Reviews

1. 

   Colette Mangan – 11/11/2018

   This reboot of the long running series “24” gets a lot of things right and does a strong job of ratcheting up the tension each episode. Unfortunately in the end the new version failed to resonate with viewers and “24 Legacy” was canceled after only one season.

   For many dedicated fans of the franchise the biggest obstacle would be the absence of Kiefer Sutherland as CTU agent Jack Bauer. This season our protagonist is former US Army Ranger Eric Carter (Corey Hawkins). Carter’s an African American young man who we learn has escaped from the gangster life along with his wife Nicole (Anna Diop) who is a nurse and the former girlfriend of Carter’s brother Isaac (Ashley Thomas) who was also the gang leader. It’s all a bit convoluted and this subplot is a distraction rather than providing anything very useful to the story. The ‘gansta’ stereotypes and clichés are kind of silly.

   Another sub plot involves the character Andy Shalowitz (Dan Bucatinsky) who is “Legacy’s” answer to the old “24” tech guru Chloe O’Brien. Turns out Andy is gay and was having a relationship with a CTU field agent Locke. There’s some tension between the two and the actor playing Locke (Bailey Chase) with his cheesy mustache looks like a refugee from 70’s porn movie. Nothing of consequence really happens between these two and their storyline feels like filler and just pandering to the LGBTQ community. Suffice it to say that Andy’s no Chloe although he does get out into the field once. For his troubles he gets an 8 inch hunting knife thrust into his quadriceps by a terrorist, literally taking one for the team, and manages to walk it off (in one of the more unrealistic moments) and complete his mission barely limping.

   When we meet Carter and his wife they’re comfortably living in suburban Arlington, VA having a typical day when their home is invaded by Middle Eastern terrorists searching for a missing box. Turns out Carter and his squad of Rangers took out some big time terrorist while on a mission in cooperation with CTU. Now we discover that everyone in the squad and their family have been tortured and killed in trying to find the missing “box”. Carter and his wife prevail and events begin to escalate on the same kind of high speed thrill ride that characterized the original series.

   Carter endures the nearly over the top pain and punishment that Jack Bauer used to. Carter is earnest and motivated but he lacks the ruthlessness and willingness to literally do anything to accomplish the mission which made Bauer so formidable.

   Rebecca Ingram (Miranda Otto) does strong work as the outgoing CTU director who we see winning the Congressional Medal of Freedom and preparing to help her Senator husband vie for the presidency. Senator Donovan (Jimmy Smits) has strong poll numbers and his wealthy father Henry (Gerald McRaney) is helping him secure financing. McRaney who formerly specialized in playing affable guys (now a long way from “Simon & Simon” and “Major Dad”) is playing the sort of sinister bad guy role he’s been doing these days. Otto is starting to make a career of playing powerful bureaucratic women, this role and her part on “Homeland” as a duplicitous CIA operative makes me wonder if she’s headed to “House of Cards” next? It was fun to see true “legacy” cast member Carlos Bernard returns as Tony Almeida for a few episodes.

   The pace is unrelenting and we are swept along to an action packed finish that delivers the goods. I for one was disappointed that “24 Legacy” was not renewed. All the elements from the original were in place but the show just couldn’t get enough traction with fans.

2. 

   Lisa Mayoh – 11/11/2018

   Watched the entire season in a matter of four days. Was a devoted 24 fan, having all of the seasons as well as all of the movies. Sure Eric Carter was no Jack Bauer but he was very effective in his own way. I would highly recommend this to any 24 fan I can guarantee they will love it. Like I said it is not Jack Bauer but it is still full of action in every episode with lots of twists and turns. The only thing I wasn’t pleased with with this series was that it was canceled after only one season. I really can’t understand why at all. I would watch this just as easily as I would watch the original 24. There are even some tie in people to the original series which makes it transact nicely. Can easily say that this was far better then the way they ended the original 24 series in the movie with Jack getting on a helicopter to go to Russia to pay for his crimes. Very lame way to end what I would consider to be one of the best series that ever hit television. 24: Legacy could have easily risen to this level if people would have given it a legitimate chance.

3. 

   Don Dixon – 11/11/2018

   I’m a die-hard 24 fan and was initially leery of this season, but I was pleasantly surprised to find I really enjoyed it. No, Jack is gone, but the new characters were engaging and I was drawn in to the story. I prefer the 24 episode model, and I’m disappointed they cancelled it after this season, but I still recommend it.