Impressions: Bad Robot’s ‘Alcatraz’

 

 

Warning: Spoilers ahead for those who haven’t seen the series premiere!

Source:  YouTube User FoxBroadcasting

It seems like Fox is really being aggressive with its television programming as of late.  Last fall, they launched with the Spielberg-produced ‘Terra Nova’, which is headed by Star Trek alum Brannon Braga.  ‘Terra Nova’ has some serious promise with great production values despite its shortcomings in the collective acting performances.  Hopefully the writers will give us the equivalent of ‘Enterprise: Season 3′.  Recently though, Fox just lauched Bad Robot’s ‘Alcatraz’.

I didn’t follow any of the hype with ‘Alcatraz’ to save myself from spoilers, but one glance at the opening credits and the names J.J. Abrams, Michael Giacchino, and Jack Bender caught my eye.  These are the same names that I associate with the greatest television show ever – ‘Lost’.  My expectations of ‘Alcatraz’ went through the roof, especially coming off of my ‘Super 8′ high as of late.

After 2 hours of the series premiere, there’s no doubt in my mind that this show will have a strong following.  The performances have been safe thus far with no real need for range, but I do see the need for a character that the audience can latch on to, which was Matthew Fox’s role in Bad Robot’s last outing.  None of the characters have that appeal yet because they haven’t been put into a dangerous situation just yet.  The character Lucy Banerjee (portrayed by Indian actress Paraminder Nagra) is the only character to be placed in any mortal danger, but I feel that we haven’t been given any time to break bread with the character to feel any emotional connection to her to feel sorry for her.

Another ‘Lost’ parallel is the mysterious backstory that will drive the story.  So far, all we know is that there was a disappearance on the day that Alcatraz was to be closed.  302 prisoners and prison staff disappeared and are re-appearing in the present day.  Wormholes, alien abduction, and Atlantian theories have already surfaced; however, the writers need to brilliantly nurture these theories without really giving away the secret until the very end.  The problem: time travel is getting old and we need a fresh spin on it.   I also hope the writing is as good as ‘Lost’, which worries me because the two names I didn’t see on the opening credits are Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse.  Here’s hoping that the scribes on deck are just as good, if not better.

Source:  YouTube User FoxBroadcasting

 

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