Prison Break
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Prison Break is an American
television serial drama created by
Paul Scheuring, that was broadcast on the
Fox Broadcasting Company from 2005 until 2009. The series revolves around two brothers; one has been sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit, and the other devises an elaborate plan to help his brother escape prison. The series was produced by Adelstein-Parouse Productions, in association with Original Television and
20th Century Fox Television. Along with creator Paul Scheuring, the series is executive produced by
Matt Olmstead,
Kevin Hooks,
Marty Adelstein, Dawn Parouse,
Neal H. Moritz, and
Brett Ratner who directed the pilot episode. The series' theme music, composed by
Ramin Djawadi, was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in 2006.
[1]
The series was originally turned down by Fox in 2003, which was concerned about the long-term prospects of such a series. Following the popularity of serialized prime time television series
Lost and
24, Fox decided to back production in 2004. The first season received generally positive reviews,
[2] and performed well in the ratings. The first season was originally planned for a 13-episode run, but was extended to include an extra nine episodes due to its popularity.
Prison Break was nominated for several industry awards, and won the 2006 People's Choice Award for Favorite New TV Drama and was nominated for the 2005 Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series Drama. All four seasons have been released on DVD, while the first and third seasons and
The Final Break have also been released on Blu-ray Disc. The series has been aired internationally.
The success of the series has inspired short videos for mobile phones, several official tie-ins in print and on the Internet, as well as a video game. A spin-off series,
Prison Break: Proof of Innocence, was produced exclusively for mobile phones. The series has spawned an official magazine and a tie-in novel. The fourth season of
Prison Break returned from its mid-season break in a new timeslot on April 17, 2009 for the series' last six episodes.
[3] Two additional episodes, titled "The Old Ball and Chain" and "Free" were produced, and were later transformed into a standalone feature, titled
The Final Break. The events of this feature take place before the last scene of the series finale, and are intended to wrap up unfinished plotlines. The feature was released on DVD and Blu-ray July 21, 2009.
[4]
[edit] Season synopses
[edit] Season 1
The first season follows the rescue of
Lincoln Burrows (
Dominic Purcell), who is accused of murdering
Terrence Steadman (
Jeff Perry), the brother of the
Vice President of the United States (
Patricia Wettig). Lincoln is sentenced to death and is incarcerated in
Fox River State Penitentiary where he awaits his execution. Lincoln's brother, brilliant structural engineer
Michael Scofield (
Wentworth Miller), is convinced of Lincoln's innocence and formulates an escape plan. In order to gain access to Fox River, Michael commits an armed robbery which results in his being sentenced to Fox River. In prison, Michael befriends the prison doctor
Sara Tancredi (
Sarah Wayne Callies) when he pretends to suffer from Type 1 diabetes, in order to gain daily access to the prison's infirmary. The brothers' fight to ward off the execution is aided by their lifelong friend
Veronica Donovan (
Robin Tunney), who begins to investigate the conspiracy that put Lincoln in jail. However, they are hindered by covert agents, members of an organization known as
The Company. The Company was responsible for framing Lincoln, and they did so because of Lincoln's father,
Aldo Burrows (
Anthony Denison), and his former connections to the company. The brothers, along with six other inmates,
Fernando Sucre (
Amaury Nolasco),
Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell (
Robert Knepper),
Benjamin Miles "C-Note" Franklin (
Rockmond Dunbar),
David "Tweener" Apolskis (
Lane Garrison),
John Abruzzi (
Peter Stormare), and
Charles "Haywire" Patoshik (
Silas Weir Mitchell), who come to be known as the Fox River Eight, escape in the season finale.
[edit] Season 2
The second season begins eight hours after the escape, focusing mainly on the eight escapees. Series creator Paul Scheuring describes the second season as "
The Fugitive times eight" and likens it to the "second half of
The Great Escape."
[5] The fugitives split up and journey to locations across the country with the authorities close behind them as they each pursue their individual goals.
Brad Bellick (
Wade Williams) gets fired from the prison where he worked as a guard and chases after the inmates himself for the reward money. Several of the escapees reunite in search of a large cache of money buried long ago by another prisoner. Federal agent
Alexander Mahone (
William Fichtner) is assigned to track down and capture the eight fugitives, but is revealed to be working for The Company, which wants all eight men dead. When Sara discovers her dead father, Governor Frank Tancredi, she meets with Michael, remaining with him as the brothers try to bring down the current President, a Company member. To ensure the brothers' safety, Sara allows herself to be arrested and faces trial. During the trial, the testimony of former Secret Service agent Paul Kellerman, who used to work for the Company-controlled President, exonerates Lincoln and Sara. Several of the escapees are killed or recaptured, but the brothers make it to Panama. Michael, T-Bag, Mahone, and Bellick are arrested by the Panamanian authorities and imprisoned at the
Penitenciaría Federal de Sona.
