Bye Bye Buchanan

This past Monday Bill Buchanan sacrificed his life to save the President of the United States, Allison Taylor. As they do every time a main character dies, the people at '24' used a silent clock to fade out to commercial after the explosion that Bill created.

This is significant to me because Bill Buchanan has been my favorite character during the seven seasons of the show. Sure I've liked Tony and you can't be a 24 fan if you don't love Jack, but Bill really got it done for me day in and day out.

Bill first appears in season 4 when he comes to CTU LA from Division to oversee things. By the end of the season, Tony and Michelle Dessler retire and Bill becomes head of CTU. In season 5 Bill, along with Chloe, spend most of the day helping Jack be Jack behind closed door. They get detained for some of the season because of it. It was actions like this that made Bill and also David Palmer in his day, the best characters on the show.

Ten Most Influential and Heart Wrenching Deaths

10. Paul Raines (Day 4)- After taking a bullet for Jack, Paul is being operated on in CTU, but Jack forces the doctor to switch over to a suspect that they need information out of. Raines dies on the table.

9. Michelle Dessler (Day 5)- At the beginning of season five, Michelle is blown up by a bomb in her car a la Jack McKay.

8. David Palmer (Day 5)- About five minutes before Michelle, Palmer got shot by a sniper within the first five minutes of the season. This death was way to abrupt to get at me the way it should have.

7. Lynn McGill (Day 5)- Rudy really took one for the team after the poisonous gas was released inside of CTU. It would have killed everyone in the building if he didn't go on his suicide mission to stop it from getting to Jack, Chloe and the gang.

6. Bill Buchanan (Day 7)- Another self-sacrifice for the good of others, Bill blew himself up to save the President. Not enough drama leading up to his move, and no slow mo, what's that about?

5. Curtis Manning (Day 6)- After taking bad guy Assad into his clutches and threatening to kill him, Jack tells him to put his gun away or he'll have no other choice. Curtis refuses and Jack shoots and kills the long time CTU agent.

4. George Mason (Day 2)- Mason was hit with poisonous plutonium earlier in the season and was told he would have maybe a week to live. Knowing this he piloted the nuclear bomb so that it was near no one else when it blew up.

3. Milo Pressman (Day 6)- Milo returned to 24 following a five year absence and left in style. When the Chinese bad guys came into CTU to take control they asked who the leader was. To protect Nadia, Milo said it was him, as he stood to face the Chinamen. They shot him instantly.

2. Edgar Stiles (Day 5)- Wow season five was action packed. Edgar was caught in the poisonous gas that McGill eventually stopped. His downfall was filled with slow-mo and a great score that grabbed my heart right out of my chest.

1. Ryan Chapelle (Day 3)- Now Chapelle was a jerk most of the time, but when Stephen Saunders said he wanted Chapelle dead or he would do something really bad, I had a hard time not choking up. Jack ended up shooting Chapelle in the head from point blank.
For a good cry click here.