PRISON BREAK.

PRISON BREAK.

This is an American series that featured on Fox Network from 2005-2017. It revolves around an innocent man who was wrongly condemned to death for a crime he never committed and his brother’s masterpiece plan to aid him to escape prison. It takes the story structure of the storytelling format. It sparked interest as a prison drama arising from its success and also recognition. Its genre is an action thriller and crime drama.

Broadcast history.

In 2003, its producer, Paul Scheuring, introduced the idea of airing the series to the Fox Network company but was unfortunately turned down as Fox thought that running the production as a series might have long-time negative effects. He subsequently presented the idea to other television channels with no luck. In 2004, the Fox Company changed its stand on the series and backed up its production. It was, therefore, broadcast in August 2009 on the Fox Company Network. In 2006, the series got nominated to participate in Primetime Emmy Awards.

Apart from the television broadcast, it has also been aired in other different forms of media. Its directive shows have also been featured in short videos to run in mobile phones. In addition to that, several seasons have been released on DVD, Blu-ray Disc and also made available for purchase at iTunes Music Store. It was also streamed online on different websites, including but not limited to Yahoo and Google. There was also a spinoff series produced to run exclusively on mobile phones and broadcasted in 2006 through SprintTV,s Fox Station. For print media, there are productions of the show in an official magazine and also a book which was published in 2006.

Style and tone.

The style and tones used in the series include tension, suspense, and excitement. There is a lot of twists and turns as it incorporates prison life, confinement, escape plans, fugitive life, schemes as well as a manhunt. It includes several themes including action, drama and crime genres. Its style is similar to that of Lost, Spartacus, and Game of Thrones.

Show dynamics.

The series employs a lot of dynamics that contribute to its success. For instance, Michael Scofield breaks out of a Maximum Security Penitentiary in Fox River and even escapes from Sona in Panama. This displays him as one who can escape from anywhere, even a box. He also dies at the end of Season four only to resurface back in Season five after a long period. Executive producer Micahel terms this as the mystery of the series in which they write a way out of there.

In addition to this too, the story’s details may sound familiar, but this is by design. For example, covering Michael’s body in tattoos as well as the second season is covered in antique blueprints. The series may seem alike to another one, The Odyssey, which is termed as a modern rendering. It employs storytelling techniques similar to that of The Odyssey, including surprises, clues, messages, and codes.

It might also seem to be timely with conflicts in the Arabic world, but that is not the case. The executive producer says that it just turned out to be timely. It may also seem to be employing political statements, religious views, and emotional drama. For example, Michael returns to find that Sara has already remarried. There is also another dynamic between the two brothers in that, in season one, Michael breaks out Lincoln out of prison. Later, Lincoln gets to break Michael out of prison too.

Main characters.

Lincoln Burrows is sentenced to death after being falsely accused of murder. He escapes from prison later with help from his brother and joins in the hunt for the money hidden in Utah by John while living as fugitive with his brother and the other escapees from Fox River. He later gangs up with the rest in an attempt to bring down The Company.

Michael Scofield designs a plan to free his brother from prison. He succeeds and gets his brother out of prison with six other convicts. They spend some time running away from the authorities, but Michael is later caught at Panama and imprisoned in Sona. He once again escapes from Sona. He has low latent inhibition which makes him see and hear things other normal people would not.

Veronica Donovan is Lincoln’s girlfriend and a friend to Michael. She tries to find some evidence to exonerate Lincoln but fails. She, however, helps by finding out that Steadman is still alive and leaks this out to the press. She later gets killed by Kellerman, who is a CIA operative working with the government to carry out various illegal acts.

Other major characters include John Abruzzi who is a mob boss but is imprisoned at Fox River, Brad Bellick, a prison officer and Fernando Sucre. There is Theodore Bagwell, Lincoln Junior, and Sara Tancredi. Sara helps Michael during his escape from Fox River and escapes from the authorities for aiding in criminal activities. She later gangs up with the ‘A-team’ to bring down The Company. There is also Alexander Mahone, Norman Lechero, Sofia Lugo and Donald self.

