it himself, Ryan chickens out. And so Jack takes the gun back and tells him it's okay. Even then he's trying to be sort of comforting.

The fear in Chappelle's face as he realizes throughout this scene what's coming to him is so palpable it still gives me chills every time I watch it. He's breathing heavy, there's a scared-beyond-scared look in his eyes, the eyes dart about, he seems lost in thought and perhaps trying to process this very organized murder that he's kind of complicit in -- of himself!

The end of Chappelle, as Jack trains his gun on Chappelle's bald spot and apologizes, is also gripping television. Jack apologizes for everyone at CTU, saying, "I'm sorry we let you down, Ryan." Chappelle's response is simply a short shaking of his head, perhaps as if to say, "No, you didn't let me down. This is the job." And then, BLAM, Chappelle is gone. The "mournful" train whistle, as it's been called, and the ever-famous silent clock bring this episode to an end and, man, do I still remember how I felt when watching that. No show makes me say "wow" more often.

So that's it. I can accept all sorts of arguments for other scenes that hsould have been in this countdown, but I definitely feel that this was the best scene in the run of 24 to this point. The acting, the stakes, the results. And in my opinion, this might be where Jack's sould completely switched over to the dark side. He's never been the same since this, nor should he be.

The premiere is in just two days so buckle in and let's get our minds set on Season Six.