Prison Break TV series (2005 - 2009)

[KenHurd]

Prison Break is one of my favorite shows, and with the revival coming next year, I have been rewatching the original series this past summer. I just completed season 4, and only have The Final Break left to watch.

It had been a couple years since I last revisited this series, but Season 1 was just as suspenseful as I remember. Those last few episodes, when the plan all came together, were intense. I had forgotten some of the events that happened, so it was fun to see everything unfold.

I always liked the manhunt of Season 2. It has a lot of the intensity of the first season, just outside of Fox River. I liked how they took Paul's character from being a stereotypical bad guy, and spent time developing him. Mahone was also a great addition to the show.

I go back and forth on Season 3. This was my 3rd time to watch the series. When I first watched it, I watched Season 3 on Blu-ray and loved it. I thought it was just as suspenseful as the first two seasons. But on my second watch, I found it a chore to sit through. Since it had been a few years since I last watched the series, I found myself loving this season again.

Season 4 has its moments. I really like the change of pace, and the missions they go on to get the Scylla cards. But I didn't like

[Show spoiler]that they brought Mrs. Scofield in to be the final villain, and claimed that Michael and Lincoln weren't real brothers. That felt like a plot twist that was just thrown in. As far as I'm concerned, Mrs. Scofield was just messing with them, trying to drive them apart.

I do think that Season 4 had a perfect ending, and The Final Break just adds to the Season 4 finale. My hope with the new season is that they don't leave it on a cliffhanger. That was the one thing I hated about 24: Live Another Day. Prison Break gave us a definite ending in Season 4, and didn't really need more. But,

[Show spoiler]since they're bringing Michael back, maybe this time they will let him survive in the end.

[AnamorphicWidescreen]

OK, just saw the trailer for PB Season 5. Wow!

[Show spoiler]Very cool that Scofield is still alive! I honestly thought he had died at the end of S4; or, to be exact, had sacrificed himself (by getting electrocuted) during PB: The Final Break so he could break out his wife from prison.

So, since he is still alive & if the writers/producers of the show are keeping with the continuity that was established in S4, presumably this is what occurred:

Scofield somehow survived the supposed electrocution when breaking his wife out of prison, and was captured by the prison authorities, who didn't let on that they had him. Or, maybe he escaped somehow, but couldn't rejoin his wife & Lincoln for whatever reason. The recording they saw he made where he said something to the effect of, "If you see this recording, it means I'm dead" etc. made us think he was dead - which was obviously not the case. And, maybe he made his family think he was dead to protect them....i.e., maybe he had to stay "under cover" because otherwise he would unintentionally lead the authorities back to them?!

So, in S5 he's back in prison in a foreign country - though it's unclear why he's there or how long he's been there.

Also, obviously somehow the brain disease he had must be cured - or else he would have died somehow in the intervening years (even if he hadn't been captured).

In any case, it will be interesting to see if S5 is a full season (21-22 episodes) or a partial season (12-13 episodes). Either way, based on the trailer I'm sure it will be great!

[celticmoon]

Originally Posted by AnamorphicWidescreen

In any case, it will be interesting to see if S5 is a full season (21-22 episodes) or a partial season (12-13 episodes). Either way, based on the trailer I'm sure it will be great!

Well, it's definitely not going to be a full season of 21-22 episodes. It's been referred to as a limited event series and seems to be scheduled for spring 2017 currently. I'm not sure if the actual episode count has been revealed, but I'd expect 10-13 episodes.

It's too bad Mahone doesn't seem to be back, he was one of the best things to happen to the show post-Season 1. Hopefully there's a surprise guest appearance in there somewhere. Honestly, his return would make much more sense than T-Bag. I'm wondering how they will contrive a reason to have him be a regular on this new season. I mean, he was definitely one of the most entertaining characters on the show, but his presence was forced throughout much of the show's run. But I guess we'll see.