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Prison Break: Behind the Eyes

"Never interrupt your enemy when he's making a mistake."

I went into this Prison Break revival wanting one thing: a happy ending for my guy Michael. Okay, two things: an ending without a freaking cliffhanger.

Happily, they gave me what I wanted.

I had been freaking out a bit during the last episode because we didn't see what was happening to Sara, and I was getting all head-in-a-box anxious. Fortunately, she was simply tied to a chair and was able to break a wine bottle and escape during that "Six Minutes Earlier" segment that started the episode. Unfortunately, all that carrying on ended with little Mike running directly into Jacob's arms.

Jacob turned out to be a darned good villain because when it came down to it, the evil he did to Michael was all personal. Jacob initially recruited Michael for his skills, but fell in love with Sara as well as, or so he said, little Mike, although nothing Jacob did in this revival could possibly qualify as an expression of love. I was completely infuriated by Jacob telling little Mike that his mother was dead, and that Michael really did die seven years ago. It was the epitome of the phrase "manipulative bastard" and got me emotionally involved in this finale.

It was fun to see Michael finally outwitting Jacob with the "diorama" of the Harlan Gaines murder and the fill-in-the-blanks video, although the way Michael got into Jacob's HQ using the tatts that mimicked Jacob's face was even better. So was the reveal that the jar of blood that Whip retrieved from Lake Michigan belonged to Gaines. I guess it was a lot safer on a buoy than in a bike shop in Yemen.

Totally creepy.

But what happened to Jacob's minions was sad. Van Gogh indeed realized that Jacob was evil, and in his last moments, helped Sara find her son, writing the location on a piece of paper because he could barely talk (fitting in this series that has always been about coded messages). A&W, whose real name was Emily Blake, stayed faithful to Jacob until she was killed.

Bringing me to what happened to T-Bag and Whip, which was even sadder. I was starting to enjoy the comic relief of the way the two of them were interacting, mostly because Robert Knepper and Augustus Prew were doing such a great job. I particularly liked the way they discussed the Old Testament and how it related to killing Jacob being a good thing, because it was what Michael wanted from T-Bag in return for finding Whip for him. Whip's death at Emily's hands and T-Bag's reaction, his resignation, killing Emily when he knew the cops were there and would undoubtedly put him back in prison, totally got to me. It felt completely unfair to both of them.

But T-Bag waiting at Fox River to greet Jacob, his new cell mate, was a satisfying final twist. We don't even need to see it happen. Jacob might be clever, but T-Bag is the ultimate survivor. Redeeming someone as evil as T-Bag was never going to feel quite right, but this ending felt right. Although I hate that Whip had to die to make it happen.

When Michael was arrested, I was completely bummed by the possibility of him ending the revival in prison again. But no. We got the happy ending I wanted: Michael and Linc sitting in the sunshine, with Sara and little Mike and even Sheba. No one in prison, no one on the run. It took the bad taste of "The Final Break" out of my mouth, and I couldn't ask for more than that.

In fact, it's enough. There is currently discussion out there about a possible season six. No, please.

Bits:

-- As it turns out, "Elvis" was a talented artist that Michael sprung from prison in South America. He was responsible for the Gaines murder diorama and, I assume, the face tatt on Michael's hands, plus an amazing model of Dealey plaza. I wonder if that last was because John F. Kennedy would have been 100 years old this week?

-- It was sort of hilarious that the CIA director offered Michael a job. Actually, if they wrote a season six around Michael pulling some sort of Mission Impossible job, I might be able to handle that.

-- The Abruzzi plot was quickly wound up so that Linc would be free of troubles, too. And Michael phoned Sheba because he knew Linc wouldn't; that was nice.

-- Thoreau was around to figure out the coding in Michael's tatts ("Never interrupt your enemy when he's making a mistake" -- Napoleon) and to testify against Jacob, but that was pretty much it.

Quotes:

Sara: "You're too busy trying to be the smartest man in the room. And then you met my husband. And you realized he's smarter than you."

Whip: (to T-Bag) "Hey, you gotta give me some direction here, some fatherly advice on how to deal with having a father that's, um... you."

Michael: "I sent that letter to you for a reason. Poseidon was monitoring my communications with everyone who could possibly be a resource or an ally, but not with people I despised."
T-Bag: "Give it to me straight. How do you really feel about me?"

T-Bag: "I just don't want you to get the wrong idea. You gotta see it like the yogis, okay? Destroying the negative to create the positive, the dance of the shivas, and all that. Murder the dark so that the light can be born."
Whip: "You're out of your damn tree, aren't you?"
T-Bag: "Now you know where you got it from."

CIA director: "You're free to go, Mr. Scofield."
Michael: "You don't know how long I've waited to hear someone call me that."

As I said in my review of "Ogygia," if I had given Prison Break letter grades, season one would have gotten an A, season two a B plus, season three a sad C, season four a disappointing D minus, and "The Final Break" a resounding F, a failing grade. I knew that it was unlikely that this revival would come up to another A, but you know, they did a pretty good job. What do you think? B minus? C plus?

Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

5 comments:

  1. It is indeed wonderfull that there was no cliffhanger. The only sequel hook they have is the CIA job offer. Would be great if there was no seaosn 6 and the story just ended here, byt FOX already picked up X-files so there is reason to fear.

    Let Dominic Purcell stay on Legends or riot. :)

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  2. Just echoing that if Dominic Purcell doesn't stay on Legends I'm joining the riot.

    That said, this was my first exposure to Priosn Break (checked it out because of Purcell's and Miller's work on the aforementioned Legends), and I really enjoyed it. Now to go catch up with the earlier parts of the story on Netflix....

    ReplyDelete
  3. Patryk and ladydmaj, I feel the same way -- Dominic Purcell needs to stay on Legends! I so wish Wentworth would go back somehow, too.

    ladydmaj, the first couple of seasons of Prison Break are terrific. Enjoy!

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  4. Good to finally get the ending Schofield deserved. They tattoos are a star of the show beside the cast. What happened to Sucrie and the marine turned Muslim. Overall short but sweet ending to a long awaited final series. I think it's the final series???

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  5. Count me in for the riot.

    I think I'd give this series a solid B+. It was fun to watch. The end was satisfying. It didn't try to be more than it was, so it excelled within its specific parameters.

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