Prison Break: Sequel Official Review

The entertainment industry in 2017 is completely full of the three Rs – Reboots, Remakes, and Revivals. Studio and network executives know that the nostalgia factor is a quick way to a big paycheck, and they aren’t afraid to pull the trigger on a visitation of an old project.

Prison Break – which originally aired in 2005 – is the latest of these properties to get the revival treatment. While the new series may cling a little too tightly to the style and substance that worked back in 2005, the passion behind the project manages to lift it up, and make it entertaining for a modern audience.

If you recall, Michael (played by Wentworth Miller) was killed at the end of the original series. Lincoln (Dominic Purcell) and Sara (Sarah Wayne Callies) were left without the person they held most dear. The new nine-episode series reveals that Michael is actually still alive, and Lincoln gets the team together to track him down.

Since the show has been done before, and television has basically been reinvented since then, sticking with the original style and tone hurts the new series. None of the dialogue or action seems incredibly believable, and it causes quite the disconnect with viewers. The classic thriller tropes are more than evident from start to finish, making it much less engaging than the original.

However, that being said, this new Prison Break finds a way to bring back the show that people loved so much.

Just like the original series, this revival has began a long con. There are small hints, lines, and moments throughout its first episode that won’t pay off for quite a while. For instance, Lincoln finds a name sewn into one of Michael’s old coats. The name means nothing, and seems out of place, but another clue is hidden later in the episode. Just like the early seasons of Prison Break, these clues are meant to come back later. It’s supposed to be a bit confusing, and even seem a bit muddled, in order to have a bigger pay-off in the end.

If this were a brand new series, one that didn’t carry the name Prison Break, it might not have worked. People could lose interest in the first episode based on how messy the story seems to be at times. However, Prison Break is able to rely on its enormous audience. Because people tuning in is a guarantee, the series is able to draw things out just a litte more. It’s both a gift, and a curse.

Now matter how twisted the story got in the original series, Prison Break never really relied on it. The characters on the show, and their relationships with one another, were always the strong point. The same can be said of the revival.

Three fan-favorite actors return in the first episode – C-Note (Rockmond Dunbar), Sucre (Amaury Nolasco), and T-Bag (Robert Knepper) – and they all brought back the charm that made the characters engaging in the first place. T-Bag was a clever creep, as always, and Sucre is possibly more entertaining than ever.

The highlight however, has to be Dunbar’s C-Note. The former military operative was a great character to start with, but his new religion has made for a fascinating turn. C-Note has now converted to Islam, and it active in trying to break the stereotype people have about his faith. The writing of this character helps to break down these walls as well, as it brings to light the real side of a lifestyle many don’t understand. Dunbar’s performance tops it off, as his brilliant subtlety does not go unnoticed. His strength as an actor has always been the ability to bring audiences into his emotional spectrum, and this is another example of his masterful technique.

The passion in the Prison Break sequel is at the forefront, and that alone makes it worth watching. Because the actors wanted this to happen, and the writers had more story to tell, it’s clear that the show is heading in the right direction. All of the pieces are in place, it just needs a little bit of time. Once you get to the final minute of the first episode, you’ll be hooked right back into the world of Michael and Lincoln.

Be patient, and you will be rewarded.

Official Score: 3/5 stars.

UP NEXT: Producers Reveal Why Prison Break Returned In 2017.

The original action drama centered on MICHAEL SCOFIELD (Miller, “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow“), a young man determined to save his convicted brother, LINCOLN BURROWS (Purcell, “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow”), from death row by hatching an elaborate plan to escape from prison.

In the new series, filmed on location in Morocco, clues surface that suggest a previously thought-to-be-dead Michael may be alive. Lincoln and SARA (Sarah Wayne Callies, “Colony,” “The Walking Dead”), Michael’s wife until he was presumed dead, reunite to engineer the biggest escape ever, as three of Fox River State Penitentiary’s most notorious escapees, SUCRE (Nolasco, “Telenovela”), T-BAG (Knepper, “Heroes”) and C-NOTE (Dunbar, “The Mentalist”), are pulled back into the action.