| 24 | |
|---|---|
| Season 1 | |
 Promotional poster | |
| Starring | |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 24 |
| Release | |
| Original network | Fox |
| Original release | November 6, 2001 – May 21, 2002 |
| Season chronology | |
The first season of the American drama television series 24, also known as Day 1, was first broadcast from November 6, 2001, to May 21, 2002, on Fox. The season's storyline starts at midnight and ends at the following midnight on the day of the California presidential primary.
The first season takes place on the day of the California Presidential Primary.
The season's main plot revolves around an assassination attempt on David Palmer, a U.S. Senator from Maryland who is a presidential candidate for the Democratic Party, on the day of the primary election in California. The central character is Jack Bauer, a former United States Army Delta Force operator, who is the Director 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 divided into two halves; the first revolves around a mercenary group's efforts to control Jack Bauer by kidnapping his wife and daughter and forcing him to kill Senator Palmer. This culminates in Jack's successful rescue of his family. In the second half, a second wave of assassins is discovered. As CTU tracks their activities, Jack learns why he and the Senator are being targeted, and motions to counter against the assassins.
Fox initially ordered only 13 episodes—the successful rescue at the end of the season's first half was planned as a series finale in the event that the show was not renewed.
The show rotates between the points of view of each of the five main cast members: Jack Bauer, Teri Bauer, Nina Myers, Kim Bauer, and David Palmer, as well as one main villain—Mandy for the first three hours, followed by Ira Gaines, Andre Drazen, and finally Victor Drazen. 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.
Season 1 starts and ends at 12:00 a.m. PST. The season's first half 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 aid in the assassination and take the fall for Palmer's death. Jack eventually defeats this cell and Gaines 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 ago, to the day, Bauer was sent as part of a classified team to Kosovo on the orders of a secret U.S. Congressional panel headed by Palmer to kill Victor Drazen, Slobodan Milošević's "shadow." In order to keep Operation Nightfall totally secret, the panel never met nor knew the team of operatives, nor did the team know the panel. Therefore, Palmer and Bauer never knew about each other. The Drazens found out about both Palmer's and Bauer's involvement in the attack against their father and the death of his daughter and his wife. Incidentally, Bauer was believed to be the only operative still alive, and the whole assassination plot was to practice revenge: 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. Drazen's wife and daughter, however, were inadvertently killed, prompting the "eye for an eye" aspect of the plot: as Drazen's wife and daughter died, so would Bauer's wife and daughter. Viewers also discovered that the real Victor Drazen is a top secret, unofficial prisoner of the U.S. government, and the Drazens' primary goal was to free Victor Drazen.
Eventually, 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. With time running out on his chance to escape before he is recaptured, in desperation, the freed Victor Drazen tells his mole inside CTU, who is revealed to be Nina Myers, to call Bauer and tell him that his daughter is dead and that the U.S. Coast Guard has found her body. Drazen knows that a grieving Jack will attack him, and he believes he, his son Andre Drazen (the other, Alexis, having been seriously injured earlier by an aide to Sen. Palmer and later dying of his wounds during transportation to the Drazen hideout) and their henchmen can kill Jack. Nina is reluctant, knowing that if Drazen's plan fails, Jack will very quickly learn that Kim is not dead and that, since Nina lied to him, she must be the mole. However Nina does tell this lie to Jack.
Drazen's plot backfires rather spectacularly, as an enraged Jack kills Drazen's son and guards, and in the process corners Victor Drazen before killing him, after both have exchanged fire in a shootout. Afterwards, Jack Bauer speaks with a member of 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. Bauer realizes that Nina Myers is the mole. He calls George Mason 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 of herself on CTU's computer. Bauer's wife, Teri, is confused about the events surrounding Jack's attempt to rescue their daughter, and looks for Myers, whom she trusts. Teri realizes that Myers is the mole, however, and Myers ties her to a chair. Jack comes to CTU and lets the agents take Myers into custody (as opposed to killing her). He then discovers his wife's body in the chair with a fatal gunshot wound to her abdomen. The season ends with Jack cradling his dead wife in his arms, while he constantly tells her he is sorry.
