ALCATRAZ on Fox

I caught the ad for it at the gym and it looked alright (these were the Australian ads though, might have been different). I was a bit worried about the Sam Neill factor - I feel like he's now firmly in the paycheck part of his career - but that might be an unfair assessment.

I'd give it an episode anyway. *shrug*

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Originally Posted by Brandon 

The time traveling prisoner of the week schtick is going to lose it's appeal by about week 3 I'd guess.

Agreed. I really can't see how they're going to stretch this concept out but, then again, I thought Fringe would be just like The X-Files and they managed to surprise me with where the show went so maybe the same thing will happen here.

The biggest reason no one will watch tonight... and just dvr the thing is that it's a 2-hour premiere. Don't the Network execs realize 2-hours on a work night ain't going to happen.

I'm still interested, but I'm sure if I DVR it I won't get around to watching it until this weekend. Better stuff comes on this week like White Collar and Archer.

I'm DVRing this.

I've found that with most Sci-Fi/Fantasy shows, the first season starts off really heavy with the case/monster of the week stuff, but it takes awhile to get into larger storyline arcs that take place, and the stories of the week help them to explore the bigger picture.

So if the first episode is any good, I will probably be in for the long haul. Especially since things aren't looking so well for my beloved Fringe.

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Originally Posted by ujkle 

I was a bit worried about the Sam Neill factor - I feel like he's now firmly in the paycheck part of his career -

I hope he's playing the same character as he did on the cancelled Happy Town.

An hour in and it's not bad so far. The female detective is kinda annoying though.

I agree that the premise, as is, will get pretty dry pretty quickly, but based on Sam Neill's futuristic forest prison and that L O S T twist at the end, it looks as though there are more layers to this.  Could be interesting, although the only thing that really jumped out at me so far was how willing this show is to slaughter innocent civilians.  

I'm open to catching this on Hulu, but to be honest, it just sounds like a lot of loose, unrelated concepts, and not at all like an actual show, or even a movie. And none of the concepts sound like they could carry a show on their own either. Hope I'm proven wrong.

For me the big problem of the show is this.  You have all these questions how did all those prisioners and guards disappear?  Why aren't they aging?  Who or what is responcible?

At the same time my mind is only interested in "How does Sam Neil know any of this and who is funding him?"

I liked the premise well enough, and Sarah Jones is a stone cold fox.  I'm in for the time being.  

Aha! She was the white supremicist's hot daughter on Sons of Anarchy!

imdb also has her as being in an episode of Justified, but I can't place it. (edit: oh, duh, the pregnant girl!)

The show was good, not great. Ya gotta love Hurley, and the rest of the cast is fine. You'd think people would just take one look at Sam Niel's eyebrows and know he's evil... 

You can tell it's not really an "Abrams" show, though. For one thing, every one of his shows has had a crackling pilot episode. Abrams writes cinematic pilots that feel almost like season finales in how strongly they move from premise to action. Alcatraz isn't written poorly, it's just kind of... workman-like. It does what it needs to do, and not a lot more.

Still the premise is interesting and the groundwork is laid... and network TV hasn't exactly overwhelmed me with shows to watch this season, so I'll be watching.

And wondering how they're going to handle putting their lead in athletic situations without seeming exploitive. Even with the near-mummy-wrap they had her in in the pilot, when she was running after the villain, it was kinda hard not to notice she was moving in two very different directions...

No matter how hot the racist scumbag rape-bait is, I'll give it a few weeks so I can see if they intend to Fringe it up, before I get on board. 

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Originally Posted by Farsight 

You can tell it's not really an "Abrams" show, though. For one thing, every one of his shows has had a crackling pilot episode. Abrams writes cinematic pilots that feel almost like season finales in how strongly they move from premise to action. Alcatraz isn't written poorly, it's just kind of... workman-like. It does what it needs to do, and not a lot more.

 

This.  I realize Abrams is a busy guy these days, but its still a shame he can't be a little more hands on with this stuff.  Hopefully some of the other Bad Robot regulars like Jack Bender stick around.

I always feel obligated to a give a new show at least a couple more episodes beyond the pilot - only a handful have managed to win me over completely, day 1 - but Alcatraz feels like its headed for a major identity crisis, in that I'm not confident that they are going to find a satisfying way to balance boring cop procedural with wacky sci-fi. 

Finished watching the 2 hour premier of this and it very much feels like 2 seperate episodes (which it is of course) The first episode being the overall series arc and the 2nd episode beign the Monster of the week. 

