Prison Break Review Blog

Written by Nick Santora and Christian Trokey
Directed by Brad Turner and Kevin Hooks

This direct-to-DVD release has an interesting history. The general story first originated with the announcement that “Prison Break” would receive its own spin-off, set in a woman’s prison, provisionally called “Prison Break: Cherry Hill”. What must have seemed like a good idea at the time of the writers’ strike of 2008, however, must have seemed far less promising once the fourth season numbers came in for “Prison Break” itself.

When FOX announced that the fourth season would be the end of the series, the writers still had six episodes left to write. That gave them time to wrap things up, but they wanted an extra couple of episodes to put a final spin on the story of Michael Scofield. The studio was more than happy to put forward the capital for the project, but somewhat foolishly, the network decided not to air these two episodes (“The Old Ball and Chain” and “Free”).

This is an oddity, to say the least. Despite the fact that the episodes were produced relatively soon after the final episodes of the series, it doesn’t have quite the same tone. These episodes feel a bit more isolated and self-contained. Also, the pacing is significantly different from the pace of the fourth season. This story feels rushed, jumping from concept to concept so quickly that they never seem to get the treatment they demand.

At the same time, it feels like the writers had intended the first segment of “The Old Ball and Chain” to be the original end of “Killing Your Number”, the series finale. Similarly, it feels like the epilogue in “Killing Your Number” would have made a bit more sense at the end of “Free” (even if this story’s ending is more than sufficient). It fills in the obvious gaps in the finale, which is what the producers promised.

Which is why it is odd that “Final Break” manages to add details that don’t add up. It explains Michael’s death with a nice twist, explaining precisely why the characters seen in the epilogue of “Killing Your Number” were the ones that kept coming back year after year. It provides Mahone with a much better moment of redemption and explains why he would be on such close terms with Lincoln, Sara, and Sucre. And it wraps up a couple of plot threads that were left dangling.

Yet for all that, the finale was definitive because the surviving “good” members of the Escape Squad were free and clear. Kellerman’s amnesty resolved the possibility of anyone being hunted down from that point forward. Forcing Sara into a prison makes sense if and only if her eventual exit places her character, and everyone involved, in the same free and clear status.

This story does not do that. Michael dies in the commission of yet another federal crime, so his exoneration would be null and void. He certainly wouldn’t be allowed to be buried by family, which is the only way to explain his tombstone. (And one would think that someone would be watching the tombstone, especially on anniversaries, if any of the gang was an escaped convict or an accomplice to a prison break!)

Sara herself is now legally a fugitive, so how does Michael’s assertion that she is “free” at the end make any sense at all? Lincoln’s decision to run with Sara, and stay close to Sara and the kid, doesn’t mesh with the epilogue either. They don’t seem to be anywhere near each other four years after the fact. Mahone’s involvement would have been very obvious, given that he betrayed the FBI, so how would he remain at all free? And Sucre is right back with his family by the epilogue, so the authorities would clearly know where he was!

Perhaps worse, the inclusion of the General and T-Bag undermines the strength of their final comeuppance in the finale. This may be the General’s final gasp of revenge, but it easily could have been some straggler from the Company, which would have kept the General’s fate intact. It was important for the General to be left ineffectual at the end; keeping him viable as a villain undermines that. T-Bag came out a little better in terms of proper resolution, but the writers seemed to be forcing the character into the mix.

Not everything is frustrating or counter-productive to the purpose of providing a strong explanation for Michael’s death and the circumstances of the epilogue. Mahone’s character arc comes to a better end than presented in the finale, and it was good to see Gretchen’s arc end on a positive note. Given how little time they get to make an impression, the characters in the women’s prison are quickly distinct. Daddy is a bit too much like a female T-Bag at times, but Lori Petty makes it work well.

If the epilogue in “Killing Your Number” had never been shown, this particular coda would have been perfectly fine. It still would have felt a bit rushed, but switching from a season arc format to a direct-to-DVD format has its natural limitations and that would have been easy to forgive. For a such a presentation, this has great production values. Most of the problems are problems of continuity, and considering that the finale and this production came about in roughly the same time period, the discrepancies are hard to swallow.

