Alcatraz "Kit Nelson" Review

Jennifer Johnson wrote "Kit Nelson," the new show runner of Alcatraz after the creative shake-up announced by Abrams in November. Whether or not Jennifer Johnson was on staff prior to her promotion is unknown to me. I doubt that she was because she ran Chase, but, of course, show runners will join staffs as executive producers and run the room and stuff. I digress. I'm just wondering whether "Kit Nelson" is a reflection of the show we'll see week-to-week under Johnson's direction. If so, I'm looking forward to it. "Kit Nelson" is a good episode of television.

No shows are alike in their initial batch of episodes. Some hit the ground running. Others take several episodes. A select few take at least a season and the first few episodes of its second season to figure out the right formula. I don't know how long Alcatraz will take to find the right formula for its storytelling. Perhaps "Kit Nelson" is an example of the kind of episode we'll see throughout the season. The Alcatraz-prisoner-of-the-week storyline was decent. The rest of the episode explored and developed each of the three characters in a significant way.

Kit Nelson is the Alcatraz prisoner of the week. Nelson went to Alcatraz after a series of child murders in which he kidnapped his victim and returned him home within 48 hours of the kidnapping, but the victim was a corpse. Diego heard about a missing 11 year old on the police scanner, darted to his files, and figured out Kit Nelson's back kidnapping children, ready to return them home as a corpse. In this case, the kidnapped child is Dylan, an innocent comic-book loving youth. Kit's a weird dude. The 48 hour period between the 'napping and the murder is full of activities such as fishing, dining on cherry pie, and taking in an old movie at the local cineplex. Diego and Rebecca can't figure Kit out. Emerson's still the mysterious ex-Alcatraz officer who knows more than the other characters, so when he cancels an Amber Alert, it infuriates Diego and Rebecca.

The cancelled Amber Alert temporarily threatens the dynamics of the group, as well as the future of the group. Diego, or Doc (as he's called), flips out at Emerson for hurting their chances of finding the kid alive before the 48 hour period ends. Emerson calmly explains the delicate nature of these cases, considering the suspects should've died years ago. Also, the suspects haven't aged a day since 1963. Emerson tells his partners to imagine how the public, and the media, would react to a photo of a man who shouldn't be alive and kidnapping children in the present. Doc stormed off. Rebecca reminded Emerson about their need for Doc's expertise of all-things-Alcatraz. Predictably enough, tracking down time-traveling criminals isn't easy or smooth. One's morality is at stake when caught between a secret Federal operation and the life of an innocent boy. Unfortunately, Emerson isn't given much screen time; he's a man close to breaking in whatever scene's he in because of the condition Lucy's in. Rebecca easily convinces Emerson to NOT break ties with Doc.

The drama's relatively scant for the rest of the episode in regards to the group. Doc and Rebecca work together. The duo track Kit and Dylan down twice. The second time's the charm as Dylan followed Doc's earlier advice: Don't Give Up. Dylan broke a light in a sewer cell and took off through the jungle. Rebecca and Doc corner Kit. Kit threatens the boy's life. Emerson shows up from nowhere to shoot Kit in the head. We learned one other thing about Emerson: he doesn't care if the prisoners are dead-or-alive at Alcatraz.

The end is intriguing. I never wrote about the twist at the end of "Ernest Cobb," involving Lucy. "Kit Nelson" ends similarly. The Alcatraz doctor looks the same in the present day and continues to work on the patients brought to him. Emerson probably knows about Lucy's from 1963, or he's completely clueless and happened to hire the same doctor. I don't know enough about the show to speculate about its future.

Alcatraz is certainly an interesting show. Again, I'm curious about the ultimate identity of the show i.e. the week-to-week format. The procedural element's not terrible. The dynamics between the characters is strong. If the show devoted more time to the characters, it'd be a stronger hour each week. The procedural aspect dominated the storytelling. Usually, procedurals aren't interesting enough to write about in detail.

Other thoughts:

-The Alcatraz flashbacks are cool because they provide insight into the villain of the week. The second best scene of the episode happened between the Warden and Kit. The Warden wanted to learn the truth about Kit's crimes. The flashbacks were specifically about that truth. The Warden frightened Kit into telling the truth with the threat of confinement in a small room devoid of light.

-The best scene of the episode was the chase through the woods. Jack Bender directed the episode. Bender was an executive producer of LOST. The scene reminded me of a great LOST jungle chase scene, including the music. Alcatraz should be visually terrific every week with Jack Bender running that part of the show.

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