Prison Break ended its winter offerings with the episode “The Sunshine State,” which brought about more questions than answers, and given the writers’ inabilities to tackle the already existing questions of Prison Break, now simply puts more holes into the series’ plot. Most likely these holes will never be covered or explained, thus giving the impression that the series has become over-laden with unresolved storylines and questions and as a result has gotten incredibly unwieldy. One has to believe that this is going to force the show off its plot-path again!
“The Sunshine State” starts off strong as we see Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller) waking up in a strange room in a mountain resort, only to find that he’s being kept there in an attempt by the General to brainwash or convince him (by way of a certain drug) to join The Company. In the course of trying to persuade Scofield to join up, the psychiatrist engaged to make Scofield join the dark side reveals to him that Scofield's mother is still alive and working for the Company too. With the help of Sara (Sarah Wayne Callies), Scofield escapes from the resort and the Company.
Meanwhile, Lincoln (Dominic Purcell) teams up with T-Bag (Robert Knepper), Self (Michael Rapaport), Gretchen (Jodi Lyn O’Keefe), and later with Mahone (William Fichtner) to find Scylla. There are some thrills as internal double crossing occurs, leading to Gretchen being shot and left in the parking lot while the others run off, no closer to Scylla than when the episode started.
While there were some good twists and turns, and exciting chase sequences and shoot out scenes, with the introduction of Scofield’s and Burrow’s undead mother who works for The Company, the plot of Prison Break went from being implausible to downright insane!
Weren’t we led to believe that both boys loved their mother, and that she was a good and righteous person deserving of this love? After all, aside from the boys constantly talking fondly about her, Scofield named the boat after his mother in Season 2, and even nervously joked to Mahone that Mahone should change the name of the boat since his mother wouldn’t like a character like Mahone. Nothing the boys said or implied about their mum gave the impression that she was ever less than stellar as a mother. And now we are to believe that she was involved in Lincoln being framed and sentenced to death for a crime he didn’t commit? The company framed Lincoln in order to bring their father out of hiding in the first place, so does this mean that their mother was involved in this plan of coaxing the father into the light as well?
Article comments
1 - Oda
Excellent review, I feel the exact same way. Prison Break has jumped not only the shark, but every other sea creature.
2 - thomas
what's the name of Lincoln's mum and who is that mysterious man with her?
3 - maija
Your article pretty much sums it up. This show would have gone down as a classic in my book had it wrapped up by season two.