Writing: 1/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 1/4

Final Rating: 6/10

“Prison Break” has always been the sillier yet more consistent younger brother to “24″. Even without the real-time conceit of its forebear, “Prison Break” was designed to deliver an adrenaline rush each and every episode, and the writers did their best to pull it off. The first season was an excellent prison escape story, and the second season was an excellent fugitive story. For whatever reason, the producers and writers chose to keep it going, even though the story could have logically ended there.

The third season started off well, but the effects of a too-familiar premise, an unpopular “death”, and the writers’ strike quickly drove it into the ground. A lot of fans were wary of the fourth season when it was announced, but it was clear that the writers had a lot to resolve. Quite unexpectedly, the final arc of the series was not only strong, but enormously entertaining. Only the decision to break up the season and hold back the final six episodes derailed the momentum gained.

The hunt for Scylla turned Escape Squad 3.0 into something of a Mission: Impossible team, which was a brilliant move. Michael has always been branded a genius, but his weakness was operating without a plan. After being on the run and surviving Sona, his improvisational skills have improved tremendously, even as his morality has been battered and bruised. Having him work side by side with Lincoln again, this time for final exoneration, was a blast.

It was also great to see the brothers come to terms, over time, with Alex Mahone. When the second season took the characters out of the physical prison and into a more metaphorical one, it could have been a disaster. The introduction of Mahone was the main reason it worked. The character has gone through the ringer over the years, and his moral fiber has been tested, but he came through on several occasions in the fourth season.

The introduction of Agent Self was a mixed blessing. On the one hand, he was the mastermind behind the Escape Squad 3.0 and their mission to retrieve Scylla, so the character served a purpose. Once he went rogue, however, the season became uneven, and the character became progressively more annoying.

One of the more controversial decisions for the fourth season was the return of Sara Tancredi, who had apparently been decapitated in the third season. Many tuned in to the fourth season just to see how ludicrous the explanation would be, and to see if it led to any spectacular train wrecks. Against all expectation, her return was handled fairly well, and her presence was a strong motivator for Michael. Considering how public the dismissal and return of the actress was at the time, it could have been a lot worse.

Not everything worked, which has been the case with every season since the first. The Company, and particularly the General, seemed to be a lot less intelligent this season. The final leg of the season, featuring Christina, was full of ill-advised plot twists. And the final resolution to the series was too contrived, coming out of nowhere. In many cases, the pacing and sheer ridiculousness of each new twist and turn kept the season afloat.

The final season of “Prison Break” earned a Critical Myth Rating of 7.4, which is a slight improvement over the strike-ridden third season. It’s also essentially the same rating as the series itself earned, so it can be said that “Prison Break” went out about as well as everyone might have hoped. In its final season, “Prison Break” was a show that used its own self-aware absurdity to great effect, and that’s probably the only compliment that matters.

Written by Matt Olmstead and Nicholas Wootton
Directed by Kevin Hooks

(Note: This review covers the second half of the series finale event. A previous review covered the first half.)

The irony of this series finale is that it’s technically not the series finale. The upcoming direct-to-DVD release, “Prison Break: Final Break”, presents two episodes set in the period before the epilogue in this episode. It’s not necessary to see those extra episodes to get the gist of what happens, but it does present a slight disconnect in terms of closure. It would have been better if FOX had agreed to air those two episodes and tack the epilogue onto the very end. (As such, based on the separate nature of the release, those episodes will not be counted as part of the fourth season.)

My biggest problem with this episode was the resolution of the fight against the Company. The entire fourth season has been a reflection of the second season, in that it was about escaping the metaphorical prison of the Company’s power over all their lives. As such, there was the logical expectation that Michael would be the one to make it happen, as the troubled genius at the heart of the series.

Instead, Michael is bailed out twice. First, he is saved by Sucre and C-Note when all his other options have evaporated. It makes for a great moment, and it harkens back to Michael’s admission that his plans would never succeed without the right people in the right places, but he was completely unaware that they were coming. I can see what the writers were going for, in terms of unexpected twists, but it was disappointing.

But far worse was the decision to have a reformed Paul Kellerman come to Michael’s rescue with a deal that came out of nowhere. While it’s certainly true, as Michael admits, that there was no other option left, especially with Mahone and Sucre in federal custody, it’s a huge deus ex machina solution to the problem. Perhaps worse, this issue could have gone away if the writers had seeded the season with hints that the organization founded by Michael and Lincoln’s father was still viable and they were moving in the shadows.