|
For a more thorough list, see List of 24 characters § 24: Season 1. |
|
See also: List of 24 episodes |
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code | US viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "12:00 a.m. – 1:00 a.m." | Stephen Hopkins | Robert Cochran & Joel Surnow | November 6, 2001 | 1AFF79 | 11.64[1] |
| On the day of the California Presidential Primaries, Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) of Los Angeles is informed of an assassination attempt on Senator David Palmer, who is running for President. CTU agent Jack Bauer is called to service while his daughter, Kim, has escaped home. His wife, Teri, starts looking for her. CTU director Walsh informs Jack that there is a mole that Jack needs to find. George Mason, an agent from district command arrives with intel, and Jack forces him to reveal the source by threatening to disclose the former's embezzlement. Meanwhile, Kim meets up with her friend, Janet York; the two meet two boys, Allen and Mounts, and go to a furniture store, where Kim and Allen get close while Janet gets drugged. Kim starts to get suspicious when they all get into the boys' car, but the boys refuse to take her home. Teri joins forces with a man named Alan York, Janet's father, to find the girls. In the meantime, David gets upset after receiving a call from his friend, Maureen Kingsley. On a plane, a woman named Mandy steals Palmer's photographer's ID and blows the plane up after jumping out. | |||||||
| 2 | 2 | "1:00 a.m. – 2:00 a.m." | Stephen Hopkins | Joel Surnow & Michael Loceff | November 13, 2001 | 1AFF01 | 8.77[2] |
| Walsh meets an agent in a building; and the agent gives him a keycard. They are attacked by unknown men and the agent is killed while Walsh calls Jack for help. Meanwhile, Mandy hides the ID for her partner Bridgit to find and bring once Mandy is certain that Ira Gaines, for whom she is working, has payment for the ID. When her partner arrives she demands more money than the deal. Allen and Mounts force Kim to call Teri and state that everything is fine. Teri, having cleared the mess the girls made at the store with York, realizes from Kim's tone that there is a problem. Secret Service agents, led by Aaron Pierce, arrive to enhance the protection of David, who calls his friend, Carl Webb, telling him that Kingsley will publicly accuse his son, Keith, of murdering a boy who apparently killed himself after raping David's daughter, Nicole, years ago. David leaves alone to meet Webb. Jack joins Walsh and they try to escape, but Walsh is killed after giving Jack the keycard, which contains the mole's identity, who, by agent Farrell's decryption, appears to be Nina Myers. | |||||||
| 3 | 3 | "2:00 a.m. – 3:00 a.m." | Stephen Hopkins | Joel Surnow & Michael Loceff | November 20, 2001 | 1AFF02 | 8.18[3] |
| Jack confronts Myers, who denies the accusation. He asks Farrell to investigate more; and Farrell finally states that Myers' account was hacked, proving her innocence. Kim and Janet manage to escape from Mounts and Allen, who give chase. The girls ask an addict for help, but he denies it. They are attacked by a thug before the addict arrives and saves them. Kim finds a cell phone and calls Teri, revealing what is happening. They keep running until Janet has a car crash and Kim is caught and abducted again; and Janet is abandoned. David meets Webb, who offers to stop Kingsley until the former wins the Primaries, but David wants the source dealt with and Webb promises to handle Keith's situation. Secret Service arrives and returns David protected. Mandy's partner gives the ID to Gaines before she is killed by a sniper who has done a facial surgery resembling the photographer. Mandy is spared after she accepts a job planned for summer. CTU Agent Tony Almeida finds out about Walsh's death and reports the situation to district, requesting Jack's deposition. | |||||||
| 4 | 4 | "3:00 a.m. – 4:00 a.m." | Winrich Kolbe | Robert Cochran | November 27, 2001 | 1AFF03 | 9.15[4] |
