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TV: Review: Alcatraz

I enjoy being challenged with what ifs from history.  I love a good alternative history and the potential that it either could have been true or just maybe it did.

Plot:
Alcatraz gives us the what if all the inmates at Alcatraz disappeared and the government covered it up. Then those same inmates started showing up almost 50 years later and committing horrific crimes but they had not aged one day.

Emerson Hauser is a former guard at Alcatraz and has been preparing from the inmates to show back up by forming a shadow task force to hunt them down for when they show up.. Detective Rebecca Madsen and Dr. Diego Soto stumble upon this and team up to help catch the criminals.  An unenthusiastic Hauser reluctantly accept their assistance.

Hauser has a ton of secrets and is not always helpful in catching the criminals. He has a secret new Alcatraz where he is keeping the inmates that are captured.

What I liked about this Show:
This show has a bit of mystery and sci-fi feel to it.  New questions form with every episode (at least for the first 3 episodes). It reminds me a bit of LOST (not just because it has Jorge Garcia– Hurley from LOST) and reminds me even more of Fringe. This show will keep me questioning and guessing and that is unusually pleasant compared to most television shows.

At the heart of this show it is a cop/detective show but with a twist. Again it is similar to Fringe in this and at times has a bit of a Castle feel. I enjoy a good cop show that is bigger than itself.

Dr. Diego Soton (Jorge Garcia) is a great and quirky character. He is a comic book artist and he owns his own comic book shop. He is an expert on Alcatraz and has written several books on Alcatraz history and their inmates.  He appears to have issues with socializing and building relationships. He is unsure if he really wants to be involved but seems driven to help.  

What I did not Like:
I could see this show becoming redundant and boring after a while. They can only do episodes about so many different type of inmates even though they have over 300 to catch. They may be able to keep things fresh with the sci-fi and questions on what happened to the inmates and why are they showing up now. But if not done properly, it could self destruct.

Review:I am enjoying this series so far. It has enough quirkiness to make it fun and interesting.  Leaving huge questions out there worked for LOST and Fringe and it seems to be working for Alcatraz. After all it is J.J. Abrams and he does seem to know how to pull this off.

This series has earned a place on my DVR through the rest of the season and longer if it continues to be this good.


My Grade:B+

Other Reviews
IMDB: 7.7
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