24is one of those series that can legitimately be called a “game changer”. For starters, there’s its format; each season takes place over a single day, with each episode corresponding to an hour. It also arguably started the trend of the “tortured male protagonist” that’s now the norm: long before Walter White onBreaking Bador Carmy onThe Bear, Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) was going through it. But most fans of24forget that its Season 1 finalepacked a massive plot twist into its final five minutes. Season 1 pits Bauer against mercenary Ira Gaines (Michael Massee), who’s attempted to kill presidential candidate David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert) before he fights Gaines' employer Victor Drazen (Dennis Hopper) and his brother Andre (Željko Ivanek); matters aren’t helped by the fact that there’s a mole within Bauer’s Counter-Terrorism Unit.
That mole is revealed to be Nina Meyers (Sarah Chalke), Bauer’s partner. During the Season 1 finale, Bauer’s wife Teri (Leslie Hope) learns that Meyers is the mole; Bauer does as well, leading to a frenzied chase that ends with her arrest. But as things wind down, Bauer discovers that Meyers fatally shot Teri. As the episode ends, Bauer is shown sobbing and cradling his wife’s body. It’s a shocking moment — not just because it was completely unexpected, but because it was something that’d never been done on network TV.Teri Bauer’s death ended up shaping the dynamic of future seasons of24and also shook up the storytelling possibilities for primetime TV.
Teri Bauer’s Death in ‘24’ Was Unexpected – but That’s Why It Works
The reason why Teri’s death in the Season 1 finale of24hits so hard is that up until that point,there wasn’t any indication that she was going to die. In fact, a large part of Season 1 was dedicated to Jack racing to save her and their daughter, Kim (Elisha Cuthbert), after they’re kidnapped by Gaines' forces. Jack was also working to reconcile with Teri following a separation, as they were going to have another baby; it didn’t help that he had a brief fling with Nina prior to that reconciliation, which makes the revelation that Nina’s the mole in the CTU hit even harder.
To kill off a character and deny the resolution that audiences were used to was a wild move, and there’s a world where it almost never happened.24co-creatorJoel Surnowrevealed on theSeason 1DVD commentary that he andRobert Cochran did pen an alternate take where Jack finds Teri alive—and it was even filmed!— but they ultimately decided to go with the death sequence as it added a level of realism. “It made the show feel more real. And it gives our audience a sense when they’re going to watch the show next season, of not being able to expect anything they’ve come to expect in a normal television show,” Surnow said.
Season 1 of ‘24’ Helped Pave the Way for Network TV To Take More Risks
24’s shocking death scene would lead toother TV shows employing major twists or shocking deaths within their narrative, to the point where it’s become the norm for long-form television.The Good Place, which seemingly took place in a strange type of purgatory, ultimately reveals that its characters are actually trapped in “the Bad Place” — a revelation that shook viewers when they first watched it.Lostseemed to be built on a foundation of plot twists and shocking deaths; characters either died, disappeared, or rapidly changed, to say nothing of the strange mythology surrounding the island they were stranded on.This Is Uswould slowly layer in its twists over time, not only revealing that it was the story of a family but that its patriarch, Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) was long dead. In fact, betweenThis is Us,Pitch, andParadise,Dan Foglemanhas made a career out of delivering shocking plot twists.
Following Teri Bauer’s death,24wouldcontinue to deliver some shocking revelations, including killing off characters when the audience least expected them. The only other character death that matched Teri’s was David Palmer; the former presidentwas taken out by a sniper’s bullet in Season 5.This death was truly shocking because Palmer was a major part of24; not only was Season 1 focused on his presidential campaign, but Seasons 2 and 3 actually featured him as the President. Palmer and Jack Bauer’s storylines would even parallel each other, as much like Bauer, Palmer is forced to make certain decisions that alienate him from others. His death, which literally takes place in the opening minutes of the Season 5 premiere “Day 5: 7:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m.,” was a reminder that no one was safe.
‘24’ Is Set To Return as a Feature Film
24would last for eight seasons, including the TV film24: Redemptionand the sequel series24: Live Another Day. There was an attempt at a reboot with the short-lived24: Legacy, but Imagine Entertainment’sBrian Grazerrecently revealed thata24film is in the works.Details on the movie are scarce, but if it wants to stand out in the realm of TV revivals, it should remember the impact that Teri Bauer’s death had.24was at its best when it did the unexpected; it kept the audience invested because you never knew who was going to live and who was going to die. If you love “Peak TV” in any of its forms, you owe24a great deal of thanks.
24is available to stream on Hulu.
