Mandy (''24'' character)

Mandy is a fictional character, played by Mia Kirshner, on the television series 24. She is a terrorist and a professional assassin, and is notable for being one of the few longtime antagonists of the series to remain alive. Though there is a significant amount of time in between her appearances, her actions within the show are usually substantial and traumatic to the main characters.

Characterization

After Ellen complained that Mandy's lesbian kiss in Season One was using lesbianism as a "sign of impending doom."^[1] Mandy is frequently referred to in the press and by fans as a "lesbian assassin," along with the qualifiers "sexy, slutty, diabolical."^[2][3] Mandy is also referred to by Jack as a "professional," comparing the Mandy character to himself.

Appearances

24: Season 1

Mandy appears in the first three episodes of the first season as part of the group hired by Andre Drazen to assassinate presidential candidate David Palmer. She has sex with Martin Belkin, a media photographer seated next to her on her flight to Los Angeles, during which time she steals his wallet. Mandy detonates a bomb on the 747 as she parachutes off to safety.^[4]

After landing safely in the Mojave Desert, Mandy hides Martin's identification in the sand. She later meets with Ira Gaines, the leader of Drazen's hit squad, to negotiate payment for Belkin's access and identification card.^[5] Mandy calls her accomplice and lover Bridgit, and asks her to bring the card when she is sure Gaines has the payment. When Bridgit arrives, she demands more money from Gaines than originally agreed upon. Gaines agrees to pay the additional money, and the three return to the desert and retrieve the card. Shortly after thanking Bridgit for the card, Gaines has her shot by a far-off sniper. He has the sniper put Mandy in his crosshairs as well, and then asks her if she's "in" for an unspecified job to be carried out during the following summer. Mandy, who has become visibly upset by Bridgit's death, reluctantly agrees, and Gaines calls off the sniper.^[6]

24: Season 2

In a plot twist at the end of Season 2, Mandy returns as a hired assassin. She deliberately comes into physical contact with President David Palmer, infecting him with a poisonous toxin. With her job done, Mandy slinks off into the large crowd unseen.^[7]

24: The Game

Mandy makes a very brief cameo appearance in the game where she is once again hired as an assassin, this time assassinating California Governor James Radford.

24: Season 4

Mandy is now working with Habib Marwan. She and her boyfriend Gary help plan the kidnapping of Secretary of Defense James Heller and his daughter Audrey Raines. During the last few hours of the season, Mandy hears helicopters outside her apartment and realizes that she's been discovered by CTU. She ambushes a CTU team and takes Tony Almeida hostage.^[8] Mandy detonates a bomb within a nearby car, successfully tricking CTU into believing that she and Tony were dead. During her attempt at escape, Jack discovers her plan and catches her and Tony in the parking lot. When Mandy threatens to kill Tony, Curtis sneaks behind her and punches her in the face.^[9]

Jack tells her that he can get a Presidential Pardon for all of her past crimes, and will do so if she cooperates. Mandy agrees. David Palmer hesitates after learning that she was behind the assassination attempt on his life from Season 2, but eventually agrees to grant the pardon. Mandy's record is now clean, and her whereabouts are unknown.^[10]

Reception

Despite her small number of appearances, the Mandy character was popular with fans of the series. Mandy is often referred to as "Naked Mandy" within the show's circle of fans as well as in the media, in reference to her so-called "naked cavorting" during the first season of the series. The website Ain't It Cool News contributed to the name, frequently asking the question "Does Naked Mandy return?" in its rundowns of early season episodes.^[11] The scene in the premiere where Mandy parachutes out of the bombed plane has been cited as one of the show's most memorable moments.^[12]

During a 2009 Comic-Con panel, David Fury commented that Mandy was originally going to be Tony's Season 7 accomplice before the character Cara Bowden was created. Before Season 8, Fury also noted that Mandy, along with Charles Logan and Tony Almeida, could possibly return in Season 8.^[13] After the series finale aired, when asked about a possible Mandy return in season 8, Howard Gordon said, "Mandy always came up a bunch of times, but unfortunately, it felt like a sensational move. We chose not to go down that path." ^[14]

References