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"This Week... Sonny Burnett (Theo Rossi) - a man with an incredible dark side who became ultra-violent during his stint at Alcatraz - returns. Welcome to Alcatraz... And so to part two of the Alcatraz double-bill that began with the mostly satisfying &amp;#039;The Ames Brothers&amp;#039; - like that instalment, &amp;#039;Sonny Burnett&amp;#039; is a definite step in the right direction for the show. Theo Rossi - so good as biker Juice on FX drama Sons of Anarchy - is Burnett, a kidnapper who snatches up high-profile figures for big ransoms. Locked up in Alcatraz, &amp;#039;Shotgun&amp;#039; Sonny undergoes a near-death experience when he&amp;#039;s mercilessly stabbed by a prison goon and, unlike far too many of the &amp;#039;63s we&amp;#039;ve encountered thus far, he actually gets an interesting character arc. Slyly manipulated by ambitious and cruel deputy warden EB Tiller (the under-utilised Jason Butler Harner), Burnett undergoes a radical transformation, determined to become the predator and not the prey. This provides an interesting contrast between the dead-eyed, grinning Burnett of the present day and the weak, nervous figure of the &amp;#039;60s, and Rossi portrays both sides of the character with skill. And in a neat twist, it&amp;#039;s Burnett&amp;#039;s former quarry Helen (Wendy Crewson) stealing his money that unleashes a far worse version of the crook, willing to commit acts of horrific violence, so placing her in far greater danger than before. (Side note: The often graphic violence in Alcatraz sometimes feels a little extreme, particularly given the show&amp;#039;s comic book, almost adolescent tone.)  As a general point, hiring a slightly higher-profile actor to play the villain-of-the-week always provides the best results - see Rossi or former Smallville star Eric Johnson&amp;#039;s bank robber in &amp;#039;Cal Sweeney&amp;#039;. A &amp;#039;name&amp;#039; villain gives each episode of Alcatraz a unique selling point and would help to draw viewer interest. Elsewhere in the episode, we learn more interesting facts about the returning &amp;#039;63s - many have returned to the present with near-perfect health, thanks to a mysterious restorative substance now present in their blood. This gives Hauser (Sam Neill) a new agenda - find an inmate who matches Lucy&amp;#039;s blood type. &amp;quot;From now on, I want them all alive,&amp;quot; he growls. &amp;quot;He does realise he&amp;#039;s the only one who shoots them, right?&amp;quot; quips Doc. Yes, Sam Neill&amp;#039;s enigmatic agent is typically gruff and cartoonish once again, but for a show that&amp;#039;s frequently entirely self-contained and treats its characters like comic-book cut-outs, it&amp;#039;s a nice touch to reference Hauser&amp;#039;s gun shot wound from the previous episode.  And after weeks of being conspicuous by his absence, Ray Archer (Robert Forster) finally re-emerges, warning Hauser to cut Rebecca loose. &amp;quot;Why now?&amp;quot; Hauser growls in an absurd fashion - turns out it&amp;#039;s because Tommy Madsen (David Hoflin) is now stalking her - an excuse for a few random, menacing moments or a hint at some future development? Rebecca (Sarah Jones), it seems, has also remembered to be indignant about Ray&amp;#039;s lies and his secret connection with Tommy. It&amp;#039;s a relief to see these issues finally addressed, but it&amp;#039;s all too little, too late to really satisfy. There&amp;#039;s more issues with &amp;#039;Sonny Burnett&amp;#039; - the ease and speed with which San Francisco PD locate and rescue the buried Danielle is fairly ludicrous. But this week&amp;#039;s Alcatraz double-bill is such a marked improvement over recent tiresome episodes that it feels almost cruel to nitpick.  Alcatraz started relatively strong, then dipped considerably. We&amp;#039;re hoping that the enjoyable double-bill of &amp;#039;The Ames Brothers&amp;#039; and &amp;#039;Sonny Burnett&amp;#039; is not simply an anomaly but instead a sign that the show&amp;#039;s finally found its feet. Let us know what you thought of this week&amp;#039;s Alcatraz below! "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/alcatraz/review/a369613/alcatraz-sonny-burnett-recap/>