Before the bank robbery, Scofield had a spotless record. He was a successful structural engineer with an apartment overlooking the windy city. But all that changed when police charged Burrows with the murder of Terrence Steadman, the Vice President's brother. Burrows was convicted and sentenced to death by electrocution, so Scofield pulled out the blueprints for Fox River State Penitentiary and plotted a plan to break his brother out â€" by breaking in, of course.
With a map of the complex tattooed across his body, Scofield got settled in his cell and started to make the right connections with inmates and prison staffers. Meanwhile, on the outside, a conspiracy to frame Burrows for Steadman's mistakes began to unwind. After an unsuccessful breakout attempt, and several unsuccessful court appeals, Burrows was walked to the death chamber, just in time for the season to end- almost.
Fox originally ordered 13 episodes of the program, but after its popularity, an additional nine episodes were commissioned. The second half of the season premiered two weeks ago with a just-in-time stay of execution. The writers now have several plot lines to wrap up in the next five weeks.
The show has managed to avoid something I'll call "the '24' syndrome:" the tendency to fall into an all-too-familiar formula hour after hour. By season 3 of the Fox hit, Jack Bauer was chasing after this bad guy or that bad guy every week, with a dramatic gunfight in the last five minutes. The suspect (usually injured or killed in the battle) usually didn't give up any information, so the episode happened again a week later, with a new bad guy.
It was good bloody fun for the first 100 episodes, but I've started to enjoy "Prison Break" more than "24." Scofield's narrative arc has a definite time element, but because it plays out over the course of days rather than hours, it enjoys more flexibility and creativity. The characters in "Prison Break" have time to gather supplies and dig a tunnel. Also, by virtue of being trapped behind prison walls, the characters also have an intimate sense of frustration and motivation.
Since catching the "Prison Break" bug in the fall, I've hoped that Fox would choose not to spoil the success of the original narrative by cashing in on a second season. Sadly, the network has already commissioned season #2 for next fall. But if the characters successfully break out of Fox River, some follow-up episodes following their re-entry into freedom (and the inevitable manhunt) could make for some good TV.
Catch up on prior episodes at http://www.fox.com/prisonbreak and tune in Mondays at 8 p.m. to find out how the break happens.
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