Prison Break Series Finale: Review & Discussion
May 16, 2009 by Bruce SimmonsPeople are talking about the Prison Break finale – what do YOU have to say?
[SPOILERS!!!]
The 4th season series finale of Prison Break ended it’s dying ratings existence in its Friday night slot.
This final season trudged along while everybody was chasing Scylla. The General wanted it, Christina Scofield wanted it. China wanted it. India wanted. Hell, who didn’t want it? I wanted it so I can find some dirt to write about.
I tried to break this down in a chronological order, but my new novel adaptation of Fox’s Prison Break was getting way too long. The closing story became too convoluted with twists, turns and the reappearance of old characters that I felt that maybe I just needed to draw on my emotions about the finale and not try to detail out the episode. We all say it. Right?
There are some SPOILERS included in one way or another, so you have been warned.
The brothers Michael (Wentworth Miller) and Lincoln (Dominic Purcell) went through a lot through the entire show: from Michael allowing himself to be incarcerated to help free his brother Lincoln for a crime he didn’t commit, to the endless manipulations they were put through to achieve their one true goal: freedom.
General Jonathan Krantz (Leon Russom) was the man who was in control until Michael undermined his entire infrastructure by snagging different parts of Scylla from his control. The General’s only leverage on people was to have his operatives put everyone’s families and friends under the gun. Literally. In the end, his electrical reward was the perfect gift for all his deeds.
Christina Scofield (Kathleen Quinlan) was nasty. The mother of Lincoln Burroughs and Michael Scofield, she was the nasty nail in everything. She was a true “Company” operative that did what was necessary to get her job or goals done. She even gave up her kids to affect her end game. When all was said and done, her demise at the hands of Sara Tanchredi (Sarah Wayne Callies) was perfect.
Theodore “T-Bag” Bagwell (Robert Knepper) was the tragic Shakespearean character in this show. Evil by impulse, he had gotten a taste of legitimate work and loved it. An honest job was one of the lures that the General used to manipulate him into doing his bidding.
Yet T-Bag had a keen analytical mind that was wasted on crime. In the end, the General’s biddings seemed to push T-Bag back to his core mode of murdering and “other” things. Knepper made T-Bag incredibly believable and I couldn’t decide to like, hate or feel sorry for him. In the end, his compulsive nature to take the easier path of crime landed him back where this all began, in a prison with some poor fool hanging on to his pocket linen.
Alexander Mahone (William Fichtner) was a catalyst of action when he had sufficient inspiration. I really enjoyed Fichtner’s portrayal of the character. In fact I like most of what William Fichtner does. He proves that men with receding hairlines can get the job done! Though he was forced to become allies with Scofield, things were worked out in the end for him.
Donald Self (Michael Rapaport) was the fed who promised immunity and gave the escapees blank paper for their work. Who then found himself manipulated back into the fold to be part of this ragtag team of non-criminals (mostly) committing criminal deeds. In the end, he was getting what he deserved as he found himself in a hospital.
Rappaport made us believe that Self was there to help, until he turned on the brothers. Then we didn’t know what to think about his loyalties until I decided that Self was loyal to no one but his own end game. In the end when he was put in a corner so to speak, his written defiance to the feds showed his loyalties finally cemented in with the gang and I’m mixed on his ending. In some ways he deserved it for all his manipulations. Then again, who deserves that kind of vegetative state?
Honorable mention though she wasn’t in the finale:
Jodi Lyn O’Keefe as Gretchen Morgan. I can’t remember a time when a character was done so well. O’Keefe played Gretchen so well that A: I hated every scene she was in. B: Every scene she wasn’t in, I was hoping the scene was producing some end-game to Gretchen’s demise. Yea, it was that bad. A kudos to the actress for scarring me for life.
The Finale Of Twists
Everyone had either been kidnapped or had someone they knew kidnapped or was going to be kidnapped. The other angle that kept coming at me was that every 30 minutes or so, someone else had a gun to Michael’s head. And everyone was tricking everyone. At least Michael had dissected that damn Scylla.
All the on-the-sly maneuverings that went on allowed some old faces and other government entities to show up and finally get the upper hand.
There were a few fresh faces of old in the mix. Fernando Sucre (Amaury Nolasco) and Benjamin Miles “C-Note” Franklin (Rockmond Dunbar). Sucre and C-Note show up as C-Note has a way for everyone to get himself or herself out of this endless spiral of legal trouble they keep finding themselves in and they work their way toward finding Michael and Lincoln.
And suddenly there’s Paul Kellerman, (Paul Adelstein) offering a legal way out of this whole debacle, as it seems he’s backed by the United Nations. Man, everyone was in on this.
In the end, Kellerman had the power to exonerate everyone. Sucre keeps the pen he used to sign his freedom. Everyone bids farewell. Everyone’s loved ones are safe.
