The sixth season is set 20 months after season five. Over the last 11 weeks before Day 6, the United States has been targeted coast-to-coast in a series of suicide bombings. A man named
Abu Fayed agrees to give the U.S. the location of
Hamri Al-Assad, the supposed terrorist mastermind of these attacks, in exchange for former
CTU Agent Jack Bauer with whom he has a personal grudge. As a result, President Wayne Palmer has negotiated the release of Bauer, who was illegally captured by Chinese government agents, under "high-price" terms. Season 6 can be divided into two main acts: • Jack is released from the Chinese prison, and works with CTU to take down
suitcase nuke-armed terrorists, and discovers links to his own family in the process. • After the nukes are recovered, the Chinese manipulate Jack into giving them one of the circuit boards, elevating tensions between the United States and Russia.
Major subplots •
Karen Hayes clashes with
Tom Lennox over the ethics of suspending civil liberties for Muslim Americans. • Corrupt members of Wayne Palmer's administration attempt to have him killed so that they can take more extreme measures to find the nukes. • Jack discovers that his father and brother both conspired with
Charles Logan during the nerve gas crisis. • Milo Pressman develops feelings for his boss
Nadia Yassir and becomes alarmed at the way CTU agent Mike Doyle treats her. • Morris O'Brian struggles with the guilt he feels over giving Fayed a working detonator and almost relapses into alcoholism. • Jack becomes attached to his nephew Josh and insists that losing him as collateral damage is not acceptable. • Jack struggles with the fact that Audrey has been tortured by the Chinese and will need long term care.
Summary Agent Bauer, having been taken prisoner by China 20 months earlier, is released under a deal arranged by President
Wayne Palmer. Jack is immediately asked to sacrifice himself to Abu Fayed, who has offered CTU Hamri Al-Assad, who is believed to be the terrorist mastermind behind the suicide bombings of the last 11 weeks. Jack finds out, however, that Assad is actually trying to stop the attacks, which were orchestrated by Fayed. Jack escapes and saves Assad, which requires him to kill
Curtis Manning who is bent on revenge for an earlier incident. Having found out that Fayed is planning to detonate five
suitcase nuclear bombs, CTU agents attempt to retrieve one of them but they are too late. While crying over the loss of his friend Curtis, Jack watches in horror as a nuclear blast destroys
Valencia. Jack discovers that his father
Phillip and brother
Graem are working against CTU and have been for some time. This reunites Jack with his nephew
Josh Bauer and sister-in-law
Marilyn Bauer who tells him that Audrey Raines is dead. Morris O'Brian is lured out of CTU, captured by Fayed and forced to arm the remaining nuclear bombs. After defusing one of them, Jack is aided by former president
Charles Logan. Logan claims that his connection with the Russian Consulate General,
Anatoly Markov can help Jack find
Dmitri Gredenko, a former Russian general planning to arm
RQ-2 Aerial Drones with the bombs to attack the U.S. Dissatisfied with Wayne Palmer's leadership during the crisis,
Reed Pollock and a co-conspirator named Carson plan to assassinate Palmer and frame Al-Assad for it. Before
Tom Lennox can prevent the attack, their bomb explodes, killing Assad and leaving Palmer in critical condition. Vice President
Noah Daniels assumes executive powers and threatens retaliation. Logan fails to blackmail Markov into giving up Gredenko, so Jack breaks into the Russian Consulate and tortures information out of him. President Logan convinces his ex-wife
Martha to call the Russian First Lady,
Anya Suvarov. As a result,
Yuri Suvarov authorizes action against the consulate by a CTU team (led by new Director of Field Operations
Mike Doyle). Jack immediately gives CTU Gredenko's location, but it is too late, as Gredenko has already launched a drone toward San Francisco. Jack manages to locate the drone's pilot and crash land the drone, but radiation is released during the crash. Noah Daniels authorizes a nuclear strike against the Middle-East, but Wayne Palmer is brought out of his coma to intervene. Gredenko is captured by CTU and he agrees to help bring in Fayed in exchange for amnesty, but warns Fayed instead. Gredenko dies and Jack manages to track down Fayed. After a struggle, Jack single-handedly kills Fayed and finds the two remaining bombs. Jack then receives a phone call from Audrey, who is apparently still alive and is then turned over to
Cheng Zhi. Cheng demands a Russian circuit board from one of the nukes, information that could start a war, in exchange for Audrey's freedom. President Palmer reluctantly authorizes Jack's plan but collapses during a press conference, allowing Daniels to assume executive duties and reverse the order. Jack goes rogue and goes through with the exchange, learning that Audrey has endured pharmaceutical torture. His plan to destroy the board fails and Cheng gets hold of it. Russia discovers that the Chinese have the circuit board and threatens military action. Cheng discovers that the board has been damaged and calls
Phillip Bauer to fix it. Jack gets a lead from Audrey about Cheng's location but before they can use it, CTU is infiltrated by Chinese mercenaries, led by
Zhou, and most members of CTU are taken hostage. Milo is fatally shot when he steps up to protect Nadia. Jack Bauer, Mike Doyle and others are able to kill the mercenaries and they learn that one of Phillip Bauer's conditions for helping the Chinese was that his grandson Josh be delivered to him. Phillip Bauer calls the White House and offers to give the circuit board for Josh, and they agree. Doyle takes Josh from Jack to go ahead with the exchange. Jack finds out about the deal and gets help from Bill Buchanan, who had been fired from CTU earlier after the Department of Justice needed a fall guy for the escape of Abu Fayed. The exchange fails as Jack predicted and Phillip Bauer manages to capture Josh on an offshore oil rig while still in possession of the circuit board. Daniels decides to launch an air strike against the oil rig but Jack and Bill commandeer a helicopter in order to save Josh. They arrive in time to kill Cheng's men, capture Cheng alive and rescue Josh. Phillip Bauer dies in the subsequent airstrike. Jack confronts Audrey's father,
James Heller, by whom he feels abandoned and lashes out. Heller apologizes, but convinces Jack that Audrey would be safer without him. Jack tells a sleeping Audrey that even though he loves her, he must let her go for her own sake. He walks outside to a cliff and stares off at the ocean at an uncertain future. ==Characters==