Episode 9 - Greatness Achieved
22 January 2009
Review
Synopsis: Self records Wyatt talking and uses that to call the General and tell him that Michael and company are dead. Mahone tortures Wyatt, makes him call his wife to apologise and then kills him. Gretchen goes to see the General who welcomes her home. Michael follows Whistler’s plans to a water pipeline beneath GATE. T-Bag slithers his way through questions from the police about Blauner’s disappearance. Bellick and Lincoln turn off the water supply. Michael struggles with head aches as he and Sucre smash through the pipe. Lincoln and Bellick manoeuvre another pipe through the gap but when the water flow begins again Bellick sacrifices his life to ensure the pipe is safely in place.
The Good: Wyatt’s torture and death are logically and satisfactorily handled. The torture scenes are effective and painful looking. The biology lesson which Mahone gives is well written to ensure the viewer understands exactly what Wyatt is feeling. Mahone links this suffering to his son’s autopsy report which helps make this feel like justice and not just anger. The call to Pam is as happy an ending as their could be to this tale.
Finally Wyatt tries to reason with Mahone by saying “You and I are the same Alex” and Mahone shoves him backward to his death. That is one of those really nice subtle moments of television. Wyatt has a point after all. Mahone murdered several defenceless people during season two because the Company were forcing him to. By shoving him backward quickly Mahone is almost saying he doesn’t want to hear the truth. He needs to believe he is better than the man who killed his son and he sends him to his death before more doubts can enter his mind. He then breathes a smile-less sigh of relief, as close as he can get to happiness in his brutal life.
Bellick’s sacrifice reinforces the feeling that this is the last season of Prison Break. As a largely selfish and greedy character the writers give him a noble death to show him redeeming himself for his past bad behaviour.
The rest of the episode had some nice moments and details. It was nice to hear Bellick ask Lincoln about LJ as surely he should be on his mind. Self’s use of a recording device to capture Wyatt’s voice was a nice neat trick. It’s good to see water flooding through the holes in the pipeline as it would have been impossible to cut holes of the exact size. Just a small thing which helps build credibility into the plot.
The General provides us with a little more detail on Gretchen’s past when he refers to her failing the police psychological test. Seeing her kiss the General is a bit of a shock and certainly adds some intrigue to the state of his personal life (see The Unknown). It’s also intriguing to know whether Gretchen is playing him or if her loyalties are being tested. I liked the General wanting to flood the media with news of the Fox River 8 being at large in LA. It’s a nice very logical bit of thinking.
The Bad: Bellick’s death feels more like plot convenience than a fitting end to his character. It’s not a big deal because Bellick was never more than a peripheral figure. But he has always been selfish and so his sacrifice comes out of nowhere and leaves you feeling unsatisfied by his death.
Wyatt’s death is handled much more appropriately and yet it still manages to feel a bit rushed. The death of Mahone’s son had the feeling of an epic tragedy and yet eight episodes later and Wyatt is swimming with the fishes. Not only does the story feel rushed but it feels like a waste of Wyatt. He played the remorseless killer with real aplomb and I feel his time came too soon.
T-Bag’s shenanigans seem a bit convenient too. He tells his boss that Blauner has been committing fraud and possibly even worse criminal offences and Mr White agrees to sweep it all under the carpet. White has seemed like a decent man, so it’s a bit strange to see him agree to ignore criminal activity so readily. And even more convenient is that White was convinced Blauner was a “boy scout” so his lack of curiosity about this criminal activity seems unlikely.
It seems odd that Lincoln and Michael urge Bellick to get out of the tunnel when the water is coming. Without the pipe in place the water will begin flooding out of the two new holes that have been made. This would presumably risk drowning Bellick and Lincoln on one side and flooding GATE on the other. So really that would have been the end of the whole Scylla plan there and then.
The Unknown: I guess Michael must have a brain tumour then? The General has two daughters and has a sexual history with Gretchen. Could Emily be his child? And could Lisa be the other daughter?
Best Moment: Mahone sticking a needle into Wyatt’s finger tip and explaining how he is going to keep him feeling the pain for as long as possible. Brutal and painful looking. Effective television, gripping to watch and making you really feel what is going on.
The Verdict: It’s another mixed bag for Prison Break. The usual blend of overly contrived developments alongside more effective moments. Spending most of the episode watching Michael manoeuvre the pipe into position isn’t very interesting to watch because we know his plan will succeed one way or another. Bellick’s death unfortunately feels like just another device to make the plan seem more interesting than it is.
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