ALCATRAZ

[Ribbons]

Produced by JJ Abrams, created and written by Elizabeth Sarnoff (Deadwood, Lost), starring Sam Neill, Sarah Jones (Lone Star), Jorge Garcia, Jeffrey Pierce and a bunch of other interesting actors.

Fox released a preview for upfronts this week:



Looks very, um, JJ Abrams-y? But I am intrigued.

[Fievel]

I'm in for this.
Fall schedules are looking rather unimpressive so far.

[Ribbons]

Hey, CBS upfronts are tomorrow! Maybe THAT'S where all the quality's at.

[Nice Marmot]

Not really as intrigued as I think I should be, but definitely checking it out.

[TonyWilson]

This talkbacker summed up my feelings about this show perfectly

I Can Already Guess How This Will Go...

by christian_bale_trashed_my_lights

Every episode will be a new prisoner which they track down and somehow he dies after saying something about "They did it!" Along the way we'll find out Sam Neill knows more than he's letting on about who "they" are. One of the stories will feature an innocent man whom we're meant to feel sorry for. Another will revolve around a guy trying to connect with his long lost love who is now really old.

One of the main characters will find out that they have a connection to Alcatraz and will ultimately find out that their family member (probably grandfather) was not only a prisoner but is also a key part of the mystery. The grandfather will be the end of season bad guy and will just have time to say some cryptic numbers or words before he is killed / disappears in a ball of light.

Repeat, repeat, repeat.

I'd love to be wrong about this but kind of think this exactly the way it's going to go.

[Ribbons]

Yeah, that sounds unfortunately plausible.

[Ribbons]

Bliggity-blow!

[TheBaxter]

i think i've had enough mysterious islands for one tv lifetime.

[so sorry]

i think i've had enough mysterious islands for one tv lifetime.

Agreed 1000000%.

Now mysterious caves.... yeah I can get behind that.

[Tyrone_Shoelaces]

i think i've had enough mysterious islands for one tv lifetime.

Agreed 1000000%.

Now mysterious caves.... yeah I can get behind that.

I prefer to get in front of them and go in head first, taking the time to savor the mystery before I get down to business.

[Fievel]

Found the premiere episodes to be interesting - enough to get me to come back, but not enough to declare it good or bad. I don't know why, but the lead female character isn't as intriguing as everyone else on the show. Even Robert Forrester was more interesting and he was only in a couple minutes of the first episode. I also didn't buy Sam Neill's badass move of headbutting the guy at the end of the first episode. Neill has some good intimidating facial expressions, but he is not a physical brute.

But I like the concept. That is what grabbed me and will bring me back, for a few weeks anyways.

[Ribbons]

Bah!

[John-Locke]

The Mystery is intriguing, the rest was complete crap, I doubt I'll tune in for episode three.

[Ribbons]

That's too bad because episode 3 was probably the strongest one in the show up to this point.

Despite the jokey references to Lost, this is a somewhat different animal. For better or worse, this is a procedural at its core, which means there's a reliable formula that you can expect every episode. Whether what's in JJ Abrams' "mystery box" this go-round is worth a damn is not as important to me as long as that formula is consistently good. In my opinion, it was. This is not a great show by any means, but I would like to see it continue. I honestly couldn't care less what keys open what doors and why the inmates are coming back, but the diverse ensemble and atmosphere of weirdness are enjoyable enough. And like I said earlier, my favorite scene would probably be one in episode 3, involving the warden and three matches.

Oh yeah, one thing Alcatraz does have in common with other Abrams fare? The show turns into a giant Ford commercial about halfway through the season. So that's pretty lame, but I'll cut them some slack because they use a Mustang to recreate the chase scene from Bullitt.

[darkjedijaina]

i was getting bored with it because it was so procedural... but then it puts these other mysteries out there and i'm like, argh... i wanna know what's up with that...

i think the only character i really like is the old warden... i wonder if he's gonna pop up in the present...

[Ribbons]

Yeah, that guy is fascinating. I don't think I've ever seen him in anything before, but A+ on the casting for that one.

[so sorry]

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The preceeding message was brought to you by the producers of Alcatraz, The River, and Swamp People.

[Ribbons]

I have a soft spot for the unloved...