Prison Break

I started watching Prison Break for the first time tonight. Four episodes later and my evening is gone. Not wasted, just gone although some may disagree. I was sorely tempted to put the next disc in and watch episodes 5 and 6, but reason won out and I thought I’d better come out to the computer and work on my script (so here I am writing this post, rather than working on my script???)

The show presents an intriguing concept. (I know the show’s not new, but I tend to get around to things late – I only watched the first season of 24 last year!) I’ve been caught up in the story, but there were a few things I noticed while watching it.

Firstly, the scenes are very short. There is no ‘fat’ at all – it is straight in, straight out. It can feel a little clinical, but in a series like this, there’s no time to waffle.

Lesson One: My scenes must be trimmed of any unnecessary filling. They should be long enough to serve their function and create understanding of character, but I need to ensure I get in, show what needs showing and get out. Less waffle. More meat (or meat substitute in my case, I’m vegetarian).

The second, and main thing, I’ve noticed so far is how the characters are variations on a theme. It is what John Truby deals with in the chapter called ‘Character’ in his book The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller.

Stories are more powerful when we are shown diverse characters grappling with similar issues, so that we can see and compare the ways the different characters go about attempting to solve their problem.

In Prison Break, the protagonist, Michael Scofield, carries out his daring plan because of the love he has for his brother, Lincoln Burrows. Lincoln must deal with the love he has failed to show his son. Veronica Donovan, a lawyer and friend to both brothers, is engaged to be married but isn’t entirely in love with her fiance. Even the characters in prison must deal with love and family. Michael’s cellmate, Fernando Sucre, is having issues with his girlfriend, while a notorious mob boss, John Abruzzi, is helpless to save his children from the clutches of a ruthless mobster on the outside.
These variations on familial love serve to work together to create a unified theme, and show the heights and depths to which people will go for the sake of those they love. By forcing each character to deal with a variation on the same theme, it allows for a more complex plot, while retaining emotional impact.

We as an audience are not having to constantly refocus on the different issues each character is facing – they are all facing the same root issue.

Lesson Two: Ensure that different characters face a similar root issue, so that the audience gets a more rounded appreciation of the theme. I believe that doing this allows for a more complex story to be told, one that resonates with an audience because it has a heightened emotional impact. Where ever the audience looks, there should be an echo of theme, theme, theme. Not a blunt, uncouth repetition, but a subtle, effective call-back to the central, primal issue we all face as humans.

I am thoroughly enjoying Prison Break. It has great writing and memorable characters. My only complaint is, “Why did it take me this long to finally get to it?”