The 24 Handy Diagrams are designed to be as user-friendly as possible. However, the plots of 24 are designed to be as convoluted as possible. This means that you may still have trouble understanding the finer intricacies of the diagrams. This feature will help you read the Handy Diagrams successfully.
The first thing to notice about the Handy Diagrams is the Key.
Every character, thing and action on a Handy Diagram is marked in a colour. The Key tells you what these colours mean. Note that, due to the nature of 24, it is sometimes impossible to tell for certain which category a character falls into. I have used my best judgement in these cases. Also, anything that is neutral is marked in yellow. (There is some room for argment here about what is neutral and what isn't. For instance, is a vehicle used by terrorists neutral, or evil? What about a terrorist's pet? What if it attacks a good character? In these instances, I have used No Consistent System. You'll just have to live with it.)
Following the action in the Diagrams should be simple. You just read the character's name, then the follow the arrow leading off them, reading the action marked on it, then the name of the character it points to. For example:
"Jack Bauer eats a sandwich."
Of course, not all the events in 24 are quite so simple. Often, an event will include three or more items. This may mean arrows with extra arrows branching off them. In these cases, you read straight across the arrow first, and then read the branch. An example:
"Jack Bauer eats a sandwich then drinks a glass of milk then goes to bed."
Congratulations! You can now read the Handy Diagrams like a professional. Or something to that effect.