Lynne Kresge

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24 character
Lynne Kresge
Gender	Female
Jobs held	Counselor to President David Palmer
Affiliation	White House
Family	NA
Spouse	NA
Current status	Alive
Portrayed by	Michelle Forbes
Seasons	2

Lynne Kresge is a fictional character played by Michelle Forbes on the television series 24.

The role originated in 2002 at the start of the second season and recurred until near the end of the season in 2003.

[edit] Synopsis

Lynne was the counselor to President David Palmer, the first African-American President of the United States.

During the second season, Palmer and his staff – Chief of Staff Mike Novick, Press Secretary Jenny Dodge, NSA Deputy Director Eric Rayburn, and his boss, National Security Advisor Roger Stanton – dealt with a nuclear bomb threat in Los Angeles.

From the moment the threat was called in, Lynne and Rayburn clashed and, at 11 a.m., the offices of the L.A. Counter Terrorist Unit were blown up. The loss of lives could have been prevented if the President was informed but Rayburn silenced Lynne's attempt to do so because he believed it was better to let them die than tip the terrorists off to the fact that CTU operative Jack Bauer was undercover.

While Bauer being undercover was crucial in ultimately finding the nuke, the President sided with Lynne in that what he had done was inexcusable and Rayburn was let go. When Stanton, his boss, arrived, Palmer was instantly suspicious. As it turned out, he was right to be, for Stanton was working with Palmer's ex-wife Sherry. Lynne was the only one suspicious of Sherry which led to them fighting several times.

At 6 p.m., Palmer had Stanton tortured for information and this information, along with the information Bauer and his team had developed, led to the arrest of terrorists Marie Warner and Syed Ali, and the ultimate capture of the nuclear bomb. Stanton revealed that Sherry had been working with him and - despite her claims that she was doing it to get inside their circle, a group who wanted to hijack the Presidency - Palmer sent her out of his life again. The nuclear bomb was flown into the desert by former CTU director George Mason, who sacrificed himself to detonate it in a non-populated area. Palmer then decided to go to Los Angeles on Air Force One.

When they arrived in L.A., shortly after midnight, Vice President of the United States Jim Prescott became involved as he anxiously awaited the inevitable retaliation against the three Middle Eastern countries implicated by evidence found in Syed Ali's apartment. While a disturbed Palmer sided with his advisors and prepared retaliatory actions, he was informed by Bauer that Ali had been assassinated. Bauer and his colleague Michelle Dessler believed it was because Ali knew that the evidence was forged and the countries weren't involved.

Palmer was pushed into war while Bauer attempted to chase down evidence. He believed he had found it, but could not produce it in time. Palmer still canceled the military action, unaware that the Vice President and Mike Novick were plotting against him. Lynne discovered evidence of a secret meeting between the Vice President and the cabinet and asked for Mike's help. It turned out that he knew what was going on, and had her imprisoned in a storage room so she could not inform the President that he was about to be unseated. She hatched an escape plan but in doing so, a security guard accidentally threw her down a stairwell, and she sustained neurological damage. When she was found, she attempted one last time to point to Mike and accuse him but Mike took her hand and didn't betray any guilt to anyone.

Lynne is not seen nor mentioned in neither the rest of Season 2 nor in subsequent seasons.

In an interview in February 2007, 24 Producer Jon Cassar listed Lynne Kresge among past characters who could 'potentially return' to 24 at some point (though there are apparently no plans to bring her back for Season 6) which suggests that Lynne did indeed survive. [1]

[edit] Trivia

• Michelle Forbes provides commentary on the DVD set, in the fourth episode of the season, "11 AM - 12 PM", with co-stars Carlos Bernard and Sarah Wynter.
• Her co-star, Dennis Haysbert, is a Trekkie and was reportedly thrilled to be working with her, since she played the character of Ro Laren in several episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
• Lynne is one of several 24 characters who were last seen critically injured or in danger but whose fate was never made clear. Other examples include President John Keeler, Mitch Anderson, and Evelyn Martin.