Prison Break is on a run – after 'The Prisoner's Dilemma' delivered a pair of genuinely surprising twists, latest episode 'Contingency' continues to satisfy by finally answering the big question hanging over this much-anticipated revival: how and why did Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller) fake his death?
Michael coming back from beyond the grave should be ludicrous. It sort of is. But actually, the reasons behind why he did what he did are not only convincing – well, convincing by Prison Break standards – they also cast the ending of the original series in a new and interesting light, without ever feeling like a cop-out.
Contrary to what we were told eight years ago, our heroes were not actually exonerated following their efforts to recover Scylla. The late Kellerman, it transpires, didn't have the authority or the jurisdiction to do that.
Instead, mere weeks before his wedding to Sara, Michael was approached by the rogue CIA operative Poseidon and warned that everyone he loves would be thrown back behind bars unless he did exactly what he was told. Michael refused, which led to Sara being incarcerated – as seen in 'The Final Break' TV movie – and this was enough to convince him to submit.
It's a twist that not only makes this sequel series feel like a natural continuation of the original show but also lends a pleasing moral ambiguity to Michael's actions. He's not turned on his family and friends, but he has done some pretty bad things to protect them – setting terrorists and corrupt agents free from prisons all over the world.
After his traumatic experiences, and as he leads his brother Lincoln (Dominic Purcell) and their new compatriots into ever more dangerous situations, there's the question of whether a rattled Michael is the same man he once was, and whether his belief that he still is that man could lead to disaster.
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Now that the Prison Break revival is more than halfway done, you've got to wonder where this is all heading. Could this be a tale of redemption for Michael, a man who, ever since he robbed that bank to save his brother, has been committing increasingly serious crimes for the greater good?
This time, in what's apparently, properly, the show's final outing, will he actually pay the ultimate price for his series of "foolish, imperfect choices", or would that just feel like an unsatisfying echo of what the original series already delivered?
Michael's not the only character whose fate 'Contingency' leaves us questioning. 'The Prisoner's Dilemma' had hinted that Poseidon was actually Sara's new husband Jacob Ness (Mark Feuerstein), adding some much-needed colour and intrigue to her story.
So far, Sara's been stuck at home, mooning over Michael, while the boys have adventures abroad. But the reveal that she's apparently been "sleeping with the enemy" changes all that and it's a huge relief when she confronts Jacob straight off the bat, avoiding any tedious rounds of deception.
The couple appear to come clean to either straight away. Ness provides a solid explanation for his recent behaviour and Feuerstein's convincing enough as the clean-cut do-gooder that you start to doubt whether Sara's hubby really is an evil mastermind after all.
Maybe she's just paranoid, after a life of being caught up in outrageous conspiracies? It'd be understandable. But if Jacob's not Poseidon... who is?
This event series still has its problems: a dull sub-villain in Cyclops (Amin El Gamal), Michael's new crew being equally unremarkable, and while Prison Break's never been Shakespeare, some of the dialogue here is unforgivable ("You kick a lot of ass for a good Muslim!").
But we're moving at a fast enough pace, and with enough unpredictable plot turns, that you don't have time to dwell on those weaknesses. What's more, with Kellerman's demise last week, the stakes have been raised and each burst of fugitive action now has an added edge.
Sure, Michael and Lincoln are probably safe, at least till the finale, but it now feels as though every other character is for grabs. Take C-Note (Rockmond Dunbar) – his death would deliver a gut-punch but wouldn't totally derail the series, so scenes where he's held at gunpoint while looking for a way out of Yemen are a whole lot more thrilling than they might previously have been.
C-Note does manage to escape the war-torn city unscathed, in a climax which mirrors Prison Break's first season finale: Michael and his fellow fugitives missing a flight which provides their one viable means of escape.
But this finish is not the only thing that 'Contingency' has in common with the show of old. Like the best episodes of the original, it delivers a compelling cocktail of intrigue, action and wild twists, one that's addictive enough to have you forgive the show its failings.
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