Graham (24 character)

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24 character
Graham (full name unknown)
Gender:	Male
Jobs held:	Power broker
Affiliation:	President Charles Logan and his associates
Family:	Josh (Son)
Spouse:	Marilyn (Wife)
Current status:	Active
Portrayed by:	Paul McCrane
Seasons:	5, 6

Graham, a fictional character played by Paul McCrane, first appeared in Episode 19 of Day 5 of 24. Graham is introduced as the leader of a group that orchestrated the Sentox Nerve Gas conspiracy, as well as the murder of David Palmer.

[edit] Season Five

Not much is revealed about Graham, and the only personal information he shares is that he has children. His organization conceived the Sentox plan six months prior to Day 5, when a low-level associate, James Nathanson, recruited White House Chief of Staff Walt Cummings for the plot. They had apparently planned on using Cummings as a scapegoat, designed to draw suspicion away from themselves, President Charles Logan, and Christopher Henderson in the event that things went wrong. The plot did indeed go wrong, as in due course, Cummings was compromised, Nathanson was killed by the terrorists for "betraying" them, and Henderson and Logan's involvement was discovered by Jack Bauer. However, Graham and his cabal were safely insulated from the CTU investigation and from terrorist reprisal.

When Logan calls, Graham informs him that the First Lady, Charles' wife Martha Logan, is starting to become a problem. He wishes to deal with her, but the President says that he will handle it. When talking to his allies later in the episode, he states "...when we started this eighteen months ago..." Since Day 5 took place eighteen months after Day 4, this implies that their involvement began in the aftermath of Day Four, or may have possibly play a role in the events of Day 4. He makes sure that his allies are willing to continue with this operation, despite having taken many bumpy turns. When the President calls again, Graham tells him that he must make sure Martha Logan remains silent. He also congratulates the President on being able to handle the increasing suspicion while they watched from the sidelines, and "earning" their trust. When he learns that Jack Bauer takes over the plane and has the evidence around 3:00 am, he orders the President to shoot it down as a last ditch effort to prevent the evidence from being released.

The plane ultimately lands safely and even though Logan claimed the U.S. Marines would apprehend Bauer when the plane landed, Bauer escaped with the recording. Graham and Logan implicitly agree that Logan must kill himself rather than subject the country to the scandal of a sitting president being charged for murder and treason. However, Graham learns shortly thereafter that Logan's suicide became unnecessary when the tape was unexpectedly eliminated.

Although Logan is eventually exposed and arrested, Graham appears to be unaffected, due partially to the fact that Bauer was illegally abducted by the Chinese before Graham could go after him. However, Graham expresses relief when he learns that Henderson was killed, probably because of one less person who could expose him. Graham may even order Logan himself eliminated, for the same reason: Logan knows Graham by name, and may attempt to reveal him to authorities in exchange for clemency. His fate, as well as Logan's to a lesser extent, is one of the cliffhangers that will be revealed in Season 6.

Graham's motivations, to create a smoking gun in Central Asia allowing the United States to increase their military force and secure a flow of oil from the region, are similar to those of Peter Kingsley and Max during Day 2, which also involved oil reserves and businesslike motives. Another similarity is that at the end of the day, Graham and his associates remain at large (although, Jack Bauer does apprehend and kill Max in 24:The Game). As such, Graham and the other members of the conspiracy are not "terrorists", but "conspirators" whose actions slid against the key protagonists of the show.

[edit] Trivia

• Due to Graham and his associate's heavy use of Bluetooth cellphones - and because no one is certain what or who these people are, fans refer to Graham and his group as the "BlueTooth Bandits," "BlueTooth Gang," "BlueTooth Mafia," or "The BlueTooth Group" (a pun on "The Blue Man Group"). Another name coined is "Covert Cabal," i.e., a hidden conspiracy. Many also call them "The Patriots" or alternately, "The Wisemen's Committee", which are references to a similar powerful, secretive organization in the PlayStation 2 game Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. Some have also referred to them as the "Three Wisemen", based on the fact there are three of them who seemed to be wise to the whole plot all along.

• In the Sentox Nerve Gas Conspiracy, Graham and his associates are the highest in the chain of command. They formulated the nerve gas plan and brought it to Charles Logan, who authorized it. Graham then most likely contacted associate James Nathanson, to set up the deal with Vladimir Bierko. Christopher Henderson, Logan's pointman, sent a shipment of nerve gas from his DoD company to Ontario Airport. Nathanson used his recruit, Walt Cummings, to reveal the location of the nerve gas to Vladimir Bierko's terrorists. From there, Nathanson & Bierko arranged the attack on the airport.

• Graham will be returning for season 6, making it likely that even more details about him and his family will be revealed.

• Graham can be seen in a trailer for Season 6 in which Jack Bauer appears to be grabbing him by the collar. Graham says to Jack "You're hurting me." to which Jack replies "Trust me, I'm not.".

Preceded by Mandy

24 Last Villain Season Five

Succeeded by Unknown