It often feels like the least romantic show on television. The wardrobes are dull, and the scenery is bleak.
But “Prison Break” is on a roll, with the breakout implied by the title expected before the end of this season. Word is, some potential romantic interests – both inside and outside the prison walls – will heat up before the guys go on the lam during the May sweeps.
While the drama’s mind games and intrigue are addictive, viewers are bound to welcome the break from visual lockdown.
The question will be: Can the series sustain the tension and hold the same appeal once it transforms into a different show?
All along, according to creator Paul Scheuring (“A Man Apart,” “36K”), the idea has been to evolve from the prison story into a version of “The Fugitive,” with the escaped cons on the lam and audiences still trying to make sense of the convoluted plot.
A story of filial devotion amid devious political corruption, “Prison Break” is proudly tense and tough. Pressures within and without, from childhood rivalries and personal angst to harassment from sadistic jailers, are deftly explored. The feel is gritty, stopping short of the miserably graphic violence and class warfare of HBO’s prison drama, “Oz.”
For those catching up while the story is stuck in confinement: Structural engineer Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller) is the younger but more responsible of two brothers; wastrel brother Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell), framed for murdering the vice president’s (Patricia Wettig) brother, is on death row. Michael determines to break his brother out of prison by having himself incarcerated too.
Coincidentally, it’s a prison Michael helped design, so he’s cleverly had the blueprints tattooed on his body. Stacey Keach is the prison warden, who has little to do besides await the last-minute call of the governor (John Heard).
Hey, nobody said it wasn’t a preposterous premise.
Michael’s initial attempt to help Lincoln escape failed after oh-so-many close calls.
Last Monday’s pivotal episode included flashbacks to the preprison lives of several inmates. The more we know of their backstories, the more invested we are in these characters’ futures.
Unfair imprisonment in the case of “C-Note,” then known as 1st Sgt. Benjamin “C-Note” Franklin (he was going to expose incidents of torture in the U.S. Army in Kuwait), and an idiotic robbery reported by a supposed friend in the case of Michael’s cellmate Sucre (Amaury Nolasco) make those convicts more sympathetic. T-Bag (Robert Knepper), the oily Louisana con whose nickname for Michael is “Pretty,” turns out to be as creepy as we thought. He was turned in by a girlfriend who spotted him on “America’s Most Wanted.”
Working to exonerate Lincoln on the outside is defense attorney Veronica Donovan (Robin Tunney), Lincoln’s former girlfriend who also had an almost-dalliance with Michael.
On the inside, prison doctor Sarah Tancredi (Sarah Wayne Callies), a recovering morphine addict, is another potential ally.
And – is it possible? – Lincoln believes that, in his anxious state, he spotted the brothers’ long-absent father among the spectators at his ultimately aborted execution.
If you can survive Fox’s back-to-back hours of “24” and “Prison Break” without grinding your teeth, you’re not paying attention.
Fortunately, the “Prison Break” plot feels as well-diagramed as Michael’s complex escape plan, which appears on the wall of his loft in a flashback at the start of each hour.
Going forward, there’s lots to find out about the central mystery. We learned last week that Wettig’s conniving vice president, who claims to be mourning her brother’s murder, is in fact keeping her long-suffering sibling out of sight in a quiet upstairs hideaway.
She’s masterminding a sprawling coverup, for reasons not yet revealed. Her ruthless underlings obediently destroy and alter evidence to keep the conspiracy going, pinning the crime on Lincoln for reasons that remain unclear.
We’re along for the ride. Enough of the underground tunnels and claustrophobic jail cells. Get these guys on the road, and let’s see how the new story line works.
TV critic Joanne Ostrow can be reached at 303-820-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com.