First episode had Sylvane getting a key to Alcatraz from someone who was keeping it then killing him because he was told to do so as well as getting revenge for his harsh treatment by the assistant warden.  I must admit that the way they were playing his hard luck story I was expecting him to be part of the team by the end of the hour but they didn't go that way (yet).  The question that didn't get raised or even commented on was that the Grandfather of Jones character has obviously come back prior to Sylvane which raises the question of how many prisoners/guards of the 302 have returned prior to the series beginning and with the little stinger at the end of the 2nd episode showing that not is all it seems with Hausers team or even how/why a guard ended up with the FBI (if he is even with them of course).

The 2nd episode was your basic monster of the week with little attempt to move the overall story forward other than some more introduction to the Warden of Alcatraz in the 60's and reminded me a lot of various series monster of the week episodes which isn't a good thing because I don't believe they will be able to get away with stand alone episodes with this show as it simply isn't compelling enough to watch another show of two miss matched partners solving a race againt time to catch the bad guy.

Overall the vibe I got was The 4400 meets Castle but it has some work to do to meet those shows yet.

Definitely in on this one. Really enjoyed the pilot and cant wait to see more of this show.

So it's painfully obvious the Warden is from our time right?   Or he's from the 60's but is still the same age in our time?   I feel like I've figured most of the mystery out from the first two episodes but we'll see.  

What about Undercovers?

 

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Originally Posted by Brandon 

I certainly agree with the sentiment that it didn't feel like an Abrams pilot. Lost, Fringe and Alias all had ambitious and memorable pilots.

 

 

This show is dull.  I love Hurley and the lead cop has a great rack, but they need to get to the point quickly.  Don't wait till the season finally to show a glimpse of who is behind this.  The first 2 episodes just have hired guns.  They have those in our time who don't get caught/aren't in the system.  I need a reason fast why these people are here now and being used like this.

Fringemay be working out great but only because they were told to get to the alt universe earlier.  Lost/Alias started great but never gave decent answere to the mysteries.

I don't trust the Abrams peope enough to add this to DVR.  I'll check the thread to see if something epic happens.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brandon 

Really at the heart of Alcatraz is pursuing the inmates. Every week we’ll be catching or not catching one of those inmates.

 

So... they're committed to making this show as boring as possible apparently.  

Lost, the epic sweeping mythology show.  Fringe, the semi prodcedural show that occasionally shows glimpses of epic mythology, yet has the freedom to explore some pretty kick ass sci fi concepts.  Alcatraz, the show with one concept that it will beat into the ground.

If you want truly serial programming, stop looking at network TV. A mishmash of procedural and serial is the best you're going to find. For example, Person of Interest looked extremely procedural early on, but has recently mixed in many more serial elements to great effect. Fringe was the same. Even LOST was procedural at first - it just used the flashbacks focusing on one person's story to present a fresh take on the procedural format.

I don't think there was anything wrong with the format of the two episodes we saw... they just need to make the characters inhabiting that format more interesting.

After all, big stretches of Justified would qualify as procedural, but it all goes down super-smooth.

I'm sorry, but why would the cop pick up evidence with her bare hands and then pass it to her partner?  If this is supposed to be a procedural, they should at least try to get that part at least close to right.

And the Lost music cues are kinda hilariously heavy-handed.

I think classifying Lost as a "procedural" is twisting the definition of that term beyond all semblance of logic.  I could see lumping something like House into that category (albeit a "medical procedural" rather than the standard police or investigative variety), but a standalone or "monster/villain of the week" format is not synonymous with a procedural one.  Just saying.

As for the music cues... I'd say get used to it, 'cause Fringe has been doing it for four seasons and shows no signs of stopping (LoL).  You get used to it after a while.

So far, the show is seriously reminding me of The 4400.  Here's hoping they come up with a VERY inventive and original explanation of where these guys have been and who brought them here, to avoid further emulating that series.

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Originally Posted by Brandon 

I would easily watch 42 minutes of her wiping blood out of her cleavage with a wet paper towel week after week.

That's about all I remember from the pilot.....this one will get a second week on the dvr, but if it backs up more than 2 weeks then I cancel the series recording.
 

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Originally Posted by TonyB79 

I think classifying Lost as a "procedural" is twisting the definition of that term beyond all semblance of logic. 

The flashbacks were a procedural -element-. They introduced a storyline and resolved it all within the same episode. That procedural nod was a pretty brilliant way to hook new viewers who might be tuning in for the first time, and probably is a big reason why LOST succeeded where so many other network attempts at serial programming have failed.

If you don't have a clever new twist on the procedural concept, you either have to go fully serial and risk having no audience, or use standard procedural tropes and risk diluting your show. At this point, Alcatraz looks diluted. But then, so did Person of Interest early on, and it's turned out to be very serial, and quite good.

