Sean Bean Returns To Television In ‘Legends’

Legendary British actor Sean Bean marked his return to American television in the new TNT series Legends. An adaptation of the novel of the same name by author Robert Littell, the show follows FBI operative Martin Odum (Bean), an undercover agent working for the agency’s Deep Cover Operations division who begins to question his identity when a mysterious stranger suggests that Martin isn’t who he believes himself to be.

Bean is mostly known for playing baddies and getting killed, so much so that on Thursday night the hashtag #DontKillSeanBean started trending in honor of his new series Legends. However, it appeared that the Brit managed to survive despite being this close to getting axed by the bad guys on more than once occasion.

#DontKillSeanBean pic.twitter.com/M8NnLodTwJ

— Javi (@javiaw) August 14, 2014

Sean Bean, like many of his English colleagues, is a theater trained actor. He is known for many roles, including Ned Stark in HBO’s Game of Thrones, which concluded at the end of Season 1, as well as many other major films, including Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, where he is also killed.

But in Legends, Bean proved why he is renowned around the world for his acting ability. In the pilot, we see a very confused and depressed man who is trying to figure out if he is actually Martin Odum after a mysterious character plants the seed of doubt in his troubled mind.

Martin has problems. He is divorced with a son he has neglected due to his demanding job as an undercover FBI agent. He tries to rectify this problem with no luck because another case comes up. He is forced to work with his old flame, and things seem to get heated between the two while working on a case. It was plain to see Martin wanted to move things further, with no luck.

In the Legends pilot, Sean Bean’s character takes the identity of Lincoln Dittmann, a stuttering middle-aged man who is in a lot of trouble, but seems to get away with it in the nick of time. The transformation from Martin to Lincoln is remarkable, and convinces his co-workers that he still has what it takes to do the job.

Sean Bean is threatened within an inch of his life multiple times, including an initiation ritual for the group he is trying to infiltrate — the Citizen’s Army of Virginia — during an FBI raid, and while confronting the founding father at the end of the episode.

Whether Legends makes it, is up to TNT, but Sean Bean was definitely the high point of the pilot on Wednesday night. Did you watch?

[Image via Twitter]