Prison Break makes you an addict. You can’t wait to watch
the next episode on TV. Your eyes might be dead and tired watching the episodes
back to back(I got it downloaded from the Net), but your motivation to keep
watching it is so high that your eyes can’t do a thing about it. Such is the
addiction. Right now, two seasons, each of 22 episodes, are over. The next
season is to start in September. Can’t wait. Feeling breathless already.
SO WHAT IS PRISON BREAK?
It’s about an average bloke Lincoln Burrows getting framed
for the murder of the vice president’s brother. The first season is all about how Michael Scofield,
Lincoln’s exceptionally talented brother(possessing something called’low
latent inhibition’ that equips him with a remarkable capacity to remember
everything he sees) lands in Fox River prison as a fellow prisoner by purposely
committing a bank robbery and his eventual escape from prison with seven other
prisoners who help him in his endeavour.
Seems like a simple enough premise for the first season. But
the way it’s executed is a screenwriter’s test of skill. Watch each of the
episodes and you will notice that there isn’t a dull moment and I mean it when I
say this. This is a thriller all the way. The dialogue delivery, the impeccable
casting and the characters make your day. Each of their uniqueness is what
allows Scofield’s gameplan to work. And
how? Watch it to FEEL it.
SO WHAT’S THE SECOND SEASON ABOUT?
How all the fugitives try to save themselves from the clutches
of the law. If you think, it’s boring, brace yourself for some mind-blowing ‘cops
and robbers’ game you’ve never watched on Indian television. There is the US
secret service, the President’s men and the FBI coming together to put the
pronounced fugitives back in the cage.
TERSE ACTION, CONSISTENT CHARACTERISATION
Each character is given equal ammo to make his presence
felt. Be it the psychopathic T Bag who is always on a killing spree or the
super sensitive Scofield who can’t bring himself to hurting anyone leave alone
killing. There’s the hip hop kiddo who eventually turns out to be quite a
toughie who will give his life for the safety of his prison inmates. There’s Sucre,
who will do anything to lead a happy life with his wife. This is one ‘on the
run’ season that grips you from the word go. You feel what they are feeling,
you experience the same knots of anxiety, confusion and sheer dread, you feel
transported into the world of these characters and don’t see a way out… until
the next episode starts rolling in. It’s a great feat by the writers and the different
directors who helm it from time to time.
WHAT HAPPENS IN THE THIRD SEASON?
To the point of getting repetitive, Scofield is now back in
prison, this time in a prison in a banana republic like Panama where there is
no extradition policy – if you are jailed here, you can never go back to your
country.
Therefore, the problem here is more compounded. Escaping
from a prison in the US was still easier, but at Panama, it can be quite a
roller coaster ride filled with too many lows and very few highs. It seems to
have all the promise of the previous seasons and the potential to be better
than all of them. We are waiting, Scofield. Bring it on.