24 (season 5)

24 season 5
Promotional poster
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	24
Broadcast
Original channel	Fox
Original run	January 15, 2006 (2006-01-15) – May 22, 2006 (2006-05-22)
Home video release
DVD release
Region 1	December 5, 2006 (2006-12-05)
Region 2	November 6, 2006 (2006-11-06)
Season chronology
← Previous Season 4 Next → Season 6
List of 24 episodes

Season Five, also known as Day 5, of the television series 24 premiered on January 15, 2006 and aired its season finale on May 22, 2006.

The Season Five storyline starts and ends at 7:00 a.m. It is the same time frame as the previous season.

A 10-minute prequel to the season was available with the fourth season DVD. It was broadcast on Sky One in the United Kingdom before the showing of the fifth season. It is widely considered to be the series' most acclaimed season by fans and critics alike, scoring the show's highest ratings and receiving the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series and Kiefer Sutherland receiving the award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2006. The highly praised performances of Gregory Itzin and Jean Smart as President Charles Logan and First Lady Martha Logan also received Emmy nominations for Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series respectively.

Season overview

Season Five is set 18 months after Season Four.

After the events in Season Four, Counter Terrorist Unit agent Jack Bauer is now working as a day-to-day laborer at an oil refinery under the alias "Frank Flynn" in Mojave, California. Jack is renting a room north of Los Angeles from Diane Huxley, a single mother, and her 15-year-old son Derek.

Season Five is supposed to be a monumental day in Charles Logan's presidency. He is scheduled to sign an anti-terrorism alliance treaty with Russian President Yuri Suvarov at his retreat in Hidden Valley, California. This is believed to be the motive behind most of the day's events, as the Russian-separatist terrorists (presumably Chechen, although this is never stated explicitly) who carry out the day's attacks believe the treaty will increase the suffering of their people.

Later, it is found out that the day's events are part of a massive government conspiracy. U.S. President Charles Logan, Chief of Staff Walt Cummings, Defense Department contractor Christopher Henderson, associate James Nathanson, and a group of mysterious men who monitor and influence the actions of Logan from an undisclosed location, led by a man identified only as "Graem" who possibly was the one who made Jack come out from hiding, are all involved. Their initial plan was to release nerve gas on Russian terrorists and to use that as an excuse to invoke the military clauses of the anti-terrorism treaty, allowing Logan to secure American petroleum interests in Central Asia. Former President David Palmer begins to find this out and is assassinated to keep him quiet; his death becomes the main motivating factor in Jack's crusade (completely aside from how he is framed for the killing). As he states several times over the course of the day, "This is personal."

Prologue of Season 5

One year after Day 4, Jack and Chloe meet at a fenced-in scrap yard in Chicago, Illinois. Jack's hair is long and stubble has grown over his usually clean face. He is wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt, and makes sure the hood is up when he gets out of the car. As Chloe turns the corner where Jack is hiding, he grabs her and asks if she was followed. She assures him that she wasn't.

Chloe explains that three days ago, someone remotely hacked into her computer and saw that she had accessed Jack's autopsy report. Jack becomes frustrated and asks why she didn't erase all files related to him. Chloe insists she deleted the files but fears the hacker who infiltrated her hard drive would realize that Jack wasn't dead after learning she'd been accessing the autopsy report and was also in contact with an undercover operative in Chicago. Chloe urges Jack to leave town immediately to which he agrees.

As she walks back towards her car, Jack asks about his daughter, Kim. Chloe explains that Kim was heartbroken over Jack's supposed death, but is doing better now that a year has passed. Jack returns to his car and a motorcycle drives past him. Jack gets back in his car and watches suspiciously as the motorcyclist turns around. Jack and the motorcyclist each rev their engines. Jack checks his rear view mirror and puts his car in reverse.

The motorcyclist looks to his right, and suddenly a black car speeds out from another side street. Jack floors the gas and races backwards as the car chases him down. He turns around and attempts to lose the car in traffic. Jack pulls into another junk yard and the car follows. Jack speeds towards a forklift and jerks his car to the right at the last second. The black car also turns, but loses traction and slides into the blades of the forklift, which are midway off the ground, impaling the driver.

Jack drives back out of the scrap yard while the unknown man on the motorcycle continues to watch him.

