Didn’t see that coming.
Now that the bulk of the World Cup fixtures are done and dusted (only 8 remain), the Other Viewer and I are finally settling back into some normaility with our Sky+ viewing habits. We still find ourselves criminally lagging behind on the likes of 24 and Lost but we have at least managed to catch the end of series one of Prison Break. This poor man’s Shawshank has managed to capture (pun intended) the imagination of the audience (hidden away in the bizarrely high quality slot of 9pm on a Thursday).
On screen, Michael Schofield has manged to develop an indescribably complex masterplan. It is reliant both on every, minute detail (such as the availability of a particular size of bolt in the bleachers) and the particpation of a random bunch of felons, that, theoretically, this should be jumbled mess of a show. However, it’s not. The characters are sympathetically portrayed and keep the suspension of disbelief afloat, and, while they nearly revert to stereotype (of inmates being nicer people than the guards), there are enough “Wow!” moments to keep us all happy. At the end of the penultimate episode most of our anti-heroes found themselves over the wall, and the show took a turn that is surely a taste of what’s to come next year. Michael has no plan anymore and they only have their wits on which to survive. The sub-plot revolving around the energy bill and the machievelian antics of the vice-president (that are more interesting than they sound) also took some surprising twists, and I look forward to more of the same next year.