The End Let A Steam Out Of My Bag
As everyone is settling into normalcy, Michael’s nose starts to bleed again. You’ve got to be kidding me. Then we jump to four years later and Michael is dead.
It’s four years later and we watch Sara and Michael Jr. gather together with Sucre, Mahone and Lincoln to pay a remembrance visit to Michael’s grave. Lincoln leaves the ever-iconic origami crane on top of the tombstone.
My Quick Take
This finale had to pack a lot into two hours.
Quick nit: Did you notice the Verizon commercial showing off their streaming video in the first hour? They were showing scenes that weren’t going to happen for another 45 minutes? Just brilliant.
I think the show took a ton of extra turns and twists and steps to get where they were in the finale.
It felt like the writers never had an end game, but they let the writing take them wherever it did. That works for some, but then in the end, it feels like writers are scrambling to account for things they hadn’t fully explored or finalized.
Even though I enjoyed watching the finale, there were so many different twists and turns in it that it got old for me. At one point, we were just waiting for the close. It felt like an over-hyped James Bond action flick. Sometimes there’s so much action that it is no longer exciting to see yet one more explosion. Whoopee.
Michael’s death almost seemed to suck the emotion out of me. It distracted from the entire journey of these four years. It disappointed me that after all that work and effort, his only real reward was his own death. Does that mean he’s truly escaped and is free now? I don’t know.
I was hanging out on Twitter before and during the show and Twitter was aflame with frustration and anger toward the ending. It seemed anti-climatic after all was said and done.
For me, the image I can’t get out of my head, when all is said and done, is Lincoln putting the origami crane on Michael’s tombstone. For me, that sad and touching scene will probably be my memory of this whole series.
At least my emotions were invoked one last time and they managed to engage my imaginative depression one last time before closing credits.
I thought the first two years were fantastic.
After that, I know that Fox wanted to keep a ratings winner in their pocket, but the stretching of the feasibility started after the gang got manipulated into helping Self and then everyone else and their mother (literally) after that. If I stick to the first two years, I say fantastic. The third year, well, yea, OK, it was still good. But then this last season I was on-board solely out of sheer loyalty. Loyalty and the hope for a great end game kept me watching. I could not abandon Michael. I needed to see how he came out of all this.
How did you feel about the finale of Prison Break, the season as a whole or the entire 4-year run? Let us know.
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790,I haven’t seen terminator yet so couldn’t comment.I’ll just say if your right I won’t be rushing to the cinema.
Lol Arsenal, well I hope “Final Break” isn’t that bad either…
why o why did u have to kill Michael!!!!
(
He could have lived with Sara n his baby. If you wanted to kill anyone, u could have killed Lincoln – after all, its was he who always screwed up everything!!!
Negative
It was rubbish he didnt have to die all the characters have to change as the story developed and this reflects life. we change as characters.what te writer said to justify michaels death did not make any sense at all and it was a predictable end and i guessed that the writer would come up with somthing so lame.will not continue to buy the dvds.
ps. lost was a let down to.
Arsenal, I know exactly what you mean and I agree with you 100%. Still it’s all over now and no more.
790, is terminator salvation that bad? because I was gonna view it purely because I have watched the other 3 films but if it’s no good I wont bother.
You might want to check out Screen Rants review,,,
If your asking me, I would rent the dvd,,,
O.K., let’s “set the record straight”. Michael did not die in vain. His death was significant in that he gave his life to save others! His legend/legacy continues with the birth of his son. Those “story book” endings suck anyway. long live Michael’s tenacious attitude in going after something he believes in and something worth fighting for. Some of you peeps need a life baaad, seriously….by Michael living and being with Sara and their son only to “live happily everafter” would of been way to predictable. Thus, making PB the best series ever, hands down!!!!
I just watched the last two episodes (the final break) and couldn’t stop crying. It was really touching and filled in the blanks. I didn’t watch PB till last summer when I decided to give it a shot. It’s the best series I’ve ever watched and every single character is amazing. I watched all 3 seasons in a couple of weeks and waited every week for the new episode of the final season. I am sad it ended, but it was an amazing ending, yet sad.
The writers must had been obsessed with MacGyver 20 years ago, and it was a show we loved back then and they revived it -in a much better and more complete way of course-.
I hope we will see the characters in totally different roles now, and they will not be buried as most of the actors starring in successful series.
Love & light
E.
