24 (season 1)

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The first season of the television series 24 was first broadcast from November 2001 to May 2002. The season's storyline starts at 12:00 a.m. on the day of California Presidential primary.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
Right now, terrorists are plotting to assassinate a presidential candidate. My wife and daughter have been targeted. And people that I work with may be involved in both. I'm Federal Agent Jack Bauer, and this is the longest day of my life.
—Jack Bauer
The Cast of Season 1.
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The Cast of Season 1.

Contents

[edit] Season overview

The first season (2001 – 2002) takes place on the day of a fictional presidential primary, most likely during March 2002.

The season's main plot revolves around an assassination attempt on Maryland Senator David Palmer, a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, on the day of the California primary. The central character is Jack Bauer, a former Delta Force operator who is the Special Agent in Charge of the fictional Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) in Los Angeles. Bauer becomes professionally as well as personally involved when his wife Teri and daughter Kim are kidnapped by the people behind the assassination.

The season is essentially divided into two acts:

  1. The first act revolves around a mercenary group's efforts to control Jack Bauer and force him to kill Senator Palmer by kidnapping Bauer's wife and daughter. This culminates in Jack's successful rescue of his family.
  2. In the second act, the real masterminds and villains behind the plot are revealed and continue with their plans to kill the Senator.

Fox initially ordered half a season of the show to try it out. The successful rescue at the end of the first half of the season was planned as a series finale in the event that 24 was not picked up for the rest of the season.

[edit] Major subplots

The show rotates between the points of view of each of the five main cast members: Jack Bauer, Teri Bauer, Kim Bauer, Nina Myers, and David Palmer. The day's situations — both ongoing events and the relationships between these five characters and their associates — form the basis for the season's subplots.

  • A mole at CTU is sabotaging efforts to stop the assassination.
  • Jack finds himself in situations where he must confront his complex personal definition of compromise.
  • The Bauer family is rebuilding their relationships now that Jack has moved home after being separated from Teri for 6 months.
  • There are tensions between Jack, his second-in-command and former lover, Nina Myers, and Nina's current boyfriend/rebound relationship and third-in-command, Tony Almeida.
  • Political scandals threaten to erupt, centered around Senator Palmer's son having been accused of killing his sister's rapist in the distant past.
  • Jack Bauer's personal and professional relationships with David Palmer and Tony Almeida, which are further explored in later seasons, are founded.
  • Kim has a complicated relationship with her kidnappers, particularly the misguided Rick Allen.
  • Teri develops personal problems as a result of the day's stress and revelations.
  • Jack suffers great personal anguish due to worry about the safety of his family and the stress dealing with the consequences of his protocol deviations.

[edit] Summary

The season starts and ends at 12:00 a.m. PST. The first half of the season centers on the efforts of a terrorist cell led by Ira Gaines to assassinate presidential candidate David Palmer. They kidnap Jack Bauer's wife and daughter in order to force him to perform the assassination and take the fall for Palmer's death. Jack eventually defeats this cell in the process of saving his wife and daughter, but this only leads to information about a second group of terrorists who had employed the first cell. The second cell is led by those ultimately responsible for the day's events: Andre and Alexis Drazen.

Two years prior to this day, Jack Bauer was sent as part of a classified team to Kosovo on the orders of a secret Congressional panel headed by David Palmer to kill Victor Drazen, Slobodan Milošević's "shadow." In order to keep the operation totally secret, the panel never met nor knew the team of operatives, and vice versa, therefore Palmer and Bauer never knew about each other. The Drazens found out about both Palmer's and Bauer's involvement in their father's death (incidentally, Jack Bauer was believed to be the only operative still alive), and the whole assassination plot had been a means to get back at them -- Palmer would be dead, Jack would be imprisoned for the assassination, and his family would be killed.

