’24: Live Another Day’ Review: “3:00 P.M. — 4:00 P.M.”

As '24: Live Another Day' sprints into its fifth hour, can the resurrected Jack Bauer Power Hour keep up the pace? As the season nears the halfway point, Jack is cornered, the bad guys are winning and things are generally kind of awful for everyone. But is it all still entertaining? Read on for our full recap and review.

THE EPISODE:

The Marines search Jack as the commander dresses Kate down for getting in his way. The soldiers can't find the flight key on Jack, and Kate won't help them either. Jack lashes out at his captors, giving Kate enough of a distraction to get away.

Outside, Kate tells Chloe she has the flight data. She gets in her car with Eric, plugs it in her laptop and uploads the rest of it with Chloe's help.

Back at the terrorist compound, Margot meets with a clearly traumatized Simone. She tells her daughter that she should have acted against Naveed sooner and asks for her forgiveness. She goes downstairs and angrily confronts Naveed for forcing her to mutilate Simone. But, things are going according to plan: they'll have control of the drones in five minutes.

At Open Cell HQ, Chloe and Cross sort through the flight data. Cross finds an override hidden in the data and realizes it's proof that Tanner's drone was overridden. It's the proof they need. Chloe forwards it to Kate. Kate then forwards it to Navarro and Gordon immediately realizes what it is. Navarro, now convinced, calls President Heller. Navarro fills Heller, Mark and Audrey in on everything he's learned and puts Kate on the line, who tells them they need to take immediate action or people will die. Heller orders his general to recall all of their drones.

Margot, Ian and Naveed realize what's happening just in time. On Margot's orders, Naveed takes control of as many drones as possible before they lose their chance.

Meanwhile, the general, Heller and the rest of the staff watch as six drones are hijacked and they can do nothing to stop it. The drones are invisible to radar, carry a payload that can kill tens of thousands of people and appear to be heading toward London. It's all very bad. Heller demands to talk to Jack and Mark says he's already being brought there. In the meantime, Heller says they need to warn the British.

Audrey and Mark meet in the hallway and he admits that he let his personal feelings about Jack cloud his judgment. Audrey is understanding and says that her father needs him more than ever.

At the CIA station, Navarro fills in his team about Margot and they get to work tracking her down. He pulls Kate aside and tells her that the Marine commander has filed a complaint against her and she's being taken off the roster. He doesn't want to do it, but his hands are tied. However, he says that if she was working to redeem herself for the actions of her husband, she succeeded. Gordon enters and tells them that need to see something.

A video from Margot has appeared online. She says that the drone strike that killed her husband also killed innocent children. Unless Heller surrenders himself to her, thousands of people will die in London.

At Open Cell, Cross and his people prepare to get out of the city. Chloe wants to do more to help but Cross doesn't want to get more involved. He reminds Chloe of what the government did to her and says he won't risk everything he's built.

Heller meets with his team, furious that no one told him the drone strike on Margot's husband killed innocents. Mark says they kept it in the dark to keep the drone program alive and Heller is angry that they wouldn't trust him with that information. He tells Mark that they've given Margot a moral victory -- everyone will blame the United States if her attacks happen.

Heller meets with Jack, alone. They both share an exposition dump before the President asks Jack if he knows anything else. Jack says he knows an arms dealer who works with Margot, but he won't break if captured. The only way to get anything out of him is by stealth and Jack can do it if he's put back in the field. Heller is reluctant, even after Jack promises to turn himself in when this is all over. Jack refuses to give Heller the name of the arms dealer unless he leads the mission.

At Margot's compound, Naveed visits Simone and examines her wounds. He tells her that he made Margot's video traceable and that people will soon track them down. He says he's rigged evidence that will make Simone appear innocent, a victim who was forced to cooperate.

Meanwhile, Gordon has traced the source of the video and Navarro assembles a strike team. He'll lead the charge personally.

Audrey meets with Jack and the two of them see each other for the first time since season five. After some tension, she fills him in on what's going with with Margot. She breaks down, saying she doesn't even know where to begin. Jack gets in close and asks her if she's happy. Audrey says she should have defended him more. Jack apologizes for everything and says she should go.

Heller fills the Prime Minster in on everything and he's justifiably angry, especially for supporting the drone program. Heller invites him to come watch Navarro's raid via a live feed.

As Navarro and his mean drive to the estate, Gordon warns Kate that their boss is going to take credit for her work. Kate thinks everything seems too easy and convenient, so she calls Chloe and asks her to help. Chloe asks for access to the CIA network and gets to work looking at the code from Margot's video.

At the estate, Margot confronts Naveed about tampering with the video. It turns out that they caught it before it went out and changed the location. The CIA team is heading to the wrong place. Naveed asks Margot to not hurt Simone and reminds her that he's the only one who can pilot the drones. Margot says that Ian is a fast learner and has one of her men beat him to a pulp. Margot asks Ian to make sure none of the Americans leave the other house alive.

Cross begs Chloe to leave with the rest of Open Cell, but Chloe still wants to help Kate. Cross feels betrayed, but he tells her he loves her and lets her stay behind to keep working.

Navarro's team arrives at the wrong house. As everyone watches them from a live feed, they begin a room-by-room search. The entire place is empty.

Chloe calls Kate and warns her that someone has tampered with the code and inserted a different address. Kate tries to warn Navarro, but it's too late: the drone is here. It fires two missiles at the house and the entire place vanishes in a fireball, with Navarro and Eric presumably dead.

In the basement of the actual terrorist estate, Margot prepares to execute Naveed. He begs Simone to intervene, but she remains silent. Margot raises her pistol and shoots him in the head.

OUR REVIEW:

Although last week's episode saw '24: Live Another Day' slow down for a more tense hour, this episode slowed down even more and the results are a little dull. There's almost no story momentum in "3:00 P.M. -- 4:00 P.M." and virtually every scene is characters updating each other on what everyone else is doing. Sure, it all ends with the apparent deaths of three major characters, but the fact that they all die while practically running around in circles is evidence that the show is treading water.

Should we be concerned? Wasn't the entire point of a 12-hour season to avoid rough, uneventful patches like this? The actors are all on point and the show is as handsomely produced as ever, but this feels like filler, an episode that screams for you to find something to do while you watch it.

However, there are still a handful of good moments. Chloe is now seemingly free of Open Cell. Margot's grand plan is finally moving forward. Jack and Audrey still have a romantic connection. Even though the hour itself isn't that impressive, the seeds for future events seem to have been planted.