WRITER: Zack Estrin DIRECTOR: Bryan Spicer
CAST: Wentworth Miller (Michael Scofield), Dominic Purcell (Lincoln Burrows), William Fichtner (Agent Mahone), Amaury Nolasco (Sucre), Rockmond Dunbar (C-Note), Wade Williams (Bellick), Sarah Wayne Callies (Dr Sarah Tancredi), Paul Adelstein (Special Agent Paul Kellerman), Cynthia Kaye McWilliams (Kaycee Franklin), Matt DeCaro (Roy Geary), Holly Valance (Nika Volek), John Heard (Governor Tancredi), Maurice Ripke (Petey Cordero) & Joseph Nunez (Manche)
Michael takes Lincoln to a friend with his gunshot wound, while he tries to retrieve their car. Meanwhile, Sucre and C-Note contact their families...Scan involves more meticulous pre-planning from Michael (does the man leave anything to chance?), as his tattoo gives instructions for a plot to slow down their pursuers. The rest of the episode follows escapees Sucre and C-Note, ex-prison guard Bellick and ex-prison doctor Sarah.
Sucre (Nolasco) and C-Note (Dunbar) both contact home, in twin plots that set-up ongoing plot strands. Sucre is forced to head to Vegas on a motorbike to stop his girlfriend marrying and C-Note arranges a secret meeting with his wife.
Bellick (Williams) decides to become a bounty hunter following his dismissal from Fox River, acquiring help from friend Roy Geary (DeCaro). This is an idea that should involve a maverick style of capturing the felons, at odds with the clinical approach from FBI Agent Mahone (Fichtner), who is again marvellous.
One character I didn't really consider worthy of return in season 2 is Sarah Tancredi (Sarah Wayne Callies), the doctor who abetted the escape plan by leaving a vital doorway open. It appears the producers want to keep some estrogen amongst all the testosterone (moreso given the sad departure of Robin Tunney), so Sarah's character now appears to have more relevance than initially thought...
Sarah's father, Governor Tancredi (John Heard), is destined to become Vice-President, and this will undoubtedly provide a direct link to the government conspiracy. I'll even hazzard a guess that the Tancredi's will eventually help expose the conspiracy...
I've always enjoyed movies involving escaped convicts, as there's tight energy and constant peril that's always exciting to watch. It's also fun to put yourself in the escapee's shoes and wonder how you would cope in their position. So far the writers are doing a good job of keeping interest and momentum in the show, managing to remould a claustrophobic prison-based series into a compelling chase.
Prison Break remains laden with silliness (Michael is the most conspicuous fugitive ever with his yellow suit and baseball cap!), while the reliance on his tattoo to provide all the answers is straining credibility now. Can't a genius like Michael just remember simple plans without these cryptic reminders? The tattoo made sense given the complex layout of a prison's architecture, but does he need one to tell him how to fake a car accident? I don't buy it.
The show may have lost its originality once the cast jumped over the prison wall, but it has retained its energy and vigour. I'm still eager to see how their escape pans out, particularly regarding each convict's desire to steal Westmoreland's $5 million...
