We had to suffer through the zKevin plot because the writers underwrote the lead-in to the season. Really, all we needed to know was that "Dana Walsh" was a fake name for a small-time criminal turned computer expert, that she was engaged to Cole, who was completely deceived by her, and that someone very sophisticated had to help her fake her credentials to get the CTU job. Instead, they gave us a silly subplot to get us there.
So far, there have been very few high-level decisions that needed to be made. We haven't seen much of Cherry Jones or Bob Gunton. Instead, it's been a basic chase, similar to season 3 and the first part of season 4. Let's see where it goes.
When this is over, maybe Jack can go work for Google to get back at the evil Chinese.