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Final thoughts on Prison Break

Elemental

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I just finished watching "The Final Break" which is the planned direct to DVD follow up to the series that takes place before the final scene of the last aired episode that was 4 years into the future. Beware there will be spoilers present.

All in all, I've got mixed feelings on the series as a whole. I watched season 1 and 2 on DVD and although it had its lame moments, for the most part, it was very good at being unpredictable and created a great drama. Characters were excellent and the series went about as far as any show has gone in making you genuinely think the well being of the main characters could be affected (Michael getting two toes snipped off in the 2nd episode really exemplified this).

Then along came season 3. Michael back in a new jail along with a bunch of his old cohorts, only now in a prison with no guards. Oooooooooh. This idea seemed incredibly forced to me and seemed like the standard 'go with what worked before but try and top the danger level' that so many shows try (24 is a great example). Things just seem so formulaic. In execution however (no pun intended), this place didn't strike me as any more dangerous than Fox River was. I think more bad stuff happened to our characters there than they ever did in Sona.

When the show really jumped the shark for me though was when they supposedly killed off Sarah by beheading her. This was just going waaaay too far and no matter how the writers tried to justify it, it was so obviously just a way of writing out the character because the actress wanted to move on. The plot just kind of meandered on from there trying to make us interested in the mysterious "Company" and excited about another pending prision break. However, we'd seen all this before. The way they tried to keep Sucre relevant by helping the others out (and totally ditching his family in the process) seemed forced. Then the season ended prematurely due to the writers strike. For the first time in any show I collected on DVD, I was very uninterested in buying this new season.

When season 4 showed up, there were some new glimmers of hope. Suddenly, Sarah popped back to life (for the 2nd time now after obviously intending to kill her off both times) with only a lame explanation. I tried not to let this bother me too much though because I thought the series was much better with her than without her.

There were two things that did really bother me though. First, if it was forced why some characters were kept in the plot for season 3, this was exponentially worse. The idea that this wild mishmash of characters would suddenly start working together to bring down the Company was completely preposterous despite any attempts at explanation. Sucre was STILL not with his family he wanted so bad to escape prison to be with, Mahone had killed Mike and Lincoln's father and suddenly they're all working together, but Bellick was the most unbelievable of all - he had absolutely no reason to risk his safety to see the Company brought down. He was reduced from a previously fear-inspiring opportunistic opponent to a stereotypical bumbling whimsical form of comic relief. In any given problematic situation the group faced, each member fit a classic predictable charicature in how they would respond. By this point, I was more than sick of listening to Michael's monotonous plans displaying what a genius he must be. By the time they finally killed off Bellick, it was obvious that it was done because the writers had no idea what the hell to do with the character.

Second problem was that this season destroyed the Company and the General as being fearful adversaries. Whereas when we'd seen Krantz in the past, he only communicated by written note, now he whined and yelled and complained ALL THE TIME. Any sense of mystery was completely lost.

Despite these problems, the show still managed to end decently with the final few episodes and bringing back some interesting characters. The end of the finale actually got me a bit choked up, what with the characters meeting together and the paper crane put on Mike's grave.

"The Final Break" again went back to the same formulaic prison break plot and having to break out Sarah seemed absolutely absurd at this point. What made season 1 fascinating was the chance to become familiar with the prison's functioning and its workers and inmates in the midst of planning an escape around this. A brief two episodes doesn't allow for any of this. For some reason, I was very surprised though that they actually killed off Michael in this. I guess I didn't expect him to die like that. Again, the show did manage to pull off a good ending out of this though with their final scenes.

So, all in all, I'm still not that inspired to buy the final two seasons on DVD, which is a shame what with how good things were early on. So what were other people's thoughts on the show as a whole.
 
I'd pretty much agree with everything you said. Season 1 blew me away. Far and away the most compelling series to air since the first season of 24. The brilliance with which Michael's plan was revealed, the menance of the prison, the compelling characters, the ever-more nailbiting cliffhangers.

Season 2 - just as good, IMHO. Our heroes always just one step ahead of the law, Mahone hunting them down, uneasy alliances, etc. But really, that season finale in Panama was where it should have ended. When Michael ended up in prison again, my wife and I just groaned.

Season 3 - dull, pointless and meandering. There were the odd glimpses, but for the most part it was nothing compared to what had gone before. And as you say, killing off Sara was ridiculous.

