24 Iconic Moments That Have Defined 24 So Far

19. Mandy Poisons President Palmer (Season 2, Episode 24)

One of the best stingers in TV history occurred at the tail-end of season two. The nuclear threat had been adverted, and it seemed like everything was wrapping up just a little too neatly, but in true 24 style, that wasn't the end of the story. President Palmer is out to make a press statement, and greets the crowd of people awaiting him, one of whom turns out to be Mandy, the crazy, super-hot lesbian from the start of season one. She shakes Palmer's hand, and appears to transmit a poison of some kind to him, causing him to collapse to the floor as we cut to the end-episode clock, while we can hear Palmer's struggling gasps for breath. The cliffhanger was agonising like no other in the show: Palmer has always been a fan favourite character ever since the first season, widely admired for his integrity and impeccable demeanour, and to see the guy, the first black President further still, possibly die such a horrible death was jaw-dropping. Thankfully, he survived that attack to live for a few more seasons...

18. Smack Bauer (Season 3, Episode 1)

24 has indulged in its fair share of ridiculous storylines over the years, though one of the more outrageous ones was having Jack be addicted to heroin in season three, leading to fans nicknaming him "Smack Bauer". The back story prior to season three is that Jack used heroin to get undercover with drug dealer Ramon Salazar, leading to him eventually being arrested, but after Jack came out of his cover, he still continued using, as is revealed at the end of the season three premiere. The problem with this plot device is how unrealistically it depicts the effects of heroin abuse. Bauer will occasionally look sweaty or have a headache, but hey, he's still able to foil the terrorists and save the day. He also appears to have pretty much kicked his heroin habit inside of 24 hours, which is straight-up medically impossible, if rather hilarious.