The prisoner of the week this episode was supposedly the only innocent man held at Alcatraz, Clarence Montgomery. But, he didn’t remain innocent for long. The warden set out to turn Clarence into a killer.
Throughout the season, I’ve mentioned how the prisoners have seemed to come back to 2012 even more violent than they were back in their Alcatraz days. At first, I thought Clarence fit that pattern as well since he didn’t killed his girlfriend, but returned in 2012 to copy her murder. He was non-violent entering Alcatraz, but returned a killer. In the end, it wasn’t really a fit because he did become violent back at the prison.
Could his experience still be a clue of what happened to the other prisoners and the guard that returned too? In Clarence’s case, Dr. Beauregard used Lucy’s methods to ingrain negative images in the prisoner’s mind to turn the good man into a killer.
Does that mean that Lucy’s rehabilitation program failed? Or, was it subverted by the warden and Dr. Beauregard? Or, could the enhanced violence of the 63s instead have been related to the blood transfers that were going on? So many questions with so few answers so far.
Dr. Beauregard corrupted Clarence at the request of the warden. The doctor was also removing and replacing the blood of prisoners under the warden’s guidance. Instead of the doctor being a key to the mystery, it now appears that Warden James is behind it at the prison at least.
With only three hours of Alcatraz left this season (ever?), I worried that we wouldn’t get answers. I mentioned this to Ivey (who covered the review last week) on twitter, and then Bryan Wynbrandt, a co-creator of the show, responded to us. He tweeted, “Answers ARE coming. The final 3 hours will REVEAL many things! #staytuneditwillbeworthit.”
I found that reassuring since there is so much we still don’t know. When was the last time we saw the new prison? Are all the 63s being held there? What was going on with the blood at Alcatraz? Then of course the big questions: who is behind the appearance of the 63s and how are they appearing in 2012 with no aging?
I have high hopes that we will get answers over the last three hours and then another season for further reveals.
Clacked by Carla Day 
on Mar 13, 2012 @ 11:40 EST5EDT
I’ve been sticking with the show despite the mythology being revealed in dribs and drabs (IOW slowly.) My biggest complaint, however, is the complete lack of security at Alcatraz. With a super high-tech lab underground, how is it that no facial recognition security cameras are in place all over the prison? One ’63er appeared in a cell in the pilot – he should have been nabbed straight away. And if it isn’t time travel, then I’m guessing the silver dioxide (a substance used in cloud seeding, btw) is used to preserve their corpscicles via cryogenics.
My TiVo incorrectly thought this episode was a rerun (thanks, Fox, for keeping your program listings so out-of-date!), so it wasn’t set to record it. I read the plot summary, and still couldn’t tell if I’d seen it. In fact, I flipped over to it live a few times, and STILL couldn’t be sure if I’d seen it before. Seeing Lucy up and around only confused the issue, although she must have been in the 1960 sequences.
I guess that makes it pretty clear where I am with the show. I’m not sorry I missed this one, and I don’t intend to seek it out online. But if my TiVo manages to record the remaining 3 shows, I’ll probably dutifully watch them. I’ve lost enthusiasm with each passing episode.