[edit] Season 3
The third season follows both Michael inside Sona and Lincoln on the outside in Panama. Sona is a prison that has been run by the inmates and guarded only from the outside since a riot the year before. Burrows is quickly contacted by Gretchen Morgan (a Company operative who was in charge of operations in Panama) who kidnapped his son
LJ (
Marshall Allman) and
Sara Tancredi (
Sarah Wayne Callies), the woman Michael loves. He is told that The Company wants Scofield to break
James Whistler (
Chris Vance) out of Sona. The season follows Michael and Whistler's trials in formulating an escape plan, as Michael has to deal with extreme tension and as Lincoln deals with the Company's operative
Gretchen Morgan (
Jodi Lyn O'Keefe). Sucre gets a job at the prison to aid Michael in his escape plan. When Lincoln attempts to rescue Sara and LJ following a clue provided by Sara, Gretchen claims to have beheaded Sara and sends Lincoln a head in a box as a warning. As the season ends, the pair manage to escape along with Mahone, and another inmate McGrady leaving behind several accomplices including T-Bag and Bellick. Sucre's identity is discovered by a prison guard and he is thrown into Sona just after the escape. LJ and Sofia (who was captured for a guarantee that Whistler would go with her) are traded for Whistler, and Michael seeks revenge against Gretchen for Sara's death.
[edit] Season 4
The major storyline for the fourth season concerns a team recruited by
Homeland Security agent Don Self (
Michael Rapaport) to obtain Scylla. Although the team initially believes it to be the Company's "black book", it is later revealed to contain information on an advanced renewable power cell. Over the course of the first half of the season, the team obtain cards to access Scylla, and break into Company headquarters to steal it. In the first half, Sara is discovered to be alive, Bellick is killed, and Self is revealed to be a double agent and is planning to sell Scylla to the highest bidder. Reluctantly, Lincoln decides to join the Company to get it back, while Michael suffers from a
hypothalamic hamartoma. He is treated and operated on by the Company. He later learns that his mother, Christina is still alive and was an agent of the Company, who is revealed to acquire Scylla to sell to the highest bidder. Eventually, the series' main storyline of the past 4 seasons ends in Miami, where Scylla is recovered by Michael and the team, the General and the Company are taken down, and Christina is killed.
The last 2 episodes of the season represent the series finale and aired as the television movie
Prison Break: The Final Break. In the movie, a story is told explaining what happened following the take down of the General and the Company (before the four-year flash-forward) and the strange scar on Sara's shoulder. This story involves the incarceration of Sara in Miami-Dade county penitentiary due to budgetary cutbacks; there are cots installed there acting as the county jail. With the General and T-Bag in the adjacent Men's facility, the General wants Sara dead and offers a $100,000 bounty. Michael hears of the bounty and devises plans for Sara's escape. In the end, knowing that he is dying from a brain tumor, Michael sacrifices himself for his brother, wife and child.
[edit] Cast and characters
Prison Break maintains an
ensemble cast for each season along with many recurring guest stars. The first season features a cast of ten actors who receive
star billing, who were based in Chicago or at
Fox River State Penitentiary.
[6] The second season features a cast of nine actors who receive billing; three characters are downgraded from series regular to recurring status, another is upgraded, and a new character is introduced.
[7] The third season introduces four new characters; two of whom are prisoners at
Penitenciaría Federal de Sona.
[8]
Most of the changes in the cast have been due to character deaths. Series creator, Paul Scheuring, explains that killing off major characters "makes the audience that much more fearful for our protagonists" and that "it actually does help us in terms of reducing story lines".
[9] The two protagonists of the series, Lincoln Burrows and Michael Scofield, are the only characters to have appeared in every episode of the series.
- Wentworth Miller as Michael Scofield (Season 1–4): Michael is Lincoln's brother and worked as a structural engineer before devoting full-time to his brother's case. In order to save his brother's life, Michael creates an elaborate plan to help his brother escape from prison. In an interview, Paul Scheuring recalled that most of the actors who tested for the role "would come in playing mysterious, but it was so cheesy and false."[10] A week before the start of production, Miller auditioned for the role and impressed Scheuring with his performance; he was cast the following day.[11]
- Dominic Purcell as Lincoln Burrows (Season 1–4): Lincoln is a high school drop-out and a convicted felon, who is wrongfully accused of and charged with the murder of Terence Steadman, the brother of the Vice President of the United States. Purcell was cast three days before the start of production and consequently, he was the last actor to join the original cast.[11] He auditioned for the role while he had a recurring role as Tommy Ravetto on North Shore. Since working on John Doe, Purcell has had an amiable relationship with Fox. Hence, he was sent the pilot script of Prison Break.[12] Scheuring's first impression of Purcell did not convince him as a fit for the role since the actor went to the audition with his hair styled and a tan. However, Purcell's acting won the role. He arrived on the set on the first day of filming with a shaved head, which amazed Scheuring with the physical likeness of the series' two leading actors.[10]
- Robin Tunney as Veronica Donovan (Season 1–2): Veronica is Michael and Lincoln's childhood friend who decides to review Lincoln's case at Michael's insistence. She becomes Lincoln's lawyer and appears as a major character in the first season.
