12 Most Epic Character Introductions In TV History

6. Mandy -€“ 24

Fox

From the moment she blew up a plane in cold blood in season one, to poisoning President David Palmer in the closing moments of season two, the mysterious Mandy has been a firm favourite on the show. One of the few characters to survive being shot, blown up, poisoned or gassed, this femme fatale has always been near the top of the list of characters fans have demanded back on 24.

In Mandy's introductory scenes during the pilot episode, we are introduced to the first of the many double bluffs the show will pull on the audience and it's pretty spectacular. Mandy meets photographer Martin, our assumed villain on the plane heading for LA. Naturally we assume she's just a pawn in his evil game and the victim of a moment of passion in the toilet. When she asks if they can meet up in LA, we know it's never going to happen. Mark isn't going to call. There's never going to see each other again...and we're right, just for a very different reasons.

A poor air stewardess asks Mandy to return to her seat, only for the 'innocent' passenger to pull out a syringe and inject her. The intrigue continues. We learn her quick sex-capade in the toilet was her doing just to obtain Martin's ID. Mission accomplished, she pulls out a handy flight gear from her luggage, retrieves a detonator handily hidden within a fire extinguisher and calmly, coolly jettisons herself form the plane, allowing it to explode moments later. Fans tend to think that season one of 24 was a lot smaller in scale but within the very first hour we learned that the villains were willing to kill hundreds of people just to get what they needed. A bold move indeed and a fantastic introduction for this mysterious villain. Nina may have been the best, but Mandy got there first.

Contributor
Contributor

A writer for Whatculture since May 2013, I also write for TheRichest.com and am the TV editor and writer for Thedigitalfix.com . I wrote two plays for the Greater Manchester Horror Fringe in 2013, the first an adaption of Simon Clark's 'Swallowing A Dirty Seed' and my own original sci-fi horror play 'Centurion', which had an 8/10* review from Starburst magazine! (http://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/eventsupcoming-genre-events/6960-event-review-centurion) I also wrote an episode for online comedy series Supermarket Matters in 2012. I aim to achieve my goal for writing for television (and get my novels published) but in the meantime I'll continue to write about those TV shows I love! Follow me on Twitter @BazGreenland and like my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/BazGreenlandWriter