About Kiefer
| One of the famous acting brat-pack of the 1980s, Kiefer Sutherland is the star of the TV series 24 as counter-terrorism expert Jack Bauer. The show broke convention by having each hour-long episode represent an hour in Bauer's day. Sutherland's success on television came after a respectable 15 years in the movies: his memorable turn as a bully in Stand By Me (1986) led to a string of successful ensemble movies, including The Lost Boys (1987), Young Guns (1988), and Flatliners (1990). Although he has carried the lead in several movies and played a variety of roles, he has a reputation for playing bad guys, such as in A Few Good Men (1992, with Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson), Freeway (1996, opposite Reese Witherspoon), A Time to Kill (1996), Eye For An Eye (1996) and Dark City (1998). He is the son of movie star Donald Sutherland, he learned how to rope and ride in the movies and has competed professionally as a calf roper. Sutherland was nominated for the Emmy Award for outstanding lead actor in a drama series every year from 2002-2006; he won the award in 2006.
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// "24" SEASON FOUR (DAY 4) //
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| Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow. |
Season Four, also known as Day 4 of the television series 24 premiered on January 9, 2005 and aired its season finale on May 23, 2005.
The Season Four storyline starts and ends at 7:00 AM.
A 10-minute prequel to the season was available exclusively to the American audience with the third season DVD. It was broadcast on Sky One in the UK before the showing of the fourth season in that country. It was also available in UK release of the fourth season DVD.
Season Four Overview
Season Four (2005) is set 18 months after Season Three. Judging by the theories proposed for the dates of previous seasons, the events of the day would appear to take place in March 2010.
Jack is now working for Secretary of Defense James Heller after being fired by CTU. As the day begins, he gets caught up in an elaborate terrorist plot which involves both men and the daughter of Heller, Audrey Raines, who doubles as her father's chief policy assistant and Jack's lover (while separated from her husband). Jack must work with CTU and Erin Driscoll, the new Chief Director of CTU and the woman who fired him, to uncover what is happening. Again, one or more moles are revealed to be working inside CTU, aiding the terrorists.
Unlike previous seasons, which focused on a singular threat, multiple enemies, and conspiracies, this season is based around one main enemy, a terrorist named Habib Marwan who controls a series of Middle Eastern terrorist cells that launch a series of attacks against the United States. This was somewhat accidental; Marwan was originally intended to only appear in six episodes, but the producers were so impressed by Arnold Vosloo's performance that Marwan became the season's main villain, and stayed that way right up to the final hours of the season. During Season Five, however, there seems to be some implication that some of the masterminds behind the crisis in Day 5 may have been secretly involved in the incidents of Day 4.
Day 4 also takes a different approach in its storytelling. Rather than two large acts, this season is divided into several smaller acts depending on what terrorist threat Marwan came up with.
- The kidnapping and planned broadcast of the execution of the Secretary of Defense.
- Nuclear power plants across America are sent into a forced meltdown.
- Terrorists steal a stealth fighter to shoot down Air Force One.
- Jack and Marwan scramble to get a hold of the nuclear football.
- The terrorists steal and launch a nuclear missile.
Major subplots
>> which allows the theft of a device known as the Dobsen-type Override which could be used to take control of and meltdown United States nuclear power plants.
>> which is broadcast over the Internet
>> both hostages were rescued by CTU before their executions could take place
>> the use of the override requires a surge in Internet traffic, presumably to brute-force security at nuclear plants nationwide, as the attempt is masked by the Internet chaos caused by the mass streaming of videos regarding the kidnapping of the Secretary of Defense and his near-execution
>> Edgar Stiles' mother's death, as a handicapped resident of the island
>> Distracts CTU director Driscoll from checking on her mentally ill daughter, who commits suicide.
>> in an effort to cover-up their complicity and erase computer records, the defense contractor that developed the override activates an EMP that also causes a blackout over an 8-square mile section of downtown Los Angeles.
>> almost killing President Keeler in the process and elevating the Vice-President Charles Logan under the 25th Amendment.
>> the crash is used to steal the nuclear football from the crash site.
>> a Chinese national at the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles is revealed to be complicit and is captured by CTU. In the process, the Chinese Consul is killed (by friendly fire; the American agents never fired a shot during the mission), leading to a serious diplomatic problem with China
>> the Chinese government begins investigating the raid at the Chinese Consulate and begins to suspect CTU's involvement
>> Logan's administration attempts to frame Jack Bauer as acting against authorization by the US Government
>> David Palmer warns Jack that someone in the administration is trying to have Jack conveniently killed, causing Jack to perform a pseudocide with four conspirators: Palmer, Michelle Dessler, Tony Almeida, and Chloe O'Brian.
