Persons Unknown (NBC)

[bankybruce]

Other than the last 10 minutes (Tory disappearing and Joe's reveal), that was one of the biggest wastes of time I've ever seen in a television episode.

The taxi, the cabin, what was the point? There wasn't one. At all.

This is the classic example of a 2 hour movie idea dragged out into 13 episodes. It doesn't help that the acting is still horrible, especially by the leads.

Hey, the Chinese guy and the Hotel Manager are good.

 

[Chaplin]

Hey, the Chinese guy and the Hotel Manager are good.

...as compared to who? Steve Guttenberg? Yeah, compared to Paul Walker, they're great!

 

[O]

...as compared to who? Steve Guttenberg? Yeah, compared to Paul Walker, they're great!

Nice!

 

[Russ Smith]

...as compared to who? Steve Guttenberg? Yeah, compared to Paul Walker, they're great!

Hey Paul Walker is brilliant on Expedition Great White. Of course he's playing himself volunteering to help but brilliant.

The acting is pretty bad, and the thing with the bees was damn near unwatchable.

 

[Louis]

The bees thing was over the top especially for the big reveal that the Prison Break guy and the dude from Third Watch are in on it. Was a waste of time for this guy.

Something was up obviously with him not wanting to disclose personal info since day 1.

I am hating that young girl character, I hope she doesn't return.

And speaking of the dumb storyline, so the cabby shows up and is speaking Farsi or whatever and nobody understands him except the soldier. It's obvious he wants Janet, as a matter of practicality I would probably only get into the cab with the guy who can communicate with him. But they want to push the possibility of romance on us between Joe and Janet so c'est la vie.

And how can Janet's ex be one of the sleaziest reporters in town who gets front page headlines, but she has been looking for him with no luck?

 

[Russ Smith]

And how can Janet's ex be one of the sleaziest reporters in town who gets front page headlines, but she has been looking for him with no luck?

Yeah that part made no sense at all. I assumed that the private detective invented that to set up the reporter. But then it appears he didn't since the reporter seemed to be pretty clear that she was his ex wife. So as you said how can she not find him?

 

[Chaplin]

Yeah that part made no sense at all. I assumed that the private detective invented that to set up the reporter. But then it appears he didn't since the reporter seemed to be pretty clear that she was his ex wife. So as you said how can she not find him?

And what exactly DOES make sense with this show?

 

[Russ Smith]

Wow last night was so bad I actually wondered if they might cancel it during a commercial break.

The actress who is the prisoner, supposedly snatched during her lethal injection on death row, was just comically bad last night when she was being crazy tough prison chick. SHe was like a character on WWE or the office episode when Michael was "prison Mike."

The last couple of episodes seem like they fired the entire crew and brought in replacement workers or something.

Just brutal, at this point I'm watching to see how bad it will get.

 

[Louis]

Just brutal, at this point I'm watching to see how bad it will get.

I agree. It's one of those troubling questions about having committed my time to watching the show and having nothing to watch anyway.

I just can't believe the guy behind The Way of the Gun and Unusual Suspects really put this together.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I don't know how anyone can stay with this show. Despite the popularity of the dreaded reality show, the last decade or so has been, by far, the best stretch of TV I've ever seen. There are just so many other shows worth watching than this trash. It's the slow time of year but TV on DVD (or Blu-Ray) can solve a lot of problems.

With available shows such as Band of Brothers, Lie To Me, The Mentalist, Doctor Who, Dexter, Burn Notice, Leverage, Criminal Minds, Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Grey's Anatomy, Sanctuary, Chuck, Psych, 24, BSG, Boston Legal, The Sopranos, The Shield, Jericho, The Wire, the CSI's, NCIS, the Stargates, Breaking Bad, Justified, Castle, Eureka, Fringe, In Plain Sight and so many others there's something out there for everybody.

Steve

 

[Angel]

Wow last night was so bad I actually wondered if they might cancel it during a commercial break.Just brutal, at this point I'm watching to see how bad it will get.

Agreed, at first the badness just amused me. After all it is summer, more time outdoors less new stuff on the TV but dang it is just keeps getting worse. The storyline is fractured, the acting is bad and still I have to see why. I am nuts.

 

[Russ Smith]

Show moved to Saturday now, next showing is the 17th. I found something online I wasn't aware of. the show was shot a year ago in Mexico, they were there 6 months and filmed 13 episodes. They then shopped it to networks and NBC picked it up so it's not developed by NBC and the episodes running now were all shot before NBC bought it.