| CTU finds a clue, but Mason arrives with his men and issues a lockdown. Jack manages to escape and heads to the location, where he starts gunfight with a thug. A policewoman hears it and moves to investigate. Jack convinces her to help him capture the thug, who fatally shoots her and is arrested by the police. He reveals to Jack that he knows him, that Kim is in danger and Jack must free him in exchange for his help. Meanwhile, Mason is trying to find Jack by interrogating Myers and Farrell. Mounts tries to kill Janet, but an ambulance arrives and they leave. After being delayed by a policeman, Teri and Alan arrive and find out that Janet has been taken to a hospital. Mounts and Allen deliver Kim to Gaines. David is informed by Pierce of the seriousness of the situation and David reveals Keith's situation to his wife, Sherry, saying that Kingsley has acquired evidence that proves the death to be murder. | |||||||
| 5 | 5 | "4:00 a.m. – 5:00 a.m." | Winrich Kolbe | Chip Johannessen | December 11, 2001 | 1AFF04 | 7.61[5] |
| Jack is confronted by Mason, who realizes that the suspect will only talk to Jack. Jack visits the suspect and secretly gives him a note, which contains a phone number possessed by Jack. On the phone, the thug says that he will talk only after the breakout. Jack manages to steal a guard's keycard and give it to the thug. They successfully escape and head to a location designated by Gaines. Having found them by satellite images, Mason and the police arrive and the thug is rearrested. Jack and Mason recover a body which is totally mutilated. Jack heads to the hospital where Janet, Alan and Teri are. Gaines finds out that Janet is alive and kills Mounts as punishment. David arranges a meeting with Kingsley. He asks her about her sources, one being George Ferregamo, Keith's therapist, and the other an autopsy report. David wakes up Keith and asks him where he was the night Nicole was attacked, but Keith refuses to answer. | |||||||
| 6 | 6 | "5:00 a.m. – 6:00 a.m." | Bryan Spicer | Howard Gordon | December 18, 2001 | 1AFF05 | 8.17[6] |
| CTU starts identifying the body. Myers tasks Farrell to do it and hires Milo Pressman, a contractor, for unlocking the keycard that Walsh had given to Jack. Jack arrives at the hospital, where he gets suspicious of Alan, who later smothers Janet to death, revealed not to be her father but an assassin working for Gaines. Jack gets a call from Gaines, who threatens to kill Kim if Jack doesn't follow Gaines' instructions. Jack is told to throw away his cell phone, enter a car, and wear a communication microdevice, while he is watched by a camera inside and by thugs in another car. Allen finishes burying Mounts' body. Teri keeps searching for Kim with Alan. She gets a call from Myers, who asks her to tell Jack that the body is identified as Alan York, surprising Teri. Webb tells David that Keith did confront the rapist, who attacked Keith and was killed by him in self-defense. Keith asked for help from Webb, who covered it up for David's career. David gets angry and demands that Webb leave. Webb also reveals that Sherry had sent Keith to him. David blames her for not telling him; she makes the same excuse as Webb's. David meets his chief of staff, Mike Novick, who advises him to reveal the story before Kingsley does. | |||||||
| 7 | 7 | "6:00 a.m. – 7:00 a.m." | Bryan Spicer | Andrea Newman | January 8, 2002 | 1AFF06 | 8.31[7] |
| On Gaines' order, Jack arrives at CTU and Gaines instructs him to replace the keycard Pressman is working on with another one. Myers finds out what Jack has done and confronts him. Gaines orders him to abduct her somewhere secluded, which he does. He tells Myers about Kim and shoots her, apparently killing her. Almeida looks at the camera footage and finds out that Jack made Myers wear a bulletproof flak jacket; and she is revealed to be alive. Meanwhile, Allen decides to break out Kim and they formulate a plan. The man posing as Alan York gets a call from Gaines to be cautious before he is attacked by Teri, who locks him to a tree and calls Farrell at CTU for help. Gaines' men arrive, free Alan and abduct Teri. Farrell is revealed to be the mole. As Kim and Allen try to escape, she realizes that Teri has been brought there too and they decide to return. David and Keith get distant to each other. David decides to reveal Keith's story in the upcoming conference although Sherry disagrees. | |||||||
| 8 | 8 | "7:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m." | Stephen Hopkins | Joel Surnow & Michael Loceff | January 15, 2002 | 1AFF07 | 7.51[8] |
