Jack Bauer

Template:24 character Jack Bauer is the protagonist of the American television series 24, in which he has trained and worked in various capacities as a government agent, including US Army Delta Force, LAPD SWAT, and finally the Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) Los Angeles. He is a key member of the latter and has helped prevent major terrorist attacks on the United States throughout the series, saving both civilians and government leaders. On many occasions Jack has done so at great personal expense, as those he has thwarted have targeted him and his loved ones many times, especially in Season 1. Actor Kiefer Sutherland portrays Jack Bauer in the television show and video game, and in 2006 signed on for at least three further seasons.

Appearances

Day 1

During season one, Bauer's wife Teri and his daughter Kim are kidnapped by Victor Drazen, a man Bauer believes he killed in a covert mission called Operation Nightfall in Kosovo two years earlier. Erroneously believing that Kim is murdered by Drazen, Jack kills Drazen and his associates. As Bauer is returning to CTU, Nina Myers, who he knows to be a traitor, kills Teri Bauer before being arrested.

Day 2

Eighteen months later, Bauer is called back to duty by President Palmer to help CTU stop a terrorist group known as Second Wave from detonating a nuclear bomb in Los Angeles. After Season 2, Jack is appointed Director of Field Operations by new CTU Los Angeles Special Agent in Charge Tony Almeida.

24: The Game

In this videogame, Jack Bauer must stop Peter Madsen (who formerly received orders from Jack) from detonating several bombs in Los Angeles, subsequently causing what Madsen calls the "downfall of Los Angeles". This videogame also clears the gap left by Day 2 regarding Max, who Jack kills at the end.

Day 3

Two and a half years later (Season 3), Jack returns from an undercover sting operation of Ramon Salazar, a Mexican drug lord. While the operation is a success and results in the arrest of Salazar, it comes at a heavy price. Bauer ends up with a heroin addiction in order to maintain his cover with the Salazars, and attempts to fight it by going "cold turkey". Ramon's brother, Hector, insists that Bauer be kept alive to buy the Cordilla virus and resell them to underground organizations worldwide for a one billion dollar profit. Eventually Bauer wins the trust of Ramon Salazar but learns that another buyer is in play, headed by Nina Myers. The sale of the virus goes bad, but Nina Myers is taken into custody and is eventually executed by Bauer after he deems her useless. He then learns that the man behind the distribution of the virus and the attacks is Stephen Saunders, one of Jack's former team members presumed dead from Operation: Nightfall in Kosovo. Eventually Jack and Chase capture Saunders and retrieve the vials of virus. On their last retrieval, Jack is forced to make a decision to cut the hand of Chase to gain the final virus device. After leaving the hospital following Chase's decision, Jack takes a moment in his parked SUV. For the last remaining minutes in the 24 hours since the day began, Jack cries.

Day 4

Three months later, Jack is fired by Erin Driscoll due to his heroin addiction acquired prior to Season 3. He finds employment with the Department of Defense. Bauer becomes involved in a relationship with the daughter of the Secretary of Defense, Audrey Raines. However, after Jack is called back to CTU in Season 4 to help them stop a terrorist mastermind named Habib Marwan, Audrey witnesses Jack's "dark side," which makes her reassess wheather she can be in a relationship with him. Jack is forced to invade the Chinese consulate to extract a man with key information, but in doing so, the Chinese consul is accidentally killed. Due to the pending Chinese investigation, Jack is forced to fake his own death to avoid being taken into Chinese custody.

