24 Days of "24": The 24 Biggest Moments Part 3

Let’s crack into the top 10 as we continue my countdown of the biggest moments in “24” history…

#12 Hacksaw (Season 2)
It was the moment when Jack Bauer became Jack Bauer. Brought into CTU for the first time since his wife’s death, Jack was asked to go undercover. An informant was brought in to help form his cover. But instead of listening to him, Jack pulled out a gun and shot him dead. When George Mason, the CTU director, charged into the room, Jack looked him in the eye and said “I’m gonna need a hacksaw.” The hacksaw, of course, was to cut the informant’s head off so Jack could show it to the group he was going undercover with. It was the first really crazy move we saw Jack make to get the job done.

#11 President Hassan Death (Season 8)
You’d think after all these years we’d know better. We should know that Jack doesn’t always save the day and the good guys don’t always win. But somehow we still didn’t see this one coming. The heartbroken look on Jack’s face as he found the murdered President Hassan spoke volumes.

#10 Chase Hand Chop (Season 3)
A classic Sean Callery music cue told me what was going to happen, but I was screaming at the TV anyway. Jack’s partner—and his daughter’s boyfriend—Chase Edmunds attached a deadly virus to his wrist to keep it out of the hands of terrorists. But when the terrorist armed the device to release the virus, Jack had no choice but to chop Chase’s hand off to allow Jack to take the virus to a safe place.

#9 Air Force One Shot Down (Season 4)
They had been hinting at something for weeks, but when the pieces finally came together as to what was going to happen, it was a total “oh no they won’t” moment. In fact, I was still sure they wouldn’t do it—all the way up to the moment we saw the flames rush through Air Force One’s cabin. The moments leading up to the plane going down were some of the most tension-filled of the series.

#8 Mason’s death (Season 2)
I’ve already told you this is my favorite moment from the show, but it’s a significant moment in the show’s history because it was, as music composer Sean Callery told me, a real turning point for the show. And it was really the first time we saw the redemption of a disliked character.

#7 President Palmer’s Death (Season 5)
Palmer’s portrayer, Dennis Haysbert, is still bitter about this one as President Palmer was gunned down in the first 10 minutes of the season premiere. But this one event led to all the amazing events of season five. So personally I think the sacrifice was worth it.

24 Days of “24” continues tomorrow with something very special—I hope…

Photo Credits: Isabella Vosmikova/FOX, Greg Gayne/FOX, Mitchell Haaseth/FOX