During the last few episodes, the plot twists revealed many surprises. It was revealed that Bauer's team had only killed Drazen's body double. The real Victor Drazen was being held in a top secret underground prison later revealed to be under government control, and the Drazens' primary goal was to free Victor Drazen. Eventually, in order to satisfy the Drazens, Palmer's death is faked. The Drazens recapture Bauer's daughter Kim and offer to exchange her life for Bauer's. However, Kim escapes and the Drazens soon learn that Palmer is still alive. In desperation, the freed Victor Drazen tells his mole inside CTU, who we discover is Nina Myers, to call Bauer and tell him that his daughter is dead and that the Coast Guard has found her body. Drazen does this because he knows Jack will come to kill him, and, hopefully, be killed in the process. As it turned out, Jack Bauer came and did kill not only Victor Drazen, but also Andre Drazen (Alexis was dead already) and all their henchmen. After that, Jack Bauer called the Coast Guard to arrange to claim his daughter's body. The Coast Guard informs Bauer that they did not find a body that night. Hearing this, Bauer realizes that Nina Myers is the mole. He calls the head of CTU and tells him to detain Myers, but Myers, who heard that Bauer had survived, was already preparing for exfiltration by erasing all the incriminating information on her computer. Bauer's wife, Teri, was confused about the events surrounding Jack's attempt to rescue their daughter, and looked for Myers, whom she trusted. Teri realized that Myers was the mole, however, and Myers tied her up and shot her. Jack came to CTU and let them take Myers into custody (as opposed to killing her). He then discovered his wife's body.

The season has a dramatic and unexpected ending: the death of Teri Bauer. Many fans were dismayed by this sudden plot twist, while others applauded 24's genre-defying willingness to kill major characters with little warning. The producers also filmed an alternate ending in which Teri, Kim, and Jack are reunited, and another in which Teri is shot, but survives. However, they eventually decided to go with the death of Teri Bauer as the climax of season one. The first alternate ending is available on the Season 1 DVD boxed set, although it is noticeably less dramatic than the eventual ending that was aired.

[edit] Series timeframe

Although it is not clear what year the series is set in, it is known that it does take place during a presidential election year. Some fans have assumed it is the 2004 election and therefore, the date would be a Tuesday in March of 2004. However, others believe that this year is incorrect since, during Season 1, Jack Bauer states that he took part in a covert operation against a key member of Milošević's government two years before. Since Milošević was ousted from office four years before 2004, there is doubt as to whether this is the actual date.

However, some fans do argue the possibility that Victor Drazen was not found and attacked by Bauer's group until 2 years after Milošević was taken down. Another credible argument is the fact that, in season 2, Gary Matheson states that his credit card expires in 2007. If season 1 takes place in 2004, then season 2 would take place in 2005, giving said credit card a life span of less than 2 years, which is not an unreasonable amount of time. Also in season 2, Aaron Pierce mentions that he joined the Secret Service during Reagan's second term (1985-1989), and Palmer acknowledges that it's been almost twenty years since then, making 2005 a strong possibility.

Also, in Season 3 it is noted that Jack's mission in Kosovo, in which he believed Stephen Saunders to be killed, happened eight years prior to that point in the series. Seeing as the U.S.-NATO military intervention in Kosovo occurred in 1999/2000 and that that season takes place during a Presidential election year, it can be assumed that Season 3 takes place in 2008. Therefore, since Palmer is running for his second term in 2008, then he was first elected in 2004, and this is when Season 1 takes place. Most likely, the original reference to "Operation Hell Gate" being two years earlier in season 1 was simply an error.

One other thing to note is that in the third episode of season 1, Nina proves her innocence (the first time) by showing that she could not have been the one who programmed a keycard containing vital information about the assassination plot. The card was created on Nina's computer on January 14th of the same year that season 1 takes place in. Nina then says that she could not have created the card because she and Jack had gone away together on that day. She remembered because it was the 2nd weekend in January. 2000 was a presidential election year and January 14th was on a Friday (technically the 3rd weekend). In 2004, the 14th was on a Wednesday.

[edit] Plots and twists affecting future seasons

[edit] Main cast

See List of characters in 24 for a more thorough list.

