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POLL : What did you think of Alcatraz - Pilot/Ernest Cobb?

17 Jan 2012

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76 comments:

  1. DarqueMode17 January 2012 at 02:57

    Nice seeing Greyston Holt .. always liked him.
    First thought, it's hard not to see Hurley when looking at Jorge...

    Second thought, I kept waiting to see floating locations like on FRINGE! XD That score music reminds me quite a bit of FRINGE.

    Third thought..... I seriously cannot watch this live again (or any series on FOX) if there will be so many ads for American Idol! That show is even annoying in 30 second increments!

    Enjoyed the first hour quite a bit, a nice set up for the series myth arc. I do wish they would have toned down Hauser's glares a bit. Neill is menacing and intriguing without overdoing it....I think they need to tone down the caricature aspects of the three leads a little, but I guess that as pretty common in many pilots. Establish the character's most compelling trait and then add in the layers over time...

    Part two started off interesting, but some of the small things annoyed me....
    What detective who was raised by cops finds evidence and grabs it with bare fingers? Then to make it even more contaminated, she hands it to another barehanded person.... Doc Soto.  I guess maybe you can argue she knows who it is and does not need to run it for fingerprints or DNA, but it still seems like a detail that they could have easily factored in and avoided a simply  continuity error like that.

    I like the Warden placing the motormouth con in with Mr peace-and-quiet! That is the perfect revenge on some one like that! XD

    Overall I think it was a nice start to the series. I'm not entirely sure it needed to be 2 hours though  since it was basically two separate episodes. It did allow us to get a little more insight into the past and into Hauser... which is a good thing in my book.I love the fact that he has a dark side that borders on, or crosses into illegality.

    I'm glad that there is a fair amount of myth arc in the first 2 episodes! It gives me hope that there will be a continuing overarching story in every episode and the cases of the week seemed to almost be secondary at this point. I'm sure that will change more as the season progresses, but it gives me some hope of a nice hybrid serial element I feared would not be apparent in every episode!

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  2. ScottA17 January 2012 at 02:59

    Probably not going to watch again.

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  3. Bart Burnett17 January 2012 at 03:24

    That was a pretty amazing premiere.  I expected it to flop, but between the Giacchino music and plot it really blew me away.  I'll definitely keep watching.  Lots of LOST tributes too.

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  4. Linlighthouse17 January 2012 at 03:25

    I voted okay. The first hour entertained me. The female lead is very good, and very pretty. Jorge is right for this role, and I like the two of them teamed up: the cop with the expert. Sam Neill was good. This pilot is very similar to the pilot for Torchwood. Female cop investigates strange goings on and ends up joining a secret mission without thinking twice.

    The second hour, the sniper story, upset me and I was just not in the mood for seeing nice young people being picked off, so I switched to another show halfway through.

    I plan to watch again next week and see if this grows on me. Nevertheless, it has a similar tone to other shows that I watch so there's competition for my time.

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  5. Wilson Crawford17 January 2012 at 03:26

    Any other SPN fans recognize the "gym" that was also a hospital in like 3-4 episodes of SPN?
    Still watching the pilot, so far it's really good, but too similar to Fringe for me...

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  6. cindychandler17 January 2012 at 03:27

    Eh. I'm thinking that this show is just not for me. It felt forced. I don't like the idea of a "creature (in this case, criminal) of the week." I get that there is a lot to set up...but when the character that you liked the most (Jack Sylvane) is the criminal of the week...well...it doesn't bode well for me DVRing the show.

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  7. vicmic0817 January 2012 at 03:27

    I have to say it was pretty interesting and entertaining, let's see if it can continue to hold my attention for the next couple episodes.

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  8. Sezorin17 January 2012 at 03:32

    I really enjoyed it and will be sticking with it for now.

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  9. Marty188517 January 2012 at 03:41

    I loved it. From beginning to end.

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  10. vicmic0817 January 2012 at 03:56

    I think Jack is more then just the criminal of the week, he apparently has main cast status and will be around for awhile.

