Prison Break“The Art of the Deal” - Season Finale
Original Air Date: February 18, 2008
Tom R - TwoCents Staff Writer
Shortened season or no, the question to ask after any finale here is, “How long does it take you before you look at the calendar?” If you don’t care how long it takes before the next episode airs, it’s not a good sign. Luckily, it wasn’t long before I did the math from September back to this week. That’s also an added note of optimism, since the show usually hits in October. The transition to the next chapter is seamless, and even leaves you wondering how certain characters will make their way back into the fold.
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Prison Break
ReplyDelete“The Art of the Deal” - Season Finale
Original Air Date: February 18, 2008
Tom R - TwoCents Staff Writer
Shortened season or no, the question to ask after any finale here is, “How long does it take you before you look at the calendar?” If you don’t care how long it takes before the next episode airs, it’s not a good sign. Luckily, it wasn’t long before I did the math from September back to this week. That’s also an added note of optimism, since the show usually hits in October. The transition to the next chapter is seamless, and even leaves you wondering how certain characters will make their way back into the fold.
Chief example: Bagwell and Bellick are still inside Sona, although Bagwell has a plan to get out. Like Michael’s escapes, however, we have no clue what it is. All that is known is that the two of them chased looters out of Lechero’s lair after being allowed to return. Bagwell placed a pillow over Lechero’s face, but something about the shot of his hand left a little uncertainty whether he was really dead. Bagwell got a small portion of Lechero’s earnings from his woman, and gave it away to the masses, proclaiming all inmates as equals. All this lays the groundwork for something, but what?
Michael and Linc retrieve Whistler and call Gretchen with a meeting place. The first meet, he tells her, is to make sure everyone is still alive. Once that is confirmed, he leaves and calls her a second time with a different meeting place: A museum, which has metal detectors at al the entrances. Gretchen does not see a problem, since snipers are positioned on surrounding rooftops. However, after the exchange, Michael breaks a display case, setting off the alarm and summoning the police. In the resulting chaos, Gretchen’s people shoot blindly into the crowd and hit Sofia.
Michael and Linc head back to Whistler’s room, where they find the briefcase Sofia could not open. They manage to break the locks and find only one thing: A dossier on a man named Lief. LJ stays with Sofia as Linc and Michael part company. Michael takes a gun and sets off after Gretchen, alone. So one of the threads to watch for will be how Linc stays in the picture. The female fan base would have a fit if they couldn’t see Dominic Purcell every week.
As Mahone sits in a bar by himself, Whister breaks the new to Gretchen that he does not have the bird book, which apparently contained no coordinates as he had been saying to Sofia and Michael. At the end of the episode, as we wonder how Mahone is going to pay for anything he orders, he is joined by Whistler, and we know Mahone’s allegiances have shifted. But, knowing what he knows about Michael, he warns Whistler that Gretchen is now the weak link, and Michael will do anything he can to find her.
Throughout the episode, Sucre is tortured and almost buried alive to find out what he knows about Michael. As the episode ends, he is thrown into Sona as an inmate, just as Bagwell has his moment of coronation as the new top dog. The one note of optimism is McGrady’s return to his family after getting past the border guards.
Kudos on the a capella version of Roy Orbison’s Crying, sung in Spanish. Over this music, we see each of the main characters contemplating their next move in a well done montage. And that comes from someone who usually cannot stand extended montages, here, on Nip/Tuck, or on any other show.
Prison Break airs Mondays at 8 PM on FOX. Episodes can also be viewed at the FOX website. Support from the network has been iffy at times. They did not seem optimistic about garnering new fans this season. One fan posted a request on one of the FOX boards that the show should be in syndication y now. That’s a good point. If they care about generating interest and boosting ratings, FOX should take that step, as they did with 24. It will fill in the blanks for newer viewers, and will definitely bring in a new audience.
We can only hope.