Perfectly planned storylines break suspense of Fox drama

From 3/24/06 Daily Orange

The creators of the Fox drama "Prison Break" have meticulously woven an intriguing plot involving government conspiracy, murder and one really amazing tattoo. Yet the story always seems to fit together too perfectly, which ends up cutting the tension and suspense the show tries to create.

Engineer Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller) purposely lands himself in Fox River State Penitentiary one month before his half-brother Lincoln (Dominic Purcell) will be executed. Intending to bust them both out, Scofield has the blueprints of the prison and other helpful clues tattooed on his body in an elaborate design. Once inside he assembles a group of fellow prisoners to assist him in breaking out and staying out. Meanwhile, Lincoln's ex-girlfriend Veronica (Robin Tunney) is working to free him through legal channels, but faces plenty of life threatening obstacles through the show.

The first season ended in November, a mere 13 episodes in. The final episode occurred the night before Lincoln's execution and Scofield's escape plan hit a snag - or pipe to be exact - preventing the group from breaking out.

Monday night's premiere picked up right where last season left off. The escape plan foiled, leaving Scofield unable to stop the execution. Veronica has exhausted all legal options. Even the governor has refused clemency because he is under the thumb of the show's villain, the vice president (Patricia Wettig). As Lincoln walks towards the chair, it looks like the end. But of course it isn't, otherwise why have a second season?

Because Scofield planned his imprisonment at Fox River, he researched every person at the prison so he could use them in his escape. The anti-death penalty hospital doctor is the governor's daughter, so Scofield fakes diabetes to get close to her. Warden Pope believes in rehabilitation and asks Scofield, who is an engineer, to help him build a model Taj Mahal for his wife. He befriends an elderly prisoner believed to have robbed a bank in hopes that he will fund them once they escape.

The neatly planned storyline fails to sustain tension because it is stressed how imperative each piece is to the escape. When Scofield's toes are cut off with gardening shears, there is no real danger felt because without him, the show is over. If he was transferred from the prison or the psych patient remained his cell mate, he never would have been able to work on the escape. When a guard almost catches the men digging the escape tunnel, of course they have it covered up when he opens the door.

Clearly the men are going to succeed in their escape, probably around sweeps time. Season two is shaping up to continue their drawn out escape from jail and then to follow them as they evade the police and track down who framed Lincoln. It's all a little too easy and going too well. Life in a maximum security prison should be more difficult for an inmate, even if he planned his own imprisonment.

Underrated, offbeat comedy scrubs into 5th season

DO column from 3/3/06. Just wanna say, that weak ending is NOT mine.


Despite critical praise and several Emmy nominations, "Scrubs" has never been able to find an audience. Now in its fifth season, this offbeat comedy full of quirky characters, self-awareness and great musical references deserves another look.

J.D. Dorian (Zach Braff) is now an attending doctor at Sacred Heart Hospital, putting his intern days behind him. His best friend Turk (Donald Faison), a surgical resident, is trying to have a baby with his new wife, the bossy Nurse Carla Espinosa (Judy Reyes). Fellow attending doctor Elliot Reed (Sarah Chalke) is J.D.'s insecure ex-girlfriend and roommate, and their mentor Dr. Perry Cox (John C. McGinley) constantly delights in finding new ways to insult J.D.

Just as in animated programs, the characters' thoughts are acted out, though in "Scrubs" they are done as daydreams. Turk, afraid he isn't ready for fatherhood, fantasizes that he picks up the newborn baby in the hospital nursery and somehow knocks down all the other bassinets like dominoes. Carla encourages J.D. to booty call an intern by telling him it's been done since the beginning of time, and J.D. pictures himself as a caveman giving a cavewoman excuses for why he can't stick around in the morning.

The characters on the show are likeable because they are all flawed in honest, believable ways, such as J.D.'s incapability to hold onto a relationship. Elliot encourages him to not say every thought that pops into his head, because that's what ruined their relationship. The scene flashes back to the two of them in bed.

"Are you getting thicker?" J.D. asks Elliot. "You feel thicker."

The show also pokes fun at itself. Carla calls "Webster" a stupid sitcom, causing J.D. and Turk to gasp in horror.

"I mean, that's a sitcom," she says.

Elliott asks J.D. if they can just go home from the hospital, put on their pajamas and watch "Grey's Anatomy."

"Oh I do love that show," he says. "It's like they've been watching our lives and then just put it on TV."

In addition to the indie rock that made Braff's "Garden State" so popular, the show also weaves older music into episodes. The janitor decides to start an air band to compete for water park tickets at a local bar competition, and as tryouts are held, Turk blows the other members of the band away with his dead-on dancing and lip-syncing to "Poison" by Bell Biv Devoe.

All in all, the show is definitely worth a second glance, even if it has taken five years to open your eyes.