Continuous Airing
The Fox Network decided to implement a year-round schedule because episodes of the show would be broadcast irregularly due to the fact that Fox had recently obtained the rights to air the World Series for several years. Thus, FOX chose to air all 24 episodes, without any hiatuses, over 19 weeks beginning mid-season—with double episodes airing twice in the first week, and again at the end of the season. Utilizing the extended planning session that this opportunity afforded the writers, they attempted to map out the season like never before, but as the season wore on, they eventually fell back to writing on an episode by episode basis, without any planning or foreknowledge.
This was particularly evident in the way the story was told. Unlike previous seasons, which all began with the discovery of the threat and went through the investigation, the containment of the threat and followed the aftermath, Season Four began with no one knowing what the threat was to be, and the characters—and audience—were kept in the dark for several episodes.
However, this is debatable, as at least one source has claimed that the writers plan forward five episodes at a time, while a newspaper article stated that Season Four's later premiere date has allowed the creators to go back to previous episodes and fill in continuity errors and plot holes, making the episode transitions more fluid and realistic.
Cast Info
When the season began, every character from the first three seasons was absent except for Jack Bauer, President Keeler (Palmer's Republican opponent in season 3), and Chloe O'Brian. However, as the season went on several characters came back, including Tony Almeida (for 18 episodes), Michelle Dessler (13 episodes), Mike Novick (8 episodes), David Palmer (6 episodes), Aaron Pierce (2 episodes), and even Mandy, the assassin from seasons 1 and 2 (3 episodes).
Season Four provided viewers with several new characters. One of the new characters, Erin Driscoll, is involved in a subplot that involves her daughter's schizophrenia. Driscoll's daughter, Maya, ends up committing suicide. As a result, Driscoll is forced to leave CTU.
The season also played with the cast line-up in a way no previous seasons had done. The season began with Kiefer Sutherland, Kim Raver, Alberta Watson and William Devane as the main cast. Watson left after twelve episodes, Lana Parrilla — upgraded from a recurring to main character in episode six — was gone by episode thirteen, and Roger Cross was then put into the main cast. Devane then left after episode fourteen since he was filming for Stargate SG-1 at the time, and then returned briefly later in the season.
Season Four Cast
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Starring
Special Guest Stars Special Guest Appearance by |
Recurring
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Season Four Episodes
| Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow. |
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Originally Aired: January 9, 2005 on FOX Full Episode Breakdown |
Originally Aired: January 9, 2005 on FOX Full Episode Breakdown |
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Originally aired: January 10, 2005 on FOX Full Episode Breakdown |
Originally aired: January 10, 2005 on FOX Full Episode Breakdown |
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Originally aired: January 17, 2005 on FOX Full Episode Breakdown |
Originally aired: January 24, 2005 on FOX Full Episode Breakdown |
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Originally aired: January 31, 2005 on FOX Full Episode Breakdown |
Originally aired: February 7, 2005 on FOX Full Episode Breakdown |
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Originally aired: February 14, 2005 on FOX Full Episode Breakdown |
Originally aired: February 21, 2005 on FOX Full Episode Breakdown |
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Originally aired: March 1, 2005 on FOX Full Episode Breakdown |
Originally aired: March 7, 2005 on FOX Full Episode Breakdown |
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Originally aired: March 14, 2005 on FOX Full Episode Breakdown |
Originally aired: March 21, 2005 on FOX Full Episode Breakdown |
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Originally aired: March 28, 2005 on FOX Full Episode Breakdown |
Originally aired: April 4, 2005 on FOX Full Episode Breakdown |
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Originally aired: April 11, 2005 on FOX Full Episode Breakdown |
Originally aired: April 18, 2005 on FOX Full Episode Breakdown |
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Originally aired: April 25, 2005 on FOX Full Episode Breakdown |
Originally aired: May 2, 2005 on FOX Full Episode Breakdown |
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Originally aired: May 9, 2005 on FOX Full Episode Breakdown |
Originally aired: May 16, 2005 on FOX Full Episode Breakdown |
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Originally aired: May 23, 2005 on FOX Full Episode Breakdown |
Originally aired: May 23, 2005 on FOX Full Episode Breakdown |
Season Four Trivia
Season Four Goofs
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