Jack Bauer is back but before you watch the new season, catch up on what has happened during 8 days of his life on the job.

1. Sherif El Refai

2.  What You Know: Welcome to the Counter
Terrorism Unit or CTU in LA. One of Jack’s
past assignments in Kosovo comes back to
haunt him stateside as the Drazen family aims
to take revenge against Senator David Palmer
and Jack’s family. By day one’s end, Jack is
betrayed by one of his own people Nina Myers
as she kills his wife, Teri.
 What You Didn’t Know: All the actors had to
get their hair trimmed every 5 days to make
sure it aligned with the timeline.

3.  What You Know: On this day, Jack has to deal with his first
imminent threat of a nuclear bomb as, now President, David
Palmer has to address dissent within his cabinet. Deception,
scapegoating, and corporate greed were at the center of this day as
American Businessmen fabricated evidence against middle
eastern countries in order to wage war, thus benefiting from
rocketing oil prices. After Jack locates, disarms the bomb and
exposes the masterminds of this plot, we, the viewers, are left with
a cliffhanger as President Palmer Collapse in public after a
conspicuous handshake with a mysterious woman.
 Sub-Plot: We are introduced to both Tony & Michelle and their
budding relationship.
 What You Didn’t Know: DEA Agent Hank (actor Dean Norris)
takes a break from chasing Walter White to counsel the president.
CPIC Drug-Gene Guidelines

4.  What You Know: Drug addiction and a biological threat are
the focus this season as Jack deals with a heroin addiction
after being undercover with a drug cartel in Mexico. We are
introduced to Chloe O-Brian, the wise cracking genius
analyst. Stephen Saunders, a presumed-dead Operation
Nightfall operative, developed this plan as revenge for his
country leaving him out to dry. He employs Nina Myers as
an agent which allows Jack to finally get his revenge for the
death of Teri.
 Sub-Plot: Tony & Michelle, now married, face the strains of
their work environment and its impact on their relationship.
At one point, Michelle is captured and Tony sacrifices the
mission to save his wife. At day’s end, he is sent to prison.
 What You Didn’t Know: CTU needs all the help it can get
so it recruited the ultra-intelligent vulcan Spock (actor
Zachary Quinto).

5.  What You Know: Jack, now trying to recover from the horrors of field
operations, opens working for the DOJ where we are first introduced to
his longest, and most impactful, love interest Audrey Raines, daughter of
Secretary of Defense James Heller. As opposed to previous seasons, this
season focused on one main enemy, a Turkish terrorist, Habib Marwan.
Jack eliminates the threat but in the process, has to sacrifice Audrey’s ex-
husband. Audrey is too scared of the man who Jack has become and
leaves him.
 Sub-Plot: After divorcing in the aftermath of Day 3, Michelle and Tony
meet after many months of no communication and decide to leave the
world of CTU behind forever.
 Sub-Plot: Jack is forced to fake his death after a botched raid of the
Chinese embassy ties back to him and both the Chinese and Vice
President Logan want him dead.
 What You Didn’t Know: Chloe’s most bad-ass scene takes place on this
day as she shoots down a baddie with an automatic rifle. In addition to
this, we get a cameo from Hodgins from Bones (actor T.J Thyne) as he
runs around the desert with the football

6.  What You Know: In what is the most exciting season of 24 (IMO), we are
faced with the assassination of Former President David Palmer, Michelle
Dessler and the attempted assassinations of Tony and Chloe within the
FIRST 15 MINUTES. Jack is forced out of hiding to find the assassin as
well as why they were targeted. Layers are peeled back to expose an
intricate system of conspirators leading up to the president himself,
Charles Logan. With the assistance of Wayne Palmer, First Lady Martha
Logan and Secret Service agent Aaron Pierce. Audrey learns that Jack is
still alive and as we begin to believe that they may actually develop a
long-lasting relationship once again, Chinese agents kidnap Jack for
revenge in the LAST 5 MINUTES.
 What You Didn’t Know: Continuing with the trend of cameos, Desmond
from LOST (actor Henry Ian Cusick) time travels to LA to help Jack. Zoe
Barnes (actress Kate Mara) takes a break from digging up dirt in DC to
work in CTU. Lastly, and most significantly, the most bad-ass speech of
the series was not delivered by Jack Bauer, but none-other than Agent
Aaron Pierce to President-turned-Traitor Charles Logan.

7.  What You Know: Jack has spent the past twenty months in a Chinese
prison undergoing torture without uttering a single word. A deal is
brokered by president Wayne Palmer to hand Jack over to a terrorist, Abu
Fayed, in an attempt to stop a series of devastating attacks. After learning
of Abu Fayed’s real intentions, Jack survives and vows to retrieve the
nuclear weapons. This day had a complex nuclear attack plan succeed as
one canister was set off in the suburb of LA. After eliminating the day’s
threat and believing that Audrey had been killed trying to search for him
in China, Jack receives a call from the same Chinese agent who tortured
him notifying him of Audrey’s survival. He saves, Audrey, a broken
woman who does not recognize him, and gets revenge against the
Chinese agent.
 Sub-Plot: We are introduced to Jacks father & brother and learn they are
not only part of today’s attacks, but were also involved in David Palmer’s
assassination. They both do not live past this day.
 What You Didn’t Know: Comedians Kal Penn and Stephen Merchant
make quick cameos as a terrorist and CTU analyst, respectively. The
Walterisms continue as Dr. Walter Bishop (actor John Noble) makes an
appearance at the Russian embassy.

8.  What You Know: In a resemblance to the discussions we had in
real life, Jack is seen on trial for his supposed past crimes of
torture. It’s as if the writers were asking the audience, “Do the
ends justify the means?” Since CTU’s dissolution, Jack is
summoned by the FBI to assist on a case involving his former
friend Tony, who we all believed was dead. In a day that keeps
you guessing everyone’s’ allegiances, we see Bill Buchanon,
former director of CTU, and Chloe working with Tony
underground to root out all of the traitors to the president, Allison
Taylor, the first female president. It is discovered in the end, that
Tony went through all of this to kill the man responsible for
Michelle’s death but Jack arrests both of them instead.
 Sub-Plot: Renee Walker, a skilled FBI agent, is pulled into the
world of Jack Bauer and learns the toll one’s psyche undertakes
when they live by the mantra “Do whatever it takes”.
 What You Didn’t Know: Forman, just as bad as he was on That
70′s Shows, is trying to wring Jack Bauer’s neck in court.

9.  What You Know: This New York-based day begins with Jack,
finally a retired man, enjoying some time with his daughter and
granddaughter. He is quickly pulled back into the fold of CTU
when he learns of an assassination attempt on President Omar
Hassan, a Middle Eastern president on the verge of signing a
peace treaty with the west. On the verge of a new budding
romance with Renee Walker, Russian agents, under orders of
President Suvarov who is the mastermind of the day’s events,
murder Renee. This prompts Jack to go rogue, defying Chloe and
President Taylor to avenge Renee. President Taylor works to
cover-up these deaths in an effort to keep the peace treaty alive
and we are left with the last shot as Jack looks up at a drone as if
looking directly at Chloe and then disappears.
 What You Didn’t Know: Freddie Prinze Jr plays a major role this
season as agent Cole Ortiz but a surprising and hilarious cameo is
Stephen Root AKA Milton from Office Space.

10. Sherif El Refai is a huge fan of the 24 series and is
looking forward to the Live Another Day season.
For more information, visit It’s The Skinny
24's First 8 Seasons: What You May Have Missed