This is unfortunate, because otherwise, the writers did a fairly good job wrapping up the main plot points, particularly in terms of the character arcs. I’m thrilled that Mahone survived and found some measure of happiness, Lincoln gets his freedom, all the villains end up dead or back behind bars where they belong, and Sara and Michael get some short measure of happiness.

The only quibble I have is Michael’s fate. The epilogue was very well done, and I love the idea that those particular characters go to Michael’s grave every year and pay their respects. I was most gratified by the presence of Mahone, who seems to be on very good terms with the rest of the Escape Squad now. My problem is that his death seems unnecessary out of the context of the struggle to break free of the Company. Why let him survive that, only to kill him (in a supposedly ironic move) with a condition that was supposedly cured?

I can certainly understand that the writers didn’t want to go for the 100% happy conclusion when all was said and done, but there were far more elegant ways of making it happen. And while I get the thematic intention of having Michael lose his life after metaphorically giving it up for the sake of his brother in the pilot, it just wasn’t satisfying to have it happen in that specific way. But maybe that’s the perfect ending for a show that is best remembered for its mixture of wild creativity and inexplicable plot contrivances.

Writing: 1/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4

Final Rating: 7/10

(Season 4 Final Average: 7.4)

Written by Zack Estrin
Directed by Bobby Roth

(Note: This review covers the first half of the series finale event. A subsequent review will cover the second half.)

This penultimate episode was all about moving the pieces into position for the final showdown over Scylla, and as one would expect from the end of the previous installment, it was focused on Michael’s plan to save both Lincoln and Sara in the process.

There was little doubt that Michael would choose not to choose at all, so to speak, but I wasn’t expecting him to fail to rescue Lincoln. His plan wasn’t particularly clever, but under the circumstances, that made sense. The point was to demonstrate how Michael’s options are quickly running out, and how it puts him at a disadvantage when dealing with his mother.

I was a bit worried about Mahone coming into the finale, but this episode was one of his shining moments. Not only did he keep pushing Michael, even if it was out of self-interest, but he risked his life to save Lincoln rather than abandon Michael entirely. Sure, it wasn’t quite so cut and dry as that, but it was still the kind of moment that Mahone fans had wanted.

This is especially true in contrast to T-Bag and Don Self. Self in particular was willing to sell out Michael and Lincoln in the name of saving himself, and as such, he gained exactly the kind of reward he deserved. T-Bag, in comparison, got away lucky. Michael had every reason to shoot him in the face and smile while doing it, and it was only Sara that held him back. That shows the kind of regard that Sara has for Michael’s psychological well-being. She knows better than to think that killing T-Bag in cold blood would be easy for him to reconcile, after the fact.

That said, Michael’s rescue of Sara was far too easy, especially taking into account the kind of resources available to the Company in past seasons. If the Company is reduced to hiring guards that can’t even think to look up, then how did they consolidate so much power going into the whole presidential gambit in earlier seasons? One might argue that the war between the General and Christina has slowly but surely driven the Company into foolish mistakes, since the General clearly cannot adjust to changes in fortune too well, but it’s still a major plot convenience. (And I will admit that many others have pointed out the issues with the portrayal of the Company this season.)

Similarly, while I think that it’s a great idea to bring back the surviving members of the original Escape Squad for the final victory over the Company, it comes a bit out of nowhere, which takes away from the point of the exercise. The concept is simple: Michael needed those people to escape in the past, and he’ll need them again now. But why not thread their part of the story into previous episodes, so it doesn’t seem so convenient?

Writing: 1/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 1/4

Final Rating: 6/10

Written by Nick Santora
Directed by Milon Cheylov

With the series racing towards a conclusion, it makes sense that Michael would find himself in a situation where he would have a nearly impossible choice. The entire series has been about Michael making difficult choices since day one, so why should the big finale be any different? It’s par for the course on “Prison Break”.

Of course, it’s usually not too hard to predict what Michael will choose to do in most situations. Not so in this case. Forcing him to choose between saving Sara or Lincoln strikes at the heart of the series as a whole. Lincoln represents Michael’s past; Sara represents the future. Which one is more important to him? The answer is not as straightforward as one might think.

