History Awesome / TwentyFour

* Before it became clear how much of an ObstructiveBureaucrat he would become, Lynn McGill actually accomplishes one during the airport hostage crisis. Jack has been held under duress by the terrorists and is forced to lead on Curtis' team that it's okay to start their assault, even though doing so would lead to an ambush. However, in doing so, Jack specifically tells Curtis that he is in a "flank two" position". Lynn, curious, decides to run through the transcript of their call, something that annoys Bill and Chloe, who see it as redundant and a waste of resources. However, with less than 60 seconds before Curtis' ill-fated assault could begin, McGill runs in and informs Bill that "flank two" was an outdated duress code from back when Jack used to work at CTU, something that no one was able to realize up to that point because they ran the code through CTU's ''current'' protocol filter. Thanks to this, Curtis is able to abort the assault and redeploy the men so that they utterly ''[[CurbStompBattle trounce]]'' the terrorist faction, suffering no casualties on their part.

* Jack baiting NIna in Episode 10 while she has a machine gun trained on him. He essentially gets her to follow him out into the open so that a CTU sniper can land a clean shot on her, incapacitating her and saving Jack's life.

* Marie's reveal was not only a CMOA, but makes her this troper's favorite villain in the series

* Pierce saving the Subarovs and Martha Logan from terrorists. Certified badass.

* The 2-4 PM ending. Everyone thought Jack would try to kill Subarov at the press conference. Instead he uses Logan to lure Subarov into his office so he can kill them both. His SlasherSmile at the end was icing to the cake.

-->''One the count of 3, I'm gonna scream louder than any woman you've ever heard. One, two''...

* In the season finale, there's Logan discovering that he incriminated himself by threatening Martha while wearing a transmitter Jack had planted on him:

*** [[YourMileageMayVary YMMV]] on whether that was awesome, or beating up an already [[BrokenBird broken man]].

*** [[YourMileageMayVary YMMV]] on whether that was awesome, or beating up an already [[BorokenBird broken man]].

--> "This is so going to hurt. AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGG!!!!!!"

** Agent Walker should also get one for, in the same scene, [[WhatTheHellHero questioning Jack's humanity]], as well as for [[ArmorPiercingSlap bitch slapping him]] '''twice'''.

* Renee [[BigDamnHeroes rescuing]] Jack and Cole after the two have been pinned down by terrorists, by walking around and one-shotting everyone in her way.

* David Palmer walking into CTU '''''[[MemeticMutation LIKE A BOSS]]''''' [[hottip:*:(as in, he really ''does'' own the place)]], without any kind of foreshadowing beforehand.

* The SeventhEpisodeTwist orchestrated by Jack, Tony and Gael. [[HolyShitQuotient The look on Chappele's face says it all]].

--> '''Jack (upon seeing Nina reach for a gun nearby):''' [[OhCrap "No you don't."]]

* The 2-3 PM ending. Everyone thought Jack would try to kill Subarov at the press conference. Instead he uses Logan to lure Subarov into his office so he can kill them both. His SlasherSmile at the end was icing to the cake.

* Martha Logan needed someone's key card to get into the archives room so she threatened to accuse him of attempted rape. The calm voice she used makes me think she's done this before.

* Renee rescuing Jack and Cole after the two have been pinned down by terrorists, by walking around and one-shotting everyone in her way.

* Jack killing Nina Myers.

* Tony showing up to save Teri.

** Note that he was in the middle of HAVING A HEART ATTACK while doing this, due to having briefly died during torture a few hours earlier.

* The SeventhEpisodeTwist orchestrated by Jack, Tony and Gael. The look on Chappele's face says it all.

* Chloe gunning down terrorist assassins with an M-16.

* Curtis Manning's run with the nerve gas bomb

* Jack interrogates the Chief of Staff, Walt Cummings, in front of a protesting President Charles Logan. Aaron Pierce added more Awesome. Also when they first come into the room is a "Big Damn Heroes" Moment.

* His final battle with Fayed and about 6 terrorists with machine guns (while Jack himself had only a pistol), scored with perhaps the most operatic music the show has ever used. Jack ends up shooting to death all mooks and wrapping Fayed up in industrial strength chains, and tells him "Say hello to your brother" (who Jack had killed years before) before going to the controls and raising the chains into the ceiling, hanging him. When other agents finally arrive on the scene, all their leader can say is "''Damn'', Jack."

** Also, give it up for Jibraan's kid brother Hamid. After being chloroformed, having guns pulled on him, and suffering the trauma of his brother telling him he's a terrorist, the kid '''still''' has enough balls and reflex that with a split-second distraction he busts a mirror, grabs a piece, and stabs the punk terrorist guarding right in the throat. If [=CTU=] is ever back up and running they should seriously hire him.

* Everyone groans as Kim is put in danger to blackmail Jack yet again. However, this time she stabs one of her captors (with a ''[[ImprobableWeaponUser pen]]'') just in time to get away from the shots the other one fires, then follows the man and lets the cavalry know his location. After his car flips over, she goes into the burning vehicle to get a key piece of evidence and manages to fight off his last desperate attack, severely burning her arm but getting away with the bad guys' location. She's officially {{The Kimberly}} no more.
* President Allison Taylor demonstrates that even though she cares about her family, she is the President of The United States, and her duty comes first. In old-school Biblical fashion, she will no longer be called Allison Taylor. Henceforth, she will be known as President Allison ''Palmer''.

* Farhat Hassan's efforts to screw over his colleagues who betrayed him are impressive. Granted, he calls CTU out of self-preservation as much as a desire for revenge, but then when he is shot, he agrees with one of his last remaining breaths to help CTU. He doesn't request morphine, nor does he demand immunity on the off chance that he pulls through.

* On the way up to Novokovich's hotel room, Jack suffers his second knife wound to the gut of the day. A few minutes later Logan calls, and the phone is answered by the one surviving guard who crawls past the bodies of all his comrades, plus Novakovich, who Jack took out with a fireplace poker.

* Secret Service Agent Aaron Pierce, after being kidnapped by crooked President Logan and asked to forget about the incriminating recording: "There is nothing that you have said or done that is acceptable to me in the least. You are a traitor to this country and a disgrace to your office. And it is my duty to see that you're brought to justice for what you've done. Is there anything else, Charles?"

<<|CrowningMoment/LiveActionTV|>>

* David Palmer walking into CTU '''[[MemeticMutation LIKE A BOSS]]''' [[hottip:*:(as in, he really ''does'' own the place)]], without any kind of foreshadowing beforehand.