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‘Prison Break’ returns, ‘Vanished’ debuts
As it is wont to do, Fox jumps out ahead of the new fall season tonight with the second-season opener of “Prison Break” and the premiere of the new drama “Vanished.”
Both are self-described “serial thrillers,” but only one lives up to the title — that one, of course, is “Prison Break.”
The action starts (at 7 tonight) where it left off in May, with Michael Scofield and his brother Lincoln on the run after their elaborate, season-long escape from prison in Joliet, Ill. (The new season is being shot in Dallas, where temps have been over 100. Makes you wonder how they survived all those running scenes wearing sweatshirts.)
The escapees are being pursued by the snarling, frothing Capt. Bellick and his slightly more sanguine (but still miffed at being betrayed by Scofield) Warden Pope.
The desperate convicts are fleeing together, except for the chillingly loathsome T-Bag, whose hand was lopped off by another inmate as the escape began in last season’s finale. Dragging his severed hand with him in an ice chest, T-Bag forces a veterinarian to re-attach his appendage — and then thanks him in typical T-Bag fashion. I won’t spoil the fun by telling you how.
The opener plays out a little slower than the breathtaking pace set last season, but it’s still one of the most suspenseful thrillers out there. Austin’s Marshall Allman returns as Lincoln’s son L.J., turning in another fine performance. New to the cast is William Fichtner, late of “Invasion,” who plays an FBI agent in hot pursuit of the escapees.
And the conspiracy plot line heats up. In the finale, you may recall, we learned that the vice president’s brother, whom Lincoln is accused of killing, is very much alive. Now, after the death of the president, the vice president has become president — and we are left to wonder how much did she know and when did she know it?
Paul Scheuring, the series’ creator/executive producer, promises many characters will be killed off in upcoming episodes — presumably not one of the two stars, Wentworth Miller (Scofield) or Dominic Purcell (Lincoln). But you never know.
“Vanished,” the newcomer (at 8 tonight), pales miserably on the heels of “Prison Break.” It tries hard, but it’s basically just an over-the-top sudser chock full of stereotypical characters — the grumpy hero, the tragic victim, the super-pushy TV reporter, etc.
Georgia’s U.S. Senator Jeffrey Collins is having a fabulous time with his lovely wife Sara, having just placed a stunning diamond necklace around her lovely neck, when she suddenly disappears.
Quick on the case is the previously mentioned grumpy FBI agent, Graham Kelton, who has just screwed up a case and witnessed a miserable death. He soon discovers that the happy marriage of the senator and his wife had some dark secrets — and the wife may not have been exactly who she said she was.
Two back-to-back Fox series with political conspiracies and other mysteries worked when the second series was “24” last year. “Vanished” just doesn’t cut it, but “Prison Break” is back in fine form.
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By Clyde L Harris
August 28, 2006 04:34 PM | Link to this
I thought Vanished was a pretty good show, and will try to follow it even if I have to tape each episode, my wife controls the remote.