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  11. SmallvilleSupernaturalCastle17 January 2012 at 04:12

    Alcatraz was pretty awsome. I kind’ve felt bad for Jack Sylvane he was a war hero and a thief and got sent to alcratz. I mean he did a little bad after but still I think he didn’t deserve all that hatred and disrepest by tiller and the doctor. I like the main characters especially sam neill great actor and always going to be our jurrassic park dude. I don’t even watch the 2nd ever because he wasn’t in it. The other two main characters are fun and good. Its funny how well they make these flashbacks because most flashbacks in shows don’t show much story or likeness to it unless 1 or more main character is used and in these flashbacks so far the story and substance depends on how well the actor and character that guest stars is. And most of the characters that will probably lead the flashbacks will be our inmates so I congratulate the writers and director on doing these good flashbacks to explain the origins of the inmates. And it looks like jack is a main character I wonder how that will work…WAS THAT GIRL AT THE END WHO WALKS INTO COBB THE SAME ONE THAT’S BEEN WORKING WITH SAM NEILL’S CHARACTER? (CANT REMEMBER HIS NAME LOL)? The one who was shot by cobb?

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  12. David Fischer17 January 2012 at 04:18

    It was really good. I hope to see more of Jack Sylvane; he was my favorite character on the show.

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  13. SmallvilleSupernaturalCastle17 January 2012 at 04:21

    its kinda like person of interest. each old inmate is the person of interest with an edge (a sy fy type of edge lol).

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  14. SmallvilleSupernaturalCastle17 January 2012 at 04:23

    O MAN Y U DO THAT? u missed the shocking end!

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  15. DarqueMode17 January 2012 at 04:26

    That's how I look at it so far too. They already answered more about the mystery than say FRINGE or LOST would have, but I found it interesting enough to keep tuned in. Much like Person of Interest. 

    The acting in this is not the same caliber as the aforementioned projects though and that worries me a little. Sam Neill can really over do things and come off cmapy when he is not surrounded by more subtle actors and so far the leads all seemed a bit "obvious" to me if that makes sense.

    Either way it was much better than I expected.

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  16. DarqueMode17 January 2012 at 04:33

    It appears to be the same woman yes. 

    Lucy Banerjee in preent day, but Lucy  (something) Gupta in 1963. So I assume she either has been alive for all this time and not aged (unlikely), she was one of the "63s" that returned and is helping Hauser, or she could be Lucy Gupta's granddaughter and Hauser has kept the Alcatraz secret with in her family..... 

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  17. Wilson Crawford17 January 2012 at 04:39

    I liked the premiere a little more than I was expecting. It didn't flow that well, I suppose the first hour was good even though the whole time I felt like I was watching a Fringe knockoff...The first twist about her grandfather was enough to get me intrigued: The obligatory losing-your-partner opening scene was more important than I expected, and it made sense in retrospect that the killer just kinda looked at her like a moron when she was chasing him. That made the first hour better for me, (and Jack Sylvane's story was alright as well. I look forward to what he can contribute to the series later)... Sam Neill's character should become more toned down a bit, and they need to work on his dialogue, but he intrigues me as well. He's got a sharp attitude, much like the cruel guards of Alcatraz. 

    The new Alcatraz-like facility was an interesting place that piqued my interest again, and in episode 2, Ernest Cobb was just creepy and well-dressed enough to really be a great criminal of the week. His sniping scenes were upsetting, but just enough to keep it dark and make the consequences feel more dramatic. They even killed 2-3 kids (teens) in this episode... Rough stuff. The flashback story was entertaining as well, and it's nice to see a link where we see a scene from the episode before in another character's eyes. I like the possibility that through each of the characters we'll see parts of the mystery unfold.

    Meanwhile, Doc (as our lead character calls Jorge Garcia's character) was questioning Sam Neill's pretty sidekick doctor, "Why are you being all mellow and stuff, man?" is what it came down to, and I figured at the time it was just because she was a cardboard character, useless beyond a prop for information. She was certainly calm, collected, and boring. However, then we see Mr. 47 Picket Fences Cobb take her out through the window. Once again, I'm shocked by the stakes they've thrown at us so fast. 

    The rest of the episode unfurled with the duo figuring out his plans and stopping him. Then he was brought back to Alcatraz 2.0 and as he walked by Sylvane, a look of awe swept across his face. I'm not sure if it was because he wasn't expecting him to be there, or if there's something we don't know yet. However, this was almost erased from my mind by the final flashback: Turns out she's not boring, she just happens to be from the 1960s! I think that last scene is what sealed the deal for me. 

