Season 1, Episode 6
Say, do you care about the central characters of Alcatraz? If you don't, do you care about caring about them? Do you wish that the show would give us more personal stories so that you could get to know them and eventually reach a place where you could care about them? Well, if you're in that small section of the show's audience, then you're in luck, because you got a whole lot of you coming at ya. And just it times for Valentine's Day, it all has to do with love. Awwwww......
Okay, maybe I shouldn't be so glib. After all, I did criticize the show for not telling us enough about the central character in my initial review, and all of the best crime procedurals – your Homicides, your NYPD Blues – all give the viewer ample character beats to chew on, so this should be a step forward for the show. However, defining characters solely through their loves lives (be they real, budding, or entirely imaginary) isn't exactly the most efficient way to build good characterization. Knowing who loves who or who's crushing on who doesn't tell us anything else new about the character(s) unless we're given a reason as to why such character feels that way. Rarely do even the highest caliber of shows get into something as complex as the psychology of love, and Alcatraz isn't even close to those kinds of shows. Sure, romance-based plots can make for intriguing viewing when they're done well, but even if Alcatraz could pulls these off, that only leaves the job of improving the show partially completed.
But just for shits and giggles, let's go ahead and breakdown all the romantic tension at play within the episode, shall we?:
That leaves Hauser and Lucy, whose relationship is the winner of the hour by default, for the simple fact that it takes place mostly in the 1960s. As I said last week, there's something about the show's depiction of the past that while not necessarily important or wholly engaging, is at least slightly more intriguing than what goes on in the present day. Seeing their romantic relationship in play helps to flush our understanding of the in-show history, as it adds yet another layer to what appears to be an increasingly complex series of alliances to something that was originally presented with a fairly simple good guys/bad guys dichotomy.
But really, it allows the show a logical doorway to explore the character of Lucy, which it's sorely needed considering she was shot into a coma at the end of the show's second episode. I'm still not entirely sure what Lucy's role is in all of this – and I highly doubt that the show knows either – but seeing as her work, which we previously thought to be wholly good in comparison to the warden's more aggressive tactics, is as bit more underhanded and sneaky than we would expect from a psychologist who claims to have the inmates' best interest in mind does make us question exactly where she lies among the character continuum, and at least that's something. Let's just hope the show can keep shading her in when she joins us in the present day.
Quotes and Other Thoughts:
Yes, I realize that this episode was also about Rebecca and Hauser learning to trust each other more, but frankly, I don't care. It was sort of inevitable, and the show lazily treated it as such.
Once again, the show continues to illustrate that it doesn't care about make compelling standalone cases, and that was particularly troublesome here, as there was an underdeveloped strain of contemporary criticsm about how we as a society treat our veterans, something that actual could have worked with some more tweaking.
Say, what DO they want with Tommy Madsen's blood? Because I have a feeling that the answer is going to involve the show doing a full Fringe and completely embracing it's sci-fi trappings. That might be something that could eventually work, but I also predict an awkward transition phase if that ends up being the case.
“Well, transpercy isn't one of Hauser's strong suits.” “Just pictured him in a transparent suit – it's pretty gross.”
But just for shits and giggles, let's go ahead and breakdown all the romantic tension at play within the episode, shall we?:
- While at the morgue, Soto see that the cute coroner is wearing a Sandman t-shirt, and attempt to use their shared love of comic books to flirt with her.
- However, Soto may or may not also be harboring a crush on Rebecca. Either way, he gets into the lamest, most passive-aggressive pissing contest ever with bomb technician Tanner (who guys by the unoriginal moniker “Psycho”), who clearly is carrying a torch for her.
- Lastly, we get a much clearer sense of the relationship that exists between Hauser and Lucy, specifically the fact that they were romantically involved in the 1960s, and Hauser kept that flame alive (rather creepily, I might add) during her 49 year absence.
That leaves Hauser and Lucy, whose relationship is the winner of the hour by default, for the simple fact that it takes place mostly in the 1960s. As I said last week, there's something about the show's depiction of the past that while not necessarily important or wholly engaging, is at least slightly more intriguing than what goes on in the present day. Seeing their romantic relationship in play helps to flush our understanding of the in-show history, as it adds yet another layer to what appears to be an increasingly complex series of alliances to something that was originally presented with a fairly simple good guys/bad guys dichotomy.
But really, it allows the show a logical doorway to explore the character of Lucy, which it's sorely needed considering she was shot into a coma at the end of the show's second episode. I'm still not entirely sure what Lucy's role is in all of this – and I highly doubt that the show knows either – but seeing as her work, which we previously thought to be wholly good in comparison to the warden's more aggressive tactics, is as bit more underhanded and sneaky than we would expect from a psychologist who claims to have the inmates' best interest in mind does make us question exactly where she lies among the character continuum, and at least that's something. Let's just hope the show can keep shading her in when she joins us in the present day.
Quotes and Other Thoughts:
Yes, I realize that this episode was also about Rebecca and Hauser learning to trust each other more, but frankly, I don't care. It was sort of inevitable, and the show lazily treated it as such.
Once again, the show continues to illustrate that it doesn't care about make compelling standalone cases, and that was particularly troublesome here, as there was an underdeveloped strain of contemporary criticsm about how we as a society treat our veterans, something that actual could have worked with some more tweaking.
Say, what DO they want with Tommy Madsen's blood? Because I have a feeling that the answer is going to involve the show doing a full Fringe and completely embracing it's sci-fi trappings. That might be something that could eventually work, but I also predict an awkward transition phase if that ends up being the case.
“Well, transpercy isn't one of Hauser's strong suits.” “Just pictured him in a transparent suit – it's pretty gross.”
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