Major plots

Much like previous seasons, the season can be divided into several acts:

• Episodes 1–2: Jack Bauer is framed for the murders of his close friends: former US President David Palmer and ex-CTU agent Michelle Dessler, along with the attempted murders of her husband and fellow ex-CTU agent Tony Almeida and CTU analyst Chloe O'Brian.
• Episodes 3–4: Terrorists, led by James Nathanson, use the above plot as a diversion to take 40 people hostage inside Ontario International Airport in California.
• Episodes 5–15: Terrorists, led by Vladimir Bierko, use the above plot as a diversion to steal 20 canisters of VX nerve gas. The gas is deployed at the following locations: Sunrise Hills Shopping Mall (resulting in 10-20 fatalities out of eight-nine hundred shoppers); Tyler Memorial Hospital (completely unsuccessful due to the actions of CTU and Curtis Manning); CTU (successfully killing 40% of personnel—56 deaths—including Edgar Stiles and Lynn McGill); Wilshire Gas Co. (completely unsuccessful; 16 of the remaining 17 canisters are destroyed, and Bierko captured). Meanwhile, CTU traces the Sentox nerve gas back to the company which manufactured it, Omicron International; this company is led, among others, by Christopher Henderson. Jack successfully apprehends him, but he manages to escape in the aftermath of the Sentox attack on CTU, taking Tony Almeida down in the process.
• Episodes 16–21: Believing (incorrectly) that all remaining nerve gas was incinerated at Wilshire, Jack moves to bring the guilty parties to justice. Through the assistance of Wayne Palmer (David Palmer's brother) and Evelyn Martin (Special Assistant to the First Lady), Jack discovers that President Logan is responsible for the attacks. Unbeknownst to everyone else, there is a secret group of men who monitor and influence the actions of Logan, led by a man known only as Graem. Jack finally obtains a recording that implicates Logan; however, it is later corrupted by Miles Papazian at CTU (for the purpose of ingratiating himself to President Logan), rendering it useless.
• Episodes 22–23: Bierko escapes CTU custody, and uses his last nerve gas container to take over a Russian submarine and gain control of twelve multiple-warhead non-nuclear missiles, each one capable of wiping out approximately seven city blocks. After cutting a deal with Christopher Henderson, Jack and Henderson together stop the attack from the submarine, and kill Bierko and his men. During a final standoff, Jack kills Henderson as well.
• Episodes 23–24: Jack devises a plan with Chloe to implicate President Logan. Jack kidnaps President Logan, and attempts to get a confession. Jack fails, but unbeknownst to everyone besides himself, the First Lady, Mike Novick, Aaron Pierce, and Chloe, his attempt is merely a diversion to place a listening device on the President. The First Lady then gets Logan to confess to her everything that has happened; Chloe plays this new recording to the Attorney General, and the Secret Service and Federal Marshals take Logan into custody.
• Final Twist: Jack gets captured by the Chinese who have learned he is still alive. They still want him for the death of the Chinese Consul who was killed in Season 4, and presumably, to extract U.S. government and military secrets for the Chinese government. The season ends with Jack being taken away on a Chinese cargo ship, seemingly destined for Shanghai, moving slowly out into the realms of the Pacific Ocean. This is a reference to the end of Season 4, where the Chinese embassy threatens the CTU agent with transport in a Chinese cargo ship and spending the rest of his life in a slave labor camp.

Subplots

• Jack comes into contact with people who thought he was dead, including his daughter Kim Bauer and girlfriend Audrey Raines.
  • Jack's attempt to reconnect with Kim is unsuccessful; she wants nothing to do with him because of the fact that being around her father brings chaos to those close to him.
  • Jack and Audrey reunite as a couple.
• The First Lady attempts to correct the President's perceived mistakes.
• The Vice President convinces the president to impose martial law on the city of Los Angeles without approval from Congress.
• Bill Buchanan's authority at CTU undermined first by Lynn McGill and then by Karen Hayes, though both eventually come around to his way of thinking.
• Chloe, and later Audrey go against their superiors to help Jack, leading to officials from the Department of Homeland Security attempting to use Audrey to their advantage.
• Homeland Security divides internally when Karen Hayes begins aiding Jack, going behind Homeland & her assistant Miles Papazian.
• Chloe has to cope with the death of Edgar Stiles. In addition, the work colleague she earlier slept with turns out to be an undercover internal-affairs agent under the supervision of Walt Cummings.

Characters

The main cast of Season 5.

For a more thorough list, see List of 24 characters#24: Season 5.

