Finale puts ‘Prison Break’ to rest

Finale puts ‘Prison Break’ to rest
Alan Pergament



The first reaction of many viewers to Friday’s two-hour series finale of the Fox series, “Prison Break,” might be something like: “Prison Break” is still on the air?

I checked out of the series a year after Cheektowaga’s William Fichtner checked in as FBI agent Alex Mahone in 2006. Since I escaped “Prison,” I hadn’t realized that the series that premiered in 2005 and ran in the Monday night time slot of “24” had itself turned into “24.”

The enjoyable first season of “Break” focused on a MacGyverlike brother, Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller), who took brotherly love to an amazing degree. He committed robbery to get near his incarcerated brother, Lincoln Burrow (Dominic Purcell), who was wrongly convicted of killing the vice president’s brother. Michael planned to help his brother escape and try and uncover a conspiracy led by something referred to as The Company.

Oh, there were more preposterous moments (like going to prison voluntarily isn’t preposterous enough) than there were on “24,” but at least there was an endgame— the escape from prison. Fox couldn’t let a good thing end. Ratings were strong enough to extend the stay of “Prison” despite critical resistance. “Prison” eventually went on way too long, which is why the finale airs at 8 p. m. on Channel 29 on a Friday night, where shows are sent to die.

If you’ve also taken a break from “Prison,” the finale isn’t so much difficult to follow as it is difficult to get emotionally involved. Scofield is in possession of a hard drive, Scylla, which could “trigger” a world war. His psychotic mother Christina (a cartoonish Kathleen Quinlan) and a big bad general want Scylla as badly as Scofield wants to save his brother and his own girlfriend, the beautiful prison doctor Sara (Sarah Wayne Callies), who helped the brothers escape years ago.

With the help of some other escapees, a lot of silliness over Scylla ensues and the series ends sappily with what has become a routine finale ritual—a look at the future.

The plot twists and the surprises aren’t much. In fact, the best thing about the finale is that “Prison Break” has no future and been put out of its misery. 2 stars out of 4

• Last week’s episode of “Scrubs”— which was either the series or season finale —was an Emmy winner by comparison. Written by series creator Bill Lawrence (who also appeared in a cameo in the final scene as a janitor), it revolved around the unreal expectations that J. D. (Zach Graff) had on his final day as a resident.

There were heartwarming moments, goofy moments, clever moments. Best of all, the real sappiness was saved for a “Mary Tyler Moore”-like hug between the actors when the outtakes of the series were played.

If it was the series finale, “Scrubs” did it in style. However, there has been talk that ABC—which owns the show—may bring it back with new cast members. That probably would be a mistake of “Prison Break” proportions.

• “House” ended its season three nights ago with a smart episode about the two sides of the brain that at times almost was as confusing as some time travel episodes of ABC’s “Lost.”

By the end, the apparent jump-the-shark affair that Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie) supposedly had in last week’s episode with Dr. Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein) was revealed as the product of his pill-popping hallucinations. Cuddy then had House’s buddy Dr. Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard) drive House to a psychiatric hospital, presumably to recover by the start of next season.

The trip happened simultaneously to the much-delayed wedding of Cameron (Jennifer Morrison) and Chase (Jesse Spencer), a routine plot that balanced the darkness of House’s story. All in all, it was a brilliant ending to a complicated season that often taxed the brain.