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Template:24 character Jack Bauer is the main protagonist in the American television series 24. Bauer 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 prevented major terrorist attacks on the United States, saving both civilians and government leaders. He has done so at great personal expense, as those he has thwarted have targeted him and his loved ones many times.
Kiefer Sutherland portrays Jack Bauer in the television show and video game, and in 2006 signed on for at least three further seasons. [1]
Appearances
As the principal character in 24, Jack plays a prominent role in the television series and the video game. Jack is the main protagonist of the 24 series and the books. Hence, Jack appears in every episode airing to date. He is the only character to appear in each episode of each season. he also appeared in the porno back door sluts 9, the one with the midgets and thousand island dressing. groucho will never die!
24 television series
Jack Bauer was born in California as the son of Phillip Bauer. After high school, he enrolled at UCLA, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in English Literature and Art. He went on to receive his Master of Science in Criminology and Law from UC Berkeley[2].
After completing his schooling, he was in the U.S. Army's elite special forces unit Delta Force, and worked as a Los Angeles Police Department SWAT team member, and Apparently, Bauer also did fieldwork for the Central Intelligence Agency before being seconded to the Counter Terrorist Unit. While at CTU, he was the Team Leader for an action known as Operation Proteus and the Section Captain during the incident of the Hotel Los Angeles attack[3]. He later uncovered evidence that three CTU agents, including his mentor Christopher Henderson, were taking bribes. Jack gained a reputation as a whistleblower and lost favor with CTU hierarchy[4].
Jack was married to Teri Bauer; the couple had one daughter, Kim Bauer. After Teri's death by the hands of Nina Myers, a rift grew between Kim and Jack, not closing until eighteen months later. Jack also broke off contact with his father, Phillip Bauer shortly after the funeral. He and his brother Graem Bauer have been cold towards each other since Jack had an affair with his wife. They hadn't spoken in nine years.
Throughout the course of 24, Jack has been the subject of "blowback" (when a past operation comes back to haunt him in some way) a total of four times. The first was in Day 1, with Jack being the target of the Drazen family (also targeted: Senator David Palmer and Robert Ellis). The second was in Day 3, with Jack's former Delta Team soldier, Stephen Saunders, releasing a weaponized virus in the United States. The third occurred in Day 5, when Jack was abducted by Cheng Zhi after taking part in a covert operation on the Chinese Embassy in Day 4. The latest blowback occurs in Day 6, when terrorist Abu Fayed demands Jack's death after Jack tortured and killed his brother in Beirut during an operation in 1999.
24: The Game
Six months after the events of Day 2, a new terrorist threat introduced Jack to Chase Edmunds. Kim was kidnapped, by a figure from Jack's past, Peter Madson, during the course of the day, but Jack rescued her - only to have girlfriend Kate Warner taken as well. After a firefight on a yacht, Kate was saved, and Chase took a wounded Jack to the hospital while Kate Warner and Tony Almeida watched on Max's yacht.
Other 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 -- level three! Should we call Jack Bauer?" Bauer will appear in the season finale of the 18th season of The Simpsons with Chloe O'Brian as part of Springfield Elementary's new Counter Truancy Unit.[5] Bauer was also referenced in the Degrassi: The Next Generation Season 6 episode "Working for the Weekend." In an episode of Drawn Together, the camera went to the four-panel setup seen often before going to commercial, right before the show itself went to commercial.
Characteristics
Jack Bauer has characteristics marking him as a "flawed hero". He holds similarities to many Greek heroes, having a "tragic flaw" that dictates his rise to power and, inevitably, will dictate his downfall. Jack's employment at CTU has given him many survival skills that have kept him alive, yet his tenure at CTU can be held liable for many, if not all, of Jack's misfortunes (loss of his wife in Season One, an addiction to heroin in Season Three, the emotional "loss" of his love interest Audrey Raines in Season 4, the deaths of countless friends, his own "death" and subsequent disavowment by the United States government.)
