Posted by Dustin on 06.08.2010 at 5:43 pm

Last night NBC’s “Persons Unknown” debuted, calling itself a summer miniseries event. I tuned in not really knowing what to expect and was pleasantly surprised.

The premise is that 9 strangers were drugged and kidnaped, only to wake up together in a hotel that is part of a small little deserted town. Should they try and leave the borded of the town, they are hit with a tranquilizer via implants that have been put into their legs under their skin. The town is also rigged with cameras, as someone is watching them.

Service people to run the hotel and restaurant arrived, but they didn’t have any answers for the people about what was going on. It seems they are victims as well. The cooks were all Chinese and barely spoke English, while the guy at the hotel cryptically said something that hinted that this has been done before and he was a part of whatever it was the last time. At dinner everyone got fortune cookies and one of the characters who clearly is going to be the star of the show fortune read “Kill your neighbor and you will go free!”

The whole thing reminded me a lot of “Saw” and something Steven King would come up with. It was pretty good, good enough that I keep planning on tuning in to find out what is going on.

What follows are spoilers for the next two shows . . . .

THE EDGE – 6/14 10 PM
ATTEMPTS TO ESCAPE– While the group attempts to understand why they were kidnapped, Moira (Tina Holmes) painfully removes the implant device that has been embedded in each person’s thigh. Elsewhere, trying to escape back to their normal lives, Joe (Jason Wiles) and McNair (Chadwick Boseman) carefully test the limits of the invisible fence. Meanwhile, back in San Francisco, curious reporter Renbe’s (Gerald Kyd) search for information on missing mom Janet (Daisy Betts) hits a dead end. Also starring are Alan Ruck, Sean O’Bryan, Kate Lang Johnson and Lola Glaudini.

THE WAY THROUGH – 6/21 10PM

A CHANCE TO ESCAPE LEADS TO TOXIC FEELINGS– After a week of escape attempts end in failure, tension begins to grow within the group. When a helicopter appears above the hostages, they are hopeful that help has arrived, but the craft only hovers long enough to drop a mysterious box. Meanwhile, San Francisco reporter Renbe (Gerald Kyd) puts himself back on the case of Janet’s (Daisy Betts) disappearance, despite warnings to stop his investigation. Also starring are Alan Ruck, Jason Wiles, Sean O’Bryan, Moira Doherty, Chadwick Boseman, Kate Lang Johnson and Lola Glaudini.