User reviews

Persons Unknown was a very respectable series with a few shortcomings in writing and some inconsistent acting. If you enjoy psychological thrillers this is absolutely worth a shot but I do warn you, NBC made some very false promises that this show would wrap up and that any lingering questions would be answered. Apparently, the plug got pulled on this series after the first season leaving it to the viewer to decide on a lot of the outcome. That being said, it's really not difficult to draw one's own conclusions and enough content was answered to leave one feeling somewhat fulfilled. I will not punish a show for the networks shameful behavior, Persons Unknown was a solid 7.5 with a perhaps even more promising future had it been given the chance and NBC's lack of honesty was an abysmal 1. If you read through a few more reviews you'll see this tends to be the consensus, some are just punishing the show with a bad rating when it was not the writers/directors/actors fault it was so short lived.

This show really surprised me! With very little advertisement and on a Monday night line up its actually a very promising show. The few previews I did see kind of made it out to seem like some Saw rip off made for TV. The show was actually quite the opposite, it may be considered a horror TV show by some people but I believe it is more of a thriller.

The basic premise revolves around a group of strangers kidnapped and dropped off in a weird town in the middle of nowhere. No one really knows what's going on, so the main plot is to uncover why and who has placed them there. It definitely gives a Lost type of confusion which leaves you with more questions.

So far only the pilot has aired but I was very impressed and hope some people check it out. It's on Mondays on NBC. A lot of good shows like this go unnoticed and get canceled so if you're looking for a good new show check it out.

Why is it whenever there is a great show it gets canceled? And many are left unfinished. This story could of went on for many seasons. Great cast and story line. So many shows get a lot of hype months before premiere and then bomb. Yet the network will drag it on for a few more seasons trying to convince us that it will eventually get better.

This show isn't like that. A great show that silently gets cut. Who are these people who make these decisions? Too many shows get canceled without closure. Tera Nova was another great one. Jericho could of ran for years! Yet, they hype up Revolution, which was a bomb, that I'm sure they will try to run with it for years.

I really liked Persons Unknown. Last episode left me wanting to see more. Too bad the network didn't see it that way. Now days, if you don't have "C.S.I.", "reality show" or dumb slap stick comedy in it, it won't make the cut. It's sad!

Not sure why so many people were disappointed in and even hated this series. They even blasted the production and writing. The whole point of this story is that there is no end, no exit. It's like life, it just keeps changing with some new and some same people, and different levels of "evolution". There is no way out. We are stuck with who we are and how we work it all out. The writing is concise, to the point, and doesn't get bogged down in misdirection. People answer with immediate understandings, and the action moves quickly. And the photography and, lighting, and camera work is excellent. I know because I'm a professional photographer who has worked on some high end productions. The acting is true and heartfelt. It's a great metaphor for life on so many levels. The resistances to what is, the paranoia, the struggles with questions of doing what it takes, survival, and compassion in the face of distrust. The dynamics are great to watch. There are of course some aspects that are easy to criticize because, hopefully, the conspiracy is contrived and nothing like this could happen. But perhaps on some levels, we actually live in this kind of world. So yes some plot lines are unexplained and far-fetched, but are they really. There is a lot of mystery around all kinds of corporate and govt activity.

It's really a shame that this great mini-series - as I have heard it advertised several times now - fell to the bumbling NBC, and then got moved from a "safer" 10:00 slot to a very early summer time of 8 eastern. Regardless, I've been trying to recruit as many friends and family as I can - particularly "24" and "LOST" fans - as Persons Unknown has given me at least one reason to look forward to Mondays.

Created by Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects, Valkyrie), this show provides non-stop suspense while keeping you in the dark plenty enough as to WHO is watching these poor folks attempt to keep their sanity, among other things. As a couple of other posters alluded to, I also was worried after weeks one and two if the show would be able to keep providing adequate suspense. After watching episode 5 tonight, the answer is a resounding yes: one could almost argue that there is an overload of questions for the viewer. That is not a problem that I mind, and each week has built on the last, making the show stronger as it progresses.

If you have not checked out this show yet, it's not too late, but at the same time, catch up if you can. It'd definitely be worth your while to see why this bizarre town is about as creepy as the woods from The Blair Witch Project and the island of Lost combined into one.

I had no idea what this series was about but decided to start watching it from the trailers on youtube. The pilot episode really drew me in, and reminded me of the films Identity with John Cusack and Ray Liotta, and "Triangle" which most people probably haven't watched. The Story is about 7 strangers who get kidnapped from the around the States seemingly at random and get thrown together in a little town in the middle of nowhere and are under constant surveillance, kind of like a sick reality show of sorts. I'm really looking forward to whether they will throw in the whole paranormal side, kind of like Lost, or if they'll keep it Sci Fi or Conspiracy oriented. For those of you who like the whole mystery/thriller genre i definitely recommend this!