| Myers returns to CTU secretly and informs Almeida of the situation. David and Sherry arrive at a facility where he will have his conference. Jack and the sniper also arrive. Myers and Almeida find out about Farrell. They capture her secretly, as Gaines has access to the cameras, which has been provided by her. She refuses to talk until she gets immunity. Jack meets a friend at the facility and tries to warn her of the plan, but she is moved away by another inside man, ordered by Gaines. Jack is ordered to give the tools he brought to the sniper, who assembles a minirifle. The plan is to kill David with it and give it to Jack, making him the alleged murderer. David tries to reveal Keith's story, but Jack stops the sniper's attempt by attacking a Secret Service agent and being arrested while David is moved away. Gaines orders his men to kill Teri and Kim, but receives a call from Farrell, who states that the failure wasn't Jack's fault and Gaines decides to keep Teri and Kim. | |||||||
| 9 | 9 | "8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m." | Stephen Hopkins | Virgil Williams | January 22, 2002 | 1AFF08 | 9.10[9] |
| Jack attempts to convince the Secret Service of his innocence, but then escapes while being transferred. He takes a woman hostage and goes to a work office at a construction site. He and the woman appear to get friendly. He calls Myers and asks for a car and other tools. He also tells Myers to force Farrell, who reveals that she accepted the job for only $300,000, to talk by threatening her son. The woman is instructed by Jack to go and check the car outside, but she escapes and informs the police. Jack manages to get to the car and escape. Meanwhile, a guard tries to rape Kim, but Teri convinces him to rape her instead of her daughter, and steals his cell phone in the process. David is safely returned to the hotel and claims to know Jack from somewhere. Sherry persuades Kingsley to hold her disclosure because it could be related to the attempt on David, but he prefers the story get revealed. Gaines calls Farrell for updates but she is found near death as a result of apparent suicide. | |||||||
| 10 | 10 | "9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m." | Davis Guggenheim | Lawrence Hertzog | February 5, 2002 | 1AFF09 | 9.25[10] |
| Myers gets a call from Teri, and Jack manages to talk to Teri and Kim, promising to find them. CTU tries to trace the call, but the guard arrives and recovers his phone. Jack is spotted by the police and they give chase. He rushes to a parking lot, where he is forced to leave his car behind in order to escape. Agent Alberta Green arrives and assumes command of CTU, adding the capture of Jack to the to-do list. She gets suspicious of Myers, who gets the identity of an accomplice named Ted Cofell. Jack calls Cofell's office and is informed that he is leaving. He arrives in time and poses as Cofell's driver. Gaines is revealed to be hired by a man named Andre Drazen, who planned the attack on David and Jack for personal reasons. Meanwhile, David is visiting an elementary school for his campaign and one of his sponsors reveals to him that the others have told Webb to get rid of Keith's problem completely, scaring David. | |||||||
| 11 | 11 | "10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m." | Davis Guggenheim | Robert Cochran | February 12, 2002 | 1AFF10 | 7.60[11] |
| Jack takes Cofell somewhere secluded and interrogates him, who denies knowing anything about what Jack says. He states that he is headed to a meeting with Kevin Carroll, a name Jack is unfamiliar with. They head to the location, where Cofell attacks Jack, but is stopped and dies after speaking Serbian and revealing that Jack is wanted dead for personal reasons. Carroll arrives - revealed to be the man impersonating Alan York - and is captured and interrogated by Jack. Jack promises to free Carroll if he takes Jack to his family; and Carroll accepts. Meanwhile, Drazen tells Gaines that he will proceed with his own plan and orders the death of Teri and Kim. They manage to kill the guard sent for them, making the ruse that they are killed. In the meantime, David is continuing his campaign and starting to remember Jack from a mission two years ago. He is visited by Webb, who reminds the former of the consequences of not complying with his sponsors' decisions. David decides to call Ferregamo. | |||||||
