Entertainment
14 Years Later, J.J. Abrams’ Forgotten Thriller Is Still a Stellar 21st-Century Sci-Fi Show
The U.S. is filled with landmarks that have infamous histories; 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, New York, the notorious house from The Amityville Horror; a secret U.S. Air Force military installation in southern Nevada, associated with rumors of clandestine experiments and secrets about alien life, aka Area 51. But maybe none has the infamy of the long-abandoned United States Penitentiary in the San Francisco Bay, known as “The Rock” — or in this case, Alcatraz.
Alcatraz was hell for those imprisoned there, where discipline was severe and, as one former prisoner recounted, “Men go slowly insane under the exquisite torture of restricted and undeviating routine.” Prisoners died within its walls and remain there, with many accounts of ghosts still haunting its rusty cells and catwalks, 60 years after the last prisoner was escorted out on its closing in 1963. But what if the last prisoners of The Rock weren’t escorted out at all, but simply disappeared? And, mysteriously, reappear in the present day? Such is the premise of Fox’s 2012 TV series Alcatraz.
256 Inmates and 46 Guards From “The Rock” Reappear Years Later in ‘Alcatraz’
“On March 21, 1963, Alcatraz officially closed. All the prisoners were transferred off the island. Only, that’s not what happened. Not at all.” So begins all 13 episodes of Alcatraz, narrated by Jurassic Park alum Sam Neill, who plays FBI agent Emerson Hauser. The J.J. Abrams-produced series is in the vein of shows like The 4400 and Manifest, but unlike those shows, Alcatraz has the draw of its captivating, mystifying namesake. The series begins with 256 inmates and 46 guards disappearing from Alcatraz on March 21, 1963. One of the first to arrive on the scene is young San Francisco police officer Hauser, who discovers they’re missing. To keep the situation undercover, the government states that the prison is being closed for safety reasons, and the inmates have been transferred to prisons across the country.
The disappearance of the prisoners and guards isn’t the only secret the government is keeping quiet about, either. They have also been anticipating their return, with Hauser now the head of a classified government unit set up years before, waiting. So, when the “63s” begin returning to the present day, one by one, not having aged or having any clue about where and when they’ve been over the years (and back to their criminal ways), Hauser’s team is ready. Once captured, the prisoners are brought back to a cellblock, deep in the woods, which is laid out like their former home on Alcatraz Island. Hauser’s team is aided by police detective Rebecca Madsen (Sarah Jones) — whose grandfather, one of the 63s, murders her partner — and by Dr. Diego Soto (Jorge Garcia), an expert on Alcatraz.
‘Alcatraz’ Is Strengthened by Its All-Star Cast
Alcatraz also doesn’t have the convoluted nature of Manifest or Abrams’ previous Lost, which works in its favor. It’s relatively simple — the prisoners reappear one by one, turning the series into a case-of-the-week procedural — with the mystery behind it the overarching narrative. Alcatraz also succeeds thanks to the strength of its cast. Jones is refreshing as Madsen, whose personal connection to the mystery drags her in, but not so pervasively that she becomes a one-note, brooding stereotype who can’t live life until she finds the truth.
She is, in a word, interesting. Garcia shines as a subject matter expert/comic book store owner, attacking the mystery with an almost gleeful exuberance and the series’s best humorous lines. The inmates, too, are strong, including the likes of Mahershala Ali (whose upcoming Jurassic World Rebirth gives him a one-degree separation from Neill) and Rami Malek.
This riveting crime thriller features a young Supergirl in a Tasmanian noir mystery.
But it’s Sam Neill who is Alcatraz‘s most prominent cast member, and he delivers as only an A-list talent like himself can. His Emerson Hauser is a man on a mission and a man of secrets; a man of great heroism and a man with a dark side behind the prison walls. Neill sells the gravitas of the series’ unbelievable premise, and he’s so good at bringing the enigmatic character to life without even saying a word, betraying his intimate knowledge of what’s happening to the audience alone.
Despite coming out of the gates strong, viewership quickly declined, and Fox pulled the plug after 13 episodes, making the proverbial “Sophie’s Choice” to keep Abrams’ Fringe alive. The series would join a long list of cancelled series whose cliffhanger endings never see a resolution, with Rebecca having been stabbed and presumably dead after flatlining in the hospital. But maybe, just maybe, fiction became fact, and Alcatraz simply disappeared, ready to return to the air as if nothing happened. We’re on to you, Fox.
Alcatraz is available to stream on Tubi in the U.S.
- Release Date
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2012 – 2012-00-00
- Network
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FOX
- Showrunner
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Elizabeth Sarnoff
- Directors
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Elizabeth Sarnoff
- Writers
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Elizabeth Sarnoff
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