'Prison Break' fall finale raises important jurisdictional concerns
So you're Prison Break, a serialized drama on the verge of taking a hiatus for nearly two months and you need to find a way to keep viewers pinned to their seats for your crucial "fall finale," give them something that will haunt them and keep them guessing until late January. Under those circumstances, do you dedicate an entire episode to issues of post-9/11 law enforcement jurisdiction?
Monday (Nov. 27) night's episode of Prison Break decided not to concentrate on car chases, doomed romance or carefully devised codes. Instead, viewers were treated to an hour of pulse-pounding debate about whether federal agents trump border patrol, local officers trump federal agents and department of corrections officials trump shadow conspiracy henchman. And how are those jurisdictional issues impacted by 9/11 or by it being an election year? I understand that killing Lincoln Burrows and Michael Scofield to protect the integrity of our unseen (except for Sunday nights at 10 on ABC) president is a complicated process, but maybe if the episode had dedicated less time to transportation logistics, we might have been able to spend a couple seconds with the absent C-Note and Haywire.
During the course of the episode, presumably taking place on a single timeline, the following things were able to occur: Lincoln and Michael sat in a holding cell having periodic flashbacks while several people plotted their murder. Bellick was arraigned, accepted a plea, was sentence and was transported back to Fox River Penitentiary. T-Bag killed a military vet for his hand, romanced a "plain" postal employee to get a forwarding address for his ex-flame and made his way to her new house. And Sucre jumped out of a plane and parachuted to the ground. I'm not sure how those things all happen simultaneously.
The episode did end with a couple cliffhangers, I guess. Who could have foreseen Agent Kellerman (Paul Adelstein) popping a cap in Agent Mahone and offering Lincoln and Michael the chance to take down the president? Oh. You could have? Me too, actually. And T-Bag showing up to torment the woman who got him sent up the river? That's a little freaky.
But seriously, where's Haywire?
I've said it before and I'll say it again... As long as I'm entertained, I don't question this show's logic. The minute they bore me with an episode devoted to people being ushered from one holding cell to another and expect me to be enthralled, I get annoyed.
Some thoughts and questions about where the series might go starting in January:
What did you think of the fall finale?
The last three episodes of Prison Break were actually quite good because they had a big dose of the first season's suspense. But, I won't truly be happy with this season until they bring Haywire back. I really hope it won't be something lame like the Coast Guard finding his body washed up on the shores of Holland State Park!
This is my favorite show I just wish they would balance out the screen time. Sucre and C-Note are getting screwed. I was surprise Bellick wanted to go back to fox river I can't wait to see what happens with him. I thought Mahone or Kellerman would die, as the episode went on I thought it would be Kellerman but I was wrong.
Invariably there will always be quirks in scripts and creativity. So why dissect the show. Why be over analytical. If you find the show entertaining and an escape mechanism -- which I really do -- to me that's the bottom line. And I'm definitely looking forward to its return.
when the show eventually ends, as all shows do the fade out scene should be of Haywire, and the dog standing near a wind mill, with a rickety raft behind them, and given that only 9 nine days has elapsed since the break-out, and how long it would take to float to Holland, the show would be on a very long time, and as long as I'm entertained, that suits me jus fine, especially given the lack of soilid entertainment at the cineplex . Hollywood scriptwriters it seems has lost their way, sadly there haven't been very many films worthy of being a future cl***ic...Once 24 kikcs in gear teamed with Prison Break, it'll be a heckuva of Monday !!
I WISH THIS CRITIC WAS IN CELL WITH THE SEVEN FOOT GAY SASQUATCH!
I really enjoyed your commentary on this episode. I've been tied up and haven't had a chance to post my own weekly recap.
And, I think I might have been the only one interested in the jurisdictional issues, but that's just because I'm a law student. Honestly, I think last week's episode ending with a big fiery crash and Mahone getting ready to shoot Mike and Linc would have been a better finale.
I agree that Mahone will be back. He's a good compliment to Scofield. They keep each other on their toes and appear to be just as intelligent as the other. However, after having attention drawn to your comment about Mike hoping there was another way out and he was a structural engineer was pretty amusing.
And you're not the only one who thought Sara looked homeless with that haircut. But, maybe that was the look she was going for? I was moved by her phone call to Michael though, her admitting that she needed him.
Anyway, I suppose we will all have to keep speculating until January!
hope he get back in jail that ould be funny and gets his *** kick by the guards
Best. Episode. Ever. I agree, as long as the show is entertaining, who cares about logic.
hi, my question...now that kellerman is w/the good guys, what happens when sara meets up w/them? after all, he DID try to kill her!
OH MY GOD! Can you believe it? Last week - remember? They almost got away! What a nail biter! The week before that - HA! They almost got away. This week - OH LORD! Looks like they have almost gotten away again! Holy smoky! What will we do for a few months?