Prison Break 1.13: "End of the Tunnel"

Written by Paul Scheuring
Directed by Sanford Bookstaver

In which the day before the execution arrives, and Michael must attempt to overcome several challenges to implement his plan, while Veronica tries to get a stay on the execution…


There has been much talk and knashing of teeth over this whole “fall finale” business, and to a certain extent, I have to agree. Fox designed this schedule as if it expected “Prison Break” to fail, despite the fact that it was one of the most anticipated series of the season. Once again, it is impossible to understand the thought process of the typical Fox executive. It’s going to be a long, long wait until March (and where do they intend to put the series then?).

On the other hand, I must admit, this cliffhanger is one hell of a great place to pause and reflect, especially since the escape plan hits snag that is best described as catastrophic. I guess Michael never heard of Murphy’s Law, hmm? Though, as usual, things only happen at the perfect or worst time on this series. None of the personnel notice the holes in walls, but they jump right on the drain that sounds a little “off”!

One of the best aspects of the episode had to be Michael’s slow but steady nervous breakdown. The man is seriously close to something ugly, especially since it’s beginning to dawn on him that failure means the death of his brother and several more years in prison with the likes of T-Bag and Bellick. That would be enough to drive any man crazy, but considering the time and effort he put into the plan, having everything fall apart at the end might just overcome his sanity.

So Abruzzi is dead (complete with rumors of trouble with the actor), Lincoln is down to his final days, and halfway through the escape, the plan hits a major snag. Never mind the fact that a lot of people have heard enough to wonder about the PI crew; how are they going to avoid the fact that they are stuck in that room with a guard seconds away and T-Bag throwing down at the worst possible moment? Good stuff, all around.

Even the Veronica-centric plot threads were full of the goodness, even if they were largely predictably. Sure, we all knew that Veronica would have her source killed and the information stolen at the last moment, thus undermining her credibility with the press, but it still made for fun prime time viewing. And it was interesting to see how Veronica’s efforts actually threatened to derail Michael’s escape plan.

In terms of the typical season arc structure, this episode is pretty close to the end of the “complication” phase. Usually that comes around episode 14-16. The writers took the escape plan far enough that backtracking will be hard to justify, so the question is: will Michael be forced to abandon his escape plan and develop something on the fly? Or will the escape actually continue forward and culminate in the next episode or two? There’s still a lot of ground to cover in the first season (9 episodes, at least), so it really could go in any direction.

One thing that I really love about this series is the pre-planning. The man running the show has mapped out the series for at least the first two seasons, and he clearly has a broad concept of where he wants to go from there. In the meantime, the key is to have fun without over-thinking it. Contrast this with “24”, which has the same “mindless” entertainment value, but often hits the skids when the writers don’t know where to jump next. This series is an example of how consistently entertaining this kind of series can be when the writers know where they’re going and can focus on making it as exciting as possible. And that’s why it will be a long wait until March.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/2

Final Rating: 8/10