Essentially, “Behind The Eyes” is everything that the initial series finale of Prison Break was, just with a slightly happier ending. In fact, the only real difference is that Michael is openly alive and able to be with his family once and for all, because Sara and Lincoln are free, T-Bag is back in Fox River, and the enemy has been defeated.
It isn’t a bad thing that this story concludes on a positive note, albeit not for everyone (more on that shortly), but the finale left me two big questions: was this entire revival just so that Michael could live happily ever after, and was it necessary?
In the case of the first, it would seem that way. As I have noted throughout these nine episodes, each convoluted and ridiculous piece of plot only became more convoluted and ridiculous as time went along, and much of the show’s appeal - and, indeed, the enjoyable factors of the opening episodes - faded into obscurity. By the time the credits rolled in tonight’s closer, the series had done little to justify its return short of being a money-making scheme as opposed to a narrative success. But I find it odd that eight years ago, the chosen end point was killing Michael Scofield; now, letting him have all that he wants is the chosen course.
Neither is particularly problematic. The issue emerges when considering how unnecessary doing both was. In fairness, there was no real way for the series to win here: killing Michael, either for real this time or faking his death again, would have proven this revival to be a waste of time. What happened here was the better of two bad options, but it remains a head scratcher. What changed that prompted the creators to want something different as their ending?
What’s even more concerning is that although nothing is timetabled or guaranteed, FOX supposedly want more of the show. The initial ending may have left something to be desired, but where it left its characters was more than fine and no more needed to be told. Similarly, this finale left plenty to be desired, but its characters mostly got fitting resolutions.Is there any need to nuke that a second time? Not really.
Aside from the larger ramifications of the finale, “Behind The Eyes” fell by the wayside, much like the handful of episodes before it. Its opening sequence resolved last week’s abomination of a cliffhanger by admitting that the show didn’t play fair with teasing a death and instead proved the entire thing was for shock value alone. Not only did keeping Van Gogh in the basement contribute to the trickery by hiding the key factor behind the scene, but inserting the conversation between him and A&W between her pulling the gun on the Scofields and a shot being fired makes last week’s ending feel even more of a cheat than it already was. Van Gogh dying by A&W’s Poseidon-obeying hand is perfectly good as a story development, but the immediacy with which she appeared to fire the gun last week appeared to take the actual turn of events off the table of possibilities, and it isn’t alright.
The mind games between Jacob and Michael weren’t nearly as interesting as last week’s cat and mouse encounters, in part because the resolution was never really in question and in part because it seemed to push the boundaries of logic. Many of Michael’s schemes are ludicrous and require a certain amount of suspension of disbelief, but that the tattoos on the back of his hands can join together and create a picture of Jacob’s face good enough to get through his facial recognition scanner? Nope. That’s so far outside any semblance of realism that even the mere idea of blindly accepting it for the sake of enjoyment feels like a slight on my intelligence by Prison Break.
By the time it came to his re-enactment of the Gaines murder to reframe Jacob - a legitimately smart plan too complex for Michael’s adversary, and acceptable as something even vaguely within the concept of realism - I simply didn’t care. Again, in part because Michael winning was so inevitable, but also because the show has pushed its luck so much in recent weeks that there is no investment there anymore. It’s the same issue the show ran into in the final half-a-dozen episodes of the original run, whereby its absurdity hinders its ability to tell any kind of competent story and thus this big, final confrontation between these two heavyweights feels bland. When the knockout blow is delivered, all that’s left to do is shrug and be glad the whole thing is over.
It didn’t help that Michael’s seven-years-in-the-making, meticulously thought-out plan was almost destroyed by the impatience of the man recruited because he could do what he was told to (*). That the plan worked despite Whip’s death is somewhat miraculous, but it was all far too bizarre to warrant much of an enthusiastic reaction. T-Bag breaking A&W’s neck with little resistance from her only emphasised that.
(*) This is taking the better route, because if the plan was for Whip to act as he did, then none of anything makes much sense, and all of our supposed protagonists involved are terrible people. Why would Michael agree to let his friend die when the whole point of this was to get them all out from under Poseidon’s thumb? Why would T-Bag let his son die when the whole point of him agreeing to kill Jacob was so that Whip/David could have freedom? Michael’s comment about there being a specific order to things, as well as his desperate reaction in the moment, makes me believe Whip threw a spanner into the works when he went for A&W’s gun. Still, the closing moments of the season - in which the main characters and Sheba enjoy a picnic upon being finally free - are, on their own, nice. And T-Bag presumably murdering new cellmate Jacob is worthy of a cheer irrespective of my feelings on the season. But a likeable ending doesn’t paper over the cracks of how we got to it, both in terms of the preceding episodes and the larger picture of why this show returned in the first place. To come back to my second question from earlier, was this revival necessary? Not really.
The CIA director’s job offer to Michael does leave the door open for future instalments, but these nine episodes proved that the Prison Break door should remain shut - especially given the finality of the ending.
And, as I noted last week, even if FOX do choose to bring it back, I won’t be watching. For all intents and purposes, this is the end of the series, whether or not more hours are made.
Some other thoughts:
• Lincoln survived his gunshot wound with very little issue, subsequently returning to Luca and actually having him arrested this time. Probably should have done that the last time and saved himself the pain of a bullet.
• This entire season has made Mike seem infinitely too smart for his age, so it’s difficult to know how to feel about his immediate renouncement of his true father based on Jacob’s lies. On the one hand, I’d have expected him to take longer to go along with it thanks to his father’s superhuman intelligence; on the other… the kid’s seven years old and has only known Jacob as a dad.
• I assume Van Gogh died in the hospital since the doctor suggested he didn’t have long left to live.
• It makes no sense as to why the camera wouldn’t show the address he wrote down for Sara. The secrecy implied that she was being misled somehow, but instead, he was telling the truth. A very odd choice from director Nelson McCormick.
• Well, that’s it for the season. Thanks to all who’ve read my reviews (whether you liked them or not).
What did everyone think of “Behind The Eyes”, and of this revival as a whole? Leave your thoughts in the comments and be sure to vote in our poll below!
