Warning: this article contains spoilers for the series finale of Persons Unknown. If you’ve not yet seen the finale, you will be spoiled.
What the heck was that? And why are we all so brassed off about it?
Since the end of NBC’s summer thriller Persons Unknown aired, I’ve been staring at my TV trying to make sense of it, and I’m not the only one. My review of the final two hours already has over 80 comments. Not to mention, I’m getting annoyed tweets on Twitter for not liking it. Apparently, hating a series finale can take you from friend of the fanbase to pariah in less than 24 hours. Which made me wonder: what’s the big deal? If the goal of the show was to create something we were going to talk about, it’s certainly done that. What else did it do? I’m not really sure.
There seem to be two distinct camps when it comes to an opinion of the finale:
1) People who hated it, largely because it provided little answers to the burning question “What is the Program?” and/or seemed to be an exercise in time-wasting by having almost all the protagonists end up right back where they started, in the Program. There are other reasons, too, but those were the two most mentioned that I could find.
2) People who liked it, thinking either it left the door open for or ensures a second season – though this part of the argument ignores the show’s dismal time slot and ratings (it was actually beaten by gymnastics one week) – or was some reflection on the Program’s idea of a lack of free will. Again, there are other reasons, but then you get into metaphors and religious allegories and all sorts of stuff.
The more I thought on it, a third idea sprung to mind:
3) There isn’t, and possibly never was, a set conclusion or set of answers to the story. The writers provided a purposefully vague storyline and outcome in order to force the viewing audience to fill in the blanks themselves and make up their own reasons why. Several television shows have done this with individual episodes (what comes to mind for me is the Without A Trace episode which fades to black while they’re waiting for the phone to ring regarding the fate of a death row inmate), but I’ve never seen it done as a series conclusion.
A lot of the argument seems to hinge on the idea of whether or not the finale was intended as a series or season finale. Persons Unknown was always marketed by NBC as a miniseries (remember that maddening voiceover every week that insisted “all will be revealed”?), but was it intended that way? I’ve read yes, others insist no. So I did a little digging and decided to see what I could find out. Collider did a lengthy interview with EP Remi Aubuchon which seems to suggest even the people behind the scenes didn’t have much of an idea which it was. When talking about the beginnings of the show, he refers to it as a “13-episode series,” suggesting that it was always intended as a miniseries. Then he goes and says the following:
“We did shoot it with the idea of it being an ongoing series, but because I am insane when I get to the end of a season and they give you a big, giant cliff-hanger with no answers, I insisted that we provide all the answers to the questions that we set up at the beginning. And then what I hope will happen at the end is that there will be a big enough springboard that, if we chose to go for a second season, we would have one. But there will be none of those maddening teases that we’re going to tell you the answers and then we don’t tell you the answers.”
This is followed by:
“I feel confident that we will have a beginning, middle and end in this season, and it was wise of NBC to then call it what it really is, which is a mini-series.”
So (strange grammar in that paragraph aside), even if you believe the idea that the show was intended as an ongoing series – which makes the “I’m on a boat” ending of the final episode somewhat understandable – Aubuchon clearly states that he insisted they provide all the answers to the questions by the end of the season, because he knew that there might not be a second. The show’s writers clearly didn’t provide all the answers; in fact, they didn’t provide many at all. A “maddening tease” is exactly what we got thanks to those voiceovers, although I’ll lay the blame for that at the feet of NBC’s marketing department.
Furthermore, I have to question the intent of the writers. If you believe Wikipedia (thanks to Jacob for the link), production on the show wrapped in early 2009, so they would have no way of knowing that the ratings tanked and they weren’t going to get a season two. Whatever they wrote was going to stand. That said, even if they wanted to write with a cliffhanger in mind, we’ve seen shows that have furnished episodes that worked as both season and series finale. Numerous shows have taken season finales and written them in such a way that they also work as series finales because they’re unsure of their fate. Chuck comes to mind, where Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak have publicly said that they write episodes that work as both season and series finale because they never know if they’re coming back. Why couldn’t Persons Unknown have written a finale that at least provided some answers while still furnishing the desired ‘springboard’to an elusive season two? They had no idea if they were or were not coming back, but wouldn’t it have been possible to write to both possibilities?
