Lincoln Burrows, a muscular, scrappy guy, has been getting into trouble all his life. But this time, he’s sentenced to death for a murder he didn’t commit. His younger brother Michael is his opposite: endowed with an extraordinary IQ, he thinks, caculates, plans and executes his projects with composure. The young genius uses his talents to help his brother escape. He has planned every step. To make sure he has all the details to hand, he has engraved the plans for the penitentiary, camouflaged in a tattoo that covers his entire torso. Now all he has to do is get arrested and join his brother in prison.
Escape game and survival race
Let’s be honest, the series is far from being flawless. It has aged: the images from the first seasons are not of very good quality. Above all, there are far too many episodes in each season (except the last, which is better for it). Despite the action, plot progression is sometimes laborious. Finally, the hero is unrealistic (a genius in just about every science), too cold, cynical and manipulative for us to become attached to him.
But Prison Break also has solid assets, such as an original and easily identifiable musical theme. Action is everywhere. The first part of the season takes place in a different prison world each time. The second is a chase after the escape. And apart from Michael, the vast majority of the characters are interesting. The series shows all the violence of the prison world, which pushes men to become brutes. It shows the whole range of reasons why a man might end up in prison. Some deserve it, some don’t. Some will be transformed, like a killer FBI agent who becomes prey in his turn. Even the worst predator will find his way back to the heart.
Even if Prison Break has aged, it remains one of the milestones in series history. It was, for example, one of the first to have major characters die, long before Game of Thrones.
5 seasons, 90 episodes (45 mn), 2005-2009 + 2017, on Fox and Netflix
Created by Paul Scheuring, with :
- The prisoners: Wentworth Miller as Michael Scofield, Dominic Purcell as Lincoln Burrows, Amaury Nolasco as Fernando Sucre, Robert Knepper as Theodore ‘T-Bag’ Bagwell, Peter Stormare as John Abruzzi, Rockmond Dunbar as Benjamin Miles ‘C-Note’ Franklin, Augustus Prew as David ‘Whip’ Martin, Lane Garrison as David ‘Tweener’ Apolskis, Silas Weir Mitchell as Charles ‘Haywire’ Patoshik, Muse Waston as Charles Westmoreland, Rick Yune as Ja,
- Family and friends: Sarah Wayne Callies as Sara Tancredi, Robin Tunney as Veronica Donovan, Marshall Allman as Lincoln “L. J.” Burrows Jr, Danay Garcia as Sofia Lugo, Inbar Lavi as Sheba
- Guards, FBI, CIA… Stacy Keach as Warden Henry Pope, Wade Williams as Brad Bellick, William Fichtner as Alexander Mahone, Michael Rapaport as Donald Self
- Bas guys: Patricia Wettig as VP Caroline Reynolds, Paul Adelstein as Paul Kellerman, Jodi Lyn O’Keefe as Gretchen Morgan, Kathleen Quinlan as Christina, Mark Feuerstein as Jacob, Marina Benedict as A&W