This February, Fox debuted its new show “24: Legacy.” The new action drama is a reboot of the long running show “24,” which starred Kiefer Sutherland as CTU (Counter Terrorist Unit) agent Jack Bauer. However, this time around, Bauer isn’t our hero running around on no sleep thwarting terrorist attacks. “Legacy” has a new star in Corey Hawkins as Eric Carter, a former Army Ranger who is in for quite an eventful 24 hours. For better or worse, the “24: Legacy” show-runners stick to the formula that made the original drama so successful while simultaneously sending its audience mixed signals of the show’s cultural views. “24: Legacy” revolves around events that took place before the beginning of the show. A special operation led to the successful termination of renowned terrorist Sheik Ibrahim Bin-Khalid. Six special Army Rangers, including Agent Carter, manned the covert operation and were given new identities after the mission was complete. However, it wasn’t enough as Bin-Khalid’s people were able to locate the rangers. They are attempting to locate a strongbox that belonged to Bin-Khalid – which was taken after the raid – and four of the six rangers are killed in the process. The strongbox is in the hands of Ben Grimes, one of the two remaining Army Rangers, and contains a drive that grants access to all the active nuclear suitcases in the country. After narrowly escaping Bin-Khalid’s people, who are working with Bin-Khalid’s son, Jadalla, Carter must track down the disturbed Grimes before the drive gets in the wrong hands.
In regards to the plot of the show, much of it is the same from the original run of “24.” It features a man who has a troubled past and faces trouble adjusting to ordinary life in Carter (Bauer), a seemingly honorable politician running for president in Jimmy Smit’s John Donovan (David Palmer) and a bunch of bad dudes trying to plan an attack on American soil (every season of “24”). With that being said, “Legacy” still offers all the pulse-pounding action of the original run without too much predictability seething through the script. “Legacy” wastes no time in jumping right into the action, while offering unexpected twists and turns that even veterans of the show won’t see coming.
One aspect that always made “24” innovative was its ability to take global issues of terrorism and relate them to the plots of their show. Even the plot of “24: Legacy” appears to be modeled after the consequences of Operation Neptune Spear, which lead to the death of Osama Bin Laden. Timeliness also aided the original run, as the show about fighting terrorism debuted just months after 9/11. However, timeliness seems to be the enemy of “24: Legacy.” “24” has always had a wide variety of villains with different nationalities including Russians, Brits and even African warlords. “24” has also had radical Islamic terrorists pose has the main threats in previous seasons, and it seems to be heading in that direction once again. It’s unfortunate that the show is again playing on Islamic stereotypes in a unique time in our country, where citizens of seven Muslim-dominated countries were briefly banned from entering the United States.
With that being said, “24: Legacy” also appears to show progression with our rapidly changing views on cultural stereotypes. For one, the original run never really had a dominating female lead. Sure, there were characters like Chloe O’Brien and Audrey Reins, but their sole purpose was to aide Bauer. They rarely took action in events that weren’t involved with furthering Bauer’s character progression. However, in “24: Legacy,” former CTU director Rebecca Ingram (Miranda Otto) serves as a formidable female lead in the early stages of the show. It’s revealed that Ingram led the operation that led to the death of Bin-Khalid and is given a medal of honor for her actions. The show also features CTU analyst Andy Shalowitz (Dan Bucatinisky) who is an openly gay character who doesn’t embrace any stereotypes. Also, while a little obvious, it helps Legacy’s case that the lead of the show is African-American.
While a little too familiar and close to the original formula, “24: Legacy” still offers audiences who loved the original show a fun ride that’s easy to get back into. The show unfortunately also gives its audience a sense of mixed cultural views and doesn’t give a strong stance on where it stands in today’s issues and turmoil. Even though the premise of the show is based on harmful Islamic stereotypes, it still offers a spotlight for minorities that wouldn’t have seen the light of day in the original “24.”