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. 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 and killed a witness in front of George Mason, then-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 shooting his friends like he did to Curtis Manning in Day 6 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 Bauer is also a master of interrogation, a skill he says he learned from Tom Dapice. He often uses extreme physical force or psychological stress to retrieve the information he needs. He has stabbed, shot, broken fingers, electrocuted, and suffocated victims. At other times, Jack has threatened the lives and/or well being of terrorists’ families. However his abilities appear to be lacking as of season 6, as Jack admits "I don't know how to do this anymore" after Assad successfully obtained information that Jack believed their prisoner didn't have; Assad responds by reassuring Jack, telling him "You'll remember".
Jack himself is also adept at handling interrogation and even torture, as shown in Season 2, proving terrorist Ronnie Stark's point, "Everyone breaks, Jack, even you," to be incorrect (and again between seasons 5 and 6). Jack has withstood knife carvings, electrocutions, and injections without confessing. During one torture session, he was accidentally put into cardiac arrest, but was revived with emergency measures. Jack was soon portrayed as a character who could remain perceptive under pressure when, several minutes after his revival, he was able to escape with the help of a nearby doctor. Jack's endurance was put to even greater test between seasons 5 and 6 when he was abducted by the Chinese and refused to betray information or even speak through twenty months of torture. [1]
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. Information from Lee though led to Bauer preventing 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 Season 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 season 6 when, after Jack is forced to kill Curtis Manning, he vomits and breaks down in tears, telling Buchanan that he believes he is no longer able to discharge his duties.
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.
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."[6].
Concept and creation
Character creation
The writers of 24 collaborated with Sutherland to create the part of Jack Bauer as the seasons have progressed. Sutherland is also the executive producer of 24. [1]
Significance of the Name "Jack Bauer"
The name "Jack Bauer" may be an allusion to the card game Euchre. In Euchre, the two highest cards, the Jack of the trump suit and the Jack of the opposite suit of the same color, are jointly called the "bowers".
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."Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page). 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'."[7]
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."[7]
Sutherland signed a contract to play the role of Bauer for three more seasons for 40 million USD. 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.[8]
External links
- Jack Bauer's Official Character Profile
- Jack Bauer's Myspace page
- Fox 24 website, official message board and recaps.
- Random Jack Bauer Facts.
- Blogs4Bauer - Unofficial home of Jack Bauer.
- Watching 24, Recaps, News, and A 24 Point System.
- Tracking Jack Bauer's Kills and Tortures.
- Jack Bauer Kill Count
- Wiki 24 - a 24 wiki
- Two Dozen.
- Jack Bauer's 24 Archive
References
- ^ a b Stephen M. Silverman (2004-10-06). "Kiefer Sutherland: $40 Million Man". Retrieved 2006-08-23.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) Cite error: The named reference "phase" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page). - ^ From the official book: The House Special Subcommittee's Findings at CTU
- ^ Jack Bauer's Official Character Page FOX
- ^ Season 1 Jack Bauer: I am the last guy you want to bring something like this to. I built a case against three of our own agents for taking bribes. If there's a conspiracy inside the agency to kill David Palmer, I'll never get anywhere near it.
- ^ "Move over, Jack Bauer... Here is new CTU agent Homer Simpson!". newsleader.com. January 1, 2006. Retrieved 2006-10-08.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link) - ^ Season 3 Jack: You don't think so? What the hell do you know? My wife died because of this job, and I almost lost Kim too, I'm not gonna let that happen again. I will do everything I have to to protect her do you understand me? Everything. (sighs) Damn it Chase, you cannot have a normal life and do this job at the same time.
- ^ a b Joel Schumacher (2004-02-01). "Kiefer Sutherland: he's been around Hollywood for more than 20 years, but these days, this bold talent has them counting the minutes". Interview. Retrieved 2006-08-20.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Sutherland 'signs up for more 24'". BBC. 2006-04-10. Retrieved 2006-08-21.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)