Prison Break returned tonight with what interestingly proved to be an episode both compelling and boring at the same time.
On the compelling side, it was a fun hour of "wheels within wheels." Characters hatched plots and counterplots, against each other, in collaboration with each other, you name it. T-Bag works with Mahone, Sucre pretends to work against Linc while working with him, Michael tests Whistler, Whistler tests Michael back... on and on. This was the sort of fun rat's nest of problems that made season one so enjoyable. And it was all grounded in character tonight, which made it doubly more enjoyable than simple advancement of the plot would be.
But on the boring side, there weren't really any surprises to speak of. Despite all the entangled scheming, you knew what it would all amount to. You knew T-Bag wouldn't get his hooks into Mahone (not with the lucky coin on his side), you knew Sucre was only pretending to be working against Linc, you knew that Michael and Whistler's confessions weren't going to get them anywhere, you knew that Gretchen would escape by the end of the hour (and that it would spell doom for the stupid general)... on and on.
In short, it was sort of fun in the way that riding a roller coaster at the local amusement park is fun. Sure, it's a good time. But you've been on that ride probably at least once every summer as long as you've lived in the city. You know every twist and turn, and going to the amusement park just isn't as fun as it used to be.
Perhaps I'm just disillusioned, knowing that this is traditionally the part of a season of Prison Break where the writers "mark time" for a bit, drawing things out for a more exciting final run of episodes to end the season. Only this season, that run isn't going to come. I hope that the next of these few new episodes we're getting will be better, but I fear they won't be.
On the other hand, The Sarah Connor Chronicles seemed to still be on a good and improving course from last night. Not quite as much an action-packed thrill ride as the first episode (and you could tell by comparison that they spent a lot more money on making that pilot), but with some better emphasis on character, and with more threads of an original plot line than last night's cribbed-from-movie-two story. I'm still on board, hoping to see more development in future episodes.
2 comments:
I was pretty much bored out of my skull with this week's Prison Break. Yes, there were some interesting moments of bluff and counter-bluff, but Gretchen escaping from that dumbass of a general at the end (who seemed like he could become a very interesting character in the story) wrecked things way out of alignment.
Like you said, everything was SO predictable -- it might just be enough for me not to come back to the show. I've had my fill of Prison Break.
I think.
FKL
One more thing.
I think the thing that really bugs me this season is how the writers always seem to mess things up when they could have done some very interesting things. It's like they have a good idea and then realize they don't know how to work with it, so they scrap the idea -- AFTER they've actually shot an episode with the implementation of that idea.
Two very similar examples.
1. Mahone gets pulled out of prison, and we think this will probably lead to interesting developments. Well, it doesn't. After one episode outside, he's pulled back in. And what has that accomplished to push the story forward? Nothing, as far as we can tell.
2. Michael (of all people) is told at the end of the previous episode that he's too much trouble and that he's being taken out of the prison. Wow. I kept thinking this would open up an entirely new plot line. No -- he's just caged outside the prison walls. And just when you think Michael might really make things change after all (with that Gretchen name-dropping business), the idiot general gets shot and it's back to square one.
Bleh.
FKL
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