Swan song
Sigh! And squee! And noooo! I won't spoil anything right now, just in case, but I have to tell you, I enjoyed the hell out of these last two episodes, and in terms of tying everything together and bringing it all back around, I can't think of many series finales that have done better. There was one thing I was pretty sure would happen even though I didn't want it to, but in retrospect I think it was inevitable pretty much from the get-go. And there was one thing I was pretty sure was just too entirely thoroughly awesome to possibly happen, and it totally happened anyway! A surprisingly low body count, more Season 1 callbacks than you can shake an origami swan at, and we can talk about this later, but after the initial "bummer!" of the ending, I am completely convinced it was the perfect way to go. Bravo!
This was a 2-parter, and for the series finale I thought everyone deserved a curtain call. So settle in for a long read. Or skim, I won't judge.
4.21 Rate of Exchange/4.22 Killing Your Number. Ah, Team Michael-Mahone, how I will miss you. With Self half-conscious on a beach somewhere, T-Bag working for the Dark Side (again), Sara tied to a chair (again) and Linc bleeding into his chest cavity (again), that's who we're left with, and it's awesome. Mahone's helping Michael talk it out - how does he save both Sara and Linc? Because that's how it's going to go down, god dammit, and don't you try to tell him any different. Mahone, who is always right about everything, reminds Michael that however tempting it may be to draw both parties to the same place, his only real advantage now is that neither Christina nor Baldy know they've got competition. Mahone's vote is for one at a time, starting with the one whose lung is collapsing.
LINC LOSE MUCH BLOOD, TOO TIRED TO SMASH MEAN LADY
Speaking of Linc, Christina didn't stop at just shooting him, oh no. She has to make up for lost time in terms of traumatizing. "Big surprise!" she sneers, "the dumb one got caught and the smart one got away!" He and Michael couldn't be more different, she muses, even though they were raised in the same house. "Why do you think that is?" Christina wonders rhetorically. "Mom's a psychotic bitch?" a half-dead Linc offers. Heh. To her credit, Christina is like "Touché!" She gets the call from Michael: He'll meet her at a shipyard and hand over Scylla in exchange for Linc.
Meanwhile, Sara, who is only half-dead on the inside, is being similarly taunted by Baldy. What if she'd never left that infirmary door open way back in Season 1? How many lives would have been saved, including her dad? (Ouch!) Being tied to chairs and taunted is totally old hat for Sara. She's no stranger to crippling guilt either, so nice try, but she's way ahead of you. "Your heart betrays your better judgment," he muses, and so does Michael's. Sara calmly agrees: "If Michael had used his 'better judgment' the night he stole Scylla right out from under your nose, he would have killed you." ZING! Nice performances tonight: Sarah Wayne Callies has really perfected this very effective "terrified but pretending not to be terrified" thing, and Robert Knepper spends this entire episode making me feel guilty for ever finding T-Bag charming or amusing in any way. Good job scaring the hell out of me, folks. T-Bag is kickin' it old school tonight, turning his pocket inside out and demanding that Sara take it. It took me a second to remember what the hell he was talking about, then I remembered poor Tweener. Yikes. Sara is still cool as a freaking cucumber, giving him sort of a raised-eyebrow "are you fucking kidding me?" look, instead of the look of horror he was clearly expecting. A girl can't be expected to keep that up for too long though, no matter how many chairs she's been tied to.
Michael and Mahone are, appropriately, in yet another warehouse. Michael has McGyvered himself up some splosives, but Mahone is trying to get him to see the big picture. What happens next? What if they do save Sara and Linc; how are they going to protect Pam and LJ? Mahone reasons that Christina hates the General almost as much as they do, so maybe they should try to make a deal with her. Michael of course won't hear a word of it. I'd be more inclined to admonish Michael for his stubbornness if it hadn't actually come in pretty handy over the years.
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Comments (8)
great job and great show! definitely did it justice. i agree, while michael's death was a total bummer, it felt right. kudos to this amazing cast for putting on a show i genuinely never got tired of over the 4 seasons of it.
also, psyched to hear you'll be doing mad men! good luck. it'll definitely be a chore, but there's comedy in everything and you can definitely find it in don and the boys!
1 of 8 | Posted by baymenxpac | Posted on May 27, 2009 9:03 AM
Thank you for recapping, Loula. I loved this show and stuck with it until the end. I agree that Robert Knepper and William Fichtner are amazing actors. Seriously...they deserve big awards for their time on this show. I saw Robert Knepper in a movie in which he played a good guy and he still creeped me out. I don't know that I'll ever get over T-Bag's creepiness.
2 of 8 | Posted by suedisco | Posted on May 27, 2009 11:49 AM
great recap. i know every possible ending would've had its haters, but i really do think this was a lovely and fitting end for everyone. the show went off the rails at MANY points, but it was a fun ride and everything came together beautifully.
and i share your feelings of YAY, KELLERMAN!!! *victory dance* i missed him soooo much and it was nice to see him back, hot as ever.
3 of 8 | Posted by spinal11 | Posted on May 27, 2009 11:50 AM
I was so mad about them killing Michael off. I cried both times I watched the finale. But I agree with you - would there ever be a happy ever after for him? Probably not. So I guess it is best this way. It was still sad.
As soon as I heard the "Kellerman bell sound" I KNEW he was back!!! That was a great and welcome surprise! I loved having Sucre and C-Note back. This was truly a great end to the show.
You have done a wonderful job recapping Prison Break. Thanks for all your hard work.
4 of 8 | Posted by akgirl7 | Posted on May 27, 2009 12:33 PM
I think the fact that he died offscreen made a huge difference for me, at least in terms of how satisfied I was with the ending. (It didn't make a difference in terms of my crying actual tears like a 14-year-old girl, well before the actual reveal and well after the credits rolled.) But it was very like, "it's okay, see? Everybody gets together every year, it's sad but life goes on," etc. - that was the perfect way to go.
Thanks so much for reading, and for all the kind words every week. I've had a blast!
5 of 8 | Posted by loula | Posted on May 27, 2009 1:48 PM
i didnt even notice the wedding ring on Sara and that it said husband on the gravestone! Guess i was too busy crying. and that song they were playing was perfect, ahhh sigh.
your screencaps always make me laugh out loud, thanks for doing this show!
6 of 8 | Posted by welcometothepartypal | Posted on May 28, 2009 11:02 AM
Does anyone have information on the Prison Break movie coming out?? It is
supposed to pick up after they are exonerated and explain Michael's death.
I have seen a couple of different release
dates.
7 of 8 | Posted by tgarris | Posted on May 28, 2009 5:23 PM
KELLERMAN!!!!! I knew it! We totally called it. Also really glad to see Sucre and C-Note.
LMAO at "Which is more intimidating: My gun, or my STEELY BLUE GLARE?"
I loved this show like no other and I'm really sad it's over. I thought they did an AMAZING job with the storyline and I, too, sobbed like a baby at the ending. But I think it was perfect.
There is supposed to be a movie that shows what happened between the penultimate scene and the ending. I hear it involves Sarah getting arrested for killing Christina! You should totally recap that too, if it comes to fruition.
8 of 8 | Posted by jadestarla | Posted on May 29, 2009 12:09 PM