So which is it, then? Is it option three, that they were leaving it up to us to decide what we thought the ending was? It’s possible, but somehow I doubt it. That would scream of lazy storytelling to some people, and there’s just too much that they left unsaid to let the audience make up their mind over. Ambiguous fates of characters would be one thing, but deciding the entire purpose of the Program and fate of all the characters seems too much. One commenter suggested that they could have ended the story at the end of episode 1.12, wherein everyone escapes from their body bags. That would have been a different yet still ambiguous place to stop. Where would the captives go? What would they do? And Joe would still be working from the inside to dismantle the Program – would he succeed? We’d never know, but at least we’d have something to hold onto. (Admittedly, as a Jason Wiles fan of the highest order, the idea of him going on a crusade to destroy the Program would have been fun as heck to watch, but that’s just me.)
It’s obvious that, unless the DVDs – which street on September 7, or about a week from now – contain some sort of illuminating commentary or special features (which I would love but doubt given how the show petered off into TV oblivion) – no one is ever going to know the real intent behind Persons Unknown behind the cameras, or the real truth to the ending in front of them. No one’s right and no one’s wrong, so arguing and name-calling are rather pointless amongst what remains of the show’s fanbase. Personally, I disliked it and I think I always will, no matter how many people try to change my mind. Yet I think there’s one thing we can all agree on: at least Persons Unknown got us talking about television, which is never a bad thing. You can’t really argue with that.
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This is from Wikipedia, so take it with a grain of salt: Production on the show has been wrapped since early 2009 (it started production in October of 2008). NBC acquired the rights to broadcast it from Fox in July of '09, and it was sold as a 13 episode series. So, blame Fox for the show itself, and blame NBC for being such a tease.
Brittany, I love how shows with such poor ratings are always the ones to get the most comments (Defying Gravity from last year comes to mind, we had hundreds of comments on that show and its cancellation). I had believed from day one that it was a miniseries as well, so to be left with *that* is what makes my blood boil.
** Not to mention, I’m getting annoyed tweets on Twitter for not liking it. Apparently, hating a series finale can take you from friend of the fanbase to pariah in less than 24 hours**
Seriously? So much for the free will some have been talking about- I guess you aren't allowed your opinion.
I can only hope that someone from NBC is reading this, and other sites like ours, and maybe will decide to not screw over their audience with whatever the next big show is (I am looking at you, The Event).
Interesting. So maybe they sold it as a 13-episode series hoping NBC would like it and consider a second season? It seems like nobody has any clue what they were aiming for.
Was Defying Gravity any good? I loved Ron Livingston, but I missed it.
And yeah. I used to fairly regularly chat with the PU fan account on Twitter and they even linked to my reviews from last week. Now I'm getting tweets from them because I've publicly said I don't like the finale. Weird.
As far as The Event, the over-marketing has turned me off wanting to watch it, but from a critic's POV I don't hold out much hope for it either.
Was Defying Gravity any good? I loved Ron Livingston, but I missed it.
And yeah. I used to fairly regularly chat with the PU fan account on Twitter and they even linked to my reviews from last week. Now I’m getting tweets from them because I’ve publicly said I don’t like the finale. Weird.
As far as The Event, the over-marketing has turned me off wanting to watch it, but from a critic’s POV I don’t hold out much hope for it either.
The emergency meeting with the big boardroom and then Robert Picardo with the very fine (as in thin) long white hair harkens back to a character played by Richard Lynch in the little known film 1970's film "God told me to" Think about it!
I'm pretty ticked with the ending that's about all I can say about it… I hope there is more but my luck I finally find a show that I really enjoyed and it takes me nowhere. Ridiculous!!!
Way before my time on that one! It sort of reminded me of the Christopher Walken character in "Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead" (not a very good movie IMO).
Way before my time on that one! It sort of reminded me of the Christopher Walken character in "Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead" (not a very good movie IMO).
You’re not alone, Bill. I’ve talked to several friends who also watch the show, and all but one of them are not happy.
THIS IS SO TRUE THE WRITER NEEDS TO WRIT A BETTER STORY LINE. I'M BORED.
