Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Person undecided

I am nothing if not a glutton for punishment in my quest for science fiction/fantasy-tinged serialized television dramas. I stayed loyal and patient throughout the uneven runs of Dollhouse and Carnivale; I forced myself through to the end of Harper’s Island; I suspended all disbelief and have kept up with Happy Town, gawdhelpme. And so bravely, resolutely, I steeled myself and set the DVR to record ABC’s new summer mystery series, Persons Unknown. It ain’t no Lost or S1 of Heroes (poor, pathetic, wasted-potential Heroes), but it didn’t make me want to gouge out my eyes or, worse, immediately delete the series recording.

The cast is pretty much unknown, the characters stock and the storyline derivative, and the pilot episode was heavy on set-up … and yet there were enough tantalizing whispers to make me wonder. Who is watching on the other end of those cameras? What’s with the Chinese restaurant? Is Maura (Moira?) really a counselor or actually a patient at some facility? Will that intrepid reporter ever wash/comb his hair? Was I alone in thinking that grandmother was WAY creepy? No, I don’t think that Persons Unknown will be the next big thing, the next Lost, the next BSG. But already the acting is better than the appalling Harper’s Island (which really only had the kills going for it anyway) and I have clearly set the bar low. Come on, Persons Unknown, surprise me.  Convince me that you're worth my time.

5 comments:

  1. A coworker convinced me to watch Persons Unknown. It's decent so far, lots of lies and half-truths among the captives and the folks on the outside (her mom and the reporter). You totally called the Moira thing! I guessed Alan Ruck was going to have something to do with the captors, but what I don't know. I still want to know why the paintings in the room were pixelized.

    Interesting enough show that I'll keep watching. What else is on on Monday nights?

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  2. Yeah, feeling pretty smug about Moira over here. I'll stick with it too for now - for me, the only other thing to watch Monday is The Gates, DVRed from Sunday night.

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  3. Yeah, feeling pretty smug about Moira over here. And I too will keep watching for now - as the only other thing to watch Mondays is The Gates, which I have DVRed from Sunday.

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  4. Grrr - stupid can't see my own comment and posted it twice.

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  5. Or not. Blogger is giving me a headache tonight.

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