30 April 2007 - Five, 10.00 pm
WRITERS: Nick Santora & Matt Olmstead DIRECTOR: Jesse Bochco
CAST: Wentworth Miller (Michael Scofield), Dominic Purcell (Lincoln Burrows), William Fichtner (Agent Mahone), Paul Adelstein (Agent Kellerman), Sarah Wayne Callies (Dr Sara Tancredi), Wade Williams (Bellick), Rockmond Dunbar (C-Note), Reggie Lee (Bill Kim), Silas Weir Mitchell (Haywire), Jason Davis (Agent Wheeler), Channon Roe (Robber), Kaley Cuoco (Sasha) & K.K Dodds (Susan Hollander)
Sara joins forces with Michael and Lincoln, Mahone releases Bellick from prison to find Haywire, C-Note becomes embroiled in a hold-up and T-Bag finds family life a strain...
Like many U.S television series, Prison Break is struggling in its second half. Readjustments are being made, but after the initial cat-and-mouse games reached a satisfying crescendo with The Killing Box, the show seems to have shot itself in the foot. The writers appear to have lost impetus in recent weeks and while each episode still has a breezy energy, it lacks passion.
Here, Sara faces her torturor Agent Kellerman, who has gone rogue and vowed to help Michael and Lincoln unmask the President's conspiracy. The not-surprising antagonism between the pair informs a chunk of the episode, leading to Sara taking some drastic action with a length of wire...
The main plot now focuses on the mysterious key Sarah's murdered father managed to keep safe for her. What does it unlock? Well, something in Chicago according to Kellerman, so cue a train journey that leads to a satisfying moment of action with police blocking the track.
Elsewhere, the supporting plots range from entertaining distractions to pointless filler. Agent Mahone recruits "junkyard dog" Bellick to track Haywire, who assumes a hitherto unsaid priority by Bill Kim. Haywire's occassional narrative throughout season 2 has been pointless, so it's nice to see this loose end tied-up (well, cut off would be a better word). The subplot is most memorable for Bellick's variant of DeNiro's iconic mirror scene in Taxi Driver.
Rockmond Dunbar is a solid performer as C-Note, but his own storyline is becoming similarly turgid. Chicago finds C-Note embroiled in a diner hold-up while his daughter fights increasing ill-health (you'd have though his imprisoned wife would have got word to him about the meds she stashed, hmmm?) Anyway, the diner situation is nothing more than padding -- enjoyable enough to watch unfold, but pointless in the grand scheme of things.
Paedophile T-Bag is also stuck in a rut at the moment. His capture of a family (previous victims of his), forcing them to sit through an uncomfortable meal with a visiting neighbour, is just silly. It's may throw up sparks of black comedy ("I'll unlock the kids" and some inappropriately music for a "family exodus") but it's all more surreal than dramatic.
Throughout the episode there is also an odd use of bleached-out flashback, a few to remind viewers of events in Kellerman's past and one to needlessly explain how a very obvious "twist" involving some train workers occurred. They just seemed to stick out like sore thumbs. Chicago also concludes with a dramatic intercutting of scenes set to Alexi Murdoch's "Home"... but this attempt at a stylishly poignant close falls flat on its face (no pun intended, hehe).
Overall, Chicago's main plot is strong enough to prevent this episode dying on its feet, but all of the subplots are pretty weak. There's nothing awful here, just the growing sense that Prison Break is running out of ideas for its supporting cast. Unfortunately, Prison Break's premise can't survive radical changes, so engineering an effective way for C-Note, T-Bag and Sucre to join the main plot will prove difficult.
WRITERS: Nick Santora & Matt Olmstead DIRECTOR: Jesse Bochco
CAST: Wentworth Miller (Michael Scofield), Dominic Purcell (Lincoln Burrows), William Fichtner (Agent Mahone), Paul Adelstein (Agent Kellerman), Sarah Wayne Callies (Dr Sara Tancredi), Wade Williams (Bellick), Rockmond Dunbar (C-Note), Reggie Lee (Bill Kim), Silas Weir Mitchell (Haywire), Jason Davis (Agent Wheeler), Channon Roe (Robber), Kaley Cuoco (Sasha) & K.K Dodds (Susan Hollander)
Sara joins forces with Michael and Lincoln, Mahone releases Bellick from prison to find Haywire, C-Note becomes embroiled in a hold-up and T-Bag finds family life a strain...Like many U.S television series, Prison Break is struggling in its second half. Readjustments are being made, but after the initial cat-and-mouse games reached a satisfying crescendo with The Killing Box, the show seems to have shot itself in the foot. The writers appear to have lost impetus in recent weeks and while each episode still has a breezy energy, it lacks passion.
Here, Sara faces her torturor Agent Kellerman, who has gone rogue and vowed to help Michael and Lincoln unmask the President's conspiracy. The not-surprising antagonism between the pair informs a chunk of the episode, leading to Sara taking some drastic action with a length of wire...
The main plot now focuses on the mysterious key Sarah's murdered father managed to keep safe for her. What does it unlock? Well, something in Chicago according to Kellerman, so cue a train journey that leads to a satisfying moment of action with police blocking the track.
Elsewhere, the supporting plots range from entertaining distractions to pointless filler. Agent Mahone recruits "junkyard dog" Bellick to track Haywire, who assumes a hitherto unsaid priority by Bill Kim. Haywire's occassional narrative throughout season 2 has been pointless, so it's nice to see this loose end tied-up (well, cut off would be a better word). The subplot is most memorable for Bellick's variant of DeNiro's iconic mirror scene in Taxi Driver.
Rockmond Dunbar is a solid performer as C-Note, but his own storyline is becoming similarly turgid. Chicago finds C-Note embroiled in a diner hold-up while his daughter fights increasing ill-health (you'd have though his imprisoned wife would have got word to him about the meds she stashed, hmmm?) Anyway, the diner situation is nothing more than padding -- enjoyable enough to watch unfold, but pointless in the grand scheme of things.
Paedophile T-Bag is also stuck in a rut at the moment. His capture of a family (previous victims of his), forcing them to sit through an uncomfortable meal with a visiting neighbour, is just silly. It's may throw up sparks of black comedy ("I'll unlock the kids" and some inappropriately music for a "family exodus") but it's all more surreal than dramatic.
Throughout the episode there is also an odd use of bleached-out flashback, a few to remind viewers of events in Kellerman's past and one to needlessly explain how a very obvious "twist" involving some train workers occurred. They just seemed to stick out like sore thumbs. Chicago also concludes with a dramatic intercutting of scenes set to Alexi Murdoch's "Home"... but this attempt at a stylishly poignant close falls flat on its face (no pun intended, hehe).
Overall, Chicago's main plot is strong enough to prevent this episode dying on its feet, but all of the subplots are pretty weak. There's nothing awful here, just the growing sense that Prison Break is running out of ideas for its supporting cast. Unfortunately, Prison Break's premise can't survive radical changes, so engineering an effective way for C-Note, T-Bag and Sucre to join the main plot will prove difficult.
