24: Live Another Day


24: Live Another Day is a 24 limited event television series that aired on Fox from May 5 to July 14, 2014. Sky 1 simulcast the premiere on May 6 in the United Kingdom and Ireland but switched to Wednesday nights for the rest of the episodes. It began airing in Australia on Network Ten on May 12, 2014. Set four years after the events of season 8, it adheres to the real time concept of covering the events of a 24-hour period and begins and ends at 11:00 a.m. However, there is a 12-hour time jump within the final episode.

Season overview

Live Another Day takes place four years after the events of season 8. James Heller, now President of the United States of America, is negotiating a treaty with British Prime Minister Alastair Davies in London, where a hacker collective led by hacker Adrian Cross preaching freedom of information known as Open Cell has enlisted the help of ex-Counter Terrorist Unit Data Analyst Chloe O'Brian. Ex-CTU Agent and federal fugitive Jack Bauer, who has been tracking the activities of Chloe's group while living in exile and being hunted by the CIA, resurfaces when he hears of an imminent assassination attempt on Heller's life.
There are two main acts in Live Another Day:
  1. Margot Al-Harazi gains control of six US drones and uses them to attack London.
  2. Cheng Zhi attacks his former country China with hijacked American weapons bringing the two countries to the brink of war.

    Major subplots

  • Jack Bauer disapproves of the group Chloe O'Brian has joined.
  • Margot Al-Harazi grows suspicious of where her daughter's loyalties lie.
  • James Heller tries to manage a crisis amid the onset of Alzheimer's disease.
  • Mark Boudreau opens himself up to blackmail by forging Heller's signature.
  • Kate Morgan has been led to believe that her husband committed treason by selling state secrets.
  • The head of the CIA London station, Steve Navarro, is conspiring with the leader of Chloe's group.
  • CIA analyst Jordan Reed's hunt for answers puts his life into jeopardy.
  • Circumstances reunite Jack and Audrey after nearly a decade.
  • America's plans for a treaty are derailed when they lose control of their own weapons.
  • Cheng Zhi partners with the Russians who are looking for Jack.

