You probably dont think I could force this towel down your throat, but trust me I can. All the way. Except that I'd hold onto this little bit at the end. When your stomach starts to digest the towel, I pull it out, taking your stomach lining with it. Most people probably take about a week to die. It's very painful.
That line is enough to show you just how dangerous Jack Bauer can be and with this quote the audiences are introduced to Jacks ruthlessness for the first time, making it the best badass moment. The man on the receiving end of this is Ted Cofell, who is implicated in the abduction of Jacks wife and daughter. Jack takes him captive by impersonating his limousine driver before threatening to torture him in such a way it makes your skin crawl. Imagine just how painful this would be, being eroded from the inside. That is literally what Jack Bauer is threatening to do. Later on, Jacks temper unfortunately gets the better of him once Ted taunts him in Serbian (the language of the Drazen family) and he punches Ted in the chest which causes a heart attack that kills him. Although he wasnt around to appreciate it, Ted actually got off lightly. The whole scene is performed to perfection; Jack controls the situation from the very start. He slowly pours the water on the towel, making Cofell sweat and squirm as he tightly twists it around, ready to follow through with the threat. As mentioned earlier, its the fear of what Jack can do which has far greater impact than the act itself. The barbarity of the act introduces the audience to a side of Jack that hasnt been seen yet, but one we will all get accustomed to very soon. Hes a good person, who sometimes has to do bad things for the greater good and its that reason that not only makes him such a badass but makes us follow him further. The philosopher Edmund Burke, once said All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing, but then he obviously had never heard of Jack Bauer! Did we miss anything? Add a comment below and thank you for reading.
An aspiring filmmaker, writer, traveller, and avid comic book fan, with an undying passion for calligraphy and chopping boards shaped like fruit. Genuinely enjoys receiving your hate mail.
