Grade: D+
Alcatraz continues its downward spiral with
”The Ames Bros.” in what could have been a very promising episode about hidden gold & hidden secrets about the rock. As the journey continues about this latest mysterious island it has become more & more clear that with each step further into the darkness the series lacks in any real forward progress only to shroud itself in more monotonous mystery. This time with the returned duo of
”The Ames Bros”,
Alcatraz squanders an intriguing storyline which ends with no real story arc resolve & only further loose ends.
In
”The Ames Bros” the central storyline revolves around two brothers, one the muscle & one the brains, who have fallen upon a secret that a Civil War stash of gold was hidden upon The Rock & they are out to find it with the help of a corrupt guard. Needless to say their attempts in the flashback are thwarted in the end as they seemingly go find the right door but have the wrong keys. The keys that they copy in fact are none other than the ones that our warned keeps dearly close to him toward one of the most secret of rooms on The Rock. With their reappearance we see one of Hauser’s think tank genius’ behind solving the mystery of the island getting killed as Doc & Rebecca try to find out what type of tests he is running.The episode devolves into an island hunt during a storm that takes many twists & turns only to come up short in story & in payoff as the gold was already hauled away by the warden during the brothers previous attempt.
As
Alcatraz continues to bring prisoners back it seems to continue to lack in any payoff towards its ultimate backstory & why The 63 are returning. What proves frustrating & a complete waste is that there is no development to any of the characters that we are stuck with in the present. Though we may continue to learn more & more about the inner workings of
Alcatraz during the 1960’s we journey on with less & less development from our current Hauser or Doc or Rebecca as their only purpose is to provide dialogue & tension to any current scene.
Alcatraz as a whole needs to dial back its journey into the past if only to provide context & determination towards its present besides basic desire to catch the convict of the week.
