Prison Break Season 5 Episode 8 Review: Progeny

This Prison Break review contains spoilers.

Prison Break Season 5 Episode 8

Oh thank god Michael’s ability to hide secrets in drawings wasn’t actually encoded in Mike’s DNA. Before the episode ended I had this big plan to talk about how hilarious that notion was but thankfully it was all just a really elaborate set up by Jacob. I mean okay, I totally would have run with it but that would have taken a little of the credibility out of the show.

That drawing being an excellent fake by Jacob highlights the strength of this episode, giving Michael someone on his own level to tangle with. Yeah, we had a little of that with Mahone in season two but that guy was going off the deep end. Jacob is much more calm and calculating. He thinks he’s got the world’s best interests at heart and doesn’t even flinch at using Sara and Mike in these horrific ways. I’m glad the Poseidon agents are starting to question their leaders ways, which I think will ultimately help Michael in the end.

Michael was on point this episode, reminding me of his best season two plans. They didn’t quite hit the highs of a few episodes ago but there’s nothing like seeing Michael stop a gang of drug smugglers simply by getting his friends to play dress up. Nice callback to the early seasons by having the dude who was chasing Lincoln actually be Abruzzi’s kid. It’s not intrusive for anyone who might not remember seasons one and two very well but for hardcore fans it’s a great little nod. 

I’m a little less sold on Whip being T-Bag’s kid. That’s… really out there. The whole thing is predicated on Michael seeing that Whip had the same sort of skills as T-Bag? The problem with that (besides the fact Michael could have just gotten T-Bag out to begin with) is we haven’t seen enough of Whip to make this sort of connection. I don’t see Whip having the same kind of influence T-Bag had over others. Actually, I don’t see anything of T-Bag in this guy.

I mean I’ll take all the T-Bag I can get since he’s been sadly absent for way too much of this season but seriously, what the hell?

Maybe next week will shed some more light on this but… wow. We’re in for some serious Michael info dumps if he made it out alive. Which uh, yeah. Of course he did. Still, it’s always exciting to see how Prison Break pays off these cliffhangers. I’m actually more invested in what happened to Lincoln.

The idea that Lincoln can’t escape his past is one that’s appealed to me from the very start of the season. It would help sell the whole “we need each other” angle of the show if Michael gets Lincoln out of this for good. The two really are tied together. They make each other stronger. Lincoln saved Michael and now Michael can return the favor.

As glad as I was to see the gang return to America, it all seemed very quick. This season has so much potential for stories that seem so crammed into these nine episodes. It makes me wish they’d gotten a full season order so they could play with these unique situations, like Michael getting back into America. Instead we’re getting some quick explanations that, while clever, could have been even better spread over a full episode or two. I wonder if this season had been planned to be longer but got cut short because there’s a lot of good ideas on display here that just aren’t getting enough time.

This lead up to the endgame provided a solid playing ground for the epic finale, even if some of the questions raised here were more than a bit ridiculous. Maybe next week can rectify some of those and pull the whole season together.

Stray Thoughts

– I know we’ve only got nine episodes here, but I really wanted to see Michael come up with a way to ESCAPE THE OCEAN. Michael v. Sharks, amirite? 

– I’m just going to hand wave that whole hiding legos bit because then Mike really did inherit his fathers skills and that’s really weird even for this show.

– Putting Michael in a blue polo was a great touch. Nice visual reminder of his days in Fox River.

Shamus Kelley thinks Shark Week narrated by Wentworth Miller would be amazing. Follow him on Twitter!