For the most part, S.4 was pretty good. Nothing to do with escaping from prison, but still fun. I'd agree that Bellick was pretty much neutered, from his sadistic bullying guard to the dumb played-for-laughs sidekick, while Mahone also underwent a somewhat radical personality change.

After the mid-season break, the season began to flag and repeat itself, with no apparent idea of where to go. The finale was good, but the return of Kellerman was essentially a deus ex machina plot device. But killing off poor Michael - Nooooooooo! After all they'd been through, he and Sara deserved a happy ending.

I agree with your comments about The Final Escape, which could have been called The Unnecessary Coda. We knew from the final scenes of the series proper that Mahone wasn't going to betray Michael, we knew who would live and who would die. IT lacked the slow burn of the first season's escape and was totally anti-climactic.

This series was never unwatchable, but it did go from unmissable to merely watchable, which was a shame. A good example of why some series should have a limited life span and quit while they're ahead.
 
Killing off John Abruzzi was stupid and absurd...
That's when the series jumped the shark for me.
 
Still not entirely sure why Sarah would end up in jail in the first place, since they all got blanket immunity from the whole thing when turning in Scylla. Is she just a bad negotiator?
 
Still not entirely sure why Sarah would end up in jail in the first place, since they all got blanket immunity from the whole thing when turning in Scylla. Is she just a bad negotiator?
Total plot device but the stated reason was they had video tape of her shooting Mike's mom without any evidence suggesting it was in Michael's defence.
 
Still not entirely sure why Sarah would end up in jail in the first place, since they all got blanket immunity from the whole thing when turning in Scylla. Is she just a bad negotiator?
He was a compelling character but at least he had just as compelling a death. Season 2 began the downward slope of having difficulty keeping all the characters relevant. How exactly do you keep 7 cons (or whatever the number was) all important to the plot despite the fact that they all have their own lives they want to get back to? Let alone the other prison employees? Season 2 managed to pull it off well by having Mahone as the connecting piece and he just started killing off those less important. Even having Bellick and the other prison guard turn vigilante was mostly believable given the money involved and desire for revenge. Season 3 was still ok in this department, but having Sucre still playing along with Mike & Linc was pushing it. The idea in season 4 that everyone suddenly wanted to bring down the Company more than getting back to the lives they fought so hard for was just plain ludicrous.

One thing that I will give the series credit for from beginning to end is that they never let up on permanently maiming the characters. Examples would include Mike tattooing his whole body then losing his toes, T-Bag losing his arm, Mahone being chemically dependent, Sara getting scarred, Mike having a tumor or aneurysm (how this was supposed to cause him to have nosebleeds I'll never understand), Self becoming a vegetable, and many many side characters (who in most TV shows would be off limits) biting the dust. Any show can kill off characters. It takes a really serious show to give characters permanent disabilities and force the actors to adapt.
 
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Still not entirely sure why Sarah would end up in jail in the first place, since they all got blanket immunity from the whole thing when turning in Scylla. Is she just a bad negotiator?
Total plot device but the stated reason was they had video tape of her shooting Mike's mom without any evidence suggesting it was in Michael's defence.

What gets me is why any of them believed that they had immunity to begin with. Why would the US government give them immunity when the UN gets the magic maguffin? The US government wouldn't cut any deals that it wasn't the direct beneficiary of!!!!

Just one of the kajillion plot holes that bedeviled that series. They should have done one "Prison Break" season with Michael and Linc, finished that story, and then switched characters and done an entirely different sort of prison break - that's how they keep it going. But they lucked out with a lot of very compelling actors and I can see why they were loathe to let them go. Yet, the writers were also very good that first season. They only started to suck when given the impossible task of stretching a one-season premise.

The whole Company plotline was moronic. It's very hard to make bwahaha conspiracy plotlines work - the more it revealed about the inner workings, the stupider it looks because it's all based on people's paranoid fantasies, or not even that, it's based on Hollywood writers seeing movies and TV shows about those paranoid fantasies and they just regurgitate the work of other writers. Just once, I'd like to see a good attempt to base a conspiracy on real life events, or things that could be real life - movies do that every so often (The Insider, Michael Clayton) but TV usually opts for an unconvincing and shallow approach.
 
I thought "The Final Break" didn't come out until July 21st...? I'm actually rewatching S1-3 as we speak, I'm most way through S2 at the moment. S1 is definitely the best and most intense, but S2 is very enjoyable as well for all the gorgeous location filming after the claustrophobic first season. I'm looking forward to S3 as I recall really enjoying it at the time (a return to the prison environment but no guards and the inmates rule the roost). The first half of S4 I enjoyed, but the back half of S4 just completely fell apart for me. The constant betrayals in every episode makes loyalties totally confusing and the addition of Evil Mom was just... uninteresting.
 
