Legends Recap 8/13/14: Season 1 Premiere “Pilot”

LEGENDS premieres tonight on TNT with another episode at 9PM EST called “Pilot” On tonight’s episode, deep undercover agent Martin Odum (Sean Bean) tries to reconnect with his estranged family following an assignment, but he must return to work when a terror group announces an imminent attack in the premiere of this drama series. Based on spy novelist Robert Littell’s book.

For those of you not familiar with the show, Legends is about an undercover agent working for the FBI’s Deep Cover Operations (DCO) division. Martin has the uncanny ability to transform himself into a completely different person for each job. But he begins to question his own identity when a mysterious stranger suggests that Martin isn’t the man he believes himself to be.

On tonight’s episode Deep cover agent Martin Odum returns to the FBI after an assignment infiltrating the Citizen’s Army of Virginia (CAV), a domestic terrorist organization. He tries to re-connect with his estranged wife and son, put his life back together and get the last “legend” behind him but when the CAV announces an eminent attack, Martin must go back under in order to stop them. Also, a mysterious stranger confronts Martin to tell him that his whole life may be a deep cover legend and that everything he thinks he knows is a lie.

Tonight’s episode is going to be great. You’re not going to want to miss a minute of the action and we’ll be recapping it live for you as well. While you’re waiting for the episode to begin hit up the comments and tell us your thoughts about the show. In the meantime, enjoy a sneak peek preview of tonight’s episode below.

Tonight’s episode begins now – Refresh Page for Updates

We see a news story about a bombing by the Citizen’s Army of Virginia (CAV) planned by their Founding Father that killed 57 people. Then we see Ditman, a guy firing on the CAV range, called to see Streeter. Lincoln Ditman is brought to see Streeter – he stutters nervously as they tell him Russell said he was talking trash about the CAV. Ditman laughs nervously and says he just said he was tired of shooting paper targets with wannabes.

Streeter says the Founding Father is ready to start a fire to burn down the government and Ditman says he’s been waiting for a chance to blow some shit up and says to tell him what to do and he’ll do it. Streeter cocks a gun and puts it to his head then asks if he’s willing to die for the cause. Ditman tells him he worked construction 15 years then lost his job to a wetback, then his wife left and took their daughter. He says he has nothing to lose.

Streeter says life’s a bitch but no one trash talks the CAV. He pulls the trigger and we hear a click. The other men in the room laugh as Streeter tells him he has big balls. Ditman laughs and asks if that means he’s in. Streeter says the Founding Father wants to meet him tomorrrow. There’s a noise and then helicopters. The camp is being raided by the ATF. Streeter is hustled out a back door. Ditman is left in the office with the others He grabs a gun, shoots the others then stops before shooting Russell.

Rusell asks why he didn’t give him a heads up about the ATF and Ditman says it’s because he didn’t know. He tells Russell to put up his hands. They do, the ATF busts in and Ditman tells him he’s FBI and the other guy is with him. He gives them a clearance code to call in to confirm – he’s now speaking in a British accent. He tells them if they blow his six month sting for a weapons bust, he’ll have their butts.

He tells them he’s there to stop a terrorist attack. One of the dying CAV guys drops a grenade and Martin yanks them out of the room. The ATF guy asks who Ditman really is and he says Martin Odum and tells the guy to call it in. In LA, Martin gets out of his car at his house – he sees a homeless guy wandering by and notes it with suspicion. He walks up and his son Aiden is there – he grabs him up in a hug. Aiden asks if he got the bad guy.

Sonya comes out, his ex, and he heads her a check and she asks their son to go inside. She says she didn’t know he was back and says he can’t just pop back after being gone for months and expect everything to be the same. She tells him he signed the check with the name Lincoln Ditman. He apologizes and says he’ll get her a new one.

Martin argues good naturedly in Mandarin about baseball with a guy in a grocery shop when he sees the same homeless guy again. He chases him out but loses him in the crowd in Chinatown. Martin goes home to his ratty place and locks the door as his phone rings. It’s Russell and he says he’s calling from a pay phone. He says the CAV is back in business and Martin tells him to get out now. He says the Founding Father wants to meet Ditman tomorrow.

At the FBI Covert Ops location, Gates asks if he thinks it’s a trap. Crystal comes in and asks why Martin is there. He says Ditman may still be in play and the FF wants a meet in Chicago with him. Crystal doesn’t like it and says the debacle in VA is Martin’s fault since he fell off their radar for six months and they didn’t even know he was at the camp. She tells Martin the first she knew was when the ATF called.

