8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

Season 7, Episode 1

Prod. #7AFF01 (Original Air Date - Jan 11, 2009)
Jack faces a Senate hearing before being whisked away by the FBI from whom he learns that an old face he thought he had seen the last of appears to be behind a terrorist plot. Meanwhile, President Taylor faces touch decisions whilst the First Gentleman pursues his belief that his son's death was not a suicide.

Written by: Howard Gordon, Robert Cochran & Joel Surnow
Directed by: Jon Cassar

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Quotes

(Jack's Senate hearing)
Senator Blaine Mayer: All right then. Let’s begin. Mr. Bauer, who is Ibrahim Haddad?
Jack Bauer: That information is classified.
Senator Blaine Mayer: We represent the people of the United States. And we have declassified those files on their behalf. Now, I’m going to ask you one more time. Who is Ibrahim Haddad?
Jack Bauer: He was a member of a terrorist sleeper cell CTU had under surveillance in 2002.
Senator Blaine Mayer: And isn't it true that you detained Mr. Haddad without due process? And that you used extreme interrogation methods on him... until he answered your questions?
Jack Bauer: Yes, sir.
Senator Blaine Mayer: Would you say that you broke procedure with this interrogation?
Jack Bauer: Probably.
Senator Blaine Mayer: Probably? Well, that's a very cavalier answer. You don't seem to care about the implications here.
(silence)
Senator Blaine Mayer: Well, Mr. Bauer?
Jack Bauer: I'm sorry, senator, I didn't hear a question.
Senator Blaine Mayer: All right, then. Did you torture Mr. Haddad?
Jack Bauer: According to the definition set forth by the Geneva Convention... yes, I did. Senator, why don't I save you some time? It's obvious that your agenda is to discredit CTU... and generate a series of indictments--
Senator Blaine Mayer: My only agenda is to get to the truth.
Jack Bauer: I don't think it is, sir.
Senator Blaine Mayer: Excuse me?
Jack Bauer: Ibraham Haddad had targeted a bus carrying 45 people, 10 of which were children. The truth, senator, is I stopped that attack from happening.
Senator Blaine Mayer: By torturing Mr. Haddad.
Jack Bauer: By doing what I deemed necessary to protect innocent lives.
Senator Blaine Mayer: So basically, what you're saying, Mr. Bauer, is that the ends justify the means, and that you are above the law.
Jack Bauer: When I am activated, when I am brought into a situation, there is a reason. And that reason is to complete the objectives of my mission at all costs.
Senator Blaine Mayer: Even if it means breaking the law?
Jack Bauer: For a combat soldier, the difference between success and failure is your ability to adapt to your enemy. The people that I deal with, they don't care about your rules. All they care about is a result. My job is to stop them from accomplishing their objectives. I simply adapted. In answer to your question, am I above the law? No, sir. I am more than willing to be judged by the people you claim to represent. I will let them decide what price I should pay. But please do not sit there with that smug look on your face and expect me to regret the decisions that I have made. Because, sir, the truth is, I don't.

Larry Moss: You're here because Agent Walker thinks you might be able to help us with an investigation. Now, personally, I have my doubts. But I'll be happy to be proven wrong.
Jack Bauer: Well, lucky for me, I'm not here to apply for a job, Agent Moss. Personally, I don't care what makes you happy, so let's just get this over with.

(over the phone)
Tony Almeida: Get away from this, Jack.
Jack Bauer: Tony?
Tony Almeida: There's nothing you or the FBI can do about this. Just stay away.
Jack Bauer: Tony, just talk to me. What the hell's going--?
(Tony ends the call)
Jack Bauer: Tony? Tony!

Tony Almeida: All right. Get ready to make the course change.
Masters: We're really taking this all the way?
Tony Almeida: You just need to do exactly what I tell you to do.

Trivia

This is the first season premiere since Day 3: 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM to include the “Events occur in real time” title card.

Only four characters in this episode appeared in a prior season: Jack Bauer, Tony Almeida, Ethan Kanin and Admiral John Smith.

This episode was originally supposed to air in January 2008, but due to the 2007-08 Writer's Guild of America Strike, FOX decided to delay the airing until January 2009 so that the whole season could air together.

The original draft for Season 7's opening consisted of three episodes shifting between the story of Jack in Africa, the White House and Agent Renee Walker and the FBI, setting up her character prior to Jack's return from Africa.

In another unused version of the Season 7 premiere, a masked man breaks into Chloe O'Brian's house, and is later revealed to be Jack Bauer.

Despite the surprise of Tony Almeida's return, Carlos Bernard's name appears among the credits at the bottom of the screen before he is fully seen. Almeida does appear on the screen prior to the credit appearing, albeit with a mask over his face; with viewers who were unaware of his return in advance unlikely to have realised it was him. The decision to display his name was likely due to the fact that the show issued a press release in the summer of 2007 stating that the character would be returning, and therefore went under the assumption that everybody knew of his return.

Tony Todd appears, uncredited, as Benjamin Juma in news footage at the White House.

The first seventeen minutes of this episode were included as a special feature on the 24: Redemption DVD, ahead of Season 7 airing.

Jon Cassar revealed the following information in the DVD audio commentary for this episode:

The room used for Jack's Senate hearing was also used as a courtroom in Changeling (2008), directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Angelina Jolie.

The opening scene of the season featuring Michael Latham's kidnapping was a late addition to the episode. Cassar said that he wanted to go for an action-filled opening, as opposed to going straight into Jack's Senate hearing. Reshooting and adding news scenes is obviously not a luxury that 24 or other TV shows can afford under normal circumstances, but the writer's strike allowed for flexibility. Cassar also tells of how a portion of a scene between Agent Renee Walker and Jack Bauer was reshot for this episode, over a year after it was originally recorded.

Many of the remarks that Senator Blaine Mayer makes during Jack's hearing are either direct references or allusions to remarks made by critics of the series and its politics.

Goof: Bob Gunton as Ethan Kanin says the name “Henry Aldridge”, instead of Kevin Aldridge, mixing up the correct character name with “Henry Taylor”.