Disclaimer: As this post is categorized as a review, it may contain spoilers.
Stop me if you’ve heard this before. A television series by J.J. Abrams, set in the present day with flashbacks to the past, musical score by Michael Giacchino and an island that plays such a large role in the plot that it’s basically a character. It’s got writer Elizabeth Sarnoff and director Jack Bender attached. Anybody?
Alcatraz Title
No, it ain’t Lost I’m talking about, but rather the new Fox series Alcatraz. Starring Sarah Jones, Jorge Garcia, Sam Neill and many more, the show is another mystery tour de force that, for the first time in ages, seems to recapture the sense of magic and mystery that Lost brought in its first episodes. The music of Michael Giacchino, I think, is a huge part of that, the mood that he sets is amazing and reminded me all the more of Lost.
Just like when they launched Persons Unknown and Happy Town, I’m very excited to see how this pans out. Both of those shows were canceled either during or after their first season, so I’m a little worried.
The basic premise of the show, which is introduced quite well in the first episode through the use of flashbacks and exposition – very much following the “show, don’t tell” philosophy of good writing – is that Alcatraz never really closed due to cost and old age; there was a mysterious event that made them invent that cover story. In actual fact, all inmates and guards just vanished over night back in 1963 – and now they’re suddenly reappearing.
The plot, in short: Rebecca Madsen (Sarah Jones) plays a police officer working homicide. She’s recently lost her partner while pursuing a villain jumping between rooftops – more on that later. She becomes attached to the investigation of a murder of a former Alcatraz prison guard and discovers, while combing the crime scene, that a finger print found matches that of a former Alcatraz inmate, Alan Sylvane (Jeffrey Pierce). She decides that she needs to talk to the most decorated and famous Alcatraz history buff on the planet for more information and finds Diego Soto (Jorge Garcia), who explains that this is impossible. Alan Sylvane is dead. Meanwhile, Emerson Hauser (Sam Neill) of the FBI and his colleague Lucy (Parminder Nagra) have taken up the investigation and eventually discloses a picture of Alan Sylvane – who hasn’t aged a day since 1963. Everybody’s not as amazed as they should be, but eventually capture him. Emerson throws him into an underground prison that’s a replica of Alcatraz.
Jorge Garcia, Sarah Jones and Sam Neill
I think the show succeeds in many ways; the least of which is the premise. This could have been an interesting two or three-episode arc on The X-Files, and I’m not entirely sure how well it’ll translate to an entire television series. I suppose it all depends on the mystery of how (and why) these people are appearing in the present day. Is it an evil organization using high technology? Is it magic? Is it a weird property of The Island™ that allows people to time travel? The mystery is great, the use of flashbacks is familiar and not over the top and I’m loving Sam Neill in his role as an agent that we’re still not entirely sure if he’s good or bad. If anything, he’s a little like Ben (Michael Emerson) in the final seasons of Lost. We knew he had an agenda of his own, but it often coincided with the agenda of the Losties and made him okay.
Parminder Nagra as Lucy
I’ve got one problem with the show, however, and that’s the main character, Rebecca Madsen. I’m just not convinced about her character. First she’s introduced as somebody very vulnerable who can’t imagine taking on a new partner in the police force because her former partner died, then she shows all sorts of random skill sets (like intimate knowledge of antique gun types, lock picking, gaming and so on). Also, when she learns about the Alcatraz mystery, her reaction is more “Huh. Okay” than anything else, and I just don’t buy it.
In contrast, Diego Soto is the everyman of the series. We can identify with him even if he’s supposed to have two doctorates and be “smarter than he looks”, because he reacts like most of us would. He says “dude”, doesn’t like the sight of blood and is “creeped out” by the entire Alcatraz thing. If Rebecca is the muscle, he’s the brains – and, I suppose, the comic relief.
I’m definitely looking forward to seeing how this turns out and really only have one question … When are they bringing Greg Grunberg in for his more or less obligatory J.J. Abrams TV series cameo?