You're not alone, Bill. I've talked to several friends who also watch the show, and all but one of them are not happy.
from what i've read they really hoped the show would continue, so that explains the ending which wasn't all that bad. they gave several clues as to who or what "the program" is. i'm sure nbc used the mini-series tag to attract viewers but at least they were better than fox who pulled "drive" and "vanished" before the endings.
http://www.beyondhollywood.com/nbc-picks-up-chris…
NBC Picks up Christopher McQuarrie’s Persons Unknown
Persons Unknown TV Series, TV News — By Nix on July 17, 2009 | Share
I’ve been following the progress of Christopher McQuarrie’s Persons Unknown TV show since it was announced last year. It’s got a pretty good premise, and McQuarrie always does well when he’s given a lot of rope and the subject is mystery. Today comes good news, with Variety announcing that NBC has picked up the show, which includes the 13 episodes that have already been produced. There’s no word when NBC plans on launching the show, but once it does air, like all big network shows it’ll be given a pretty short leash to perform or else.
Persons Unknown is about a group of strangers who find themselves imprisoned inside a small ghost town with no knowledge of how they got there or how to get out. The show stars Jason Wiles, most famous for his role as Bosco on NBC’s hybrid show Third Watch, here playing a character name Joe; Daisy Betts (last year’s horror remake “Shutter”); and Battlestar Galactica alum Kandyse McClure (below) will play Erica. The rest of the cast include Chadwick Boseman, Tina Holmes, Alan Smyth, Lee Purcell, and Reggie Lee.
Christopher McQuarrie (“The Usual Suspects”, “Valkyrie”) created the show, and is producing for Fox TV Studios, Italy’s RAI and Mexico’s Televisa.
I'm ticked at the cliffhanger ending because I had been under the impression that it was a miniseries and I wouldn't be left with a cliffhanger ending and no second season as so many shows like this leave us.
But "Welcome to level two"
The whole point seems to be that there is no free will and they proved it. Once in the program, always in the program. Everyone who went in stayed in. No one died, and no one got out. When they succeeded in "leaving" it only brought them further in.
That doesn't really explain anything. Whether or not they hoped the show would continue, they also apparently went in with the idea of resolving most of the questions by the end of the season, which most fans feel they didn't.
Is that really the point, though? Most viewers I've talked to were more concerned with the answer to the questions about what the Program was and how exactly it worked overall, neither of which were that elucidated by the end of the run.
I'd like to know how many levels there allegedly are. Some have heard reference to Joe as headed for level seven, and Janet was mentioned as a level ten candidate…what the heck, that seems like a long process.
Whether or not this was intended as a miniseries, which it seems like it was, it was certainly at least marketed wrong.
I just finished watching the season finale. I like the way it ended – sure it didn't asnwer all the questions as promised but I kind of like using my imagination to spin various scenarios. It reminds me very much of one of my all time favorite shows The Prisoner – that show posed more questions than answers and that was its great strength and makes it popular to this day. You don't always need things tied up in a pretty neat bow. While Persons Unknown isn't quite on the same level as the surreal Prisoner I like it way better than most of the drek on TV. Would I like to see a season 2? Yeah probably but I don't know if it could sustain in the long run. I think of shows like Prison Break that had a great premise and would have been an ideal mini series but they milked it with each successive season spiraling down.
I think this would be a cool recurring mini-series if they can make the Program the central idea and not necessarily bring back the full cast but come at the whole thing from different angles Probably too odd for a network to pull off but I'd be happy to see it. – DJAmbient
Maybe you don't need things tied up completely – I'm not saying that – but I think a lot of us expected more than we got. While I certainly don't mind being left to interpret things, I didn't want to interpret almost everything. Of course, if I'd been left to write the ending, I probably would have capped it at the end of the first hour, with the possible addition of a few scenes.
I think it would exactly turn out like Prison Break, though. Eventually you'd just be asking yourself how long it could go on or what the point was. The only way I'd see a successful continuance would be to introduce new characters or a new setting every year, but then you lose the emotional attachment the audience has invested in the existing characters. They'd have to get re-involved in the new setting, new plot, and new characters every season and that, too, might get tiring.
I feel burned by NBC. All my questions were not answered at the end of the series. And to choose not broadcast episode 11 was a real downer. It makes me want to boycott "The Event".
Just my opinion but I think "The Program" was a training program to test potential future leaders for some kind of coming revolution.