    Looking back, overall it was a well-made 2 episode premiere, not necessarily 100% thrilling all the time, but it was (like the Fringe series premiere) just enough to really get me interested. I hope this show can make me proud! 

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  18. DarqueMode17 January 2012 at 04:43

    I'm of the opposite mindset honestly. 

    I felt going in that if I did not like the case of the week criminals intensely the show would fall flat. I think the "63s" have to be more charismatic or intriguing than the modem day team that is hunting them. 

    I can grow to like or love the lead actors as we get to know them, but the "63s" will have one episode to win us over and therefore have to be more appealing in one way or another so they draw us in immediately.

    For me the mystery was the most important factor of the pilot. If the mystery did not sell to me I was not going to keep watching. The main cast has to be likable, but not as likable as the overall premise in the pilot. On that front it worked. I want to know how they disappeared, how Lucy is connected to the disappearances, and more about how Hauser has spent the last 50+ years waiting for them to return.

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  19. DarqueMode17 January 2012 at 04:47

    I liked it much more than I expected as well for many of the same reasons. Most of all I was impressed and pleasantly surprised by how seiralized the two episodes were and how much information they gave us in just two episodes.

    On a personal level I think they gave us too much information to ofast, but I understand that many  viewers need every question answered fast before they lose interest or get confused.

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  20. Laurie Edwards17 January 2012 at 04:59

    I think Sam Neill is the show's weak point--his acting seems forced, and his character is unnecessary (so far as we've seen)--but other than that, "Alcatraz" made me happy. I love the back-and-forth time line. Oh--and Garcia is wonderfully understated. He never got enough credit on "LOST."

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  21. dawson_son17 January 2012 at 10:30

    i totally loved the premiere. I think there small issues but all shows dont seem perfect in the first 2 eps.The plot is very mysterious so far and the characters are pretty interesting . I didnt thought i would like it so much but it got me so far lets see if the rest eps would roll better if not the same

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  22. prpleight17 January 2012 at 10:34

    I hate the way Sam Neil says 19.  :-)



    The pilot ep was...ploddy.  I'm used to pilots being um... difficult to watch and this one fell right into that category.



    So, I suppose the downside to sending criminals back from where ever (I almost said future. :-) ) is that you have to put up with them taking care of their own agendas.  



    This is a show that's definitely riding on plot...none of the actors are really jumping off the screen.



    I love that Hauser had Alcatraz rebuilt.  But, it kind of niggled me that they let Hurley and the chick on the team so easily.  



    I think it'll be a few episodes before I've figured out the show and how whether I like it or not.



    Watching the second ep…What on earth was the wardrobe department *thinking* with Rebecca's costume for ep two?



    I begin to see the bonus of having psychiatrists in prisons.  Cause what's his dude (Ernest Cobb) is a major nut job.



    Huh,  I thought Lucy'd be around longer.  Am trying to figure out what I've seen the woman playing Lucy in before.  Oh!  ER? And a British Soccer movie.



    I love that this guy is obsessed with begin awe from the people.



    Hee hee.  I figured the Cobb's punishment would be something like that.  Though I think the blabbermouth prisoner should have been worried about driving Cobb to attack him directly.



    lol  Is Dr. Sangupta a psychiatrist?



    So, what was the point of sending Cobb back.  Are they all back for missions for whoever took the prisoners? or not?  Was Cobb's mission buried in the shooting victims and we just don't know it yet?



    I'm interested.  From some of the pre-premiere news…I'm still worried that this will tank.  But I'm intrigued enough to give the show a little time to find itself.

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  23. prpleight17 January 2012 at 10:35

    I hate the way Sam Neil says 19.  :-)



    The pilot ep was...ploddy.  I'm used to pilots being um... difficult to watch and this one fell right into that category.



    So, I suppose the downside to sending criminals back from where ever (I almost said future. :-) ) is that you have to put up with them taking care of their own agendas.  



    This is a show that's definitely riding on plot...none of the actors are really jumping off the screen.



    I love that Hauser had Alcatraz rebuilt.  But, it kind of niggled me that they let Hurley and the chick on the team so easily.  



    I think it'll be a few episodes before I've figured out the show and how whether I like it or not.



    Watching the second ep…What on earth was the wardrobe department *thinking* with Rebecca's costume for ep two?