Starring

• Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer (24 episodes)
• Kim Raver as Audrey Raines (23 episodes)
• Mary Lynn Rajskub as Chloe O'Brian (24 episodes)
• Carlos Bernard as Tony Almeida (6 episodes)
• Gregory Itzin as President Charles Logan (23 episodes)
• James Morrison as Bill Buchanan (23 episodes)
• Roger Cross as Curtis Manning (19 episodes)
• Louis Lombardi as Edgar Stiles (13 episodes)
• Jean Smart as First Lady Martha Logan (23 episodes)

Special guest stars

• Sean Astin as Lynn McGill (10 episodes)
• William Devane as Secretary of Defense James Heller (3 episodes)
• Elisha Cuthbert as Kim Bauer (2 episodes)
• Reiko Aylesworth as Michelle Dessler (1 episode)

Special guest appearance by

• Dennis Haysbert as David Palmer (1 episode)

Guest starring

• Jude Ciccolella as Mike Novick (21 episodes)
• Glenn Morshower as Aaron Pierce (15 episodes)
• Jayne Atkinson as Karen Hayes (12 episodes)
• Julian Sands as Vladimir Bierko (11 episodes)
• Peter Weller as Christopher Henderson (11 episodes)
• Sandrine Holt as Evelyn Martin (10 episodes)
• Stephen Spinella as Miles Papazian (10 episodes)
• John Allen Nelson as Walt Cummings (7 episodes)
• D. B. Woodside as Wayne Palmer (7 episodes)
• Connie Britton as Diane Huxley (6 episodes)
• Brady Corbet as Derek Huxley (6 episodes)
• Nick Jameson as Russian President Yuri Suvarov (6 episodes)
• Jonah Lotan as Spenser Wolff (6 episodes)
• Mark Sheppard as Ivan Erwich (6 episodes)
• Ray Wise as Vice President Hal Gardner (6 episodes)
• Geraint Wyn Davies as James Nathanson (6 episodes)
• Kathleen Gati as Russian First Lady Anya Suvarov (5 episodes)
• Kate Mara as Shari Rothenberg (5 episodes)
• Paul McCrane as Graem (5 episodes)
• Stana Katic as Collette Stenger (3 episodes)
• Carlo Rota as Morris O'Brian (2 episodes)
• Tzi Ma as Cheng Zhi (1 episode)

Deaths

This season is notable for the high number of major characters killed off. Significant deaths included David Palmer, Michelle Dessler, and Edgar Stiles. Tony Almeida was also killed, but his death was retconned in the seventh season. Guest characters who died were Walt Cummings and Lynn McGill. The life of Aaron Pierce was threatened, but Martha Logan helped save him.

Reception

Season 5 was a massive hit in the USA and UK. Later in TV Guide's Best on the Box top 20 TV shows of the year, 24 was rated the 9th best show on TV for 2006 in New Zealand.

7:00AM–8:00AM was the most watched episode and premiere in 24's history. It debuted with 17 million viewers, with a 7.3 Nielsen rating in the 18-49 male demographic. The second episode, 8:00AM–9:00AM, aired back-to-back with the first, retaining 15.5 million watchers and a 6.3 in the 18-49 age group. Reviews of 7:00AM–8:00AM were almost universally positive, with a score of 89/100 from Metacritic. In positive light The Hollywood Reporter called the episode, "heart-pounding, mesmerizing adventure unlike anything else up or down the dial." while praising the new and returning actors, giving it a perfect 100, likewise USA Today also gave 7:00AM–8:00AM a 100 and praising Kiefer Sutherland, who portrayed Jack Bauer.

The New York Times giving it a 70 out of a possible 100, citing using L.A. as the same key location for five seasons saying, "all the villains, be they Islamic fundamentalists, drug smugglers, American oil brokers or Russian separatists, keep picking Los Angeles as a target for attack." The Boston Globe gave it an 80, praising returning performances and strong plot.

