I was a little worried about JJ Abrams’ Alcatraz. JJ’s other new show this season, Person of Interest, was a bit of a let-down for me, being heavy on CBS procedural and light on mythology. Alcatraz had a similar feel - a Lost alum in a cop drama with some mystical elements but, at the end of the day, a procedural show and not a show destined to fill the hole in my life that was left by Lost. Honestly, the one thing I was holding on to was the promise of Sam Neill eye-rolls and incredulous looks, an old comfort from my days of watching Jurassic Park on a loop and trying to convince the world that Event Horizon and In The Mouth of Madness are two of the most underrated films ever produced.
Following the cold open of the first episode, which had every Cop Drama cliche imaginable, I was ready to just turn it off in order to avoid further disappointment.
“No. Wait for Sam Neill. Give Sam a shot to save this.”
And then JJ Abrams began to ham-fist the fact that this is his true follow-up to Lost, and that we should all commit, right now, or regret our decision to turn away for the rest of our lives.
I first recognized what JJ was doing in the scene following the opening credits, when the first Alcatraz prisoner wakes up on the Rock and finds a key, cash, and a ticket off the island in his pocket. The soundtrack for this scene? Copped straight from Lost.
What follows is a mythos of a mysterious island, secret hatches, time travel, Jorge Garcia as a comic book nerd cracking jokes, flash-backs, characters who know the whole story but refuse to tell it, shocks and twists, questions upon questions upon questions, and two 44-minute reveals that make you upset that the episode has come to an end and excited to see what comes next.
And Sam Neill, rolling his eyes at everyone.
And Robert Forster, existing on my screen.
And my new forever crush, Sarah Jones, just killing it.
I know what comes next. The viewing parties and the let-downs - I’ve been through this before. But goddamn it I am in. Not just for the season, but for the entire series.
And this face will guide me through it all:
It will tell me, “You don’t understand what’s going on? You idiot.”
