SDCC 2014: 'Legends' Press Room
Maya Zach ’17 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer
Legends follows Martin Odum (Sean Bean), an agent for the FBI’s Deep Cover Operations (DCO) division, who is uniquely talented in transforming himself into people with distinctly different identities. Odum begins to question who he really is and where the boundary lies between him and his “legends.” As he tries to uncover his own identity, he must continue his work as an undercover operative for the FBI. Also working at DCO is Crystal McGuire (Ali Larter), an operative who has history with Martin; Tony Rice (Morris Chestnut), a cocky, wise field agent; rookie agent Maggie Harris (Tina Majorino); and the director of DCO that decided to bring Odum back into the field, Nelson Gates (Steve Harris). And on the family side, Martin has an ex-wife, Sonya (Amber Valletta), and son, Aiden (Mason Cook), who he wants to reconnect with.
What differentiates Legends from all of the other spy shows out there is that Odum steps into and out of the different identities, but they continue to exist. The legends that Odum creates are not throw-away “legend-of-the-week” chatacters, he returns to them when they are needed. Many have a longer life span than Sean Bean’s characters in other films and shows. And of course, the executive producers have no intent of killing off their main character, but they do find ways to kill Sean Bean. Odum’s legends die, when they get burned, he loses that identity; something that is incredibly painful for Odum, since each legend is a part of him. He will never have the opportunity to explore that person’s being, he will never see their (imaginary) families again.
The show prides itself on being very character-driven, not by the individual cases that Odum and the DCO face. Martin is trying to construct the idea of who he really is; he needs to understand where the legends end and he begins. He struggles to understand whether he himself is a legend or if Martin Odum is a real person. But Odum isn’t the only character who struggles with the question of “who am I?,” the question resonates throughout the show. The viewers never know exactly who any character is or what their motivations are, because, realistically, nobody knows that about themselves.
Odum is the only character who has fully fleshed out legends, but he isn’t the only one who goes undercover. Crystal often goes under with Martin to assist and takes on her own character. However, she is not happy that she has to work with Odum once again; she doesn’t believe that he can control himself and is worried that he will ruin the operations. They have a long history that the show will slowly uncover, but from the start it is clear that she does not trust him and can’t control him.
During the first episode, Crystal already gets her hands dirty, she immediately has to make tough decisions that might not have been the best choices. But Crystal doesn’t have to fully deal with the consequences of her actions, because she doesn’t have a family to take care of, it’s just her. Crystal does not want to be treated any differently as a woman on the force, and ensures that she receives the same treatment as the men; this goes for the weaponry she uses and the operations she is allowed to undertake. As the show progresses, the viewers will see more about the pressures of her work and the emotional toll it takes on her.
Tony Rice doesn’t start out as a member of the DCO. He finds his way into the division after investigating a crime that he thinks Odum committed. He learns of the larger conspiracy and is inducted into the DCO because he knows quite a bit and would make a great operative. Rice makes his appearance in the second episode of the series. Rice doesn’t have the opportunity to go deep cover in the first season, but Chestnut would not be surprised if his character has that opportunity in the second season.
Maggie Harris is support staff at DCO, she helps set up the ops. When Majorino was hired for the job, she began training and learning a lot about the role. She took, and passed, the FBI PT test because she really wanted to get into character and had no real experience with this type of situation. Majorino is confident that with her research and training, she is prepared for any situation that Maggie might be thrown in. If the executive producers decide to set Maggie under cover, Majorino is more than ready. She joked “I wanna shoot guns, I wanna blow **** up,” and hopes that they allow her character to develop in that direction.
Catch the explosive new drama Legends on TNT on August 13th. And don’t forget to tag anything on social media with #DontKillSeanBean.