“You’re a real smart guy. What the hell are you doing in prison?”
After avoiding it like the Plague for three seasons, I decided it was high time to see what all the fuss surrounding Prison Break was about. There had to be a good reason why a handful of my very good guy friends locked themselves away from the world for an hour each week. Considering I never got into LOST or 24 in quite the same way everyone else seemed to, I was sceptical from the start. But saying that, it’s not fair to form an opinion based on one episode of this hit prison drama.
So this Thursday night found me parked at home in front of the telly with a mug of tea instead of out in Doyles with a pint of Kopperberg. I was reliably informed by my younger brother that RTE2 show season three of Prison Break four days before Sky1. This little nugget wasn’t exactly enlightening seeing as how I had little knowledge of the show anyway. And imagine my utter confusion when I realised that that they were now inside a different prison. I thought they broke out?
Season Three of Prison Break follows on from where the second season left off. Most of the main characters are now in Panama. Michael Schofield, played by Wentworth Miller (who I recognised from some old Mariah Carey videos) is back in prison facing homicidal charges. As soon as the theme tune ended I was understandably lost. I didn’t know any of the characters, I hadn’t a clue what was going on and everyone was very sweaty. Thankfully, an hour later, I’d managed to roughly piece together what was going on, yet still understand none of it.
Michael has been put back in prison in order to break out again, freeing James Whistler in the process. One of his main obstacles is the prison’s kingpin Lichero (Robert Wisdom) who does as he pleases and is carrying out his incarceration in comfort with a widescreen TV. In Thursday’s episode, the prison lost electric power but a flashback revealed that Michael cut it on purpose. It’s all part of the plan but I never worked out why. While he’s doing Lichero a ‘favour’ by fixing it, he’s threatened at knifepoint by Alex, a crazy inmate who is hearing voices. In the meantime, James receives a note telling him that time is running out…
My first experience with Prison Break was not a particularly memorable one. I was more confused than hooked and I doubt I’ll be clearing my schedule to watch it in future. However, I can see why others would. Apart from the woeful Miller, the acting is good, the cast is hot and each episode ends on a cliff-hanger. And isn’t that all it really needs.
