Spoilers. The second half of season 4 gets underway, with all the expected strains and turbulent repositioning we've come to expect from Prison Break. Trying to keep a grip on the fluid situation ensures a certain level of commitment and interest to see you through, but "Deal Or No Deal" is an awkward episode that doesn't inspire much confidence in the new direction…Homeland Security's Don Self (Michael Rapaport) has turned traitor (a clue in his surname?) and stolen Scylla, meaning Michael's (Wentworth Miller) team have been left high and dry. Worse, Self quickly engineers a frame job, making his superior Herb Stanton (Kevin J. O'Neill) believe it was Michael and Linc (Dominic Purcell) who reneged on their deal and taken Scylla.
As Michael's gang deal with the shock of betrayal and debate their next move (find Don to steal back Scylla, or flee to Mexico before the Feds throw them in jail), Don uses T-Bag (Robert Knepper) to track down Gretchen's (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe) sister Rita (Heather McComb), intending to use her as leverage. With her sister and daughter Emily's lives threatened, Gretchen is forced to help Don find a buyer for Scylla. Meanwhile, General Krans (Leon Russom) holds a crisis talk with The Company's top brass, pouring their resources into finding Michael's team, unaware of the treachery that has taken place…
With so much in flux, "Deal Or No Deal" ultimately involves a lot of sitting around, thinking, phone calls and double-crosses. The direction is unclear, and the plot seems to jump around, trying to settle on a firm idea for how the rest of the season will play out. It was something of a relief to have Don's bosses, Stanton and Senator Dallow (David Clennon), realize he's been playing them for fools and side with Michael within this episode, but then it devolves into a messy shoot-out with a Company hitman -- after which, Dallow apparently gives them the option of destroying the files on their covert operation and disappearing.
Rapaport doesn't quite work as a villain, either. His unmasking worked fairly well last week, but it's still difficult to accept Don would value riches over taking down The Company and becoming a national hero. It's probably a twist the actor himself doesn't believe in, as Rapaport looks slightly uncomfortable throughout, and just doesn't carry the right degree of malice to become an effective villain. I wouldn't be surprised if his role comes to an end soon, and someone better takes his place as the main antagonist -- possibly whomever buys Scylla.
Again, the motivations and loyalties of Gretcher and T-Bag cause some concern. It was a decent call-back to involve Gretchen's family, forcing her to help Don, but begs the question: what was Don's plan when Gretchen wasn't on the scene? T-Bag historically sides with whomever appears to be top dog at any given moment, but I have no idea why he's become Don's sidekick so quickly. Maybe he thinks Don will split the Scylla money with him -- which makes him an idiot for believing that again. Does he never learn from past experiences?
General Krans doesn't get much to do, beyond kill one of the season's potentially interesting bigwigs, Howard Scuderi (the excellent Jude Ciccolella). Indeed, quite a few characters I thought were about to be promoted to important roles for the rest of season 4 are killed in this episode. Important clearance of the year's deadwood, or narrow-minded shock-tactics?
The only moment that truly worked was the reveal that Michael had the foresight to keep a Scylla microchip, rendering the mother-unit unusable to Don's potential buyers. Admittedly, you have to accept that Michael has a preternatural gift for contingency plans, but it was a nice way to scupper Don's plan at the eleventh hour. Other moments, like Michael's secret plan to put Sara (Sarah Wayne Callies) and Sucre (Amaury Nolasco) on a bus out of town, were confusingly handled. Sarah and Sucre even share a moment at the depot, trying to fathom the logic of his decision!
Overall, Prison Break has needed to reinvent itself year to year, and sometimes in the midst of a season. After four years, Michael and Linc's battle against The Company is becoming quite exasperating, particularly when a clear win is cruelly snatched away at the last second by a slightly implausible backstabbing. Hopefully, after the creaky re-alignment of "Deal Or No Deal", the series will quickly re-build its momentum and offer fans a definitive climax. The future of Prison Break is still undecided, but I'd be very surprised if it gets a fifth season, and the hope of a big ending is what keeps me watching.
2 December 2008
Sky1, 10pm
Writer: Christian Trokey
Director: Bobby Roth
Cast: Wentworth Miller (Michael), Dominic Purcell (Linc), Michael Rapaport (Don), Amaury Nolasco (Sucre), Jodi Lyn O'Keefe (Gretchen), Robert Knepper (T-Bag), Sarah Wayne Callis (Sara), William Fichtner (Mahone), Leon Russom (General Krans) Jude Ciccolella (Howard Scuderi), David Clennon (Senator Conrad Dallow), Heather McComb (Rita), Graham McTavish (Ferguson), Kevin J. O'Neill (Herb Stanton), Mark Pellegrino (Patrick Vikan) & Kirk B.R Woller (Richard Sooter)