After all, the series started with Michael’s plan to break Lincoln out of Fox River, to save him from Death Row. As Christina pointed out, Michael has sacrificed quite a bit for Lincoln’s sake. One might even argue that saving Lincoln’s life has forced Michael to sacrifice his own in all but the most literal manner. It’s a vast extension of that psychological condition that Michael has always had, the one that drives him to save others (which hasn’t been mentioned or referenced in a really long time).

On the other hand, there’s Sara. She represents the chance for a life, if they can just manage to get out of this mess with the Company. She’s also the mother of his unborn child, which I assume he’ll learn about before much longer, just to make the decision that much harder. And considering that he’s really in a situation where he can’t be sure that either one of them will survive, it’s surprising that Michael is even functional.

But if nothing else, the past year or so of Michael’s life has taught him how to overcome his internal shortcomings. He’s gotten much better at improvising and applying his genius to new situations, and he has become a bit colder when dealing with the enemy. He’s not quite so naïve as he was. So something tells me that his solution to this little problem is going to be far enough outside the box to save both Lincoln and Sara, while positioning him to take control of the Company.

One thing seems certain: Mahone is going to be a big part of this finale, and that makes me very happy. I thought it was a great character touch that he gave Michael the briefcase when he heard that the General had Sara. For all that has passed between Alex and the brothers, they have come to an understanding. Unfortunately, I see him making the ultimate sacrifice before it’s all over.

Beyond that, I’m not sure the episode had much to offer. Getting out of the hotel was fun, and Self’s situation was a lot more tense than I would have anticipated, but some moments didn’t quite work. The General’s exposition scene about India and China, for example, was one of the worst scenes I’ve seen in a long time. But to be fair, such scenes are very tough to pull off, and if that’s the worst that I can say about an episode, it’s a fair victory!

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 1/4

Final Rating: 7/10

Written by Karyn Usher
Directed by Scott Eilers

The past few episodes, both before and after the hiatus, made the claim that Michael was just like his mother. In other words, Christina is just as much a genius as her son, which means that Michael may have met his match. This episode is all about how clever Christina can be, and as it turns out, she’s pretty damn clever. Michael hasn’t had the opportunity to use that talent in a long time.

Christina manipulates Lincoln, Michael, and Sara so well that it distracts from any thought that the whole thing doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Christina’s plan is supposed to have been set in motion a year earlier. That’s roughly around the time that Michael was doing his best to get Lincoln out of a death sentence for a crime he didn’t commit. So was Christina responsible for the gambit that promised to put a Company puppet into the White House, and thus responsible for sending Lincoln to the gallows?

Considering that she was willing to place Lincoln right back in the same position in this episode, I would think that she was behind much of the Company shenanigans from the start. And one can see why Lincoln’s true origins, and Christina’s disagreement with his inclusion in the family, would lead her to use him as a patsy time and again. From that perspective, it makes a certain kind of sense.

From nearly every other perspective, it just feels like a huge plotting mistake. The fact that Michael and Lincoln are brothers has been at the core of the series since the very first episode. Undermining that sounds like a great twist, but it would have been a lot better if it had been a calculated ruse to keep Michael from running to Lincoln’s aid.

Not that it makes much of a difference in the long run; Michael and Lincoln have been treating each other like brothers all their lives, after all. So within the fabric of the show, it won’t make a great deal of difference. But I just dislike the idea of making their brotherly bond a matter of choice. I realize all too well that one can choose to disown a blood relative and embrace practical strangers as family, but it’s just not as psychologically satisfying.

Christina’s apparent plan (to use this incident to spark a war that will give the Company a means of funding their own Scylla-driven future programs) is a bit overly complicated, even for this series (and that’s saying something). How Michael and Lincoln are supposed to overcome their current challenge and see the end of the conflict is rather hard to contemplate. At least the two of them are working together again.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 1/4

Final Rating: 7/10

Written by Christian Trokey and Kalinda Vazquez
Directed by Dwight Little

First, I must mention that I’m a little annoyed with the way that FOX is confusing the issue with the number of episodes still left for the season. I was under the impression that it would be the full 22 episodes. FOX keeps saying that there are two episodes left until the series finale. Needless to say, most of the usual sources of information are contradictory on what that means. I hope that FOX didn’t cut the number of episodes, given how much still needs to be resolved. (And I don’t count the direct-to-DVD “Prison Break: Final Break” towards that amount.)

