Vikings star Clive Standen steps in for Liam Neeson in NBC’s TV prequel Taken. Here’s how you can watch season 1, episode 1 live, on TV and online.
Can you do Taken without Liam Neeson? NBC is certainly hoping so with its TV series prequel about the early life of elite operative Bryan Mills.
Mills is now played by Clive Standen, who has spent the last four seasons starring as Rollo on History’s historical drama Vikings. Now he’ll be waging war in the modern era as Mills gets recruited to join (what else?) a secret government agency.
The TV Taken has an impressive cast that makes it worth checking out on its own merits. Jennifer Beals (The Chicago Code) is Bryan’s new boss, while Louis Ferreira (Motive) guests as the cartel boss he wants revenge on.
Michael Irby (The Unit), Gaius Charles (Friday Night Lights) and Monique Gabriela Curnen (The Unusuals) also star.
But the show’s success will all come down to whether or not Standen can pick up Neeson’s particular set of skills.
Here’s how NBC officially describes the episode:
"The murder of Bryan Mills’ sister launches him into a dangerous mission for revenge against cartel boss Carlos Mejia. A secret US intelligence agency, led by Christina Hart, covertly uses Bryan as bait to capture Mejia and in the end recruits Bryan to become a part of their team."
And here’s how you can watch the Taken series premiere live, on TV or via live stream:
Date: Monday, Feb. 27
Start Time: 10 p.m. ET
Episode: “Pilot”
TV Channel: NBC
Live Stream: Stream 1 | Stream 2
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Will audiences be interested in watching Taken without Liam Neeson? The show has a plum time slot after The Voice, but that didn’t work out too well for its predecessor Timeless, so we’ll have to see if Bryan Mills fares better.