Prison BreakSelfless
Original Air Date: 24 Nov 2008
Tom R. - TwoCents Staff Writer
tom@thetwocents.com
This season has ranged from mediocre episodes to very god episodes, but this week, the only word I can use is Mind-blowing. Three staggering twists shoot the intensity through the roof, matching the impact of season one.
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[photo: FOX.com]
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This season has ranged from mediocre episodes to very god episodes, but this week, the only word I can use is Mind-blowing. Three staggering twists shoot the intensity through the roof, matching the impact of season one.
ReplyDeleteLast week left off with Michael inadvertently triggering the camera in the Scylla storage room. We knew it was inadvertent because we saw so much of Michael’s deteriorating mental state, double vision, and everything else. But in the first few minutes, we see that triggering the camera was intentional. The General heads to the room, where he is surrounded by the crew, and Michael demands the sixth card. The plotline is conceived and executed to perfection, and the fact that it was built for at least four episodes is genius.
Once all the cards are inserted, the Scylla container unlocks and the unit is revealed. Instead of going back through Bagwell’s office, they take the elevator to the General’s lair. He attempts to play mind games with them, but Mahone is ahead of him. He refuses to cooperate with their exit strategy, until Sara calls, holding Lisa hostage. In the second twist, she refers to him as “Daddy”. In the same way as the first twist, the writers kept this carefully under wraps. Lisa always had a second reason to be at the General’s table. Her jealousy of Gretchen seemed to paint her as the flavor of the month. They let our assumptions take over.
TrishAnne and Self escape from Feng and his men, shooting Feng in the process. She returns to GATE, where Gretchen and Bagwell have herded the staff into White’s office. White is the first one to run, and Gretchen guns him down. They escape, and TrishAnne corners them in the parking garage before Gretchen can shoot Bagwell. She cuffs his good hand to the back seat as Gretchen runs off. No twists here, but how many lives does Bagwell have? Nice little bit of poignancy as he laments losing Cole Pfeiffer’s legitimate life.
The final twist comes as I look at the clock and think, “uh-oh…that wrapped up too neatly, too soon.” Self gives the crew an envelope with their release papers and drives off to meet the Senator. He meets with TrishAnne first, looking for info on possible buyers to take down along with the General. When she says she doesn’t know, he shoots her and approaches Bagwell. Cut to the warehouse, where attempts to call Self get a “no longer in service” message, and the envelope contains only blank pages. Well, at least there are no little nasty-grams.
Again, a twist that is set up beautifully. The casting of Rapaport was amazing. Looking at the guy and his past roles, he doesn’t look like he’d be capable of double-crossing anyone. He looks like a nice guy who’s frequently out of his league. The writers played that assumption for all they could, putting Self at risk a number of times in earlier episodes. Now that it’s all turned upside down, let’s see where they take it next.
Of all the words I can possibly use, nothing gives me more pleasure than being able to write the word “Wow”.
Were you surprised, or did you see it coming? Did it make a difference? Drop your ideas in the comments or drop me a line at: tom@thetwocents.com .