Thoughts on Prison Break

[Elemental]

I watched season 1 and 2 on DVD and 3 as it aired on TV. Now am watching season 4. So is there any consensus opinion on the series? I personally found the characters very compelling at the start of season 1 but the ones that are still around seem almost forced into their current roles. Bellick used to be an occasionally scary guy despite his underlying insecurities. In seasons 3 and now 4 though they've turned him into a complete wuss. I don't think Sucre is ever going to get around to being with his gf and daughter. It's kind of crazy how he keeps going along with all this crap in the thoughts that one day he might get to. The new computer nerd character is as derivative and sterotypical as characters get.

One question as to the current state of things - how did T Bag get to his current state of having this awesome apartment and who is it he's planning to meet up with at the end of episode 3?

 

[Phillip Culley]

One question as to the current state of things - how did T Bag get to his current state of having this awesome apartment and who is it he's planning to meet up with at the end of episode 3?

At the end of Season 3 T-Bag got hold of Whistler's bird book, and through handwritten notes in it figured out he needed to go to a locker at a train station in LA (the combination was written on another page). He got hold of whatever the Company had left for Whistler, and is now living whatever role was planned for Whistler. The guy he's meeting is probably whichever contact was intended for Whistler, so right now he's making things up as he goes along.

As to the series, Season 1 was definitely the peak, and as the series progressed it seems to be getting sillier and sillier - really they should have ended it a few years ago, and fingers crossed Season 4 will be the last one.

 

[Orac Zen]

Prison Break was only supposed to run two seasons. The first season was to be about getting Linc out of prison; the second was to be about clearing his name; and that was going to be that. When the first season was a hit TPTB insisted it be dragged on longer. IMHO, it showed - it would have been much better if the original plan had been followed, but such is life.

I suppose I'll watch the fourth season if / when it screens here, but it won't be with any particular enthusiasm.

 

[Brikar99]

I dug the first season. I agree taht you could tell that they realized partway through they were going to have to stretch it, but overall I thought it was suspenseful and well-made, despite being pretty ridiculous. But then I started watching Season 2 and it just lost me entirely. A few episodes in and I was bored silly.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

PB has become a parody of itself. The way the ratings have been going, the pain won't last much longer, tho. Wentworth Miller, William Fitchner and Robert Knepper deserve better shows.

 

[Captaindemotion]

I thought season 1 was fantastic - it was the most exciting show on tv since seasons 1 of Lost or 24. Season 2 even topped it for my money - the boys on the run was even more fun than the boys trying to escape.

I thought it could and should have ended at the end of season 2, but ratings being what they were, obviously the studios wanted more of a good thing. (Shame US producers never take the approach of many UK shows and stop after a series or 2 - think Extras, The Office, Life On Mars, etc). So we got the back-to-basics of Michael in a Panamanian jail. And thus season 3 became the first disappointing run for the show. It was still good compared to many shows but it seemd tired and lacklustre compared to what had gone before.

I'm enjoying season 4 so far, but it still doesn't grip like the first 2 seasons. And have you noticed how many important plot points from earlier seasons have been totally overwritten so quickly - Sara comes back to life (admittedly a welcome return), Michael has his tattoos lasered off, T-Bag, Sucre and Bellick escape from Sona in a convenient offscreen riot, Mahone and Lincoln are now allies and Bellick is now a goodie (admittedly still with his usual mercenary tendencies).

The problem too is, they're not in prison any more ... how long can they keep calling it by this name? It'd be like if 24 did away with the Single Day concept.

Still, tonights ep on Irish tv was way more entertaining than most tv shows and if they end this year, it looks like they'll end on a high note.

 

[Aragorn]

Well Smallville now spends half its episodes in Metropolis. Of course, they changed it so that the two are SO CLOSE to one another that one could live in Smallville and commute to Metropolis.

Maybe they'll find out they're really trapped in The Matrix or by The Strangers. Then they'd still be prisoners.

