5:00 PM - 6:00 PM

24 has never been a series grounded in realism or rock-solid logic, and I wasn't truly expecting 24: Legacy to be any different. Still, this week's installment seemed to strain credibility with the sheer number of unexplained (and unexplainable?) things needed to grease the plot.

How, after stealing top secret information from CTU, was Eric Carter not immediately taken into custody after the raid on Gabriel's place? (Never mind ending up on the team raiding Jadalla's place?)

Or was it Jadalla's place? I have so much confusion surrounding this raid and the terrorists' escape. With mere seconds of warning, they were able to slip away without being observed? Because of some tree cover or something? (How far do the trees go? Why wasn't a "satellite retasked" -- to use 24 lingo -- to monitor the location overhead until the team could get there?) Was that compound even the right place? I don't think I ever saw Carter or the CTU team standing in the big room where we saw all of Jadalla's men hanging out these last few hours, so did they bait-and-switch us or something?

Did I miss some explanation of how Jadalla's goons located Nicole and Isaac? I mean, that made no sense at all.

I suppose the question is, did all of this implausible nonsense at least serve to bring us fun stuff? Sort of, I guess. We've wrapped up the story line of Amira the Reluctant Terrorist, which felt stretched thin weeks ago and became positively silly when her father entered the mix. They at least sent her out with a bang (ha!), with an attack on the George Washington Bridge. But even in that there seemed like a missed opportunity. Why did they go to all the trouble explaining the volatility of the explosives, about how the contact could detonate them, if that wasn't going to be a thing. Why not supplement the pro-Muslim PSA with an anti-cell phone PSA and a testament to a father's love? Dad calls Amira to talk her down, and she listens to him... but then gets distracted and crashes the truck anyway. Boom!

I so want 24 to be bigger than just Kiefer Sutherland, because I think the real time gimmick is still great even after all these years. Unfortunately, all the other gimmicks 24 routinely traffics in haven't exactly been swapped out along with the old characters.

We're halfway through the season now, and my interest is slipping quickly. Having come this far, I might be in it to the finish at this point. Still, I'm hoping things pick up considerably here in the back half. I give this episode a C.