TV Review: “Rate of Exchange” and “Killing Your Number” - Prison Break Has No More Story To Tell - Page 4

The over-usage of the cell phone as a plot device was a problem in last week’s episode of “Cowboys and Indians” and this seemed to be an issue in these two episodes as well. Kellerman manages to track Scofield down on his cell phone, and Amaury manages to call Sara’s cell too — feats that are unconvincing because Sara and Scofield are on the run, probably with pre-paid phones that are hard to track. Also, the calls seem to always come at the most opportune of times. This showcases the immaturity, weakness, and laziness in the writing that has plagued the last few episodes of this series.

Having said that though, killing off Scofield was an unpredicted move on the part of the writers. It certainly was a brave ploy that involved a lot of moxie to kill off a character who was the main protagonist of this show and who also clearly had such selfless intentions from the start of his journey in the first season to the end of his days in this season. It seemed that if there was anyone in the series who deserved a happy ending, it would’ve been Michael Scofield. He might not have been pristine and pure towards the end, and he caused a lot of deaths along the way, but Scofield was always about doing the right thing within a set of very unfair circumstances. However, bad things happen to good people all the time, and Scofield dying was simply one such example.

Of course, by killing off Scofield, this leaves the series without any avenue to return either to television or to the big screen. That might work out well though since the actor who plays Scofield, Wentworth Miller, seems to have walked away from acting and has turned to modeling in far east Asia instead, and is no longer attached to any current acting projects. Also, the series deserves some permanent closure, given that it has told all the stories it ever can tell within its very limited premise and in that sense Scofield’s death is not in vain and absolutely makes sense in sealing this series' fate once and for all.

While the resurgence of old characters barely made much sense within the scope of the story, it is imagined that this was done for the fans of the show rather than for the creative element. Fans of Prison Break have dwindled over the past four years, in large part probably due to the story being less and less engaging as the years went by. This series started off really strong, offering up enticing stories and plots that left hooks in its audience with each episode, only to go off the rails in its attempt to stretch this series into one that lasted way too long in the end. So, returning old characters to this last episode was a nice “thank you” to the people who followed this series, with all its nonsensical plots and implausible stories, into its final run. Television critics should perhaps ignore the relevance of the return of Sucre, C-Note, and Kellerman and chalk it up to being a lovely door prize for loyal fans as the series exits.

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 …

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