TV Review: Prison Break, "Eagles and Angels" - Still Fun, But Slowly Wearing Thin

Part of: Weekly Break With Prison Break

Prison Break’s fourth episode this season, “Eagles and Angels,” was fun to watch, much like the preceding episodes in this new season. There were some exciting moments, some thrilling scenes, and it all added up to a pretty enjoyable way to spend the evening.

Sarah Wayne Callies, who plays Dr. Sara Trancedi, was given a larger role in this episode, and the thespian brought all the emotive displays and underlying sense of tribulation needed in order to make the audience actually feel the sorrow and danger her character was going through. Callies did a pretty good job in the emotional scenes she shared with Wentworth Miller on the boat, as she told him she is to be blamed for Bruce’s death. It’s a pity that the same can’t be said of Miller, who last week brought his emotions perfectly to the surface to show a firm and in control Scofield, but this week Miller seemed to have gone back to his blank, expressionless way of acting. I’ve noted before that Miller is more than capable of carrying the scene when his character is feeling extremes of emotion; he is, however, not quite capable of playing “ordinary” yet.

Despite Callies giving us a more than decent performance in “Eagles and Angels”, one can’t help but wonder what her role in this whole series actually is. Aside from being Scofield’s girlfriend, and the return of Sara being widely used by FOX as a publicity tool, there doesn’t seem to have been much point in bringing her back. Whilst I enjoyed seeing her little dramatic scenario unfold, and the sweet romantic gestures between Sara and Scofield was a nice touch, Sara’s story this week really didn’t help move the plot along, and neither did it add any dimension to her character since we already knew she had an addiction in her past. The audience also would’ve been able to work out that she only had Scofield to fall back on now, and we didn’t need her story to show us that.

Another gripe with this episode is that the holes in the storytelling are starting to get so big that it might just be a short while before the fun that Prison Break brings may not satisfy any longer. A relatively astute person cannot go on ignoring the blazing holes that lie in the plot. It all boils down to this — sloppy and lazy writing makes for a puerile and amateurish series. And we saw very jejune and dull writing in this episode.

Continued on the next page Page 1 — Page 2Page 3

Article tags

Spread the word
Bookmark and Share
Profile image for sharmila

Article Author: Sharmila

Sharmila is a university professor who teaches Communications and Journalism at various universities, and is currently in the midst of completing her Phd in English. Sharmila started writing professionally at 12, becoming a full fledged reporter at …

Visit Sharmila's author pageSharmila's Blog

Read comments on this article, and add some feedback of your own

Article comments

  • 1 - Film-Book dot Com

    Sep 19, 2008 at 10:04 am

    I'm even harsher about the turn the show has taken then you Sharmila. This the same thing that happened to Alias. Each season we are given a reason for Scofield and company to keep going on missions long after the original premise of the show is dead and buried. The sad part about this season is Sona. It burned down. AND? That prison was surrounded by an army. How could the prisoners get over the walls and out even if there was a fire? And if they did get out, how could they get passed the military?

    I wrote an article about Prison Break Season 4 and its Cop-Outs.

  • 2 - simsim

    Sep 19, 2008 at 10:49 pm

    they are perfect anyway

  • 3 - Sucre

    Sep 21, 2008 at 6:23 am

    Yes, I must admit it, too. It's not as breath-taking as it was before. Very predictable.

Add your comment, speak your mind

Personal attacks are NOT allowed.
Please read our comment policy.
Please preview your comment.

blogcritics lists for Dec 01, 2009

fresh articles Most recent articles site-wide

fresh comments Most recent comments site-wide

most comments Most comments in 24hrs

top writers Most prolific Blogcritics for November

top commenters Most prolific Commenters in 24 hrs