24 Series Review - All 9 Seasons

With the recent passing of Gregory Itzen (President Charles Logan), we decided to put together this special tribute in his honor.

Brad and Joel discuss the entire series of 24 (minus the so-called 24: Legacy). They discuss:The order of seasons from best to worst (comparing the ranking now vs. when they started this rewatch)Some of their favorite (and least favorite) characters, quotes, episodes, cliffhangers, etc.Feedback from a faithful listener

Key plot:Jack takes down MargotIan sees through Chloe’s deception and realizes Heller is still alive, so Margot decides to attack Waterloo StationJack tracks down Margot and saves the station, then throws her out of a windowSteve the traitorJordan’s death becomes knowledge of the police and latterly the CIAJack has the hitman identified as a former covert ops assassin who once reported to NavarroNavarro takes off and leaves the override device for Adrian Cross, who betrays him and Navarro is caughtTo get the tracker code Kate and Jack perform a ruse where Kate threatens to kill Navarro, and it worksCheng returnsAdrian decides he wants to use the override device to let every country expose holes in the defenses of every other countryOriginally he designed the device for Cheng who returns and kills all of Open Cell’s membersChloe reconfigures the device for him, he kills Adrian, and then gives a fake order to a US sub to sink a Chinese carrier shipJack’s Revenge at the Docks: Part 2Cheng has a sniper on Audrey after she went to a contact who could push the US case that it wasn’t them who gave the order on the Chinese carrierKate goes to save Audrey and kills the sniper, but as they’re leaving a second shooter arrives and Audrey is shot and killedJack goes after Cheng at Southampton Docks and is strategic in his assault until Chloe loses her feed and communications and Kate tells him about AudreyJack goes on a rampage and kills all of Cheng’s men, capturing Cheng and then beheading him after providing CIA with the proof he’s aliveEnding (again)Kate leaves the CIA, Mark is prepped for transport back to the US where he faces treason charges, Heller laments his fading memory as he boards a plane with Audrey’s bodyChloe was kidnapped by the Russians from the docks and Jack agrees to a trade: her return for his captureChloe is safe and Jack is taken away by helicopter to face punishment for his acts in season 8Contact:@The24Podcast24faithful.com405-771-0567

Key plot:Jack reunites with Heller and AudreyAn arrested Jack is taken to Heller and asks to go back into the field to help stop MargotWhile there Audrey goes to see him and they have a heart-to-heartCIA follow a lead on Margot’s video demands which Naveed planted, but it’s a trap and the CIA team are ambushed by an explosiveUndercover with RaskHeller agrees to let Jack go undercover and see Karl Rask, an arms dealer Jack has been working for to sabotage his operations, and he’s also a contact of MargotThe play: Jack killed Nils, another of Rask’s men, for being a CIA contact and has captured Kate, who was Nils’ contact. Jack needs Rask to complete a bank login so Chloe can access his systemKate opts to inject herself with a drug to knock her out, shocking JackPrime Minister Davies tracks Jack’s operation after hearing of Heller’s condition and sends in MI5, who interrupt the missionJack manages to get Chloe access and Kate survives her tortureeSimone betrays MargotNaveed is killed after trying to lead the CIA to their location, in front of SimoneNaveed’s sister has heard of plans to leave London and Simone is sent to find out what she and her daughter know, which is nothing, but is told to kill them anywayShe tries warning them but accidentally stabs Farah and while chasing Yasmin is hit by a busJack questions her as Margot sends a drone to kill her, which they narrowly escapeHeller sacrifices himselfHeller offers Margot a trade: give himself up for the destruction of the dronesHe reveals to Jack his Alzheimer’s diagnosis and enlists him and Mark to help make the exchange go throughJack gets Heller to Wembley Stadium where he’s asked to go, and Margot fires a missile at himBut actually Chloe cloned the feed with Heller in the middle of the pitch and Jack saved Heller - she told him she didn’t know if it would work Jordan uncovers the truthJordan finds that files related to Adam Morgan were deleted but Navarro tells him not to pursue it until after the crisis has passedHe doesn’t give in and so Navarro, who framed Adam, on the direction of Adrian Cross, has Jordan go to what he says is a dead-drop that will help lead to MargotIt’s actually a set-up for an assassination, which Jordan initially survivesHe figures out Navarro sent the hitter but having gained the upper hand, is stabbed and diesContact:@The24Podcast24faithful.com405-771-0567