Killing off Michael is stupid and absurd.

So was leaving T Bag alive. He should've been killed off in the series finale. Letting him live while Michael dies? Lame-o!

The first two seasons were the best and season three was a total rehash that only served to keep the show going due to it's good ratings. It was basically a less interesting version of season 1. I missed the middle section of season 4 so it's hard for me to judge it. It should've been a 2 season show.
 
Prison Break jumped the shark the first second of Season 2 when all of a sudden it was morning, instead of night with tons of police swarming them in a field like it was in the Season 1 finale.

From there, it was all downhill with an endless series of ever-increasing ludicrousities.

They should have ended the show after the first season. It really needed to be a 1-Season series. Letterman etc. made jokes when it first came out that it couldn't last for more than one season; and the ironic thing is that they were right (despite that the show continued in name); because what they produced after the first season was unwatchable nonsense.
 
Killing off Michael is stupid and absurd.

So was leaving T Bag alive. He should've been killed off in the series finale. Letting him live while Michael dies? Lame-o!

Excactly. Michael, the main character we've been following for four-seasons, wanting him to live, to survive, and end up with Sarah (and their child) and then he dies? And fucking T-Bag lives?! Oh, sure, he's going into prison for the rest of his life but he's still sucking air and he's back to his old position of "power" -evidenced by the kid tugging on his pocket. At least HE could've been tugging on a pocket to show he wasn't back in "power" but, Jesus! T-Bag lives and Michael dies?! What. The. Fuck?!
 
I haven't seen the DVD yet...but don't think i got spoiled by anything

i am not disappointed by Michael dying...that kind of makes sense...the guy with a plan, and can help others escape "death" can't save himself.

It's not "fair", but works for me. It certainly makes his death worth something.

What made Season 1 & 2 interesting was that characters could (and did) die. We lost a bit of that edge until the end. (Roland's dying seemed waaay too obvious, and a bad use of his character)

As for T-Bag....that too breaks expectations, that he HAS to die. Though i agree with the other poster...that he shoudn't have regained his prison status. The idea in season 4 of what he COULD have been (a successful salesperson)...it would have been fitting to see him pulling someone else's pocket.


In regards to Bellick....on some level, it's realistic. He's tough in Prison becuase he's with the government..and who's gonna believe a scared convict? But outside of that safety zone (and we saw it in season 1), Bellick really is weak. The man still lives with his mom! He intended to retire from the prison system as a top dog...when his job got taken away, so did his life. He at least got a chance to die heroically, and grow up from his immaturity.

It would have been nice to see more of a match up between Mahone and Michael....that set-up in early season two was very interesting to watch, and they could have been good partners. I was a bit annoyed that he hooked up with his fellow FBI agent (made her seem like a wimp agent, rather than just sympathetic & loyal)




One quick question -- does Sucre get shot again in the DVD? He's gotten shot twice in the chest in what, 2 months (storywise)? But he's still quite healthy! THAT is unbelievable!!!
 
Given that The General ended up getting executed, despite his wealth, connections and probable ability to blackmail enough people with the ability to commute his sentence, it's hard to see how T-Bag could have escaped a death sentence. He's a white trash, child-molesting, rapist and murderer with no connections, money or influence. He murdered several people after escaping from prison. He's a veritable poster child for capital punishment and fits the bill for the usual white Death Row candidates (most, of course, are from ethnic minorities) - poor, badly educated, etc. If anyone was going to get the chair, it was him, not The General.
 
Maybe T-Bag WAS on death-row following his recapture? The General just got an earlier execution because of the media draw.

As for Morpehous' theories.

There's "expectations" and there's "where the audience is going to want to see these characters at the end of the series."

What's the point of me going back and watching Season 1 now knowing that Michael is just going to die at the end, so why should I care about him or Sarah? Where's the pay-off for every ugly thing T-Bag has done over the last four seasons?

Ending the series in this manner is lame.
 
Maybe T-Bag WAS on death-row following his recapture? The General just got an earlier execution because of the media draw.

Perhaps, but it's hard to see why they wouldn't have drawn our attention to it. Even if they didn't show his execution (showing two might have been deemed a little grisly), we could have seen Theodore receiving a death notice or date for his appointment with Old Sparky. I'm inclined to think if it ain't onscreen, it didnt happen.
 
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