‘4:00 PM – 5:00 PM’ Plot Summary:
Eric (Corey Hawkins) and Ben (Charlie Hofhemier) stage a meeting with an arms dealer who could lead them to the terrorists’ hideout and the sleeper cell codes.
Wow. This episode isn’t half bad.
It’s been a few weeks since I covered 24: Legacy. I wanted to give my brother an opportunity to review the new series since I hogged the 24 Retrospective all to myself. But I’ve been keeping up with Legacy. And our opinions are mostly the same when it comes to the show, so far.
Legacy is making us longtime fans be patient for the return of Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard), but I suppose you don’t want to reveal your whole hand at once. That isn’t the 24 way. In the meantime, things are heating up. The drive the terrorists have is damaged, because of course it is, which gives our heroes an opportunity to salvage the situation.
Eric’s loyalty to his brother-in-arms helps him strike a deal, but Ben dies anyway. Maybe I should have seen it coming, but I was focused on the twist of Eric’s refusal to kill Ben working in his favor. It’s a nice misdirect. I wasn’t particular big on Ben’s character, but you got to feel bad for Eric. I could have done without the one villain looking like Blofeld from James Bond. The raid of his compound is pretty cool though. And he apparently has ties to Starkwood, the villainous military contractor from Day 7. That’s a fun callback.
I should note, though Ben is more than likely dead, IMDb lists him as appearing in every episode this season.
Also this week, Jimmy Smits displays his acting chops when Henry (Gerald McRaney), denies everything that he told his son the hour before. You can sense the anger boiling in Donovan’s face. And then he snaps. No one’s going to get any acting awards for this show, but casting Jimmy Smits was a smart decision.
Even the Chechen storyline is good, with a nasty throwdown between father, son, and daughter. They get the activation code in the final minutes, as the result of some infighting at HQ. It’s connected to the main plot, finally.
The weak link continues to be the gang storyline. Why didn’t Eric send someone from CTU to pick up his wife hours ago? Seriously, it makes an otherwise intelligent character look really dumb. Nicole (Anna Diop) should not get involved in Isaac’s (Ashley Thomas) affairs. Just tell him everything you know about the coup and get out of there!
Also, where does all the hair go when Ben shaves his beard? Does he just leave it on the car floor? That’s gross. But I digress.
It’s still not must-see TV, but effective twists and the plot coming together make me hopeful that 24: Legacy will continue to improve in the coming weeks.
