Seven diverse strangers, Janet Cooper (Daisy Betts), Joe Tucker (Jason Wiles), Moira Doherty (Tina Holmes), Sergeant Graham McNair (Chadwick Boseman), Tori Fairchild (Kate Lang Johnson), Bill Blackham (Sean O'Bryan), and Charlie Morse (Alan Ruck) awaken in a hotel, in a mostly deserted town, with little to no knowledge of how they got there or where they are.

At the end of the season, despite staging a mass breakout by faking the deaths of everyone in the town except for Joe, all the participants are recaptured, and awaken in an identical hotel built into the hull of a container ship, where the original night manager welcomes them to "Level 2".

[23][24][25] Filming began in late October 2008 in Mexico City, soon after announcement that Michael Rymer was hired to direct the first episode.

[31] On April 3, 2012, in an interview with CliqueClack TV, Aubuchon revealed many of the unanswered plot points of the series, including some of what was planned for a second season.

The series also aired on Ztélé in Canada, TPS Star in France, OSN in Middle East and North Africa, TV3 New Zealand in New Zealand, TV3 Lithuania in Lithuania, CHASE on BEAM 31 in Philippines, FX in Greece, TV2 Zulu in Denmark, RTL5 in the Netherlands, and Fox Crime in Serbia, Japan and Spain.

[34] Randee Dawn of Associated Press wrote that its "clever setup and moody atmosphere make this place worth checking into.

"[35] Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune said the "...pilot efficiently lays out its premise and ratchets up the pressure on the characters, who are only types so far, but it doesn't matter because the plot's the thing here.

[37] Rotten Tomatoes reported that the show had a 61% approval rating based on 18 critic reviews, stating "Persons Unknown squanders its intriguing premise by plopping ill-defined characters into a scenario that calls for compelling personalities -- thankfully, viewers can easily find the exit from this hell of other people.