David Farnor | On 29, Mar 2017

Warning: This contains spoilers for Episode 3. Catch up with our spoiler-free review of Episode 1 here.

Eric convinces Mullins to include him in the tactical team until they can defeat the jihadists. CTU recovers Jadalla’s address from the laptop. However, footage of the shootout leaks to the press, alerting Jadalla, who evacuates the facility before CTU arrives. Harris arrives with his compound, which Khasan uses to complete the explosives. In an attempt to free himself and Amira, Harris shoots Khasan; but she kills Harris. Before dying, Khasan asks her to complete the mission. She drives the truck toward the George Washington Bridge. Mikail, her father, frees himself and alerts the police. Mullins has a highway patrol officer shoot Amira and stop the truck. However, she detonates the bombs, killing at least 100 civilians. Meanwhile, Eric sends a CTU team to acquire Nicole; but the jihadists attack, abducting her and Isaac. Jadalla calls Eric and demands that he bring a technician who can fix the drive, threatening to kill the duo.

You know it’s a good season of 24 when almost half of the characters have disappeared by the halfway point. Yes, six episodes into 24: Legacy and the show continues to dispose of its minor players at a ruthless, relentless pace – just enough to keep things unpredictable.

That’s bad news for poor Eric (Corey Hawkins), though, as he has to see his best friend die, his wife kidnapped and a whole bunch of other bodies pile up in front of him. Episode 6 adds another explosive surprise to the mix. But before we get to that, the shock of Ben’s death is still ringing in our ears, as Eric kneels over his comrade, defending him from Locke slagging him off. “Yes, I’m pinning my hopes on my degenerate friend’s word,” he snaps – and Hawkins, credit where’s it’s due, spits it out with just enough conviction to sell the emotion of the whole ordeal. Did we mention already how good a choice he was to replace the similarly intense Kiefer?

Of course, Eric’s hopes pay off, as they recover some data from Gabriel’s computer that gives them the possible address of Jadalla and his cronies. And, of course, Mullins agrees to let Eric continue on with CTU and travel to the home – again, without someone as likeable as Hawkins asking to be given the green light, we’d be really sighing at Mullins’ operational decisions. But (wouldn’t you know it?) by the time they near the hideout, the news has already got out about their shootout at the warehouse, giving the terrorists enough warning to escape – the perils of the connected world, eh? Eric throws a tantrum (Hawkins really does get a chance to show his range of moods, all within the space of 10 minutes), and has a go at CTU for the whole mess.

Meanwhile, over in the terrorist cell they know nothing about, Amira and Khasan are getting ready to carry out their mission. Their dad tries to persuade Amira not to go through with it, but Khasan convinces her to continue – and so she welcomes back Mr. Harris, the world’s worst teacher (understatement), who brings with him the chemicals they need for their bomb. But before you can be annoyed with the writers for bringing Harris back, they dispatch him without a second thought: a last-ditched attempt to get out of it sees him shoot Khasan and an enraged Amira stab her teacher in the back. Khasan begs his sister to finish the mission, but we don’t notice, because we’re too busy celebrating the demise of one of the worst subplots in 24’s history.

Speaking of wrapping up subplots, John and Nilaa may well be heading for the exit too: with his dad still denying all accusations, John apologies to his campaign manager for doubting her loyalty, then asks her to set up a meeting with the head of the party so he can officially withdraw from the presidential race. Never let it be said that 24 doesn’t pack a lot into its 60 minutes.

Speaking of which, Amira leaps into a van with the explosives and drives off, leaving her father behind. But, after suddenly remembering that he’s able to escape from his bonds (despite not being able to do so for at least an hour), he gets on the phone to the cops and tells them his daughter is out terrorising. CTU get right on it, tracking her truck to the George Washington Bridge in New York City. In a rather fantastic touch, instead of flying in CTU ops, or Hawkins, to save the day, they phone up a local police officer who’s nearby – a nice tribute to the importance of everyday police in these kinds of scenarios. And so he stands up to Amira and her van, pulling a gun and shooting at the windscreen. Amira spins out of control and he opens the door to find her unconscious. But, just like the end of Scream, Amira’s not dead, and she manages to press the button on her detonator, exploding the van, not to mention the officer and most of the bridge. It’s a really shocking moment, one that sends CTU into silence – it’s not often that bad guys actually explode something on this show. And it’s even rarer that we actually sympathise with the man caught in its blast. (His last act was clearing the bridge of other pedestrians.)

Meanwhile, Eric’s a little bit worries that Nicole might not be safe, after a phone call in which she fails to pretend that everything’s fine. And so he does the rational thing and asks CTU to pick her up – because why bother with things like national security, when Eric’s a little bit jealous? Naturally, the whole idea goes awry, as the CTU agents are ambushed and Nicole ends up abducted (along with Isaac, who takes a bullet for her) by some mysterious men in a van. The man behind it? Yes, it’s Jadalla. It’s a promising cliffhanger for the season’s midpoint, as the writers race to bring together their various subplots into one coherent narrative. That is, until Jadalla phones Eric and threatens to kill Nicole unless he sends someone who can fix that broken flash drive for him. Taking hostages for tech support? There’s unpredictable, 24, and then there’s just plain unbelievable. At the rate this season is going, though, Jadalla may not be around much longer to worry about it.
 

24: Legacy is available to buy and download as a box set on pay-per-view VOD.

 

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