Stars

Recurring

[edit] List of episodes

# US Airdate Prod. Code Time Written By Directed By Screen Shot
1 6 November 2001 1AFF79 12:00 a.m. - 01:00 a.m. Robert Cochran, Joel Surnow Stephen Hopkins
  Jack Bauer's daughter, Kim, sneaks out of the house to go out with friends. As Bauer and his wife, Teri, try to figure out how to find Kim, Jack is called in for a meeting at CTU Los Angeles in response to a threat on Senator David Palmer's life. Bauer discovers that there may be a mole inside the CTU, and Senator Palmer gets a disturbing phone call.
2 13 November 2001 1AFF01 01:00 a.m. - 02:00 a.m. Joel Surnow, Michael Loceff Stephen Hopkins
  Jack's plans to find his daughter, Kim, are sidetracked when he gets a call from Richard Walsh, who is being stalked by assassins connected with the David Palmer hit. Mandy passes the ID card on to Ira Gaines. Kim realizes that she and Janet York may be in danger, while Teri Bauer and Alan York search for them.
3 20 November 2001 1AFF02 02:00 a.m. - 03:00 a.m. Joel Surnow, Michael Loceff Stephen Hopkins
  The files on Walsh's key card finger Nina as a dirty agent, but she has an alibi. Gaines has Mandy's girlfriend Bridgit shot when Bridgit tries to extort more money for the ID card. Kim and Janet escape, but Janet is hit by a car and left for dead while Kim is recaptured.
4 27 November 2001 1AFF03 03:00 a.m. - 04:00 a.m. Robert Cochran Winrich Kolbe
  Jack follows a lead from Walsh's card, while Jamey and Nina run interference with George Mason. Kim is handed off to Ira Gaines. Janet is taken to the hospital, with Teri and Alan following.
5 11 December 2001 1AFF04 04:00 a.m. - 05:00 a.m. Chip Johannessen Winrich Kolbe
  Palmer meets with Maureen Kingsley, who explains that she has two separate sources accusing Keith Palmer of murdering his sister's rapist. Kim and Rick are taken to Ira Gaines' compound. Jack finds an unidentified body connected to Gaines in the trunk of a car. Alan and Teri watch as Janet flatlines in surgery.
6 18 December 2001 1AFF05 05:00 a.m. - 06:00 a.m. Howard Gordon Bryan Spicer
  Jack and Teri are briefly reunited at the hospital, where Jack warns the doctors not to let anyone near Janet. Ira Gaines contacts Jack and tells him that he has kidnapped Kim and Jack must follow his orders. Teri leaves with Alan to continue searching for Kim. Palmer discovers that his entire family has been keeping secrets from him, but he needs them if he is to come clean before Kingsley breaks the story herself. Jamey helps identify the body from the car, and Nina calls Teri to tell her it was Alan York.
7 8 January 2002 1AFF06 06:00 a.m. - 07:00 a.m. Andrea Newman Bryan Spicer
  On Gaines' orders, Jack replaces the key card Milo was working on with a fake and takes Nina out to a cliffside to shoot her, but not before giving her a flak jacket. Teri escapes from Alan's impersonator (actually Kevin Carroll) long enough to be captured by more of Gaines' goons. Nina wakes up and walks off.
8 15 January 2002 1AFF07 07:00 a.m. - 08:00 a.m. Joel Surnow, Michael Loceff Stephen Hopkins
  Nina and Tony realize that Jamey is working for Gaines and lock her up in the Internal Technical Support room. Using instructions and equipment from Gaines, Jack gets in to see David Palmer's appearance at the San Clarita power plant, but is taken into custody by the Secret Service. Gaines begins Plan B.
9 22 January 2002 1AFF08 08:00 a.m. - 09:00 a.m. Virgil Williams Stephen Hopkins
  Sherry convinces Maureen Kingsley not to run her story by promising an exclusive on the assassination attempt. Jack breaks out of custody. Eli tries to rape Kim, but Teri offers herself instead. Jamey is found with her wrists slashed.
10 5 February 2002 1AFF09 09:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. Larry Hertzog Davis Guggenheim
  Jamey dies in the hospital. Teri gets ahold of a cell phone and calls Jack, giving him clues to her whereabouts. An Acting Director, Alberta Green, arrives at CTU and declares Jack a fugitive. Jack follows a lead from Jamey's computer to Ted Cofell.
11 12 February 2002 1AFF10 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Robert Cochran Davis Guggenheim
  Cofell has a heart attack and dies, but Jack extracts Kim and Teri's location from Kevin Carroll. Concerned about the possibility of another mole, Nina and Tony agree not to tell Alberta Green anything. When Eli comes to kill Teri and Kim on orders from Andre Drazen, Teri wrestles his gun away and shoots him. She fires a second shot to suggest a second death and she and Kim hide Eli's body.
12 19 February 2002 1AFF11 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Howard Gordon Stephen Hopkins
  Jack Bauer makes it into Ira Gaines' camp, but Gaines is on to him and starts attacking him and his family. David Palmer tries to talk to Dr. George Ferragamo, but discovers that Carl Webb has been there before him. Alberta Green tries to turn Nina and Tony against one another.
13 26 February 2002 1AFF12 12:00 p.m. - 01:00 p.m. Andrea Newman Stephen Hopkins
