What I'm Watching: Prison Break (Season Premiere)

Prison Break: Season 4, Episodes 1 & 2 "Scylla" & "Breaking and Entering" (F)

There's something nice and thrilling about the amount of action that occurs on this show, starting with the mission that Whistler and Gretchen are on. Unfortunately, only a few minutes in everything falls apart. Both of the actual interesting villains get killed off right away, along with characters whose deaths weren't needed at all (Mahone's wife - didn't he have enough problems, especially with Lincoln still wanting to get his revenge). At least Gretchen is still alive, since she really hasn't gotten what's coming to her yet, and it would be nice to see Michael blow off some steam in some other way than by muttering angrily at his crew. Sara being alive sort of does make sense the way they explained it, but I still can't believe the plot was so abruptly redirected based solely on the uncooperative wishes of one actress (think Lena Olin on "Alias"). Michael Rappaport is a devastatingly cliche new character who nobody needs around, and I can't help thinking that this season is going nowhere. Not much of a shock given that there's actually no breaking out of prison actually being done this season. They didn't even bother showing or explaining how Bellick, Sucre, and T-Bag escaped, and the inclusion of T-Bag and his need to punish Michael is just so...season two. I hope this season surprises me, but I don't have high hopes.