'PERSONS UNKNOWN' 1.3 - "The Way Through"

[SPOILERS] A marked improvement, the third episode of Persons Unknown started to deliver half-decent character moments and unleashed a few surprises along the way. The show still feels outdated and woefully derivative to me (Stephen King does The Prisoner), but knowing it has a self-contained story to tell over 13 episodes is a bonus. At least the three-month investment will reap some kind of definite "reward".

We open with the abductees having spent a week digging a tunnel under the perimeter defences of the town, only to strike a metal wall that releases toxic gas through slats. Gas became the week's major threat, as a helicopter dropped a crate containing three gas masks in the town square, and the group faced the prospect of a deadly chemical attack that only three of them can survive.

The mind-games also continued, with car salesman Bill (Sean O'Bryan) noticing a shop window's TV playing surveillance footage of businessman Charlie (Alan Ruck) murdering his wife by smothering her with a pillow. An act of euthanasia, Charlie claims when confronted. As of right now I'm predicting that every character has done something terrible in their lives and has been sent to this town as punishment, possibly by a loved-one. I'm confused about why the surveillance cameras aren't confined to the town, but appear to have been installed in the captives' homes before they were kidnapped (or did anything wrong, in Charlie's case). It hints at a long-term plan to catch people committing felonies, and meting out justice via psychological torture/social experiment. Maybe there isn't one universal reason why these people have been targeted, but there must surely be one governing force behind the town's creation and installation of those out-of-town cameras.

The weakest part of Persons Unknown has been the parallel story in the outside world, with San Francisco reporter Mark Renbe (Gerald Kyd) investigating the disappearance of Janet (Daisy Betts), realizing he's stumbled onto a big story because his life's being threatened by a burly goon intent on blocking his progress. Sadly, I find Kyd a total charisma vacuum, which is a problem because he's possibly the hero who's going to rescue everyone, but there was one twist that made me sit up this week: the reveal that Mark's actually Janet's missing husband she'd hired a P.I to find before her own kidnapping. Is this true? If so, how long was Mark missing for? Long enough to start a new life as a reporter? Why isn't he anxious to be with his daughter? Does he even know about his daughter's existence? A new flurry of questions arise, which is exactly what this show needs.

I'm still struggling to feel drawn into Persons Unknown, but "The Way Through" definitely piqued my interest on a few occasions and gave me hope. Perhaps now the exposition appears to be over, we can get to know each character better (Charlie benefited from having a veil lifted on his past), and the story will begin to pull together and develop a sense of direction. I think the characters are where this show is falling down, as so many still feel blank and uninteresting to me. A clique of ciphers, wandering like lab rats around an empty town.

Asides

• If you're trapped in a town that can leak poison gas into any of its buildings at any given moment, please remember to always prop open doors that lead outside. Seriously, that was all that needed to be done to eliminate the gas threat in this episode!
• So what do you think? Is the town an elaborate experiment, testing people's character? Or just a place you can send family/friends to be punished for crimes, or just keep them out of the picture, if you have the right connections? I'm at a loss to think of another explanation that's actually within the realms of extreme possibility. Is the intention to have a "winner" after rounds of elimination, who gets to go home? Are the characters all connected to each other in ways we can't fathom yet? Maybe they're responsible for tragic events in each other's lives?
• The smug Night Watchman knows what's going on, that much is clear. I have no idea why they don't just torture him for information again, because there's no element of doubt that he's involved. Why is he even there, if not to be utilized in some way?

WRITER: Sandy Isaac
DIRECTOR: Bill Eagles
GUEST CAST: Gerald Kyd, Lola Glaudini, Carlos Lacamara & Andy Greenfield
TRANSMISSION: 21 JUNE 2010 - NBC, 9|8c