    Summary

While anti-drone protesters gather outside the United States Embassy, where President of the United States James Heller is staying, agents at a CIA station in London find and apprehend federal fugitive and former Counter Terrorist Unit Agent Jack Bauer. Due to her husband's conviction, CIA Agent Kate Morgan is being forced to resign. However, she gets herself reinstated when she realizes that Jack is infiltrating the CIA to gain access to ex-CTU Data Analyst turned hacktivist Chloe O'Brian. Kate is too late to intervene and Jack breaks Chloe out of interrogation with the help of his friend Belcheck, an ex-Serbian Mob enforcer. Still distrustful of Chloe, Jack follows her to Open Cell, a hacker collective that specializes in leaking government documents and preaching freedom of information. He explains that he is on the trail of Derrick Yates, a former Open Cell member who has become involved in an assassination attempt on James Heller. The attempt is revealed to involve drones when he programs an unmanned aerial vehicle to fire on British and American troops. The pilot, United States Air Force First Lieutenant Chris Tanner, is falsely arrested on murder charges.
Jack and Chloe learn that Yates' device has been taken by Margot Al-Harazi, a designated terrorist trying to avenge the death of her husband, Mahmoud. When their attempt to capture her daughter Simone fails, Jack breaks into the United States Embassy to analyze Tanner's flight key and prove that the threat is imminent. Jack locks himself in a room with three hostages and tries to upload the data to Open Cell's leader, Adrian Cross. Marines break in before the upload finishes but Kate Morgan is able to place him in CIA custody instead. In the President's quarters, Chief of Staff Mark Boudreau expresses concerns that Bauer is a designated terrorist and drafts an agreement for extraditing him to Russia. Suspecting that dementia has clouded Heller's judgement, he forges the President's signature and vows to protect his wife Audrey from any further pain related to Bauer. Jack is ultimately proven right when Margot broadcasts a video calling for Heller to turn himself in or face attacks on London from six U.S. drones.
When Simone's husband Navid tries to sabotage the attacks, Margot executes Navid, leaving her son Ian to pilot the drones, she sends Simone to silence Navid's family. When a missile kills several CIA Agents, Heller authorizes Bauer to go undercover with an arms dealer known for working with Al-Harazi. From transaction records, they are able to track Simone and see that she has been struck by traffic in her pursuit of Navid's niece. When Margot learns that Simone is being interrogated in the hospital, she sends a drone to destroy it. Jack and Kate escape with Simone and convince her to reveal Margot's last known whereabouts. The subsequent raid uncovers enough information to give Chloe access to the drone's camera. Meanwhile, CIA Analyst Jordan Reed uncovers evidence that Kate's husband Adam Morgan may have been innocent all along. CIA Station Chief Steve Navarro arranges to have him assassinated in order to cover up his own involvement in selling intel to China and framing Morgan. The assassination does not go as planned and leads to the deaths of both Agent Reed and the hitman.
With Margot's deadline approaching, Heller decides to turn himself in and put an end to the civilian losses though he first pardons Jack for his crimes. Jack delivers Heller to Wembley Stadium where Margot's drone is waiting but convinces him to turn back when Chloe devises a plan to loop the video feed. Thinking that Heller is still inside, Margot and Ian fire on the stadium and then sink five of the six rogue drones. Upon learning that Heller is alive, Margot and Ian try to attack Waterloo station with the last drone. Jack arrives with a CIA tactical team before this can happen and kills both of them. Jack takes Yates' device back to the CIA to be analyzed. Upon arriving, he learns that Jordan's body has been found and identifies the second body as an assassin called James Harman, an ex-CIA Agent and ex-United States Navy SEAL, working for Navarro. Before Jack can apprehend him, Navarro escapes with the device and delivers it to Adrian Cross. Adrian explains to Chloe that some underground dealings with China are needed to finance their activism and takes her to an Open Cell chapter. They find that all of their colleagues have been murdered by ex-Chinese official turned terrorist Cheng Zhi, who wants to reprogram the override to start a war between the United States and China. Cheng kills Adrian, kidnaps Chloe and fabricates a torpedo launch order for an American submarine that sinks a Chinese aircraft carrier.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Anatol Stolnavich contacts Boudreau about the rendition order. When Boudreau tries to withdraw it, Stolnavich threatens to reveal that the signature has been forged. Boudreau co-operates and gives him access to a frequency used by Bauer. As a result, Jack is attacked by Russian agents working for Stolnavich on his way to retrieve the override and Cheng has time to escape. Upon discovering that his encrypted frequency was given to the Russians from within the White House, Bauer confronts Boudreau and tells him that Russia will benefit if the United States and China go to war. Heller immediately arrests Boudreau for treason but then delays custody, allowing Boudreau to assist Jack in the raid of a Russian diplomatic compound in which Stolnavich resides. He distracts Stolnavich long enough for Jack and Kate to break in but Stolnavich dies in the ensuing struggle. Audrey meets with a contact of hers, the daughter of a high-ranking Chinese official, hoping to convince her that the naval attacks were perpetrated by Cheng and not the American government. Even though Cheng is unable to stop Chloe from escaping, he uses a sniper and has Audrey's Secret Service detail killed. He contacts Bauer saying that Audrey will die unless he gets safe passage out of England.
From the files in Stolnavich's compound Jack finds out how Cheng is planning to escape and sends Kate to rescue Audrey without attracting attention. Chloe re-establishes contact with Jack and sets up satellite surveillance of the freighter that Cheng has boarded. While Jack and Belcheck raid the ship, Kate eliminates the sniper and tells them that Audrey is safe. However, a second shooter in the area fires several shots and Audrey dies in Kate's arms. Devastated by her loss, Jack kills all of Cheng's bodyguards and transmits proof of Cheng's whereabouts to President Heller and President Wei, the President of China. He kills Cheng immediately after the authenticity is verified. As the military advances are called off, Heller is told that his daughter is dead and Jack and Belcheck see that Chloe has gone missing again. Jack receives a phone call from the Russians demanding that he turn himself in to them.
Twelve hours later, Kate resigns from the CIA out of regret and Mark awaits trial for committing treason in his attempt to save Audrey. Heller is left to mourn his daughter as his memories start to fade away, and Jack reluctantly gives himself up to Russian agents in exchange for Chloe's freedom despite being pardoned by Heller.

Characters

Starring