Emmy nominations

Season Five of 24 was nominated for twelve Emmy Awards, becoming the most nominated series. The nominations were:

• Outstanding Drama Series - WON
• Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (Kiefer Sutherland) - WON
• Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (Gregory Itzin)
• Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (Jean Smart)
• Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series ("9:00 PM – 10:00 PM")
• Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series (Jon Cassar, "7:00 AM – 8:00 AM") - WON
• Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series ("7:00 AM – 8:00 AM") - WON
• Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series ("9:00 AM – 10:00 AM")
• Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore) ("6:00 AM – 7:00 AM") - WON
• Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series ("9:00 PM – 10:00 PM")
• Outstanding Single-Camera Sound Mixing for a Series ("7:00 AM – 8:00 AM")
• Outstanding Stunt Coordination ("9:00 AM – 10:00 AM")

Episodes

Series #	Season #	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Production code	U.S. viewers (millions)
97	1	"Day 5: 7:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m."	Jon Cassar	Howard Gordon	January 15, 2006 (2006-01-15)	5AFF01	17.01
Eighteen months after faking his death, Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland), who has assumed the name Frank Flynn and living with a mother and son family Diane and Derek Huxley, returns to Los Angeles after the four people who know he's alive come under attack. Former president David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert) is assassinated, as is Michelle Dessler (Reiko Aylseworth) while Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard) is critically wounded. Chloe O'Brian is also targeted but manages to evade the assassins and contact Jack for help. President Charles Logan (Gregory Itzin) prepares to sign an important anti-terrorism treaty with the Russian President Yuri Suvarov (Nick Jameson). First Lady Martha Logan (Jean Smart) is disturbed about the morning's events. Jack, after rescuing Chloe, learns from one of the assassins that he's being framed for the attacks on Palmer, Tony and Michelle.
98	2	"Day 5: 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m."	Jon Cassar	Evan Katz	January 15, 2006 (2006-01-15)	5AFF02	15.48
Jack and Chloe O'Brian (Mary Lynn Rajskub) infiltrate Wayne Palmer's (DB Woodside) penthouse at the hotel in hopes of finding a lead. At the penthouse Wayne Palmer walks in. After Jack manages to convince him of his innocence, Wayne helps Jack look for clues as to why David Palmer was targeted. Jack finds the information that David Palmer possessed that got him killed — a clue leading to Ontario Airport in Los Angeles. Martha tries to convince her husband that she had a conversation with Palmer the night before. As Jack heads to the airport to investigate, Walt Cummings (John Allen Nelson) is revealed to be a traitor and his ally — James Nathanson (Geraint Wyn Davies) — launches the next phase of his plan at the Ontario Airport.
99	3	"Day 5: 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m."	Brad Turner	Manny Coto	January 16, 2006 (2006-01-16)	5AFF03	14.08
Jack conceals himself inside the airport, surveying the Russian separatists and feeding information to Curtis Manning (Roger Cross) and his assault team. The terrorists continue to execute hostages in an attempt to make Logan give in to their demands to nullify the treaty. With help from Chloe back at CTU Jack detonates one of the terrorist's explosive vests to stall the executions. However the traitor Walt Cummings contacts Beresch, the leader of the terrorists and informs him of Jack's presence and his connection to one of the hostages, Derek Huxley (Brady Corbet). Beresch threatens to execute Derek, forcing Jack to give himself up. Martha discovers that all the traces of her conversation with Palmer might not have been erased and accesses the archives at the presidential retreat looking for a transcript.
100	4	"Day 5: 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m."	Brad Turner	Joel Surnow & Michael Loceff	January 16, 2006 (2006-01-16)	5AFF04	15.70
Jack is captured by the terrorists, who use Derek Huxley as leverage to force him to compromise CTU's assault team by misinforming Curtis of the terrorist's position. Logan refuses to give in to the terrorists' demands and signs the treaty along with President Suvarov. Jack manages to communicate a duress signal but CTU initially do not recognize it as it is a defunct code from when Jack was active. Martha continues to try to convince her husband that the phone call from Palmer was real, but Cummings interferes, incapacitating her and stealing her copy of the phone transcript. A new representative from Division, Lynn McGill arrives at CTU and begins to undermine Bill Buchanan's (James Morrison) authority. McGill however, detects the duress signal and manages to warn Curtis, who is able to reposition his teams and outflank the terrorists. Beresch and his men are killed and Beresch, kills himself rather than be captured. Jack identifies a sleeper amongst the hostages and CTU begin their search for him. It turns out that a further objective of the attack on the airport was to provide the sleeper with an access card to a secure storage facility in one of the airport's hangars.
