Prison Break – Episodes 4-1 & 4-2 Review

Top Story

This is nothing new. I was sitting on the edge of my seat throughout this week’s premiere episode of Prison Break. I was completely enthralled throughout the two hour episode, and I couldn’t wait to read the rave reviews for what I considered to be a stellar season opener.

But, of course, that’s not what I came across. Instead, I read comments upon comments asking “what happened to this show?” and “how many times this episode did Prison Break jump the shark (an expression that drives me crazy)?” Geez, what a downer.

Yes, the episode had its flawed moments, and sometimes it did force you to suspend your disbelief a bit far, but in my opinion the pros of the episode overcame all of those obvious deficiencies.

Truth be told, having Michael, Lincoln, and their motley crew team up as a modern day Robin Hood and his Prince of Thieves is probably a lot more interesting than watching Michael spend the season trailing Whistler and Gretchen. As a result, I was really pleased with how they spent the opening few minutes, with Michael providing a voiceover narration of what had occurred between that moment and last season’s finale. Within the opening minutes, Michael came face to face with his adversaries, in a way neatly concluding that story arc. Within the first half hour or so we finally understood what Whistler, and to a lesser extent Mahone, was up to all along.

Long story short, I appreciated that they didn’t needlessly waste time bringing the story together. Sure, it was awfully convenient that the inmates somehow all escaped Sona, but did we really need a drawn out, likely boring story arc in order to integrate Bellick and Sucre into the mix? Do people not remember what happened when Heroes decided to keep Hiro in feudal Japan for 10,083 episodes? In my opinion, some of the alleged “holes” in the story were a necessary evil in order to ensure that the story gets on track as quickly as possible. The ends justify the means.

One thing that I have always liked about Prison Break is its willingness to reinvent itself. I’ve long been saying that one of the most foolish things Smallville has done in the past couple of years is adhere so strictly to their (self-imposed) “no flight, no tights” rule. Why hinder the show’s natural growth and evolution? Sure, the series is titled “Prison Break,” but the show hasn’t restricted itself to the premise of escaping from prison. One season — perhaps my favorite — had the cast relatively separated while they were on the run. Another reshuffled the teams and mixed up the whole prison escape formula. Now they’re out of prison, banded together through circumstance, and trying to take down the organization that, in some roundabout way, originally brought them together.

At the end of last season I proposed that they essentially end the whole Company story arc. I felt that it was being dragged on for far too long, and in the four somewhat years the series has been on, we haven’t really seen much progression. The writers decided to go in the complete OPPOSITE direction, and make The Company the center of the entire season. And I have high hopes for this arc. I honestly do feel like we’re going to get the answers we have been waiting for. And while I do believe there’s a distinct possibility that Self (Michael Rapaport) will turn on them, thus prolonging this storyline even further, I have good faith that they will conclude this arc by the end of the season.

So, lets get to the specifics of what I liked and didn’t like.

Like I noted last season, I love how differently Michael and Lincoln treat Mahone. To Lincoln, Mahone is the man who murdered their father. By shooting him in the back, no less. On the other hand, Michael went through the trenches with Mahone, and while I don’t believe that Michael considers him a friend, I do believe he came to appreciate his situation. I think Michael understood that Mahone did what he did to protect his family (much like how Michael helped the dangerous T-Bag escape from prison in order to set his brother free). And I also think that Michael recognizes Mahone’s sense of loyalty. Throughout their Sona experience, Mahone was really the only person that never once turned on Michael.

As I mentioned earlier, I thought the opening segments were incredible. Killing off Whistler in the opening minutes really set the tone of the episode that nobody is safe (as did the lack of a formal opening credits). I honestly believed that anybody outside of Michael, Lincoln, and Sara could be killed at any time,

I also really enjoyed the buddy/buddy relationship between Sucre and Bellick. While I noted last season that both of these characters could easily be disposed of (especially Bellick), I actually liked their interaction in the season opener. I especially liked Bellick’s sincere gratitude to Michael for including him, only for Michael to respond with “Sucre vouched for you,” followed by Bellick’s brief, friendly acknowledgement to Sucre. He also provided some comic relief, when Mahone noted that he actually had to slow down in order not to catch him following the faux purse nabbing.

Speaking of humorous moments, I also laughed at Michael and Sara’s lighthearted discussion near the end of the episode, when Michael reminds her (and the viewers) that he’s actually married. So much with these two is such doom and gloom — even during their happy reunion — so it was really nice seeing them let loose, even for just a moment. While on the subject, I actually had no problem with the writers bringing Sara “back from the dead.” Her death really served no purpose, while her character still has some steam left in it. I find this far less offensive than 24 ridiculously bringing back Tony Almeida.

Of course, i can’t discuss comedic moments without mentioning the “did you eat bad Mexican?” line. I’m interested in seeing where this whole T-Bag thing goes, because he’s another character that I feel can be written off. He’s wildly entertaining, but the guy NEEDS to get his comeuppance. That being said, I do appreciate the fact that not everybody who escaped from Fox River is all chummy chummy.

I think Wyatt, the Company’s assassin, is a great addition to the show. The scene in which he killed Mahone’s wife and son was absolutely chilling. Naturally we didn’t see it, but still. And this is an example of yet another TV rule: Make a character as happy as possible before making him hit rock bottom.

Michael having all of his tattoos, which cover his entire upper body, removed via laser in one sitting without pain killers (why did he opt not to take them, exactly?) was a bit out there, but I am glad that they broached this issue. I used to mention this in my columns last year, but when he was wearing long sleeves in the scorching Panama sun, it made me uncomfortable as a viewer. The fact remains that the tattoos no longer play a role in the story (and if they did, THAT would be really contrived), so why force the character to constantly wear long sleeves? Once again, I consider this scene a necessary evil.

I wasn’t too shocked by the “twist” at the end, where they revealed that Gretchen was still alive. This goes back to my old rule of thumb: If you don’t see a character get killed, they probably didn’t die. Nevertheless, it appears that she breaks out of her cell, and I would assume she joins up with Michael and co. Given her past with these characters, I can see this being a VERY interesting development.

Overall, it looks like this is going to be a great season of Prison Break. But why the hell does it have to compete with Heroes????

Matt Basilo has been writing for Inside Pulse since April 2005, providing his insight into popular television shows such as Lost, Heroes, Prison Break, and Smallville. You can visit his blog at A Case of the Blog.

Sir Linksalot: Prison Break

Matt Basilo has been writing for Inside Pulse since April 2005, providing his insight into various popular television shows. Be sure to visit his blog at [a case of the blog] and follow him on Twitter.