TV-Reviewed

It seems to becoming the popular decision by stations to air the first two episodes back-to-back. As I was watching “Ernest Cobb,” I began to feel like FOX had made a mistake. The bulk of this episode and the “Pilot” had nothing to do with one another. However, as things progressed and some twists were revealed, it really made sense for them to air these first two episodes back-to-back. FOX had it right after all.

I have no idea what it is, but for some reason, I’ve always liked characters in war movies that were snipers. I’ve always felt connected to them for some reason. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m a little bit of a loner and snipers are generally either on their own or have a spotter. Whatever the case, I was interested to see where “Ernest Cobb” was going to go, just to see where his sniping motivation came from.

With the flashes in between the past and present, it reminded me of another great police procedural that I am beginning to miss: Cold Case from CBS. Some of the photography they did was superb and it reminds me of what’s going on with Alcatraz, though noticeably different because of the lack of age progression, but I think Cold Case fans may understand what I mean.

Joe Egender as Ernest Cobb

I really wanted this episode to be better than it was when it came to the reasons behind the shootings involving Joe Egender’s Ernest Cobb, but it just boiled down to childhood anger and jealousy. It wasn’t nearly as compelling as the stuff that transpired between Cobb and the warden. I enjoyed seeing Cobb get the upper hand on the warden at time, but it never lasted for long. The real kicker came when it was revealed that Parminder Nagra’s Lucy character was actually the doctor who “treated” Cobb, meaning she’s really old like the prisoners. She’s not at all what we thought she was.

After getting two episodes into this series, I’m really concerned about how Jorge Garcia is going to be used. He’s got arguably the easiest acting job in Hollywood right now. He’s basically Hurley on a different island. Due to Garcia’s obesity, he’s not going to be running up flights of stairs in San Francisco. It seems to be up to Sarah Jones and Sam Neill to do all of the action in the show. I’m just not sure Garcia fans such as myself are really going to get their moneys worth in Alcatraz. This show may not be the right fit for him. I hope I’m proven wrong.

Rating: 7