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Why I Love...Prison Break

Wentworth Miller as Michael Scofield
  • Posted at 5:16am
  • 15 March 2007
  • by EdNeedham-RT
  • 3 comments

No country jails its citizens with as much enthusiasm as the United States, and while the restorative effects on society of putting a percentage of the population out of harm's way have yet to be satisfactorily demonstrated, there is one clear and undeniable benefit: America is the world leader in prison dramas, the greatest dramatic genre of all.

A confined space is the ideal location for drama to flourish, especially when certain individuals are eager to make the experience as unpleasant as they can for everyone else.

Like all good prison stories, Prison Break is not just bad men doing nasty things to each other while the good guards look away and the crooked ones watch and drool. There is that, but this story has noble pretensions. This is the conflict between a man of spirit and cunning and the cruel and brutish authorities, in a search for justice, truth and an unbelievably elaborate escape route.

And also like all good prison yarns, this one rarely pauses at the boundaries of plausibility, starting with hero Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller), who needed to get into jail to help his innocent brother Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell) escape from death row, where he has been sent as the fall guy in a political murder.

But how to get in? Easy - rob a bank and go in through the front door! Besides a brain in a permanent state of calculation (acting tip: to achieve this look, just think, "What's that bloke's name?"), Scofield's escape tool is a giant tattoo of gothic symbols and patterns that makes the top half of his body look like the cover of a bored teenager's text book. The tattoo is an encoded map of the jail.

The show was such a hit in the US that the Fox network found itself having to hurriedly commission extra episodes and stretch out the escape, making it feel that some of the inmates would complete their sentences before they got over the wall.

By the series end, the brothers had managed to abscond, although not without an entourage of fellow inmates, all of whom hate each other. So plenty of loose ends there to start the new season with.

But wait! Not only are there all sorts of prison people with egg on their faces and scores to settle, but activity on the outside is intensifying as the rogue elements in the government work overtime to stop evidence of the brother's innocence emerging. Indeed, so shady are the elected representatives, could it be one of the writers had a nasty experience - at least a motorway through the back garden - with the forces of public bureaucracy? How else to explain such contempt and paranoia?

So the second series is set to begin with the escapees on the run, but with a lead of only about 100 yards on the dog handlers and the entire Illinois police department. You could really do with a better start in the early stages of a jailbreak to stand any chance of getting away, but if series one is anything to go by, that 100 yards could easily take six episodes to cover.

And this show is so loopy, who's to say Scofield isn't going to turn right round and break back into jail again? This justice thing is a lot harder than it looks.

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Comments

  • Posted on 23 December 2008
  • at 10:47pm
  • by Danny

Prison Break is comedy genius, I love it

  • Posted on 19 July 2008
  • at 6:44pm
  • by baby-ladle

This show has it all, drama, story lines, characters and locations.

PB - ONLY on Sky - Bah - Roll on Series 4. PS the DVDs are great with 5.1 sound.

  • Posted on 11 February 2008
  • at 10:14pm
  • by baby-ladle

OMG i cant belive u lot prison break is the best!!

Wentworth miller is mega hot!!

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