Did anyone else think that Janet was a dead ringer for Cindy Crawford?
I would certainly not say all my questions were answered. And I'm definitely not watching "The Event" until the whole thing comes out on DVD. I'm tired of having networks screw around with the viewers like this.
What a freaking joke… I invested a summer into this crap because I wanted to know what the program was about and why those particular people were chosen…. two things that were spoken about all summer and two things that were not answered!…. I put up with the mediocre acting, horrible direction and flawed script thinking that at least there will be a satisfying ending…. what a joke…
According to what I was told by the network PR department, Persons Unknown was always supposed to be pre-empted the week that episode 11 wasn't shown. Though I do wonder why they didn't just extend it by a week, show 11 the next week and then show the finale.
That might actually be a valid theory. Joe said something about the people being chosen because the Program believed they had some sort of future impact on the world…but then that's all we ever heard about it. I was hoping for more of an explanation.
Serial television seems to be harder and harder to pull off with shows getting quick hooks. But it seems like this was never written with the idea of a resolution in mind, which wouldn't be the network's fault but the writers' fault.
Those seem to be the same two questions everyone wanted answered, Ed. You're not alone.
I actually liked this show in general. The acting wasn't Emmy worthy by any means and I certainly don't see any writing awards come next awards season, but that's ok. Did they answer every single question? No, but that too is ok with me. I happen to like ambiguous endings and this certainly was that! Perhaps those that hated the finale would have liked it a tad better had NBC not lied all summer, then again, probably not!
We have been told for quite some time that nobody leaves The Program and none of the characters did. No big surprise there.
We know The Program has inserted members into high ranking offices. This leads us to believe that The Program is influencing politics, world events, etc. Think The Illuminati or Freemasons.
We know Tori's dad, the Ambassador and former CIA head is part of The Program, as is Janet's mother. Who's to say most or all of the characters aren't legacied in to The Program? Perhaps one day Janet's daughter, Megan, will find herself in the same situation her mother is in. That's not to say that The Program doesn't make exceptions for those without direct ties. If they see someone with extreme potential an exception may be made.
Why is Tori a nightwatchman? We know nobody ever leaves, we saw Joe get reprogrammed, it looked like McNair was being put through the same things Joe was put through. Just because it wasn't shown, perhaps Tori went through a reprogramming? Perhaps Tori isn't as new to The Program as we were led to believe. Maybe Tori had to get through the level with Janet, Joe and the others to reach a level that made her a nightwatchmen. Just because she went through what appears to be level one, doesn't mean that was level one for her. If she has been moving through The Program and being reprogrammed, perhaps level one was actually Tori's level four. Reprogramming might also explain just how Blackham knew the name of Charlie's wife, especially if you go with the premise that this has all happened before in one way or another.
Camera's, camera's everywhere!!!! So, just how did The Program manage to have camera's all over the globe? Hey, it is The Program after all! Who knows, maybe they had little cameras surgically implanted or they are using super secret military grade satellite spy drones. I don't know. What I do know is, Big Brother is watching!
Everybody scatter! Yes, everyone scattered to all different locations around the globe. I don't care how they got there. I know at some point Jack Shephard went poo while he was lost on that damned island, even if it wasn't shown.
All in all, it may just come down to being able to be part of a team. It took every single participant working together to progress on to level two. Yes, Joe got left behind, but he's a teacher of sorts and his job is to now lead the new group. A father shepherding his flock in a way. Every major political player has a team, a group that they work with and trust.
There is no free will within The Program, only the illusion of. Every character is a pawn being controlled by The Program. They see and know only what The Program wants them too. Joe and Janet both know this, even if the others don't. Perhaps one day they will be controlling the action instead of just being mere pawns.
Just my 2 cents.
I could be right but probably not……..
I think all of your "perhaps" and "who knows" is exactly why people are frustrated with the finale.
Persons Unknown? What a steaming pile. It's like they tried to do those boo coo seasons of "Lost" in one short summer. Cool premise but even the worst Marx Brothers movie made more sense.
I strongly disliked it as well. To me it felt like the ending a high school kid in a creative writing class might put on his story when he couldn't figure out how to end it right. I can't believe I invested all those hours in an intriguing story only to be cheated in the end. Shame on NBC for stringing us along with the "all will be revealed" comment. Well….at least it wasn't 7 years.
