Alcatraz–First Look

 

Plot

     The story that we all know is that in 1963 Alcatraz closed. All of the prisoners and guards were transferred to other prisons across America. According to this new show, that’s not what happened. Apparently one rainy night everyone in Alcatraz disappeared. This was all covered up of course with death certificates being forged etc. Now everyone is coming back, un aged and with no idea where they’ve been. They are still as bad as they were and need to be caught. That’s down to a new team that’s been set up.

Reasons To Be Excited

+ JJ Abram's has an impressive track record with the likes of Alias and Lost to his name. He has quickly become a true heavy weight alongside the likes of Steven Spielberg and Jerry Bruckheimer.

+ JJ Abram's isn’t the only one with a Lost background as Jorge Garcia has a starring role. He played Hurley in Lost and his role in Alcatraz is pretty similar. In Lost, Hurley essentially became the voice of the audience by questioning the absurd. He does a similar thing in this and is reason alone to watch.

+ One thing that turned a lot of people off Lost was that you had to start from the beginning. This show looks like it’s going to run along a much more episode led line. There is still the big mystery over where everyone's been and why but each episode should be able to stand on their own. There’s going to be a baddie to catch each week with the bigger mystery taking a back seat.

Things That Might Let It Down

+ It’s always going to draw comparisons with Lost with the mysteries and the island setting, not to mention the involvement of Abram's and Garcia.

+ Some of the cast were a bit miscast and wooden. Rebecca Madsen seemed uncomfortable in the lead role while Sam Neil is a little unconvincing.

My View

I’ve been looking forward to this show for a while and on the whole it didn’t disappoint. It’s got Abram's hallmark all over it and at one point when one of the characters referred to Alcatraz as ‘the island’, I could’ve sworn I was watching Lost. I’m not entirely sure how far they can take it either or if they even have an endgame. That being said, I’m eager to find out all of the mysteries. For those who aren’t bothered about the mythology it’s still worth a watch. The baddie a week thing has been used to good effect in shows like Supernatural and I’ve no doubt it’ll work here too.

     Having seen it, the hype was perhaps a bit over the top but some of it was justified. Garcia is perfect in his role despite it basically being a Hurley Clone. Despite Sam Neil being a tad unconvincing, given time I’m sure he’ll grow into his role. The same can be said about Madsen. Once this show get’s into it’s stride it has a lot of potential and in taking a first look at a new show it’s important to see that.

First Opinion – 6/10

Potential – 8.5/10