Silent clock



A silent clock is a rare occurrence on 24 in which the digital clock displayed at the end of a scene or episode is silent, without the typical beeping sounds. It occurred eleven times and was used to punctuate highly emotional scenes. Six of them took place around the time of the death of a significant character; the other five did not.

Because of often drastically varying circumstances, as well as the infrequency of the silent clock, there does not appear to be a strict pattern for use of the device. Additionally, "silent" refers only to the lack of beeping sounds. During ten out of the eleven total silent clocks, other sounds are audible: the majority of the silent clocks were accompanied by noises in the background, and some had faint music accompaniment.

Two silent clocks have occurred in the middle of an episode, rather than at the very end; these were in Season 2 and Season 7.

Season 8 is the only season to have two consecutive episodes end with a silent clock, following the deaths of President Omar Hassan and Renee Walker.

The silent clock has been used eleven times; once per season in Seasons 1, 3, 5, 6 and, once in 24: Redemption, twice in Seasons 2, 7, and 8, but not at all in Season 4.

Reasons for use
The effect of the silent clock could be accentuated by the split screen that is put in place immediately prior, depending on the circumstances. Upon the death of Teri Bauer, the screen was split between the scene of Jack cradling Teri's body alongside black and white clips from "Day 1: 12:00am-1:00am" to show that Nina Myers had taken away the life from the Bauer family. Immediately preceding Ryan Chappelle's death, there was no split screen, possibly to create the expectation that the episode was not quite over and he would somehow escape, until the appearance of the silent clock, confirming that he had indeed died. By contrast, there was also no split screen leading to the final moments of "Day 6: 5:00am-6:00am," but instead of heightening tension, this omission was to preserve the tenderness of the farewell between Jack and Audrey.

As stated above, the silence can be used to signal the passing of a character in the show. As well as occurring in this way for Teri and Chappelle, the silent clock during Day 5 commemorated Edgar Stiles' death, during Day 8 for Renee Walker's death, during Day 7 representing Bill Buchanan's sacrifice, and the silent clock during Day 8 commemorated President Omar Hassan's murder and the honorable way in which he died.

The silence is often used to convey sadness at a certain situation. The second silent clock during Day 7 was while Jack was mourning Bill's death, in a way not dissimilar to the one in Redemption when he was contemplating the death of long time friend Carl Benton.

The silent clock following David Palmer's assassination attempt at the end of Day 2, as well as the first one during Day 7 (as Renee Walker was being buried alive) were used to create tension and highlight the seriousness of the situation, in contrast to the usual somber nature of silent clock scenes. Both clocks are accompanied by the sound of breathing.

Background sounds
Only the silent clock following Edgar's death ("Day 5: 6:00pm-7:00pm") was accompanied by complete silence. Though the clocks of course lacked the usual digital beeping sound, various other sounds were audible during the other ten silent clocks.


 * 1) Following Teri Bauer's death there was a quiet howling wind and the sound of Jack crying.
 * 2) The silent clock following George Mason's departure had faint music accompaniment.
 * 3) Pained breathing and a heartbeat can be heard in the foreground following David Palmer's assassination attempt. (The only silent clock for which sounds were in the foreground, rather than the background.)
 * 4) For Ryan Chappelle's execution, the silent clock had a train whistle.
 * 5) The silent clock where Jack leaves Audrey for the last time was accompanied by the sound of ocean waves crashing into the shore.
 * 6) Music fading is heard in the silent clock following Jack's departure from Sangala.
 * 7) Renee Walker can be heard breathing during the silent clock where she was buried alive.
 * 8) Music is heard fading during the silent clock after Bill sacrifices himself.
 * 9) Crying from Kayla and Dalia Hassan accompany Omar Hassan's execution.
 * 10) Music fading and Jack crying is heard during the silent clock after Renee Walker's death.

Fan controversy
An online fan controversy arose regarding the lack of a silent clock after the apparent death of Tony Almeida. In an online podcast interview on TVweek.com, writer and producer Evan Katz acknowledged learning about the dispute on various blogs and discussion boards. He explained to the DJ that "people were angry that Edgar got the silent clock and Tony didn't." He was surprised at the fan reaction, but understood it because Tony had been a cast member for five seasons. Had Tony received a silent clock as well, it would have been the first instance of silent clocks in two consecutive episodes. Show-runner Howard Gordon explained that Tony's "uncertain fate" left the door open for his return (which occurred during Day 7) and cited the lack of a "silent clock" as a deliberate move to keep his death ambiguous. "We didn't give him the silent clock because we always wanted to keep alive the possibility for some kind of (admittedly) miraculous resurrection... which we will explain," and followed up with "He's definitely not the Almeida we once knew."

Background information and notes

 * The silent clock has been featured twice in two consecutive episodes: First in "Day 6: 5:00am-6:00am" and "24: Redemption" and second in "Day 8: 7:00am-8:00am" and "Day 8: 8:00am-9:00am," the latter being the only instance of a consecutive occurrence within a single season.
 * Season 4 is the only day without a silent clock.
 * The silent clocks following George Mason's departure from CTU and Bill Buchanan's death are the only ones that do not happen at the end of an episode. Adding alongside the silent clocks in "24: Redemption" and "Day 8: 8:00am-9:00am", these four are the only ones that have music accompanying them.
 * President Omar Hassan is the first and only non-American to have his death memorialized by a silent clock.
 * Renee Walker and Jack Bauer are the only characters to have received two silent clocks.
 * Ryan Chappelle is the only character to receive a silent clock without ever being part of any season's main cast.
 * Ryan Chappelle is the only person killed by Jack to receive a silent clock.
 * The 7:00am-8:00am hour is the only hour to have two silent clocks; first in Day 2, second in Day 8.
 * Day 1, Day 2 and Day 6 have had silent clocks in the final episode of the season.
 * Day 5: 7:00am-8:00am does not feature a silent clock, despite the deaths of both David Palmer and Michelle Dessler before the first commercial break. Although neither character was part of the main cast for Season 5, both had been on the show for several seasons and had been part of the main cast before, and this episode is the only season premiere with such deaths.
 * Teri Bauer and Omar Hassan are the only "recipients" of a silent clock to appear in only one season.
 * Both silent clocks on Day 8 are absent on the DVD's extended episodes.