'PERSONS UNKNOWN' 1.11 - "Seven Sacrifices"

[SPOILERS] Just to clarify, NBC released "Seven Sacrifices" as an online exclusive ahead of tonight's two-part finale, so there's a possibility you missed this episode, or will have difficulty seeing it (particularly if you're outside the US). There are ways and means online, which I only encourage you to pursue because of NBC's shoddy, if understandable, treatment here.

A three-season marathon of 24

"Seven Sacrifices" continued the notion that Ulrich (Alan Smyth) has fallen in love with Janet (Daisy Betts), who's using her feminine wiles to make him believe her feelings are mutual. It's essentially the same tactic briefly used by Tori earlier this season, which failed against the original Night Watchman, so isn't it disappointing that the female characters lean on their sexuality as a means to escape? I was once glad that Moira (Tina Holmes) was using her brains and compiling a "clue wall" in her room, but it hasn't resulted in any breakthroughs from her.

I do find Smyth a more compelling actor than his predecessor, no matter how late his arrival on the show has been, but his accelerated feelings for Janet still doesn't feel credible -- given how professional he was with the Director (Joanna Lipari) before this mission. It's day two since his arrival and he's showing Janet the "inner sanctum" of monitors that are snooping on everyone? What kind of Program is this, when the subjects just have to flutter their eyelashes to get a peek behind the curtain? The Program itself remains ill-defined, but there's a constant suggestion that people now working for the Organization were themselves kidnapped and put through the same torment, and believe it helped them get over various problems in their lives.

Interestingly, it was confirmed that last week's subplot with Kat (X) and Mark (Gerald Kyd) in the town wasn't the town our characters are trapped inside, but an identical one somewhere else. That makes sense of some of last week's problems (like how Kat and Mark went undetected -- as I assume the cameras weren't on), but just goes to show how badly the writers explained the situation last time. This week, Kat and Mark flew back to San Francisco with a tin full of the severed thumbs they stole from dead bodies inside the Other Town, only for Mark to be arrested and Kat to realize that her life's been torn apart in her absence -- leaving her with no job and no home. It's still laughable how little I care about either character; they're just blunt instruments bumbling around on the sidelines, poised to expose the mystery in some way. I don't have faith it will be done in a satisfying way, as so much of their storyline feels at the mercy of whatever the writer needs to happen.

Why are barbers good at shaving, anyway?

Charlie (Alan Ruck) and Blackham (Sean O'Bryan) are becoming closer (another recent turnaround that doesn't feel likely to me), and their story this week involved Blackham beginning to accept the control over their lives -- seemingly because Ulrich gives good wet shaves in the hitherto unused barbershop -- although Charlie's acting as the voice of reason and unwilling to forgive and forget what's been done to them.

A problem with Persons Unknown right now is the thrust of the story being about captured strangers fighting to escape a ghost town full of surveillance cameras has been lost. I can barely remember them interacting with each other in a compelling way, having broken off into duos (Janet/Joe, Moira/Graham, Blackham/Charlie). With the possible exception of Janet, nobody even seems to have a plan right now -- despite the fact Joe must surely have some idea how to escape, or at least cause their captors some problems. And the more we learn about the Organization the less I find myself caring. They're a dull outfit comprised entirely of clichés, and their goal is kept annoyingly vague to maintain a mystery I don't think will be anything very surprising.

WRITER: Michael R. Perry
DIRECTOR: Tim Matheson
GUEST CAST: Joanna Lipari, Alan Smyth, Carlos Lacamara & Andy Greenfield
RELEASE: 27 August 2010 - NBC.com (online), 8/7c