Alcatraz (FOX) - Series Premiere: Synopsis and Review

FOX’s new Sci-Fi drama ‘Alcatraz’ premiered this Monday with a double episode. This is the second J.J. Abrams (‘Alias’, ‘Lost’) show to premiere this season, after CBS’s ‘Person Of Interest’. However, it is unclear what exact role Abrams played himself, he didn’t create, write or direct. Showrunner was Elizabeth Sarnoff (a writer from ‘Lost’), but she left the show due to ‘creative differences’. Still highly anticipated, ‘Alcatraz’ was one of the eight ‘Most Exciting New Series’ at the 1st Critics’ Choice Television Awards.

In contrast to what we all believe, on March 21, 1963, the Alcatraz inmates weren’t transferred elsewhere when the prison was shut down. On the contrary; all 256 inmates and 46 guards had disappeared from the prison during that night, and for the last 40 years, nobody has ever heard from them again. Until now.

SFPD Detective Rebecca Madsen (Sarah Jones) finds a fingerprint of disappeared Alcatraz inmate Jack Sylvane (Jeffrey Pierce) at the murder scene of the former deputy warden of Alcatraz. Right away, her case gets taken over by mysterious FBI agent Emerson Hauser (Sam Neill, ‘Jurassic Park’), but the case has already drawn her attention. She contacts Alcatraz expert Dr. Diegeo ‘Doc’ Soto (Jorge Garcia, ‘Lost’) and together, they start investigating on the island of Alcatraz. Soon, they get captured by Hauser and his assistant (Parminder Nagra, ‘ER’), who seem to know a lot more than they’re willing to tell. Hauser shows them video footage of Sylvane attacking the former deputy warden, and although Sylvane is officially dead, and was born 85 years ago, he looks just like he did when he disappeared in 1963.

On flashbacks from 1960, we find out that the inmates of Alcatraz know that something bad is about to happen. They don’t seem to know what exactly, though. Furthermore, we see Jack Sylvane running around the city, seemingly fully prepared to settle some things from the past, leaving a trail of dead bodies behind. Then, it turns out that Jack Sylvane is not alone, and that there is a lot more about to happen.

‘Alcatraz’ definitely lives up to the expectations we have for a J.J. Abrams drama. It is a good combination of mystery, action, suspense and unexpected twists. It seems more like a mash-up of Abrams’ previous hits, such as ‘Lost’, ‘Fringe’ and ‘Person Of Interest’, than anything else. While that is not necessarily a bad thing, ‘Alcatraz’ could eventually become boring.

A real flaw to this show, however, is the development of the characters. The only character that’s got a good back story is ‘prisoner of the week’ Sylvane, and he is already back behind bars. Of course, the story of Rebecca’s grandfather is still out there, and that could enrich her character a lot. However, the question is whether the makers of ‘Alcatraz’ are trying to set this right in the coming episodes, or it’ll become just a procedural that surprises to keep attention, and not to elaborate on the story. All in all, ‘Alcatraz’ is a very promising show with a few quirks that is potentially going to keep a lot of people glued to their televisions.