WRITERS: Matt Olmstead & Seth Hoffman DIRECTOR: Bobby Roth
CAST: Wentworth Miller (Michael Scofield), Dominic Purcell (Lincoln Burrows), William Fichtner (Agent Mahone), Paul Adelstein (Agent Kellerman), Sarah Wayne Callies (Dr Sara Tancredi), Amaury Nolasco (Sucre), Robert Knepper (T-Bag), Wade Williams (Bellick) & Tina Holmes (Kristine Pace)
Michael is forced to help Bellick steal T-Bag's millions, Lincoln finds Agent Mahone is in Panama and Sara's trial begins...Is this it? The penultemate episode? It's all quite underwhelming and doesn't seem to offer any hints as to what season 3 could bring. Michael, Bellick and Sucre join forces to capture T-Bag (Michael wants him jailed, Bellick wants his $5 million and Sucre wants Maricruz's back safe).
This plot didn't excite me and some flashbacks of T-Bag in season 1 highlights only served to illustrate how far the character has sunk in season 2. He was a fascinating creep last year, but this year he became a slimy idiot.
The one unquestionable highlight of season 2 has been William Fichtner as Agent Mahone. I could watch Fichtner all day. He's superb and the character has constantly surprised me. Fin Del Camino isn't his greatest hour (he spends it fighting Lincoln), but he's always good value.
Sara Tancredi's trial gets underway, with the doctor facing 12 years if she pleads guilty to helping the Fox River escapees. There's no real courtroom drama presented here, just a reminder that her storyline is bubbling away.
There's really not much else to say about this episode. Prison Break has always been very good as stretching itself, so the episode passes by quite harmlessly and didn't test my patience. But, considering next week is the season finale, Fin Del Camino is an incredibly weak appetiser.
If you compare the trajectory of season 2 to season 1 it's clear this season has struggled. If it wasn't for the writer's startling ability to tread water so brilliantly, or manage to make ludicrous twists work within the show's freewheeling style, Prison Break would have crashed and burned months ago.
Essentially, the problem is very simple: Prison Break is a prison drama that has been forced to take place outside of its natural setting. For sporadic moments, it works. On occassion, it works brilliantly. But, ultimately, the show lost itself the moment those eight men jumped over the barbed-wire fence...
