Alcatraz: "Kit Nelson" Review

Note: Full spoilers for the episode follow.

Alcatraz follows up last week's two hour premiere with another strong outing. Just like "Ernest Cobb", "Kit Nelson" features a sick and twisted murderer. This time the killer preys on kids and it's up to Madsen and Soto to track him down. What works about this story is that it's a lot more personal for Soto this time out, allowing him to branch out on his own. The flashbacks feature a few new interesting tidbits about what might be going on but I wouldn't expect any substantial clues just yet.

Soto continues to be the more interesting of the duo. As long as he's the "fish-out-of-water" in this strange new role he finds himself in, I think he'll continue to be the most accessible as well. What a lot of these procedural dramas and weekly mystery forensics shows rarely have is someone who hasn't seen a dead body thousands of times or hasn't found themselves in the line of fire. Throwing Soto into tense situations, like the diner scene, puts a new spin on things. It was a lot easier to put myself in that situation since I could at least relate to the character more than I can with Madsen or Hauser. I think as the gateway character, Soto has been great in both "Kit Nelson" and "Ernest Cobb." I'd like to see Madsen become a bit more accessible as well. She's opening up, and her devotion to keeping Soto on the team is endearing. There's a good chemistry developing between the two and I like that they have to work against Hauser as much as they have to work with him.

That's still what strikes me as odd however. I get the impression that Hauser doesn't really feel like he wants to be working with either Madsen or Soto. He only keeps them around out of necessity. But why these two? Rebecca links back to Grandfather Madsen in some way. And to keep her happy he has to keep Soto around as well. It's an interesting dynamic but an awkward one as well. I hope once we learn more about Hauser's motives we'll understand his relationship with those around him; specifically Lucy. There's definitely a deeper connection there.

- FOX

It was interesting to see how Hauser kill the bad guy this week. He seems to be putting a great deal of emphasis on keeping these guys alive, even at the risk of innocents dying. I guess something either Soto or Madsen said got through to him because he came through in a big way in the end. We now know he is a crack-shot too. Sam Neill being bad ass is always welcome.

Besides the diner scene, the best bits, and most intriguing, were the flashbacks. I'm starting to become a big fan of Warden Edwin James. He's ruthless but I've felt no sympathy for the scum he's had to deal with in the past two episodes. Both Cobb and Nelson were cowards who preyed on the helpless. I'm not sure if we should assume that the warden was in on whatever happened in 63 though. I get the impression he wouldn't be too happy with letting any of these people loose, even 50 years later. It will be interesting to see where the story takes him.

The other interesting tidbit from the flashback was Grandpa Madsen's appearance as the man behind the curtain. They seem to be really interested in taking a lot of blood from him. One of the popular theories early on is that there is no time travel and these modern day version of Alcatraz prisoners are clones. I'm on board with this theory early on, but why would Lucy or Dr. Beauregard go along with it as well? Why lock these prisoners in facility that looks like the interior of Alcatraz? So many questions!

I was a bit perplexed by what happened to Soto's character when he was 11. He says he was taken but that couldn't have been by Nelson. Going by Jorge Garcia's age, Soto wouldn't have been born until 1973. Just a strange coincidence I assume. Then again, Lost taught me there is no such thing as a strange coincidence.

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