101	5	"Day 5: 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m."	Jon Cassar	Joel Surnow & Michael Loceff	January 23, 2006 (2006-01-23)	5AFF05	14.22
Jack returns to CTU and has an emotional reunion with Audrey Raines (Kim Raver), while Curtis Manning tracks the sleeper from the airport hostages and discovers the hangar which contained military-grade Sentox nerve gas. CTU begin their hunt for the Sentox. Cummings sends in an assassin to silence Jack, infiltrating CTU with help from Spenser Wolff, who is revealed to be working for Cummings. Chloe discovers this and has Spenser apprehended and interrogated. Jack is lured downstairs to medical and is attacked but survives the attempt on his life, killing the assassin in the process. Cummings, fearing exposure convinces Logan to send Martha away to be institutionalized when she tells them of the attacks against her.
102	6	"Day 5: 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m."	Jon Cassar	David Fury	January 30, 2006 (2006-01-30)	5AFF06	13.82
Jack meets with Mike Novick (Jude Ciccolella) in hopes of gathering evidence against Cummings but Cummings has Secret Service intercept them, taking them both into custody. Martha begs Aaron Pierce (Glenn Morshower) for help while Cummings thinks that he is forcing Logan into aiding him with his complicity with the terrorists. Cummings reveals that he has a man inside with the terrorists who has set a tracker on the canisters of nerve gas. The intention is to remotely detonate the canisters once they have been transported back to the terrorist's camp, thus justifying US military presence in Central Asia and ensuring a steady flow of oil from the region for the benefit of the US. Buchanan butts heads with Lynn McGill (Sean Astin) over a decision to violate the President's orders, while the Russian separatists attempt to escape with the nerve gas. With the help of Pierce, Jack escapes and confronts Cummings who eventually reveals the location of the nerve gas. However the terrorists have discovered Cumming's ploy and have already escape with the nerve gas.
103	7	"Day 5: 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m."	Brad Turner	Manny Coto	February 6, 2006 (2006-02-06)	5AFF07	13.70
Jack learns of a man named Jacob Rossler, a programmer who has links to Ivan Erwich (Mark Sheppard). Rossler has agreed to reprogram the detonators on the canisters. Erwich threatens a mechanic at a garage to cut open the canisters to access the detonator. Logan, Mike and Martha discuss the best way to handle the Cummings situation, with Martha wanting to tell the public the truth. McGill has personal problems involving his sister, a drug-addict, that draw him away from work. McGill is attacked by his sister's boyfriend who steals his money and his CTU access card. Jack and Curtis infiltrate Rossler's apartment and apprehend him. At his apartment they also find a young Ukrainian girl Rossler has kept in captivity as a sex slave. A deal is authorized in exchange for Rossler's help, but the girl shoots Rossler, killing him.
104	8	"Day 5: 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m."	Brad Turner	Robert Cochran & Evan Katz	February 13, 2006 (2006-02-13)	5AFF08	12.82
Jack poses as Rossler, the programmer, and manages to trace one of the Sentox nerve gas canisters. Two of Erwich's henchmen take Jack to the target — a shopping mall and prepare to release it into the ventilation system. Buchanan and McGill advise Logan to allow this canister to be released to maintain Jack's cover, in order to track the terrorists back to the remaining 19 canisters which Logan authorizes. However Jack goes against the President's orders and attempts to intervene. Some of the gas is released, inflicting casualties but Jack is able to evacuate the mall and kill one of the terrorists. The other one manages to escape as CTU track him back to Erwich. However Erwich takes evasive actions and spots CTU moving in, before ordering his henchman to commit suicide than to be captured. Logan and Martha argue when she learns that he intends to cover up the real reason for Cummings's suicide.
105	9	"Day 5: 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m."	Tim Iacofano	Howard Gordon & David Fury	February 20, 2006 (2006-02-20)	5AFF09	13.70
