Was 24's Final Season Made Up As It Went Along?

Say what you will about Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, but at least they sorta had a plan. Oh sure, with a three-year jump on Lost going off the air, maybe they could have done a better job of explaining some of the series core mysteries -- like, why the Smoke Monster was trapped in "Jacob's Cabin" but also free to guard the temple and terrorize the 815 castaways, for instance -- but on the whole, it seemed like they had at least thought things through. Not so for Howard Gordon though! The 24 executive producer spoke to EW following last night's series finale, and his answers do little to retroactively inspire confidence in the 24 creative process. To put it another way: There's a good chance this season was blocked out on a napkin.

As anyone who watched 24 knows, the plotting this time around was almost beyond absurd. To wit: The normally unimpeachable President Allison Taylor (Cherry Jones, slumming), who sent her daughter to prison last season for breaking the law, decided to get involved in a massive, law-exploding cover-up seemingly just because. And, per Gordon, "just because" seems like all the reason 24 needed:

"There was some other mid-season purpose for her, but I can't remember. But even in the beginning, I told her I didn't have much of a part for her. My initial impulse, and our initial impulse, was that there was no more story to tell. That she, this character, had pretty much exhausted her story. And we needed her mostly to tee-up Omar Hassan, and help ennoble him as a character, rather than you know, step front and center stage herself. So the idea was always to have her at the edges of the stage, teeing up this character, and as it turned out, she became a profound player in the drama ... I know [Cherry Jones] was surprised, and she was such a great sport, and such a phenomenal actor. But I have to say, it was challenging both to write and then to communicate to her what we were trying to do."

So, 24 ran out of things for President Taylor to do and then made her quasi-evil? Sounds good! But at least Gordon had to be clear on the fact that bad guys would wind up being the Russians, right?

Did you know at the start of the season that the Russians would be the ultimate villains?

No idea.

Godspeed, 24. Your complete ridiculousness and total disregard for logic, coherent planning and basic character motives will be sorely missed. When does the movie come out again?

· '24' Series Finale: Executive Producer Howard Gordon answers some burning questions [EW]