Prison Break Episode 6: "Subdivision"
09/25/06 10:46 PM
By ED BARK
Someone supposedly is going to die on next Monday's Prison Break. It had better not be one of the two pictured above. Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell (Robert Knepper) and David "Tweener" Apolskis (Dallas native Lane Garrison) continue to bust through the screen as the North Texas-filmed drama's standout escapees.
That's not the case with series leads Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell, particularly the latter. Miller's character, Michael Scofield, at least got a chance to rage at T-Bag in his first authentically emotional display this season. But Purcell, as Michael's brother, Lincoln, has made little impact in the second season's first six episodes. More on that a bit later.
Knepper again convincingly oozed slime in Monday's "Subdivision" episode, romancing an aging Utah tart with come-ons like, "Whiskey always makes me feel irascible."
"I don't know what that is, but I do like the sound of it," said ripe-for-the-taking Jeanette Owens (guest star Diana Scarwid), who implausibly had given her home over to a bogus con work force. They tore the hell out of her floor under the guise of repairing a ruptured power line or something. Actually they were digging for that $5 million stash of cash that's been the show's unholy Grail ever since the big bust-out.
Meanwhile, Garrison perspired like crazy while once more playing the older cons' gofer. In the only action scene of any consequence, he ran like the devil from dogged FBI agent Alexander Mahone (William Fichtner). Alas, he got caught, and now he's tipped the lawmen off. They were surrounding the cons' latest lair as the episode ended, with Tea-Bag holding Jeanette hostage at knifepoint.
T-Bag didn't much care for her anymore after she used him as a pimp. "That big guy, the strong guy that doesn't speak much," she said just when he thought he'd get lucky. "Would you go in there and ask him if he'd like to have a drink with me after he punches out?"
"The strong guy that doesn't speak much" is, of course, Purcell's character. An actor can only do so much as a "presence." We're at the point now where one wonders if the writers really know what to do with him, or if Purcell wants to do all that much with Lincoln Burrows. Surely he does. This is, after all, still a pretty hot show, even if the lately lackluster local TV ratings don't reflect it at the moment.
We can only wait and see if next week's episode indeed has "the season's most shocking twists and turns." The biggest shock of all might be Purcell getting more to do than just stare and occasionally grunt out a one-liner.
|