Vladimir Bierko (Julian Sands) kills Erwich, angry that he wasted a canister of gas. Jack is contacted by James Nathanson, Cumming's middleman and goes to meet him. However the terrorists having discovered their deception send a team to eliminate him. Nathanson is killed but Jack manages to fight off the terrorists and obtains a data chip from Nathanson before he dies. Chloe finds the name Omicron Corporation on the chip, whose CEO Jack has ties to. McGill, faltering under enormous pressure, goes on a warpath at CTU, firing personnel and detaining Buchanan. Bierko demands the Suvarov's motorcade route from Logan, threatening to release more of the Sentox nerve gas if he refuses. Martha demands Logan to stand up to the terrorists but he refuses. In an attempt to force the President to call back the motorcade and save the Suvarovs, Martha decides to go with them to the airport.
106	10	"Day 5: 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m."	Tim Iacofano	Joel Surnow & Michael Loceff	February 27, 2006 (2006-02-27)	5AFF10	13.87
Jack meets Christopher Henderson (Peter Weller) at Omicron who has some history with Jack — Henderson was formerly head of CTU Field Ops and recruited Jack until Jack turned whistle-blower on Henderson after discovering evidence of corruption. Henderson initially protests his innocence and helps Jack, however this was all an act and Jack narrowly escapes death when Henderson attempts to cover his tracks with a bomb. Having detected evidence indicating a possible attack on the Suvarovs motorcade, Audrey goes to McGill, who dismisses it as a unsubstantiated threat and refuses to devote anymore manpower to warn Secret service. Audrey, Chloe and Edgar go behind McGill's back to warn Secret Service but are discovered by McGill who is about to have them removed from their posts for insubordination until Audrey convinces Manning to have McGill removed as head of CTU and held on the grounds that he is mentally unfit to run CTU. Curtis does this and reinstates Buchanan. Secret Service are warned just in time just as Bierko's men attack the Suvarovs' motorcade, but thanks to the timely intervention of Aaron Pierce, survive the attack.
107	11	"Day 5: 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m."	Jon Cassar	Nicole Ranadive	March 6, 2006 (2006-03-06)	5AFF11	11.89
Jack Bauer interrogates Henderson's wife at his home. He then tries to access Henderson's computer but Chloe is unable to hack into it. Henderson arrives home and is apprehended by Jack, who goes to extreme measures to get the information out of him, even shooting Henderson's wife in the leg. Bierko targets a hospital but CTU are able warn them and evacuate the hospital, while Curtis kills the terrorist and manages to seal the canister into an airtight containment apparatus. Meanwhile Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard) wakes up and asks about Michelle's fate. Buchanan and the doctor's vague assurances that she is alright causes Tony to access the CTU server and discovers that Michelle died in the explosion. Meanwhile, Martha tries to avoid her husband.
108	12	"Day 5: 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m."	Jon Cassar	Duppy Demetrius & Matt Michnovetz	March 6, 2006 (2006-03-06)	5AFF12	13.98
Jack has an emotional reunion with his daughter Kim Bauer (Elisha Cuthbert) at CTU. He then interrogates Henderson, but with no success. A Bierko associate reprograms and uses McGill's key card (which was stolen earlier in the day) to access CTU with a canister of nerve gas. McGill, on being informed that his sister and her boyfriend have been murdered, confesses to Buchanan that they stole his key card. Buchanan initiates a lockdown, and although the terrorist is killed by Jack, they are too late to prevent the gas from being released. Several members of CTU are killed, including Edgar Stiles (Louis Lombardi) while Jack, Kim, Chloe, Buchanan and a small number of CTU personnel manage to seal themselves into some safe rooms. Meanwhile, Logan debates martial law with Vice President Hal Gardner (Ray Wise) which Mike Novick objects to, and enlists in Martha's help to talk Logan out of it.
109	13	"Day 5: 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m."	Brad Turner	Joel Surnow & Michael Loceff	March 13, 2006 (2006-03-13)	5AFF13	13.72
Jack and the rest of CTU take action to protect the remaining isolated areas while Chloe wrestles with her grief over Edgar's death. The fact that a corrosive agent had been added to the nerve gas means that it is slowly eating away at the seals of the isolated safe-rooms forces them to take immediate action to slow it down so that Curtis could arrive with a Haz-Mat team. Lynn McGill sacrifices himself to shut down the controls of the ventilation system, allowing Chloe to over-ride and slow down the pathogen, saving the lives of the survivors. Meanwhile Tony contemplates revenge on Henderson. Martha bolsters Logan's judgment as he faces political pressure from Gardner about imposing martial law As Tony prepares to kill Henderson with a lethal injection, he hesitates and Henderson, waking up, plunges the needle into Tony, killing him.