    I begin to see the bonus of having psychiatrists in prisons.  Cause what's his dude (Ernest Cobb) is a major nut job.



    Huh,  I thought Lucy'd be around longer.  Am trying to figure out what I've seen the woman playing Lucy in before.  Oh!  ER? And a British Soccer movie.



    I love that this guy is obsessed with begin awe from the people.



    Hee hee.  I figured the Cobb's punishment would be something like that.  Though I think the blabbermouth prisoner should have been worried about driving Cobb to attack him directly.



    lol  Is Dr. Sangupta a psychiatrist?



    So, what was the point of sending Cobb back.  Are they all back for missions for whoever took the prisoners? or not?  Was Cobb's mission buried in the shooting victims and we just don't know it yet?



    I'm interested.  From some of the pre-premiere news…I'm still worried that this will tank.  But I'm intrigued enough to give the show a little time to find itself.

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  24. prpleight17 January 2012 at 10:42

    deja vu --- all the complaints about Sam and Dean leaving their prints all over crime scenes in Supernatural. 

    It amazes me that, even in this day and age when people like us pickup on and criticize little things like people leaving finger prints laying around and contaminating evidence, the staffs on shows figure no one will notice.  argh.

    My theory about the two ep run as that they recognized that the iffiness of the pilot would be offset by a "regular ep."

    What myth arc elements did you see in the second ep?  Because, I missed them.  I got the flashbacks..and they were a nice way to fill us in on who the target of the week was but I didn't see how it moved the arc forward.

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  25. DarqueMode17 January 2012 at 11:44

    There was not a lot of myth arc in Episode 2 you're right...

    I guess we got a better look at  the "New Alcatraz" where ironically the old Alcatraz prisoners are to be locked up. Then at the end we got to see Lucy was one of the doctors performing tests on prisoners in '63.

    Off the top of my head that's all I can think of... the first scene and the last scene of the episode.

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  26. DarqueMode17 January 2012 at 11:47

    Oh ha! She was Jess in Bend it Like Beckham wasn't she!
     I missed that!

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  27. prpleight17 January 2012 at 11:56

    I'd be really curious to know how long the LOST pilot sat in a drawer, so to speak.  (By which I mean...was it a pet project that sat in Abrams drawer to be polished over years like, for example, Buffy's pilot.)  This pilot felt very young.  Because of JJ Abrams' name (even though he didn't write the pilot.)  I kept comparing it to the LOST pilot and the biggest thing I missed was the spark in the characters.

    I'm really curious to see eps 6 and 10.  Hope its on air long enough for me to catch them.

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  28. laura334117 January 2012 at 13:39

    I have to say i liked it more than i thought it would,it seems that when we have snow i loose cable,and sure enough last night we did.So because of said blackouts i missed a lot for both episodes.I will need to find it somewhere so i can actually watch the whole episode without interruptions...

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  29. DarthLocke417 January 2012 at 14:03

    Great!

    and I apologize in advanced for this long long post...in fact it's so long that Disqus is disgusted at me and won't let me post it XD

    So here's a link to the post in the forum:http://www.spoilertv.co.uk/forum/posting.php?mode=edit&f=52&p=633154

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  30. DarthLocke417 January 2012 at 14:06

    I actually find him a hard character to peg...he seems to be set up as a Arvin Sloane, Charles Widmore, William Bell kind of character, but granted because of Lucy's reveal, it's even harder to say who's good or bad on the show, besides Rebecca and Diego!

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  31. Linlighthouse17 January 2012 at 14:08

    Okay, okay. I recorded it. I'll finish watching later this week. Maybe tonight!

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  32. DarthLocke417 January 2012 at 14:08

    There could be more time traveling then we think as well, because these things have to be prepared in '2011' for it to work,,,(ex: gun in gunshop, hotel keys, coat with fairy fair, ect)

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  33. DarthLocke417 January 2012 at 14:11

    I liked it more than expected too! --for both the two bigger reveals, but I also like the characters and how everything is filmed.I care about the criminals, I care about who's right and wrong, who's innocent and who isn't. I care about Rebecca and Diego going up against everyone.

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  34. Linlighthouse17 January 2012 at 14:11

    "Similar" is the word. I thought it was similar to Person of Interest, with characters who are doing good work on their own but can't let the authorities in on it. Also, Ringer. Not saying I won't watch it, just that my dance card for this type of story is filling up.

