What's it about?
When San Francisco Police Department Det. Rebecca Madsen is assigned to a grisly homicide case, a fingerprint leads her to a shocking suspect: Jack Sylvane, a former Alcatraz inmate who died decades ago. Once the enigmatic, knows-everything-but-tells-nothing government agent Emerson Hauser tries to impede her investigation, she's doggedly committed. Madsen turns to Alcatraz expert and comic book enthusiast, Dr. Diego "Doc" Soto, to piece together the inexplicable sequence of events. The twosome discovers that Sylvane is not only alive, but he's loose on the streets of San Francisco, leaving bodies in his wake. And strangely, he hasn't aged a day since he was in Alcatraz. By delving into Alcatraz history, government cover-ups and Rebecca's own heritage, the team will ultimately discover that Sylvane is only a small part of a much large, more sinister present-day threat. For while he may be the first, it quickly becomes clear that Sylvane won't be the last prisoner to reappear from Alcatraz.
You should watch if...
• you have enjoyed J.J. Abrams' other work (LOST, FRINGE, PERSON OF INTEREST).
• you like a little supernatural mystery sprinkled in with your police procedural.
• you want to see Dr. Alan Grant from JURASSIC PARK play a shady government agent.
So, how was it?
I've been a gigantic fan of J.J. Abrams ever since I watched the first episode of LOST. I followed that show every week for six years with nigh-on-rabid interest. I've since fallen in love with FRINGE, CLOVERFIELD, STAR TREK, SUPER 8, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III & IV and ALIAS. And while PERSON OF INTEREST didn't grab me as much as I hoped it would this fall (I've still only seen the first two episodes), I was still extremely excited and hopeful for ALCATRAZ.
That being said, I was not blown away in the way I was (and millions of people were) during the first two hours of LOST. I don't think anything will compare to the sheer scope of the action, mystery and great characterization that the LOST pilot embodied. And yet I keep hoping for it every time J.J. Abrams comes out with a new show. So in a way I set myself up for disappointment. But regardless of my extremely high expectations, the first two hours of ALCATRAZ were kind of a mixed bag. There were some things I really loved, and some things I'm not so sure about.
Things I loved: seeing Hurley back on my television. Granted, I couldn't think of Jorge Garcia as anything but his beloved character from LOST, and at times it just seemed like before Hurley boarded the ill-fated plane he was a comic book geek and Alcatraz-enthusiast who teamed up with some blonde chick to solve crimes. But whatever. His presence on my television was very welcome. Sam Neill (JURASSIC PARK) is intriguing playing a man whose past as well as his present is entangled in Alcatraz history. I like that we're not sure of his motives yet: are the prisoners he's catching really the bad guys? Or is he? I'm not sure yet and that's one of the questions that will keep me watching. Another thing I loved were the unsolved questions, mysterious occurrences and plot twists that were sprinkled throughout the two-hour premiere. J.J. Abrams is at his best when dealing with a heavily mythology-based, serialized show (being so episodic was one reason UNDERCOVERS was so awful...also it was just plain terrible), so I can't wait to see these and more mysteries unfold over the course of the season.
Things I'm not so sure about: Sarah Jones (SONS OF ANARCHY) as Det. Madsen. She seemed a little reserved and unsure of herself at times during the first two hours. And given that she's the main character, this made my entrance into the show a little difficult. Granted, I remember a lot of people thinking the same thing about Anna Torv when FRINGE first started, and look at the bang-up job she's doing now. So I'll give her a little time to warm up to her role. Also, I'm not so sure about the procedural nature of this show. The few mysteries and questions scattered throughout the first two hours are hopefully setting up an over-arching storyline, but for at least the foreseeable future, it looks like this show will be about catching a different bad guy every week. J.J. Abrams himself was quoted as saying that ALCATRAZ will be episodic. As anyone who knows me will attest, I really don't like procedurals, so this news makes me nervous. However, when FRINGE first started it was focused on weird-case-of-the-week and is now one of the most serialized sci-fi shows on television. So maybe they're just starting slowly here, too.
Rating:
*** Solid. I'm interested and will definitely keep watching.
Going in, I really wanted to give this show a Certifiably ADDICTive rating, but unfortunately I was not addicted by the premiere. I am definitely interested though, and hopefully that interest will pay off by the end of the first season and keep me invested in returning. But for now, the show really feels like a mashup of all of J.J. Abrams' previous shows - the same-characters-different-timelines approach of FRINGE, the mysterious island of LOST, the shady government conspiracies of ALIAS, the high-tech investigations of PERSON OF INTEREST and (unfortunately) the case-of-the-week nature of UNDERCOVERS. We'll see which one of these shows ALCATRAZ eventually becomes more like. I'm personally hoping for more FRINGE/LOST than PERSON OF INTEREST/UNDERCOVERS. But for now I'm content to wait and see.
What about you, Fellow Addicts? Are you sad that this show won't be serialized like LOST? Or are you looking forward to a more episodic project from J.J. Abrams? What has been your favorite show helmed by Abrams? Vote in the poll below and then hit the comments!
(For the complete rundown of when all the new shows are premiering, check out my 2012 Midseason TV Preview.)
No comments:
Post a Comment