"24"
2:00 a.m.-3:00 a.m. (2001)

Director:

Stephen Hopkins

Writers:

Joel Surnow (creator) &
Robert Cochran (creator) ...

TV Series:

"24" (2001)

Original Air Date:

20 November 2001 (Season 1, Episode 3)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

Jack thinks he's identified the mole inside CTU. Kim and Janet realize they are being kidnapped and try to escape. Palmer orders an employee to get dirt on a reporter who might jeopardize his campaign. Ira Gaines' plans come to a halt when he must renegotiate with a conspirator.

Plot Keywords:

Abductor | Interrogation | Cult Hero | Federal Agent | Silencer

Cast

Kiefer Sutherland	...	Jack Bauer
Leslie Hope	...	Teri Bauer
Sarah Clarke	...	Nina Myers
Elisha Cuthbert	...	Kim Bauer
Dennis Haysbert	...	Senator David Palmer
Mia Kirshner	...	Mandy
Michael Massee	...	Ira Gaines
Daniel Bess	...	Rick
Matthew Carey	...	Dan
Jacqui Maxwell	...	Janet York
Rudolf Martin	...	Jonathan
Karina Arroyave	...	Jamey Farrell
Vicellous Reon Shannon	...	Keith Palmer (as Vicellous Shannon)
Zach Grenier	...	Carl Webb
Kim Murphy	...	Bridget

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Portugal:M/12 (DVD rating)

Company:

Imagine Television

Goofs:

Continuity: The opening recap features Jamey telling Jack on the phone that the card came from Nina's computer. But she did not say this in the previous episode.

Quotes:

Tony Almeida: You mind telling me what's going on around here tonight?
Jack Bauer: What's going on? You mean besides a 747 falling out of the sky and a threat on a presidential candidate's life?
Tony Almeida: Yeah, besides that.

Dirty politics

Season 1, Episode 3: Jack Bauer has to deal with the discovery that his colleague, and ex-girlfriend, Nina Myers (Sarah Clarke) might be a mole, Kim and Janet realize they have been kidnapped, conspirator Ira Gaines (Michael Massee) is faced with the problem of a hired assassin asking for more money and David Palmer asks an acquaintance, Carl Webb (terrific character actor Zach Grenier), for advice on the subject of a newspaper article that, if published, will put his political career in jeopardy. Throw in further preparations for the hit on Palmer and another shockingly random killing, and it shouldn't be hard to understand why 24 is the most addictive program American TV has invented in recent years.

In a traditional series, the villains and their motives would have been fully exposed by now. In fact, the whole case would have been closed by the end of Episode 2. This, however, is a slow-burning thriller, a fact that is highlighted by the real-time device, and its strength lies in careful, intelligent storytelling and deliberate pacing, meaning all the answers will be given in due time (not as slowly as in Lost, but still): so far, what drives the assassins is unclear, there are some people whose allegiance needs to be verified and, aside from a few deaths, abductions, suspicions and an exploding plane, the situation is pretty much the same as it was in the beginning.

Also, a less confident show would have suspended the action for a while in order to show some character development; 24, on the other hand, has the stamina to expose its key players' contradictory sides right in the middle of a heated argument. In particular, the third hour of this season allows Jack and Palmer to emphasize and deepen the characteristics they displayed in the pilot: the former comes off as flawed and conflicted (kudos to Sutherland for unleashing Bauer's suppressed rage in the right quantity at the right time), uncertain whether to follow the rules (which would dictate that he arrest the traitor) or give in to his instinct, which tends to lead him in the correct direction; the latter proves to be the best fictitious US politician since The West Wing's Jed Bartlet, his untarnished honesty emerging without hesitation during his Deep Throat-style encounter with Webb.

To sum it up, the day continues just as it started: solid, exciting and flawless. If Michael Mann returned to the small screen, this is probably what it would look like.