Season 1

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*"Twenty-four hours. One full turn of the earth on its axis. Most days blend in to all the others, but some we remember the rest of our lives."*
— Opening narration from the original pilot script
**Season 1** of *24* began in November of 2001 on the Fox Network. It was created by Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran, who were also executive producers along with Brian Grazer, Tony Krantz, Howard Gordon and Stephen Hopkins.

Fox initially ordered thirteen episodes of the show to try it out. The successful rescue at the end of the first half of the season was planned as a series finale in case the show was not picked up for the rest of the year.

24: Season One was released on DVD in North America on September 17, 2002, making *24* the first television show to release a season set immediately after the season ended. Because of the rushed nature of the original release and its lack of special features, a special edition DVD set was released on May 20, 2008.

## Summary

CTU Los Angeles learns of a potential assassination attempt aimed at Senator David Palmer. As Jack Bauer and CTU (Counter Terrorist Unit) investigate the threat, Jack's daughter Kim runs away but ends up being held against her will when the guys she's with kidnap her under orders from Ira Gaines. Jack's wife searches for Kim and is later kidnapped as well. Gaines uses Teri and Kim in an effort to force Jack to help assassinate Senator Palmer and take the fall for his death. Jack eventually finds and rescues his wife and daughter and takes down Gaines' terrorist cell (Day 1 antagonists) in the process. He learns about a second group of terrorists that hired the first cell. The second cell is led by the men who are ultimately responsible for the day's events: Andre Drazen and Alexis Drazen.

The Drazen's motives are revealed. Two years prior to this day, Jack Bauer was sent as part of a classified team to Kosovo on the orders of a secret Congressional panel headed by David Palmer to kill their father, Victor Drazen. In order to keep the operation totally secret, the panel never met nor knew the team of operatives, and vice versa, meaning David Palmer and Jack never knew about each other's involvement. The Drazens found out about both David Palmer's and Jack's role in their father's death and sought revenge on both of them. Because Jack was thought to be the only surviving member of the special ops team, he was targeted to carry out the assassination plot. The Drazens hoped that by the end of the day, Senator Palmer would be dead, Jack would be imprisoned for the assassination, and Jack's family would be killed.

While following up on a lead in the investigation, Jack discovers that Victor Drazen is actually alive and being held in a top secret underground holding facility under classified security. The Drazens' ultimate goal is to free Victor Drazen and kill Senator Palmer and Jack and his family. They storm the holding facility and free their father, capturing Jack in the process. They also abduct Kim again and use her for leverage to force Jack to contact Senator Palmer in person and have their family assets unfrozen. After a cell phone rigged to explode detonates in Senator Palmer's hotel suite, Senator Palmer goes along with a story that he was killed in the blast in order to fool the Drazens and save Kim. Andre Drazen tells Kim that his mother and sister were killed by Jack years earlier, but Kim does not believe him. She formulates a plan to escape, and when a guard allows her to get a cup of coffee, she scalds him and runs outside. She's being held at the Port of Los Angeles, and hides on the docks. Jack confesses to CTU that Senator Palmer's death was faked, and a mole inside CTU calls the Drazens to tell them that Senator Palmer is still alive. Victor Drazen knows that Jack is coming to trade himself for Kim, but fears that Jack won't show himself unless he hears from Kim. Drazen instructs Nina to lie to Jack and tell him that the Coast Guard found Kim's body in the harbor. Jack is devastated when he hears the news, and the Drazens wait for him to show up and avenge Kim's death.

When Jack arrives at the harbor, he charges the dock and kills everyone. After a backup team arrives, including members of the Coast Guard, Jack requests that he be allowed to claim Kim's body. The Coast Guard informs Bauer that they found no body that night. Jack realizes that someone at CTU was working for the Drazens, and that Nina is the person who told him Kim had died. He calls the Director of CTU and tells him to order a lockdown.

Meanwhile, at CTU, Nina was preparing for exfiltration by erasing all of her incriminating information. Teri Bauer, who was at CTU waiting for Kim and Jack to return, stumbled upon Nina and was tied up to prevent her from hindering the escape. Jack returned to CTU and caught Nina in the parking garage, then went inside to be with his family. He discovered a dead security guard in a hallway and started a panicked search for Teri. He found Teri hidden in an IT room, tied to a chair and facing the wall. He spun her chair around and saw that she had been shot in the stomach. He untied her and checked for a pulse, but she was dead. Jack held her in his arms and cried while apologizing as the final clock silently ticked to 12:00am.

## Timeline

Day 1 begins at 12:00am PST on Super Tuesday, the day of the California Presidential Primary.

Mike Novick mentions that it's "six months" to Election Day. Sherry Palmer states "nine months" till Inauguration Day in January. Taken together, this would put Day 1 in late April. "Day 1: 7:00pm-8:00pm" shows Jack Bauer's watch with the date "23" on it. April 23, 2002 was a Tuesday.