  Jack Bauer has a final confrontation with Ira Gaines. David Palmer plans to talk to the DA about Dr. George Ferragamo's murder, but Carl Webb changes his mind. At CTU, Nina Myers discovers that a second assassin has arrived in LA, which means that Palmer's life is still in danger.
14 5 March 2002 1AFF13 01:00 p.m. - 02:00 p.m. Joel Surnow, Michael Loceff Jon Cassar
  Jack Bauer is returned to CTU, but can't stay with his family because Alberta Green places him under arrest. Green wants Tony Almeida to make a power play. Nina Myers escorts Kim and Teri to a hospital, but comes across evidence they may still be targets. David Palmer discovers a link between himself and Bauer, and decides to take matters into his own hands.
15 12 March 2002 1AFF14 02:00 p.m. - 03:00 p.m. Michael Chernuchin Jon Cassar
  Jack and Palmer finally meet face to face and learn of their connection through Operation Nightfall. They work together to track down those who are seeking revenge on them. Teri and Nina have a revealing conversation about Jack at the safehouse.
16 19 March 2002 1AFF15 03:00 p.m. - 04:00 p.m. Robert Cochran, Howard Gordon Stephen Hopkins
  Keith takes matters into his own hands when he arranges a secret meeting with Carl. Elizabeth Nash realizes who Alexis Drazen really is and immediately comes forward. The safehouse is attacked, but Teri and Kim manage to escape. They are then separated by an unforeseen accident.
17 26 March 2002 1AFF16 04:00 p.m. - 05:00 p.m. Michael Chernuchin Stephen Hopkins
  Teri is struck with amnesia and must turn to an old friend for help. Kim goes to Rick's house in hopes of finding a lead. Jack sets Elizabeth up for a sting against Alexis, and she takes the opportunity to stab him.
18 2 April 2002 1AFF17 05:00 p.m. - 06:00 p.m. Maurice Hurley Frederick K. Keller
  Palmer and Sherry clash over the handling of the evidence against Carl. Kim finds herself in a sticky situation with Dan's brother. Jack poses as Alexis and meets with a stranger who has vital information, but an agent with a grudge from Jack's past picks a bad time to get even. Teri and Dr. Phil return to the Bauer home, putting themselves in further danger.
19 9 April 2002 1AFF18 06:00 p.m. - 07:00 p.m. Joel Surnow, Michael Loceff Frederick K. Keller
  Jack and Mason investigate the area where the power was to be turned off. Nina tries to warn Jack about his family's disappearance, but Mason hampers her efforts. Teri explores her home in hopes of regaining her memory as Drazen's man closes in for the kill. Kim finds herself in the middle of a botched drug deal, while Palmer breaks the story about Keith to the press.
20 16 April 2002 1AFF19 07:00 p.m. - 08:00 p.m. Robert Cochran, Howard Gordon Stephen Hopkins
  Kim lands in jail when the cops don't believe her story. Jack stumbles onto a secret detention center. He arrives just in time to bluff Andre and his men out of freeing a prisoner who is being transferred in. Jack confronts the prisoner and discovers that it is Victor Drazen. Before Jack can learn any more, Andre and his soldiers make another run on the prison.
21 23 April 2002 1AFF20 08:00 p.m. - 09:00 p.m. Joel Surnow, Michael Loceff Stephen Hopkins
  David Palmer wins the primary, taking not only California, but all eleven states. Kim is released from prison when Melanie tells the truth, but is recaptured by henchmen of the Drazens. Jack and DeSalvo are ambushed by Andre's men, and Victor explains the connection between himself and Jack. Jack offers Alexis Drazen in exchange for his freedom. Victor and Jack escape the facility just before CTU enters.
22 7 May 2002 1AFF21 09:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. Joel Surnow, Michael Loceff Paul Shapiro
  Ryan Chappelle refuses to trade Alexis for Jack, so Nina calls in a favor from David Palmer, who promises George Mason a promotion if he makes the trade. Sherry Palmer enlists campaign worker Patty Brooks to spy on her husband and sleep with him if necessary. The Drazens take Alexis but destroy the homing device CTU planted on him. Jack is released, but Kim is still a captive.
23 14 May 2002 1AFF22 10:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. Robert Cochran, Howard Gordon Paul Shapiro
  Alexis Drazen dies. David Palmer fires Patty for conspiring with Sherry against him. Victor Drazen attemps to kill Palmer with an exploding cell phone, but Jack saves him just before the explosion and decides to cover up Palmer's survival for the moment. Unknown to Jack, Kim escapes from the Drazens. Andre Drazen takes a call from his source inside CTU, who tells him that CTU has faked Palmer's death. The source is Nina Myers.
24 21 May 2002 1AFF23 11:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m. Robert Cochran, Howard Gordon Stephen Hopkins
  David Palmer tells Sherry he wants a divorce. Conspiring with the Drazens, Nina tells Jack that Kim is dead. Jack kills Victor for revenge, and CTU helicopters chase down the remaining henchmen. After learning that Kim is alive, Jack warns Mason that Nina must be the mole. Nina is captured, but she has already killed Teri.