- Marshall Allman as Lincoln "L. J." Burrows Jr. (Season 1–4): L. J. is the teenage son of Lincoln Burrows and is greatly affected by his father's death sentence. He is forced into hiding after he becomes the target of the people who want Lincoln dead.
- Amaury Nolasco as Fernando Sucre (Season 1–4): Sucre develops a friendship with Michael during time at Fox River State Penitentiary, where he was his cell-mate. He becomes Michael and Lincoln's ally, and provides comic relief to the show. His character's story focuses mainly on his wish to reunite with his girlfriend. Upon receiving the pilot script, Nolasco's first thought was that it was "one of those failed pilots that the network did not really want" since most of the series pilots would have started production by that time. Admitting that he does not like to read, Nolasco was amazed that the script was a "huge page-turner". Prior to his last audition for the role, Nolasco recalled his nervousness, which grew when Paul Scheuring told him that he was their favourite choice. Subsequently, he was cast in the role.[13]
- Robert Knepper as Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell (Season 1–4): T-Bag appears in all four seasons of the series as a cunning, violent, and manipulative psychopath, consistently underestimated by those around him. T-Bag will stop at nothing to get what he wants and lets nothing stand in his way.
- Peter Stormare as John Abruzzi (Season 1–2): Due to his role as the leader of a Chicago mafia, Abruzzi became a prominent figure at Fox River State Penitentiary. He agrees to provide an escape plane for Michael in exchange for the location of the eyewitness to his crimes, Otto Fibonacci. He appears regularly in the first half of the first season and makes selected appearances towards the end of the first season and the beginning of the second season.
- Rockmond Dunbar as Benjamin Miles "C-Note" Franklin (Season 1–2, 4): Desperate for his family, C-Note blackmails Michael at Fox River to join his escape team. He appears in the series as a major character in the first and second seasons.
- Wade Williams as Brad Bellick (Season 1–4): Appearing in all four seasons, Bellick was introduced as the captain of Fox River's correctional officers. After reading the pilot script, Williams initially did not want to portray the role of Bellick because the character was "horrible and despicable". His reluctance stemmed from being the father of a four-year-old daughter. However, his manager persuaded him to audition for the role and Williams landed the role of Bellick.[13]
- Sarah Wayne Callies as Sara Tancredi (Season 1–2, 4): Sara is the prison doctor at Fox River and the daughter of Governor Frank Tancredi, who is linked into the plot that brings Lincoln to Fox River. She takes a liking to Michael and eventually aids his escape. She ultimately joins them on the run. Callies was the first actress the producers saw at the audition for the role of Sara Tancredi and was also the first to become a principal cast member.[11][14]
- Paul Adelstein as Paul Kellerman (Season 1–2, 4): Kellerman was introduced as a Secret Service agent working for the Vice President to make sure that the execution of Lincoln Burrows goes smoothly. Eventually, his character changes from that of a villain to an ally to Michael and Lincoln. He appears as a major character in the first and second seasons.
- William Fichtner as Alexander Mahone (Season 2–4): Introduced as an FBI agent in the second season, Mahone's assignment was to locate the fugitives. Mahone is intellectually matched with Michael and his background unfolds as the series progresses. In the third season he finds himself incarcerated with Michael in Sona and is eventually forced to become his ally through the final season.
- Chris Vance as James Whistler (Season 3–4): Whistler is incarcerated in Sona for the murder of the Mayor's son and appears as a major character in the third season. He also stars in the first episode of the fourth season.
- Robert Wisdom as Norman "Lechero" St. John (Season 3): Appearing as a major character in the third season, Lechero is a prisoner at Sona who rules the prison as a dictator and a Panamanian drug kingpin.
- Danay Garcia as Sofia Lugo (Season 3–4): Sofia was introduced in the third season as Whistler's girlfriend. At the beginning of the fourth season, it is revealed she has started to date Lincoln Burrows.
- Jodi Lyn O'Keefe as Gretchen Morgan (Season 3–4): Introduced as "Susan B. Anthony", Gretchen is an operative for the company who is in charge of ensuring the escape of James Whistler.
- Michael Rapaport as Donald Self (Season 4): Introduced in the fourth season, Self is a Department of Homeland Security special agent who teams up with the gang to take down The Company.