This episode continues with the growing tension between Michael and Lincoln over how to resolve the conflict with the Company. Michael is still dedicated to taking the Company down by taking control of Scylla, and Lincoln and his gang have decided that the only viable way to get Scylla is to “give the Company what they want”. Considering that this is Michael’s story, and has been from the beginning, there’s little doubt who will end up on top.

That doesn’t mean that the road has to be easy, and it doesn’t mean that Michael and Lincoln are at each other’s throats. The two brothers are just using different methods to achieve the same goal, so it’s not about both sides shooting it out. It keeps the tension semi-logical without taking away from the dramatic benefits of having the brothers at odds.

I’m also still convinced that Christina is preparing a takeover of the Company, and that knowing this will give both Michael and Lincoln exactly what they need to take control themselves. I don’t see any other solution at this point. I say that it will be both brothers, because T-Bag’s betrayal looks to end Lincoln’s tactic as the General’s man and force him back on the run. Naturally, the survivors would (and should) end up back with Michael. This series needs to end with the surviving members of the Escape Squad working together.

I don’t expect everyone to survive, but I do think that the story will come to a good end. Sara’s pregnancy points to the possibility that Michael and Sara will have the kind of happy future that they should have had after the second season. I would expect a final showdown between Michael and T-Bag and the death of Self, but I’m not sure about anyone else. I would love to see a happy ending for Mahone, but I have the feeling that his number may come up before the end.

The story is no less complicated than the plot for the previous episode, but it seemed to flow a bit better and motivations were a little more straightforward. It’s probably just the effect of getting back into the rhythm of the series again; the long hiatus hurt the previous episode a lot more. It also helps that the story is clearly coming to a grand finale, and thanks to the strengths of this surprising fourth season, it has the potential to meet expectations.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 1/4

Final Rating: 7/10

Every season of “Prison Break” has suffered from a massive mid-season hiatus, thanks to FOX and their inability to think ahead when compiling their fall and spring schedules. Usually, that means that the season hits a mid-season cliffhanger that sustains interest for the fans and sets the stage for the spring run. That’s not quite what happened this season, and as a result, the show doesn’t come back as cleanly from the hiatus as it could have.

Even with the convenient re-airing of the previous episode before jumping into the new material, I felt a bit lost. “Prison Break” is all about the tightly absurd serialized continuity, and that means that a lot happens that depends on what has come before. In other words, one episode worth of refresher doesn’t quite cut it. I spent just as much time in this episode trying to remember the context as I did thinking about what was happening.

That’s not the fault of the writers; that’s the fault of the network. The story is progressing at a blistering pace, and I’m sure that it will all flow together as intended when re-watched on DVD (or whatever other means might be employed). Even with the context hard to decipher at times, the point of the episode was relatively clear.

Now that Michael and Lincoln’s mother has been revealed as alive, it makes sense to put some focus on her motivations and methods. Her attempt on the General was well-done, and her attempt to fool Lincoln into keeping out of the way of her little coup. Based on what has been seen to this point, it makes sense that Christina is trying to take over the Company, so that wasn’t much of a surprise. That she is willing to employ methods as heinous as those used by the General is a bit more surprising.

The bottom line appears to be that Michael and Lincoln can’t be content with putting Scylla in someone else’s hands. Helping their mother take down the General will only put someone else with questionable morals in control of the Company and perpetuate the cycle. Right now, they’re not in a position to be ready to work together again, but once they both realize that Christina is not necessarily going to solve their problems for them, that should change. I still think the only way out of this mess is placing Michael in control of the Company.

If there was a weak point to the episode, it was definitely the Michael/Sara adventures. The encounter between the truck driver and the Company operative was predictable and cheesy. It also seems a bit hard to believe that the operative wouldn’t slow down when the side door of the trailer burst open, but would come to an abrupt halt once Michael and Sara were on the ground! If he was willing to kill them in the first place, why not just get in the back of the truck and do the deed when they were defenseless?

Minor quibbles aside, it’s good to have “Prison Break” back, even if it is just a short concluding run. After so many twists and turns and a resurgent fourth season, I hope the writers can provide a satisfying resolution.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4

Final Rating: 8/10

In the previous episode, the writers dropped the revelation that the Company might be doing terrible, immoral things for all the right reasons. That gave me hope that the Company might be recast, ever so slightly, as more nuanced in their actions and motivations. I’m not sure that this episode did much in that regard, and it might have even undermined the best aspects of the plot twist. (Never mind my annoyance with Michael’s remarkable lack of bandages, wounds, etc.)

