The return of ''Prison Break" after almost four months is a welcome event, and the next three episodes are good enough, if not great. The hour due on April 3, which flashes back to the pre-prison life of a few of the convicts, is the best of the trio, as it provides a much-needed sense of history and breadth.
The series is now paired with ''24," whose strong fifth season began when ''Prison Break" went on sabbatical. And it's very much the younger brother to Kiefer Sutherland's hit. Both shows follow a single plot across the season, with the clock ticking in the background, but ''Prison Break" is the shyer and more watchful one. Its suspense is quieter. It's about saving one life, not saving the world, andit's set amid the gray oppressiveness ofjail. It gradually crawls toward jolts of action, while ''24" leaps from one jolt to the next.
I won't give away the new developments on ''Prison Break." More than is the case on many shows, its biggest thrills are plot based, with the writers trying to trick us as they pull the characters in and out of impossible situations. Unlike the plot twists, the acting has never been particularly distinguished, with Robert Knepper's T-Bag as threatening as, well, a tea bag, and with Peter Stormare's Abruzzi speaking in possibly the most mysterious accent ever on TV. The cast is, for the most part, just adequate. Aside from Miller and his deep cool, only Marshall Allman as Lincoln's son and Amaury Nolasco as Michael's buddy Sucre stand out.
Do the escapees manage to break through the pipe, grab Lincoln from the infirmary, and leave the big house? Are the ''Prison Break" writers bold enough to kill off Lincoln and leave Michael rotting behind bars? Will the boys return to their cells, downcast and even more desperate to get out? Sorry, you only think you want to know now.
The weak link in the ''Prison Break" story line continues to be the material involving the nefarious vice president (Patricia Wettig). It doesn't invite a willing suspension of disbelief so much as a willing rolling of the eyes. She's too flagrant with her scheming as she does anything in her power to keep Lincoln's execution on track. And Wettig is so tightly wound she's almost unintentionally campy, as if Mommie Dearest were throwing a snit fit. Too much more of her and they'll have to rename the show ''Psychotic Break."
Matthew Gilbert can be reached at gilbert@globe.com.