I actually thought the ending was brilliant. Sure I was sad that Michael was dead and all, but I didn’t really expect that he would just get that operation done and that would be it, I had feeling there would be more to it. At first I as annoyed because it felt like it was for nothing but I thought more about it and realized that it wasn’t. Michael wasn’t shot or anything, he would’ve died anyway from that tumour, if not earlier if none of this would have happened. He was like the hero who saved his innocent brother’s life, gave “innocent” people a second chance at life, Sucre and C-note and Mahone, helped Sarah taste true happiness, and nonetheless brought down a most powerful corrupeted organization and offered the world a solution to all their global problems.
@Lamiis, good points I totally agree…
I started watching this show because of a DVD of the pilot that was free in the People magazine I was reading. All relatively unknown actors at the time, it sucked me in from the start. The prison life and portrayals of violence in the beginning (Abruzzi cutting off Michael’s toe!!!)were a bit much, so when they finally escaped, I thought that was over with… then came Sona…
After all these seasons, I must say I was heartbroken seeing Michael had been killed off. I can just remember every stressful/nerve racking/painful moment that character had been though in the past 5 years, and to end like that? Doesn’t seem fair. At least it wasn’t from the end of someone else’s gun. I’m always the most sad when my favorite show ends, knowing I’ll never get to look forward to watching a new episode ever again : ) Thank you for 5 greats years of entertaining (though at times completely unbelievable) television!! I’ll miss you!
I think it’s a travesty that no one from the cast was nominated for emmy, nor was the show itself. What a load of crap! I hope we will see more of Robert Knepper, he is awesome. T-Bag has always been my favorite character. Not sure if that says more about me,or his acting. I wasn’t crazy about the ending, but I have a feeling the writers were either rushed or kind of at a loss.
Once again-a bad decision by Fox. Also, a bad decision from the creators of PB. They should have left everyone intact.I wonder if they tried to have TNT or USA networks pick them up. 1st Journeyman (NBC)and now PB. Is Jack Bauer or Snake Doc next?
I cant believe the writers and producers can say this was a happy ending! Happy for whom? the lazy writing or the loss of heart and them glad it was over?
The actors did a sterling job I thought Sarah Wayne Callies was tremendous she really needs an awards nod she made me believe her pain I was being her through her eyes and her performance worked so damb well for me, she has been the PB underdog for years but has been a key player since day 1, however her season 4 storylines excelled her to show off her acting abilitis. So firsly well done to SWC.
Wentworth sold it to me too, I read lack of chemistry, wooden, cold but he ticked every box in this. His work with SWC was great again I felt their pain and its a credit to these actors for making us feel that way via a tv screen. Job definately well done, these two work wonders and with some of the crap material they were given to work with they made it work.
One thing I am not happy about is the endng, the outcome, the way they left the ending was cold, heartless and way too quick, the promises that were never kept and the hope and faith that was dropped all the time but was never paid back, the quickie flash of a wedding! divorce?? too many questions unanswered is Michael a bigamist? well tv land we didnt get that answer did we? The stupid way Micael died come on he had a kit bag is an engineer a genius who had everything to fight for, oh and the stupid nose bleeds come on!!!!!!!
I could go on and on and on I felt bitterly disapointed by this I loved PB I really did and do but the way they left it in the finale and the final break left me uneasy in that championing such a show for so long believing in the characers just felt it was way too quick too rushed and the writers just didnt know what to do with Michael. That someday/oneday sailing off promise for what? Sara sailing off with the wrong brother on the run pregnant and left a widow whilst we are to believe Michael has become a char grilled chicken. Really not an ending I envisaged at all.
@Lulu, keep in mind we almost didn’t get a 4th season due to ratings.
The producer and writers wanted to do a 4th season so that they could wrap it up for the fans…
The show was going to end with season 3….
If you haven’t seen “Prison Break, the Final Break” you must see it!!! It will help a whole lot in seeing the way things ended the way they did!!! Go on-line and see the 83+ minute episode, it rocks!!!
I am a huge michael scofield fan and I really don’t wanna see him dead !
Its not unusual for a dead character to come back to life in the show , in fact we’ve seen two in the past …
I think that PB is a great show and I also think that the writers made the ending that way so that they could bring back the show ,should they decide to do so …
We didn’t get to see michael’s dead body which leads me to think there isn’t one ..
Michael is a genius …
He must have found a way to stay alive , maybe he thought that he was going to die of electrocution but from what I saw ,the cables were insulated … !
They didn’t show him dead and they ended the “final break” with sara and lincoln watchin michaels video which hadn’t ended yet … I think he was still about to say something …
Maybe what he was about to say next had something to do with him still being alive and maybe he is telling them his plans to meet them , His location and what he thinks they need to do to save him and remove the tumor so that he can live …
Maybe he was telling linc to take care of sara and sara to take care of linc only till he comes back …
We never know what’s gonna happen right ?!
I mean it’s possible !
I think that the writers are doing this to see if we want the show back, they’re pretending that it’s over to see if we’re gonna fight to get it back !
