PRISON BREAK 3.8 – "Bang And Burn"

Writers: Christian Trokey & Nick Santora
Director: Bobby Roth

Cast: Wentworth Miller (Michael Scofield), 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), Chris Vance (James Whistler), Jodi Lyn O'Keefe (Gretchen/Susan B. Anthony), Amaury Nolasco (Fernando Sucre), Kim Coates (Richard Sullens), Barbara Eve Harris (Lang), Laurence Mason (Sammy), Carlo Alban (McGrady), Leon Russom (Pad Man) & Castulo Guerra (General Zavala)

Michael begins to plan a different escape with Lechero's help, Susan is forced into her own Plan B, and Sofia discovers Whistler has been leading a double-life...

"I don't pay you to be my adviser. You're my operative. You have your instructions, now get it done. Because if you don't, I'll make what happened to you in Mosul feel like a massage."

-- Pad Man (Leon Russom)

Bang And Burn is quite an unusual episode. It presents audiences with fresh impetus and direction, but because it's the premature mid-season finale (due to the WGA strike), you can't help feel it might have been wiser to put the show on hiatus last week – when Phase 1 of season 3 came to a close. Instead, we get an exciting glimpse at Phase 2, albeit tinged with disappointment...

It's only disappointing because it’s now clear Prison Break's third season is sticking to season 1's template, and by the end of episode 8 not much has actually changed – with all the characters right back where they started.

Susan B. Anthony (Jodi Lynn O'Keefe) meets with the mysterious General (Leon Russom), the apparent head of The Company who's familiar to fans as the usually-mute Pad Man from season 2. His arrival in season 3 has been overdue, as he was instrumental in sending Michael (Wentworth Miller) to Sona to begin with...

The General threatens Susan (real name Gretchen) with violence if she fails to take the "bang and burn" option to free Whistler, which sends her into a blur of activity inside her own personal "War Room", which is designed to return The Company to their former all-powerful glory of season 1. It fails, mainly because the level of activity and surplus of agents are crammed into what appears to be Susan's back room!

Whistler (Chris Vance) is quickly becoming a more scurrilous character than believed, as he's told by Susan to be ready for their "bang and burn" tactic at 5pm, and to kill Michael ahead of time. The fact he understands Company terminology seems to suggest he's a former/current operative himself... as does the fact he had clues about how to manipulate Mahone in his Bird Book.

Girlfriend Sofia (Danay Garcia) also unearths some evidence of his boyfriend's secret life, as he was renting a nearby house under the name Gary Miller. However, she's warned off continuing her sleuthing by Susan, who arrives to dispose of Gary/Whistler's personal effects. Curious.

Lechero (Robert Wisdom) is now an active part of Michael's escape team, and reveals an abandoned tunnel beneath Sona, only accessible through the back of his personal quarters. The old tunnel has been caved in, although Michael thinks they could dig up through the ceiling – which should bring them out mid-way across No Man's Land...

The most redundant subplot is shouldered by Mahone (William Fichtner), who is inches away from a cushy four-year sentence in a US jail, if he testifies against The Company in court. Unfortunately, he confesses to former colleague Lang (Barbara Eve Harris) that he's been dependent on drugs for years now, and was forced to take hard narcotics in Sona, which has rendered him a shivering, nervous, sweating wreck...

As such, Mahone's rambling testimony in court falls on deaf ears and the unluckiest lawman in history is prepared to be sent back to Sona!

Lincoln (Dominic Purcell) and Sucre (Amaury Nolasco) don't get much to do, beyond sow the seed of a future plan by renting a house in a forest and recording gunshots sounds in a tape-recorder. Lincoln apparently saw three body-bags in Susan's van last week, so has no doubt that The Company had intended to kill him, his brother and his son had Whistler been sprung from jail.

Of course, Lincoln has never been the sharpest tool in the box, so the foreshadowing of his probable trap doesn't fill you with confidence. Mind you, after some Company goons are unleashed on him, with one taking Sofia hostage, he finally shows a more ruthless side by risking Sofia's life and taking the goon out with a well-aimed head shot.

In the thrilling climax, Michael realizes The Company have decided to wash their hands of him, and launch a surprise helicopter attack on Sona to rescue Whistler themselves. Whistler gets onto Sona's roof and makes a desperate leap onto a dangled rope ladder, although Michael manages to jump onto Whistler's legs to keep him imprisoned and his services required.

After one of the show's most elaborate action sequences full of stunts and explosions, the helicopters abort their mission (just watch Susan's face curdle) and Sona is locked-down and filled with angry guards. For once, logical prevails, and a Sona official realizes that two escape attempts in as many days, in the week jail-breaker Michael Scofield arrived in Sona, points the finger squarely at him... so he's marched out of Sona!

I actually really enjoyed Bang And Burn, despite its bizarre leaps into fresh territory. But it's an episode that clearly signals the end of Act I and the beginning of Act II, which is just what season 3 needed about now. Unfortunately, while there are many distractions (particularly that blood-pumping helicopter finale), it's still irritating that Bang And Burn essentially presses the reset button.

This happened in season 1, and is perhaps a necessary move to spread a prison escape storyline over 20-odd episodes, but whereas season 1's characters had progressed by the mid-way point, season 3's have remained quite fixed. Indeed, Mahone is headed back to square one, Bellick (Wade Williams) has been forgotten about, T-Bag (Robert Knepper) is still skirting on the edge of plots, Linc and Michael are back where they started, and Sucre is only there to make up numbers. Only Lechero and Whistler have really been developed to any degree.

But, episode 8 definitely makes you interested to see where season 3 goes from here – which is remarkable for a prison-based series I didn’t think would last even 1 season, let alone 3!

And so ends the first-half of Prison Break – which is set to return in January. Let's hope the US writers' dispute is sorted out by then, so the pace isn't further destroyed by another forced hiatus.


26 November 2007
Sky One, 10.00 pm