Key plot:Jack returns to save ChloeIt’s four years after Day 8 and Jack has been on the run, but he’s found by a CIA station in LondonThis was actually a plan by Jack to get captured so he could break out Chloe, who’s been captured and is interrogatedShe works for an organisation called Open Cell which is devoted to uncovering and publishing government secretsJack needed to get to Derrick Yates, who worked for Open Cell, as he was involved in someone trying to take control of the US drone programmeYates managed this and took control of Chris Tanner’s drone, killing a squadron in AfghanistanKate’s return to the fieldKate Morgan is being transferred back to Langley from the CIA’s London station after her husband Adam was indicted for selling US state secrets to the Chinese, albeit she was clearedShe identifies Jack’s plays throughout - confusion over his escape route, is the one to work out why he’s at CIA, tracking him after Yates and to the US embassyJack takes over the embassyYates is killed by his ‘girlfriend’ who actually is Simone Al-Harazi, the daughter of Margot who Yates is selling the drone’s override device toJack decides Tanner’s flight key is the best lead for finding the person involved and breaks into the US embassy where he’s being held to take itWhile doing so he has to lock himself in a communications room to transmit the dataPresident Heller sanctions him to be taken down but Kate intervenes, saves Jack and recovers the flight keyPresident James HellerHeller is President and in London to get the UK parliament to extend the lease of a military base and support the use of dronesHe is suffering with some (as yet unknown) illness which is affecting his mental functionsAudrey is with him and married to Mark Boudreau, who vows that she will not hear Jack’s name when he discovers he has resurfacedAfter Tanner’s drone incident Heller decides to address parliament directly, taking heat from Mark in a prep session when he forgets a name, but miraculously succeedingMargot shows her commitmentMargot planted Simone undercover with Yates, much to the frustration of her husband NaveedNaveed is going to pilot the drones in her attacks later that day but he has his own plan to try and escapeMargot learns of this plan from Simone and when he refuses to help her kill innocents, Margot has Simone’s finger removed to coerce him into agreeingContact:@The24Podcast24faithful.com405-771-0567

Wrapping up Season 8 and what seemed to be a wrap to the series...Key plot pointsChloe’s rise through CTUChloe at CTU is often not ideal this season: setting it up that she works there only because she has no choice, the perception at the beginning of the season that Dana is really smart but it’s because Chloe is made to seem more incompetentShe’s often really great though: her debrief with Renee is so good, as is her threatening Frank HaynamIt’s insane that she goes from being the unwanted staff, to being de facto lead on the floor, to being interim director in the space of 17 hoursChloe as director doesn’t work because so much of the reason we love her is her loyalty to Jack and her seeing beyond the bureaucracy to do what she knows is rightAs director she loses a lot of that - see trying to capture Jack instead of helping him get to Dana - and while her shift back to exposing the Russians is good, it’s still a fairly meh version of ChloeA satisfying end to the series?I certainly remember feeling fairly content with the ending when it first airedReally important that the final 8 episodes were as good as they were because if they had continued like the first two-thirds, it would’ve been a really low point on which to endI’m still firmly in the camp that season 7 (also 4) would’ve been a better ending than this season, but I’m a fan of this oneSeason 8 overallSeason 6 felt tired, as though there was a structure they tried following and there was a monotony to it, and like it needed to take a break to reset (which obviously it got from the writer’s strike)Season 8 feels for so long like they’d run pretty much out of ideas and opted for a lot of repetition in a lot of placesAgain, possibly a bit of the tired factor but also it suffers from an issue where it often feels like the show is trying too hard to surprise viewersDespite the final run this is undoubtedly the second weakest season

