The Price

Football coverage postponed this week's broadcast of Prison Break here in Denver, but tonight I was able to catch up with the new episode. It was rather worth the wait, fortunately.

First and foremost, we had the demise of the most annoying character on the show, that annoying Tech Guy (whose name I won't even bother to try remembering). I think the writers were trying to have him be sort of like Marshall from Alias, but it so didn't work. Whether it was part of the writers' original plan to kill him off, or they just arrived at the decision to do so after watching the character fail, the right decision was made either way. The only bad thing about the death was how they tried to kind of make a "moment" out of the death of this character we actively despised.

But the episode also included another death with a far more effective impact, as we saw flashbacks of Sara being held captive by Gretchen. The execution of the guard who helped Sara escape was a great plot thread all around. It was an effective emotional beat for the character, and storywise it explained how it was that Sara even managed to escape (with head attached) in the first place. This might well have been the best story of the season so far not given to the character of Mahone.

In truest Prison Break fashion, the show ended with things seeming to come unraveled. Just when the sixth keycard was in reach, "the General" got wise to the plan, and is now preparing to move Scylla's hiding place. Sometimes it hasn't always seemed realistic or fair when the "finish line" has moved on Our Heroes in seasons past, but this time it felt pretty natural. It's nice when the bad guys can be as clever as the protagonists. In any case, something needed to happen to keep this season's story from apparently wrapping up in less than 10 episodes. (Not that any of us actually thought that would happen.)

Now the biggest question: will the World Series mean no new episode next week?