THEY'RE ALL COMING BACK
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'Persons Unknown' - 'Pilot' Recap (Series Premiere)
by Bob Sassone, posted Jun 8th 2010 11:40AM
(S01E01) I wonder how different television would be if we didn't have previews and commercial promos and the web. How would a new show be received and even experienced if we didn't know a thing about it -- other than a brief description of the plot -- before watching it?I'm sure there are people who don't read a lot about a show before they happen upon it, but it's probably not too many. I thought of that while watching NBC's new suspense drama 'Persons Unknown.' Wouldn't it be great if we knew very little about it before this first episode, so we'd be completely surprised by its plot and cast and setting and twists? Can we even judge a TV show fairly when we know so much about it beforehand?
The days of going blindly into a new show are gone, of course, unless you're the type of TV fan who doesn't read about TV shows, or go to TV blogs (like TV Squad!), or read pop culture magazines, and who wants to do that? Part of me does, actually, but it's hard when you write for a TV blog.
But it would have been cool with 'Persons Unknown.' It would have been great to just come across this show, maybe by word of mouth, or maybe because the title was intriguing. Seven people are kidnapped and wake up in a deserted hotel in a town that seems like the ultimate American small town, and they're watched by several cameras. There's no escape and no one knows why they were brought there. Only one of the people is rich enough to pay someone ransom, so it can't for money. All have secrets and all have different backgrounds.
So basically it's the first episode of 'The Twilight Zone': 'Where Is Everybody?' (only with a bunch of people in it and not just Earl Holliman) mixed with a dash of 'Jericho'. I'm sure that people will also say that it's very 'Lost,' but I don't really see it, beyond the surface plot of people not knowing where they are (and 1-note theme songs).
And what exactly is going on? Based on other TV shows and movies we can probably narrow it down to several possibilities:
- some sort of government conspiracy
- a dream
- aliens!
- one of the people in the group is actually the person behind it all, or at least involved in some way
- a new Chinese restaurant chain is testing out their menu and have chosen these people at random
But it's not all people-trapped-in-a-small-town weirdness. The writers have thrown in a subplot that has a San Francisco investigative reporter trying to figure out who kidnapped the single mom, an event helpfully captured on a security camera. By having this guy outside investigating, we can pretty much surmise that it's not a dream or anything that leads to a more surreal solution.
I like that fact that I'm not entirely sure where this is going, and it balances (in the first episode anyway) the weirdness and the real world-suspense quite nicely. If you're looking for the strange, you have that, and if you are turned off by too much strangeness (an invisible force field that stops the group from leaving; things have been implanted in their thighs), you'll appreciate the guy outside trying to figure things out, just like the viewer.
I don't know how this is going to do in the ratings, since it's NBC and Monday nights at 10PM ET are notoriously shaky. But we know it's only a thirteen-episode show for the summer, so at least this is going to have a definite end. Even if it is a success I don't see a second season for a show like this. Hey, maybe NBC is behind it. They're starting to kidnap viewers and making them not only watch NBC programming but star in it as well!
Judging from this first episode, I'm in for the long haul. I like 'The Twilight Zone'-ish stories with people trapped somewhere, not knowing what's going on. And I like the fact that the cast isn't well-known, except for Alan Ruck ('Ferris Bueller''s Day Off', 'Spin City') playing the rich guy. Who knows if viewers will want to stick around and get into yet another serialized drama, but this doesn't have the complexity or craziness of a 'Lost', so it might be more accessible, especially for one summer. In fact, it's perfect summer entertainment, like a fun sci-fi movie or book. One with fantastic Chinese food and odd fortunes.
Did this first episode intrigue you enough to watch the entire series? Watch it below.
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