Day 5

Jack Bauer (who is in hiding) was framed for killing ex president David Palmer. Friends Michelle Dessler, and Tony Almeida are killed by assassins in an attempt to further the belief that Jack was the killer. Chloe O'brian is saved by Jack as assassins attempt to kill her as well. Jack interrogates the assassin and retrieves information that they were setting him up. As Jack and Chloe escape from the terrorists, Jack is followed by Derek Huxley, son of Diane Huxley (who Jack lived with during his 'death'). Jack goes to the Palmer apartment, where he is found by Wayne Palmer, and after a brief explanation, Wayne agrees to assist Jack in his pursuit of the truth. Following up a lead on something named Chevensky, Jack returns Derek to his mother outside Ontario Airport, but when suspicious men go into the terminal, Derek follows them in an attempt to warn Jack. The men are actually terrorists who take control of the Terminal with Jack and Derek inside, with a number of other hostages. Jack provides direct tactical assessment to the CTU teams outside. When the terrorists discover that Jack is inside the terminal, they threaten to kill Derek. Jack surrenders and is forced to feed false information to the CTU teams outside. At the last minute, CTU detects a distress code that Jack sent covertly in a conversation with agent Curtis Manning. The entry was changed and the teams successfully rescued the hostages. However, before the teams entered, Jack noticed one of the terrorist handing a 'hostage' a keycard. He looks for that hostage after the rescue attempt, but he is forced back to CTU as he is still a leading suspect in the Palmer assassination. As CTU learns that the terminal operation was a decoy to obtain military-grade sentox VX1 nerve gas, Jack receives a call from a man named James Nathanson, who said he supplied the gas to the terrorists, but intended to use it against them. Nathanson is killed when Jack tries to rescue him, but Nathanson gave Jack a computer chip before he dies. The chip contained information about the nerve gas which directly led to Christopher Henderson, a man Jack used to work under at CTU. While Jack looks back on Henderson, CTU follows another lead by a programmer who was paid to reset the detonaters on the terrorist's nerve gas, Jack and Curtis raid the penthouse and capture the programmer. Jack goes undercover when the terrorists try to release a canister at the Sunrise Hills shopping mall, and Jack stops the attempt against the orders of the President.

Day 6

Over the last 11 weeks, the United States has been a target of non-stop terrorist attacks and bombings, in public buildings and transportation. Jack is released from China 20 months after his capture at the end of Day 5. It's revealed that he is being released only to be handed over to Abu Fayed. Fayed has a deep grudge for Jack Bauer who had killed his brother in a sting operation in 1999. Fayed is a known leader in a terrorist cell who apparently knows information about Assad, the man identified as the one behind the attacks. After the "sacrificial lamb" is handed over, Abu Fayed reveals to Jack Bauer before his execution that he is the man responsible for the attacks. Soon Jack is able to escape, trying to warn President Palmer of Assad's innocence before an airstrike is called on Assad's location. Despite the execution of the President's order, Jack is able to rescue Assad and discovers the former terrorist leader was here to make amends and stop Fayed. The two are able to thwart a bombing attempt on a subway and rescue a civilian family held hostage. As the events unfold, painful memories of his murdered squadron leads Curtis Manning to attempt to kill Assad, leaving Jack no choice but to shoot Curtis dead in order to get more of the information they need from Assad. This sends Jack into an emotional state of overwhelming grief. With a call from CTU, he tells Bill Buchanan, "I can't do this any more." However, a mechanic working for Fayed detonates a nuke, prematurely decimating Valencia, California. Jack watches in horror as the mushroom cloud fills the sky. At this point, Jack realizes he can't stop what he's doing until he stops Fayed once and for all. New leads point to a shocking involvement with a company run by his father Phillip Bauer and brother Graem. When Jack digs too close for comfort, Graem's guards are sent to dispose of Jack and his father. Jack and Phillip are able to blindside the guards and escape, but this turns out to be an entire setup constructed by Phillip and Graem to hide his father's involvement. Jack interrogates Graem as hard as he can for information. Graem Bauer nearly breaks and reveals his involvement in and orchestration of the events in Day 5, including supplying the Russian terrorists and the assassinations of Jack's personal friends, Tony Almeida, Michelle Dessler and David Palmer. Later, Phillip Bauer sees his son as too much of a risk to reveal his involvement and kills Graem himself (under the impression Graem had a heart attack from the drugs). Jack discovers his father's involvement and trails him to a hotel, where he is holding his grandson Josh Bauer hostage. Phillip agrees to trade Josh's life for Jack's. As Phillip is about to execute his son, Jack makes a last sentiment, claiming that he became what he did for his own reasons, and not to spite his father. Phillip escapes but leaves a number to follow. This number turns out to be former President Charles Logan. Jack and CTU find out their best bet of finding Fayed is through the Russian Consul, who's had dealings with Dmitri Gredenko, the general from the Soviet Union who is working with Fayed, and whose goal was to acquire the nukes by blackmailing Phillip Bauer and Graem Bauer for their role in David Palmer's assassination, sell the nukes to Fayed who would detonate the nukes on U.S. soil, thus causing the destruction of America's military machine so that America wouldn't redefeat Gredenko and his armies when the Soviet Union once again rose to power. After attempted negotiations between Logan and the Russian Consul fail, CTU invades the consulate to capture the Russian Consul, and rescue Jack Bauer from the Consul's men. When Jack arrives back at CTU, he learns through his sister-in-law, Marilyn Bauer, that Audrey Raines was killed in a car crash in China while looking for Jack. When Jack reviews the file and realizes it was murder, he vows to Bill Buchanan that he will finish this and track down her murderers and kill them.

