As for the series famed farcical implausibility, season four brings the unbelievable factor up a full notch! First we have Scofield enduring the blazing off of his tattoo without sedative. It is not heroic to attempt a procedure like this without any painkilling assistance, so the effect of making sure the audience knew Scofield handled his tattoo removal au natural doesn’t exactly emblazon him as more of a hero in people’s minds, he just strikes us as more of a fool. Secondly, we have Scofield walking upright and looking healthy and well right after the removal, which would be a medical marvel given the intensity of such a removal of a tattoo that size.
The second episode of this season, Breaking and Entering, has even more improbable elements such as the maid needlessly carrying her bag around as she looks for an unsecured window, and the gang depending on her to do just that. Another tremendously hare-brained scene was with Scofield declaring that the house they wanted to break into was a “fortress”, yet we see him and Mahone running within the premises without any explanation of how they got within the property in the first place.
Therein lies the problem; while team-escapade-adventure-capers such as Mission Impossible, Ocean's 11, and The Italian Job all have a base of a tight script, with fluid yet strong twists and turns, Prison Break does not. The maneuvers and tricks that the gang comes up with, and the way in which they manage to get a positive outcome, seem to rely on too great a scale of coincidences and impossibilities. Most caper-like escapade programs require a suspension of disbelief, however the action still needs to logically exist within the realm of how far one can stretch their minds to accommodate such story arcs. However, Prison Break is unsuccessful at this, as these couple of episodes push the boundaries of logic so far beyond its realm, that one can’t fathom bending the mind any further to accommodate such irrationality.
In theory, the whole idea behind season four is a brilliant one. It’s been ages since we’ve seen this sort of team escapade adventure on television. It would’ve been a novel concept to bring what has been traditionally the structure of good action thriller movies onto the small screen. The problem lies in the execution of this idea. In order to efficaciously pull off a Mission Impossible or Ocean's 11 feel every week, you literally need 22 exciting vignettes, each one fully encapsulating the same energy one would find in a big action thriller movie. In essence, you need adrenalin pumping scenes, edge of the seat sequences, high octane pursuits or chases, and all of these have to be wrapped up in some kind of acceptable logic. At this point Prison Break, with its unsound grasp of logic, has already shown that it can’t deliver the goods required in this type of genre.
Article comments
1 - Ben
And...you get paid to write your reviews?
That's a drag.
2 - stacey
prison break is still really good and it is still about them breaking out of prison and alot of people wanted 2 see sara back in prison break
3 - dakineladat
as previous Prison Break season went by there were many twist and turns and storys of the past told...maybe the 3 escapees(T-bag,Sucre,and Bellic as well as Sara may have a chance to review their story of their excape to the audience in later episode....It's the not knowing what will happen next that is got the audience attention and made this show greatttttttttttttt......
4 - alexis
I agree that Miller and Callies did not bring the goods. How could you watch these two episodes though, and fail to mention the awesome William Fichtner as Mahone? He was the only thing worth paying attention to.
5 - janis
I was so disappointed in the scenes with Miller and Callies. What the heck. It was like, "Oh, Hi, how are you." The other thing was when the guy killed the son and wife. What was that all about? They seen to put unnecessary sadness in this show.
6 - Texie47
I thought they did pretty well considering they are cooped up with 5 or 6 other people all the time. You have to assume better things went on in that rumpled bed they showed with a crushed pillow next to the one Sara was lying on. The killing of Mahone's family just gave him impetus to hate the company and want them stopped as much as Michael and Linc do. He is a valuable member of the team since his mental abilities run parallel to Michael's.. all in all I am excited.. As for all the sadness.. I seriously doubt there is ever a situation involving prisons that doesn't have more than it's share of sadness.. that is why they call it Prisony Land not Disney Land. : )
7 - Kronos
I agree with Ben. You're take on the season premiere is totally wrong. This was a fantastic season opener. Big ups to the writers for redeeming the mess season 3 put them in. For all those who complain about the shows title "Prison Break" and how long they can use that, I heard an interested line from one of the many cast interviews. I do not remember exactly who said it (most likely Wenworth as he is the most articulate of the bunch), but they said that the "Prison Break" is now more internal for the characters. Each one of them has their own personal issues that they must break free from. These 2 episodes hit the ground running and from the first minute til the last I was on the edge of my seat. Yes there was a lot going on, but that only means they have some grandiose plan for the remainder of the season.
8 - Erin
Agreed, Alexis. Fichtner and his character are really the only reason I'm watching Prison Break now.
9 - Prison Broke
So far, this new season has been borrring and after watching the latest episode tonight, I am not sure if I will return for another. Rapaport is horrible (seriously, was he the best that they could find for that role or does he have pictures of one of the Fox execs?) and the new computer guy is so stereotyped, it is painful to watch. My biggest complaint is the main plot. Why is everyone sticking around to do this job? These are guys that would and could do anything to break out of prison (twice), yet a simple ankle lo-jack device is keeping them all around to settle a grudge? Some advice to Scofield: Stop at a Home Depot, buy some pruning shears, shed the lo-jacks, and make a run for the border with your honey. Wait a few days so that the other characters do the same, get caught and thrown in a Mexican prison, and voila - Season 3 comes back to life!
10 - Brian
SPOT ON!
I'm just hoping the writers will get back into the swing of things...once their "school year" is more underway. Much like the horrid book reports we've had to write just after summer when we were supposed to be spending our free time reading To Kill a Mockingbird.
You missed one thing in your review though...the cliched computer geek, they could have made that guy a little less pompous. I won't even go into how unrealistic the hacking scenes are. I can't even get my scanner to work with Windows Vista these days, yet he can hack into...ah forget it, I guess it's just become standard in suspense movies/shows. Just once though I'd like to see someone get the blue screen of death when trying to hack into something.
11 - Sara
I couldnt agree more.
Mahones the only good thing left.
12 - K
Brilliant review, Sharmila! You put into words exactly how I felt. I thought the only thing you missed out was how good William Fichtner is. He's the only actor to watch this season. Chris Vance was excellent too. Really a shame that they disposed of him so early. I would've loved watching more of him. The others are all utterly disappointing and forgettable.
13 - matta
i love prison break. i think robert knepper is one of the best character ever. he is amazing i role as "t-bag"