In its time, Prison Break went through several ups and downs. The first season, generally considered to be the best, was a real thrill ride, and although the series kept up its devotion to plot twists and reveals and putting its characters in seemingly inescapable situations in subsequent years, it gradually descended into ridiculousness. Much of that came from the endless conspiracies that became a staple of the narrative, and pushed the characters in circles - the conspiracy was revealed until it was not.
So it is somewhat disheartening to see “Ogygia” appear to fall back into the same old routine, with two shadowy people in suits - the kind who would and will speak exclusively cryptically - antagonising Lincoln and Sara for some reason as yet unbeknownst to us. And for Michael to not only be alive (more on that in a moment) but to be a supposed terrorist named Kaniel Outis possibly working at the behest of someone bigger but also maybe playing whoever they are but also playing everyone in Yemen but also luring his friends and family into finding him but also pretending he doesn’t know them… it is somewhat exhausting.
In fairness, having expectations of a clear-cut, coherent storyline is probably too much to ask, given the number of contrivances the show’s plot tended to have and the level of disbelief suspension required to enjoy it. And, admittedly, it is worth giving creator Paul T. Scheuring time to make sense of it all; that there are only nine episodes means there is a better chance of a tighter, more concise story than before. But it is difficult not to expect the same rabbit holes to crop up, and for the show to once again get so bogged down in its narrative that it forgets somewhat about the characters (*).
(*) For instance, Alex Mahone (William Fichtner, who is one of only two living major players not to be returning alongside Marshall Allman’s L.J., depending on your definition of major) was by far the most interesting aspect of the final season, despite the insistence of focusing on Scylla. I’d have watched a whole season just about him instead of Scylla.
The crux of the revival, however, is that Michael is alive and incarcerated in Ogygia Prison in Yemen, the worst correctional facility in the country that houses “heavy hitters [and] political prisoners”, according to C-Note. That is, of course, assuming that he didn’t have a twin brother named Kaniel Outis who no one knew about and that Michael really and truly is dead. A reveal like that may actually make more logical sense, though, given that The Final Break quite firmly established his death - either he electrocuted himself in helping Sara escape the Miami-Dade State Penitentiary (more on that in a moment), or he succumbed to the brain tumour that had returned. But for a show in which death is less permanent than it is a temporary crutch - it’s hard to keep track of the number of characters who seemingly died and then were alive; hell, the initial premise of the series is somewhat built around that idea - it is just something that we have to go along with.
Similarly, Sara’s status as a civilian, as opposed to a fugitive who escaped prison seven years ago after being incarcerated for murder, is completely ignored. At least with Michael, the premiere pretends that he is dead - to the characters, anyway - in spite of any and every viewer knowing the contrary. With Sara, it seems that one of two things happened: a) Scheuring forgot (*); or b) there is no reasonable justification for her being completely free, and so best to ignore it for the sake of ease.
(*) Granted, I had also forgotten about this, but that is mostly because I have a mental block on the absurdities of that final season.
Still, it is what it is.
As for “Ogygia” itself, it is very much akin to the initial pilot from way back in 2005. That hour is essentially a checklist of plot that only sets up the premise of the series rather than progressing it; this does a better job of pushing things on - a necessity given the reduced episode count - but is too mostly a box-ticking exercise. Yet despite the jumps in logic needed here, it arguably works better as a starting off point in terms of narrative than the pilot.
The problem is that it simply is not as engaging as it should be, or as it thinks it is. There is plenty of intrigue to pique curiosity, certainly, and it is fun to see Dominic Purcell’s gruff Lincoln and Robert Knepper’s hammy performance as T-Bag. But it is otherwise so paint by numbers that it is difficult to have any strong opinions on it either way. Yes, it is somewhat dumb and same-y, but there is a sense both of nostalgia and that even if this series is not particularly good, it is not going to apologise for it. And it seems to at least have a vague awareness of its silliness, which is something.
In terms of the actual plot not previously noted, Lincoln has reverted back to his old criminal ways without his brother to keep him clean - he opens the episode on the run from a gang to whom he owes $100,000 - and as a result is estranged from Sara and Mike Jr., who idolises his uncle. Lincoln is quickly the target of those shadowy people in suits, one of whom causes his car to crash into a lake. Sara remarried after Michael’s supposed death to a man named Jacob (Mark Feuerstein), who featured for all of two minutes of screentime before being shot in the leg - by the other of the suited individuals who is set on killing Sara. T-Bag, upon release from Fox River, receives an envelope with no return address containing a photo of Michael in Ogygia. Later, he is given a prosthetic hand by a doctor with a mysterious benefactor using only the Greek word for “nobody” as an identity.
Simple, really.
Lincoln’s bad habits are not exactly a surprise; Michael warned Sara in his goodbye video that his brother would need a helping hand to stay on the right track. But it works nicely in that saving his thought-to-be-dead brother gives him a purpose as opposed to whatever bad business he has gotten involved in. Sara’s hesitancy to believe the story comes mostly from a desire to avoid false hope and to avoid potentially instilling that hope into Mike Jr. in case it is a lie, but also, the people coming into her house and trying to kill her family.T-Bag, meanwhile, being the same old sleazebag he always was, has one instinct and one instinct only once out of Fox River: contact his female fans for some lovin’ and maybe some killin’. But his time seems to have given him an appreciation for fate, as he uses that as a justification for everything he does here. Is it fate? Probably not.
In reality, it is probably Michael having planned everything ten steps ahead, just like most everything that happens on this show. As C-Note put it: “Michael has never been anyone's sucker. He's always been in control. Always.”
Hopefully, Prison Break’s revival season can, at the very least, maintain the level of competency displayed in “Ogygia”, and not make the viewers its suckers.
Notes:
• I do love the opening and closing credit music, which was used here accompanied by an instrument I cannot identify. Otherwise, it is pretty much the same as before.
• How young do Wentworth Miller and especially Dominic Purcell look in the opening recap of the original run? Miller was 33 during the first season; Purcell was 35 - and yet their ageing is so stark here.
• Speaking of that opening recap, I find it funny that it condenses the first season to around 50 seconds and then spends 25 seconds from the end of season four, skipping basically everything in the middle. I know none of that stuff in the middle really matters to this new season and so was not necessary to include, but it is amusing nonetheless.
• To misquote Jasper from The Simpsons: “It's an old-fashioned grave digging. By gar, it's been a while.”
• Mike Jr., at just six-years-old, is both observant and shrewd in what he sees. Or, as I wrote in my notes: “PLOT!”
• Sucre deserved to be hit in the face for sneaking up on Lincoln. Even disregarding what is happening right now, Sucre knows him well enough to realise that is a terrible idea. Still, Amaury Nolasco is always entertaining in this role, and it is nice to see him back.
• FOX sent critics the first four episodes, so I’ll have reviews up immediately following at minimum the next three episodes.
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