Jack enlists Cole and kills DanaJack goes to old Special Forces friend Jim Ricker for surveillance equipment and an arsenalDana is moved to a black site by a private security firm to prevent Jack from getting to her, and to find the evidence she has against the RussiansChloe sets up Jack for capture by Cole, luring him to a fake address where Dana is, but Jack sees through it and convinces Cole to help him expose the cover-upThey rescue Dana and go to a bank to get the evidence, but she explodes a device to subdue Cole and try to escape by calling the police on JackJack catches up to her and kills herRevenge for ReneeJack contacts Meredith Reed so she can publish the story about the Russian involvement using Dana’s evidencePavel and his team use the meeting to trap Jack but he’s a step ahead and with Ricker capture PavelJack realises Pavel was the one who killed Renee and tortures him, eventually slicing open his stomach to retrieve his SIM cardDoing this reveals to him that Logan is involvedJack vs Logan and SuvarovJack traps Logan’s motorcade in a tunnel and takes down the Secret Service agents to kidnap LoganLogan breaks easily and tells Jack that Mikhail Novakovich, the Russian Foreign Minister, is behind thingsJack goes to Novakovich’s hotel and kills him and his staff/security, although is wounded in the processHe planted a listening device on Logan (again) and overhears that Suvarov is involved tooJack gets a sniper trained on Logan and ready to shoot Suvarov, but Chloe manages to talk him down before he assassinates SuvarovChloe tries to get the Logan/Suvarov audio uploaded to CTU to be sent to everyone in government and every media outlet but she’s stopped before she canThe President’s demiseEthan resigns after Taylor walks back plans to pull out of the talks due to Dana’s evidence, after she has Dana taken by the private security firmTaylor cedes much of the managing of the situation with Jack to Logan, albeit still being the one to make decisions in many circumstancesShe agrees to have Logan’s role in the process made publicWhen Dalia is contacted by Meredith, she confronts Taylor about the Russian involvement, and Taylor threatens Dalia with retaliation for the day’s attacks unless she signs the peace treatyWhen Jack is arrested and the evidence seized, she watches the video Jack made for Kim Taylor declines to sign the treaty after Suvarov and Dalia do and tries to save Jack, but she’s too lateLogan kills Jason Pillar and shoots himselfEndingLogan’s team of mercenaries are about to kill Jack when Taylor calls and tells them to stand downShe tells Jack she’s withdrawn and apologies, and that they will both have to face consequencesJack thanks Chloe for everything she’s done for him and she promises to protect Kim and give him time to escape

Dana the double agentDana kills Bill Prady when he tries going to HastingsTurns out Dana’s actually a plant and working with SamirCTU discover this when she helps Tarin escape (he kills himself to distract CTU) and keep Hassan captiveTrade for HassanSamir offers Taylor a trade: give them Hassan and they won’t detonate the “radiological dispersal device” in ManhattanTaylor’s against this but General Brucker convinces Rob Weiss to act, sending a covert team to kidnap HassanEthan discovers their plot and has a heart attack, from which Rob and Brucker leave him without medical help until Hassan is in captivityJack fends off the team but Hassan learns of the trade and offers himself upSamir reads a statement of Hassan’s crimes and then slits his throatRenee’s deathA mysterious figure posing as a medic, Pavel Tokarev, injects Samir with a toxin that kills him, and Renee briefly notices him as he leaves as though she recognises himJack and Renee go back to his apartment and have sexPavel follows them, and shoots Renee to cover the tracks of the Russian involvementJack gets Renee to a hospital but she diesJack begins quest for revengeTo find out about the Russian involvement, Jack goes to the arraignment of Sergei BazhaevBazhaev tells him that the Russian government were involved in everything that happened and that Dana was their agent at CTUJack questions Dana, who will talk for an immunity dealTaylor goes to CTU to talk Jack out of this and has him locked down (he steals a helicopter and escapes) because she doesn’t want him derailing the peace agreementThe return of Charles LoganLogan leaves several messages at Ethan’s office after learning of the Russian intention to pull out of the agreementHe speaks with Mikhail Novakovich, the Russian foreign minister, to keep him at the table by blackmailing him with his knowledge of Moscow’s involvement in the day’s eventsContact:Twitter: @the24podcast24faithful.com405-771-0567