Crystal says she’s still cleaning up. Martin says the last time he kept her in the loop, her people almost blew his cover. Gates asks to talk to Crystal alone. She tells him she can’t run Martin and says he has a personality disorder – she says 3 out of 4 shrinks says he was unfit. Gates reminds her the fourth said he was the best deep cover guy ever. He says it’s more of a risk not to use him to stop the imminent terror attack.

Crystal tells Martin to quit smirking. She says he makes her look bad. He apologizes and asks if that’s the only reason she’s mad. She tells him it was just sex and it was a mistake. She says it happens every day and walks off. Maggie and Buchanan watch a video narrated by the Founding Father threatening terrorism. Maggie says Martin got close and Buchanan says he should have been put out to pasture but then stops short when Crystal and Martin walk up.

She introduces Martin to Maggie and she tells him she’s an Air Force brat too but never got a cool accent like him. Martin shows them info on Russell, a former member of the Aryan Brotherhood, and he says he’s the best asset he’s ever recruited. Then he shows them Streeter, the top lieutenant, a former soldier. Buchanan says he can have the backup team two minutes away, but Martin says five.

Martin tells them Ditman’s story is in his head. Crystal tells in to share it. He tells them all the details about his job, his marriage break up, the recession, his special needs child, social awkwardness, stutter and persecution complex. Maggie builds a back email record while Bobby works on his credit showing bills falling behind. Martin migrates into Ditman’s persona saying he did everything right and deserved better – he even stutters.

He snaps out of it to see them all staring and Maggie says he stuttered and his accent changed. They wonder why he didn’t notice. He looks tired. Crystal says to go home while they backfill the legend on Ditman. He heads out and calls Aiden but gets voice mail. He says he can’t see him tomorrow but will make it up to him. He asks him to call him and says he loves him. He sees the homeless guy in the train station again and pursues him.

He slams the guy into the wall and asks why he’s following him. They struggle and the guy says he’s trying to help him. He says he doesn’t know where his life begins and legend ends. Martin asks who he is and he says he doesn’t know. They fight some more and he asks if he really thinks he’s Martin Odum and says there is no Odum, he’s a legend and it’s all fake. He tells him to tell no one and rushes off.

Martin shows up at Bobby’s – the kid is sweating from working out with a video game and he tells Martin his cholesterol sucks and he needs more exercise. Martin tells him he needs an off the book favor. He says he needs an ID from subway security and says it’s probably nothing. Bobby downloads the security footage and looks at it. He shows him the stranger and Bobby says he’ll run facial recognition on it.

Bobby tells Martin it’s a good thing he’s letting them watch his back and says he thinks they’ll stop him. Crystal tells Martin they’ll be an hour behind him on the plane. She hands over ID, photos and other info for Ditman. She says she has all of Ditman’s travel plans made. She gives him a mic and he says there is too much counter surveillance but she orders him to wear it anyway.

The plane touches down at O’Hare. Martin changes clothes to get into his Ditman gear. He pops on his glasses, musses his hair and then a man knocks to tell him to hurry. Martin switches to his Ditman accent to answer. He’s in a car and sees Streeter approach. He gets out of the car and greets him and says it was crazy in Virginia. They put him in their car and he gives up his keys.

Maggie comes in and says Russell missed his check in by five minutes. Buchanan buzzes Crystal and tells her and she says to check his hotel room. We see that Russell is tied up by the Founding Father and is being tortured. Russell says he’s not a traitor and neither is Lincoln. FF says data can be planted and records manipulated. He says people tell the truth. He pulls out a shock kit and they torture him some more.

Maggie tells Crystal that there are signs of a struggle in Russell’s hotel room. They want to warn Martin but can’t because he’s already in the meeting at the strip club. Crystal says she can take care of it. She comes up in lingerie and offers Martin a private dance. She sits on his lap and asks his name. She says he looks like he needs some TLC. Watching on surveillance, Bobby says that means tits, leg and then Buchanan stops him.

Streeter hands him some cash and tells him to enjoy him. She says one song will change his life. They head into a private room and he tells her to be careful and stay in camera because of the camera. She slams him onto a bench and dances around. He smiles as she straddles his lap. He tells her Crystal is a good stripper’s name and then she whispers that Russell has been taken. Martin says he won’t rat him out but she’s not sure. He tells her that he saved his life a few years ago.

She writhes against him and asks if he would bet his life on Russell and he says he already has. Streeter gets a text saying it’s time to go. She asks what about the camera and he says it’s just a smoke detector. She’s annoyed. Streeter interrupts and after they go she tells Buchanan to get the follow team moving – she thinks Martin has been made. He says they’re five minutes out and she says to hurry. They hustle Martin out and shove him around. They tell him the FF still has some doubts about him.

They tell him Russell didn’t live long enough to reassure them. They push him onto his knees and Crystal runs out saying he owes her $50. They shove her to her knees too and out a gun to Martin’s head. He laughs and says he’s not afraid to die because he’s already dead. He says he has stage four cancer and Maggie says he’s improvising. They start to build the medical records.

