The Buzz: Is 24: Legacy a worthy descendant?
What year are we in? Right now we are watching episodes of 24 and Celebrity Apprentice like it’s the early 2000s. I know we are all trying to desperately throw back to simpler times, but come on. 24: Legacy premiered on FOX last week and is so far delivering the high-octane antics provided by the original show. Read on for my review of its first three episodes and more stories below:
TV review: 24: Legacy first three episodes: “The following takes place between 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. Events occur in real time.” As someone who has never seen the original 24, my immediate reaction was dang, these guys are in for an action-packed day. It must suck to have go through a dramatic life or death cliffhanger every hour for a whole day. But the real-time storytelling makes for gripping drama, and so far, 24: Legacy has been consistently gripping in its first three episodes. It utilizes countdowns and split screens to create a realistic grittiness, and never wastes a second of air time in telling its stories.
Corey Hawkins has taken over Kiefer Sutherland’s mantle as the show’s lead. He plays Eric Carter, an ex-Army Ranger whose squad is targeted by a group of terrorists they fought against. He escapes with his wife Nicole (Anna Diop) in pursuit of the only other surviving ranger in his squad, who may have more information about what they are after. Meanwhile, Miranda Otto plays head of Counter Terrorism Unit Rebecca Ingram, who is working to track the mole who revealed the squad’s information to the public. There are a number of subplots that are slowly becoming more connected to the main narrative, such as a weird breakup at a high school and the plotting wife of a drug ring leader.
The show hits the ground running. Within the first 10 minutes we see the Carter household being attacked by members of the terrorist group, filmed with a handheld shaky camera that heightens the realism. 24: Legacy has great quality production for a television show; at times, action scenes in the pilot resembled film sequences. Hawkins, who played Dr. Dre in Straight Outta Compton, is a worthy replacement to Sutherland. There are a few hammy moments – characters love giving each other super specific countdowns until they can do a thing they need to do. If we all lived in the 24 universe, no one would ever be late to anything due to our obsession with being on time. Overall, there’s fun to be had in nearly every scene.
Some viewers may be wary of the show’s heavy political overtone, though. In its first three hours alone the show features a Muslim terrorist threat, a government agency with access to the privacy of citizens, a planned attack on a public high school and what seemed to be leading toward an unjustified violent arrest of a black man. That’s a lot of politics, which may prod sensitive wounds for some of the audience. At times it’s difficult to discern if the show is trying to make a statement, or is just actually prone to clichés.
The show premiered after last week’s Super Bowl (ironically it aired late, thanks to the overtime) and is set to consist of 12 episodes. The first episode drew 17.58 million viewers, the softest post-Bowl audience in 14 years; though it was also the only game that’s gone into overtime. New episodes air Mondays on FOX.
The New Celebrity Apprentice concluded its first season on Feb. 13. Hosted by Arnold Schwarzenegger (so that explains his Twitter feud with Trump), the show ended with an audience of 3.48 million viewers. Oh good, so I wasn’t the only one who had no idea it was going on. Matt Iseman, host of American Ninja Warrior, defeated Boy George in the season finale. Other contestants this season included Snooki from Jersey Shore, Carson Kressley, Ricky Williams from the NFL and Laila Ali. 2017!
Might as well reboot a fairly forgotten movie from 2003 while we’re at it. CBS is making 2003’s S.W.A.T. into a television show, because, remember it? The show will star Stephanie Sigman, who played a Bond girl in 2015’s Specter. Starring Samuel L. Jackson and Colin Farrell, the original movie followed a cop (Farrell) who joins a SWAT platoon after losing his badge. The pilot will follow a cop who is torn between loyalty to the streets and his duties to protect them. CBS is still looking for someone to fill the role of its lead lieutenant. The pilot will be directed by Justin Lin, who has previously worked on most of the Fast & Furious movies and Star Trek: Beyond.