Day 7

Jack Bauer will return in Day 7 of 24, in which he is on trial for torture.

Other appearances

As the principal character in 24, Jack plays a prominent role in the television series as well as the video game. Jack is the main protagonist of the 24 series and the books, and has appeared in every episode to date. He is the only character to have done so, although Glenn Morshower, as Secret Service Agent Aaron Pierce, has appeared in every season.

24 mobisodes

24 Day Six Debrief is a Sprint TV exclusive, sponsored by American Express, that takes place 35 hours after the nuclear device exploded in Valencia, CA. Part 1 is roughly 90 seconds in length. The time clock starts ticking at 9:00:00 and ends at 9:01:34. Two agents, Agent Ramirez and Agent Moss, track Jack down to an apartment and ask him to come to CTU for debriefing about the recovery of the tactical nukes. The series consists of 5 parts, no longer than three minutes in length each. The Debrief consists of Agent Ramirez and other agents attempting to discover more about the supposed-death of an undercover agent, Marcus Holt, who disappeared shortly into Jack's imprisonment in China at the hands of Cheng Zhi. Since Holt was involved with the Chinese government, it is believed that Jack leaked information that led to his identity being discovered and execution. At the end of the series, the agents announce that they have no conclusive evidence about his involvement, but Ramirez promises to keep a close eye on him until he is certain. Jack tells Ramirez that if he ever sees him again, he better say "the Lord's prayer", because it will mean he's come to kill him.

With that, Jack Bauer is released from custody and the interrogation ends.

24: The Game

Bauer in 24: The Game which takes place six months after Day 2.

24: The Game takes place between Day 2 and 3. Jack begins waiting outside the ship where terrorists are going to release a Ricin Bomb in the water supply. A CTU Team triggers an alarm causing Jack and his team to storm the ship. Jack and his team finds the whole ship's crew dead in a cargo hold. He runs into an enemy from his past, known as Peter Madsen. It is unclear what the story is between them, but it is stated that he framed Jack's family for a vile crime, this is hinted with Jack saying to him: "Eight years ago, my family wasn't involved". Madsen also states that he no longer takes orders from Jack. Most likely it's hinted that Madsen was under Jack's command either in the army or in an SWAT team, and Madsen betrayed Jack. Madsen kidnaps Jack's daughter Kim, and later Kate Warner. Jack finally kills Madsen in the end when he tries to escape.

24 (film)

Main article: 24 (film)

Kiefer Sutherland will portray Jack Bauer in a 24 film in the future. The film is not yet being made, and it is not exactly known when it will be released. According to the official 24 magazine, Kim Raver (Audrey Raines) and Mary Lynn Rajskub (Chloe O'Brian) will join Kiefer in the future film.

24 action figure

In January 2007, McFarlane Toys announced plans for a line of 24 action figures. Two figures of Jack Bauer are currently in production. Both are packaged as boxed sets and re-create scenes taken directly from the series. The first figure is expected to hit store shelves in August 2007, with the second scheduled for holiday season 2007 release. According to Sutherland in Wizard Magazine after the announcement, another Bauer figure had been designed at one point in the past and given to him to approve the likeness.

In mass media

Jack Bauer has been referenced in other television shows, both subtly and obviously. In an episode of House, also on FOX, Dr. Gregory House responds to an emergency situation by saying sarcastically, "Oh, a level three! Maybe we should call Jack Bauer."