## Format

Originally commissioned for only 13 episodes, this season is divided into two acts. The overall premise of the season revolves around assassination attempts made against Jack Bauer and David Palmer:

1. In the first act, a mercenary group tries to force Jack Bauer to kill Senator Palmer by kidnapping his wife and daughter. Jack works to rescue his family and keep Senator Palmer out of harm's way. The main antagonists in this act are Ira Gaines, Jonathan Matijevich and Kevin Carroll. (12:00am–1:00pm)
2. The employers of Gaines initiate their own assassination plot, and as CTU tracks their activity, Jack learns why he and the Senator are being targeted. He must stop the attempts on the lives of both Palmer and himself. The main antagonists in this act are Andre Drazen, Alexis Drazen, Victor Drazen and Nina Myers. (1:00pm–12:00am)

### Major subplots

* Throughout the day David Palmer faces several challenges to his campaign, including: two assassination attempts, a scandal involving his son that threatens the destruction of his candidacy, excess ambition at the hands of his wife, and one of his staff members being unknowingly involved with one of the terrorists.
* Teri Bauer and a man named Alan York search for their missing daughters Kim and Janet, though York is hiding a dark secret. Meanwhile, Kim's kidnappers Dan Mounts and Rick Allen take Kim to Ira Gaines.
	+ Later on in the season, Rick betrays Gaines' to help Kim and Teri and befriends Kim, though she gets involved in a drug deal in the process.
	+ Teri briefly contracts dissociative amnesia after being separated from Kim.
* A mole at CTU Los Angeles is sabotaging efforts to stop the assassination.
* Romantic conflicts between Jack's girlfriend while he and Teri were separated, Agent Nina Myers, and her new boyfriend, Agent Tony Almeida.
* There is a second, more influential mole at CTU LA.

### Impacts on future seasons

* Nina Myers kills Teri Bauer and is arrested afterwards.
	+ This causes Jack to relapse into depression, and he left CTU for the 18 month interval between Days 1 and 2.
	+ This ignites a rivalry between Nina and Jack, present on Day 2 and 3.
* David Palmer divorces Sherry Palmer and is later able to become President.
* The revelation of the details of Operation Nightfall, the backstory behind Day 1, which was also an important motivation to the mastermind of Day 3.

## Production

The pilot episode of *24* was filmed in March of 2001, with regular production of the series beginning in July. Filming of the season was completed in early May of 2002.

The season was scheduled to begin airing on October 30, but after the terrorist attacks of September 11, the date was moved back a week to November 6th. Fox originally only ordered thirteen episodes, but in late November, picked the show up for a full 24-episode season, after airing only three episodes. Five days before the finale aired, *24* was renewed for a second season.

The first season had a dramatic and unexpected ending: the death of Teri Bauer. Many fans were dismayed by this sudden plot twist, while others applauded *24'*s genre-defying willingness to kill major characters with little warning. The producers also filmed an alternate ending in which Teri, Kim, and Jack are reunited, and another in which Teri is shot, but survives. However, they eventually decided to go with the death of Teri Bauer as the climax of season one. The first alternate ending is available on the Season 1 DVD boxed set.

The entire season was released on DVD on September 17, 2002 in North America, with a special edition released on May 20, 2008.

## Cast

*Main article: Season 1 cast*
*See also: Recurring characters, Character appearances for Season 1*
### Starring

* Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer (24 episodes)
* Leslie Hope as Teri Bauer (24 episodes)
* Sarah Clarke as Nina Myers (24 episodes)
* Elisha Cuthbert as Kim Bauer (24 episodes)
* and Dennis Haysbert as David Palmer (24 episodes)

### Guest starring

* Daniel Bess as Rick Allen (18 episodes)
* Željko Ivanek as Andre Drazen (15 episodes)
* Xander Berkeley as George Mason (12 episodes)
* Michael Massee as Ira Gaines (12 episodes)
* Vicellous Shannon as Keith Palmer (12 episodes)
* Jude Ciccolella as Mike Novick (11 episodes)
* Karina Arroyave as Jamey Farrell (10 episodes)
* Zach Grenier as Carl Webb (9 episodes)
* Glenn Morshower as Aaron Pierce (9 episodes)
* Eric Balfour as Milo Pressman (8 episodes)
* Tanya Wright as Patty Brooks (8 episodes)
* Misha Collins as Alexis Drazen (7 episodes)
* Matthew Carey as Dan Mounts (6 episodes)
* Megalyn Echikunwoke as Nicole Palmer (6 episodes)
* Jacqui Maxwell as Janet York (6 episodes)
* Silas Weir Mitchell as Eli Stram (6 episodes)
* Navi Rawat as Melanie (6 episodes)
* Tamara Tunie as Alberta Green (6 episodes)
* Vincent Angell as Phil Parslow (4 episodes)
* Kara Zediker as Elizabeth Nash (4 episodes)
* Mia Kirshner as Mandy (3 episodes)
* Paul Schulze as Ryan Chappelle (3 episodes)
* Currie Graham as Ted Cofell (2 episodes)
* Kim Murphy as Bridgit (2 episodes)
* Michael O'Neill as Richard Walsh (2 episodes)
* Wade Andrew Williams as Robert Ellis (2 episodes)

### Special guest stars

* Penny Johnson Jerald as Sherry Palmer (22 episodes)
* Carlos Bernard as Tony Almeida (23 episodes)
* Richard Burgi as Kevin Carroll (11 episodes)
* with Lou Diamond Phillips as Mark DeSalvo (2 episodes)
* and Dennis Hopper as Victor Drazen (5 episodes)

## Background information and notes

* This is the only season to not feature a President of the United States or a White House Chief of Staff.
* This is the only season that takes place over the course of the same day. Every other season occurs over the course of 24 hours, but within 2 separate days.
* This is the only season that starts and ends at night. The sun rises at the ends of Days 4 and 6.

## See also

* Day 1 antagonists
* Unnamed Day 1 characters
* DVD collections: Region 1, Region 1 SE, Region 2, Region 4

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