***Spoiler Alert***
People either love or hate this series. Unfortunately, thirteen episodes doesn't leave the writers much room to explore or totally explain all the questions posed. But with some imagination, one can make a logical conclusion about the outcome.
First of all, people that loved the characters in Lost will be somewhat disappointed. Comparing the cast of Lost to any series is almost impossible, as Lost hit the jackpot in the casting department. The cast of Persons Unknown pales in comparison. That doesn't mean the series is not worth watching, it is.
Unfortunately, the main character Janet is sub par and down right painful to watch at times. However, there are interesting and well acted characters that make up for Janet. Joe is decent, Moira is interesting, Charles is believable, and Ericka is downright psycho. There's just enough depth in the characters to make it work. But don't expect much more than that.
The intrigue of the premise makes the series worth watching. Yet, many people expect the writers to lay everything out and tie up the ending neatly. I prefer to come to my own conclusions based on the content. With that in mind, I found it relatively easy to reach a satisfactory conclusion.
*** Major Plot Spoilers ***
The Program began in the 1950s and is under the control of a mysterious group, a think tank. The purpose of the Program is to control political and financial power, supposedly for the good of mankind. To retain this power they identify potential candidates to carry on the Program and infiltrate society through a stress based statistical simulation.
Through 50 years of data, the simulation can have only one result. Of the 6 abducted people, only one will survive. The 7th person is always a mole (in this case Joe) planted to help manipulate the final outcome.
It appears however, that the simulation we are witness to is unique. Unique enough that the director of the Program must make unprecedented changes. Namely, that when all participants survive, they are neatly gathered up and sent to level 2 to battle it out until there is only 1 survivor. We do not need to know who survives, that is irrelevant. We only need to know that those behind the Program make all the rules and thus control everything. Thus, there really is no getting out of the Program.
We can assume that Tori's exit is allowed because her father threatens the organization. Ultimately, he is doomed for cooperating with Renbe in his quest to find Janet.
Because the simulation requires another person and to stir up the group, Ericka is introduced to replace Tori. The Director needs to add a more violent character to facilitate a result as the group refuses to eliminate each other.
The Night Managers escape is just another manipulation to divide the group. But after the group escapes in the van and end up back in the town, they realize they can not escape. This is why they don't attempt to use the Night Manager at the pain wall a second time.
Because Renbe discovers the truth, he is placed into level 1. It's fairly certain he will not survive.
The bodies Renbe and his boss discover are not in the same town as our group of participants. These people are not dead, they are the sedated participants for this town. That is until the Italian thinking they are dead cuts off their right thumbs. Because the thumbs go missing, the Director must make another change...we see the result in the young and clearly brain washed doctor. He is not a survivor and therefore not sent to level 2.
These are my impressions and yours may or may not jive. That's fine. I won't attempt to explain the entire series. Luckily in the real world there can be more than 1 result. The finality of Persons Unknown is the understanding that one can never escape the true power that lies behind society.
People either love or hate this series. Unfortunately, thirteen episodes doesn't leave the writers much room to explore or totally explain all the questions posed. But with some imagination, one can make a logical conclusion about the outcome.
First of all, people that loved the characters in Lost will be somewhat disappointed. Comparing the cast of Lost to any series is almost impossible, as Lost hit the jackpot in the casting department. The cast of Persons Unknown pales in comparison. That doesn't mean the series is not worth watching, it is.
Unfortunately, the main character Janet is sub par and down right painful to watch at times. However, there are interesting and well acted characters that make up for Janet. Joe is decent, Moira is interesting, Charles is believable, and Ericka is downright psycho. There's just enough depth in the characters to make it work. But don't expect much more than that.
The intrigue of the premise makes the series worth watching. Yet, many people expect the writers to lay everything out and tie up the ending neatly. I prefer to come to my own conclusions based on the content. With that in mind, I found it relatively easy to reach a satisfactory conclusion.
*** Major Plot Spoilers ***
The Program began in the 1950s and is under the control of a mysterious group, a think tank. The purpose of the Program is to control political and financial power, supposedly for the good of mankind. To retain this power they identify potential candidates to carry on the Program and infiltrate society through a stress based statistical simulation.
Through 50 years of data, the simulation can have only one result. Of the 6 abducted people, only one will survive. The 7th person is always a mole (in this case Joe) planted to help manipulate the final outcome.
It appears however, that the simulation we are witness to is unique. Unique enough that the director of the Program must make unprecedented changes. Namely, that when all participants survive, they are neatly gathered up and sent to level 2 to battle it out until there is only 1 survivor. We do not need to know who survives, that is irrelevant. We only need to know that those behind the Program make all the rules and thus control everything. Thus, there really is no getting out of the Program.
We can assume that Tori's exit is allowed because her father threatens the organization. Ultimately, he is doomed for cooperating with Renbe in his quest to find Janet.
Because the simulation requires another person and to stir up the group, Ericka is introduced to replace Tori. The Director needs to add a more violent character to facilitate a result as the group refuses to eliminate each other.
The Night Managers escape is just another manipulation to divide the group. But after the group escapes in the van and end up back in the town, they realize they can not escape. This is why they don't attempt to use the Night Manager at the pain wall a second time.
Because Renbe discovers the truth, he is placed into level 1. It's fairly certain he will not survive.
The bodies Renbe and his boss discover are not in the same town as our group of participants. These people are not dead, they are the sedated participants for this town. That is until the Italian thinking they are dead cuts off their right thumbs. Because the thumbs go missing, the Director must make another change...we see the result in the young and clearly brain washed doctor. He is not a survivor and therefore not sent to level 2.
These are my impressions and yours may or may not jive. That's fine. I won't attempt to explain the entire series. Luckily in the real world there can be more than 1 result. The finality of Persons Unknown is the understanding that one can never escape the true power that lies behind society.