The story begins when Detective Rebecca Madsen's (Sarah Jones) partner is killed while the pair is in pursuit of a suspect, but this suspect's face isn't in any database. She is then called to the brutal crime scene of a former Assistant Warden from Alcatraz, but before she can even start her investigation, she is bumped from the scene when FBI Agent Emerson Hauser (Sam Neill, Jurassic Park) takes over. Before being forced out, she grabs a broken photo which contains a fingerprint that starts her off on her chase. The print belongs to Jack Sylvane (Jeffrey Pierce), an Alcatraz inmate who died over 30 years before. She decides to discuss it with her "Uncle" Ray (Robert Forster), the man who raised her when her parents died, since he was a former guard at Alcatraz with her grandfather, Tommy Madsen (David Hoflin), but things were not as Rebecca had been led to believe. She also seeks the advice of Diego "Doc" Soto (Jorge Garcia, Lost), comic book writer/ store owner and all around Alcatraz expert/ author. Before long, she has stumbled on a most mysterious occurrence. It seems that former Alcatraz inmates, nicknamed the 63's, are popping back in modern day San Francisco, bringing with them all of the brutality and violence of their former selves, but not having aged one day since they mysteriously vanished from the island back in 1963. Soon, Hauser is on Rebecca’s doorstep asking her to join the task force to bring them in and she enlists Doc as her partner.
The goal is to capture these guys before they recreate their past havoc, but Hauser knows more than he admits, as does his associate, Dr. Lucy Banerjee (Parminder Nagra). The team works out of a high tech "Bat Cave" deep beneath the recesses of Alcatraz. Each of the 13 episodes focuses on one of the inmates (or in one episode, a pair of violent brothers and another, a guard) and jumps between their modern day crimes and their days at Alcatraz in the year 1960. Something strange was definitely going on at Alcatraz back then, with Warden Edwin James (Jonny Coyne) at the helm, followed by unusually cruel Assistant Warden E.B. Tiller (Jason Butler Harner), and sadistic, chain-smoking Dr. Milton Beauregard (Leon Rippy) administering a lot of strange and seemingly unnecessary medical procedures. As they try to unravel the mystery and prevent more bloodshed, Madsen, Doc and Hauser will have to deal with everything from bank robbers, to snipers, to bombers, to serial killers and everything in between. They’ll even deal with a man who went into Alcatraz innocent and came out a killer. Could it relate to the experiments?
Special features include a healthy serving of deleted scenes, an amusing gag reel and a featurette on the prison itself, including cast interviews and background info. I especially enjoyed watching Alcatraz: The Complete Series on Blu-ray because of the beautiful shots of the island, itself. Aside from the island, which is a character of the series in and of itself, there's the cold and rainy setting that San Francisco provides. It's a beautifully shot series and I especially enjoyed the transition between the current and past scenes, which always included a nice effect of prison bars ominously sliding across the screen. The whole series is well done and I loved it. The look of the 1960's was spot on, with the 63's sliding effortlessly into their modern roles, yet still retaining that vintage look. Rebecca even drives a classic Mustang from that era.
Here's to hoping the series will get picked up by another channel at a later date. It ends on a cliffhanger and things really aren't explained fully, although you get an idea of what is going on. It has miles to go if given the chance, just based alone on the number of criminals that disappeared. True Blood fans will especially enjoy watching the episode starring Jim Parrack (True Blood's Hoyt) as an Alcatraz guard.
If you are a fan of J.J. Abrams, check out Alcatraz: The Complete Series, even with the knowledge that it is a one-shot deal (at least for now). It's still a great show, with excellent writing and a fantastic cast. I loved the "criminal-a-week" concept and was anxious to see the storyline evolve as I watched, even when I knew it was cut down in its prime.
