Safety doesn’t exist in this television show, and asking for help isn’t an option. The general public never learns of these events, nor the SFPD–and it needs to be kept that way. What happened with Alcatraz inmates long ago needs to be kept a secret, or risk the whole operation of finding what exactly occurred that made them come back.

The new television show “Alcatraz,” on FOX attempts to explain the events that took place the day Alcatraz was evacuated. However, in this show, the prisoners were never evacuated, but instead somehow show up in present day San Francisco not a day older than they were than when Alcatraz was “evacuated.”

Created by the makers of “Lost,” this show surely keeps one guessing. Similar to “Lost,” the story lines of “Alcatraz” can irritate audience members with ongoing confusion and interwoven, never-ending conflict. As different story lines end, others are created or continued. The overwhelming amount of action and conflict perplexes watchers, and they never really understand what is going on. Each new episode delves deeper into confusion as plot points pile up and are further intertwined.

The entertaining aspects of the show are prominently displayed, yet at its best the show challenges societal values. It’s hard to tell where the show is going from episode to episode because as they capture the prisoners and put them back into Alcatraz, they question them, but none of them seem to remember what happened.

Each episode is about one prisoner from Alcatraz, and their unique story of crimes they committed. This method of episode organization is easy to draw in viewers, but often makes for a boring and predictable ending––guaranteeing that each prisoner will either be captured or killed. Through television shows over the years this organization is common, but doesn’t necessarily give the viewer a new perspective. Overall it is an entertaining and interesting show, that could use a little work on the plot line.

The many flashbacks help to greatly understand the plot, and the flashbacks are easily clarified by the dark lighting, and the prisoners interaction within Alcatraz. The show mainly takes place in Alcatraz itself, so when the show is brought back to present day it is easy to tell with the bright lighting and differences from past to present Alcatraz.