So it's basically a serial killer show where the killers were all transported through time? I don't see how this is much different from CSI plot wise. I don't know maybe if it was like the 4400 and they had powers or something........im keeping it on the DVR for at least a couple weeks.

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Originally Posted by Waaaaaaaalt 

So it's basically a serial killer show where the killers were all transported through time? I don't see how this is much different from CSI plot wise. I don't know maybe if it was like the 4400 and they had powers or something........im keeping it on the DVR for at least a couple weeks.

I was thinking that Alcatraz is kinda like that short-lived show "Brimstone", but with less Satan.

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Originally Posted by VTRan 

I was thinking that Alcatraz is kinda like that short-lived show "Brimstone", but with less Satan.

 

Yes but they all had really good back stories and could do something interesting. These guys simply kill people. And while some of them may have complicated insane serial killer tendencies not all of them do right? I mean out of all the prisoners, how many were serial killers in the truest sense? Weren't there people there for a couple armed robberies? What I mean is, I don't know how they could tell one of their crimes from normal shit you see in general. Also why do they all stay near Alcatraz? I feel like I might skip the country, at least Mexico.
 

The first guy was there for robbing  what turned out to technically be a post office.  The inhuman treatment they received turned them into killers, if they weren't already killers to begin with.

They've also been set up to do this, so there's some overall plan at work.

Still, you'd think that guys that haven't been in circulation for fifty years would be worse at crime than guys that have been around since CSI first came on.

I keep hoping Simon Phoenix will turn up and just go apeshit in San Angeles, Frisco, rather.

I liked it. I find myself becoming more a sucker for procedurals, but especially those with a little sci-fi hook to them (omg Fringe...). I'm sure the guys are being brainwashed (hence the Demolition Man comment) but it would be nice to have one guy escape and just say 'screw it, I'm cashing out my untouched 401k and living on the beach somewhere'.

I liked the little reveal at the end with the doctor, but bleh.  They need to scrap the boring one-off procedural shit as soon as possible.  I'm kinda curious to find out just what the hell is going on in the flashbacks, but even then, I'm mainly wishing the show-runners had just made a wacky sci-fi prison show set in the 60s instead.  Granted, we would be without Sarah Jones' awesome rack, but at this point, I can confidently say that that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.

The show's spending way too much time on the character of the killers. They've been uniformly one-note and boring, and take up time that could be spent on things that will matter after the episode ends. Each episode we've gotten an origin story for a a character that isn't in the main cast.

They need to set aside a few minutes to let us get to know and like our lead (rack aside). Or else, just back-burner her and let Hurley carry the show. I'd be totally on board it being his character's journey that drove the story.

Agreed on the already boring formula of Prisoner of the Week cases, and oh god her Rack and Curves - am loving the drift back to more filled out actresses...if only she didn't have that annoying flick of hair.

I only saw the first two episodes, but does Sylvane have any siginificant presence in future episodes?  It seems like they built him up to be kinda sympathetic, but are they going to use him for anything?

So, how does Kit Nelson know about cellphones?

Somebody has to be prepping these guys for their future (our present).

Is anybody still watching this?

Sure. It's only a 13-episode season, right? I'm in for the whole thing. It looks like a lock to get renewed as well, so here's hoping it ramps up as it goes.

This isn't amazingly good, but it's better than Terra Nova.

And I watched Terra Nova.

I'm really trying to get into this, but it really feels like Reaper with all the fun removed.  And yes, I'll take Ray Wise over Sam Neill any day.  Maybe even put Forster in Neill's role.

Also, the lead actress's face and acting style really remind me of a female version of Edward Furlong from T2.  Gotta be the hair.  Like it's already been mentioned, focusing on the rack helps, but every so often I expect her to train Hurley to say 'Hasta la vista, baby'.

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Originally Posted by neoolong 

So, how does Kit Nelson know about cellphones?

 

Somebody has to be prepping these guys for their future (our present).

 

Is anybody still watching this?

Yep, and I'm willing to bet it's Sarah Jones' grandfather.  Notice how none of the prisoners seem to be the least bit fucked-up about having traveled 50 years into the future.

I'm still on board, even though this past episode is the weakest yet.  The elements are there; I'm just curious to see if they're going to build on them.  

I'm inclined to think that in a "twist", it's going to turn out that these guys didn't actually time travel in the usual sense.

Oh, and considering how easy it's been for the gang to catch the criminals they've caught so far, how come it doesn't seem like they're doing much to catch her grandfather?

Considering the shows main characters literally have zero curiousity about why this is happening, I'd say reading into subtle behavior isn't really a reliable way to analyze this show.