Garrett Stillman / Tommy Madsen

Tonight brought us the season's final two hours of Alcatraz -- possibly the last two ever episodes of the series. Unfortunately, they weren't the strongest episodes of the series to go out on.

By putting off the "major mysteries" of the show for a big season finish, these last two episodes had to short change most of the things that made the rest of the season most interesting. There weren't many of the great character beats that peppered earlier hours; we got a taste of the Doctor (Sengupta or Bannerjee, depending on the year) integrating back into the group, and that was about it. No appearance at all from the autopsy doctor that had been flirting with Soto, only bits of the good rapport between Soto and Madsen, and only a late game appearance by Uncle Ray.

The criminal-of-the-week aspect wasn't great either. The second hour, of course, didn't really have one at all; all the flashbacks were devoted to the warden wining and dining Tommy Madsen while teasing the conspiracy behind it all. The first hour had a potentially interesting character in master thief Garrett Stillman, but rather than expose anything about his character, his story too merely served to put pieces of the conspiracy into position.

So, if these two hours were really all about the ongoing story and the mystery at the heart of the show... how did it do on that front? A mixed bag, I'd say. On the one hand, I was hoping for some kind of unforeseen twist to be revealed. The whole season had been increasingly hinting that the warden was behind everything, and that Tommy Madsen was essentially his lead operative. Tonight's finale only confirmed exactly that. On the other hand... well, you can't say the series wasn't playing fair with its information all along.

The final episode resolved very little, but did set up some clear threads for season two (should the series get one). First, Hauser and his team have managed to capture the scientist who appears to be responsible for the tech of what's going on. Assuming he doesn't immediately escape somehow, one would expect some valuable information to be learned there. Second, it was revealed that the show will no longer be confined to the San Francisco area; inmates are going to be appearing all over the country, so presumably the team will have to start going on the road to apprehend them. I hardly felt tired of the San Francisco setting after just a half season of episodes, but if they want to open up the show farther, I could see that being interesting.

The last moment cliffhanger was the apparent death of Detective Madsen. The voice of a doctor was "calling it" officially. But who knows what kind of magic colloidal silver blood or whatever might work to bring her back? Or then again, maybe the show would take a chance on removing its theoretical lead and bringing on a character with a bit more personality to replace her?

Again, of course, assuming that the series is even picked up by FOX, which at the moment seems a bit of a long shot.

All told, I'd have to say that this season of Alcatraz remained entertaining throughout, but also didn't really deliver on the full promise of the early episodes. The concept ended up being niftier than the execution. Or maybe it's just that the arrival of the series Awake displaced Alcatraz as my favorite "unusual catch-the-bad-guy" show. If Alcatraz somehow is renewed in May, I'll probably keep watching it. But I think I can also make my peace if this is it.