Season one of Prison Break is great television. Here's the
set-up. Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell) is framed and wrongfully
convicted for assassinating the Vice President's brother. Lincoln's
brother Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller), who just happens to
have designed Illinois' Fox River Penitentiary where Lincoln is on
death row, hatches an elaborate escape plan. Michael's plan involves
getting himself incarcerated in Fox River and smuggling the prison's
blueprints by having them hidden in tattoos that cover his entire
torso. Once inside, Michael must form alliances with a rogue's
gallery of felons with their own sometimes unsavory motives.
Meanwhile, on the outside, Lincoln's lawyer and one-time girlfriend
Veronica Donovan (Robin Tunney), pursued by Secret Service agents,
attempts to unravel the conspiracy that sent her man to the slammer.
Prison Break is anchored by tight, suspenseful writing clearly
relished by the largely little-known cast. Standouts include Robert
Knepper as the murderer/pedophile T-Bag, who somehow makes such a
despicable character likeable. Stacey Keach of Mike Hammer
fame plays the warden-with-a-heart-of-gold, who clashes with Captain
Brad Bellick (Wade Williams) over whether to rehabilitate the
inmates or makes their lives more miserable. Peter Stormare, famous
for his skills with a wood chipper in Fargo, turns in a deliciously
menacing performance as mob boss John Abruzzi, while Amaury
Nolasco's winsome Fernando Sucre shares a cell and secrets with
Miller's Scofield. Watching the show one gets a sense that this is
the opening salvo of Wentworth Miller's career, which will doubtless
include roles as assassins, detectives, super heroes, and perhaps
the champion of staring contests. Midway through the season it's
explained that Scofield is a genius with an heightened sensitivity
to other peoples' suffering, which sums up what makes the show so
great--the mind-bendingly intricate plot is a framework for moments
when people make others suffer and cope with the burden of their own
suffering.
The six-disc set includes 22 addictive episodes, audio commentary on
selected episodes, three featurettes, and alternate and deleted
scenes. As with most TV shows on DVD, the "previously on Prison
Break" intros can get tiresome, but that's what the fast forward
button is for. --Ryan Boudinot
