Grade: B-
Alcatraz is the latest series to tout the JJ Abrams production credit & the second to be purchased by FOX in expectation of another breakout like
Lost. One can also draw many comparisons to
Lost & feel a sort of relatable comfort to it. There is an island where weird things are happening, a former population to that island with a weird relation to it, flashbacks, & a serial storyline that uses character backstory for episodic progress. Oh yeah, I forgot, both also have a form of Hurley & in both he makes pop culture references & loves comics. While its easy to be drawn in to the episode to episode character story make no mistake that its backstory has some great meat to it in the form of the infamous prison island, Alcatraz. The only drawback is its somewhat ridiculous premise like that of Eli Cash’s book “Old Custer” in
The Royal Tenenbaums. Here is this famous prison island that was eventually shut down due to economic issues & what this show presupposes is, what if that wasn’t the reason?
The pilot is the everyday putting the band together storyline. It is only until the last 10 minutes or so that we learn that this band is not being completely honest with one another. Our episode centers around the appearance of inmate Jack Sylvane & his decision to go on a bit of a revenge spree for all those who wronged him before the great disappearance of everyone on Alcatraz. This gets SFPD detective Rebecca Madsen involved & due to Sylvane’s prints being found at a murder scene she enlists the help of fames Alcatraz documentarian/author/comic book shop owner/Hurly Dr. Diego “Doc” Soto aka Hurley. Their search for answers lead them to Emerson Hauser, aka Sam Neil, an FBI agent assigned to find out just what is going on & capture the returning inmates. Once the premise is explained to make sure our cast knows & just incase the audience hast caught on yet the search continues. This leads to some alternative dirty dealings Jack is up to outside of his revenge spree & a
Lost reference made by Hurley... I mean Doc.
Jack’s revenge story is somewhat lackluster to carry the episode through but the mystery of the island... Yeah, that is the best way to say it... The mystery of the island & its characters it has drawn in are enough to really hold it afloat. As said before the last 10 or so minutes of the episode are what really pull it through & set up an interesting series. The acting isn’t half bad either, Hurley is as ever interesting & Sarah Jones pulls off a great Rebecca but the real downfall comes from Sam Neil who continues his tirade of forced accents & swarmey half smiles. One just has to accept the fact that Neil probably gave up on acting as a craft after his lackluster falter in
Jurassic Park 3 & his character of Emerson can really live up to its interesting backstory. The numbers the series as well pulled prove that it has staying power & may knock the block off of
Terra Nova for renewal. Here’s towards a hopeful new Abram’s series & his only real critical miss seemed to have come in the form of
Undercovers.
