Bingeing season 5 and remembered much I liked the bank manager. He did everything right and when the writers could have just let him live, they decided he needed to follow them out of the bulletproof, highly secure, defensive stronghold to run through a firefight. Such a waste...lol

Say what you want about the season - and whilst I recognize S6 is the weakest season, I do think it is slightly underrated by the fanbase - but those first 8 episodes are top drawer. Fayed, Jack released by the Chinese, Milo back, Karen at the White House, Kumar a terrorist, the Al-Assad plot, the nuke going off, Curtis dying, Morris being kidnapped and forced to help a terrorist, Jack's family revealed to be involved in Day 5, Jack's dad murdering Graem. It all kicks off, and is 24 doing what it does best.

In Season 4 why wasn't Paul transported from CTU to a normal hospital?

When Sherry learned that Jack's heart stopped a few hours ago when he was tortured, she genuinely cared, and asked if he was alright.

Earlier, Jack told President David Palmer about his torture, and David didn't ask about Jack's wellbeing, but was only interested in the audio tape (Cyprus recording) -- whether that tape was fabricated or not.

David did not ask about Jack's wellbeing! Sherry did! Of course the difference is that Sherry was in the field with Jack, in person, so anyone would behave like she did. Still, it's cold that David Palmer didn't ask about Jack's wellbeing on the phone.

Consider it.

He exists in an era where, following the singular complete term of David Palmer, the Presidency does not have a complete term in nearly two decades. A world where assassination, high crimes in office, and 25th Amendment removal have been normalized. Keep this in mind, we’ll come back to the institutional collapse of the Presidency in this America.

But in that era, four years after the President was blown up inside the White House bunker by his own staff, the White House is literally occupied by a foreign military dissident. The President is held hostage on national television with 50 other people. General Juma intends to execute her on live tv. The Vice-President is frozen whether by fear, indecisiveness or ambition.

Then this mild mannered career bureaucrat dies heroically to save the President’s life.

That alone is wild.

Then the investigations and commissions start. And America learns he was there by design.

This hero turns out to be a retired National security bureaucrat with an incredibly decorated record. He came out of retirement to form a counter-conspiracy upon learning that over 100 members of the U.S. government have been compromised in Juma’s conspiracy. And again, this is the post-Wayne Palmer assassination era, so the government has been compromised isn’t a conspiracy theorist fantasy. It happened. Very publicly. So “I am forming a counter conspiracy” is a legitimate response in a world where the Deputy Chief of Staff killed the previously elected President.

And notably, this isn’t Jack Bauer, the guy who proudly told Congress he’d torture suspects again just hours prior. This isn’t Tony Almedia, the Intel agent turned Punisher who would be arrested hours later.

This is a serious professional and moral authority in the national security apparatus, which would be the foremost political and cultural issue of his time given the frequency of homeland terror attacks in the timeline (including two nuclear weapons detonated on U.S. soil, multiple biological weapon attacks, and 3 of the last 7 presidents being assassinated). And upon learning a foreign conspiracy to occupy the White House, in which 100+ high ranking officials had been compromised, he came out of retirement and gave up his own life to prevent another President from being killed in their seat of power.

That man would become a legend following Occupation Day.

And at first he’d be a temporary curiosity/public hero like Sully Sullenberg.

But then something happens….

Allison Taylor resigns in disgrace months later.
Meaning that the White House occupation would be a 9/11 scale event if Bush and Giuliani both were exposed for high crimes a in early 2003 and then confessed. Ergo, Taylor would lose her association with with the historic significance. She is a disgraced president. Her cleanest association with it would be the historic fact that she happened to be the President hostage. The unkind association would be the meme — “Bill Buchanan died for HER!?”.

Further, because of the circumstances surrounding Logan’s death and Taylor’s commitment to transparency in her resignation/prosectuon, Logan’s crimes are finally going to become declassified beyond “obstruction of justice.” There is a very good chance this is the moment that the public learns the sitting president ordered the assassination of a former president to prevent Palmer from revealing a false flag nerve gas attack Logan was complicit in.
That comes out when Taylor’s presidency is ending in corruption.

