Bill Buchanan (24)

Template:24 character Bill Buchanan is a fictional character played by James Morrison as part of the television series, 24.

Bio

History

Bill Buchanan is the current Special Agent in Charge of the Los Angeles Domestic Unit of the Counter Terrorist Unit. He is 51 years old.

He previously was an Associate Special Agent in Charge at the Los Angeles Office's Division headquarters. Before joining the Los Angeles office, he was a Senior Agent in the Seattle Office's Division headquarters and before that, an Intelligence Analyst at that same office. Buchanan has a Bachelor of Arts in English from Brown University, and began his career in CTU as an agent with the New York Domestic Unit.

He was once married to Briana Wilson Buchanan. They divorced 6 years prior to day 5. It was rumored he was romantically involved for a time with fellow CTU agent Michelle Dessler when the two worked at division after Dessler left her husband Tony Almeida. Bill, however, says that the relationship "never got off the ground" and that they were simply good friends. It is unclear how strongly Buchanan was affected by Dessler's sudden death at the start of season 5 as he puts his personal feelings aside to address the current crisis. He is currently single and he lives alone in the suburbs of LA.

Day 4

Bill Buchanan was sent over to the Los Angeles Domestic Unit to help oversee the events going on in Day 4, particularly during the Jack & Behrooz trade off between CTU and Habib Marwan. From then on, Bill stayed on with reigning authority, with the same level of jurisdiction that Ryan Chappelle had in previous seasons. After Day 4, Buchanan became the full-time director of CTU.

Day 5

During Day 5, an upper-level administrator from CTU's Regional Division named Lynn McGill was appointed by the White House to supervise Buchanan and the rest of the L.A. team. Although the two characters appear to have a history together, it is still unknown how they know each other before day 5. Buchanan grew frustrated with McGill's rigid adherence to protocol and his attempts to restrict informality. Crisis after crisis rattled the relatively inexperienced McGill - notably, he was unable to control the actions of agent Jack Bauer and the CTU staffers that rallied to Bauer's aid, most of whom defied his orders. In retaliation, the increasingly paranoid McGill relieved Buchanan from command and had him removed to a CTU holding cell. Buchanan was later reinstated when Curtis Manning invoked a rule called Article 112, allowing a ranking agent to remove a mentally unfit director.

Shortly before 10:00 p.m., Buchanan politely tapped Shari Rothenberg, a young woman sent in to replace deceased analyst Edgar Stiles, on the shoulder in a congratulatory manner for performing well. Concern arose that Rothenberg might file a meritless sexual harassment claim against Buchanan, based upon her past conduct and her comments to Chloe O'Brian.

A more pressing threat to Buchanan's position as CTU director emerged after 10:00 p.m. when Homeland Security was ordered to absorb the duties and functions of CTU, following orders from Vice-President Gardner. This move was led by Karen Hayes. Buchanan intended to challenge the Vice President's order by demonstrating his successes in day 5 with the total support of his staff.

Homeland Security bureaucrat, Miles Papazian, suggested that a formal statement discrediting Buchanan may simplify takeover of CTU. He drafted a document that blamed Buchanan for the day's death toll and for allowing CTU to be compromised. He approached Audrey Raines, on loan from the DOD, to coerce her to sign the statement. Fully supportive of Buchanan, she initially declined.

As CTU staffers were being relieved from duty by Homeland personnel, Raines received a phone call from Jack Bauer. He needed immediate assistance that only Chloe O'Brian could provide, but O'Brian was slated for replacement. Seeing no alternative, Raines negotiated a deal to sign Papazian's statement on the condition that O'Brian be retained. As a result, Bauer got the help he needed, but it appeared that Homeland Security was successful in their takeover of CTU. Buchanan, and most of the CTU staff, were let go shortly after 10:00 p.m..

Buchanan met with Bauer and Wayne Palmer at midnight. After being briefed that President Charles Logan was complicit in the assassination of David Palmer, Buchanan took Wayne to a safe location.

After escaping CTU detention, Chloe O'Brian aids Jack from Bill Buchanan's home. However, Papazian tracks Chloe's access of the CTU server to Buchanan's home and sends a team to arrest her. Bill receives a call from Karen Hayes telling him that Chloe has seven minutes to get out before the team arrives.

When Homeland's TAC Team arrives at his house, Buchanan denies that Chloe had ever been there, but when they find evidence that she had, they take Buchanan into custody. Buchanan expected this however, as he had spoken with Karen Hayes on the phone just minutes earlier, and he knew that she would be conducting the "interrogation" when he arrived at CTU. Buchanan then discusses Jack's current situation with Hayes and what should be done. Working together with Hayes and Chloe, they eventually succeed in locating the evidence and helping Jack land the plane.

Buchanan spends the remainder of the day working with Jack, Chloe, and Karen. Vladimir Bierko manages to escape custody and take control of a Russian submarine with which he intends to fire missiles at various US cities. Bill and Karen have the Navy scramble F-18 fighters and send Jack and a ground team to resolve the situation. The crisis is over when Bauer kills both Bierko and Christopher Henderson.

Later, Bill and Karen are kept out of the loop when Jack, Chloe, Mike Novick, Martha Logan, and Aaron Pierce plot to bring down President Logan. Buchanan and Hayes are brought back into the fold when they and the Attorney General are informed that Chloe has obtained evidence incriminating Logan. After Logan is arrested and the crisis at an end, Buchanan prepares to leave CTU, expecting to be relieved of his command now that Logan is out of office. Hayes, however, assures Buchanan that he will still be needed at CTU, and the two make plans to go out together at a later date. Bill's last act of the day is giving Chloe a photograph of herself with Edgar that had been among his possessions.

Post Day 5

It has been clarified that Bill Buchanan will be running CTU LA in Season 6. For more information on the future of CTU, see Counter Terrorist Unit

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