This Ambitious J.J. Abrams Produced Time Travel Series Was Canceled Before It Reached Its Full Potential
by Witney Seibold · /FilmThe 2012 time-travel TV series "Alcatraz," created by Elizabeth Sarnoff, Steven Lilien, and Bryan Wynbrandt, has a fantastic mystery box premise, in keeping with other TV series from executive producer J.J. Abrams. It seems that on March 21, 1963, 256 prisoners and 46 guards at Alcatraz prison all simultaneously vanished without a trace. Fast-forward to the present, and the prisoners and guards begin reappearing one-by-one, not having aged. They have no memories of the time that elapsed and are now mysteriously carrying strange, supernatural compunctions they cannot explain. Some of them need to find random objects in the present day, and most of them feel the need to continue committing crimes, just like they did in the 1960s.
That would be a fun enough premise for a weekly sci-fi crime series: down the criminals who have been displaced in time. (That was similarly the premise for the 1990s TV series "Time Trax," albeit that show's criminals came from the future.) But in order to make "Alcatraz" more complicated, an eerie overarching conspiracy is also thrown in. It seems that the U.S. government has already built a secret replica of Alcatraz and has assigned a secret cabal of cops to apprehend and recapture the former Alcatraz prisoners (for some reason), keeping them in the same physical configuration they were in 1963. The secret unit is led by one Emerson Hauser (Sam Neill), previously an Alcatraz guard and now a high-powered Fed. What is going on?
The main character of "Alcatraz" is Rebecca Madsen (Sarah Jones), a San Francisco cop who is inducted into Hauser's secret time travel unit when one of her investigations causes them to cross paths. Frustratingly, "Alcatraz" was canceled before it could realize the full potential of its ambitious storytelling, ending on a cliffhanger after just 13 episodes.
Does anyone remember Alcatraz?
It should be recalled that the "mystery box" setup of "Alcatraz" came right when such a storytelling structure was most in vogue. The polarizing finale of J.J. Abrams' ultra-hit series "Lost" had only just aired in 2010, and the world seemed to be hungry for another similar mystery to get, well, lost in. Since then all the way to the present, mystery box shows have occupied the pop consciousness, with TV series ranging from "The Event" to "Under the Dome" and "Westworld" all evolving the formula that "Lost" once pioneered in different ways. In many cases, though, these shows were quickly canceled, much like what happened with "The Event."
"Alcatraz" was one of the least successful attempts to do just that, although, again, it can't be faulted for its ambitions. Thanks to its premise, each of the show's episodes required a different guest star to play one of the missing Alcatraz inmates. As a result, the "63s" (as they were dubbed) were portrayed by the likes of then-future Oscar-winners Mahershala Ali and Rami Malek, "Sons of Anarchy" actor Theo Rossi, and many more besides. As it continued, the show eventually revealed that the prisoners, back in 1963, had been subjected to strange medical experiments that involved extracting their blood. In addition, the prisoners had ultra-healing powers, which they couldn't explain.
The other primary lead on "Alcatraz" is Dr. Soto, a criminal justice expert and history enthusiast played, appropriately, by "Lost" veteran Jorge Garcia. Using his knowledge of Alcatraz's history to aid Madsen in her investigations, he's the most human character on the show and possesses both a sense of humor and an eye for how silly all this time travel stuff really is. That also makes him a good foil for the serious and taciturn Madsen.
Alcatraz ended on a cliffhanger
On top of everything else, "E.R." alumni Parminder Nagra co-starred in "Alcatraz" as Lucille or "Lucy," a psychiatrist who was employed at Alcatraz in the 1960s but works as a lab tech alongside Hauser in the present. There was also some romantic tension between the younger Hauser and her back in the day.
I could delve into the fineries of the plot, but "Alcatraz" had already gotten quite complicated after just 13 episodes (as you've undoubtedly put together by now). There were mysteries within mysteries, and viewers never really did find out what caused the time skips, what the medical experiments were for, or who was conducting them. The series' final episode then had Madsen being stabbed and rushed to the hospital, where she flatlines and, presumably, dies. Meanwhile, right as that's going on, Hauser and Lucy uncover a secret extra room somewhere and ... Look, if the whole point of "Alcatraz" was to be mysterious, I had better leave that for you to discover.
Why was "Alcatraz" canceled so swiftly? Its ratings were lower than those for "Lost," and its reviews were lukewarm overall. While /Film gave "Alcatraz" a positive review following its premiere screening at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con, critic Matt Zoller Seitz, writing for Vulture, argued that the show's actors were too "TV pretty" and its storytelling was mechanical. (Personally, I don't think the fact that Sarah Jones is a beautiful person should be held against the series.) Seitz even hated the music, calling the score credited by Andrea Datzman, Chris Tilton, and Michael Giacchino "the worst sort of hysterical, faux–Bernard Herrmann dreck, forever exclaiming, 'Isn't this all magical and thrilling? Can't you just feel your heart pounding?' Actually, no."
Harsh words indeed. One can purchase "Alcatraz" on Prime Video.