10 TV Shows That Redeemed Hated Characters In A Single Episode

8. George Mason - 24

The Episode: Season 2, Episode 15 ("Day 2: 10:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.")

The first season of 24 cemented that Jack Bauer's (Kiefer Sutherland) CTU boss George Mason (Xander Berkeley) largely existed to get in Bauer's way and stop him from getting things done.

And though Mason seemed destined to be Bauer's continual bureaucratic roadblock for as long as the series would run, the second season took the character on a totally unexpected spirit quest of sorts.

Early in season two, Mason is exposed to lethal amounts of plutonium while trying to track down a nuclear bomb, and is quickly informed that he's got no more than a week to live.

Mason spends the rest of the season deteriorating while trying to tie up his own personal loose ends, and in turn completely redeems himself in the season's 15th episode.

After Jack discovers the nuclear bomb and learns that it can't be disarmed, he agrees to sacrifice himself by flying a plane carrying the bomb out into the Mojave Desert and crashing it at a safe distance from civilisation.

Except, in the closing moments of the episode, it's revealed that Mason stowed himself on-board the plane and volunteers to take over the controls, while even giving Jack a parachute to bail out with.

It's one of the best scenes in the entire show, and was fantastically effective in immediately transforming Mason from stuffed shirt a**hole into undeniable hero.