WRITER: Nick Santora DIRECTOR: Kevin Hooks
CAST: Wentworth Miller (Michael Scofield), Dominic Purcell (Lincoln Burrows), William Fichtner (Agent Mahone), Rockmond Dunbar (C-Note), Robert Knepper (T-Bag), Paul Adelstein (Agent Kellerman), Sarah Wayne Callies (Dr Sara Tancredi), Marshall Allman (L.J), Wade Williams (Bellick), Matt DeCaro (Roy), Cynthia Kaye McWilliams (Kacee Franklin), Jason Davis (Agent Wheeler), Barbara Eve Harris (Lang), Helena Kievorn (Dede Franklin), Mike Jones (Darius) & Callie Thorne (Pamela Mahone)
Michael decides to investigate Mahone's personal history, T-Bag heads to a victim's house and C-Note masterminds the retrieval of his family...We're approaching mid-season and it's safe to say Prison Break's transition from prison-based drama to State-spanning adventure has generally been successful. It lacks the gritty pressure-cooker feel of last year, but the branching out into the real world has been great fun to watch. Could you really have stomached another season locked behind bars, anyway?
Unearthed is the strongest episode of the season yet. Expertly plotted by Nick Santora, it works on multiple levels and provides some startling revelations. Prison Break is certainly a series that rewards the viewer more immediately than Lost and more plausibly than 24.
The success of the episode is due to two plot threads: Michael's realization that Mahone is a more dangerous opponent than he first realized, and C-Note's plot to meet up with family without the FBI getting in the way.
For me, the best new aspect of season 2 has been Agent Mahone (Fichtner) and the ruthless lawman's pursuit of Michael. It's always good drama when a hero gets a villain to match their own abilities, something missing last year with Michael running rings around the prison guards.
With Unearthed, Michael takes time out from the debacle surrounding T-Bag stealing the $5 million and instead puts his IQ behind crippling the one person capable of stopping his family get to Panama. Needless to say, Michael's investigation into Mahone's history slowly reveals an extremely sinister angle to the FBI Agent and the truth behind Oscar Shales, the serial-killer Mahone tracked for a year...
While the Mahone/Michael subplot is certainly the highlight of the episode, C-Note's plan to see his wife and child again is certainly a close second. As C-Note, Rockmond Dunbar exudes gravitas and dependability, but it's nice to see he has some intelligence too, as he embarasses the increasingly incompetent FBI.
The L.J/Lincoln subplot isn't as succesful, wandering aimlessly for most of its duration until the admittedly eye-opening climax. It was clearly written to develop the father/son relationship, which is fine if a little undercooked.
Likewise, T-Bag's journey to visit the home of one of his victims is essentially filling time around the Michael/Mahone/C-Note plots, but it also climaxes on a high note. Santora's script is keeping some balls in the air, before throwing them to the next episode's writer, so there's really no cause for concern. This is a deft and compelling script that contains plenty of surprises.
Fans of the series will enjoy the Michael/Mahone plot immensely, as it answers some key questions posed early in the season, while the Sarah Tancredi subplot is also entering a more active and dangerous realm.