| 12 | 12 | "11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m." | Stephen Hopkins | Howard Gordon | February 19, 2002 | 1AFF11 | 7.98[12] |
| Jack enters the compound by Carroll's help. Jack locks Carroll in the trunk and proceeds to the room, where Teri and Kim have hidden the body. Allen is instructed to bring a van before he is ordered by Gaines to run an errand. They find Carroll and free him, who reveals Jack's presence. Allen escapes and takes a van. Jack calls Alberta Green, who is interrogating Myers and Almeida after finding out about their connection with Jack, and reveals his family's situation and requests backup. Allen arrives and the Bauers get in. They start driving until they are stopped by the mercenaries and forced to continue on foot. Teri and Kim are instructed to separate and go to the extraction point. Meanwhile, David calls Ferregamo and warns him of the attempt on Ferregamo's life, which Ferregamo interprets as a threat made by David to stop the disclosure. David decides to meet Ferregamo personally, but when he arrives, he finds the office on fire and Ferregamo dead. David deduces that it was done by Webb. | |||||||
| 13 | 13 | "12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m." | Stephen Hopkins | Andrea Newman | February 26, 2002 | 1AFF12 | 8.93[13] |
| Jack and Allen take shelter and Jack tells Allen that he has committed the crime of kidnapping even if he saved Kim later. Teri and Kim are found by a mercenary in an abandoned house, but Jack arrives and saves them. They head to the extraction point. Drazen orders Gaines to kill Jack in order to restore the deal. Carroll escapes and Gaines confronts Jack alone. Jack tries to convince Gaines on the radio to surrender, but is forced to kill him when he pulls his gun. Kim and Teri are rescued by CTU agents while Allen gets on a bus and leaves. Meanwhile, Kingsley decides to drop the case after hearing about Ferregamo and feeling danger to herself. David tries to dissuade her, but to no avail. He visits Webb, who states that Keith will be accused of arson if David doesn't comply. As a result, David decides not to reveal the case to the district attorney, intending to cover it up. Myers informs Green about a second assassin. | |||||||
| 14 | 14 | "1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m." | Jon Cassar | Joel Surnow & Michael Loceff | March 5, 2002 | 1AFF13 | 8.18[14] |
| Jack is interrogated by Division command director Ryan Chappelle. Teri and Kim are taken to a hospital for examination. Myers notices an unknown man who introduced himself as an FBI agent and now gone. The nurse decides to run a pregnancy test for Teri, but Myers decides to move Teri and Kim to a safe house immediately. CTU finds three potential suspects. Carroll calls Drazen and tries to make a new deal, but he and his men are killed. Green and Chappelle try to convince Almeida to testify against Jack, but he refuses. Keith gets angry after hearing that David will not disclose the story about Ferregamo, as Ferregamo meant a lot to Keith. It is revealed that Jack led a mission targeting the Drazens two years ago and was the only survivor of the team. David believes that Jack blames him for that and wants revenge. David arrives at CTU, requesting to meet Jack. Elizabeth Nash, one of David's staff meets the assassin in his hotel room and they start having sex. | |||||||
| 15 | 15 | "2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m." | Jon Cassar | Michael S. Chernuchin | March 12, 2002 | 1AFF14 | 8.86[15] |
| Using his contact, David manages to visit Jack and accuses him, but Jack is able to convince David of his innocence by revealing what his family has been through. The Drazens are revealed to want revenge for their family's death during the covert operation by killing David, who authorized the mission, and Jack, who was the only survivor. Jack and David call Robert Ellis, a former associate, and start investigating with his help. David convinces Chappelle to free Jack and let him do his job. Ellis is killed by an unknown man. Meanwhile, Teri and Kim are brought to a safe house. Teri finds out that she is pregnant before Kim finds out too. Teri tries to tell Jack on the phone. Myers starts debriefing Teri and Kim. Kim fails to save Rick because Teri is debriefed first and reveals his contribution. It is revealed that Jack was involved with Myers when he moved out. Myers tells Teri that it is over now. The assassin is revealed to be Alexis Drazen, Andre's brother. | |||||||
