Okay, now I’ve seen all three seasons of Prison Break. Overall, I’m a little concerned about how the plot lines seem to be unravelling. I still enjoy watching the show but there’s nothing magical like the first season where the audience was hanging by the seat of their pants. The plot was real tight too. I read that they really threw the cast together at the last minute with Wentworth landing the role with a week before shooting and Dominic only three days before becoming Lincoln Burrows. The two main stars of the drama seemed the least prepared in the first episodes and that’s when I pretty much shelved the rest for a while. I’m glad I picked it back up again but have some reservations.
The second season was more or less a mixture of character-driven and story-driven plots. The conspiracy aspect was simply getting ridiculous but still a good device to keep the action going. The brothers escaped a small prison only to find the forces that be make the entire nation an even bigger prison. Agent Mahone really pulled the second season through. He was an addicted psychotic law man and predatory killer no better than the people he was hunting and firmly in the pocket of the company. It was also strangely exhilarating to see all the cons out in the streets getting back into their element. The leading actors looked a lot hotter in street garb and I’m sure that helped maintain the ratings to a great extent.
The third season of Prison Break was more or less character-driven. The plot kept getting more and more rickety. The character I hated most was the lady assassin. Her acting was more wooden than a forest of oak trees. At first I thought she was a retired porn star who caught a lucky break that she couldn’t cash in. One of the things that held the season together was the acting by all the major players. Michael Scofield did a really good job of playing a wearier and cynical Michael and "Linc the Sink" put in a good performance near the end with his sarcasm and quick fuse showing more prominently. Mahone and T-bag certainly did their thing to hold the drama together. There was a lot more unintentional comedy from these actors because their performances were so real.
Unfortunately, we didn’t see too many good supporting actors getting more spotlight. I really liked Sammy, played by the very talented Laurence Mason. There were so many dimensions to his acting that I’m sure a lot of people overlooked. He was really physically agile doing no look passes and jumping fences like an athlete but if you pay attention to his acting he really added a little extra to the mix, like the time he let sadness creep into his eyes when he was given a gun to murder his boss.
The run exactly wasn’t a turn off but it left a little more to be desired. I hope the writer’s strike brings back some fire to the writer’s pen when the next instalment unfolds. I am happy that I don’t have to skip around spoilers littered around the Internet now that I’m caught up.
