Prison Break 1.3: "Cell Test"

Written by Mike Pavone
Directed by Brad Turner

In which Michael prepares for the next stage of his plan, which involves a loyalty test and his cellmate, while Veronica finds that uncovering the truth about Lincoln has consequences…


I’ve come to the conclusion that enjoyment of this series will be entirely dependent on my ability to shut down certain impulses in my brain. Specifically, the parts that would take a lot of the story seriously. I’m not sure that the writers were really looking for me to laugh hysterically at certain moments, but it kept me from rolling my eyes too much.

Don’t get me wrong…this is not a bad show, and it’s far better than the pilot led me to believe. It’s just that there’s a point at which Michael’s well-considered plans seem awfully naïve and pathetic, and it’s fun watching it all fall apart. Why? Because clearly the writers have constructed a way for Michael to overcome all (or most) of these obstacles, and seeing that unfold is going to be rather amusing and exciting.

Michael recognized that the weak link of his plan (besides his survival) would be his cellmate. All of his activities would have to be filtered through a complete stranger whose identity would be unknown until he arrived. What strikes me as odd is the loyalty test that he conceived. It’s one thing to see if a cellmate will spill about a possible cell phone; it’s another to expect him to put his life on the line for possible escape.

Where Michael goes wrong is the psychological aspect of his plan. He’s not very good at figuring people out. He might know what other people know, their connections and resources, and everything that fits into his elaborate scheme, but he relies far too much on every little detail coming together. He never accounted for the fact that other inmates might react violently to his attempts at blackmail, and he certainly didn’t pay attention to his cellmate.

Sucre was hardly silent regarding his personal issues, and Michael knew all about his deep devotion to his woman. One can only assume that Sucre mentioned his concerns regarding Hector in the process, since he told everyone else about it. If Michael truly understood how critical his cellmate would be to his efforts, then he would have been devoting a lot more time to knowing and understanding his cellmate’s emotional and mental state.

How hard would it have been to use Sucre’s concerns about his fiancé and Hector into motivation? Michael completely misses that opportunity. More to the point, he’s far too open in his conversations with Sucre, especially since Sucre doesn’t see any upside to preserving Michael’s interests. By the time the lunatic is assigned to his cell, Michael’s fumbling becomes almost comic.

By my count, at least six inmates (including Michael and Lincoln) who potentially know about Michael’s plan. That’s way too many people at this stage of the game. Making things worse, Veronica is running around setting off alarm after alarm to the Secret Service agents behind the cover-up. Every time Veronica visits Michael, I can’t help but wonder how long it will take the agents to figure out that Michael has something up his sleeve. Michael’s survival wouldn’t last far beyond that point!

Felicia’s death will hopefully give Veronica pause. She needs to be a lot more careful. Of course, part of the conceit of the series is that time is of the essence. This pushes everyone to make mistakes, and they make incredibly stupid and impulsive decisions. Killing Felicia wasn’t the smartest move; it could have been handled more cleanly, and she could have been used to expose other weaknesses. And assigning Lincoln to mentor his own son is a recipe for LJ’s future occupation as potential hostage/victim.

That parting shot, however, was a moment of genius. I was still laughing well after the promo for the next episode. Like I said…a lot of the enjoyment is going to be watching this flawed, short-sighted individual pull off something miraculous against overwhelming odds.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 1/4

Final Rating: 7/10