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  35. DarkUFO17 January 2012 at 14:15

    Yep, pretty much sum up my feelings. I was pleasantly surprised by the whole show. The 2 hrs flew by

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  36. DarthLocke417 January 2012 at 14:15

    I always expect most Bad Robot works to feel alike and even though there are some LOST parallels, there are surely more Alias and Fringe parallels at this point.

    But I am always looking for anothe good B.R. work, because each work is similar to another, but taken from a different angle...like in this case we get to look at the criminals, who seemingly in some causes are also victims.

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  37. Wilson Crawford17 January 2012 at 14:16

    Sarah Jones' character is like a mashup of Starbuck from BSG and Olivia Dunham, (mostly for her situation discovering a secret conspiracy and having to be added to an FBI taskforce, or so we are to believe) only she's not that interesting. I hope over time her character settles in, and we can like her more because all the characters are just a bit flat at the moment... Maybe that'll change. I remember not liking Peter so much in the pilot of Fringe because they had him say one-liner after one-liner, so maybe these things will shift around over time.

    I'm giving it a full 1 season to watch. If it can match Fringe's first season, then I'm all aboard the boat to Alcatraz.

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  38. Linlighthouse17 January 2012 at 14:19

    That's true. And no one was crazy about the first season of Fringe, but hopped on board when the second season changed the game. I'm giving it a chance.

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  39. Wilson Crawford17 January 2012 at 14:22

    I have to say I really enjoyed the look of the show. The whole time I was just enamored by the lighting, angles, and the tone set by the coloring of the film, etc. It was very much a big reason I enjoyed it so much, because even if a story is good, if you have low production values, it looks cheap and unsatisfying, so shows like this (and Fringe) win me over easily with their wonderful cinematography. It was like watching a movie!

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  40. Wilson Crawford17 January 2012 at 14:25

    I've been meaning to watch Alias for years now. Maybe I can find it on Netflix. 
    And I do agree about the parallels being really more similar to Fringe than Lost (which is strange because of the island and all...)

    What's funny to me is that we didn't get to see a plane in the pilot...We got really intense plane scenes that were vital to the story for both Lost and Fringe, I just figured they would have a plane incident in each of their pilots from now on... lol

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  41. DarqueMode17 January 2012 at 14:49

    Well there is definitely some form of time travel in the series, but what kind and how much?

    Were the "63s" in stasis for 69 years or did they jump from 1963 to the present? Is someone actively sending one back at a time or have they all returned at once? Is returning to 2012 the "63s" choice or is a designated time point? 

    Was Lucy part of the original experimentation on prisoners or has she been going back and forth from present to 1963 to present to collect blood, prints, information, and DNA from the "63s"?

    I'm not trying to delve in too deeply just yet, but was Alcatraz some sort of experimentation on prisoners in an attempt to test and control time travel, or was the time travel a side effect of experiments?

    As the series moves on I'm interested in figuring out if the "gift bags" for the "63s" were set up in 63 or if they were more recently dropped in preperation of their return.... Right now it could be either since most of the first places the returnees went to were post WWII buildings.

    A lot we cannot know just yet with so few details, although I still feel like this pilot gave us more answers - or more maybe it gave us more specific questions - than LOST or FRINGE.

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  42. DarqueMode17 January 2012 at 15:10

    Had to hunt for your article, but it was worht it!

    We had some of the same thoughts on time travel and the plot... I too was far more impressed than I expected. While I certainly could see flaws in the episodes,  both hours were at least entertaining TV and I am not quite sure how or why so many critics panned it I guess.

    I can see serial fans like myself think Episode 2 was too COTW and I can see procedural fans thinking Episode 1 was too serialized I guess. I cannot see anyone thinking this was set up to lead to unanswered questions though since so much more was given in this pilot than most Abrams projects.

    The characters were somewhat lacking to me, but I have absolutely no issue with spending less time on the 3 lead actors than the overarching story in this first week. Story is always more important to establish first in any serious drama, serial drama or complex story. Character development can come along as a series progresses but the story needs to be dealt with from the jump.