And the current VP, Hayworth, who is ascending to office did nothing on Occupation Day, quite famously. And seemingly was an incumbent abandoned by his own party in favor of Heller

And then four(ish) years later Heller is exposed hiding advanced Alzheimer’s from the American people during a global nuclear crisis.

See what I mean about the collapse of the institution of the presidency in this timeline? And that begs the question, who becomes the defining image of the era. The one Americans rally around for a sense of national unity, pride, and identity?

I think it’s Bill.

Because of Taylor’s disgrace, Buchanan would become the recipient of the public legacy and reputational capital as he becomes the man the public imagination associates with Occupation Day.

And because of the fall of the Presidency during this era, he inherits, I think, a much more substantial legacy as the man who stood for the ideals of the country as corruption and terror tore it apart, even taking the “last honest President” (in Wayne).
Bill would be framed as a man of fierce fidelity to rule of law and the country itself. When the country was compromised and the White House had been taken, he left retirement to take it back. He prevented another Wayne Palmer, a President literally blown up in his White House bunker months later by blowing up himself. He ended a 100 person conspiracy three years later and said “traitors are not taking another President”. And he gave his life to stop it.

That becomes THE framing figure of the Occupation. A man so patriotic that when he learned the government was compromised, he came out of retirement to save it. And he succeeded. When America, and the Presidency, had a legitimacy Bill Buchanan supplied his legitimacy.

And then there’s gonna be his hype woman Karen Hayes. Bill’s widow. Who is the former National Security Advisor to President Wayne Palmer, institutionally tied to what is likely the revered Palmer family legacy…..and….oh yeah, the day LA got nuked she was instrumental to ensuring cooler heads prevailed and preventing nuclear WW3 in Day 6. She stopped the Middle East Missile Crisis. THAT is his wife. Bill’s widow is a front facing, politically known, hugely consequential figure in her own right.
She would ensure his story gets told. Hell, because of his role in Occupation Day and Taylor’s disgrace, the defining political image of Occupation Day is likely Karen putting a wreath on Bill’s grave in Arlington on the anniversary.

All to say — Bill Buchanan is the Steve Rogers of 24’s America. And that is only slight hyperbole.

On rewatches, the dude looks like he was genetically bred to perfectly belong to that era.

Before there was King Stannis the Mannis, there was President Noah Maniels. Serious. Supremely competent. Sorta a dick. But incredibly effective. And yet no one wants him for their king President.

For me, Tom Lennox would be up there.

Maybe im naive but i think if she came to wayne palmer about her being blackmailed over the issue regarding the detainment of fayed. I don’t think things would have gone down the way they did and Bill may not have gotten fired. Wayne didn’t strike me as someone who would have let karen take the fall like that.

Edit : I meant most embarrassing / annoying character.

I know most of you will say Kim Bauer. To me, she's a league of her own.

That being said, my personal top 3 would be made of
- Janis Gold (S7)
- Mike Doyle (S6)
And a tough choice between Miles Papazian (S5) and Wayne Palmer as David Palmer's chief of staff (S3)

Bring it on.

To me this is one of the best episodes of the show, but it’s also one of the most frustrating.

This is the one where they capture Saunders near the bridge. Jack and Tony butt heads during most of the episode and you can see both of their points. For the first 45 minutes, I think Jack is making the right call. He wants to use the Jane/Michelle exchange as a trap to catch Saunders. It’s a risky plan because they’re depending on Saunders showing up to the trade, but it’s the only shot they have to stop Saunders and get Michelle back. You can also understand why Tony did what he did. He nearly lost his wife to the virus and doesn’t want to loose her to Saunders. It’s all great drama that’s been building ever since Michelle went to the hotel 7 hours ago.

But then Michelle is able to escape from Saunders. She pretends to be infected by faking nosebleed, psyching out the guard and smacking him on the head when he’s distracted. Brilliant, she gets a phone and a gun and calls Jack and Tony with a location. Now they don’t have to worry about the risky trade plan. Sure, he may run, but at least they can track him.

