Prison Break - Contingency - Review: "Explanations and confusion" + POLL

Given Prison Break’s history, it becomes difficult to take anything the show puts on the screen and believe it at face value, no matter how simple life would be if that were possible. Take, for instance, last week’s reveal of Jacob speaking with A&W and Van Gogh, seemingly suggesting him as Poseidon, only for "Contingency” to attempt to quash that assumption. Really, until something is flat-out confirmed by all parties and then some, it’s a tightrope of teases and half-truths, and it’s frustrating.

So it is somewhat refreshing to see an explanation for how any of what we’re seeing is even possible, given Michael’s death and Sara’s status as a fugitive at the end of the series. Cornered by Lincoln, Michael spills all on how Poseidon set up Sara’s incarceration, enabled him to get everyone exonerated (*) - because the late Paul Kellerman supposedly didn’t have the authority - and hired him to break out notable assets as part of his twisted patriotism. Having spent the entirety of the previous four episodes wondering exactly how or why this show can be back, there’s now an answer for one of those.

(*) This might explain why the police aren’t looking for Sara, but why has she never questioned it? How does she think she can get away with using her real name? Why is she not fearful of being rearrested the second she steps near that police station?

Altering its own continuity is something Prison Break is fond of, to a self-damaging extent. Very little is ever permanent, and things are rarely as they seem. In this instance, Paul Scheuring and co. backed themselves into a corner when planning this new story, given how the show wrapped up. It’s indicative of a revival that very much seems less about breaking new ground than attempt to milk the series for all its worth.

The bigger questions, then, become 1)What is the point of these nine episodes? 2)Is there more story planned than just these nine? And 3)Will any subsequent ending be definitive?

In the case of number three, is there any ending that could be recognised as definitive here? Michael’s death, sacrificing himself to save Sara knowing he’s set to die anyway (*) felt like a pretty closed ending and yet here we are. They could kill him again, fully on-screen to confirm his death, but Prison Break has already twice concluded - if you count “Killing Your Number” and The Final Break as separate endings - with his presumed demise, and thus it runs a risk of serious repetition. All of the main characters could ride off into the sunset, but that’s perhaps an overly optimistic ending; more realistic would be to suggest the characters get a fate befitting them. But, again, that’s essentially how both series finales left off.

(*) I guess they forgot Michael had a brain tumour. Wonder if we’ll ever get that explanation.

Certainly, this is a big picture view, but with the plot in Yemen as stagnant as it currently is, that bigger picture becomes very important. Because if all of this is simply a stalling tactic to grind out as much narrative as is humanly possible, then that paints a very different, far blander, picture of this revival than if we’re heading for a clear-cut conclusion.

And, aside from the exposition dump from Michael - a series of scenes that are well made and well performed by Wentworth Miller, but call into question whether time simply stopped around them given the high pressured situation seemingly waiting for the end of their conversation - the Yemen arc is going nowhere fast. It feels authentic for Michael and co. to be struggling so much to escape, and it is hard to begrudge the show too much for taking its time. But it isn’t interesting, and it isn’t suspenseful, and those are essentials. Of course Michael isn’t going to get hit by the train when crossing the tracks. Of course the group aren’t going to die in the hospital when ISIL come looking. Something like Sid’s death leans more toward the ideal end of the shock spectrum, but after five episodes there is not much connection to him, so he dies with minimal fuss and the rest of the group carry on. There’s only so much running around Yemen, nearly getting caught by fighters, that the show can make work before it becomes tedious; we may very well be at that limit - right as the plane with C-Note and Sheba on leaves, and the escapees remain stuck.

At least there, however, you know where you stand. The same cannot be said for what’s happening back in New York.

Based on the evidence presented, any reasonable person would be sensible to assume that Jacob, having met with A&W and Van Gogh last week and having been shot in the leg by the former rather than being killed, is Poseidon. But Prison Break is up to its old tricks and things are far more complex than that, so much so that whether the show even understands its attempts at misdirects is up for debate.

Jacob could be Poseidon, running another elaborate scheme to convince Sara that he is innocent and just looking out for her best interests, so that he can remain close to her and, by extension, to Michael. Or he could be genuinely innocent, and so stupid as to think contacting professional hitmen who shot him and broke into his house would be a good idea. It got them into an identity parade and, presumably, arrested, so it can’t have been that stupid, right?

The frustrating part is that it could be either and the show could just decide on a whim which it is and do so with very little conviction. There is an appeal to mystery, and to not knowing who to trust, but having been given a strong case to see Jacob as the villain, going to such outlandish lengths to backstop an explanation makes this whole mess far more complicated than it needs to be. If he’s genuinely innocent, his role in the show becomes considerably more unimportant; if he is involved or behind this, we’ve spent the entirety of an episode being led astray. The latter would be fine if there were hints in his demeanour to suggest duplicity, but he was quite convincing in his efforts.

It isn’t unexpected, though. Prison Break seems to get a kick out of pulling the rug from beneath the rug from beneath the rug, and this is probably just another instance of exhausting the trickery as much as possible.

At some point, things will begin to make more sense, and that might bring about a new sensibility, one that is coherent and not at times laborious. More episodes like “Contingency”, however, will do very little in the way of aiding this series.

Notes:

• Seriously, why are A&W and Van Gogh in an identity parade if Jacob isn’t Poseidon, or connected to him?

• Hopefully, Cyclops will never be seen again having been handcuffed to Sid as he dies. That character is fundamentally awful.

• Ja is a lot of fun - “It's only 95% alcohol. I'll only go 95% blind” - but his development has been extremely minimal.

• Michael, Lincoln, and others watching their escape plane fly overhead - we’ve seen that before.

What did everyone think of “Contingency”? Leave your thoughts in the comments, and be sure to vote in our poll below!