
Persons Unknown followed the story of seven people who were abducted and placed in a seemingly abandoned town in the middle of nowhere. They wake up in a hotel with no knowledge of how or why they are there. The hotel, the streets of the town, and the other buildings are all filled with cameras and microphones. During the first few weeks of their captivity, they are subjected to psychological and physical stresses (torture). They also try to escape several times without success since the town is surrounded by some sort of impassable microwave energy wall. Once, they actually make it through the wall only for all of them to pass out, possibly due to an implant, and awaken back in the town.
The secondary plot follows Mark Renbe, a journalist and the ex-husband of one of the abductees, Janet Cooper. Renbe is attempting to find Janet to not only investigate the unusual circumstances of her disappearance but to also reunite her with their daughter, Megan. Another subplot involves Joe Tucker who at first seems to be an abductee like the other six people but is later revealed to be an agent of “The Program,” those responsible for the abductions and what is going on in the town.
Now that I’ve explained the important plot details, let me explain why I think the show failed in the end. Initially, the show was advertised as a mini-series event and that “All will be answered” at the end of the summer. The only thing that the show didn’t do was to provide answers, or at least the answers for which I wanted answers. 1) How did they decide who to abduct? 2) What is the purpose of “The Program? It has to be more than just finding individuals who show great promise. 3) What is The Program? 4) What’s going to happen to Kate Damatto and Ambassador Fairchild? Those are just a few of the questions that I have. These questions wouldn’t be so bad if I knew that there was going to be another season.
I will commend the writers for creating a show with an original premise. The series finally was a well written episode, if they were setting up more seasons. Am I supposed to just assume that The Program continues on? Why not go out with a bang and have the characters that we (the audience) grew to care about escape and somehow expose The Program, or find a way back to their lives, or even make new lives, instead of being stuck in a loop. Usually, when a series or mini-series comes to an end, there is closure. Fans of this show, however few there may be, won’t have any closure. The conspiracy continues and the plight of our characters isn’t changed. It would be like Battlestar Galactica ending after Crossroads Part 2 with the revelation of who the hidden cylons are. Or it would be like Lost ending after the fifth season finale The Incident when Ben kills Jacob, Ilana opens the metal crate to reveal Locke’s body, and Juliet smashes the nuclear core and detonates the bomb. You can’t end a series that you know is coming to an end with a cliff hanger and not expect people to be a little perturbed.
Maybe it was a case of the writers not knowing how to end the show, but that’s ridiculous. You knew going in that it was going to end. There really isn’t any excuse. I might have been happy with just showing Joe and Mark in a new town starting the cycle over again, but you also show me our original abductees (minus Joe) in a hotel built into a ship out at sea in the middle of nowhere (incidentally the ship is named Almas Perdidias which translates into Lost Souls). They are then told “Welcome to Level 2,” by a now sinister looking Night Manager. What the hell is Level 2? Why didn’t they just scrap this group like the normally would do? If The Program is trying something new, what exactly are they trying? The writers seem to have no problem with raising even more questions.
Maybe I’m being too hard and literal. I actually did like the show, and if there were going to be more seasons, I would watch. But the ending bothered me. I dislike false closure on my TV shows. Maybe this’ll spawn comic books or webisodes, or even some decent fan fiction. One can only hope.
Sphere: Related ContentPosted under Articles, Fanboy Rants, Reviews, Television
This post was written by Bedlam on September 1, 2010
Comments to this post

























