Now I know: My grandfather is more important to you than I could have ever imagined… which means you need me more than I need you.
- Rebecca Madsen
Now THIS is the episode I’ve been waiting for. Finally, it’s all starting to piece itself together. The danger that Ray was put into is exactly the kind of danger I wanted for Rebecca to have experienced in the last episode. So, the cat’s out of the bag: Rebecca’s uncle Ray was a guard on Alcatraz; Tommy Madsen was his brother; and to top it off, they’ve been in contact since Tommy made the “jump.” Now it gets interesting…
As for the episode itself, we have our first case of a guard showing up. What’s interesting here is what’s implied about who is driving the 63s (and now, apparently, the guards) to do whatever they’re hell-bent on doing. All the inmates so far have asserted that they don’t know where they’ve been for the past 40+ years, as well as they’ve always said that they’re doing what “they” told them to do. So who is “they” exactly? Here is what we know: the guards were told that their families died in a chemical spill, and the families were told that the guards faced a similar fate. So, it’s reasonable to think that the people in charge of Alcatraz were the ones who had something to do with the missing 63s. This also makes sense with the warden having the keys in the end of the last episode (see my last post: “Hey Sweeney, what’s in the box?” for more info) that each of the 63s have been recovering because “they” told them too. So, is the warden behind it all? Or Tiller? After all, Sylvane killed the 78-year old Tiller in the pilot episode. Did he have something to do with it all?
Also, Tommy Madsen appears to be a missing link of some sort. Hauser says that he may have been “lost,” and since “they” told Hastings to find Madsen, it’s a good assumption that he’s gone AWOL. Even Hauser seems to think that Madsen is critical to the situation. So, the question now becomes: why is Madsen so important, and who the hell is looking for him?
For now, we can only speculate. But I insist that Fox keeps packing the punches in the upcoming episodes. If it can keep up the suspense and the drama, while simultaneously working this compelling storyline, I think Alcatraz can really blossom into something special.
I think I need to keep reading this blog so I can piece together what’s going on when I watch this show. I definitely don’t pay enough attention and then I can never figure it out at the end of the episodes. But I totally agree that this was the episode where we finally started seeing some of the backstory come together – which is like, thank god, because I was about to stop watching if every week was the same storyline.
You blog just looks SO COOL. It has a sick title and a great lay out and you always seem to pick the perfect pictures for each post so that they supplement the writing but they also manage to make the blog as a whole look cohesive as you scroll through it. I am not watching the show but still manage to enjoy your posts because instead of watching the show as Chinny, I feel like I’m watching the show through your eyes—a very en-traz-ing experience!