To Holy Crap……That was more than 2 cents but you presented some valid thoughts. I still don't like the ending, but you are obviously intelligent and I thank you for giving me some ideas i hadn't considered.
Show was one of the best on TV…… Too bad most people are to spoon feed by the media to understand it…. NBC BRING IT BACK FOR A SEASON 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I liked this series for the most part, but my reaction to the finale was: I. wasted. my. time. That, and a desire to totally avoid anything like this in the future.
In my opinion, the finale raised more questions than it answered. What happened to Cat D'Amato? She wasn't in the Program, like the ambassador was, so why did she end up in the same position? (I'm trying to remember if in his discussion with Renbe and D'Amato, the ambassador actually said that he knew that his daughter was dead….) If the thumbless people actually lived, why didn't they bleed when their thumbs were cut off? How did Blackham know Charlie's wife's name? Was Janet's mother referring to Janet or Megan when she said she just got her back? These questions and others are added to the nagging questions raised during the course of the series , which also remain unanswered.
Some people may read into this comment that leaving people "thinking" is a good thing, but really, leaving the story this open in my opinion is just a glaring example of shoddy story-telling. You can string together a bunch of "twists", but there needs to be an actual story to add the twists to. It is easy to imagine writers sitting down and saying, "Wouldn't it be neat if this (for example, bringing Erika in supposedly after she had been executed) happened?" but not being able to put any story around it. If I want to make my own story, I'll do that, but I don't want to turn in to watch someone else's list of questions masquerading as a story….
That said, I did think the casting was excellent, and hope to see the actors in future series, hopefully some that actually have some resolution…
That's the thought I had – like there wasn't really an idea of where to end it so they didn't provide all the answers, just let the story continue with a hurried ending. I'd like to know how the Program managed to track down everyone. That would have been suspenseful to watch at least.
I agree with this. Totally.
Totally lame. I'm tired of shows like this. They pretend like they're giving you clues to figure out what's going on, but it's impossible to "figure out" the clues, because even the writers don't know where it's going. And, in some cases (like this one) NEVER even decide where it's going. Moreover, this show was the worst because they actively LIED to us by telling us, repeatedly, that "all would be revealed". They had to know people were getting sick of getting jerked around by shows like this. I thought, ok, maybe this show is different — it's short and close-ended, so perhaps they have a plan. But, no, they just LIED.
I think that's the fault of NBC's marketing department. The only thought I can have is that maybe they didn't screen the whole show, assumed they were buying a complete 13-episode series, and that's why they said that. Then again, that means they didn't do their homework.
But yes, I do believe the writers weren't quite sure where they were going.
Insulting people's intelligence because they don't agree with you is never the way to go. Neither is horrible overuse of exclamation points and bad grammar.
That's certainly a lot to think about, and I agree with others who've said you've thought it through completely. Thanks for the contribution! I'm still not thrilled with the ending and I probably never will be, but it's nice to see someone who puts some thought into an analysis of it rather than just telling the rest of us we're idiots for disliking it.
The biggest question of all:
The purpose of The Program is ….. ?
Way it played out the purpose was to find new employees who would in turn run a town in an effort to find …….. more employees.
What, there's no employment agencies in Iowa?
I appreciate your thoughtful analysis of the show and the finale. When the elevator door opened and they were welcomed to Level 2, my first thought was – oh, none of it was real – it's all a video game!! That would make sense to me, and then none of the lapses in continuity or logic would make any difference. Like an episode of The Twilight Zone, where the people think they are real, but they are not. As anyone who has seen The Usual Suspects knows, Christopher McQuarrie loves pulling that trick so that everything you think you have seen is a lie.
That having been said, if people watch/enjoy a show merely for the ending, I feel sorry for them. Did you enjoy the process, folks? The acting? The characters? The situations themselves? I surely did. If the ending wasn't all I had expected (which it wasn't), I disliked the ending – NOT THE WHOLE DAMN SHOW!!! It's TV, it's entertainment. I for one was entertained. Period.
If there are at least 27 towns, and the town is only Level 1, I'm trying to figure out how many people they honestly have to employ.