The undercover operation progressesLaitanan calls everyone he can including Sergei Bazhaev, who denies involvement Renee and Laitanan fight, she kills him (stabs 15 times) and stabs Jack, who manages to kill Laitanan’s menBazhaev’s men kidnap Jack and torture him but he escapes and takes down BazhaevJosef steals the rods and tries to sell them to Farhad but is killed by them when about to go along with Jack’s immunity dealMarcos and the Farhad ruseSamir is no longer going to export to the IRK, but use the rods in New YorkFarhad isn’t happy with this and escapes and calls CTU, only for him to get up from his hiding spot and be killed just before CTU arriveHe dies but Jack suggests using him as dead bait to lure the terrorists into making sure he’s deadMarcos Al-Zacar is sent with a bomb and is cornered in an oxygen chamberJack uses his mother Elaine to talk him out of detonating the bomb but the fail safe is activated by Ali and Marcos is blown up...Tarin is involvedBut not before he says Tarin is involvedTarin has escaped custody after being detained by Hassan and is with KaylaDaliia warns Kayla of the nuclear threat and Tarin’s involvement and he kidnaps herSamir demands file 33 from Hassan, which contains all info on taking down American defences including radiological detectorsTarin fakes an escape with Kayla and is ‘shot’ in the process but it’s all a ruse to get her to CTU where an EMP goes offThe end of Kevin WadeDana guides Kevin and Nick through taking $120,000 from an evidence lockup but Nick tries taking everything else and a cop discovers the mess, and Nick attacks himKevin decides he’s not going to leave Dana’s life after this scoreDana goes to kill them both only for Cole to arrive first, she explains everything to him - he threatens them but Nick stabs Kevin and is about to kill Dana/Cole when Kevin saves themThey sink the bodies and pretend things are normalKevin’s parole officer Bill Prady calls Dana and then comes to CTU to get info on KevinHe asks for the video archive for the lockup which will expose her and Dana is going to give it to him until the EMPContact:Twitter: @24podcast24faithful.com405-771-0567

18 months after Day 7Jack and Kim are in New York and Jack’s treatment is completedTakes place about 14 years and 6 months after Day 1Key plot:Jack cannot get outJack is heading back to LA with Kim, Stephen and TeriVictor Aruz, old contact, shows up with info on an Hassan hit but is killed when Jack tries delivering him to CTUKim convinces Jack to stay and helpPeace processIslamic Republic of Kamistan President Omar Hassan is going to sign a global peace treaty with Allison Taylor Hassan has been having an affair with reporter Meredith Reed, who’s suspected of working alongside the terrorists, but is framedHassan’s brother and chief of staff Farhad is actually in on itAttempt on Hassan’s lifeRussian assassin Davros has a cover as a cop and gets on the United Nations security detailPlanted a bomb under a manhole cover on Hassan’s exit route after triggering a bomb threat within the UNAfter the attack and Farhad’s betrayal Hassan begins arresting people who are connected to the opposition, including Minister Jamot for having a cousin who was among the detaineesRenee’s back in the gameDavros had traces of weapons-grade uranium-235 on himLinked to a Russian gang Renee was undercover with six years beforeShe was fired from FBI for torturing Alan Wilson and is clearly in a bad state of mindZiya Dakhilov (Jon Sklaroff) is her in to Vladimir Laitanan, who leads the gang and with whom she has been violated byDana’s past resurfacesDana Walsh is actually Jenny Scott from Rock Springs (Arkansas) and was an accessory to murderKevin Wade was her partner (more like controller) and wants something in return for keeping her secret - a big score