By John Keegan
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The previous two episodes took the season arc in an unexpected direction, promising tensions and situations that might finally bring urgency to the season arc. Surprisingly, this episode seems to slip away from that promise, choosing confusion over well-orchestrated chaos.
One major question seems to dominate the episode, especially once the “bang and burn” reference is explained: if the Company had the resources and ability to break Whistler out of jail, including the ability to deal with him directly, why did they need to use Michael and Lincoln? The potential for getting Whistler killed is much higher during an unarmed escape attempt, and Michael had little to no information to work with to make plans.
Granted, the Company could have seen Whistler’s situation as an opportunity to use Michael before having him eliminated under circumstances that would be left unquestioned. But based on the apparent need to get Mahone’s testimony against the conspiracy, they had enough room to maneuver as it was. They could have killed Michael and his family, eliminated Mahone, and rescued Whistler with far less complication and little possibility of exposure.
That realization dominates the episode, and while contrived storytelling has always been a hallmark of “Prison Break”, that kind of loose logic is just plain annoying. Similarly, the purpose of Mahone’s hearing had little point to it, other than to remove him from the board to complicate Michael’s escape plan. I had some hope that it was to push him back under the thumb of the conspiracy, just to make things interesting, but the motivations don’t make sense within the story.
Lincoln’s situation becomes a bit more interesting, considering that Sofia is now both hot and available. Then again, after Lincoln’s decision to back down when LJ’s life was on the line, it seems odd that he would take such a precise shot for the sake of a relative stranger. This subplot also reveals how easily the Company could have assassinated Michael and Lincoln previously, when they had no clue they were in danger, once again bringing up uncomfortable questions.
This episode has been repurposed as the “fall finale”, but in reality, it was never supposed to have that kind of important function. As such, Michael’s removal from Sona is just another plot twist, and one that will likely be resolved soon after the show returns in the spring. Without much competition, the show should be able to survive such a soft pause, but this leaves me nervous about the eventual “season finale”, which may suffer a similar fate. |
