If you thought Fox River State Penitentiary was tough, wait until you see the Panamanian prison known as Sona – which is where Michael Scofield, Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell, Federal agent Alexander Mahone, and former prison guard Brad Bellick find themselves stuck for Prison Break - Season 3.
The third season manages to keep your interest, and even shakes some of the formulaic feel that hurt the first two seasons of the show. The season finds Scofield (Wentworth Miller) trapped in Sona and his brother Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell) on the outside.
Unfortunately, the two brothers once again are pawns in a larger conspiracy. It seems “The Company” wants to use Scofield’s natural escape talents in Sona to help inmate James Whistler - who has lots of mysteries of his own to keep Scofield and the viewer guessing.
To make sure the brothers do the deed, “The Company” sends Gretchen "Susan B. Anthony" Morgan (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe) to kidnap Scofield's girlfriend and Lincoln's son. Gretchen is as ruthless as any inmate in Sona, and she quickly shows Lincoln just how nasty she can be and that she never bluffs.
While Lincoln is on the outside dealing with “The Company,” Scofield is in Sona dealing with a whole new prison experience. It seems Sona is so bad even the guards won’t go inside.
Instead, they have lined up around the outside of the prison and let the prisoners run the inside – think Escape from New York, but Prison Break style. Scofield has to quickly learn how to play a whole new game while coming up with a fast plan to get Whistler (Chris Vance) out of the prison.
Scofield isn’t the only inmate having to adjust to life inside Sona. "T-Bag" (Robert Knepper), Mahone (William Fichtner), and Bellick (Wade Williams) have to learn a new pecking order inside and have to adjust to the swerve life has thrown them.
Thanks to big changes to their story, these three characters turn out to be some of the most interesting parts of the season.
“T-Bag” quickly finds a home as one of the serving boys for prison head honcho Lechero (Robert Wisdom). Although the old “T-Bag” comes out more towards the end of the season, the character spends most of the season cleaning Lechero’s shoes, and fixing his coffee.
Mahone’s nervous breakdown continues in Season 3, but the former Fed runs out of those mysterious pills that he takes to keep control. This leads to a growing heroin addiction.
Bellick suffers the most in Season 3, and even goes several episodes in just his underwear (something no viewer should have to see). He also gets the joy of cleaning sewers and eating rat meat.
Like previous seasons, Prison Break manages to keep you hooked with fast turns and great episode cliffhangers. The series does have some weaknesses (Miller continues the same deadpan delivery that has annoyed me since season one), but several of the new characters make the season worth watching.
I really enjoyed O'Keefe’s performance and the way she constantly outsmarted Scofield and Burrows. Her character was ruthless, and I applaud the show’s creators for casting the role as a woman. O’Keefe and Purcell had great chemistry together – which helped Purcell sell Lincoln’s pain over his son’s kidnapping and O’Keefe’s promises of what would happen if the two brothers didn’t obey.
Like past seasons, Prison Break manages to keep the tension high throughout all 13 episodes, and makes you want to tune in to see what Season 4 has in store for the characters.
The four-disc DVD set comes with the standard features including a look at the third season’s set-up and the Breakout episode. There is also a director’s take featurette, between takes featurettes, and an episode from The Unit.
If you are already a fan of Prison Break, you will want to pick up the third season. I enjoyed it more than Season 2, and am interested to see where they take the story for Season 4.
Here are some clips from Prison Break - Season 3 DVD set:
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Prison Break – Season 3 is now available at Amazon and AmazonUK . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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