Streeter calls FF who wants to know where he was diagnosed. He says in Arizona. They scramble to create the medical records. He says his doc’s name was Claude Metzger. FF runs the check and says there are no records. He asks Streeter if FF is spelling his name right. He says Ditman has two N’s. The tech team spelled it wrong. They fix it and the search FF runs produces results.

FF says he’s good and Martin tells them to let Crystal go and says they don’t need any more complications. She tells the men she’s been around and knows how to keep her mouth shut. They let her go and she runs off. They tell Martin to lie low and says it’s happening tonight. They call Gates who tells them there’s a big economic summit at Willis Towers – he says it’s a huge target.

Bobby gets an alert that his facial recognition search is done. His phone pings and he sees looks at it. Gates makes a plan for security and says it’s all hands on deck. Martin is in a cheap hotel when he hears a noise. He grabs a gun and peeks out the curtains. A car is there. A knock at the door reveals Crustal. He says it was a risk coming there but she says the motel isn’t being watched.

She tells him Chicago PD found Russell’s body and he was tortured. She says he was right about him holding out and he says they need to do something for his family but she says that’s not appropriate. She says he was a bad guy but Martin says he changed. Crystal tells him he saved the operation even though it wasn’t how she would have done it. She says they have a chance of stopping it now – she says it was impressive. Martin says that wasn’t easy for her to say and she tells him he has no idea.

Martin gets a call and changes to Ditman. He says he’s alone and agrees to meet them somewhere. He rings off and tells Crystal he meets FF tonight. We see news about the economic conference as Martin watches a screen in a window before getting into the car with Streeter and being driven away. Maggie tracks them while Crystal follows. Martin complains about his ex-wife. They tell him to shut up.

Maggie says he’s talking about himself and Gates says the first rule of undercover is to make the lies as close to real life as possible. Maggie tells Crystal they turned off at an auto repair shop. They pull in and the garage door closes them in. There are a fax police car the guys are working on – putting stickers on. They also have 600 pounds of C4. They hand Martin a uniform. He asks who he’s going with and the Founding Father is there and says he’s going in with him.

Crystal and the other team surround the shop. FF shows him the police staging area and says bankers are selling out the country. He asks Ditman if he’s ready to fire the first shot to start a new American Revolution. FF says he has the detonator and then when he gets close, he’ll set it off. Ditman asks if he’s going in with him and FF says we all have a role to play.

He says he’s the FF and he will be Ditman’s witness and will tell people who Lincoln Ditman really was. Ditman tears up and nods his head. They tell him it’s time. Crystal counts down to the breach but one of FF’s guys says he has radio communications outside the building. Crystal says they have a man inside and the CAV guys hear it. All hell breaks loose and Martin takes out some guys just as the FBI bursts in. FF holds up the detonator and tells them it’s a dead man switch and if they shoot him, they all die.

He tells Crystal to get behind the wheel and says they’re driving out together. FF tells Martin to back off or he’ll take them all out but Martin says if he was going to do it, he would already have done. He grabs FF’s hand while Streeter yells at him to do it. Martin says he wanted him to do it while he watched because he’s a coward. He slams him face down into the car and deactivates the trigger.

He puts on his jacket and walks out. Crystal asks where he’s going but he doesn’t stop. He’s thinking about what the guy said to him about not existing. Bobby works on the facial recognition but is blocked out by an access denied message. He hacks in but just then we see a hand reach around with a cloth and it goes over his mouth. He struggles.

Maggie takes down the project board as Martin comes in. She says she’s sorry about his CI. He thanks her for backing him up and says he’s not a great team player. Maggie says that’s what Bobby told her. He asks where he is and he says he hasn’t seen him. Martin gets a funny look and heads out. He calls Bobby on the way to his place. There’s no answer so he comes in and finds the kid dead in a chair in front of the TV. He walks back out and gets in the elevator in a panic. He thinks about the guy again.

Back home, he gets a call from the guy and asks what’s going on – he says his friend died trying to find out who he is. He tells him to meet him at Union Station platform six. He says he’s being followed and to hurry. He tells Martin he was never supposed to remember. Martin pulls up while they talk and he runs to the platform. He tells him to wait. A woman brushes past him and stabs him.

He drops the phone. Martin asks where he is. He runs up but the guy collapses and says they don’t want him to know the truth and don’t want him to know who he is. He tells him there’s a book in his pocket with answers. Martin asks who he is and the guy says he doesn’t know. Martin asks who he is but the guy is dead. The crowd notices and Martin has to rush away on a train before he gets pulled in to the drama.

THE END!