Last week, people close to me said I had been too lenient on Alcatraz’s series premiere, which was bland and cliché, but offered an engaging concept.  They were just looking out for my well-being, not wanting me to get involved with another disappointing series.  I told them, no, it’s not like that -- once all this bad stuff’s out of the way, it will be good, and they should all mind their own stupid business and stop prying into my life.  Then, I threw a whiskey bottle at the wall and broke down crying.

Basically, I was afraid Alcatraz would leave me broken-hearted, because some fixable flaws are going to ruin a show that has a lot of potential.  As of now, I’m not totally invested and a little irked.  Usually, by this time with other series that have mystery at their core, I want to know more about everyone and everything going on, despite its flaws.  It’s taking a longer time for Alcatraz to get me hooked and it could be fatal for the show.

That said -- this week’s episode, “Kit Nelson,” showed some improvement from last week’s premiere, specifically with the character development.  However, it still lacked any decent or interesting narrative.  This episode gives us our new Monster from Alcatraz (which sounds awesomely like a 1970s B-horror film), Kit Nelson, a killer with sibling rivalry issues who was jailed for murdering children and bringing them back home after they’re dead, leaving a chrysanthemum as his calling card.  In present day, he kidnaps some loser kid and our noble detectives, Madsen and Soto, and to a lesser extent, Hauser, who doesn’t actually care about people (which is kind of cool), must solve the case.

The fact that the obvious exposition was out of the way gave the episode some room to move about comfortably, really showcasing Jorge Garcia’s character, Dr. Soto.  And I’ve determined that, yes, Garcia can actually act.  He did well with the material, even at his most emotional times.  Dr. Soto is also the most likeable part of the show, and will most likely continue to be, unless we get Michael Emerson on board playing a cop or a killer or something (please, PLEASE get Michael Emerson on board).  Garcia’s Soto is relatable and actually human, playing a stark opposite to the callous, complex Hauser (who is still the most interesting, though not most likeable character), and even offering a contrary disposition to his partner and fellow good doer, Rebecca Madsen, who is mostly detached and cold.  I feel if anything I’ll be rooting for Soto for the remainder of the series.  

Jones, for her part, plays Madsen better in this episode than the last.  She’s added a few more facial expressions to her repertoire, including mirth and concern.  Although, I don’t understand her inappropriate amusement in one of the episode’s final scenes, after Soto explains something traumatic had happened to him when he was 11-years-old.  She laughs and says, “I bet you have your own interesting origin story.”  I’m sure that’s the reaction Soto wanted at such a vulnerable, disturbing moment.  Maybe it is.  Who knows?  I’ve yet to get a good read on these characters.  Although, the sentence truly plays tribute to his comic book-obsessed persona, which was pretty cool.  And maybe he’ll end up being a superhero.  I’d be down for that.

The show is still formulaic and the present-day, crime-solving stories have been lame and predictable.  I’m guessing the show is trying to hook viewers with these fine detective stories, but the problem is they’ve not been very unique.  We’ve all seen the killer with a calling card situation before, the killer with the traditions and rituals, the killer who hates his siblings (in fact, you’ve seen all this, and probably anything they’re going to throw at you, if you’ve watched a few episodes of Dexter).  Most frustrating is that small detail -- that Nelson vanished into thin air 50 years ago and just now returned for some reason, without aging -- has no effect on the murderer or the narrative whatsoever.  In the premiere, the first guy at least looked a bit confused.  And there was a bunch of mystery with a key and stuff.  The others haven’t even done even that.  They’ve just gone on murdering like nothing happened.  

The 1960s Alcatraz flashbacks (Past Alcatraz, or Pastcatraz) are still more interesting, engaging and better scripted than the detective timeline.  However, I’m still wrestling with their significance.  With Lost (here I am, mentioning my ex-show again), you knew the flashbacks were relevant in several ways: character development, symbolically inform the storyline/resolution of the island timeline, and slowly reveal secrets about the overarching story.  It hasn’t been too clear yet in Alcatraz, but at least this episode gave us a parallel of sorts, when they reveal Soto had a trauma as an 11-year-old, while needing to catch a child killer who preys on 11-year-olds.  Something may be cooking there?  Plus, we see that Madsen’s grandfather is the crazy guy behind the sheet, telling people shit’s about to go down.  What’s it all mean?

There is one scene in the episode that basically up my experience with the flashbacks and perhaps proves that I am a deeply troubled sociopath.  Back in Pastcatraz, after his initial beating, Nelson scoots around in a wheelchair, which is taken from him unceremoniously by the warden, leaving Nelson looking pathetic, standing against the prison wall, riddled with cuts and bruises. “How am I going to get around,” asks Nelson.  “Walk,” answers the warden, and makes off with the wheelchair.  As a naturally empathetic and deeply beautiful human being with a great tenderness despite my rugged, tough-as-nails exterior, I almost started growing sympathetic toward Nelson at that moment.  But this was a confusing emotion, because I remembered he murdered a bunch of kids, which made me feel like a deeply disturbed man.  So, I decided to root for the warden.  But this was confusing, because he’s a warden, and a steady diet of Stephen King works have left me feeling sympathetic toward prisoners, not wardens.  It’s confusing, when the flashbacks are filled with unlikeable people.  But they’re interesting all the same.  On that same thread, what they Hell are they planning to do with the prisoners in Hauser’s new Alcatraz?  Right now, they are just kind of staring at things from their cells.

I guess the fact that I’m asking these questions isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  It means I’m intrigued by some of their concepts and hoping they make good on making them relevant.  Only time will tell if I fall in love with Alcatraz for its personality.  For now, I can just enjoy Alcatraz’s sweet, sweet concepts.

Things I failed to weave into the piece:

• Goddamnit, I wanted Parminder Nagra!  She wasn’t even in the episode.
• For the hell of it, I’m going to give props to fellow Bridgewater State University alum, Rebecca Field, who played Kathy Callahan, mother of the kidnapped child. 
• The ending scene of this episode, where the mortician plays a record and dances to some jazzy tunes before performing the autopsy was pretty awesome.