Hell or High Water

This week's installment of Prison Break was one of the strongest in a long time. One could argue it's a bit of a double standard, me saying that, because tonight's episode was long on plot and pure action, and had few character beats -- exactly what I criticized in the most recent episode of Lost. But to me, it's a matter of expectation, of what we tune into these shows to see. Lost consistently delivers powerful character studies; Prison Break is all about action and suspense.

Not that this episode of Prison Break was completely devoid of good character moments. The moments that played well included Linc's confrontation with Mahone, the plight of poor McGrady and his father, and (as usual) the total weasel-ishness of T-Bag.

But like I said, this show's about the action and suspense, and tonight finally delivered on the promise of that which has been building now for weeks. Car chases, foot races, swimming, boating, gun fights, ruses... this was a jam-packed forty-two minutes.

It was great to see Michael use Bellick, Lechero, and T-Bag for bait, and the fact that we saw T-Bag come up with the Whistler's bird guide means we can't yet count them completely out of the plot. (And possibly Sucre will soon be joining them?)

The ending was also a nice return to the form of season one (and parts of season two), with everything completely falling apart in the last few minutes, leaving a seemingly impossible situation to get out of. The cliffhangers of late have not been nearly so effective.

All that said, the thing that had me most on the edge of my seat during the entire hour wasn't actually anything in the episode. It was the FOX announcer voice that came on after it was over to say, "stay tuned for scenes from next week's season finale of Prison Break."

Season finale.

Not "mid-season finale," or "winter finale," or any of those other fancy invented terms we've heard before. No, pretty much "no more episodes." And the writers' strike is now just waiting for a few formalities before finally being resolved. It's likely to be officially over tomorrow, with writers returning to work on Wednesday. In fact, there have been rumors that some show runners were actually back at work today, prepping for a full restoration of production.

In short, FOX didn't have to say "season finale" for lack of knowing when the strike might get resolved. It would seem they said it because they have no intention of bringing the show back -- not this season, at least.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm actually just about tired of the Prison Break ride, and ready to get off. I don't think I actually want another full 22-episode season of the show. I can't see it being very interesting from here. And with the ratings of Prison Break sagging ever lower, I'm not sure FOX is actually up for another full 22-episode season either.

But neither do I expect things to come to a satisfying resolution in the one remaining episode. I suppose I'd figured/hoped that, with the strike resolved, they'd come back, do maybe four or five more episodes (as most series are expected to do this season), and that would be that. But now, what kind of "ending" are we going to get?

That's the real suspense we have to look forward to in the next week or two.