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  43. DarthLocke417 January 2012 at 15:11

    Good points about the buildings! -But they would still have to take a chance that those places and people would still be here...

    but, maybe your right, maybe 'they' thought they could just teleport them to the mainland and/or immediate future, but it all goes wrong. Alcatraz happens to built on an Island that's indigious to Native Americans (think primative culture with advanced technology) and every Thanksgiving since it closed, the ancestors have a festival...

    It was also interesting that there are sub floors...that the floor below Jacks' was called, "the whole" and that there is another level below that..and interestingly this seems to be where Hauser's upgraded version  is...

    The thought of a time bubble somewhere on Alcatraz also occurred to me...but I am probably getting ahead of myself.

    --Also Cobb is the name of character mentioned on Fringe in "Johari Window" -he was the scientist who created "Project Elephant", that the government lied about the scope of the experiment, and so many people of the town became genetically deformed.

    IMO because we have a period of 1960-1963 to play with in these flashbacks, I think "sleeper agent" like experiments may also be going on... it makes me think of "the Jacket"/"The Star Rover", and "Twelve Monkeys"...

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  44. DarthLocke417 January 2012 at 15:17

    Thanks for reading. In som ways I agree that we really haven't gotten to know the characters yet, but yet I also like them despite it...but I agree the story in the Pilot needed established before we can really go anywhere. (Oh I fixed the link! -I am all sorts of chaos today!)

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  45. Branden Ian Walsh17 January 2012 at 15:59

    I thought it was a great first couple of episodes. Definitely more interesting than I was expecting it to be, it went from being one of the shows I was going to pass in September to one I'm most excited about.

    It may be a little too early to start throwing around theories but who is "Kelvin"? The boat at the start of Episode 1 had "Warden Kelvin" on the front of it and then during Cobb's second shooting (not including Lucy) there was a sign for "Kelvin Fish Cannery". It could just be a coincidence or one of those recurring elements every Abrams series seems to have but it got me intrigued.

    As for the leaving fingerprints people are talking about, it usually does annoy me when these sort of things happen but this time seems a bit more like it just doesn't matter to them. It didn't need to be tested for them to know whose it was and it's not like it was going to be used in a case to convict him or anything. It is an "above the law" type team so maybe it just doesn't matter to them.

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  46. katnewkirk17 January 2012 at 16:57

    is Jorge Garcia's health ok? in some scenes, he didn't look well.

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  47. DarthLocke417 January 2012 at 17:24

    I am glad you liked what you saw! I hope you find a way to rewatch it though!

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  48. laura334117 January 2012 at 17:46

    Me too,it was a little frustrating,after the 1st episode it got pretty bad,to the point where i really have no idea what was going on.I'll be getting off in a minute to hunt the second episode down so i can watch it. I will be back later on to read your review of it..see ya!

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  49. Lou17 January 2012 at 17:49

    I had been trying not to get myself too excited for this after the very disappointing POI, the mind-numbingly bad Terra Nova and various over flops in the post Lost years, so my expectations were fairly low going into the 2 hour premiere. I am therefore really rather pleased by how much I enjoyed it, I liked the characters of Madsen and Doc from the start and the twist at the end of the second hour actually surprised me and I am one of those guess twists weeks in advance people.

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  50. Justine Kubica17 January 2012 at 18:10

    Great start! Very interesting and well done. Definitely gonna keep watching.

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  51. magnutude17 January 2012 at 18:24

    Great start. Pretty good exposition in the first 2 eps. But there's some work that could be done as well, as the character of Houser could be tweaked a bit to have bit more personality and less glaring and staring. It's also pretty hard not to see Hurley in the Doc character as the characters seem pretty much the same. I am wondering why this secret division doesn't have more backup foot soldiers to help chase down these guys since there are enough people to work as guards in the "new Alcatraz"... but I'm in so far

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  52. chris68417 January 2012 at 19:45

    I was expecting it to be a little creepier, and less about hunting down the bad guy.  I'm hoping they don't the procedural case each week route - hunting down a new bad guy who has come back - and focus more on the mystery behind why it's happening.  But I'll definitely watch again.

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  53. Gary Bird17 January 2012 at 20:58

    Thoughly enjoyed it, be interesting to see if they can maintain the standard.

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  54. DarqueMode17 January 2012 at 22:07

    Each of the episode titles I have seen has one prisoner's name.... so prepare yourself.

