Ricky Church reviews the fifth episode of 24: Legacy…
24: Legacy delivered its weakest and most disappointing episode yet in what felt like a whole lot of filler. ‘4:00 PM – 5:00 PM’ had the potential to be a really good episode, but instead it veered into predictability and murky character development. We’re almost halfway through the season and, yet, the story has not only stalled, but hasn’t improved in any major way.
Since this was Charlie Hofheimer’s final time starring Ben Grimes the episode spent a lot of time trying to develop sympathy for him, but the problem was its efforts weren’t nearly enough. Since the beginning, Grimes was presented as a rather one-dimensional character that was only defined by his paranoia. ‘2:00 PM – 3:00 PM’ attempted to build the relationship between Carter and Grimes more, but the intervening episodes didn’t build off that or succeed in making Grimes more sympathetic.
Instead of developing Grimes in his final hour, he was largely used as a plot device in his final hour. When arms dealer Gabriel (played by a wasted Andrew Howard) executed Grimes, it lacked the emotional punch or shock it needed. It might have almost been better if Carter were the one the shoot Grimes and Grimes willingly went through it, allowing for one act of redemption for his character and development for Carter. That would have improved the episode a little bit.
The poor character development didn’t end with just Grimes, either. 24: Legacy attempted to develop Kathryn Prescott’s terrorist-in-waiting Amira a bit more, but again it didn’t do much here. The last couple of episodes have attempted to show she’s somewhat reluctant to follow through on the terrorist’s plans, but this also conflicts with her characterization in the very first episodes of Legacy. It’s as if the show is attempting to dial back her commitment to the larger plan with too little to go on.
The pace of the episode didn’t help matters, either. This episode trudged on with very little story movement on all fronts, from the unexpected arrival of Amira’s father to Donovan Sr.’s interrogation to the unrealized potential of Carter’s deal with Gabriel. The episode only really picked up in the final couple minutes as CTU stormed Gabriel’s compound and Carter did some quick thinking to retrieve Gabriel’s information. The fact that Amira and her brother have received the code to enact their attack, despite Khalid’s wish otherwise, adds some tension for the next episodes going forward.
24: Legacy’s quality has dipped as of late and ‘4:00 PM – 5:00 PM’ unfortunately continued that trend. Its inconsistent pacing and poor character development, as well as lack of story momentum, has been hindered the show, but hopefully it will improve now that Amira is finally connected with the main story.
Rating: 4/10
Ricky Church
Originally published February 28, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