The actor who plays Joe implied he didn't know how the last episode turned out and said he does think there is potential to go beyond 13 episodes.

at this point I highly doubt it, if it's this disjointed now when the episodes have all been done for months, I seriously doubt they'll get a chance to come up with new episodes.

The implication was NBC intends to show all 13 episodes.

 

[O]

The best summer comedy on tv.

 

[Russ Smith]

The best summer comedy on tv.

Yeah the last couple of episodes were bad. watched them on via on demand just brutal tv.

The scary thing is this is apparently a show that's been on tape for a full year, so this isn't a case of them re-writing stuff on the fly, it was originally written and filmed like this.

 

[Angel]

Well it ended, I made it through all of the episodes. It lost the humor element for me a piece back but I'm stubborn what can I say. Final word on the experience.....

YUCK.

 

[Mike Olbinski]

Well it ended, I made it through all of the episodes. It lost the humor element for me a piece back but I'm stubborn what can I say. Final word on the experience.....

YUCK.

Can you summarize WTF was going on for those of us who couldn't sit through it?

 

[bankybruce]

Can you summarize WTF was going on for those of us who couldn't sit through it?

You do not leave the company, ever. And there is a level two.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Well it ended, I made it through all of the episodes. It lost the humor element for me a piece back but I'm stubborn what can I say. Final word on the experience.....

YUCK.

Wow. That is some endurance effort on your part. That show chewed me up and spit me out by week 5. How about giving us a spoiler recap of how it played out.

Steve

 

[bankybruce]

Wow. That is some endurance effort on your part. That show chewed me up and spit me out by week 5. How about giving us a spoiler recap of how it played out.

Steve

Spoiler

The group escaped with a cheesy and predictable plan. They were all on the run except for Janet who was hurt and wandering on her own. She was put in a mental ward and escaped. She finally was reunited with her daughter to find out her mother was part of the program. The director lady wanted Janet back in because she was the one. Her mother tired to help her escape. She and all the other original woke up in the same hotel rooms, but only to come out and to be on a big ship. The hotel guy, now minus an eye welcomes them to level 2. Joe however was in the original hotel with Janet's exand a new cast. Show ended

 

[AzStevenCal]

Spoiler

The group escaped with a cheesy and predictable plan. They were all on the run except for Janet who was hurt and wandering on her own. She was put in a mental ward and escaped. She finally was reunited with her daughter to find out her mother was part of the program. The director lady wanted Janet back in because she was the one. Her mother tired to help her escape. She and all the other original woke up in the same hotel rooms, but only to come out and to be on a big ship. The hotel guy, now minus an eye welcomes them to level 2. Joe however was in the original hotel with Janet's exand a new cast. Show ended

Thanks for that.

Steve

 

[Mike Olbinski]

Spoiler

The group escaped with a cheesy and predictable plan. They were all on the run except for Janet who was hurt and wandering on her own. She was put in a mental ward and escaped. She finally was reunited with her daughter to find out her mother was part of the program. The director lady wanted Janet back in because she was the one. Her mother tired to help her escape. She and all the other original woke up in the same hotel rooms, but only to come out and to be on a big ship. The hotel guy, now minus an eye welcomes them to level 2. Joe however was in the original hotel with Janet's exand a new cast. Show ended

What about an overall synopsis for those that gave up after 2 episodes?

I mean, where were they? Why were they there?

 

[DemsMyBoys]

So it sounds like, as I said in my first post, "she" should have just destroyed the camera. Which would have resulted in no shows. Which doesn't sound like such a bad thing considering what some of you have written. I am really glad I spent my time watching old Inspector Morse DVDs.

 

[Angel]

What about an overall synopsis for those that gave up after 2 episodes?

I mean, where were they? Why were they there?

I can't spoiler this, so stop here if you don't want to know more.......for what ever reason. Sorry for the length but here goes;







A group of unknown persons are being held captive for reasons that are unclear, by people whose motives are unknown; they are watched constantly, and forcibly kept within the confines of their not necessarily uncomfortable environs. All we need is a giant weather balloon to police the perimeter. As we take the journey we find that the unknowns are not only watching the town 24-7 but are able to watch people connected to them as well and that the Program itself has been around for awhile.

