2006 SEASON REPORT: RETURN OF "PRISON BREAK"

[There will be spoilers within. But since TVSquad.com published a great frame grab of the big surprise, I'm not worrying over this.......]

Last season, I gave up on 'Prison Break' when it went on a 3-month hiatus. It's not the sort of problem I expect to have when 'Lost' goes on a similar break after seven episodes. First off, that has been planned in advance and will be taken into consideration for creating an appropriate cliff-hanger. In the case of 'Prison Break', it was just an arbitrary decision forced upon the show by network suits who needed to make room for 'American Idol' and '24'.

Network executives should be nibbled to death by ducks. We all know this.....

But with 'Prison Break', there wasn't the same urgency as I felt with 'Lost' to reconnect with these characters as soon as possible. In fact, even before I abandoned the series, it had become a struggle to come back the following weeks!

Mostly that had to do with the fact that I didn't really give a rat's ass for any of the characters. Most of them deserved to be in prison; if not for the actual crime for which they were convicted, then for something else almost as bad. As for the lead character of Michael Schofield, to me Wentworth Miller was an inked-up zombie, a walking black hole from which no light escaped. He was always sucking the life out of the room.

What's odd is that I know he can be engaging - look at the role he played on 'Joan Of Arcadia' where he was much more lively. (And of course a bit devilish.)

But the worst of it was the gaping plot holes you could drive the General Lee through. Sure, I'd be caught up in the adrenaline rush of each episodes, but then I'd kick myself afterwards once I had a chance to think it over.

So I quit the show when they forced the hiatus and I don't regret it. Based on the "Previously on....." clips that ran for a minute and a half, I didn't miss much. They broke out of prison... nuff said.

But I decided to check out the second season premiere; I figured they'd deliver some kind of big bang to kick it off and I was right - it looks like this season the "breakers" will all be ducks in a shooting gallery; picked off one by one.

For instance, this week, they brought new meaning to the term "Robin Red Breast", what with all the slice-and-dicing that must have been done to poor Veronica's body.

I didn't feel bad that they killed her off with a shot to the forehead, but it did bother me that they disposed of her remains with such disrespect.

I'm not sure that means there's some hope for my soul, but every little bit helps.

Anyway, all of my complaints about the inner logic of the show still existed with its return, (the convenience of the passing train, the lack of choppers and more men in pursuit, the rip-off of "The Silence Of The Lambs", etc.), so I doubt that I'll be watching again. (Especially when next week's episode conflicts with the season finale of 'Kyle XY'!) But I will keep up to date on who gets wacked each week by reading epguides.com, TV.com, and TVSquad.com.

Gee, that was pretty long, and I still didn't get to the Toobworld analysis of a major change this season. I'll save that for the next post......

BCnU!
Tele-Toby