Whoa, scale back, my friend. Not everyone hated the whole show just because they hated the ending. Some people didn't like other parts of the show, others are disappointed with just the ending – everyone has their different viewpoints. The ending just happens to be the most talked about one right now.
NBC did themselves a disservice with this show and the way it was marketed. With their big new series "The Event" getting ready to launch, the last thing they needed was another serialized thriller with a non-ending. I was really looking forward to the new show. But now, I'm thinking I might wait until The Event comes out on DVD to watch it. I just don't think I'm up for another thriller I can't trust. I was really expecting Persons Unknown to a solid ending. Something similar to "24" where all the "days" ended with closure but 1 or 2 things were left open to next season possibilities. I'm bummed.
That's a great example. I loved "24" for how each day was concluded, yet you always had a few questions to tide you over into next season that kept you interested. Yes, Jack had saved Senator Palmer, but then we had to wonder how was he going to do without his wife? The ability to write such satisfying finales was always a plus for that show.
That’s a great example. I loved “24” for how each day was concluded, yet you always had a few questions to tide you over into next season that kept you interested. Yes, Jack had saved Senator Palmer, but then we had to wonder how was he going to do without his wife? The ability to write such satisfying finales was always a plus for that show.
Blackham knew Charlie's wife's name from the video that was shown to him of Charlie killing his wife with a pillow. In the video Charlie whispers his wife name over and over again. Thats why Blackham was antsy when Charlie confronted him about knowing the name.
They should never end the Persons Unknown they should switch to SYFY point blank. I guarntee they will have more viewers then NBC. NBC played Persons Unknown hard because they switch different days and then pre footballs. SyFy should take Persons Unknown for real
Ahahaha. Thank you for explaining that! It's been bugging me.
When the second elevator opened and they were greeted with "Welcome to Level 2", I immediately thought of Dante's Inferno. Suddenly the whole series made sense. Good ending, makes you think what level two and beyond would be like.
I also liked the 13 episodes and Done format. That's how they do it in the UK. A show has about 6-8 episodes in a season, about three seasons to a series and then Done. Their shows are so much better than ours.
Um…I'm not really sure what you're trying to say there, but I think it has something to do with the scheduling and the preemptions for football? I'm not sure how much that had to do with anything. NBC gave the show a fair shot on Mondays at 8 before moving it to Saturdays. At least they aired the entire season, unlike some other shows such as Kidnapped, which was banished to midnights in the middle of the week.
Thanks! I did not remember that….
Note the name of the boat: Almas Perdidas = Lost Souls. Wasn't this just another purgatory show like Lost?
I wasn't saying the point to viewers, I was referring to the point of the show itself.
My distinction was the fact that it's not entirely the point of the show we're questioning, Brett. There are other aspects that they're more upset about.
I've enjoyed reading the blog above as well as the comments. I'm in the middle of opinions. I thoroughly enjoyed the show up until Episode 12. The finale is what bothered me. As many of you have said, an open ending is okay but Persons Unknown left too much open. That's why I would love for it to come back. There is a facebook page that has been set u(or another network!) to renew it: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=15057668496….
HORRIBLE! There were no answers, no effort to even make any half-assed answers, no consistency or logic even within it's illogical premise, and no resolution of anything. How dare NBC claim it's a mini-series and imply therefore that there is a conclusion to be expected. I'm boycotting the whole network.
Remember the guy at the meeting with the long white hair? I think that was Piccardo, from Star Trek. The program has been ongoing for MANY years, decades even, long before anyone had any kind of technology capable of doing what we saw.
Here is MY answer as an ending. The Program was started by aliens – with human cooperation. That works. I thought during what I was seeing "Are they still on earth?"
And do they expect us to invest our time and energy watching THE EVENT? HA! The ending of Lost sucked too – they swore that "no, they are not dead" when people asked about that. Lame as hell.
That whole "writers are not sure where they are going" doesn't cut it. WE, the FANS are treated like pond slime, our time and investment in a show doesn't matter. We are lucky IF they even show the complete season.
The only channel that ever gave us a SERIES, made for them, with a complete ending was the Science Fiction Channel.
Screw their EVENT.
they weren't dead at the end of lost… the island and everything happened. they were all alive for 6 seasons. the sideways world was in a different time period (or reality, whatever you want to call it) all together. but that's a whole different discussion
the finale of persons unknown was stupid. the whole series was leading up to something good and then they just open up more questions. also, the trailers for "the event" were for a different show i believe…
I agree Ed, thats 13 hours of my life I'll never get back.
