After a massive improvement in quality in the previous episode, the fourth season of 24 gets back to the "very good, but not the way it should be" level of the opening hours. Of course, this still means the show is a lot of fun to watch, but a little more could have been done to avoid certain narrative dead ends.
In the aftermath of Jack's plan, which was handled poorly by the local authorities, he and Driscoll form a truce since it is now clear Jack was right from the beginning and should be given permission to find Heller with his methods. However, he has to hurry, given President Keeler is convinced bombing the facility used by the terrorists will solve everyone's problems, even if that means killing Heller and Audrey in the process. As for Heller, he is asked to confess to certain "crimes" on camera within an hour, otherwise he will be executed, and things heat up in the Araz family when Dina goes all the way with Debbie.
The whole situation of Jack having to come up with a plan before the military blows up the compound is a bit of a contrivance, but since it's Keeler who's President instead of Palmer, it was to be expected that he wouldn't cut Bauer any slack. The real weakness of this hour, however, is burdening Driscoll with a problematic daughter, as if the writers were saying: "This is our way of explaining why she's an occasional pain in the butt.". There's nothing wrong with humanizing unlikable supporting characters (it worked miracles for George Mason and Ryan Chappelle in Sesons 2 and 3), but this kind of development this early into Day 4 is a clear sign of lack of ideas. Still, the overall scenario makes for a damn fine hour of televised tension, and there's no denying Sutherland has truly found the role to crown his rich career, script inconsistencies or not.