WRITER: Seth Hoffman DIRECTOR: Sergio Mimica-Gezzan
CAST: Wentworth Miller (Michael Scofield), Dominic Purcell (Lincoln Burrows), William Fichtner (Agent Mahone), Amaury Nolasco (Sucre), Rockmond Dunbar (C-Note), Robert Knepper (T-Bag), Lane Garrison (Tweener), Paul Adelstein (Agent Kellerman), Sarah Wayne Callies (Dr Sara Tancredi), John Heard (Governor Tancredi), Marshall Allman (L.J), Reggie Lee (Bill Kim), Silas Weir Mitchell (Haywire), Alexandra Lydon (Anna), Joe Inscoe (Lyle Sands), Bruce Bennett (Wilbur Fitzgerald), Diana Scarwid (Jeanette Owens) & Kristen Malko (Debra Jean Belle)
The dig continues for the buried treasure, while Tweener is interrogated by Mahone and L.J's fate takes another twist...It's always great to watch a show with unpredictability coursing through its veins. 24 is the master of the blindsided twist, but after six years many of its tricks are easier to predict, so it's wonderful to see Prison Break create jaw-dropping moments of its own...
Buried contains three moments that turn expectations on their heads, destroying a potential Tancredi plotline I predicted awhile back and, in one double-punch, revitalizes Sucre and turns Agent Mahone's character into something entirely different.
The overall storyline has certainly slowed down from the chase mentality of the early episodes, but the tension and character dynamics are always much stronger in confined spaces (the mainstay of season 1, obviously). What works in Prison Break's favour is the sense of momentum, as whenever a situation begins to grow stale, we're sent spinning in another direction.
Seth Hoffman's script is sparky and well constructed, most effective when it plays one of its twists, and notable for revealing key information about Oscar Shales (the criminal Mahone was tracking). The subplot involving Sara Tancredi and Agent Kellerman also takes a satisfying step forward and should make Sara more proactive in the show. There's also a nice sense of tension with Kellerman (the great Paul Adelstein) over his dealings with Sara, as a hint of his real affection for her seeps through.
The comic subplot with Haywire, now trying to build a raft to get to Holland, is silly and undercooked. It only serves as a breather from the more involving storylines, but managed to make me chuckle a few times.
This episode also marks an overdue split between Michael and Lincoln, with Linc heading off to find L.J following his son's release from custody. This should allow another narrative to run concurrently, something that worked well for the first few episodes before everyone came together to dig for Westmoreland's loot.
