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Prison Break 4.10: "The Legend" |
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Wednesday, 12 November 2008 |
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By John Keegan
Visit Critical Myth for an archive of John's TV Review archives, with more than 1100 entries.
| This season of “Prison Break” just keeps marching along, and against all expectations, I’m still enjoying the hell out of it. Maybe it’s because the first three seasons inoculated me against the plot conveniences and contrivances, and I’m just enjoying it on the “entertainment” level as intended.
Not everything can be easily waved away, of course. I’m more than a little annoyed with Michael’s medical condition, considering how quickly it emerged out of absolutely nowhere this season. I can’t imagine that the writers will use this to kill Michael off at the end of the series, but it is going to be used for some highly unlikely medical drama in the middle of the season arc, and that makes it feel more transparent as a result.
There’s also the lingering over Bellick’s death by just about everyone. I understand that the producers and writers loved the actor and never wanted to get rid of the character, but the characters themselves had no love for the man. I can almost understand Sucre’s reaction, but T-Bag? That was definitely out of character, even more than Mahone’s silent display of respect.
The usual intrigue helped to make up for most of the annoyance, particularly Sucre’s encounter with the minefield and Mahone’s quest for the creator of the map to Scylla. Sucre’s subplot involved some interesting countdown sequences and a chance to see Gretchen play both sides. Gretchen’s loyalty is still to herself, but where that ultimately will take her should prove exciting.
Mahone had another good turn in this episode. It’s too early to tell if the writers will be able to transition him into another good subplot after the resolution of his revenge tale, but this was a good use of his talents. I like how the rest of the team was openly acknowledging that Michael and Mahone were on equal footing when it came to pattern recognition and decoding skills. Perhaps this is intentional. If Michael is sidelined by medical issues sooner rather than later, Mahone could step into his place for a little while.
There was also the relatively minor revelation that Agent Self already had someone working at the Gate Foundation. This particular twist should make things more complicated, but I wasn’t quite sold on its apparent importance. I’m just happy to know Shannon Lucio will be around for a while!
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