Bauer appeared in the first half of the season finale of the 18th season (episode 399) of The Simpsons with Chloe O'Brian as part of Springfield Elementary's new Counter Truancy Unit. He gets embarrassed on a prank call made by Bart Simpson (due to a crossover of calls). In the end, Bauer and the CTU breaks into Springfield Elementary, ruining its bake sale. They were about to arrest Bart for the prank call until a nuclear bomb activates in the background. Bauer then promptly tells the people that it was in Shelbyville, much to their relief.

A Season 11 episode of South Park, entitled "The Snuke", appeared in a 24 format, with the South Park character Eric Cartman taking the role of Jack Bauer. Other characters were parodied, including Chloe O'Brian. Also, several previous 24 storylines were used in the episode.

Jack Bauer was referenced by Congressman Tom Tancredo in the May 15, 2007 Republican debate in South Carolina after a question about torture. Jack Bauer also made an appearance on Conan O'Brien's opening sketch of the 2006 Emmys.

Jack Bauer is referenced on the liner notes for the Megadeth CD United Abominations, credited as the "former Special Agent in Charge, Counter Terrorist Unit, Los Angeles." He appears as having written the introduction to the album. The actual text was written by Matt Michnovetz and 20th century Fox is thanked for permitting the usage of the character.

In The Office episode "The Job", Dwight Schrute says that once he is promoted to regional manager his ideal choice for his number two will be Jack Bauer. However, Dwight says Jack "is unavailable, fictional, and overqualified".

Jack Bauer is also mentioned in an episode of "The O.C.". Taylor and Ryan had a fight and fell off the Cohen's roof when Ryan was hanging Christmas lights and were left in temporary comas. Julie Cooper is trying to stop Taylor Townsend's mother from boarding a plane to Mexico. Taylor's mother insists to Julie that she is going to Mexico and turns her back on Julie. Julie threatens Veronica saying that if she doesn't go see her daughter in the hospital she will tell security that Veronica has a bomb in her bag, which Kaitlin responds by saying "That was very Jack Bauer mom!"

In the movie Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang Robert Downey Jr. points out a best boy in the credits named Jack Bauer.

In an episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, the gang has a cat named Jack Bauer.

Characteristics

Bauer's behavior and actions are consistent with doing that which has to be done to protect the United States and its citizens to the point of giving his own life. He appears to be entirely utilitarian and consequentialist in his moral thinking: when innocent lives are in danger he behaves as though obtaining a desired result is more important than how he obtains it, and he frequently performs controversial actions if he thinks they will achieve an important goal. His philosophy was perhaps best expressed after he shot a witness in front of George Mason, the CTU Special Agent in Charge. George expressed dismay at Jack's extreme action, and Jack replied: "That's the problem with people like you, George. You want results, but you never want to get your hands dirty." Lying, torture, theft, and even killing people he cares about are all viable options to Jack, a stark contrast to the vast majority of fictional heroes. Comparisons with the very people he battles are inevitable. As stated by George Mason in Day 1, "Rules don't apply to Jack Bauer. He does what he wants, when he wants, and he doesn't care whose life it affects." Jack also seems to show complete disregard for himself when situations occur. The very day he was released from a 20 month stay in a Chinese prison for violating the sovereignty of their consulate, he was willing to risk the exact same thing again by going into the Russian Consulate, even though he now knows better than anyone the consequences of that action, because innocent lives are on the line.

Jack's work brings with it dangers that occasionally put his and his family's life on the line, as well as the lives of those close to him, in order to serve the greater good. In one instance, he was forced to choose between defying a terrorist with a biological weapon or killing one of his superiors, Regional Director Ryan Chappelle. Despite efforts to locate the terrorist before the deadline, Bauer was forced to execute Chappelle to prevent the release of the weapon. In the fourth season, Bauer drew the ire of the Chinese government when he infiltrated and extracted a Chinese scientist named Lee Jong from the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles, which resulted in the death of the Chinese Consul. Lee was shot during the raid and needed immediate medical attention. At CTU, Bauer learned that the sole doctor was already working on Paul Raines, estranged husband of Audrey Raines (Jack's girlfriend) who earlier in the series had saved Jack's life. Much to Audrey's horror, Bauer drew his weapon and ordered the doctor to abandon Paul Raines and begin surgery on Lee. Raines went into cardiac arrest and died shortly afterward. With the information he obtained from Lee, though, Bauer was able to prevent a nuclear explosion in Los Angeles.

