24: Legacy’s Finale – “11:00 PM – 12:00 PM” Plot Summary:
Eric (Corey Hawkins) must rescue Ara Naseri (Seanna Pereira) and trade her for Rebecca (Miranda Otto) before it’s too late.
After a foregone conclusion last week, Eric and Tony (Carlos Bernard) finally clash. And it’s pretty cool while it lasts. The fight isn’t the most brutal throwdown, by any means, but it’s appropriately physical. Still, one can’t help but feel that Tony could have been utilized more this season. He didn’t show up until halfway through and he stood on the sidelines for several episodes. However, I am thankful that Legacy doesn’t wreck his character anymore than Day 7 of the original 24 did.
Similarly, Legacy doesn’t ruin 24. That’s obviously not the most glowing endorsement, but it’s about as much as I had hoped for. I didn’t expect Legacy to add anything to the franchise, and it doesn’t. Legacy has borrowed heavily from its predecessor since the first episode. Staging a rescue, for example, is nothing new. It would’ve worked better though if Legacy hadn’t used the plot line four times (five, if you count the guard’s girlfriend) in the second half of the season. What were the writers thinking?
24 finales virtually always end tragically. Rebecca’s death might shock anyone new to 24, but like the bridge explosion earlier in the season, it’s all par for the course. Jimmy Smits and Gerald McRaney’s performances had me sympathizing with John and Henry, and I do like how the flatline beep persists through the Silent Clock, but I can’t help but feel this whole scenario is a copy of the Live Another Day finale. The music is the same and there’s a time jump too. I suppose it was either death or prison for Rebecca, but I’m sad to see her go.
Eric’s storyline ends on a better note, with Nicole (Anna Diop) deciding to stay with him as he goes to work for CTU. Had Nicole left him, Eric would be Jack Bauer Lite. As much as I like Eric’s tenacity, the finale doesn’t provide him with the breakout moment his character needs. In the first 12 episodes of the original 24, Jack shoots his boss with a tranquilizer gun and blackmails him (similar to Rebecca and her taser), hides a note in a suspect’s mouth, and threatens a guy with a towel. And I’m leaving things out. The only thing that came close to that for Eric was his break-in to the police’s evidence lockers. Unfortunately, that ended rather anticlimactically.
What might happen on 24: Legacy next season is anyone’s guess. Fox might not give it a second season. Jimmy Smits could get his chance to actually lead as President, something he never got to do on The West Wing. I highly doubt we’ll see Jack, since Kiefer Sutherland himself is in the White House on Designated Survivor, which is, in my opinion, a better successor to 24. But if we do get more 24, I’ll be there to watch it.