110	14	"Day 5: 8:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m."	Brad Turner	Story: Sam Montgomery Teleplay: Howard Gordon & Evan Katz	March 20, 2006 (2006-03-20)	5AFF14	13.71
Henderson manages to escape while CTU investigates a new lead on Bierko, but finds resistance from German intelligence officer Theo Stoller (Henry Ian Cusick)who is also tracking the same lead — Collette Stenger who has links to Bierko. Martha Logan is skeptical of the administration's move for a curfew. New Homeland Security officials led by Karen Hayes attempt to change operating protocol involving CTU after the Sentox attack. Meanwhile, Wayne has some critical information he has to get to Pierce but is attacked by armed men as he attempts to meet with Pierce. Jack apprehends Stenger, having offered Stoller a copy of the NSA WET list much to the dismay of Karen Hayes. However after Stoller takes his leave the memory card self-destructs — Jack has deceived him and had no intention of handing over the WET list. During interrogation, Stenger implicates Audrey Raines.
111	15	"Day 5: 9:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m."	Jon Cassar	David Ehrman	March 27, 2006 (2006-03-27)	5AFF15	14.50
Jack is forced to interrogate Audrey when he learned that she might be connected to Bierko and the terrorists. Although he is convinced of her innocence Karen Hayes is unconvinced and decides to push Audrey harder, forcing Jack and Chloe to search for evidence that Stenger is lying. Eventually Stenger admits that implicating Audrey was a ploy to throw CTU off, and informs them of Bierko's next target. Wayne and Pierce manage to link up and flee from armed men who have orders from Henderson to kill them. Bierko and his men execute the next phase of attacks by targeting a gas company and releasing the Sentox gas throughout Los Angeles. Jack and Curtis lead a TAC team to stop Bierko, but are too late to prevent the Sentox being released. Jack then sets C4 charges on the main gas pipe to destroy the gas before it can reach the main gas tank before capturing Bierko as he tries to escape.
112	16	"Day 5: 10:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m."	Jon Cassar	Manny Coto & Sam Montgomery	April 3, 2006 (2006-04-03)	5AFF16	12.47
Jack teams up with Wayne to help Palmer's source in the White House: Martha Logan's aide, Evelyn Martin (Sandrine Holt) whose daughter has been kidnapped by Henderson in order to blackmail her to give up the evidence she has acquired. Gardner has a run-in with Wayne, and Jack suspects Gardner might be behind the days events. Jack, with help from Wayne secretly set up a meet with Henderson to exchange Evelyn's evidence for her daughter, during which Jack manages to save her daughter, kill Henderson's henchmen but is unable to stop Henderson himself from escaping. Audrey goes along with a plan to remove Buchanan from power in order to keep Chloe at CTU to assist Jack. Jack then learns from Evelyn that it is not Vice-President Gardner who is responsible for the day's events, but President Logan.
113	17	"Day 5: 11:00 p.m. – 12:00 a.m."	Brad Turner	David Fury	April 10, 2006 (2006-04-10)	5AFF17	12.49
New discoveries regarding the day's horrific events keep Jack away from CTU as he learns from Evelyn that the evidence against Logan is stored at a bank. He and Wayne kidnap the manager with the help of Chloe as they attempt to retrieve it but Henderson, having tracked down Evelyn Martin, discovers Jack's location and sends a team to kill him and retrieve the evidence. Jack and Wayne manage to escape, setting off a bank alarm which brings LAPD to the area causing a firefight between Henderson's men and LAPD allowing Jack to escape. Meanwhile CTU's is absorbed by Homeland Security. Chloe and Audrey team together to assist with Jack's field operations and the investigation takes an unexpected turn.
114	18	"Day 5: 12:00 a.m. – 1:00 a.m."	Brad Turner	Howard Gordon	April 17, 2006 (2006-04-17)	5AFF18	13.26
Although Logan claims the country is no longer under attack, martial law is still enforced, and CTU remains under intense pressure to find the remaining fugitives. Meanwhile, Jack, Audrey, and Secretary of Defense James Heller (William Devane) reunite for a pivotal meeting. Heller has Jack detained, believing that if Logan's complicity was made public and prosecuted, it would destroy the integrity of the US presidency. Heller, attempts to force Logan to step down as president, but Henderson locates Jack and manages to recover the recording, which forces Heller to stand down.
115	19	"Day 5: 1:00 a.m. – 2:00 a.m."	Dwight Little	Craig Van Sickle & Steven Long Mitchell	April 24, 2006 (2006-04-24)	5AFF19	13.03
