Prison Break Season 2 Review

] For some reason I’ve always been intrigued by the thought of running from the cops.  I don’t ever plan on doing anything that would make them come after me, but I will occasionally slip into a daydream where I’m like Harrison Ford in the Fugitive and have to go on the run for a crime I didn’t commit. I like to solve the problems like which state I would go to, where I would hide, how I would get around, etc.  And so with all that in mind, it’s no surprise that I was pretty excited for the start of Prison Break Season 2.  The entire season would revolve around sneaking past the authorities and narrow escapes – just the kind of stuff that I liked to think about!

The first few episodes of Season 2 were incredible. They were everything I had hoped the show’s second run would be once Michael and Lincoln broke out of the slammer.  However, the fast-paced, surprise-filled plot quickly hit a police road-block.  You see, when the writers originally came up with the concept of Prison Break, they intended it to be a two-season affair.  Season 1 would be the escape from Prison, and Season 2 would have the brothers play the role of fugitives while they unraveled the government conspiracy.  However, after the first season became such a big success, the idea of cashing in on a third installment proved to be more enticing than creating a great show, and the writers sold-out.  Because Season 3 was on the way, they couldn’t tie up any loose ends.  As a result, Season 2 centered around Michael and Lincoln running around the country aimlessly, and the whole thing fell apart.

If there was one major weakness to Prison Break, it’s that the acting is sub-standard at best.  When the show is clicking and the plotline is keeping you on the edge of your seat, Prison Break easily overcomes its acting deficiencies.  However, when things started to get dragged out because of Season 3, the pace slowed down dramatically which meant the actors had to carry the show – not a good thing at all.  By the time the Season 2 finale was approaching, instead of eagerly anticipating a resolution, watching Prison Break had almost become a chore.  You felt obligated to follow the story through since you’d been watching for a year and a half, but the show had lost any form of being interesting and the plot and the acting had become laughable.  I watched the season through to the end hoping for some kind of payoff, but ended up with nothing.  Honestly, if the networks had given me a show that looked at all promising on Monday nights at 8pm this fall, I would have been more than happy to leave Michael and Lincoln to rot away in a Panamanian prison.  How’s that for a ringing endorsement for Season 3? 

Season 2 Cast:

Wentworth Miller (Michael Scofield)

These character reviews are going to be quick hits, because Season 2 left me less than enthused.  What do I have to say about the show’s hero?  He’s got the charisma of Dick Cheney.  Seriously, make Dick forty years younger and good looking, and could easily fill in for Wentworth Miller.  I have no doubts about this.

Dominic Purcell (Lincoln Burrows)

Aren’t we supposed to like the stars of a show?  So how did the casting department put Dominic Purcell and Wentworth Miller next to each other and think, “They’re television’s next great duo!”  The two have the personality of a milk carton and the acting skills of a Disney Channel reject.  I guess when you’re planning on having a nail-biting plotline with tons of cool twists, you can go for the bad actors who will charm the ladies with their looks.  But the show completely came undone when they were asked to carry it this season.

Sarah Wayne Callies (Dr. Sarah Tancredi)

One thing I really don’t understand is the writers turning Sarah into a strung-out druggie.  Were they trying to make her edgy by revealing she has a dark side? Regardless of their intent, by doing so they managed to turn a character who could have a cute and endearing female lead into somebody with way too much baggage and issues.  I mean, when someone with a criminal record like Michael is better off not getting involved with a girl because of her track record what does that say about her?

Amaury Nolasco (Fernando Sucre)

I’ll give credit where credit is due and say that I liked Sucre’s storyline this season.  His having to contact his woman and meet up across the border provided us with some of the show’s more exciting moments.  However, during the season’s second act, things got completely unrealistic and mirrored the show’s downward trend. Having Bellick kidnap Mari-Cruz and force Sucre to help him track down the money completely defied the laws of probability.  It was just another example of the writers having to come up with bogus storylines to supplement an unnecessary third season.

Robert Knepper (Theodore “T-Bag” Bagwell)

Probably the lone remaining bright spot in this series is T-Bag.  He’s just a fantastic bad guy.  He’s committed some heinous crimes which make you hate him and root for his downfall, yet at the same time he’s so entertaining that you somehow find yourself liking the guy.  It’s almost as if you can relate to how his victims were suckered in by his charms before he went all psycho-killer on them.  That’s pretty deep for a show centered around a full-body tatoo.

Rockmond Dunbar (Benjamin “C-Note” Miles Franklin)

Like Sucre, C-Note’s storyline was one of the highlights of Season 2.  Not only was it exciting, it was touching as well.  Thankfully the writers knew to leave well-enough alone and didn’t force him into some contrived situation to keep the story going after his plotline had been wrapped up. However, I did see some promo shots for Season 3 that involved C-Note wearing what looked to be a doctor’s coat, so I may have spoken too soon…

Wade Williams (Brad Bellick)

What can I say?  Bellick was one character they should’ve left in the prison.  Why the writers felt that it would be a good idea to have this bumbling idiot chasing the convicts across the country, we may never know.  What we do know is that it appears he’ll play a major role in Season 3.  Needless to say, the odds that this show rebounds next season aren’t looking too good.

Paul Adelstein (Sp. Agent Paul Kellerman)

If the writers of the show did one thing correctly heading into Season 3, it was getting rid of the ridiculous Agent Kellerman.  After all, were we really  supposed to be afraid of someone who clearly took his cousin to the senior prom and majored in computer science?  Sure, it’s more likely that Paul Adelstein was the one to cut ties by taking a role in ABC’s Private Practice, but at least he’s moved on to a show I won’t watch instead of annoying me each week on Prison Break.

Reggie Lee (Sp. Agent Bill Kim)

Just when you thought Special Agent’s couldn’t get any less intimidating, “The Company” hires Bill Kim to replace Kellerman.  Where do they do their recruiting, Comic-Con?

William Fichtner (Sp. Agent Alexander Mahone)

You gotta hand it to William Fichtner. He has an uncanny knack for landing roles in which he plays the “bad guy who’s really good underneath”.  First he played Sheriff Tom Underlay in Invasion, and now he’s chasing around Michael and Lincoln as Agent Mahone.  Unfortunatly, Fitchner also has a penchant for landing these roles on shows which should be really good but fall way below expectation.  We all know what happened to Invasion.  The question is whether Prison Break’s ratings will allow it to get through Season 3.

What can I say?  I went into Prison Break Season 2 with high hopes, only to watch them be dashed as the writers stretched the plotline way too thin.  Will the series rebound in Season 3 and give us the resolution we’ve all been waiting for?  Let’s just hope nobody at FOX gets the bright idea to offer a contract for Season 4.