Jack is rarely seen showing remorse for such actions until after the crisis has passed. This is largely due to his emotional suppression necessary to complete the task at hand. He has on occasion revealed his more vulnerable side, including notable scenes like at the end of Day One when he starts crying while holding his wife's dead body, the end of Day 3 when he breaks down crying after the traumatic events of the day and while holding Tony Almeida's lifeless body in the middle of Day 5. However his ability to suppress has been brought into question in Day Six when, after Jack is forced to kill Curtis Manning, he vomits and breaks down in tears immediately afterwards, telling Buchanan that he believes he is no longer able to perform his duties. In contrast to him being willing to kill Chase in season 3 at Salazar's ranch without hesitation.

However, there are limits to the sacrifices Jack is willing to make in the line of duty. When it was discovered terrorists were preparing to release a canister of nerve gas in a crowded shopping mall, Jack was ordered by his superior Lynn McGill to let the terrorists carry out the attack, which would have led to hundreds of deaths, and then follow them in the hopes of recovering the other nerve gas containers they had stolen. Jack refused and stopped the attack, even against the rationalization that a few hundred deaths were nothing compared to the hundreds of thousands of deaths the rest of the nerve gas could inflict. Also, he typically avoids killing people that aren't terrorists when they get in his way (at least once every season he ends up on the run from CTU).

Jack exhibits no fear of death, specifying in Day 6 that he would willingly die for something worthwhile. He has volunteered for suicide missions in the past, ranging from crashing a plane with a nuclear bomb in the desert on Day 2, to asking his Chinese captors on Day 5 to kill him instead of interrogating him for years, knowing that he would never speak. On Day 6, Bauer offered no resistance when he was released from Chinese custody only to learn he was a bargaining chip for a known terrorist. Only when he learned that CTU was fooled by terrorists and that his death would amount to nothing did he begin to resist and escape his captors.

Following the death of his wife at the end of Season 1, he seemed to live a life that had little personal purpose. To Jack Bauer, there is no separation of his personal life and his duty. As he said to Chase Edmunds, his partner during Season 3: "You cannot do this job and have a normal life at the same time."

Finally, Jack is cognizant of the threat of passing time. He is able to think on his feet, and reacts quickly and decisively to unexpected and rapidly-developing situations. This emphasizes the real-time nature of the show. Perhaps the best example takes place in Season 1, when Jack must steal a piece of evidence from a fellow technician, who is studying it at that very moment, and replace it with a fake. Jack does so by spilling Milo's ubiquitous cup of snacks—and then performing the switch in less than one second. Another example occurs in Season 4, when Jack improvises to escape being fired upon by emptying the bullets from a found gun into a trashed coffee can and igniting the can, so the bullets would go off, scaring the shooter and giving him time to escape. In many of these instances, Jack displays not only knowledge of himself, others, and the timeframe which he has to work with but also his wide knowledge of improvised tactics and speciality skills.

Concept and creation

Character creation

The writers of 24 collaborated with Sutherland to create the part of Jack Bauer. Sutherland is also an executive producer of 24.

"Bauer", a common German surname often translated as "peasant" or "farmer", is also the German word used to refer to a certain chess piece: the pawn. Additionally, the Jack in a Deck of Poker Cards is referred to as a "Bauer" in some parts of Germany.

Kiefer Sutherland

Joel Surnow commented that they did not have any actors in mind for the part; "We didn’t really know who it was. We were casting a lot of people and then we heard Kiefer Sutherland’s name and thought, that’s Jack Bauer." Initially Kiefer Sutherland had reservations about playing Jack Bauer, stating, "I thought, 'This is really clever and different, so there's no way they're going to pick it up. But I could use the money, and no one will ever see it'."

In 24, Sutherland must produce around 18 hours of film each season, "which is like making 12 movies, so there are going to be mistakes along the way, but I am incredibly surprised by how many things work well as a result of working at that pace."

Sutherland signed a contract to play the role of Bauer for three more seasons for $40 million. Reactions by critics to his performance have been very positive with five Emmy nominations and a win in 2006 for his work in Season 5. He also won a Golden Globe for the role in 2002.

External links

• Jack Bauer's Official Character Profile