Legends - Chemistry - Advance Preview

The second episode of the new TNT series Legends, starring Sean Bean, returns on Wednesday with a new FBI case that looks to have stronger legs than the one we saw last week. While last week’s premiere succeeded in introducing us to Bean’s character, deep cover operative Martin Odum, his coworkers, ex-wife and son, as well as introducing the show’s hook - that Odum may not be who he thinks he is and his true identity may be part of a conspiracy plot, the domestic terrorism subplot was a bit weak for a pilot.

If you finished the episode wanting more, this week’s story around a Russian chemist kidnapped by the Chechen mob may be more to your liking. For starters, the case has layers. While it starts off feeling like any of a number of cases you might see on crime shows you find surfing through stations, the action and tension gradually increase as the case deepens.

But more importantly, we see a more integrated team effort in the case. This gives us the opportunity to witness more one-on-one interaction between Odum and the various team members, which helps to round out their characters, along with Odum’s, and to give us a chance to slowly get to know them. I particularly enjoyed a heartfelt discussion between Yates and Odum around Odum’s mental stability and the nagging questions around Odum’s identity that the interaction with the hooded man left Odum with in the previous episode. It gave me a better sense of the dynamics of their relationship, and it was well played by the two seasoned actors.

We see more of Odum in the field and get to witness a more confident field operative that clearly earns the description from the pilot – that Odum might be the best chance that they have. Best of all, the episode concludes with the suggestion that we’ll soon witness Odum in a really fun-to-watch legend.

While there aren’t major new bombshells dropped around Odum’s identity storyline, it is pushed forward slightly, with new pieces of information coming to light and the introduction of a new character, played by Morris Chestnut, who seems to be on the path to complicate matters.

Legends, in its first season, airs on TNT on Wednesday nights.