HAVING SURVIVED two attempts on his life, David Palmer appears on his way to becoming the United States' first African-American president, even though his marriage is toast. Counterterrorism Agent Jack Bauer is alive and well, too, though his wife just got iced and his ex-lover turns out to have been working for the other side. The Croatian bad guys have been killed off, but somehow, some way, Germany's involved.

So ended the "longest day" of Agent Bauer's life, as portrayed in 24, 24 one-hour TV shows adhering to the wonderful conceit of a real-time telling of a Byzantine web of plots and subplots over the course of one day, from midnight to midnight. Its ratings weren't great, but the edgy show's recently concluded first season - with its on-screen clock ticking off the minutes and its multiple frames tracking concurrently unfolding events - provided some taut, breakthrough storytelling for TV.

Critics note that all the twists in the series' many story lines didn't always quite hang together. But that only made 24 a good fit with those untidy times.

Even though the show's first episodes were written long before Sept. 11, 24's appeal was that its layers of political and personal threats from unknown perpetrators ended up in synch with our undefined fears since last fall.

Let's hope that when the show resumes next fall, we will find its paranoia merely entertaining.