24: Legacy – ‘5:00 P.M. – 6:00 P.M.’ Review
Warning: There are spoilers for this 24 review.
Minor terrorist attacks are bound to succeed on 24. Usually, those attacks are small in scale, but they are still shocking and effective towards the narrative of each season. These attacks usually take place to show how serious the villains are with their agendas. Throughout most of the original series, Jack Bauer was able to stop the bigger scale threats from happening, allowing the audience to release a sigh of relief. However, sometimes, a big scale attack couldn’t be stopped in time. The release of a hotel virus in season two, and the nuclear bomb that went off early in season six are a couple of examples. Well, in this hour, a pretty devastating attack happened on a bridge, and it was only a teaser of what Jadalla Bin-Khalid has planned.
Amira’s story came to an explosive end, since she was the one who blew up the George Washington Bridge. After having her doubts, hesitations, even after her father tried pleading with her that their religion was about peace, all it took was her brother Khashan getting shot by Harris for her to commit to the attack. That’s of course after stabbing the foolish Harris to death with a screwdriver. She decided to teach “the infidels” a lesson because the guy who was trying to save her, shot her brother who wanted to murder as many people as possible…. Oh, kay. Although not perfectly done, this was the episode’s most intriguing story. I had been wondering just how far Amira would go with her brother’s terrorist plot. I kind of knew it would always come down to her carrying out the attack. She has some compassion for others, but because she wanted to do right by her brother, she was always going to make sure this attack happened.
The scene on the bridge was very suspenseful, even though I knew the bomb would go off one way or another. Police officer Jenkins gave it a valiant effort shooting Amira as she drove right towards him. If only he didn’t holster his weapon though. Maybe he could have put a few more rounds in her before she set off the bomb. But then we wouldn’t have our shocking moment of the season. The bomb effect was well done. The carnage was minimal, which was a good choice. There’s really no need to show 100 innocent people graphically die when we already know the effects a bomb like that could have. The reaction of the members of CTU was incredibly genuine.
Carter didn’t have much luck or see much action as he and Locke were still clearing things up and gathering information after the shootout at Gabriel’s hideout. They found the location Bin-Khalid and his men were working out of, but since a snoopy news team covered the incident without authorization, it tipped off the terrorists, and were able to leave the scene seconds before CTU got there. Now I expected Bin-Khalid to escape, but his whole team? The timing between the terrorists packing it up and ditching the base while CTU was 30 seconds away seemed way too inconsistent. I expected the team to encounter some stragglers who fell behind. I also don’t buy the satellites not being able to track them during the day.
It seems like the day is already starting to weigh down on Carter, making him increasingly frustrated. Now after losing Ben, his motivation to stop the terrorists has also increased. Carter talking his way into helping CTU with the treat until it was resolved reminded me of season four when Jack was no longer an agent, and he had to convince the CTU director at the time to allow him clearance. Thankfully, Mullins isn’t as arrogant and stubborn as Erin Driscoll was. Carter’s eagerness leaves us wondering if he’s doing all this to avenge his men, or because he misses the action. Although it’s probably a combination of both, Carter doesn’t seem all too ready to leave the life behind. We’ve already had Nicole mention how she thinks he “misses it”. Now Locke is questioning Carter on the same subject as he noticed the way Carter was handling his weapon on their way to Bin-Khalid’s.
Carter’s mind should be at ease when it comes to Nicole, since he asked CTU to pick her up and take her to the base. But of course, nothing is ever simple with 24. Because of that news coverage, Carter was exposed, prompting Bin-Khalid to have some of his men track down and abduct Nicole and Isaac after a pretty sweet shootout against Isaac’s homies and the terrorists. The bangers had the numbers, but when a terrorist comes out spraying with a M249 LMG versus pistols, numbers be damned. The opening scene leading up to the abduction gave me quite the unintentional laugh when Isaac, desperate to keep Nicole around, told her she was safe with him. SINCE WHEN?! This coming from the guy who shoved her to the floor. Isaac needs to let this woman go.
Unfortunately, this puts Carter in an old cliché where the villain would use family members as leverage. Bin-Khalid’s is demanding Eric get him the information regarding the sleeper cells that came from that drive. This kind of thing used to happen to Jack Bauer so many times. It’s just another one of the many cliches I was hoping this new series would avoid, and it didn’t. I totally saw this coming. I see no reason why Carter shouldn’t involve Rebecca and Mullins in this. Unless of course a mole is watching them. Oh, I can just feel that mole cliché coming. We’ll probably see Isaac and Nicole attempt an escape soon. Otherwise, what else is the show going to do with them?
I feel bad for John Donovan having to drop out of the presidential race, all because his a-hole father covered up dealings with terrorists. Top that off with continuing to withhold information. There’s no way they can salvage that mess and he’ll be able to continue his campaign. His chances are so bad, Nilaa didn’t even try to talk him out of making a press conference announcing his withdraw. Now I wonder what the show is going to do with him since we’re only at the halfway point. I’m guessing whatever happens next, John’s corrupt uncle will be involved in some way.
Hour 6 gave us another fast paced episode with a shocking attack that is sure to set the tone for the rest of the day. The attack has sets the stakes higher, knowing there are 14 other cells out there that may have even more devastating attacks planned. Sadly, we are still getting the typical cliches of 24. However, the suspense still runs high, and there’s still plenty of reason to root for Eric Carter.