If there were a 2nd season, I would not watch..I've learned my lesson.
After the major disappointment of Harper's Island, I swore off the coveted television project known as the mini series. Well, my wife and I just finished the Season or Series Finale or persons Unknown and I think even DISH network may be in on this, as they usually note a Season or Series Finale in their info, but not this time. It mearly said "New" Ha Ha. Just after Kate Lang Johnson's character Tori Fairchild, introduces herself as the new Night Manager and just prior to the elevator doors opening in the last few minutes with Andy Greenfield's character the previous, 'Night Manager' welcoming them to "Level Two", I flashed on an old Twilight Episode entitled 'Shadow Play" with Dennis Weaver, where he is on trial for murder, which ultimately ends in his execution, the play continues with him awakening in the same courtroom where he had been previously convicted with all the same people involved, only now they're all playing different parts, except for him and so begins again his hellish nightmare repeated over and over. This got me to thinking about Kandyse McClure's character Erika Taylor. She had showed up late for the party and it was later revealed that she herself was on death row and was somehow miraculously saved from lethal injection. Were they already dead? Was this Dante's Inferno" "Welcome to level two." WTF!!! I'm sure if it had all been a dream or nightmare in this case and Janet had never lost her daughter the ending would have sucked just as much. At least it wasn't about ghosts or aliens. If this was the Series Finale, then the "All willl be revealed" crap missed the mark and like me, we are left to our own imagination. I liked the thought of one blogger, who said when Level two was mentioned that it reminded him of a Video Game. Where the hell is Mulder and Scully, when you need them? Finally, if this is just a Season Finale, then the cliffhanger wasn't that bad
I also hated the ending of this show. They never revealed "all", as promised. I wish had never seen the pilot and gotten drawn into the show's deception.
The finale reminded me of Samuel Beckett’s ‘Act without words 1’. Is this an existentially absurd mini-series? If yes, then all the answers were provided and it explains why I am so totally annoyed by the finale.
Well, not since our bloved Third Watch ( and Jason Wiles- my favorite part!!) had my husbamd and I got hooked on a show together… we looked forward to our Monday night date- and later our Saturday night date on the couch, after our little ones were down for the night… I find myself scouring face book and blogs reading other fans thoughts and theories. We even had my Dad roped into watching, then we'd discuss our notes the next day or two after. I will miss it- I was comitted and followed through, even re-watching episodes on Hulu. This is how dedicated I am to Jason… I mean- the show lol!! I felt I had more questions than answers. It was almost as if teams of writers, directors, producers each had a different vision of the show- from episode to episode. I honestly would love to see it go to a season 2… get some great teams behind it to really produce a top notch quality show…. it has quite a fan base. I think NBC Universal marketing dropped the ball on it.. and production had it's issues.. but I would totally watch the next season. Please dear God of Television- let there be a second season.. or at least, a "very secial episode" of where there are some concrete answers. Miss you Jason- I mean Persons Unknown!!
I liked the ending personally. It woulda been better as like a cliff hanger for another season, that's the only way you could've answered all the questions there was just not enough time for them to do what needed to be done just for this season itself. They had to find a way out of the town or get killed or some other way to resolve the kidnapping issue. This would it take at least half an hour out of those 2 hours, the question then is how even answer all those questions with the remaining time a voice over? I've seen this in other shows too where there is a big new idea that never gets explored. I just don't think you're taking into consideration the time constraints that they had to deal with. Anyway i don't think any of the questions were too big to be answered, they just needed to be fleshed out. I don't think any writer could've done that in the time remaining.
The writers had plenty of time in the previous hours to begin to resolve their storyline. The two hours before the finale had hardly anything going on in them, and a perfect setup in Ulrich introducing Janet to the control room. It's not as if the show was abruptly canceled; they knew exactly how many hours they had available. Leaving some things open for a second season is fine; leaving the majority of things open isn't.
The writers had plenty of time in the previous hours to begin to resolve their storyline. The two hours before the finale had hardly anything going on in them, and a perfect setup in Ulrich introducing Janet to the control room. It’s not as if the show was abruptly canceled; they knew exactly how many hours they had available. Leaving some things open for a second season is fine; leaving the majority of things open isn’t.
