“24: Legacy” Ep. 4 ‘3:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M.’ Review
Can Ben really fix this?
Warning: As the clock ticks on, the spoilers keep coming. Yes, this review contains spoilers.
24: Legacy: Hour four was filled with some exciting developments as the pace of 24: Legacy slowed down a bit to give us some well placed drama.
Jimmy Smits claimed the performance trophy this week in what was probably the more interesting plot of the episode. After not being convinced Nilaa was the one to access the file on the Rangers, Donovan had a guy look into the ATM photo she appeared in only to find out it was altered. So as the truth came out, the drama increased between father and son. I did not expect Henry to spill the beans so quickly, admitting he was part of a plot to set Nilaa up so his accessing of the Rangers’ file wouldn’t be traced back to him. Henry gave the file to Bin-Khalid because the latter claimed to have prove the former’s company director had purchased oil from terrorists. Henry claims he did it to protect his son’s campaign. You know, because one man’s political career outweighs the lives of millions of innocent lives. Henry, you’re an idiot.
The dramatic exchange between Smits and Gerald McRaney was one of the highlights of the hour. This scene proves 24 is not all about the action. The characters are important. It also made John Donovan somewhat of a hero and a good judge of character by looking into Nilaa’s innocence. With there not being actual proof of Henry’s confession, the question is how long will he and John’s uncle be able to keep this cover up going? I am just glad there is a chance Nilaa can soon be off the hook. So she better not turn out to be a terrorist down the road. That’ll kind of piss me off.
Eric Carter saw less action this week as he went into C.T.U. for debriefing. Funny how we’ve seen C.T.U. for three episodes now, but suddenly through the eyes of Carter, I at least, got a real sense of how massive the place really is. Quite an impressive set, I must say. Anywayz, Eric had a couple of dramatic bits with Ben. First, Eric lunged towards Ben Grimes as he was getting checked out by the ambulance. Corey Hawkins continuing to impress with his acting abilities, coming off as naturally angry, as well as disappointed in his friend. Their second exchange was much cooler, with Grimes telling Carter he recognized the custom job on the weapons used by Bin-Khalid and his men. Those guns came exclusively from an arms dealer who goes by the name Gabriel. In an effort to redeem himself, Grimes begs Eric to allow him to help by helping him track down Gabriel so they can get a lead on Bin-Khalid’s whereabouts.
The fascinating side of this plot was we got a chance to see Carter experience the lack of cooperation Jack Bauer used to have to deal with on the behalf of the C.T.U. superiors. Mullins didn’t like the plan Eric had to track down the arms dealer because the only way they could flesh him out was to show him schematics for anti-missile defense systems. On one hand, I can’t blame Mullins for no trusting Ben because he could be trying to sell the plans to Gabriel, like he tried to extort money from the government for the list of sleeper cells that led to the terrorists getting their hands on it. However with so few options, and with enough resources to give it a shot, the could pull it off. But of course, this gives Carter an excuse to go rogue and get Grimes to the meeting with Gabriel. Once he gets the schematics from Andy – apparently not worried about his job since he already knows Mullins has it in for him – Carter goes back into bad ass mode and causes a lockdown on C.T.U. Now we have to wait until next week to see how Carter gets out of the base. Probably with Rebecca’s help.
Rebecca and Carter were reunited in person. Their brief embrace proved they have a bond and a high level of trust. Speaking of trust, Andy must really trust the hell out of Rebecca if he’s willing to not only risk his career by getting those schematics to Carter, but also his freedom. What’s up with that? As for Grimes, I’m having a hard time trusting him at all. He’s convincing saying he wants to help, but knowing he’ll be going to prison or dead after this mission, I have this suspension he may be plotting something, or he’s had a deal with Jadalla bin-Khalid all along. I could be wrong, but it’s hard to trust anyone on 24.
Okay, so either Amira has never killed anyone before – which is likely – or she actually had feelings for Drew. I’d like to think her hesitation to pump his veins full of air was due to the lack of experience of killing, or maybe her commitment to the case isn’t fully intact. All signs seem to be showing doom for Drew, but there might be a way the doctors can save him in time. I don’t frankly care, but I just want to know where Amira goes from here. If Drew lives, he can tell the cops she tried to kill him. But if he dies, she can just go about her terrorist activities if she can stomach them. I don’t know. I don’t have much to say towards this plot this week.
Nicole and Isaac’s story on the other hand…
Nicole got a bit of action this week. Isaac avoided getting filled with bullet holes. Nicole made a daring attempt to escape from Aisha and her goon. She got the drop on them good, even had them at gunpoint. On one hand, she should have shot them both before the cops arrived, but then, how else would they have dragged out her story? Isaac apparently has mad pull with the cops, so she could have been let loose if she did shoot them anyway. Well, now that Aisha is on the loose, their lives are both in danger because she could go running to her new gangster boyfriend, and a gang war can ensue. What exactly does this have to do with 24? This subplot is still far too separate from the series. It got an energy boost this week, but if it weren’t for the fact that Nicole was Eric’s wife, and Isaac his brother, there’d be no connection. It’s not unlike 24 to have subplots that barely connect to the main story. Pfft, just look up Kim Bauer. However, you’d think they’d learn from the past and not go this route to avoid a loss in momentum. Well, guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens. It can end up being a wild ride for both Nicole and Isaac. I just hope they don’t try to force some kind of love interest with these two, being that they once had a thing before Eric married her. I couldn’t tell if they had a moment or what, but please, just let these two survive these events without hooking up. I like Nicole. Don’t make me hate her for leaving Eric.
A lot of what this season seems to boil down to is really bad decision making by some of these characters. Henry and his attempts to protect John’s campaign by working with terrorists, and Ben trying to make money to start a new life by conspiring to extort the government or sell classified information to terrorists. Moral of the damn story… you don’t associate yourself with f**king terrorists.
Thankfully with hour four, the season is moving along swiftly, advancing each storyline instead of dragging them out. I didn’t expect Henry’s lie to be revealed so quickly, nor did I think Nicole would be free of Aisha’s captivity. Plus, Carter is already going rogue to get the job done. This episode had a few pleasant surprises that setup for some exciting new developments. 24: Legacy is not quite yet the ass kicking show I want it to be, but it’s getting there quickly.
