AllMovie

As the first season finale of 24 begins, Kim (Elisha Cuthbert) has managed a daring escape from the Drazens. Sherry (Penny Johnson Jerald) harangues Palmer (Dennis Haysbert) about letting the media think the assassination attempt on him succeeded, which he's doing to help Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) save Kim's life. Victor (Dennis Hopper) has agreed to exchange Kim for Jack. Jack goes to the pier to make the trade, but he won't show himself until he gets to talk to Kim, which leaves Victor and Andre (Zeljko Ivanek) in a jam, because Kim isn't there. Jack lets Nina (Sarah Clarke) know that Palmer is still alive, and Nina passes that information along to Andre. Alerted that Kim is safe, Mason (Xander Berkeley) sends two tactical teams to support Jack. Sherry surreptitiously lets the media know that Palmer survived the explosion, and Palmer, thinking she's jeopardized Kim's life, really blows up. Nina lets the Drazens know that CTU is en route. Victor tells Nina to tell Jack that Kim is dead, in order to lure him out into the open. Nina tells Victor to make sure they kill Jack, because if he survives, and finds out Kim is still alive, her cover will be blown. As news of Jack's foolhardy one-man raid against the Drazens reaches CTU, Teri (Leslie Hope) goes looking for Nina to find out what's going on. An alternate ending to the episode was shot to discourage leaks, and this "decoy" ending is included on the DVD release of season one.