Mystery men

JJ Abrams has something of a magic touch for high octane TV thrillers, so when I heard that he had a fresh one up his sleeve, grinning anticipation crept in. As well as being responsible for the applauded and abandoned by many in frustration (mainly due to its channel switching, darn you Sky!) the long-running Lost, other spooky and unexplained strings to his bow include Alias, Fringe and on the big screen Super 8 and Star Trek. So to find him not migrating full time to Hollywood with big budgets and possibly following the lost wanderings of M Night Shyamalan in keeping the all essential trademark ‘out there-ness’ is a delight and a surprise. Time to introduce you to Alcatraz.

I’m sorry, I can’t think of the word ‘Alcatraz’ without hearing it in the voice of Eddie Izzard as he introduces the island’s history in the opening of his Dressed To Kill show. Mustn’t giggle. It is indeed a former prison island in the bay of San Francisco, known to be inescapable and a harrowing time for all. Brutal in itself and filled with the most brutal prisoners the system had to offer, with rehabilitation not really on the agenda of the governor. In 1963 it was closed down due to cost cutting measures. Or so the powers that be would have us believe…

It’s always good to have a conspiracy from the off before you even start with unwrapping any answers to find more questions (don’t forget answers at some point though Mr Abrams; learn from your Lost debacle). This opening episode sets the scene and the premise. Bad guys from 1963 are arriving good as new, or at least as good as they ever were, with an agenda of their own, plus one of an unknown force. The force that took them in the first place. Detective Becky is our everywoman having her eyes opened to this as her path intersects that of a re-appearing con, and that of the good expert Doc (Hurley from Lost is back! Yay!). Doc knows more than everyone else has ever forgotten about the island prison having written four books on the subject. And knowing more than they’re letting on but possibly being on our side at this point are Sam Neill and Parminder Nagra.
Big government bods – he’s American and she’s been allowed her British accent again. Ever so mysterious.

“He’s American and she’s been allowed her British accent again. Mysterious”

There are 302 people missing from 1963, a mixture of guards and inmates. That’s a possibility of 302 episodes or – more likely – most of a season’s episodes and then one calamitous release to push things to crisis point as they explode from wherever they are and our heroes stagger against unbelieveable odds. Not that I’ve seen it. It’s just what I might do.

But if there is one thing we have learned about JJ Abrams’ form is that it rarely follows predictions. The first episode of Alcatraz was fun. It could pootle along quite happily. But with these people involved I’d like it to do more than pootle. I can’t wait until episode two to find out where it’s going to go next.
Alcatraz, Watch, Tuesday 13 March