The Complete Idiot’s Guide to “24”: Season Two

SEASON 2/DAY 2

Picks up 18 months after Day 1. Jack is no longer working at CTU, and is having a hard time dealing with the murder of his wife and the estrangement of his stupid daughter Kim. But that all changes when the White House receives word that a nuclear bomb will be detonated in LA. David Palmer, who is now President of the United States, calls in the only man he trusts to save the day: Jack Bauer.

This season is notable for current head of CTU George Mason’s noble suicide by way of crashing a plane carrying a nuke into the Utah desert (though, he was dying of radiation poisoning anyway). It is also notable for Agent Aaron Pierce coming through for Palmer during a time when almost no one else would, as well as the romantic coupling of Tony and Michelle, who are major allies of Jack’s at CTU. And unfortunately, this season also will be remembered for the infamous episode where Jack’s stupid daughter Kim gets lost in the woods and is briefly threatened by a cougar. Yeah… the 24 people still haven’t been able to live that ridiculous plot point down. (Full S2 ep guides at Fox)