24 (season 4)

Day 4 is the name of the fourth season of the television series 24. The story covers a  day that starts and ends at 7 AM.

Season Overview

The season starts with a train bombing. The bombing is used to get a device to control nuclear power plants. Terrorists kidnap Secretary of Defense James  Heller and his daughter, Audrey Raines. They plan to kill Heller on the internet to get past internet firewalls to use the device. Bauer stops them from killing Heller, but the terrorists gain control of power plants. Eventually, CTU gets control of most plants. CTU learns that the terrorist behind the events is Habib Marwan. He worked for McLennan-Forrester. The company sets off an EMP to destroy evidence of the terrorist. Later, terrorists get a stealth fighter and shoot down Air Force One. President Keeler cannot serve, and Vice-President Logan becomes president. Marwan's terror cells steal the nuclear football from the site of the crash of Air Force One. Jack finds evidence leading him to the Chinese consulate. At the consulate, the Chinese consul is killed in a gunfight. CTU eventually stops the missile, but Jack and his friends must fake his death. In the end, Jack is a fugitive from the US and Chinese governments.  

Characters

Starring

• Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer (24 episodes)
• Kim Raver as Audrey Raines (24 episodes)
• Alberta Watson as Erin Driscoll (12 episodes)
• Lana Parrilla as Sarah Gavin (12 episodes)
• Roger Cross as Curtis Manning (22 episodes)
• William Devane as Secretary of Defense James Heller (15 episodes)

Special guest stars

• Carlos Bernard as Tony Almeida (18 episodes)
• Reiko Aylesworth as Michelle Dessler (13 episodes)

Special guest appearance by

• Dennis Haysbert as David Palmer (6 episodes)

Guest starring

• Louis Lombardi as Edgar Stiles (24 episodes)
• Arnold Vosloo as Habib Marwan (17 episodes)
• Mary Lynn Rajskub as Chloe O'Brian (16 episodes)
• Geoff Pierson as President John Keeler (13 episodes)
• Shohreh Aghdashloo as Dina Araz (12 episodes)
• Jonathan Ahdout as Behrooz Araz (12 episodes)
• James Frain as Paul Raines (10 episodes)
• James Morrison as Bill Buchanan (10 episodes)
• Nestor Serrano as Navi Araz (10 episodes)
• Cameron Bancroft as Lee Castle (9 episodes)
• Gregory Itzin as Vice President/President Charles Logan (9 episodes)
• Jude Ciccolella as Mike Novick (8 episodes)
• Logan Marshall-Green as Richard Heller (7 episodes)
• Aisha Tyler as Marianne Taylor (7 episodes)
• John Allen Nelson as Walt Cummings (5 episodes)
• Leighton Meester as Debbie Pendleton (4 episodes)
• Lukas Haas as Andrew Paige (3 episodes)
• Mia Kirshner as Mandy (3 episodes)
• Tzi Ma as Cheng Zhi (2 episodes)
• Glenn Morshower as Aaron Pierce (2 episodes)

Reception

The season received positive reviews by critics. It has a rating of 95% on Rotten Tomatoes. Commentators were critical of the portrayal of torture on the program. They question if acts of torture are becoming more normal and therefore they are becoming justifiable .