Janet Cooper (Daisy Betts) hired a P.I. to find his deadbeat husband who disappeared on her and her daughter. She's utterly broke and then is kidnapped in broad daylight. She wakes up in a nameless hotel in a nameless town. She is helped by mysterious Joe Tucker (Jason Wiles). They are joined by soldier Graham McNair (Chadwick Boseman), camp counselor Moira Doherty (Tina Holmes), party girl Tori Fairchild (Kate Miner), wealthy investment banker Charlie Morse (Alan Ruck) and car salesman Bill Blackham (Sean O'Bryan). There's a field around the town that makes the abductees pass out. There is endless Chinese food and messages from their abductors. Newsapaper reporter Mark Renbe (Gerald Kyd) investigates Janet's kidnapping with his editor Kat Damatto (Lola Glaudini).

It starts with an interesting premise but the viewer is left frustrated waiting for the whys. It's a mistake to show the 'real' world. The reporter, the investigation, her kidnapping and her daughter are all problematic. Without them, this could be purgatory, supernatural, a dream or aliens. With them, it can only be orchestrated by people. Then it becomes nothing more than simply asking why and those are limited questions. The show really is left with only one card and it can't actually play that card. In the end, the show loses steam by constantly hinting at the card without actually showing it. It becomes a bore.

I heard about this show from a few friends who said it was kind of like LOST. So naturally I decided to check it out and it was amazing. Before I go any further, to the above reviewer, LOST was on ABC and by JJ Abrams. This show is on NBC and made by a completely different person. Therefore it wasn't something thrown together as LOST concluded.

Moving forward, the beginning was good but I hate how they only show one person being kidnapped and they focus in completely on that person. It's too early to tell who is telling the truth but hopefully we'll get a lot of answers as we progress through the storyline.

It is definitely a great show to watch if you like to be held in suspense. It does have a LOST feeling to it, but still very different. (especially when the other inhabitants aren't attempting to kill our 7 main characters every chance they get.)

Personally, I loved the show. I watched it when it was on originally and, while I don't compare the acting to "Lost", I can compare the show and the premise to it. I HATE a TV show where I can figure out what is going on, or "who did it" within the first 15 minutes, as I can with most shows. "Lost" kept me guessing for 6 years, and I didn't miss one single episode. I plan on watching "Persons Unknown" if it's brought back for a second season for that exact reason. I'm sorry that you didn't like it, but I still want to know something. Did it take you the entire season, all 550 minutes to realize that you didn't like it, or did you just watch it so you could come on here and complain about it?

I didn't read all the reviews here but I'm sure people mentioned "Lost". This is a good show and stuff but they need to work on their suspense thing. Compared to Lost, this story has no suspense. For example, in first few episodes we already knew who the inside mole is, we knew about director, the reason they do this, etc.

The reason Lost was a VERY successful show was because they keep their suspense for some time. It makes audience come back for that answer. On the other side this story reveals its secrets too quick.

But overall, the idea of keeping it LIKE a "game" with "levels" is pretty smart. If the show is successful, they can make many more seasons because "levels" could be unlimited.

I think the one mistake this show made was to use advertising claiming that all the questions will be answered at the end. Because of this some people were literally expecting all questions to be answered. How is this even possible? If they would be able to answer all the questions it would only be in case the show was not very good and didn't have enough mystery in it.

I personally was very satisfied with the ending. It gave me all the answers I wanted. I know what it is about and yet it gives me room for imagination.

One can see that while it was supposed to be a one season show from the start, at the end of the season they were considering or hoping for more episodes. This why they ended with a few cliffhangers, which by the way were done in a very good way. Yet, I wish they would have stuck to the original idea of just ending it after 13 episodes. This would give one the idea of it being over.

My main problem with the show were the characters. There were too many that I didn't like and a few who started to become interesting only towards the very end. While characters are not the main thing for this kind of show it is hard to maintain a perfect interest just by action. So for me the interest in and satisfaction with the show could be described as a curve: I was very interested in the beginning, towards the middle it started to feel a bit old and then came the amazing final episodes.

I would recommend the show to anyone interested in this genre. It had good actors, an interesting and eventful story and a very interesting ending. Just don't expect every little thing explained to you

Please don't leave us hanging' like some other programs do. I like this show and I'm telling others about it. I don't think there has been enough hype or advertisement about it though because I only discovered it while browsing through Comcast's On Demand late one night. I was pleased with it and watched every episode. Now i cannot wait for the new episodes! I was intrigued by the last episode but a little disappointed by some things that took place. I never watched the psycho-thriller Lost much and actually just never could get "into it". But I like this one. It's different. My favorite Character is Joe. As most girls probably feel the same I'm sure - He's just HOT. Don't get rid of Joe!

I don't know how the critics can say that they didn't answer any questions at the end of the show. It wasn't spelled out, but yeah, they did answer many of the questions--if you pay attention, especially during the last several episodes. I binge-watched the entire series and have to say that I wouldn't necessarily suggest watching it like that (it became a bit tedious mid-season);however it does make it easier to follow the clues that they drop throughout the season. Let's just say that these people running the program excel at manipulation and illusion. Now you see it now you don't.

I suspect that the writer's were expecting a second season and perhaps had to quickly pull together a satisfying ending. This could explain some of the less than smooth transitions during the latter part of the season. I have to say that I liked it, I liked the way it ended and without giving anything way, it is perfectly acceptable to leave SOME questions unanswered.