24 Legacy

As I have written reviews for the other 24 seasons here are a few thoughts on the new one.  As always, there are spoilers below so please watch the series first:

24 Legacy uses the same format (a real time thriller) and much of the same creative team.  Howard Gordon , Manny Coto, and Evan Katz were the main writers and executive producers.  Jon Cassar, who directed many of 24’s best episodes also directed several episodes of the new season.  Stephen Hopkins, who set the tone for the series as lead director in the first season and then left (Cassar took over for Seasons 2-7 and then Live Another Day), returned and directed several episodes, including the opening episode and the finale.  Hopkins’ staging was very welcome as his episodes contain the most suspenseful scenes.  Sean Callery returned as the composer and came up with some new themes but also borrowed a little from the old vault.  Overall the series largely benefited from the old team though many old tropes were used.

As in Live Another Day, Legacy was 12 episodes told in real time throughout with a 12 hour jump in the last act after the death of a crucial female character.

The biggest change of course was the absence of Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer.  I was not sure that I would want to see 24 without Jack but with the same creative team I wanted to give the show a chance.

Corey Hawkins was very solid as the new hero Eric Carter.  Carter was younger and had fought his way into a respectable life from the streets.  As a former solider Carter is extremely capable and more athletic than Jack (I particularly like a move he did to free himself from a chair), though far less ruthless. 

The main plot was more than a bit reminiscent of Season 1, with Carter and his team targeted by survivors of a raid that killed a key terrorist and the terrorist turns out to be alive in the last few episodes.   As in Season 1, Eric’s family (in this case his wife and brother) is affected.

Miranda Otto’s Rebecca Donovan, was the most interesting new character as a former CTU head confronting an old mission and trying and failing to be a political spouse.  The character was very believable as a veteran agent old enough to understand the dynamics of her job but young enough to still look toward the future.  Rebecca shared some traits with the fascinating character she played in the fifth season of Homeland, also executive produced by Howard Gordon.

Jimmy Smits showed humanity as John Donovan but I never believed this character as a politician as he was ruffled too easily.  Gerald McRaney was fine as his conflicted father but the two never seemed remotely like father and son, perhaps because they look so different.  Additionally McRaney is only a few years older than Smits and it might have worked better if he had been an adopted older brother.  Some of McRaney’s dialogue was a little too on the nose.  Both have done far better work in other series (Smits in NYPD Blue, McRaney in House of Cards).

There was a nice callback to Season 1 in which John briefly suspected his campaign manager, Nilaa, played by Sheila Vand, as Jack suspected the similarly named Nina Myers in Season 1 (which much later tragically turned out to be correct).   

The best villain was Naseri, played by Oded Fehr.  He had far more menace than Eli Danker or Raphael Acloque as the two Bin Kallids, neither of whom seemed very memorable.

Dan Bucatinsky as the CTU tech Andy was a notable new character, a decent man who found his courage particularly when he agreed to turn himself into Bin Kallid’s son. 

Carlos Bernard returned as fan favorite, Tony Almeida, the only character from previous seasons to appear, who is now as a mercenary for hire.  Tony was last shown in a short scene in the Live Another Day Blu Ray being given an escape route from prison after being sent there at the end of Season 7.  Bernard has plenty of presence but his role and screen time is limited.  The backstory, that Tony was involved with Rebecca after Michelle’s death, makes little sense as Tony began to work with a group of crooks, led by a fellow named Emerson, at that time and the general public did not know he was alive.  If Rebecca was working with them as well it should have been clarified.  Otherwise it is a plot hole.  The fight in the finale between Tony and Eric is well choreographed and brutal.

Interestingly, Tony has an accomplice named Sidra, played by Moran Atias who played a Lady MacBeth/Sherry Palmer type character in Tyrant, a story about a fictional Middle Eastern dictator told from the point of view of the ruling family.  She was the best character in that show but had very little to do or say here.  She is wounded in the thigh in the finale and yet holds Eric at gunpoint standing up with no apparent extra effort moments later.

The subplot with Eric’s wife and brother, Nicole, played by Anna Diop, and Isaac, played by Ashley Thomas,  was the kind of filler 24 does not need in its current 12 hour format.   It started off ok when Eric took Nicole to hide her with Isaac’s crew but as it turned to a potential romance I groaned each time they came on screen.  I could not believe that a character as strong as Nicole would be attracted to a drug dealer, whatever their past connections.  I enjoyed seeing Isaac more as a character dealing with his own dynamics than fighting his feelings for his brother’s wife.  The use of the Jack/Audrey romantic theme during one of their scenes felt very inappropriate to this 24 fan.

The subplot with the high school students was ok.  Yamira’s conflict and eventual turn to the dark side, in large part because she was trapped by her decisions, made it bearable.  24 usually has some episodes in the first half of a season that have normal people’s lives gradually impacted by the main threat.

As the finale approached, I expected someone would die as 24 has killed off many main characters.  I surmised either  Nicole, John, or Rebecca, would die in order to break up one of the two main couples.  I also considered Nicole might leave Eric, as Audrey did (temporarily) at the end of Season 4.  I was sorry to see Rebecca go as if it were to return I would have liked to see more of her character. 

The final scene in which Nicole stays with Eric’s was surprising and a good indicator of their bond though if there are any future seasons I would suggest that Nicole be a CTU medic given her background, as a way to keep her in the main story.  The final shot of her seemed reminiscent of the last shot of The Godfather, in which Kay is shut out of a meeting with Michael, after a warm moment with him.

The scene in which John and his father speak in front of Rebecca’s body uses the same cue from Audrey’s funeral in Live Another Day.  The music, while appropriately mournful, reminded me that Audrey’s death was far more troubling.  Although Rebecca was a more prominent character in Legacy than Audrey was in Live Another Day, Rebecca’s death was an occupational hazard, whereas Audrey was an innocent person killed because of her former relationship with Jack. 

The main set pieces in the finale (the showdown between Eric and Tony, and the dynamics of the hostage trade  after the botched execution) were all inventively staged even if the latter contained elements from other seasons of 24 (Season 4 had a planned Internet execution of Heller and in Season 3 Jack threatens the villain’s daughter to get information out of him). 

In conclusion, I thought 24 Legacy was worth watching for its craftsmanship and for the interesting lead.  However I cannot say that I feel any strong desire for an additional season, though if there is one I may tune in, though perhaps more out of brand loyalty.  *** (out of five)

P.S. About an hour after I posted a story was released claiming that 24 Legacy will not be renewed.  I feel this is probably the right decision, however the story does indicate that Fox will look to revive 24 potentially with new characters in the future.  If that happens I will be happy to see what they come up but hope that it is built on the basis of a great idea rather than continuing the brand just for the sake of doing so.