“24: Legacy” was created by Joel Surnow, Robert Cochran, Manny Coto, and Evan Katz, and is executive produced by Robert Cochran, Manny Coto, Howard Gordon, Brian Grazer, Evan Katz, Jon Cassar, Nikki Toscano, Stephen Hopkins, and Kiefer Sutherland. The episode watched for review was written by Manny Coto and Evan Katz, and directed by Stephen Hopkins.
24: Legacy is a spin-off of 24, Fox’s popular, influential thriller series that ran for eight seasons (plus one reboot season in 2014) and over two-hundred episodes. The central conceit of the show is that it takes place in real time, with each season taking place over the course of one twenty-four hour day. Legacy will consist of 12 episodes, maintaining the original’s use of real time narration. It is a spin-off, rather than a re-boot, as the show focuses on new characters.
So how is it? This might be a good time to mention that I’ve seen none of the original series, and have only a second-hand familiarity with the show’s tone and tropes. The pilot concerns Eric Carter (Hawkins), a former Army Ranger who has just returned home after taking out a terrorist leader with his team. It seems, however, that the terrorist group they decapitated is targeting members of the team, looking for a box missing from their leader’s compound. What follows is fast-paced, intense, and occasionally quite violent. The real time conceit feels a bit wasted here. Despite the on-screen ticking clock that shows up before and after ad breaks, it never really feels like we’re actually watching in real time. The extremely propulsive hour is so packed with incident it feels more like an afternoon. The episode is at the very least engaging. Writers Coto and Katz keep throwing things in, such that the hour is continually surprising. With numerous reversals in the very first episode, it makes you wonder what they’ve still got up their sleeves. The actors all seem to be giving it their all as well. Ashley Thomas is a particular standout, doing a lot with a little.
All in all, this pilot was just okay. It’s certainly watchable and shows promise, but the writing and filmmaking did not distinguish themselves. Fans of the original series should be all means check it out, and judge it for themselves, however.
-Anthony Calamunci