The “ending” is too unfinished for the show to be over…
Gretchen indirectly told sara to watch over emily and give her the birthday present , but we never saw emily again …
Michael is a genius , I’m sure that he had another exit strategy out of that place after getting the door opened for sara …
Or maybe the FBI caught him and made him work for them because he is a genius , he has outsmarted them many times and having him on their side would be of great help for catching criminals and what not …
Or maybe michael knew something or had something that would be valuable to the FBI and so he made sure he had a way of convincing them not to kill him and cure his brain tumor …
U know as leverage …
In the e maybe they could show that the security tape that showed sara shooting wasn’t the only one there ,there could be another one from another angle showing christina trying to shoot michael and they could say that what sara did wasn’t a crime , it was just self defense or to defend michael and sara would finally be exonerated even though they’re not in miami anymore ( they would clear up her name) and michael , sara ,michael jr , linc and family would live happily …
The most important thing to me is to make sure that michael gets the ending that he deserves … Frankly I think that killing michael was the worst thing ever …
It was the worst case scenario
I really think that the show still has potential …
If they could bring it back it would be totally awesome …
It would be so exciting and I think that season 5 or a continuation would have more viewers than the debut of the first season …
For those of you who want the show to continue please email fox at :askfox@fox.com
And tell them how you feel about the ending … We have to make them bring back the show !
Now , who’s with me ?!
@bexdme, the shows over. The producer is already working on a new project along with the writers. The actors are all moving on to new shows/movies.
The show had a great run but its time to look forward to something else.
We can always watch the show on dvd,,,
@790, u said tht the actors are moving opn to new projects …
What projects ?
Did wentworth get another TV show ?
Actually , I wouldn’t mind if the show ended with michael alive and well … What’s bothering me is not the fact that its over , its the fact that it ended that way …
Its sooooooo sad …
Bexdme, I don’t know specifics on Wentworth Miller, I’m sure he has lots of offers. Well just have to wait and see,,, I bet he has a fan site or Twitter page that would provide more info,,? I would love to see him in a Marvel film,,,
On the ending of PB,,,It was a tough blow, but the writers really wanted to deliver a powerful finale. Its fitting that an intense character driven show like “Prison Break” ended the way it did because its an ending that we (the die hard fans) will always remember… More so then if everyone lived happily ever after… It had impact that will last longer in our hearts more than any American Idol or Survivor winner.
I think the writers did an amazing job with season 4. Cheer up Bexdme in knowing that if wasn’t for the fans writing in and sending letters to FOX and the actors, this show would have ended at Season 3.
This I know for a fact,,,
Ps, I really wish the season dvds were cheaper. Hey movie studios how about stimulating the economy buy dropping all dvd prices by 50% for two weeks.
I bet you clean house!!! Think about it,,, (Tony Soprano voice impersonated)
@790, thx …
I hope I get to see more of the characters from PB on TV …
I am not one of those ppl who think season 3 and 4 was a waste … I thought that every season was great and worth watching …
I have all the episodes from season one untill the final break and I will continie to watch PB … PB is my all time fave show …
I wouldve just been nicer to see michael happy after all he had gone through u know …
Iam agree with bexdme opinion Michael is genius right? may be the gov or un want him work for them so, he have to keep everyone who love safe so, may be that for next season. I want PB back pls pls pls
reading a few more of your comments and I can quite honestly say, 790, the ending was no more powerful than a battery operated toothbrush, where the batteries have almost run out. I agree with Lulu’s comments, the shows writers seriously need to have a chat with themselves if they think the ending was good or even gave closure and think about having a day off from this crap they are trying to spin us. 790, you said that PB was going to end on season 3, honestly it should of. Infact it should of ended in season 2. Have you seen the final break yet 790? spoiler or no spoiler, this just was not worth doing and just proves that it was a money making scheme as they could easily have incorporated this in the season 4. Great show to start with and then let themselves down miserably.
I agree with bexdme, PB is by far, hands down the BEST SHOW EVER!!!! Not totoot my own horn here, but, I never missed one single episode in the whole time that series ran! I get tired of these wannabes or these dudes that get on the band wagon at the very end and try to add their opinions about a show they barely got to watch. I’m writing a script right now for the producers of PB to approve so that they can continue with these hardcore actors. Long Live Michael!!!
Well Liverpool, the producer and writers did their best to give the fans a 4th Season. I understand that it let you down but that wasn’t they’re intention.
As far as series finales go that was a great ending. (IMO).
I’m moving on now…
Prison Break S04 just got released in Australia on DVD, and the DVD set I got, they have the movie (feature length episode) on Disc 7
BOZ: Thanks for the ‘down under’ report! Awesome tidbit!
“The Final Break” is due out next Tuesday here in US.