| 16 | 16 | "3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m." | Stephen Hopkins | Robert Cochran & Howard Gordon | March 19, 2002 | 1AFF15 | 9.20[16] |
| Secret Service informs David's staff of the three suspects, one being Alexis, whom Nash identifies and is brought to CTU for debrief. Mason is sent to CTU to assist Jack and they decide to forget the past to finish the mission. Jack convinces Nash to cooperate by returning to Alexis. Myers leaves the safe house to accompany Jack on his mission. While the debrief continues, the safe house is attacked by Andre's henchmen. Teri and Kim escape with a car. On the road, Teri loses the henchman and parks to see if they're still being followed. The car slides down into the valley and explodes, apparently killing Kim inside. Teri has a mental trauma and collapses. She is revealed to be amnesiac when she wakes up and is picked up by a woman. Kim is revealed to have survived and continues on foot. Meanwhile, David promises Keith to watch after him from now on. Keith arranges a meeting with Webb. He sneaks out by Nicole's help and arrives at the arrangement, where he records Webb's voice stating that the latter is behind Ferregamo's death and not the former. | |||||||
| 17 | 17 | "4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m." | Stephen Hopkins | Michael S. Chernuchin | March 26, 2002 | 1AFF16 | 9.33[17] |
| CTU team, including Jack and Myers, arrives at the hotel and Jack instructs Nash to put a tracker in Alexis's wallet. He arrives and they start having sex while CTU is watching. He leaves bed to bring liquor and she uses the chance to put the tracker. Suddenly, she critically stabs him and the agents storm in and arrest both of them. Alexis's cell phone rings and Jack answers for him, arranging a meeting with the caller. Meanwhile, Teri only recalls a restaurant nearby and the woman drops her there, where the waiter recognizes her and calls her former boyfriend Doctor Phil Parslow, who arrives and recovers her, promising to cure her amnesia. Kim calls CTU and Almeida picks up, but she believes she can't trust CTU because of experiencing Farrell and thus goes to the house Allen is staying. His girlfriend, Melanie, is not happy to see her. Keith plays his recording to David and gives him the tape. | |||||||
| 18 | 18 | "5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m." | Frederick King Keller | Maurice Hurley | April 2, 2002 | 1AFF17 | 8.72[18] |
| Jack goes to the meeting with the money while CTU snipers are set to support him. Teddy Hanlin, an agent who has a personal problem with Jack is sent as the chief sniper. Jack meets the mercenary, who tells Jack that he will cut the power supply at a specific location before he finds out that the former is not Alexis and starts running. Jack orders the snipers not to shoot, but Hanlin disobeys and kills the runner. Meanwhile, Teri asks Parslow to take her to her house, which he does. They arrive when a mercenary has killed a CTU agent and is watching them. Mounts' brother, Frank Allard, arrives and doesn't allow Kim to leave until Mounts returns with the money, not knowing that he is dead. David plays the tape to Novick and Sherry, stating that he is going to release it. Sherry secretly opens David's safe and destroys a tape, but David reveals that it wasn't the real tape and now he knows her personality. He schedules a press conference immediately. | |||||||
| 19 | 19 | "6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m." | Frederick King Keller | Joel Surnow & Michael Loceff | April 9, 2002 | 1AFF18 | 8.84[19] |
| Myers tries to warn Jack of his family's situation, but Mason stops her to help Jack focus. Meanwhile, Teri and Parslow arrive at the house; and his friend comes to aid them. The mercenary attacks, kills Parslow's friend and wounds Parslow. He forces her to reveal Kim's location, but Almeida arrives and kills him. Allard finds out about Mounts. He arranges a drug deal in his house and pulls his gun on the sellers intending to kill them and take the merchandise. The lead seller is revealed to be a secret DEA agent and the police storm in and arrest everyone, including Kim and Allen. At lunch, Nicole has a mental trauma when David and Sherry argue about Keith's problem. David proceeds to his press conference, where he reveals the self-defense murder of the rapist, that Keith's only crime was not reporting to the authorities, Ferregamo's murder and the former's sponsors' involvement. Keith gets happy and reconciles with David. Jack and Mason head to the location given by the mercenary in the previous episode, and they find only a transformer. Finally, they see a helicopter flying above them. | |||||||
