Day 2: 10:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. 

Jack sends out a warning that CTU is the target of a terrorist attack. Director Mason leaves CTU to personally check up on a lead on the nuclear bomb's location.

Director:

James Whitmore Jr.

Writers:

Joel Surnow (created by), Robert Cochran (created by)

Stars:

Kiefer Sutherland, Sarah Wynter, Elisha Cuthbert

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Kiefer Sutherland	...	Jack Bauer
Sarah Wynter	...	Kate Warner
Elisha Cuthbert	...	Kim Bauer
Xander Berkeley	...	George Mason
Carlos Bernard	...	Tony Almeida
Dennis Haysbert	...	President David Palmer
Reiko Aylesworth	...	Michelle Dessler
Skye McCole Bartusiak	...	Megan Matheson
Billy Burke	...	Gary Matheson
Timothy Carhart	...	Eric Rayburn
Michelle Forbes	...	Lynne Kresge
Sara Gilbert	...	Paula Schaeffer
Laura Harris	...	Marie Warner
Phillip Rhys	...	Reza Naiyeer
John Terry	...	Bob Warner

Storyline

Jack sends out a warning that CTU is the target of a terrorist attack. After leaving CTU an hour earlier Director Mason personally checks on a lead regarding the nuclear bomb and finds the place where the bomb was made. Kate Warner tries to avoid Reza and gets further proof connecting him to terrorists. Lynn Kresge attempts to tell President Palmer about the impending attack on CTU but NSA Sub-Director, Eric Rayburn, keeps her from doing so.

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Plot Keywords:

pay phone | girl | episode title ends with a period | murder of a security guard | punctuation in episode title | 

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 November 2002 (USA)

Filming Locations:

USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Imagine Television, Real Time Productions, 20th Century Fox Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

44 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Season 2 DVD contains a bonus documentary called, "On the Button; The Destruction of CTU." It shows how the entire bombing sequence was filmed and produced for this episode.

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Goofs

The bomb in the CTU-HQ exploded about 40 seconds later than it should according to the real time concept.

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Soundtracks

24 Theme
(uncredited)
Written by Sean Callery

User Reviews

Let's blow something up!

In most action movies, a huge explosion occurs in the middle or at the end, preferably the second option because the picture tends to drop dead after a stunt like that. The first season of 24 had an exploding plane as closure for the pilot, and still managed to remain exciting and essential viewing.

Why am I mentioning this? Because history is about to repeat itself: this is only the third hour of Day 2, and Jack Bauer is already involved in an operation that has the aim to blow up CTU. This is obviously linked to the bomb issue, as valuable data regarding the threat would be lost in the attack, which is why Jack alerts the White House, only for the director of NSA to prevent the information from getting to the President. This constitutes a problem on a more personal level as well, since Kim has been asked to meet with Tony Almeida for security reasons. Meanwhile, George Mason makes a fateful detour on the way out of town to investigate a lead.

In terms of pure tension, this episode is almost unbearably suspenseful, all because of the real-time strategy: watching the clock tick as the villains get closer and closer to achieving their goal, with Bauer fully unable to stop them, is as hair-raising an experience as the series has ever caused. From the recap sequence at the beginning to the most devastating (in every sense) cliffhanger of the season, Episode 3 of the second year is an exercise in suspense that would make Hitchcock proud.