In Review: ‘Alcatraz’ — “Cal Sweeney”

Safety deposit boxes, an old tin box, a party, and a key play major roles in this episode. In present day San Francisco dashing Cal Sweeney romances a teller in front of the safety deposit boxes. He knocks her out with an injection and proceeds to empty several boxes of their contents. His crime is interrupted by another banker, and Cal makes his first kill with a bolt pistol, a device used to kill cattle, shoot out locks, or punch a hole in someone’s head. This weapon gets my vote for the most interesting and twisted weapon of the season.

Back in the past, in the Alcatraz laundry room, Cal is teaching a protege how to smuggle contraband into the prison. The lesson is interrupted when Cal learns his cell has been turned and an item is missing. “I need to talk to Mr. Tiller,” ends the scene.

Back in the present, Soto and Madsen share some dim sum and he reveals a bit of his past and a strained relationship with his parents. His origin story is interrupted as they are notified of the crime, with Soto instantly recognizing that deposit boxes means Sweeney is back. Meanwhile, Cal has gone to the house of one of the owner’s of the security boxes, posing as an insurance agent, to ask questions about the box’s contents. In the past, Deputy Warden E.B. Tiller reveals he’s taken nothing of Cal’s, he just wants a piece of his action. Cal refuses, saying, “I’m closed for business,” which makes Tiller upset. Knowing he has to speak with Tiller in private, and not lose face with the inmates, Cal is told of a party for Tiller to be held at the Warden’s. His protege points out if he could get to the party he could speak with him there. The wheels begin to turn…

In the present, Soto and Madsen are let into the house where Cal was conducting his interview, only to find the man dead. And then in the past, the best part of the episode (until the final five minutes) kicks in. Tiller’s birthday party is attended by a few familars, including a certain time jumping doctor, last seen over a dead body, and Dr. Lucy Banerjee, who states that she has been successfully removing memories from rats. She’s at Alcatraz to see if it’s possible to rehabilitate the inmates by removing their “traumatic memories.” In the present, Madsen gets Cal’s box; it’s only content an old, burned tin box. And that takes viewers up to the first half hour.

What follows next is a rather nifty exit for Cal from a failed bank robbery. His exit sees our triad of heroes actually working together, each contributing to the story nicely. Information, interference, and action: all have a role to play. Madsen had to think on her feet for the escape from the bank, and I completely bought it. It was believable and showed that she’s a smart cop. Seeing Alger paired with Soto in a car chase was the start of a great opportunity, but didn’t go far enough. I’d love to see an episode where these two are forced into close quarters for a longer period of time. Writer Robert Hull is to be congratulated for a slick story, providing the most developed villain of the series in Cal Sweeney, a great performance by Eric Johnson. This was the first episode where I felt a lot of information was being given in the past, and I was upset that the storyline in the present was interfering with it. “I’m not supposed to,” was a great threat of a line, as well as a promise of things to come. And they sure came in that last five minutes: A step to the left by Alger, and, suddenly, everything in the show has changed in the present, and the past. “Don’t be shy,” has now become “Don’t make me wait another week!” Director Brad Anderson had some great teases to play with, and he did them really well. Next week, the first guard comes through…