10 TV Characters Whose Fates Are Never Resolved

8. Jack Bauer - 24

24 Live Another Day Jack
Fox

24 is arguably guiltier of this than any other major TV show, giving countless major and minor characters alike ambiguous fates just so they can be dusted off should the writers ever feel like bringing them back.

But this never annoyed fans more than in the season finale of 24: Live Another Day, the last "proper" series of 24 led by legendary CTU agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland).

The final episode concludes with a brutal cliffhanger in which Jack willingly trades himself to the Russians in order to secure the freedom of his best pal Chloe O'Brian (Mary Lynn Rajskub). Jack gets in a helicopter which flies away and...that's it.

It's now been well over six years since the episode aired, and the recent botched reboot series 24: Legacy surprisingly made no mention at all of Bauer's condition.

It's tough to imagine that Jack was simply tortured and killed by the Russians, if only because Fox would always want to leave the door open for Sutherland's return - especially with Sutherland expressing recent interest in a reprise.

But at the same time, it's depressing to consider that Jack's possibly been rotting in prison for the last six years.

Sutherland did actually ask for Jack to be killed off at the end of Live Another Day but was stonewalled by Fox higher-ups, yet if we never end up getting definitive closure for Jack, it'll be a shame that the network didn't follow through with the actor's original request.

Jack deserves better than this, and so do the fans.

Contributor
Contributor

Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.