    I think it is sad that the creative team is going so far out of their way to appease the sheeple by minimizing the serial aspects, the OBVIOUS serial aspects of the story each week and  need to make it at least  50% procedural case-of-the-week in order to keep ratings up.

    I long for the day when creative teams just make the show they want, are supported by the network, and the sheeple realize it will actually make for better series!

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  55. dunmif17 January 2012 at 22:19

    actually, LOST pilot did not sit in a drawer at all. in 2003, Lloyd Braun came up with a type of Cast Away The Series idea and then had Jeffrey Lieber write the script. It sucked and they ordered a re-write from JJ Abrams, who at first was not fascinated by a bunch of people just stuck on an island playing cocnut bowling and worked in the supernatural angle. He was hired to the project in January 2004 and they had only few weeks to write it with Damon Lindelof, who was brought in.


    So they only had like 2 months max to make the LOST we know and the rest is history :)


    I suppose being a total LOST freak for years and memorizing the development of the show paid off now :D

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  56. prpleight18 January 2012 at 00:40

    That is really interesting.  Usually, it's great to have your odd little knowledge come in handy.  Unless your accountant sister calls to say she ran into a Klingon in a hotel elevator who said they were at something called  {can't remember now} CON and I figured if anyone would know something really weird like that it would be you.  And you know.

    Wow.  Um.  I started this reply to say....'I wasn't too surprised when my research showed that JJ Abrams didn't write this pilot.' 

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  57. DarthLocke418 January 2012 at 01:14

    I couldn't agree more. Don't get me wrong I don't mind occasional procedural episode, that can easily be tied in later, but I do think it's sad that they have to care about catering to it. Like you I prefer serialized television.  

    With that being said I was surprised how much serialization there was between the two episodes, considering they have been SO addimant about not needing to watch every episode factor... But when Abrams expressed how much he liked mythology and serialization in his Alcatraz video, I had a good feeling that I wouldn't be disappointed, like with poor Undercovers. 

    I was scared about the episodes being named after the inmates, but now I think it def just helps keep the mystery with in every episode (especially for those who don't read spoilers) and because I found both Ernest and Jack interesting, makes who the prisoners are way more iconic.

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  58. DarqueMode18 January 2012 at 01:31

    The pilot had more myth arc (quite a lot!) than the second hour, but I think it will be enough to sustain me if it keeps up somewhere between the two.

    I was worried too, but for now I've moved past that and moved Alcatraz straight to my weekly watch list.

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  59. Dahne18 January 2012 at 02:21

    I voted OK mostly because I checked the clock 3 times to see how much time was left and that was only the first hour.  I'll watch the second hour sometime later.  Overall, the premise is intriguing but the characters are iffy and I feel like I've seen this show before. Due to the premised, I'll give it 4 more episodes plus the hour I missed.  If I'm not hooked by then, it goes in the "if I ever have a few hours to spare" pile with about 32 other shows.

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  60. tsavonglah0818 January 2012 at 17:43

    I was positively surprised and liked parts of it. I'm intrigued by the overall mystery and about the stories of the inmates.

    Had problems to get interested into Diego Soto and Rebecca Madsen. They have to offer more so I may get attached to them like for the Fringe characters.

    Hauser and his Assistant's story are way more intriguing and I hope that they can make me care for the 2 main characters more.

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  61. DarthLocke418 January 2012 at 19:45

    I don't know if you have cable or not, but Primetime on Demand has the Pilot under FOX shows...

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  62. laura334118 January 2012 at 20:29

     Yes i do have cable,thanks for letting me know,i thought i could watch it online,but it seems that Fox and Dish have something going.If you are a dish customer( and some cable companys but not Time/Warner,yet) you can watch there shows right away,if not you have to wait 8 days.Its really annoying having to wait especially if your trying to keep up with a particular show...

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  63. klutzy_girl19 January 2012 at 18:32

    Finally watched and I loved it! Definitely going to keep watching.

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  64. Bruce_F19 January 2012 at 22:07

    Not bad.  Not bad at all.
     