| 20 | 20 | "7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m." | Stephen Hopkins | Robert Cochran & Howard Gordon | April 16, 2002 | 1AFF19 | 7.70[20] |
| Mason is ordered to return and Jack keeps searching until he finds the entrance before being captured. He wakes up in a holding room before he meets the warden. Jack tells the warden of his mission; and the warden reveals that it is a DOD facility and a prisoner will be delivered at 7:20, a time Jack asked about. Jack plans a secured delivery and Andre's team are forced by the chief mercenary not to attack. Jack realizes that the prisoner is Victor Drazen, Andre's father and who was believed to had been killed in the operation. Jack visits Victor and asks him to persuade his sons to stop what they are doing. The facility is attacked by Andre's group. Meanwhile, Teri and Parslow are transferred by Almeida. The police don't believe Kim's story after Melanie denies it; and Kim is put in custody. David wins the honesty poll after his press conference. He and Sherry still argue about the consequences of the disclosure. | |||||||
| 21 | 21 | "8:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m." | Stephen Hopkins | Joel Surnow & Michael Loceff | April 23, 2002 | 1AFF20 | 8.49[21] |
| Andre's team kills all the agents and corners Jack, who holds Victor while Andre holds the warden and Jack is forced to free Victor. The warden is killed and Jack is captured. Chappelle orders Mason to send agents to kill everyone and not try to save Jack, as Victor must not be disclosed to be alive for the government's reputation. The CTU agents arrive after Victor's group is gone. Victor decides to kill Jack, who reveals that Alexis is still alive and Victor decides to keep Jack. Meanwhile, Teri is brought to CTU and begins to remember everything. Kim has an argument with Melanie in custody room. An inmate throws a joint at Melanie to avoid capture, but Kim reveals the truth and the former is taken away. Melanie confirms Kim's statement to the police and Kim is arranged for transfer to CTU, but the vehicle is attacked by mercenaries on the way and she is abducted. David wins the primaries in the states holding the Super Tuesday. He and his assistant Patricia Brooks get closer now that he is distant to Sherry. | |||||||
| 22 | 22 | "9:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m." | Paul Shapiro | Joel Surnow & Michael Loceff | May 7, 2002 | 1AFF21 | 7.56[22] |
| Victor talks to Alexis on the phone and gets confirmation that Alexis is alive. Victor offers CTU the exchange of Alexis with Jack. Mason is ordered to deny it. Myers calls David, reports the situation and asks for help. Victor is welcomed by his friend and the latter's daughter. Jack takes the woman hostage to escape, but Victor chooses to kill her and keep him. The father gets angry and attacks Victor, who is forced to kill him too. Jack finds out about Kim. David offers Mason a promotion when David assumes the Oval Office if Mason agrees to perform the exchange. Alexis is returned and the tracker planted is found and thrown away. On another location, Jack is freed after he is informed that Kim will be killed if he doesn't follow instructions after release. Brooks is revealed to be hired by Sherry to get involved with David. | |||||||
| 23 | 23 | "10:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m." | Paul Shapiro | Robert Cochran & Howard Gordon | May 14, 2002 | 1AFF22 | 8.47[23] |
