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Click Here "Prison Break" Review By Shawn McKenzie 09/04/2005 Even though the 2005-2006 TV season doesnt officially start until Septem ber 19 (the day after the Emmy Awards), one network has decided to start their season early. That said network would be FOX, and their first sh ow is the prison drama Prison Break. Despite having a slightly unbeli evable concept, it is a great way to start the season off on a good foot . In 1999, he was involved in a retrofitting job of the prison, and he still has all of the plans of the building wit h him. After doing all the extensive research, and adding those notes t o his tattoos, he gets rid of all of the evidence. The next day, he goes into the downtown Chicago branch of United Savings Bank and attempts to steal over a half million dollars. When he is arre sted, he is put on trial for armed robbery. Michael has requested to be sent to Fox River, which the judge grants. Veronica still doesnt un derstand why Michael is doing this, because he isnt violent and he does nt need the money. Also, he was the only positive influence for LJ (Ma rshall Allman), Lincolns son. When Michael gets to Fox River, Captain Brad Bellick (Wade Williams) gree ts him, and tells him that he has nothing coming to him. He just w ants to do his time and get out so that he can get married. She is engaged to an investment banker named Sebastian Balfour (Anthony Starke), though it ap pears that she still thinks about Lincoln, who used to be her boyfriend. Michael tells Sucre that Lincoln, or as the other inmates call him, Linc the Sink (because hell come at you with everything but the kitchen si nk), is his brother. Michael later asks Abruzzi if he can be hired for PI, giving him a paper origami swan and telling h im that he has something to offer the mob boss. Abruzzi scoffs at this new fish and throws away the swan. Fibonacci is a mob informant whose testimony put Abr uzzi behind bars, and he, along with mobsters Gavin Smallhouse (Gianni R usso), Philly Falzone (Al Sapienza), and Maggio (Rich Komenich), are ver y interested in finding the man, who is currently in witness protection. His testimony could land all of them in jail, and Falzone specifically threatens Abruzzi with harm to his kids if he doesnt find Fibonacci. Sara Tancredi (Sarah Wayne Callies), the prison doctor . Sara is the daughter of Illinois Governor Frontier Justice Frank Ta ncredi, a fact that she doesnt like to tell many people about, because she differs with her father in their political beliefs. Michael has to go the infirmary for his regular insulin shots, because he has Type I Di abetes. In Washington DC, Special Agent Paul Kellerman (Paul Adelstein) and Spe cial Agent Danny Hale (Danny McCarthy) are trying to thwart the efforts of anyone who might free Lincoln. A man named Bishop McMorrow (Chelcie Ross) has a lot of influence with the Governor and may persuade him to g rant a stay of execution. They decide to visit him and persuade him t o back off by accusing him of tax fraud. McMorrow wont be bullied, but later in the episode, he is shot and killed in his bed. Back at Fox River, Warden Henry Pope (Stacy Keach) asks to see Michael. He knows that Michael is a structural engineer, so he offers him three d ays of work a week in Popes office helping him build a model of the Taj Mahal made out of toothpicks. It is for his wife for their fortieth we dding anniversary, but he cant seem to get the proper reinforcements to keep it from collapsing, and that is where Michael comes in. Michael t urns down the offer at first, but a few days later, he accepts the offer when the warden threatens to throw Michael in the SHU (solitary confine ment) for ninety days for fighting. The reason he was fighting was that Abruzzi got a call from Maggio that they received a picture of Fibonacc i and a folded up swan. He realizes that Michael does have information about Fibonacci, and he demands that the fish tell him where the informa nt is. Michael will tell Abruzzi the information, but not until they ar e both safe outside the walls of the prison. Michael needs PUGNAc, an insulin blocker, because he is only pretending t o be diabetic so that he can spend more time in the infirmary getting th ings ready for his and Lincolns escape. He approaches a black inmate n amed C-Note (Rockmond Dunbar) about supplying him with some PUGNAc. Michael then looks for a bolt on a specific set of bleachers out in the y ard. He has the serial number for this specific bolt tattooed on his fo rearm, and he finds it, but before he can screw it out of the bleacher, Theodore Bagwell, aka T-Bag (Robert Knepper), stops him. He is the l eader of the Alliance for Purity, a white supremacist gang, and he has h is submissive partner May Tag (Brian Hamman) with him. T-Bag says that a race war is around the corner, and he offers his protection. Michael turns him down, which ticks T-Bag off, forcing Michael to leave the bolt half-unscrewed. Veronica finds Tim Giles (Keith Diamond), Lincolns public defender, and asks him about a man named Crab Simmons (Tab Baker), who could have clea red Lincolns name. Crab is a five-time felon, so it would be a waste o f time. The next day, Tim visits Veronica in her office and gives her a surveillance video of the parking garage where Lincoln had allegedly ki lled Terrence Steadman. She watches it, and then she visits Lincoln in jail to ask him about it. He tells her that he never fired his gun, and that she should do some more research. Michael goes back to finish unscrewing the bolt, but T-Bag and May Tag ca tch him again. T-Bag makes Michael hand over the bolt, who gives it to May Tag. Michael later goes to Abruzzi to ask him about shaking down an inmate, which he tells him he will do, as soon as Michael tells him whe re to find Fibonacci. Michael further frustrates Abruzzi by telling him that he will do that once they escape. He has a fel low CO look up the name, but he comes up with nothing. He later shows Michael the bott le of PUGNAc, but tells him that he chose the wrong side of the race war , causing Michael to leave empty-handed. Veronica finds Crabs residence and runs into Crabs mother, who tells he r that Crab is dead. Back in her office, Veronica gets a call from Leti cia Barris (Adina Porter), Crab Simmons ex-girlfriend. She meets with Leticia, who tells her that she believes that the same people who killed Crab are trying to kill Lincoln. d , but Leticia said that Crab had a bad heart and would never touch drugs . He conveniently died a week after Lincoln had killed Steadman. Hale and Kellerman had already questioned Tim about his visit to Veronica , and now they have witnessed her meeting with Leticia. Kellerman calls a mysterious woman, who instructs him to do what you need to do to mak e this go away. During a prison riot, another inmate fatally stabs May Tag, but Michael i s able to get the bolt away from him. T-Bag assumes that Michael had do ne the stabbing, and he vows revenge. Michael takes the medicine, and Sara later administers her test. He refuses, and the episo de ends with one of the thugs cutting off the pinkie toe. The director of the Rush Hour movies, Brett Ratner, executive produces an d directed the first hour of this show.
A Man Apart, created this series and wrote its first two episodes. They have constructed a show that is a little b it far-fetched, but interesting. The fact that Michael conveniently goe s to the same prison as Lincoln, and that Sara is only mildly inquisitiv e to Michaels diabetes problem is a little hard to believe. Alsowhen are they going to explain why Michael Scofield and Lincoln Burrows have two different last names? Maybe its the buzz cuts, but I could actually believe that they we re real brothers. Stormare always makes a great bad guy in movies, so h e is giving us another good one on the small screen. Knepper plays a ve ry creepy bad guy, and he is very effective at it too. The two love int erests are good, but they dont have a lot of time to establish their ro mances with their respective men yet. Callies is obviously going to fal l for Miller, and I seriously doubt that Tunney will be seeing a wedding in t...
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