If the AMC remake of the The Prisoner left you wanting more then you should give Persons Unknown a chance. The show starts off with a handful of people waking up in a hotel not knowing where they are or how they got there. They don’t really have much in common other than they are there in a deserted town where they can’t escape. The town looks innocent enough but is fire proof, they can’t burn the place down or give a signal for help. It also looks like they can just walk out but the town has an invisible, electric pain gun– styled barrier that prevents them from leaving. There is a group of cooks that mysteriously show up to make them meals. There is also a night manager in the hotel but he claims to be just as ignorant of what’s going on as everyone else. The rest of the town is filled with clothes and tools for them to live life until their captors decide what to do with them. Until then, they are being watched by ominous cameras in the ceilings.
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What I find fascinating about this show is that it was filmed in Mexico City. I could have sworn that the sets look like Vancouver but I was wrong. The opening show credits feels a lot like the Charlie Jade opening theme. I’m not sure if the same company did it but the style is similar. Unfortunately, after five episodes in, in the middle of July, Persons Unknown moved from Monday nights to Saturday nights. Only thirteen episodes were made. The show was meant to be a mini-series and promises to wrap everything up and answer all questions by episode thirteen.
!!!!SPOILERS!!!!
So far these people have been kidnapped: A mom, Janet; a party girl, Tori; a grieving husband, Charlie; a mental patient, Moria; a soldier, Graham; a douche bag guy, Bill and the wild card, unlikely leader guy, Joe. The newest kidnappee is a lesbian convict named Erika. (Which is Kandyse McClure who was Dee from Battlestar Galactica.)
The mom’s rag journalist ex-husband and his boss were sucked into the drama which includes them running from gunned men, dressing as a nun and priest in Rome, almost getting blown up in a car and now a plane ride to South America to take on The Organization.
The party girl got a way out of the freaky prison town via taxi but is now is apparently dead. Her father is an American ambassador and worked for the mysterious organization who runs the town. They have been operating for 50 years and have no name.
Turns out that Joe is one of “them”. He is friends with one of the Chinese men in the restaurant. He is also an operative of The Organization. Everyone just found this out in the latest episode.
We still aren’t sure why these people have been brought together other than them having dark secrets. Most of the secrets aren’t that dark some it’s unclear how anything will fit together. What I know for sure is that if this ends up being some sort of Lost purgatory, I’m going to write someone a very angry email.
I’ll end with some predictions. Janet’s mom is in on the kidnapping. Everyone in the town has seen something they should have. Moria is really running the whole thing.
There are 6 more episodes of Persons Unknown left. It airs on Saturdays at 8/7c on NBC.
Persons Unknown on NBC
Persons Unknown on IMDB
Catch up on Hulu.
I’ve watched every episode. I don’t think the show is great, but they were brilliant in telling us that we will have all of our questions answered by the end of the season. I like the characters for the most part and this past episode (8-7-10) finally gave us an insight into The Organization. I just really hope that the series ends with the same amount of urgency that the series began with and has kinda lost in the middle.