Legends

"Legends" is about acting. Not the work the actors do in playing their roles in this original show by TNT. The acting that the main character (Martin Odom portrayed by Sean Bean) does in the commission of his job. He works undercover for the FBI's Division of Covert Operations (DCO), a division that specializes in domestic or foreign terrorism. Martin's particular talent is his ability to convincingly assume a false identity (a legend) in undercover work. Viewers who enjoy watching his talent are the main audience for this show.

Martin's personality is suited to this work. When he becomes someone else, he immerses himself totally, to the point that the line between reality and fantasy is blurred. In the first episode, we see him become Lincoln Dittman, a stuttering malcontent who joins a domestic terrorist group because he is disillusioned with the American Dream.

The hazards he faces are physical and psychic. His personal life suffers because of the time demands of the job and because he struggles with reintegrating himself into his real life, where he has a young son, Aiden, and an ex-wife, Sonya (Amber Valletta).

The woman who overseers his operations is Crystal Quest (Ali Larter). She doesn't trust Martin's psychological stability, but her boss Nelson Gates (Steve Harris) values Martin's abilities. Crystal gets drawn into the operations sometimes. She is cool under pressure. Maggie Harris (Tina Majorino) is the computer expert in the office who solves all of the digital problems.

As Martin juggles the dark world of shadow operations and his personal life responsibilities, he follows a longer story arc: who is he? A mysterious man contacted him and alleged that "Martin Odom" is just another legend--just before he was stabbed to death on a subway platform, dying in Martin's arms. Who was the woman that wielded the blade? What can Martin learn from the book that the man gave him with his dying breaths?

It is too early to tell if "Legends" can remain interesting as Martin infiltrates one organization after another. But Sean Bean has a remarkable ability to play the damaged protagonist.

Update 9/4/14: After watching 4 episodes, I am upgrading my rating to 8. This drama is engaging. The acting is good.

I thought this show was really well written and cast with great plots. I have seen two episodes now and was very impressed. The show really keeps you on the edge of your seat with thrills and twists. Sean Bean gives an excellent performance with his stutter and his accents. You would never believe he was a Yorkshire man, he shines in this show. I have seen him in many roles from Game of Thrones, Sharpe, Lord of the Rings and many more and this is definitely his best most talented acting performance. He should get more gritty roles like this one. It was nice to see some of the Big Love cast in Legends too who are very talented. I really hope they do a second season as this is a great series.

I'm not going to over analyse this. It's a decent show, second season is a very different format to the first but just as enjoyable perhaps more so as it's a bit less 'American'. It follows through on the backstory of Martin Odum.

Worth watching, it's not Breaking Bad but much better than some of the rubbish being produced these days.

Now I'm just having to add more words for the review to be accepted. What more do I need to say - isn't this a ridiculous policy. I'm not a wannabe TV critic I just wanted to let people know that this show is worth watching. Ten lines of text - seriously? Almost there now not much more to type...

Fan favorite Sean Bean is back on the small screen in the latest TNT series, Legends. The series, based on the novel by Robert Littell, follows a deep cover agent embedded in dangerous situations, working in the interest of national security.

Through the course of the episode, the audience follows Bean's character through his undercover work and discovers the struggles he faces in his home life. All of this pales in comparison to the greater story when Bean's character is confronted and told he is not who he thinks he is; the life he believes is his is just a legend - a fictional character history created for the purpose of undercover operations.

The concept is intriguing and the pilot episode is well balanced. Although, more action sequences would have been welcome. The supporting cast, which includes Ali Larter, Steve Harris and Tina Majorino, among others, is impressive. Bean's acting prowess is the real reason to tune it. One scene in particular has Bean shifting into a different character in front of the other characters and the transformation is a highlight of the episode.

If the rest of the series follows the formula of the pilot episode, audiences can expect a new threat every week, as well as an opportunity for Bean's acting skills to shine as he transforms into a new character every week.

While the forum section will have you believe this is the 2nd coming of the Dexter finale, it's not.

While not the most original show, it has its good parts. Sure the characters aren't really that interesting. I mean most people I assume gave this a chance and caught their eye mostly because of Sean Bean. The tech geek is a direct copy of the one in Arrow, and that's pretty lazy, but it's passable as I really only care about Mr.Bean's character really.

The writers could have done a better job with the characters but they are all passable and Bean fills up the void left by them.

The story seems pretty good. I didn't really feel it is that far-fetched or insulting to people's intelligence ( like The Strain or The Following ).

In the end you'll have to see for yourself. I was immediately hooked after the pilot and I can't say the show has gotten worse or better. Every new episode we find out new things in this ongoing madness of the life of the protagonist. So I guess that could qualify as a "gotten better". First 1-2 episodes are more like "House M.D." style with the plot slowly being introduced to us and now it's mostly about that besides the fbi cases.

I would say atm, it's a solid 7.5-8. People giving it 6 and stuff like that clearly are over exaggerating since there are a lot of worse, way worse shows, with worse acting, worse plots, worse actors, worse production quality.