Prison Break Season 1 REVIEW (TW)
As a first-time watcher, I thoroughly enjoyed familiarising myself with the show’s protagonists, Michael Scofield and Lincoln burrows- who are both inmates at Fox River prison state penitentiary, located just outside of Chicago.
The 22-episode season is a fast paced, easy watch restricted to age 15 and over. I binge-watched the Netflix show in my bedroom and was not disappointed by the watchability. As a fan of comedy, this series allowed me to step away from my own particular boundaries and familiarise myself with very smartly written crime.
We become aware in the episode “Pilot” as to why Michael commits a crime to become an inmate at Fox River and reacquaints himself with his brother, Lincoln who was charged for the murder of the Vice President’s brother. However, it becomes clear as the episodes progress that Lincoln and his brother Michael are innocent civilians plotting to escape the prison. The gruesome details left no room to imagination. Gorey scenes included: a hand being severed, toe amputations and attempted rape. The well-executed special effects assured these particular scenes were most memorable. As the episodes progressed, clear character development is established and the characters relationships, good and bad, blossom.
My personal favourite character was ‘T-Bag’ who is the shows certified villain. T-Bag’s character development was my favourite to watch as the viewers realise just how clever the antagonist is. The series does brilliant in ensuring the characters are presented as more than criminals. Personally, I believe Its’ ingeniously twisted I began to gain a sense of joy watching a rapist/ child predator succeed in all of his missions.
The character diversity is extremely impressive given the pilot aired in 2005. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing actors of all ethnicities and races present and provide essential roles in the show. Race
dominates the prisons ‘food chain’ and consistently reminds the viewers throughout of each category’s jobs in Fox River. The predominantly white prison guard ratio is extremely clever and is useful when establishing racism. Nevertheless, I do wish more superior characters were more diverse- even if the series did air in 2005.
On the contrary, I do believe some aspects of the season were pointless and the pace was sometimes lost. The season did not need to go on as long as it did, as each task the inmates did lasted for episodes. The suspense was there, and I was never bored, however, I was longing for the prisoners to escape, the season to end and for the next season to begin rather than thoroughly enjoy the season for what it was.
Another admirable mention is the sheer cleverness of the writers to present such minor, yet clever techniques in their writing to ensure the ambience of the series was tense yet thrilling throughout.
Episodes that were most notable were the two-part episodes “Riots, Drills and the Devil.” These episodes saw the prisoners assert their dominance in the prison and roles were temporarily reversed. I really appreciated the shock value these brought to the series and it gave me an insight into certain prisoners’ capabilities. An honourable mention was when we saw the prison guard ‘Bob’ be bullied by the show’s antagonist, T-bag.
Overall, my experience watching ‘Prison Break’ was definitely enjoyable and is now one of my favourite series to recommend to friends. I am enjoying following the characters on their overall mission of escaping, but their personal growth too. My hopes are high for future seasons.
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