“Break� focused on young structural engineer Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller), who robs a bank with the sole purpose of being imprison at Fox River, the same correctional facility where his brother Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell) is currently on death row for assassinating the brother of the vice president.
Michael, you see, helped design Fox River. He believes Lincoln is innocent. His plan is to break out of the prison with his brother, sparing his sib’s life.
Each episode was more outlandish than the last. Michael has a full upper-body tattoo, which is actually a blueprint of the prison. The sympathetic warden (Stacy Keach), lets Michael into his office to help him build a model of the Taj Mahal (huh?).
The prison doctor, Sarah Tancredi (Sarah Wayne Callies), is portrayed as brainy and sensitive, yet she gives weekly insulin shots to Michael, not suspecting that he isn’t really diabetic.
The conspiracy against Lincoln is absurdly complicated, involving nearly everyone in the federal government, the court system and all of law enforcement (I think – I’m still not sure).
The prison itself is populated with stock prison types, including the incredibly creepy T-Bag (Robert Knepper), who torments young, fragile inmates with psychotic glee.
More and more inmates end up getting involved in the breakout scheme, including Michael’s cellmate, the sympathetic Sucre (Amaury Nolasco), and the horrible T-Bag.
The show was outlandish right up to its fall finale, which included the revelation that the vice president’s brother was actually still alive. Plus, the guys started their break out of prison, only to find a pipe in their way, which foiled the whole thing.
The goofy fun begins anew this Monday at 9 p.m., as the second half of the season starts. I can’t wait. Despite the implausible plots and absurd twists and turns, “Prison Break� is compulsively watchable.
That’s mostly thanks to Miller, who is a real find, capable of conveying pain, frustration and meticulously detailed thought processes with a single intense glare. The acting in general is quite good, especially Knepper, whose T-Bag is a TV villain right up there with Nina Meyers on “24� and Antwon Mitchell on “The Shield.�
He’s revolting, yet impossible to ignore.
I don’t know what will happen in the rest of the season. Will the guys break out? Will Lincoln survive? Will Michael consummate his blazing sexual tension with the lovely Dr. Tancredi?
Will Robin Tunney, as Lincoln’s lawyer/love interest deliver a single line without compulsively wiggling her eyebrows?
Who knows. But I’m dying to find out.