MiniCap: Alcatraz

A thrilling Alcatraz prison cell!

(Don’t worry, guys – the show is MUCH classier (and more exciting) than the real Alcatraz.)

Howdy, Gasmii!! After a hefty holiday break, I think we’re all ready for some quality television viewing, don’t you agree? Unfortunately, it’s MIDSEASON – typically seen as the time of year when weak-ass pilots that were too flimsy to stand up to the pressures of the fall season are sent out into the world to die a quiet, unnoticed death. FORTUNATELY, however, one of the new shows debuting this month is the brainchild of some of the brilliant minds behind the best show of all time – Lost.

Oh, and also the guy who directed Judge Dredd. But we’ll overlook that…for now.

A great many Lost fans who have been desperately searching for a replacement for their weekly obsession – and who have been frequently disappointed by the likes of Flash Forward, The Event, and Persons Unknown* – have been looking to the 2011/2012 season with hopeful eyes. The fall brought us Person of Interest, straight from the mac daddy himself, J.J. Abrams, and midseason has finally brought us the long-awaited Alcatraz.

While many people seem to be enjoying Person of Interest, its quick descent into the realm of typical procedural cop drama turned some viewers off, viewers who were looking for a show with a deeper mystery woven into the story arc. And while the first episode of Alcatraz didn’t provide us with anything quite as chilling as Charlie’s infamous ‘Guys…where ARE we?’ line, it did succeed in setting up the building blocks for what looks to be an intense show with a pretty intriguing series-spanning mystery.

And guys…this show’s got HURLEY. ‘Nuff said.

Jorge Garcia co-stars as Dr. Diego ‘Doc’ Soto, a leading expert on Alcatraz, a comic book author, and the requisite source of periodic moments of levity throughout the show. The excellent Sam Neill is also along for the ride as mysterious FBI agent Emerson Hauser…a guy who seems to be holding some major secrets in his possibly wicked hands – hey, does that remind you of anyone? Let’s just remember that the folks from Lost were rather fond of pulling their characters’ names from not so random hats.

Er…ok, ok. Ben Linus, the sometimes evil-seeming overlord of the Island on Lost, was brilliantly portrayed by actor Michael Emerson (who is now on Person of Interest)…just in case I’m being too nerdy and vague for y’all. Emerson = mysterious guy in charge who may or may not be a bad dude. Whew.

Thank God for Hurley and Emerson, ‘cuz our primary protagonist, Rebecca Madsen (Sarah Jones), has so far proven to be a rather dull version of your standard tough female cop who has a problem with authority. The actress isn’t terrible, but she certainly doesn’t seem to be of the caliber of a Gillian Anderson or an Anna Torv. But we’ll hold out hope that with the eventual deepening of the character, the actress will follow suit.

Come back in a couple of days for the full recap of the two-part pilot! And start revving your theory engines, friends…it looks like we’ve finally got a show with a deeper mystery that we can make a lot of far-out and totally incorrect guesses about!

* I actually quite enjoyed Flash Forward – the disappointment came from its premature cancellation. The Event, however, had promise but quickly fell apart. And sadly…yes, I am one of the, like, three people who actually watched Persons Unknown. But you don’t have to chastise me. Watching was punishment enough.