The pilot began with Janet being kidnapped while her daughter played unwittingly on a San Francisco playground. She woke up in a locked hotel room, only to be saved by Joe, a.k.a. the Man With the Mysterious Past (turned out he is a priest who had been part of a past recruitment, but when the cookie whispered in his ear he killed his neighbor), breaks down her door and informed her that a key was taped to the inside of the hotel Bible. Once out in the corridor, we were introduced to some more of our carefully crafted cast of characters: the Soldier, the Partying Blonde, the Potentially Crazy Lady in a Bathrobe, and Cameron Frye. Later, in the police station, we had the displeasure of meeting the Designated DirtBag, whose selfish actions and all-around terribleness will ensure he’s the first one to go should there end up being any Saw-style shenanigans. The characters were continuously monitored via CCTV, and it’s unclear who’s doing the monitoring. However, if the semi-spherical black security cameras are any indication, it’s probably the security guards at J.C. Penney. Of course, it could be Big Brother, either Orwellian or Julie Chenian, that’s watching their every move, though it just turns out to be a gradually dwindling audience of NBC viewers.

After discovering that they couldn’t leave the premises of the ghost town without an invisible fence triggering a long, drug-induced pavement nap, the crew found out they weren’t alone. A Chinese kitchen staff appeared out of the ether to bring the dozers back to consciousness and then offered them all some dinner in their restaurant. Luckily there’s no one else there, so they don’t have to wait before being seated and digging in. Soon enough it was time for fortune cookies, with each containing either some eerily apt advice or a generic fortune-y aphorism. Janet’s fortune was the most specific, informing her that if she killed her neighbor, she’ll be allowed to go free, which seems all scary and dramatic.

Over the course of the following weeks, (while attempting to get the audience invested in these characters---didn’t much happen for me) they are subjected to significant psychological and physical stress. Joe is eventually revealed to be a member of The Program. Who or what The Program is, what their motives, resources, or support remains unclear---except they do seem to love secret entrances, gadgets and violent death. The first indication that The Program is manipulating them, attempting to influence their behavior, thought patterns, and beliefs begins with the cookie but random other “things” keep wandering in an out such as personal belongings with history, TV’s telling stories, eerie phone calls. In the next to last episode we find out that all off the previous junk was just to weed out the unworthy. I’m not sure what was up with Janet’s Ex and his boss\girlfriend but they rip around the world in search of Janet with the most amazing luck (or not) narrowly avoiding the Blue Crew (not from Best Buy) getting assistance from wealthy but odd characters, until they locate The Program, in small town Iowa or Idaho I can’t remember which, but their only reward for their blazing success is revealed at the end.

Despite staging a mass breakout in what seems to be the most interesting part of the dull ache that occurred over the 13 weeks since all our little captives first got in that elevator, Brilliantly (this is not sarcastic, and worth watching if you have a spare few minutes for the finale) faking the deaths of everyone in the town except for Joe. Only to have all the participants recaptured awakening in an identical hotel, built into the hull of a tanker ship, where the creepy night manager, a clone like thing, it seems there were two of them, the first guy instantly fell in love with our depressing damsel and in an attempt to help her escape the town got his head remotely exploded (no I’m not kidding), welcomes them to "Level 2." Joe and Mark Cooper (Janet’s Ex) are seen waking in a second hotel, in which Tori Fairchild (dead captive who was an Ambassador’s daughter) serves as the hotel manager. Kat (Ex’s Girlfriend) and Ambassador Fairchild are last seen in cages at an undisclosed location.

So after dragging out forever we learn absolutely NOTHING, not what the Program is, what their eventual goal might be, why these particular folks were recruited for this bizarre video game, where the town was –though it does seem like there were more than one, how they explained all the dead people in body bags, how they managed to recapture the captives who we see in different corners of the world or what the heck happened to the people in the cages (where Kat and the Amb ended up, there were many of the little 4x4 steel barred cages guarded by blue men and dogs.

Prompting my original review of YUCK.

 

[bankybruce]

What about an overall synopsis for those that gave up after 2 episodes?

I mean, where were they? Why were they there?

Janet was the one, other than that, we don't know. We do know there was a town in Mexico, but they were not in that one. We do not know where their town was. Joe was part of the program though.

 

[Russ Smith]

Well it ended, I made it through all of the episodes. It lost the humor element for me a piece back but I'm stubborn what can I say. Final word on the experience.....

YUCK.

Yeah it was presposterous at the end. What made it even worse is that one of the key episodes never aired live(at least not where I live) so I had to go back and watch it on On Demand when I realized I'd missed an episode.

Just bad.