PRISON BREAK 2.6 – "Photo Finish"

Writer: Seth Hoffman

Director: Kevin Hooks

Cast: Danay Garcia (Sofia Lugo), Robert Wisdom (Lechero), Robert Knepper (Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell), Dominic Purcell (Lincoln Burrows), Wade Williams (Brad Bellick), William Fichtner (Alexander Mahone), Wentworth Miller (Michael Scofield), Chris Vance (James Whistler), Jodi Lyn O'Keefe (Susan B. Anthony), Amaury Nolasco (Fernando Sucre), Barbara Eve Harris (Lang), Marshall Allman (LJ Burrows), Kim Coates (Richard Sullens), Laurence Mason (Sammy), Carlo Alban (McGrady), Dominic Keating (Andrew Tyge) & Alex Fernandez (Captain Hurtado)

Michael threatens to cancel the escape unless he sees proof Sarah's alive, Whistler is accused of murdering an inmate, Lincoln and Sofia have to drug a guard, and Mahone is offered a legitimate way out....

Prison Break is guilty of many things, but I've always been amused by how the writers judge the boredom threshold of their audience. They regularly wander into repetitive situations and holding patterns, but seem better able to get back on-track – or at least distract you from problems with pure bull-headed belief in themselves...

Photo Finish is the episode that heralds the imminent escape of Michael (Wentworth Miller) and Whistler (Chris Vance), with Lincoln (Dominic Purcell) and Sofia (Danay Garcia) tasked with drugging one of the prison guards' coffee an hour before the 3:13 pm prison break.

As usual, nothing quite goes to plan. Enigmatic French inmate Andrew Tyge (Dominic Keating), who recognizes Whistler from years ago, is later murdered and Lechero (Robert Wisdom) acts quickly to find the killer before Sona crumbles into anarchy. There are rules, you see – but Whistler's soon made an apparent scapegoat and his incarceration in Lechero's quarters threatens Michael's escape bid...

Michael suspects Mahone (William Fichtner) of the nefarious deed, as he wasn't too happy about Tyge's interest in Whistler attracting attention to their escape. Mahone himself must decide what course of action to take regarding his stay in Sona: to be part of the imminent break-out with Michael, or accept a legitimate transfer to a better prison for a reduced sentence – as organized by FBI work colleague Lang (Barbara Eve Harris), who wants Mahone to testify in a case regarding last season's presidential conspiracy...

Elsewhere, Lincoln has been asked to provide Michael with a recent photo of Sara – who was beheaded a few episodes back, but her death kept a secret from him. Lincoln hopes Susan B. Anthony (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe) can provide a plausible fake, otherwise Michael has threatened to abort the escape – even though that would risk L.J's life...

Increasing tensions are the order of the day -- so no change there. But Photo Finish also finds time to flesh-out two of season 3's more underdeveloped character, in short monologues: poisonous Susan and prison top-dog Lechero...

Susan reveals she was once the victim of a botched hostage exchange herself, leading to rape and abuse at the hands of her abductors, and Lechero explains how he once killed his poor mother's wealthy murderer by becoming a vigilante milkman (no laughing). "Lechero" literally means "milkman", as his real name is Norman. I said no laughing!

Anyway, there's a nice amount of incident and development here, particularly when Michael finds Mahone's murder weapon, grasses him up to Lechero, only to be disbelieved because Mahone is being "conveniently" transferred out of Sona.

As a side-note, I wasn't expecting William Fichtner to leave the show, but he seems to have become this season's Peter Stormare. If this is indeed the last we've seen of twitchy Mahone, I'm saddened to see Fichtner go -- although his character had definitely lost something in the transference from conflicted lawman to embittered inmate.

A vital part of the escape plan is the fact Michael is escaping in the afternoon, hours before the Company are expecting the escape to happen. Their ultimate plan remains indistinct, but I assume Michael wants to use this added time to rescue their loved ones, before fleeing forever.

Of course, numskull Lincoln accidentally reveals their intentions to Susan after a tense situation between a randy guard and sexy Sofia, with L.J subsequently seconds away from a nasty beheading. Fortunately, he manages to persuade her to give them a second chance, but it's a blow to their plan.

Photo Finish ends with Lechero discovering who the real murderer of Tyge was, before hanging the killer's body outside his quarters as a stark warning for the others to stay in line. Soon after, Linc is forced to reveal to Michael that Sara was killed days ago, and Wentworth Miller finally has a reason to show a facial expression that doesn't fall somewhere between moody and constipated.

In the final scene, Michael challenges Whistler to a duel to the death, as he blames the alleged Aussie fisherman for his bereavement. Obviously Michael's not thinking straight, as he's putting his nephew's life in jeopardy by aborting the escape and feuding with Whistler... or is it all part of another plan? After all, it was mentioned Sucre (Amaury Nolasco) needs another dead body to come out of Sona so he has an excuse the spray the prison fence with more corrosive agent...

Overall, episode 6 was pretty solid and was most notable for a few flashes of character development and some unexpected moments (Tyge was only around for 2 episodes – was it worth it?) Above all, Photo Finish proves Prison Break is a show that's become very adept at stalling its story in entertaining ways that never make you frustrated -- just increasingly invested.


12 November 2007
Sky One, 10.00 pm