All in a day for Frank Flynn: 24 Season 5

David Palmer

Bang! You hardly get yourselves going in season five, and two of the characters you have watched on screen are dead.  Former President David Palmer is dead, as well as Michelle Dessler.  This forces Jack back into action, after taking up the name of Frank Flynn working as a day-to-day labourer.

The day starts off with President Charles Logan set to sign anti-terrorism alliance treaty with Russian President Yuri Suvarov. The motive for the days events seem to hang on this as Russian rebels feel this will increase the suffering of their people.

Bauer is framed for these murders but also the attempted murders of close pal Tony Almeida and his trustworthy CTU analyst Chloe O’Brian.

Whilst under the alias of Frank Flynn he boards with a mother and her son, Derek, who gets involved in the days events at the Ontario Airport as he and 39 other are held hostage.

But this plot is only a diversion for the terrorists lead by Vladimir Bierko to steal 20 canisters of Sentox Nerve gas with it being deployed in several locations, namely killing 40% of CTU including the death of a loveable old chap called Edgar Styles, how could they kill off Edgar? Oh and CTU director Lynn McGill (not loved as much!).  The other targets included Sunrises Hill Shopping Centre, Tyler Memorial Hospital and the Wilshire Gas Company, but deaths are kept to a low by CTU and the efforts of Curtis Manning with Bierko captures in the end.

The nerve gas is traced back to a company called Omicron International to a former ally of Jack’s and CTU agent Christopher Henderson and Bauer managed to capture him.

But whilst CTU is still struggling in the aftermath of the Sentox gas attack Henderson is able to escape and ‘kill’ Tony Almeida.

Jack now goes on the rampage to try and find out who is responsible and after help from Wayne Palmer, President David’s brother and First Lady Martha Logan’s special assistant it leads to President Logan, who has a private group following his every move and led by a person known as “Graem” , who later turn out to be Bauer’s brother.

Bauer finds a recording that will nail Logan but it gets into the wrong hands and a Homeland Security member of staff, who have taken over CTU due to the attack, uses it for his own personal gain and hands it back to President Logan.

Bierko escapes CTU and uses a last remaining nerve gas cylinder on a submarine with 12 missiles capable of destroying seven blocks.

Henderson works with Bauer to capture the vessel and manages to kill Bierko and his men on board the submarine, and in the end kills Henderson.

Jack now sets his sights on Logan and after kidnapping the president he tries to force the truth out of him, little does Logan know that Bauer had placed a recording device on his pen and he later confesses to his wife Martha and is then arrested.

But this is not all!  The Chinese have learnt Jack is still alive after the killing of the consul in season four and they capture him in the hope he reveals U.S Government and military tactics to the Chinese. Will he? Wont he? You’ll soon find out!

Season 2: What happened

Set 18 months after season 1, season 2 begins and ends at 8:00 AM. Jack must stop a nuclear bomb from detonating in Los Angeles, then assist President David Palmer in proving who is responsible for the threat.

The first fifteen hours deal with finding and disposing of the nuclear bomb. After the bomb is disposed of safely, the story focuses on the United States’ response to the thwarted attack, and in particular the nation’s retaliation against the people responsible for planning it. A recorded conversation between a terrorist involved with the bomb and high-ranking officials of three Middle Eastern countries (which are never specified) is used to implicate those countries in the plot. However, due to Jack Bauer’s doubts, Palmer is reluctant to order military action against them until he has absolute proof that the recording is genuine. A majority of his Cabinet then vote to relieve Palmer of his position as President under Section 4 of the Twenty-fifth Amendment, believing his hesitation to be a sign of indecision and weakness, and inability to lead the country effectively. New President James Prescott then orders military strikes against the three countries to continue.

Jack, Michelle and Tony race to find the evidence that the recording is a forgery, resulting in the discovery that a group of European and American businessmen fabricated it in order to wage war with the Middle East, and who planned to benefit from rocketing oil prices caused by the conflict. Once the evidence is produced, the strikes are called off and Palmer is reinstated as President, thanks largely to his ex-wife Sherry Palmer (who risks her life for the evidence, and who also had an indirect hand in the day’s events). The eight cabinet members and Vice President tender their resignations (Palmer does not accept them), and Palmer then tells his staff that he believes that the strictest evidence of hostile intent is required before waging war. The President does however, relieve his Chief of Staff Mike Novick, who did not support him until the eleventh hour, despite being his most trusted confidante.

Like in Season One, Season Two ends with a surprise twist. The nuclear bomb situation is resolved without massive loss of life, but President Palmer collapses after giving a speech, having been attacked with a biological weapon by Mandy in an assassination attempt. Viewers were forced to wait until the third season to see whether Palmer survived the attack. The sudden shift from a nuclear to biological threat also foreshadows the third season, which initially centers on the threat of an engineered virus being set loose on the public.

The beginning: Season 1

Season 1 of 24 began in November 2001 on the Fox Network and was created by Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran.

They were both executive producers along with Brian Grazer, Tony Krantz, Howard Gordon and Stephen Hopkins.

Fox originally only ordered thirteen episodes of the show to try it out and see whether it was successful.

The successful rescue at the end of the first half of the season was planned as a series ending in case the show was not picked up for the rest of the year.

Season 1 begins at 12:00 AM on the day of the California presidential primary. Jack Bauer has to protect Senator David Palmer from an assassination plot, and rescue his wife Teri and daughter Kim from those responsible for the plot, who seek retribution for Jack’s and David Palmer’s involvement with a covert U.S. mission in the Balkans.