[edit] Trivia

  • A scene from the pilot episode depicting a Boeing 747 exploding was re-edited for broadcast, with the image of the plane exploding removed, in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, which had occurred less than two months earlier. [1]
  • The Drazen Operation to seek revenge of those who were involved in Operation Nightfall did succeed in one aspect: While the murders of Jack Bauer and David Palmer were never successful, they did manage to murder the man who connected the two, Robert Ellis, who was killed in a bar bathroom in New Orleans.
  • In episode 24 (11:00pm to 12:00am), while Jack is chasing Andre and Victor out on to the docks, there is a split-second shot of a man in a blue mask standing next to Jack as he returns fire on the Drazens: a mistake that was never edited out on the DVD.
  • In the final episode, various pictures could be seen on Nina's laptop. The pictures were of various cast and crew members, including a shot of Kiefer kissing a stuffed animal.
  • The two people that Jack Bauer trusted in CTU, Jamie Farrel and Nina Myers, turned out to be the only two moles in CTU.
  • In Episode 8, when Nina walks into the house right after Jack shot her in the flak jacket, as she looks for a phone, one of the cameramen sidles into the shot.

[edit] External links

  1. ^ "24 General Trivia". Encyclopedia Vestigatio. Retrieved on 2006-06-01.
24
Seasons: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6
Merchandise: The Game | The Soundtrack | Conspiracy
Organizations: Counter Terrorist Unit | Operation Nightfall | Second Wave
Characters: Jack Bauer | Tony Almeida | David Palmer | Chloe O'Brian
Michelle Dessler | Teri Bauer | Kim Bauer | Bill Buchanan
Nina Myers | Charles Logan | Wayne Palmer | Audrey Raines
Minor characters
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../2/4/_/24_%28season_1%29.html"
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