[SPOILERS] This show feels hopelessly outdated. And it's frankly embarrassing to watch it explain and test its own premise as if the concept is daisy fresh and unpredictable. "The Edge" involved "the captives" trying to escape the ghost town again, having painfully removed their sedative-dispensing leg implants, only to find themselves up against an invisible barrier that delivers painful shocks. It begged the question: why were they given implants, if this barrier existed? And when the so-called "pain wall" was knocked out by a deus ex machina lightning strike, I'm not sure even sure why it existed, because the fleeing captives entered a bright light beyond the perimeter that teleported them back to the town square.It's all just tedious game-playing right now. The mystery is thick but uninteresting, the characters dull and lifeless. They're certainly not forming a group dynamic that makes me want to know more about them, even with a Lost-style flashback for Tori (Kate Lang Johnson) that lasted all of five seconds. And I already feel like I have a good idea what's going on: each character has been sent to this town to keep them "out of sight, out of mind", by friends or family with the money and necessary contacts. Janet's (Daisy Betts) mother wants custody of her daughter, so that's her motive, and it seems that Tori uncovered something about her father (the American ambassador to Italy) so career-threatening that he's had her "removed". I guess this theory could be exactly what I'm supposed to be thinking right now, and the story will take some twists soon, but that's still my gut feeling. And, if true, that's a pretty dull explanation.
Nothing's really happening, that's the problem. There's been little progress with the characters, beyond the suggestion that Moira (Tina Holmes) is a lesbian with a crush on Tori (who, yes, has stripped to her underwear already), and the concept itself isn't as engrossing and creative as the writers think. In fact, an empty town you can't escape is inherently a very boring place. There was a reason The Prisoner took place in a heavily-populated village, and The Matrix had an entire planet's population hooked up to its virtual reality. The only mildly enjoyable aspect of Persons Unknown right now is that every character are being given clues/tasks/orders written on strips of paper from fortune cookies, so there's the potential for some manipulation and desperate acts to occur. In this episode, Janet already cracks enough to threaten Joe (Jason Wiles) with a handgun, before being talked out of it. And Tori discovered a cocooned caterpillar in a jar had been left in her room -- signifying that the captives will likewise "transform" into beautiful butterflies following their experience in the town's "jar"? How heavy-handed.
Overall, I know we're only two episodes in, but Persons Unknown hasn't impressed or engaged me yet. I just have base-level affection for the Prisoner-esque concept and the fact there's not much else vying for my attention on TV right now. I get the distinct feeling the show's not going to improve much, being full of fairly weak actors and a shopworn concept, but perhaps now the exposition's hopefully over with it'll get down to business.
WRITER: Remi Aubuchon
DIRECTOR: Bill Eagles
GUEST CAST: Andy Greenfield, Reggie Lee, Lola Glaudini & Carlos Lacamara
AIRDATE/CHANNEL: 14 JUNE 2010 - NBC, 9|8c
