Why Prison Break Broke

Prison Break, a show where Michael Schofield gets himself thrown in prison in order to help his older brother, Lincoln escape. Lincoln faces the death penalty for killing the vice president's brother. Both Lincoln and Michael feel otherwise about his conviction. With flashbacks to explain motivations, Michael uses his full-body tattoos, with blueprints and information for their escape embedded in the art, to escape with Lincoln.

The fatal flaw in this show's premise is that the entire objective is to escape from prison and expose a government conspiracy. Once they accomplished that, where was the show to go? The creators and writers decided to follow their continued flight, additional capture and imprisonment in an inmate-run Panama prison, and from there the show suffered. We could only watch so much of their narrow-escapes and weakening plotlines. The show ended after four seasons. Despite the popularity gained in the first season, it was probably three seasons too long.

With a title like "Prison Break," the creators created themselves into a corner from the start. Once the heroes escape, that is technically the end of the story. In fact, I would watch a story with the same premise, sans the superfluous conspiracy angle, because it sounds intriguing. How would you pull it off? And with the clock ticking on your brother's execution!

The characters in the show are strong. You love some, you hate some. Our moral hero is forced to make tough decisions that threaten to compromise his personal preferences in order to achieve his higher goal.
But then to throw in the pot a government conspiracy? It seems like a typical episode of Pitch Meetings Gone Wild! I can imagine the discussion:

"Picture this: a guy commits a crime to go to prison to free his brother! But he has blueprints of the prison and clues hidden in a full-torso tattoo!"

"Yeah! Why is he freeing his brother, though?"

"... Because his brother is wrongfully convicted of killing the vice president's brother."

"Is he actually guilty?"

"No! It is part of a cover-up by the..."
I'll stop there to prevent spoilers.

But instead of listening to the little voice in their heads that said, "This is probably enough" at the end of the first season, the writers and producers decided that they could continue the story.

What ensued was a set of seasons that began retreading the original material. Here's a quick logline for the next two seasons:

Season Two: We're still running, but we get caught again.

Season Three: We're still trying to get free... but this time in PANAMA!

I actually haven't watched season four yet, nor the final movie, "The Final Break," so I withhold judgement (as a good reviewer should), but rest assured, as soon as I have seen it, I will offer my official feedback.

But do not think that "Prison Break" is not worth watching. Indeed, the show provides twists in every episode. The characters are rock-solid. The locations and atmosphere perfect for the story. I just think the overall concept ran on too long and the original excitement left coughing in the dust.