 

[Top41]

I dug the first season. I agree taht you could tell that they realized partway through they were going to have to stretch it, but overall I thought it was suspenseful and well-made, despite being pretty ridiculous. But then I started watching Season 2 and it just lost me entirely. A few episodes in and I was bored silly.

That's how I felt. I got about 5 episodes into season two and then kind of gave up. I loved Season One. I think the show probably would have been better if left to a two season show as originally planned. When I heard they all ended up back in a South American prison in season three, I thought that sounded pretty silly. I don't even know what the plot of this season is.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

(Shame US producers never take the approach of many UK shows and stop after a series or 2 - think Extras, The Office, Life On Mars, etc).

They do that all the time. It's called cancellation.

Okay seriously, if you believe the propaganda, BSG is ending "naturally" after four years and Lost is ending "naturally" after six. The latter instance, at least, I do kind of believe it was planned that way.

But if you don't want to watch shows in a death spiral, you always have the option of tuning out and pretending they've been cancelled. I've cancelled a few shows unilaterally myself...

 

[Captaindemotion]

^ We've had this debate before. I know what you mean about cancellation and about not turning it on if you're bored with a programme, but at the same time, I like it when a series comes to a natural end or gets a proper send off before passing. For example, 2 seasons and a Christmas special were sufficient for The Office or Extras. 2 seasons were all that LOM needed. On the other hand, Firefly deserved more than 13 episodes and Angel more than 5 seasons. NYPD Blue and ER managed to maintain the quality for 13 or 14 years and The West Wing probably came to a natural end with the end of the Bartlett Presidency (though I would like to have seen Santos' first year in office).

I want to know how Prison Break ends and what happens the characters - I just don't think they need more than another season to show us.

 

[Rygel XIX]

I'm getting A-team vibes off this season - "the gang gets re-captured by the government and goes on missions for them".
None-the-less, even though the writers have stretched the show a couple seasons past it's prime, I still enjoy watching what plot twists they'll throw at us next.

 

[Mr Light]

I've enjoyed every season of the show, though I suppose the first season was the most intense and well thought out. I liked S2 because they were out and on the run and it wasn't so claustrophobic and small anymore. I liked S3 because they were back in jail WITH A TWIST! where the inmates ran the prison and there were no guards. I'm enjoying S4 so far because they're finally going after the Company directly, which I've always looked forward to.

I'll be the first to admit characters hang around for no good reason, though. Why Mahone and Bellick were around for all of S3 and now S4 I'll never know. T-Bag should never have survived S2, no matter how entertaining he is. Sucre ended up being pretty pointless after S1 as well.

 

[Trekker4747]

T-Bag should be dead, but Robert Knepper plays him so damn well and makes the character so "likeable" (as likeable as murderous pedophille can be) that I'd hate to see him go, but he shouldn't be allowed to live beyond end of the series.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I like it when a series comes to a natural end or gets a proper send off before passing

You should watch Lost, BSG or any of the shows running now on HBO or Showtime. Even when a show is cancelled, like Jericho, TPTB make a decent effort to wrap it up okay. I think everyone is getting more sensitive to not pissing off fans without any sort of resolution and when a show is nearing the end of its life,

Other than Prison Break, I can't think of many shows that need to end after a measly one or two seasons. If a premise is that skimpy, I have to question whether anyone should be making the series when they could be investing the same energies in making a series that could go on for the better part of a decade - better return on investment for them and for us. Of the shows I watch, they either could go on indefinitely or are good for anwhere between three and seven seasons, which is a good healthy run for any show.

Lost - will end after six seasons, which is right

BSG - will end after four seasons, which is more than enough

Pushing Daisies - could go on for several seasons, but needs character development; if no such development happens, then just get it over with; and to end it decently will require no real advance planning

Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronciles - premise has three or four seasons in it; ratings suggest it won't even make it that far; "resolving" the story is problematic anyway since we know the story continues (?)

