Grade: B
Our latest prisoner of the week from
Alcatraz comes in the form of Ernest Cobb, a deranged serial killing sniper. His introduction heightened the mistakes & fumbles seen in the pilot & finally game the team & real dastardly convict they needed to capture before things kept getting worse. Here it finally felt like there would be real problem with an inmate appearing in modern times. With heightened fears of terrorism & the real horrors brought on by the DC sniper, a character like Cobb appearing in the real world would draw attention almost immediately if his rampage spread. “Ernest Cobb” also sees the series take a step back from making
Lost references & really invest in the series storyline it is trying to create especially with its underground super-max prison.
Earnest Cobbs return is less obvious than how Sylvane was presented but his danger more imposing by watching him immediately going on a sniping spree at a carnival. While his character story is incredibly interesting the writers seem to give clear foibles to him that would not consist with the terror he presents & his supposed Alcatraz backstory. Much of Cobbs story also comes in the form of flashback where we see his craving for solitary by breaking the least controversial rules & the wardens trying to break Cobb at every turn. These flashbacks show a great matching of wits between Cobb & the warden as well we also see some interesting side by side action with a different angle from a flashback in Sylvanes past. This sadly makes Cobbs present day presence that much less interesting as we only see him behind a rifles scope most of the time. The one interesting action that seems to come from Cobbs precarious placement is the attempted killing of Emersons FBI partner Lucy Banerjee. Sadly this scene quickly becomes flat after the break as we learn she survives, most likely due to her own backstory.
While “Ernest Cobb” gives more time to develop the inmate of the week story & long term series storyline it does seem to falter in its character aspects who, while they aren’t necessarily flat, come of as somewhat uninteresting.
Alcatraz has, however, become more invested in developing its at first comical premise & that mystery is enough to draw viewers in again & again. If the series can keep up its interest in bringing back some undesirable inmates to capture & add mystery ontop of mystery like it has, it should provide an interesting season & hopeful continuation as a lasting series.
