Most times when I hear about TV shows based off a hit film franchise being made, I’m really skeptical on how they’ll fare. Luckily one of my favorite movie series, Taken, was made into a show that’s actually pretty good thanks to being produced by Luc Besson who also produced the films. After airing on NBC earlier this year, it finally comes home again on Blu-ray with Taken: Season One, and features a good cast, great action and plenty of intrigue that will leaves viewers “taken” aback on how well crafted it is.
Serving as a prequel to the famed movie series, we follow a younger Bryan Mills (Clive Standen of “Vikings” fame) as he begins his journey into the world of espionage and black ops. In this ten episode season, things start off badly for our hero when he learns his sister is killed by a terrorist that he in turn killed the son of awhile back on one of his missions. Not being the kind of person to take this lying down, Bryan sets off to put his “skills” to use and find the people responsible after joining a secret unit that’s tasked with stopping terrorists and their plots. As the show goes on, Mills does his best to stay focused on his missions as he uses resources on and off the books to find his sister’s killers and keep his team safe.
As I watched this show, I couldn’t help but compare it to another of my favorite series, 24. A lot of the action, double-crosses, and political intrigue from that hit show are also present in this one, and serve as the main things that kept me interested as Mills and his team tackle one mission after another. The cast is good and play their parts well, though I learned not long ago that most of them won’t be returning for season two. So it’ll be interesting to see if they’ll be replaced or just swept away altogether. Thanks to being a Blu-ray release, the series looks and sounds great, which is why I wish all TV shows were on Blu-ray. There’s not much in the way of special features outside of the one “Taken: On Set” featurette which goes behind the scenes of making the show with some cast and crew interviews mixed in. It’s a nice extra, but it would’ve been nice to have had more.
If you enjoy shows such as 24, you’ll want to check out Taken: Season One on Blu-ray. While it would’ve been nice to have had some more special features on board, a solid cast, great action, and loads of double-crossing intrigue help make this a series you’ll want to “take in” to your collection. Rejoice, the bad puns are over.
