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Fans of the original terrorism thriller “24” should eat up the TV reboot.
Right out of the gate, “24: Legacy” is full of pulse-racing action and nail-biting suspense, all delivered to viewers in that familiar real-time format.
Each of the 12 episodes consists of one hour in a life-and-death story that plays out over one day.
The new Fox drama will premiere over two days — in the coveted TV real estate after the Super Bowl, followed by a second hour at 7 p.m. Monday.
Also returning are the split screens that remind us of all the harrowing developments occurring at once, and that signature, heart-pounding “24” soundtrack that underlines how dire these situations are.
What is new is a central cast that’s more diverse than ever, aptly reflecting the different faces that make up the real U.S. population. An African American hero, a strong female intelligence boss and her gay right-hand man, not to mention a Latino presidential candidate, are just part of the multicultural ensemble.
In addition, the protagonist this time around isn’t a Counter Terrorism Unit officer — at least not yet — but instead someone San Antonio, aka Military City, certainly can relate to: a former Army Ranger who’s back from a top-secret mission in Yemen.
What is unsettling is how closely “24: Legacy” mirrors the unrest and chaos that envelop the country now.
The villains, as usual, are Middle Eastern terrorists who have set up killer cells in the United States — not exactly the Muslim image we need at this time, considering the president’s immigration order that prohibits citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering our country.
At the recent New York premiere of “24: Legacy,” executive producer Manny Coto recognized how closely the drama mirrors current events. “As the season progresses, we’ve been pretty prescient,” he told Variety. “It’d be nice if things were going well, but as the season ends, ‘24’ is actually reflecting and expanding on what’s going on.”
In short, if you want to put aside the worries of the world for an hour, watch something else.
That said, the new “24” is exciting television with more than a few pluses to recommend it.
Kiefer Sutherland (an executive producer on the newcomer) and his character Jack Bauer have been replaced by Eric Carter, who is played by Corey Hawkins (“Straight Outta Compton”). The magnetic and athletic 28-year-old Hawkins said he initially was nervous to take on the hero role in such an iconic drama. However, he also felt honored, he said, because he didn’t grow up with patriots onscreen who “look like me.”
“The script happened to be amazing when I read it,” Hawkins told TV critics at a recent press session. “It lifted off the page, and then your mind just starts going with where you can take it and what it means in television to be a hero and look like I look.”
The fact that he Carter is African American also figures in some of the plot points, including an encounter with a police officer.
“The only pressure, as an actor, is to step into Eric Carter’s shoes and make him as fully and as complex and as flawed and as human as I could,” Hawkins said.
There certainly isn’t anything simple about Carter’s life. Six months after returning from Yemen, where he and his squad killed terrorist leader Sheik Ibrahim Bin-Khalid, he’s having a hard time readjusting to his day-to-day life with his doctor wife (Anna Diop). As she notes in the pilot, he isn’t eating or sleeping well and generally seems restless, unfocused.
As we soon learn, life for the couple is about to get much, much worse. After Bin-Khalid’s followers declare a fatwah against him, his squad and their families, they are forced into federal witness protection. But something happens that indicates there is a leak. Carter and his team have been exposed, and bloodshed ensues.
The story, Coto said, grew out of real events. The idea for the first season was inspired by the Navy SEALs who killed Osama Bin Laden.
“It was kind of extrapolated into a larger story,” he said. “We originally planned that for a general thriller. It wasn’t even ‘24.’ But the more we talked about it, the more it seemed like this is a great character and this is a great story that would fit into the real-time format.”
Terrorism has changed since the original “24” hit TV in 2001, Coto said: “The big fear was large-scale attacks and giant infrastructure, and it’s become, unfortunately, something more that can arise in your own neighborhood, the lone wolf attack. That’s something that the show is dramatizing this year and extrapolating on in the worst case scenario that ‘24’ usually does.”
Feeling vulnerable and intent on thwarting future attacks, Carter enlists the help of the national director of CTU, Rebecca Ingram (the marvelous Miranda Otto), who quarterbacked the Yemen raid. This happens at a highly inopportune time for her; she hopes to leave behind the intelligence world to support her husband, Sen. John Donovan (Jimmy Smits), in his campaign for U.S. president.
With the White House within their grasp, can Rebecca truly embrace a new role as first lady? Or will her love of the action draw her back in?
She joins Carter in the uncovering of a sophisticated terrorist network that has them constantly on edge and wondering, “Who can we trust?”
Jeanne Jakle’s column appears Wednesdays and Sundays in mySA.
jjakle@express-news.net
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