Well, you failed to mention, in your "most of the women of '24' the two best smart female characters, Nina and Michelle. Michelle is sharp, and a cutie pie, and Nina... well Nina was Nina.
I agree on Terri, all I can think is maybe Jack just thought his life was so high adrenaline, he needed a wife who provided ~zero~ stimulation at all just to be able to relax at night ;~D Course, then she ended up being the source of stress anyway.
I cut Kate Warner's character a lot of slack. I liked her. You say she went on and on after her sister, but the truth is, she had everything she thought was true become false in just a few hours. It's not every day our whole universe turns upside down, unless you're Jack.
And let us not forget Sherry Palmer,good looking,clever,coniving and despicable all at the same time.. There is no doubt in my mind she was portrayed as a hillary, except for the looks of course.