Persons Unknown - Pilot, S01E01

Persons Unknown reminds me a little of Harper's Island. It's a 13 episode miniseries which revolves around a mystery, and has the potential of being fabulous. Harper's Island did not meet that expectation due to some serious scripting and plot issues. Will Persons Unknown realize the potential that a show with its premise has, or will it disappoint me?

The premiere was good, though odd. I had expected something more along the line of Cube - 7 people locked in a building, cut off from the outside world, and that was it. Instead, we have been getting glimpses of the places left behind. Janet (Daisy Betts) has a daughter, a daughter who was the tool of her own abduction. I absolutely loved the fear that built up inside of me as Janet panicked, thinking her daughter was missing, only to have Janet kidnapped while her child was left behind.

Now that daughter is living with Janet's mother, a woman who I would not let near any child.

It isn't only the daughter we get to see. A journalist has also taken an interest in Janet's disappearance, and he is planning on pursuing her story. Will we learn more about what's going on from the outside than we do from the inside? Will the series end with him riding in, white knight style, to save our hero-victims? Or will any of them be left by that time?

That's right, death was introduced from the start. No one died, but Janet was promised, via fortune cookie, that she would be released if she killed her neighbour. Who exactly that note meant, I can't be certain, but is getting home to rescue her daughter worth her committing murder?

And, as interesting as Janet and her daughter and the missing husband are, let's not discount the rest of the cast. Joe (Jason Wiles) has a strong military vibe, comfortably taking control of most of the situations, but refuses to talk about where he came from. Sgt. McNair (Chadwick Boseman) comes across as a trained grunt, preferring to follow Joe's commands than take his own initiative, but he's also willing to risk himself to help his fellow prisoners. Is it all an act?

Moira (Tina Holmes) claims that she's a councilor, but her actions and behaviour hints at her being a patient. Tori (Kate Lang Johnson) seems to be a useless socialite, but perhaps she's more than just a pretty face? Blackham (Sean O'Bryan) came onto the scene as an aggressor, but he quickly teamed up with Charlie (Alan Ruck), and Charlie, the most interesting after Joe and Janet, wants to be in control, but is also the most unstable element of the lot.

So we've got 7 different and bizarre members of a forced household, as well as our outside forces, but we also have more people on the inside. What is with the group of Chinese people who run a restaurant? Or the night watchman? I really hope that those factors are also given proper weight and attention.

So, a successful premiere, giving me enough to bring me back, but not making it so wild as to scare off the milder element. Start watching it, because in 13 episodes we'll know what's what and it seems to me that we'll want to know it all.