    - I liked Sarah Jones as Det. Madsen more that I thought I would.  Her acting is a bit uneven.  At times she's very personable and engaging and other times she's wooden and nondescript, but I think she'll get better.
     - Jorge Garcia as Soto is pretty good.  There's a little too much Hurley in his character though.  I'd like to see a little more confidence from someone with such lofty credentials.
     - The fact that we're not sure about Hauser's motives is a cool aspect of the show.
     - They put Parminder Nagra in a damn coma!?  Not cool.  She wasn't even used very well.  That goes for Robert Forster too.
     - I like the more procedural aspect of the show just for the fact that it may keep more viewers in the long run.
     - Keeping Madsen and Soto segmented and in the dark from the rest of Hauser's operation is a cool mini mystery to start with also.

    My one complaint about the two hour premiere -

    Det. Madsen and her grandfather.  How the hell did Rebecca not recognize her own grandfather?  She had to see his photo on the bulletin board at Alcatraz before she put it together?  That's just ridiculous.

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  65. DarthLocke419 January 2012 at 22:28

    I really took a shine to him too!

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  66. DarthLocke419 January 2012 at 22:33

    I think you make a good point about Rebecca not recognizing Tommy, but in all honesty, she has a picture of him in her head, a proud Alcatraz guard, like her Uncle...Considering how young she is, and thus argumentally inexperienced she may be compared to say, Hauser, I don't think anyone expects to see there Grandparents, who are thought to be dead, alive, young, and somewhat opposite to what she had come to believe.

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  67. DarqueMode19 January 2012 at 22:48

    If I saw a my Grandpa on the street when he was 25 or 30 I would not recognize him. I never saw him then and 95% of all the pictures I ever saw of him were him after I was born... So he was 45-ish or more. My mental image of him is more form when he was 65 or so despite meeting him when he was ate 40s and him living to 97 before dying.

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  68. DarqueMode19 January 2012 at 22:54

    I did not even consider it and I can see it might be an issue or plot hole, but I would not recognize most of my older relatives when they were in their 20s or 30s.

    I'm the photo historian of my side of the family and I have most of the pics of the earlier generations of relatives in this country. The large majority are baby photos, aged around high school graduation or marriage photos, or older holding grandkids at family reunions etc.

    For most I do not have marriage photos and that would be about the approximate age of Grandpa Madsen in 1963 I assume.  And more over, let's be honest, most of those 1950's and 1960's photos were already deteriorating when we got to see them decades alter. Physical features were not sarp and clear and easy to leave an impression in our memories.... Well , not mine at least! XD

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  69. Bruce_F19 January 2012 at 23:19

    Maybe it's just me then.  My family always had a lot of photos around and I would recognize a grandparent almost instantly.

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  70. DarqueMode19 January 2012 at 23:32

    I'm jealous!

    I would love to have old photos of some of anything past my grandparents generation. I think I have maybe 10 photos for the pre-GP generations on the maternal side of my family and only 2 or 3 for the paternal side.

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  71. Bruce_F19 January 2012 at 23:35

    I guess I didn't take into account that not every family has shutterbugs always taking photos.  Hell, I have my grandparents wedding photo framed in my living room.

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  72. WeAreLostBeth20 January 2012 at 00:50

    I thought it was a solid opening.. intriguing.. driven and just enough character exposition. Actors did well most of the time. Don't know if it was the characters shadiness of Neill's portrayal but he makes me want to recoil.. and i like Sam Neill!

    i'll be sticking around and watching for awhile

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  73. DarthLocke420 January 2012 at 15:30

    I also want to add that she seemed pretty disappointed with herself for not knowing (both that he was the one that killed her partner and for not knowing he was an inmate), even Diego I think knew, but just didn't have the heart to tell her.

    Because it's just the first two episodes, and since she is the female lead, I think it's hard to expect to quickly see how this knowledge effects her, but def think the disappointment with herself will probably be her drive of at least the first season.

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  74. Bruce_F20 January 2012 at 20:38

    I think she was already fairly driven.  As a detective she seems pretty tenacious and maybe a little fixated.  I think she would have been enthralled by this mystery whether a relative was involved or not.

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  75. Marcelo Hargreaves23 January 2012 at 19:22

    Hurley as a historian? Didn't buy it. Hope the script reserves more surprises for the next episodes, otherwise it will be another police show with a little touch of Person of Interest. And DarqueMode, I hardly watch my shows live because I simply can't stand those promos repeated over and over again up to the exhaustion.

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  76. Shaakira Abdul Samad25 January 2012 at 22:50

    Awesome, i already love the show!

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