Heroes - since it's a situation and not a problem-to-be-solved, it could go on indefinitely, maybe with characters rotated in and out to keep things fresh; realistically, I'm thinking six seasons tops, and if it's still a healthy franchise, a spinoff series

24 - needs to prove this season that it deserves any more; it's had a good long run but I'm up for another season or two, if the writers still have some juice in em; wrapping up the story won't require much advance notice

Dexter - I love love love this show but the premise can't go on for more than four seasons; I'm sure the producers will wrap it before it starts becoming repetitive

Big Love - another "situation" show that could go on indefinitely; but again, six seasons seems right

Entourage - now that Vince is in the career doldrums for S5, they could get a couple more out of the story dealing with him clawing his way back to the top

Stargate (any and all) - Stop it. NOW. Just stop!

 

[Captaindemotion]

^ Would you believe, I watch or have watched all of those shows except Stargate. Couldn't be bothered watching SG as I hated the movie, though lots of people have recommended the tv version.

Watched a bit of Dexter, but couldn't really get into it, despite Hall's excellent performance. Lost interest in the Terminator show - I just think that whole horse has been flogged to death.

Heroes would need to improve greatly on season 2 to warrant 6 seasons. Yes, the idea and the ensemble cast certainly have the potential to run and run, but it looks from season 2 that the writers don't quite know where to run to.

Lost has benefitted from having the finish line in sight - for a long time it looked like they were making it up as they go along and padding it out - not a good combination.

24's concept lends itself to multiple seasons. It could keep going indefinitely as long as they come up with good stories and plots each season. The problem is, they've been off the boil for a couple of years.
Here's hoping season 7 is a return to the heights of the early years. If so, there ought to be plenty of mileage in the show (though in 24 time, Jack will probably be a pensioner by season 9 ...)

I could go for more BSG, but I'm glad it's ended while keeping the quality intact, rather than running out of steam.

Big Love - the first season aired over here, but nothing since. I would have thought 4 seasons would be enough to tell the tale, but with a cast that good and if they maintain the quality of writing, I suppose it could go longer.

Entourage - well, if Sex & The City could go for as long as it did, there's no reason why the nearest there is to a male equivalent can't run for as long! Don 't forget, each episode only lasts about half as long as most of the other shows we're discussing!

Pushing Daisies - only needs wrapped up insofar as they need to end on a happy conclusion for the piemaker and his beloved. But if subsequent seasons maintain the quality, imagination and quirkiness of the first season, I'd be happy to see it run and run. But there may be limited mileage in the central idea.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

This is kind of a different topic now but the reason that American TV won't do limited runs is because of the insane competitiveness of TV. Put yourself in the shoes of a corporate suit greenlighting a series. You can greenlight the one that is set to run only for 13 eps or the one that is set to run indefinitely.

Let's say you luck the hell out and your show is one out of three that survives the first year (and the survival odds for new shows seem to be going down if anything) while the rest of your slate is crashing and burning. You can't afford for your one survivor to run for only 13 eps. If you've hit on that elusive magical combination that works, you have to work it for all its got while you scramble like hell to put together next season's slate of shows in the hopes that you can eke out a couple more survivors then, too.

TV is a hit driven business: only a minority of shows survive, but they are expected to be the engine that drives the business and pays the way for the large number of very expensive future failures. Limiting the run of your shows in any way other than by ratings is a handicap that no network can afford. What you want is not financially viable and will never happen. The economics are all pushing in the other direction.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

T-Bag should be dead, but Robert Knepper plays him so damn well and makes the character so "likeable" (as likeable as murderous pedophille can be) that I'd hate to see him go, but he shouldn't be allowed to live beyond end of the series.

Oh yeah, definitely. He's got to go out in a blaze of glory at the end, but I want him to stick around for as long as possible. He largely makes the show.

 

[Jack Bauer]

T Bag was largely a waste last season but it seems that so far his role is more integral. Right not it is Bellick and Sucre who are wastes right now. Just off Bellick as now he is just comedy relief. Sucre's story should've ended two seasons ago. He should've run off to Mexico with Maricruz and stay put.

 

[Captaindemotion]

^ Yeah, I like Sucre, but he, like C-Note, deserved to get a happy send off some time ago.