• Network: FOX
  • Series Premiere Date: Jan 16, 2012
  • Season #: 1
Alcatraz Image
Metascore

Generally favorable reviews - based on 29 Critics What's this?

User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 125 Ratings

  • Summary: Fifty years after they vanished, some of Alcatraz's most notorious prisoners reappear and start committing crime once again. Emerson Hauser (Sam Neill), Rebecca Madsen (Sarah Jones), and Diego "Doc" Soto (Jorge Garcia) team up to investigate how this happened.
  • Genre(s): Drama
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 29
  2. Negative: 0 out of 29
  1. Reviewed by: Tom Gliatto
    Jan 13, 2012
    88
    The show has the makings of great--what else can I say?--escapist entertainment. [23 Jan 2012, p.39]
  2. Reviewed by: Glenn Garvin
    Jan 17, 2012
    80
    For now, Alcatraz is a sinister bag of sinister pleasures.
  3. Reviewed by: Rick Porter
    Jan 17, 2012
    60
    There's enough in the premise and the performances (particularly those of Garcia and Neill) to keep us watching, but to really hook us in Alcatraz needs to decide what kind of show it wants to be.
  4. Reviewed by: Hank Stuever
    Jan 17, 2012
    60
    There is something to like in Alcatraz's smooth momentum. The show has a spirit that comes through in spite of the flavorless cheese crumbles piled atop it.

See all 29 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 39
  2. Negative: 6 out of 39
  1. awesome great awesome great awesome great awesome great awesome great awesome great awesome great awesome great awesome great awesome great awesome great awesome great Expand
  2. At first, I felt like this plot wouldn't work. How could you take an old prison and give it the "Lost" treatment? However, it works. You wonder why each prisoner has just shown up back in the real world. Thankfully, the well written story is fleshed out. It doesn't have nearly as many of those "huh?" moments Lost had, and that's a good thing. Expand
  3. This was missing a lot. JJ can do so much better. It almost feels that he isn't even present except for there being a hutch in the jungle and numbers everywhere. I feel that Lost fans will hang on in order to fill that tv show void. Everything is just to convenient for this detective. So far she is a better detective than Batman. She is unrealistically finding evidence and making assumptions. It's not real enough for me to get connected and root for her. I'm upset to have a mixed review. Expand
  4. Granted Alcatraz has an interesting premise. As long as the ratings don't disappoint, this show should never run out of juice, after all, there are over hundreds of missing criminals to base future episodes and seasons on. Though, after watching the first two episodes, I can't help but feel like there are some seriously humdrum characters in this show. The leads seem boring to me. I'd like to rate the show higher, but i'm not sure how long I'll be able to remain interested in it. A great premise can take you a long way, but if the series lacks interesting characters, eventually it will grow tiresome. Expand

See all 39 User Reviews

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