Jack recaptures Henderson, but his men have been shadowing Heller with a helicopter and sniper and threaten to kill him unless released. Heller, chooses to drive his car off the cliff into a lake rather than for Jack to release Henderson, who is taken into custody. Tensions at the President's retreat escalate as Martha grows suspicious of her husband. Meanwhile Curtis Manning helps in the struggle against Henderson. A surprising new ally in the form of Karen Hayes joins Buchanan and O'Brian as they continue to assist Jack, who boards a diplomatic flight searching for an associate of Henderson's, who the evidence has been passed onto.
116	20	"Day 5: 2:00 a.m. – 3:00 a.m."	Dwight Little	Joel Surnow & Michael Loceff	May 1, 2006 (2006-05-01)	5AFF20	13.15
Although Karen wishes to help Buchanan, he is still taken into CTU to maintain the cover while Chloe escapes. Meanwhile, Jack hijacks a plane in search for the recording that Henderson handed off and discovers that the Henderson's associate is actually the co-pilot, and not the passenger he apprehends. At the retreat, Martha grows increasingly unstable, causing further dispute between Logan and Mike, who begins to suspect something is wrong. Graeme (Paul McCrane) continues to manipulate Logan into taking drastic measures, and suggests that the flight Jack has boarded, be shot down to prevent him recovering the evidence.
117	21	"Day 5: 3:00 a.m. – 4:00 a.m."	Brad Turner	Manny Coto	May 8, 2006 (2006-05-08)	5AFF21	13.86
With Graem's help, Logan decides to launch one final attempt to destroy the plane Jack Bauer has hijacked, thus secure the recording that implicates him in the conspiracy surrounding the day's events. The military scrambles an F-18 from Point Mugu with orders to shoot down the plane. At CTU, several agents begin working with Jack, Chloe, and Buchanan. Jack is able to land the plane, having recovered the recording and is extracted by Curtis as Logan sends in the military to take him into custody. Tensions continue to rise in Logan's retreat as the President, on discovering that Jack has escape with the recording,, contemplates suicide. Meanwhile, Bierko is transported to another facility, and Miles Papazian (Stephen Spinella), one of Karen Hayes' people, attempts to further his career by erasing the recording to gain a favor from Logan.
118	22	"Day 5: 4:00 a.m. – 5:00 a.m."	Brad Turner	Sam Montgomery & David Fury	May 15, 2006 (2006-05-15)	5AFF22	13.16
Jack, Chloe, Buchanan, and Karen Hayes (Jayne Atkinson) realize that the recording was erased by Papazian. However, CTU is soon forced to switch tracks and focus on a new threat: the team transporting Bierko is attacked and Bierko escapes, and he plans to seize another powerful weapon to use against the US — an armed Russian submarine being serviced in the Port of Los Angeles as part of the US-Russian treaty. Using the last canister of Sentox nerve gas to kill the submarine crew, Bierko and his men take over and prepare to launch the submarine's missiles. With the new threat quickly approaching, Jack must use Henderson in a delicate sting operation. Meanwhile, the drama at the retreat turns deadly as Martha discovers Aaron Pierce about to be killed, and rescues him, killing Logan's henchman in the process.
119	23	"Day 5: 5:00 a.m. – 6:00 a.m."	Jon Cassar	Howard Gordon & Evan Katz	May 22, 2006 (2006-05-22)	5AFF23	13.75
Jack and Henderson, with help from a surviving member of the submarine crew, infiltrate the submarine and secure a missile submarine seized by Bierko, killing Bierko in the process. Afterward Henderson attempts to escape and pulls a gun on Jack, believing that Jack would not have honored his original deal to help Henderson 'disappear' in exchange for his help. Henderson and pulls the trigger but the gun is empty, and Jack executes Henderson, exacting his revenge for Palmer, Tony and Michelle. Martha and Pierce form an alliance with Mike and eventually also bring in Jack to help. Meanwhile, Logan prepares to leave for Palmer's sendoff, which Jack exploits to his advantage to acquire evidence against him.
120	24	"Day 5: 6:00 a.m. – 7:00 a.m."	Jon Cassar	Robert Cochran	May 22, 2006 (2006-05-22)	5AFF24	13.75
Mike, Pierce, Martha, and Jack conspire to kidnap Logan as part of a plan to secure a confession about the original conspiracy behind the day's events by posing as an HMX-1 pilot, and taking control of the helicopter. Jack takes him to an abandoned building and attempts to acquire a confession with help from Chloe and Morris — Chloe's ex-husband. When Jack's gambit fails, Martha and Chloe initiate a back-up plan to incriminate the President — Jack had planted a mic on Logan, who during an argument with Martha, implicates himself in the day's events. This is broadcasted to the Attorney General and Logan is duly arrested by Secret Service. Meanwhile, Jack's plan to disappear again is put at risk when the Chinese abduct him for the events that occurred 18 months ago at the Chinese consulate and put him onboard a ship to China.

External links

• List of 24 episodes at the Internet Movie Database
• List of 24 season 5 episodes at TV.com
• Season 5 on 24 Wiki