[SPOILERS] That was better. I'm still bored by the Scylla silliness, but in some ways that took a backseat in "Cowboys And Indians", which distracted us with an entertaining escape from a besieged hotel, refocused the stakes slightly, and ended on the show's best cliffhanger for ages...After the assassination of Banerjee at Miami's Progressive Energies conference, Linc (Dominic Purcell) and Michael (Wentworth Miller) are trapped inside as the hotel fills with armed police, knowing Christina (Kathleen Quinlan) has framed them for the crime and escaped with Scylla. Outside, Don (Michael Rappaport) and Mahone (William Fichtner) try to help their colleagues escape the hotel, by snooping on the cop's plans and relaying intel. Trapped on the 16th floor, trying to gain access to the roof to make their way to a laundry exit on the other side of the building, Michael must improvise a bomb to provide them with cover when they're cornered...
Elsewhere, General Krantz (Leon Russom) sends a henchman to extricate the brothers, lest they blab to the authorities after arrest, and Christina tries to sell Scylla to Banerjee's grieving father, Indian Prime Minister Nandu Banerjee (Marshall Manesh), by telling him the Chinese were responsible for his son's death, hoping he'll buy her technology to use as a weapon to reignite a border dispute between with China. I guess she's hoping the Prime Minister won't hear about the fact she's framed Linc's team for the assassination? Can you say "plot hole"?Ignoring nitpicks, this was an entertaining episode from writer Nick Santora, who kept things moving and threw in some surprises. It's always fun to see Michael get out of tight spots with an ingenious plan (a la The A-Team), and the way in which he evades the armed cops with Linc was particularly good, as their situation really did feel hopeless. Okay, I'm not convinced by how quickly he managed to do certain things (make a bomb from toilet tolls and an aerosol, change into an assailant's body armour), but that's TV for you.
Once Michael and Linc are safe, they're captured and sent to meet with the General. There follows a scene intended to remind us of the stakes, which have certainly become very hazy. The General puts everyone's names in a lottery, selects "Don", and has an operative kill Don's disabled wife in New York (live to the room, via speakerphone.) The moment even allows for exposition that belatedly gives us reason for why Don stole Scylla himself earlier this season (to pay for his wife's treatments, whose circumstance he blames himself for.) Sure, it's retroactive patching that's come too late, but at least it's there now. Don feels a bit more sympathetic and, after jumping out of the General's window into the harbour below, he's escaped to pose a real danger. After all, he now has nothing to lose, and there's nothing the Company can threaten him with.
Less interesting was T-Bag's (Robert Knepper) desperation to "earn his stripes" in the General's eyes as a Company Man -- the script reminding us that T-Bag was once a big player in Fox River, so wasn't always the incompetent, selfish creep he appears to be. Shame seasons 2-4 wrote him that way, then. Anyway, T-Bag gets a chance to demonstrate his loyalty by finding Sara (Sarah Wayne Callies) and bring her to the General, as leverage to ensure Michael, Linc and Mahone get Scylla back from Christina. Indeed, they actually do -- by locating her at a Federal Bank, cashing her money, and staging a bank robbery to grab Scylla from here.
Unfortunately, Linc is captured by Christina's gang during their getaway, leaving Michael with a terrible choice when he receives phone calls from both the General and his mother: give Scylla to his mom and condemn his girlfriend to death at the hand of Krantz, or give Scylla to the General and allow his brother to bleed-out from a gunshot to the lung.
Overall, Prison Break's existence post-season 1 has largely relied on pace, excitement, camaraderie and regular surprises. Its strong suit has never been plot or characterization, but it can distract you with "incidents" well enough for you to merrily be swept along. Season 4 has started to struggle with this formula, sadly -- as the show's become rat's nest of confusion now the writers are forced to keep the story alive by cannibalizing their own premise (the brothers are no longer related, they don't have the same goal, and the big villain is their "dead" mother.)"Cowboys And Indians" didn't solve any of these problems, but it alleviated them slightly (getting the brothers back on the same side, indulging us with the set-pieces) and ultimate it managed to distract you from its flaws again. For that, just be grateful, don't think too deeply about any of it (the writers clearly don't) and just hope the series finale ends things on a relative high.
12 May 2009
Sky1, 10pm
Writer: Nick Santora
Director: Milan Cheylov
Cast: Wentworth Miller (Michael), Dominic Purcell (Linc), William Fichtner (Mahone), Michael Rappaport (Don), Robert Knepper (T-Bag), Sarah Wayne Callies (Sara), Kathleen Quinlan (Christina), Leon Russom (General Krantz), Amy Chaffee (Marjorie Swift), Ian Bohen (Darrin Hooks), Marshall Manesh (Nandu Banerjee), Michael McGrady (Capt. Hutchinson), Raphel Sbarge (Ralph Becker), Ted King (Downey) & Jane Yamamoto (Reporter)
