

While Prison Break was never exactly realistic, the increasing reliance on silly twists gradually turned fans off of the continuing series. Callies later returned for Prison Break season 4, with her death handwaved away as an elaborate ruse by the villains. Sarah Wayne Callies ( The Walking Dead universe) originally left the show during a contract dispute in season 3, with Lincoln (Dominic Purcell) discovering her character’s severed head in a box. Prison Break had something of an issue with reversing major character deaths even prior to bringing Michael Scofield back from beyond the veil. This ensured Prison Break season 5 would eventually be forced to explain his survival via some farfetched retcons, meaning the Prison Break revival series ended up being a massive mistake. Of course, the show struggled to explain how its lead character could still be alive – even if he survived the electric surge from The Final Break, there was still the terminal brain cancer issue. Prison Break season 5 followed a number of high-profile revivals of popular shows like The X-Filesand Twin Peaks, and the new show was pitched as a limited miniseries. So, Michael was definitively dead - until Prison Break season 5 arrived in 2017. Related: Prison Break’s Revival Finale Explained A TV movie called Prison Break: The Final Break later showed he sacrificed himself to save his wife and brother one last time by electrocuting himself to open a locked prison door. The show first ended with Prison Break season 4, which revealed in a flashforward that Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller) died, presumably of the terminal brain cancer he was diagnosed with.

In an attempt to move away from this formula, Prison Break then began to introduce convoluted conspiracies and shady government agencies to extend the concept, and the narrative focus of season 1 quickly became lost.

Of course, they were back in another prison by the end of that season and this subsequent pattern would repeat in ways that soon became very tedious. Prison Break season 1 had to end on the Scofield's escaping, and season 2 found them on the run. From the beginning though, the series had an inbuilt flaw – the concept itself. Prison Break season 1 was a pulpy, highly entertaining thriller with great characters and provided a fresh take on the prison subgenre.

Prison Break season 5 may have finally given Michael Scofield and his brother Lincoln a happy ending, but the revival series was a mistake.