| David arranges a tryst with Brooks, but in the room, he reveals that he knows about Sherry's plan and fires Brooks from his staff. Jack is instructed to go and visit David in his hotel. Jack convinces David to order Secret Service to let him through. Alexis succumbs to his wound. Andre decides to kill Kim for it, but Victor stops him. Jack calls Victor by his cell phone and gives it to David. It is revealed that the phone contains a bomb intended to kill them both. Jack throws it away in time and they survive. The former convinces David not to reveal his survival to the press until the former saves Kim. Sherry disagrees, but to no avail. Andre calls Jack, and gets confirmation of David's death and Jack offers himself in exchange for Kim's release, which is accepted and Jack is informed of the location. Teri calls Jack and tells him about the baby. Kim manages to escape. Myers secretly reports David's survival to Andre. | |||||||
| 24 | 24 | "11:00 p.m. – 12:00 a.m." | Stephen Hopkins | Teleplay by : Joel Surnow & Michael Loceff Story by : Robert Cochran & Howard Gordon | May 21, 2002 | 1AFF23 | 9.25[24] |
| The press reveals that David has survived the explosion confirmed by an inside source. He deduces it to be Sherry and confronts her. The press reveals Jack's involvement in saving David, who decides to divorce Sherry. Victor instructs Myers to tell Jack that Kim has been killed in order to pull him to a fight. Myers does so and the plan works. Jack manages to kill the Drazens and all of their men. Myers finds out and calls her German handler for extraction. Jack is informed that Kim is alive and in the meantime a video is found that shows Myers killing Farrell while Farrell was cuffed. Teri finds Myers in a room. Mason orders security to find Myers, who kills several agents on her way outside. Jack arrives and stops her. Mason convinces him not to kill her and she is arrested and taken away. Jack finds Teri in the room dead, implied to have been murdered by Myers. | |||||||
The first season introduced split screens into 24, a feature which continued to play a role in all of the seasons, especially the early ones. Editors originally wanted the boxes showing separate characters to overlap but Stephen Hopkins decided not to do this.[25] The writers were intentionally secretive about whether Teri Bauer would be killed in the final episode. To cast doubt about the outcome, three endings were filmed, two of which showed that Teri survived.[25] Writers Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran originally planned for Teri to survive, but half-way through the season, they decided that a happy ending would not be as satisfying. They instead went with the ending where Teri dies. Surnow explained, "It made the show feel more real. And it gives our audience a sense when they're going to watch the show next season, of not being able to expect anything they’ve come to expect in a normal television show."[26]
The trailer for the first season aired some time between April and November, 2001. The trailer announces that David Palmer may become the first black U.S. president and shows Jack Bauer learning about the assassination attempt and corruption within his agency. Notably, the trailer shows the explosion of a commercial plane that was edited out of the show in response to the September 11 attacks.[27] All other scenes shown are from the premiere episode.
The first season received universal acclaim, scoring a Metacritic rating of 88/100 based on 27 reviews.[28] On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has an approval rating of 95% with an average score of 8.7 out of 10 based on 21 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Brimming with tension and political intrigue, 24 successfully introduces its unique, high-concept format and a compelling hero worth watching in Kiefer Sutherland's Jack Bauer."[29]
Kiefer Sutherland won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama and the Satellite Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama for his role as Jack Bauer for this season. In 2009, the season finale ("11:00 p.m. – 12:00 a.m.") was listed in TV Guide's list of the top 100 episodes of all time, at number 10.[30] In 2005, TV Land included the same episode as part of its "100 Most Unexpected Moments in TV History", ranking it number 32.[31] Teri Bauer's death at the end of the finale was voted by TV Guide as the second-most shocking death in television history.[32]
The first season was released on DVD in region 1 on September 17, 2002,[33] and in region 2 on October 14, 2002.[34] A special-edition version was released in region 1 on May 20, 2008.[35] The season 1 DVD features an alternative ending in which Teri Bauer survives.[36]
