"Prison Break" Five the Hard Way (TV Episode 2008) Poster

(TV Series)

(2008)

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9/10
Playing with the Wrong Bitch
claudio_carvalho23 November 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Gretchen tortures T-Bag and asks information about the Bird's Guide and Scylla. Meanwhile, the Agrishow executive Howard Scuderi travels with his wife and the fifth card to Las Vegas. General Krantz calls Wyatt and tells him that Don Self is the head of the snake that is threatening The Company, and he asks the killer to eliminate Self simulating an accident. Trishanne calls Bellick and tells that she has information about T-Bag, and requests the promised reward. Michael stays with Bellick and Mahone to chase T-Bag while the rest of the group travels to Las Vegas. Bellick calls Michael telling that Trishanne is requesting more money, and when he goes with Mahone to meet the receptionist, they are captured by T-Bag; however, Mahone escapes from the van. Michael is forced by T-Bag to work with the Bird's Guide, but the hidden Gretchen sees the GPS monitor around the ankle of Bellick. When Mahone arrives in the apartment tracking the equipment, he finds it empty and the monitors on the table; however Michael left an origami with a clue for him. Lincoln tells Sara that his mother had a brain tumor with an aneurysm and that she died when she was thirty-one year-old. He tells that Michael has the same age and his nose is also bleeding. Gretchen kidnaps Andy, forces him to sign-up a resignation letter and kills him. Wyatt arrives in Self's house that is empty, while the agent pays a visit to General Krantz and tells him that if he disappears or dies, he sent documentation pointing his name to five lawyers. Lincoln and his group find that the fifth card is in Scuderi's apartment and Sara tries to seduce him to go to his room. However, the bartender tells that Scuderi is gay, and Sucre is assigned to "visit" him, having a surprising encounter. Meanwhile Michael finds an access hatch below the carpet of the locker and T-Bag has a surprise. Roland is recognized by the surveillance cameras and is arrested with the device by the security guards of the casino. Gretchen calls Self and talks to Michael.

In this episode, the dangerous Gretchen teaches the witty T-Bag that he is playing with the wrong bitch. The reason for the bleeding of Michael's nose is finally disclosed to Sara. Self seeks self-protection being pro-active against General Krantz. The funny part of the show is Sucre in Scuderi's room. Roland jeopardizes the mission of the group with his reckless attitude in the jack-pot gambler machine. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): Not Available
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9/10
Pretty good ep in the middle of a pretty dry season
ignisgeodacius4 October 2021
In this one some pretty interesting stuff happens with T-Bag. Also half the team goes to Vegas. Both plotlines actually have some pretty humorous results which is pretty unexpected in such a dark television series.
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4/10
This would be fantastic were it not for the fact that...
ttapola5 January 2010
I was trying to decide what to choose for my 50th comment/review (the official term has changed back and forth around the time of writing), considering choosing one of my favorite movies. Then this episode came on and after having watched it I needed to vent my frustration.

Some may wonder why I torture myself watching episodes which I find bad. The answer is simple: I have a principle of finishing what I started and I also refuse to surrender to an episode / a movie by switching channel / walking out.

OK, this appears to be a fantastic episode because it's taut, full of good twists, action, suspense and laughs. Also, most of the actors bring their A game for their roles, the winner being Jodi Lyn O'Keefe as Gretchen: her character seemed so bland and unimaginative in the third season, but given a chance to portray someone willing to resort to anything to stay alive, she truly *rules* (not coming up with a fancy term would do her performance justice).

So what's the problem? Prison Break had me from the first episode of season 1. The problem is the *fact* that the show was supposed to last only 13 episodes with a pre-planned ending, but when the initial ones proved a bigger success than anticipated, Fox decided to throw the ending away and expand Prison Break to a full season. And then renew it. And renew it. Kinda like The X Files - it was also a Fox show that was dragged on for longer that it had material to sustain the narrative (and that's just the "mythology" episodes - some of the stand-alone ones were recycled). In the case of both series the decisions came to money: why kill a cash cow when you can underestimate your audience's intelligence and throw all credibility out of the window?

The problem is that this is no longer Prison Break. All the plot lines in the initial episodes were dropped because they had nowhere to go (remember, 13 episodes?) and replaced with a vague, sub-standard conspiracy plot line that was clearly made up as the show went on, with no pre-planned ending whatsoever. And now we are in the death rattle of the show. Seasons 2 and 3 at least dealt with a prison break - here there is none. Why the hell is this show still called Prison Break?

To go into the inconsistencies, illogicalities and contradictions of the show would take more time than I am willing to spend. Because of those things, there is no reason to care about the characters or where the plot is going. There is no reason to invest emotionally or intellectually in the show. This show should have stayed its planned course. The viewers disappeared during the fourth season, proving that Fox underestimated their intelligence. Ha!
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4/10
Amount of inconconsitencies keeps getting larger as episodes go on
guest_to_movieland20 August 2022
Warning: Spoilers
This episode seemed fine, it was another boring and predictable episode (which isn't a surprise for season 4) up until the moment Lincoln said about his mother's cause of death. That's when I got pissed. Let me explain. In episode English, Fitz or Percy (s01e05) Linc told Sara that his mother died because of the liver cancer. And now it's brain tumor?

I used to love this show. Season 1 is probably one of the best I've seen in TV shows, especially in those that have such a big amount of episodes per season. Season 2 was good, season 3 was okay, but PB has never had such a huge amount of inconconsitencies. It came to the point that I find it hard to watch episodes of the show. And I would've quitted if I hadn't had that tendency to keep watching something I once enjoyed. So it is really painful to see what the show is turning into with each episode.

And don't get me wrong, this episode had good moments. Michael finally working on decoding Whistler's notes and interacting with T-Bag, T-Bag in general, Alex coming and saving the day - these moments were amazing. But I just couldn't ignore all the bad stuff. What I mentioned earlier and what pissed me off the most was only tip of the iceberg. How did T-Bag manage to get rid of those GPS trackers so quickly (since Gretchen wasn't the one doing it) ? Aren't they suppose to have some security system? Why is T-Bag is so bad at shooting at people that he couldn't even hit the target while shooting at Alex? Why didn't Roland immediately hide the device? And so on.

As I said, I loved this show, that's why I wish they let it go after season 2. It would've been fine with me even if they had finished it with season 3 before it got that bad. It would've been wise, but they never know when to stop, don't they? And since I'm first time wathcer and it's 2022 now, when show already has not 4 but 5 seasons, I guess, question is even more rhetorical.
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