Ok, I thought the premise was great. Until the Finale. I was extremely disappointed. Fans might have found the ending of "Lost" to be to neat and tidy. I did not, they wrapped everything up and presented it in a way that sastisified myself and most of the viewers. The Finale of "Missing persons" failed to followup on that. I felt it was more a cliffhanger than a Series Finale. The fact that they all ended up back in the program on a boat at" Level 2" was just a cheap way to try and bring it back but also failed to end it properly. So what is level 2 it seems clear the program decided to create this new level to challenege this first group of participants to escape from an even more difficult scenario.I say to the producers this is why network television has been and will continue to lose viewers. promises were made and again not fulfilled. I don't understand what the thought process is behind this.
I think it's just plain lazy writing ! ok, so we can never escape – but, um, exactly what is it again we can never escape?? we never have any real clarification as to what this 'program' is all about, what its purpose is; is it nothing but a metaphor? Just plan laziness, that's what I think!
I absolutely hated it. The final episode did nothing more than prove that the writer and director were trying to create a Lost rip-off with no idea where it was going or, even what the Program was themselves. Utter garbage. All I can say is, thank God I'm in Asia and watched it on a friend's bootleg DVD and didn't actually have to PAY for this junk. What a waste of 13 hours!
I want Season 2 I thought show was great but need answers. To me it was a cliff hanger and I will buy the series Well done always on my seat. Finale is only great if there is season 2 otherwise it wasnt because it didnt answer much, but left us with more questions, while I am at it Lame ending for flash forward, another great show with cliff hanger ending Please, KNOCK IT OFF Writers.
Concerning the talentless writing of "Persons Unknown": A few descriptive words and phrases come to mind: aimless, dull, lazy, idiotic, wasteful, vague, pointless, inconsistent, annoying, tedious, mismatched, deflated, insipid, unsatisfactory, barren, fruitless, useless, inferior, insignificant, perplexing and, although it was said before it must be repeated, AIMLESS. Sound harsh? That is payback for the hours I wasted watching this show. Writers, do yourself a favor, sit down and think of a plot, you know, a beginning, middle, and end before you put your pen to the paper. What a waste of good actors.
bring back persons unknown it was an awsome searies
I hated the Finale it pisses me off when they leave you hanging & then never come back. I agree that they should always end a finale that could be used for a season or series finale!!!
I DONT CARE WHAT NOBODY SAYYYYY I LOVE PERSONS UNKNOWN AND I'VE BEEN TRY TWO FIND OUT WHEN IS THE SECOND PART IS COMEING ON SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This show is a microcosim of the futre of tv (and our society). Nobody watched these 13 episodes without having some serious insight to what might be. Is that not what makes good tv? Unfortunately, reality tv has killed the possibility of thoughtful entertainment. Show's like big brother, the bachelor, or american idol will always get more viewers because it takes no thought, and the emotions you feel while watching reality tv are like the ones you feel when your talking about co-workers or neighbors. To fully get the grasp of show's like persons uknown you have be able to think well beyond the box. The possibilities for this show could have been endless, instead, america anxioulsy awaits to see who gets voted off some mind numbing show.
I just started watching this series on Netflix. I am on the fourth episode and I just haven't been able to really get into it.
My impression so far is that the series is a poor imitation of "Lost" (a program I happen to have put at the top of my list). I haven't found any character I like or can identify with in the series yet. I like the premise of the show and hope it will grow on me as I continue to watch.
how can it be a poor imitation of lost.lost was just a mish mash story,i don't think the writers knew what story they were telling.it was all over the place.and all them seasons for a finale copout.persons unknown is about survival of a different kind.kidnapped with no explanation,no ransom.and no forms of escape.i for one think its a great series and hope nbc pull there necks in and do a season 2.
Just finished streaming the series…oops I mean miniseries. I think that these producers should work with DVD/streaming outlets and forget about network TV. That way TV ratings won't affect production. I really want to see what "Level 2" is about!
THEY WERE IN A DESERT! HOW IN EARTH DID THEY FIND THEM TO PUT THEM BACK INTO THE PROGRAM.