Types of tension.

The series has a span of tension with its unbelievable plots that keep the fans coming back for more. It got so magnetic that it could run-up to the fifth season, and there has been an announcement for the sixth season. The tension in it made it become a smash hit.

The show exhibit different cases of tension. For instance, the lead character dies only to resurface again in the next season. The possibility of him being alive after all these years brings a twist to the plot making it more interesting. The specifics behind his disappearance remain to be a mystery in the season’s early episodes leading to an increase in tension.

As the series goes on, it gets caught in an endless web of conspiracies, an evil organization called The Company and rogue secret service agents. The story revolves around Scotfiels as he gets out of prison only to get into another, break out, get into another, break out and the cycle continues. Fans are left wondering when the cycle will come to a stop and therefore cannot keep themselves from coming back for more.

In season three, the tension keeps on building as Michael’s love is declared dead by The Company. After a lot of grieving over her death, she shows up alive from witness protection—quite a turn of events. The whole disappearance act gets to be revealed as a trick by The Company to force Lincoln to work for them fearing for his son’s life.

There is also a twist of events whereby the escapes are engaged by Homeland Security and also their escape from Panama in a chopper. The shows thrill in killing some main characters and later bringing them back to life was the most incredible. Tension also piles up as Michael breaks out of one prison to another. It can only be said that the use of tension in the series plays a major role in popularizing it.

Themes.

The series employs a wide range of themes. First of all, there is a lot of deaths in the series. The list of confirmed deaths throughout the show is an outstanding season in, season out. From the main characters to other characters, the list of deaths is long. There is also a huge main character kill count and also ironic deaths. For instance, Theodore Bagwell kills so many people inside prison as well as outside.

Since the setting of the series is also majorly in prison, there is also a lot of prison slang. It is used especially in the first season in Fox River. It is used as a part of the penitentiary’s culture. The same is also experienced at Sona where Michael gets locked in by The Company.  For example, a badge to refer to a correctional officer, cellie for a cellmate, fish for a new prisoner and hawged- to have something taken away.

Religion, as a theme, is also displayed in the series. Scofield is driven by a sense of justice to free his brother from prison in a moral way. Time to time, he shows a soft spot for some weak prisoners to join in his escape plan. For example, he takes the young to join in the escape from Panama in the third season.

Many characters experience several injuries that mostly cost them their deaths. For example, in season one, John cuts two of Michael’s toes when he refuses to give them information on Otto Fibonacci. Michael also cuts his hand to retrieve a pill for food poisoning for his brother. John later nearly gets killed by T-Bag through a slice on his throat but survives.

The themes vary from episode to episode. Although this is the case, there exists a unifying idea since the plot revolves around prisons and crime drama. For instance, the case of injuries runs through several episodes with the main characters experiencing both physical injuries as well as psychological trauma. From Michael being cut two of his toes to Paul Kellerman having two of his fingers broken by Quinn, Lincoln is getting shot multiple times by Luca in Season 5 and Michael getting flogged by an Oggyia guard in the infirmary. Many survive their injuries, although others also succumb to death.

Conclusion.

In conclusion, Prison Break can be seen as a masterpiece with all the turns and twists in its plot, characterization, and themes and also its application of tension. No wonder it turned out to be an award-winning production time to time with a huge fan base, high sale rates and also high rating way above other film productions. It also managed to run from season one to season five, and probably 6, without losing its relevance. Any fan of crime drama and thriller should reconsider getting a copy of Prison Break to watch.

Works cited.

1. Atkin, David. “An analysis of television series with minority‐lead characters.” Critical Studies in Media Communication9.4 (1992): 337-349.
2. Jensen, Robin E., and Jakob D. Jensen. “Entertainment media and sexual health: A content analysis of sexual talk, behaviour, and risks in a popular television series.” Sex roles56.5-6 (2007): 275.
3. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0455275/reviews.