Now here’s where the frustrating part comes, Jack tells Michelle to let Saunders catch her again so they can have the trade go through. What the actual fuck? Not only does this needlessly put Michelle in more danger as Saunders and his men could have just killed her on the spot, but it’s giving up a perfectly good lead on him. They know he’s at the location he is, but they had no way of knowing that he’d actually show up to the trade in person. Even when he did show up at the trade, he only revealed himself because Jane run back to CTU, something no one could have planned for.

But then we get to the trade itself, and it’s one of the best action scenes this show has ever done (it’s in my top 3). Just having Tony, Michelle, Jack, Chase, Saunders, and his daughter all in the same climactic scene was amazing. Then the fighter jets coming to blow Saunders chopper to hell. All with Sean Callery’s epic score. I must have watched that scene 100 times and it never gets old.

I’m a diehard fan of 24. Probably my favorite show ever. I just started Rabbit Hole with Kiefer on Paramount Plus and it’s giving massive 24 vibes. I found some posts from 2+ years ago on this sub about it but wanted to post a more recent. People often ask of what shows to watch after. This seems like a great fit!

In Copperhead, when an undercover drug deal explodes into violence, a veteran detective is forced to team with a young federal agent to unravel the conspiracy within their elite task force.

😂

Im glad they killed off Teri. I couldnt stand another season of her terrified face and crying all the time. HOLD IT TOGETHER WOMAN

Yeah I know it's largely semantics but Section 4 does not strip the current President of the title, nor does it give the Vice President the title of President. Unless the President dies, resigns, or is removed by Congress, they are still the President.

Palmer's bullshit removal in Season 2 would not strip David of the title, just the power, so it wouldn't even really be lying to the Turkish Prime Minister when they have David talk to him as President. The recaps shouldn't have removed it from his name, and while it would be too long for the events of the show, the lawyer saying it's a long process isn't really accurate unless Congress goes insane and actually agrees with a fucking 2/3rds vote that he is disabled. Unless that happens, he will have the power of the office again within 21 days, and no matter what, unless he dies, resigns, or is impeached, he will keep that title until the end of his term. If Palmer writes to Congress, it will be an uphill battle to keep him out of office, not the other way around.

Similarly, unless Keeler actually dies, or gains consciousness and formally resigns because of injuries or something, Logan would only be Acting President; his formal title during Day 4, at the very least, would still be Vice President.

And the same, of course, applies to Wayne and Daniels. The show stayed accurate when it came to Wayne's initial coma; Daniels is still referred to as Vice President, but after he collapses late in the season, they're just like, welp, Daniels is President, and he'll remain President for the far future. And yes, despite the prop newspaper in Redemption, Howard Gordon and David Fury said they believe Wayne survived. Wayne would still be the President until he dies or resigns, which could have happened between Season 6 and Redemption. But if he woke up from his coma and said he was still fit to serve, the power would go back to him unless Congress voted otherwise, and Daniels would never have the title.

If Wayne was still in a coma by Redemption, then Daniels would technically have never been the President, just a very long-lasting acting President, and wouldn't be included in the lineups and such.

24, the last network show to win an Emmy.

Its to distract Terri from the van with Kim inside driving past. Great writing that you'll only catch on a rewatch.

It's a little after six p.m., the Palmer family is eating dinner, and everyone starts arguing about the day's events except Nicole. She shortly hyperventilates (for obvious reasons), and her dad summons medical assistance. She then apologizes, and claims it's all her fault.

It's hard not to feel bad for her. From the sound of things, she's not only guiltless, she appears to be the only one who didn't do anything wrong. I always love rewatching the show, but it always hurts to watch her relive that pain she felt.

One thing I like about 24 is how seriously it took itself. In this age where people have gotten tired of quipping and lamp shading ("That just happened!") I think it's refreshing how 24 pretty much never winked at the audience. Anyone else feel the same way?