Photo Finish/Vamonos

I'm amazed that, with the writer's strike now jeopardizing the number of new television episodes the networks will have to run before they're out, FOX would decide to run two episodes of Prison Break on a single night. But unlike past cases of FOX stupidity, this time we the audience are the beneficiary.

And what a one-two punch tonight's episodes were. Two great episodes that were loaded with as much suspense as some of the best moments of season one. My one complaint would be that there were a few unfortunate moments of stupid character behavior crafted solely to drag the plotline out for more episodes.

For example, there was Michael's decision not to just try and make a run for it when he's already down the ladder and Whistler's well on the way. As it turned out, in the time it took them to climb back up and haul up the rope ladder behind them, I'm sure they could have crossed the yard.

Or Linc's decision not to just shoot "Susan" the moment she staggered out of the van after the crash. After all, he shot the driver. If he'd also killed her, he'd have been able to pick off the bodyguard, and LJ would be rescued.

This missteps aside, so much about the rest of the episodes worked wonderfully. We all probably suspected from the first episode or two of this season that eventually Michael and Whistler would end up in a yard fight together, and it was good to finally see that paid off. Lechero bringing himself into the escape plan was a fun development. Seeing Whistler's girlfriend pull a few clever moments of her own (like taking over in the attempt to drug the prison guard) was a long time coming, and it was great to see her become more than a damsel in distress this week.

And kudos to the writers for the moments of Bellick reacting to Sarah's death. Surely Bellick's condolences mean nothing to Michael, but they were a very authentic moment for his character that might have easily gone overlooked. Brad also had a connection with her from their rehab meetings together, and it was nice to see this kind of emotional vulnerability in his character, rather than the simple physical vulnerability he usually endures.

As I said, it was in all a strong pair of episodes. I'm hoping things keep rolling along this way.