Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
Directors: numerous, Via Vision Entertainment.
This action thriller television series is based on the international blockbuster Taken film franchise that stars Liam Neeson. In this prequel Clive Standen (Vikings, Waking the Dead, Camelot) plays the role of Bryan Mills, a younger, obsessive version of Neeson’s iconic character in the trilogy.
A former Green Beret, Mills becomes swept up in a quest for vengeance after he fails to protect one of those closest to him. Recruited to join a group of CIA operatives, Mills begins to hone his deadly skillset as he dives headfirst into dangerous missions that test his courage and push him to the edge. Mills must overcome a personal tragedy in order to get revenge while becoming a CIA superspy.
Director Alex Graves is at the helm of the pilot of Season 1 in which the sister of Mills is killed in a train shootout with two people he believes to be random terrorists. Christina Hart (Jennifer Beals, Flashdance, My Bodyguard), a deputy director with Special Portfolio at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and her team start tracking Mills, learning that he killed the son of Carlos Mejia, a terrorist and drug lord, while saving Mike Hall, a DEA undercover agent, in Colombia in 2015.
In episode two titled ‘Ready’, Mills fails to operate effectively as part of the team due to his sister’s death. Using intelligence, Hart sends a tactical team, excluding Mills, to Ukraine to capture a drug lord.
The second season sees Bryan in a Mexican prison fighting for his life, but when it looks as though he’s going to make it out he is kidnapped by a team of traffickers.
Romeo Tirone directs the first episode titled ‘S.E.R.E.’ when Mills must fight for his life while inside a secret Mexican prison.
‘Quarry’ is the second episode, directed by Stephen Kay. When a plane carrying Mills and a key witness in a murder investigation (guest star Alexander Draper) crashes, a wounded Mills must use his special survival skills to overcome the odds.
This seven-disc DVD set uncovers a thrilling series featuring the relatively unknown talents of Standen and Beals.
