Review – Persons Unknown 1.10: “Identity”

Persons Unknown, how I have missed you. This is a show that really suffers from being pre-empted, because it relies on paying attention, and how much do you remember from two weeks ago? I don’t know about you, but I had to rewatch “Static” before I tuned in tonight just to jog my memory. Still, it’s good to have my favorite summer show back, even if I didn’t appreciate it opening with a huge ad for The Event over a third of my screen. That felt a little bit like a slap in the face. I want to enjoy my show, not be reminded that NBC is already moving past it. (Remember that episode eleven, “Seven Sacrifices,” will not air and is only available on NBC.com or Hulu.com. And you’d better watch it quick, because the last two episodes will air back-to-back next week before the show’s gone for good.)

Given where we were two weeks ago, what with Joe losing all his marbles, it’s totally unsurprising that nobody wants to trust him, even when he finally starts to be forthcoming about his past. However, it’s pretty clear that he’s the only person with the faintest clue of what’s really going on, especially when Liam Ulrich turns up, introduces himself as the new hotel manager, and institutes a quarantine. (Ulrich is played by Alan Smythe, who will always be Doyle from Leverage to me, a fact only made funnier by the fact that frequent Leverage director Jonathan Frakes also directed this episode.) Joe informs everyone that he thought he killed Ulrich, who was the guy we saw Joe shoot his first time through the Program, back when he was still a priest. Obviously, his aim needs some work. He’s also cranky because Ulrich is somewhat of a harbinger of doom: the Program has the option to “flush” the town, or namely exterminate everyone and start over again. On a purely shallow note, I’m really glad Jason Wiles’ hair is growing back, because that whole shaved head thing was not a good look for him.

We get more backstory on our captives this week in the form of items being delivered to them, which all have some connection to the rest of their lives. It’s frustrating because it’s the perfect opportunity to show why they’re all there, but we don’t really get any clue on that front. Instead we learn Blackham isn’t always a jerk, Charlie may not have embezzled money, and McNair’s mom liked to beat up on him. There’s only two people about whom we really learn anything, and only one that actually surprises me. Ulrich refers to Erika by her real name of Teresa, and we discover that Erika was her cellmate in prison before she was sentenced to lethal injection. Not only that, but she has a son. I did not see that coming. Joe’s mystery box contains a Bible (big shocker?) and Ulrich interrupts Janet asking him about his sex life (TMI, people!) to drop a hint about a woman from his past named Gabriella. Of course, Janet does not take this well, because it’s basically a given now that the moment these two start to tolerate each other, she’s going to get ticked off at him for something. If we were supposed to be rooting for them to get together, I’m not really seeing it. After eating food they never ordered (uh, did no one think to check it first?), everyone ends up sedated, and the Ramones start playing in my head.

This is all a lead-up to what’s going on outside. While Kat and Renbe are holed up, they see a bunch of guys in big black vans pull up with gurneys. (I’d love to see bad guys who drive minivans. Or something that is not big and black.) They decide to investigate, and find out that the gurneys contain a fresh batch of people, and an old friend. They’re all missing thumbs, and I start to think eating during this show is a bad idea. Then I start yelling when one of those annoying Event promos turns up again.

Everybody comes to the next morning and seems to feel a lot better, as if they’ve totally forgotten that they were all sedated. Unless they had some sort of memory lapse, they’re all morons. They all have breakfast as if nothing is wrong, except for Joe, who is as usual more on edge than the rest of us. Janet is still mean because Joe didn’t talk about his mystery woman, as if he’s supposed to tell her every single thing he’s ever done in his life, which just borders on idiotic. He gives up and leaves her with Erika, for which I do not blame him. Everything is just too darn calm, which you know means something is about to happen. I don’t mean the third Event promo and the second in fifteen minutes. Enough already!

Janet gets a call from her mom, and tells her that she’s been kidnapped, which seems way too easy. In fact, I dare to say Ulrich may have a thing for her, which makes me laugh when the Director says the same thing. What is it about Janet that makes everyone act that way? I certainly don’t see it. I also feel pretty confident in saying Alan Smythe may have more screen time than any member of the regular cast in this episode, so thank heaven that he’s great to watch. He does creepy so well without going into way too creepy.

And in case you didn’t get the memo that this is the last of Persons Unknown, we don’t even get a promo for the two-hour finale, just – you guessed it – another commercial for The Event. I don’t mean to take shots at NBC, but it really struck me as overkill, and seeing it I can understand why a lot of the fans of Persons Unknown are angry about how it’s been treated. One promo would have been one thing, but it seemed like a constant distraction, and a reminder that our show was on its way out.

I think the one thing I took away from this hour is a realization that this show is really and truly dead, and through no fault of the show itself. The more I watch this show, the more I’m torn between enjoying it and lamenting it. It’s certainly a show that’s not for everyone, but I came to embrace it, and I know I’m not the only one. Yet everything seems to remind me of how it’s been sent to quietly burn off, and we only have two more episodes left. It’s a complete shame, and sort of puts a damper on enjoying the show. At least when we have the DVDs (which street on September 7), we can watch the whole show unencumbered, and savor it. (And probably understand it better than we do right now.) I’m just rooting for one heck of a finale.