24 writers discuss Chloe’s heartbreak, Jack’s past to be revealed

Yahoo TV has interviewed 24 executive producers Manny Coto and Evan Katz – they discuss Chloe’s big revelation, the reasoning behind Heller’s medical condition, and they tease a few upcoming moments.

Here’s what they had to say about Chloe:

Was there any hesitation to go there with that storyline? It is always, obviously, such a harsh thing, to kill off a child character, even off-screen.
Coto: Not in the least. We wanted our characters to have grown, and have suffered, and have experienced in the four years… we kind of threw out the idea of Chloe being in this place before. We were developing the season in broad strokes, and we knew we liked the idea of Chloe being in this place, and then, we worked backwards. We asked ourselves what could possibly have happened to make her turn so horribly against the government, which she worked for? And this was a logical answer, and a heartbreaking one, and one that differentiated her a little bit from Jack. I mean, if you really think about it, Chloe is in a worse place than Jack. It is not a secret by Episode 3 that Jack is still fighting for the government, or at least for our country, whereas Chloe kind of largely has turned against it. Even though she doesn’t want anyone to die, she is in a darker place, and we felt we needed that contrast between these two characters to make it more poignant.

We’ll get filled in on Jack’s past four years in the sixth episode:

That may cover almost any question I ask then, but, Jack’s response to Chloe after she shares this heartbreaking news with him is that the only way you can even attempt to deal with these things is to try to honor the people you’ve lost, and prevent other deaths. So can we assume that’s what Jack has been doing these last few years, while he’s been in exile?
Coto: That’s another question that’s a good one, which will be answered. And quite dramatically, in a not-too-future episode.
Katz: I want to say it’s Episode 6.
Coto: Yes, it’s in Episode 6 where we unveil what he’s actually been doing.