Taken (Seasons 1–2)

Taken (2017) is an American action series — stream all episodes online on iFILM. The show tells the origin story of Bryan Mills: a former Green Beret whose life is upended by a personal tragedy, pushing him toward a classified CIA unit and the very particular skill set he'll later be known for.

Clive Standen plays Mills at a point before the cool precision of the film trilogy — angrier, rougher around the edges, still being shaped by his handlers. Jennifer Beals plays analyst Christina Hart, who recruits him and spends most of her time managing the damage he causes. The series aired on NBC and was a French-American co-production; it ran for two seasons.

For viewers who came in through the Liam Neeson films, the series finally fills in what those movies skipped: who Mills was before the phone calls and the rescues, and how a person gets to be that good at something that dark. Stream Taken (2017) online on iFILM.