Prison Break - Season 4 (DVD)

Prison Break is a peculiar series. It’s not a surprise that it’s come to an end, not because it  wasn’t still entertaining, but because each season featured such a big change of direction that it almost became a completely different series. As a result it’s not surprising that people started switching off, frustrated that they weren’t getting what they thought they’d tuned in for. Season 1 focussed on the escape from Fox River Penitentiary, Season 2 saw them on the run, they spent most of Season 3 trying to get out of Sona Prison in South America and then it’s all change again for Season 4.

Each of these seasons is pretty good taken by itself, but there’s little doubt that few TV shows have gone through so many complete changes of direction. While there have been characters and plots that have run through the entire show, each season has has a very different feel. While Season 3 isfairly dark, Season 4 takes Prison Break in a much traditional action adventure direction.

Having escaped from Sona, the main crux of Season 4 is Michael, Lincoln and the crew trying to bring down the Company by retrieving a device known as Scylla. Initially they’re searching for Sara’s murderer, but that’s quickly shoved to one side after some revelatory news, and they’re busy working against the company, while never knowing who to trust.

Well, that’s the basic thrust of it, but to be honest it’s almost impossible to start describing what actually happens in the series. Prison Break has always loved pulling the rug out from under the viewer, with endless twists, revelations, complications and reversals, and that’s even more true of Season 4 than it’s ever been. In a single episode so much happens that you’re in danger of getting hopelessly lost if you nip off to the loo for 30 seconds without pausing the DVD. An almost ridiculous amount of characters die, people aren’t who they appear to be and the plot gets so dense that it’s often difficult to keep up. It reminds me a bit of Alias, which also loved having a major twist every two minutes, and in both series the strategy means they’re constantly teetering on the edge of looking a bit ridiculous.

Thankfully with Prison Break there are enough good revelations to keep it entertaining, particularly a really neat one involving new character Don Self, a Homeland Security Agent who’s one of the main people trying to get the crew to steal Scylla.

Before the end of the fourth Season was shown on US TV, it became apparent to both viewers and the makers of the show that Prison Break was coming to an end. Thankfully this forewarning means that they had the time to give the show some sense of closure. Not too much closure admittedly, as the set also includes ‘The Final Break’,  which wasn’t shown on TV and was released as a separate DVD in the US, but is included with the Season 4 box set in the UK. This addendum to the series involves Michael getting married, but his wife gets locked up for a murder (which of course she didn’t commit) and the gang have to get together one more time to break her out of the clink before she’s assassinated. It’s all a bit extreme, but it’s a decent little coda to the show.

While I suppose you could count The Final Break as a Special Feature, there’s not a garagantuan amount more in the extras department. There are three featurettes, each of which is worth a look, plus audio commentaries and extended episodes, including a slightly longer version of the final regular episode.

With 22 episodes, plus The Final Break, it’s not a bad release. However people should be warned that as with all the other seasons, it’s not really like what’s come before. I’ve enjoyed most of Prison Break, but for different reasons with different seasons. This season is one is for those who quite like disappearing into dense conspiracy theories, with endless twists and lots of people running around trying to work out what the hell is going on.

If Prison Break could have found more consistency and kept the plotting a bit tighter (the first 13 episodes of Season 1 are among the best TV of recent years), it would probably still be on the air. As it is we have four pretty good but surprisingly disparate seasons.

Overall Verdict: Not like previous instalments, but taken on its own, Prison Break – Season 4 is a ridiculously complicated but enjoyable action adventure.

Special Features:
Audio Commentary With Cast and Crew
‘Fade Out: The Final Episode’ Featurette
‘The Plan, the Execution, and the Bullet’ Featurette
‘Director’s World’ Featurette

Reviewer: Tim Isaac