The thing about giving villains a meaningful rationale is that you must, inevitably, explore how that information pertains to the decision-making process of the character. Much like Gretchen’s motherhood gave scope to her actions, the truth about Scylla and the Company’s true purpose should serve to explain the General’s actions. It’s not about humanizing the General; it’s about making him more than a two-dimensional figurehead for “the bad guys”.

For that reason, I had hoped that Michael’s discussions with the doctor in this episode would have been more about defining what the Company really is and why they employ their decidedly sinister methods. Frankly, trying to turn Michael with talk of his mother might play into the final arc of the series, but it doesn’t make much sense. Michael is all about subtle logic and the big picture.

So wouldn’t it have made more sense to appeal to that logic and justify the past as well as the present? Michael may not trust the information completely, but it would be better than trying to appeal to him on an emotional level. That just serves to remind him of all he’s lost and stands to lose. The trick was taking his emotional reactions and casting them in a new light, to emphasize why the ends justified the means.

Lincoln’s side of the equation was a bit more compelling, because his motivations make sense. It also didn’t hurt to have a more complicated dynamic at play with his “team”. I’m very happy to see Mahone as Lincoln’s ally. Oddly enough, I’m sorry to see Gretchen go as well, and not just because I think Jody Lyn O’Keefe is ridiculously hot. I think the character was a constant reminder of how evil the Company can be, given how completely they twisted her over the years.

The purpose of this episode was somewhat obvious: to set Michael and Lincoln against each other, with their mother in the middle. It’s a bit of a hard sell, because while Michael now has reason to side with his mother in the long run, Lincoln has yet to be given strong reasons to back the Company. Maybe the next couple of episodes will clarify those motivations and make up for the lack in this installment. With only six episodes left, however, I fear there may not be time to capitalize on everything this season has offered.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 1/4

Final Rating: 7/10

Sometimes writers will wait until the end of a series to drop the most stunning of surprises into the viewer’s lap, information that completely changes perception of the status quo. Often, it doesn’t quite work, since those efforts are usually meant to give a struggling final season heft and meaning. Other revelations are clearly part of a larger plan, an idea that was kept close to vest until the time was right.

I’m not sure where this episode falls on the spectrum, but I do know that it left me practically clapping by the end of the episode. I love it when the villain is revealed to have a logical rationale other than the accumulation of political power. Giving the Company a reason for all the horrible things they do is a brilliant move, because it forces Michael and Lincoln to reconsider their position. What if the main fault of the Company is their determination that the ends justify the means?

Michael’s epiphany is in keeping with what has been revealed about the Company in the past (almost nothing, if one thinks about it), and explains their desire for control over so much of the free world. If Scylla is the sum total of the research conducted by the Company, then it’s value is justified.

The implication is that the Company is fighting a war to control the initiatives that could, quite possibly, save humanity from itself. How interesting would it be to discover that the General has chosen to authorize terrible atrocities, to stain his soul beyond repair, to protect an agenda to save the world? It makes him a far more compelling villain, because he’s not simply an evil, power-hungry bastard if that’s true. In short, it humanizes him and the Company in one singular moment.

The other implication of the episode is that Lincoln (and later Michael) was targeted because their mother used to be part of the Company, was secretly saved by the same surgery that saved Michael, and then betrayed the Company to create a competitor. Clearly it was her voice on the other end of the broker’s cell connection. Could the mother have the intention of acquiring Scylla to implement the research in the “right” way?’

Suddenly, there is a way out of the entire mess, and it’s a stunning thought. What if Michael and Lincoln can only win by taking control of the very organization they’ve sworn to destroy? What if Michael is the perfect man to lead the Company and foster its innovations for the good of the world? With people like Lincoln, Sara, Mahone, and even Sucre behind him, Michael could change the entire landscape.

I have no idea if that’s where the story is going to go; there are tons of other viable directions this could take. But even more than the hunt for Scylla itself, this plot twist has established this season as a worthy swan song to the series. This is the kind of revelation that inspires me to go back to the earlier seasons and look for the signals and signs. Could anyone have predicted that when the third season ended?

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 3/4

Final Rating: 9/10