恶魔岛是位于美国加州旧金山湾内的一座小岛，曾设有恶魔岛联邦监狱，关押过不少知名的重刑犯，于1963年废止，现与金门大桥同为旧金山湾的著名观光景点。 　　旧金山警探Rebecca（莎拉·琼斯 Sarah Jones 饰）被分配到了一个离奇凶杀案。凶手的指纹属于一个早已死去的死 囚Sylvane。政府探员Emerson（山姆·尼尔 Sam Neill 饰）试图阻止她的调查，却更坚定她追查的决心。她找到恶魔岛专家Diego博士（乔治·加西亚 Jorge Garcia 饰）发现本应85岁的Sylvane仍是当年的模样。最终Emerson同意二人加入特别小组，和技术专家Lucy（帕敏德·纳格拉 Parminder Nagra 饰）一起破案，并告知道了一个秘密：1963年3月21日在恶魔岛上所有302个囚犯，全部消失，而在2012年，他们又相相出现……On March 21, 1963, the inmates and guards at Alcatraz prison mysteriously disappear. To cover up the problem, the government reports to the public that the prison has been closed because of unsafe conditions. A secret government unit was set-up to find the prisoners. Now, in the present-day, the inmates begin returning - unaged and unaware of where they have spent the missing decades - and continue their criminal ways. They are acting out of character and appear to be searching for specific objects. A federal agent employs a police officer and a conspiracy theory novelist to help track them down.