(You have no idea how distracted I got searching for this picture alone! =P)

Ok. I admit. I started watching Prison Break only because of that. I first saw this picture in the TV guide section of 8 Days and it was really fascinating because all they said was when this new show called Prison Break was going to be shown. And there's this picture of a guy whose torso is covered totally with tattoos and the thought that popped into my head was, "Is that some of kind Guinness record thing?" Like for the biggest tattoo in the world or something. Which is quite silly really.

Then there came the barrage of ads on TV for the show, which informed me that those tats actually contain blueprints and information for breaking out of prison. And that guy up there (Michael Scofield, played by Wentworth Miller - yes what a weird name!) had held up a bank to get himself thrown into prison in order to spring his older brother (Lincoln Burrows, pictured squatting, played by Dominic Purcell; the brothers have different names because Michael took his mom's maiden name), who's been framed and due to be executed for supposedly killing a Very Important Person - actually, the Vice President's brother, but does anyone really care?

I thought the premise of the plot seemed really interesting but also really complicated, and so I actually missed a few episodes (I think when it premiered on a Thursday night I was out for Bible Study, which I must say is more interesting anytime than any TV show or movie!). But I've been watching it the past few weeks, after they kept repeating the ads and I got more and more curious about the incredibly arresting and intense gaze.

Ok. I admit. It was just because of his face, alright? I mean, look at that face!

Actually, to my shock and amusement, when I finally googled his name, I found that he has tonnes of rabid female fans and that "Wentgasm" has exploded all over the internet (pun intended, heheh - that is a word I saw a fan use, btw). O.o I didn't know the show (and Wentworth, who has a very interesting story of his own) was so popular because it's still been pretty low-key here despite all the advertising. I don't even know if anybody I know watches it!

Anyhow, it's really a very engaging and exciting show. I think it's the kind of show that people who like C.S.I will enjoy for the cerebral intrigue and unravelling-the-mystery part. There's also lots of action and adventure and blood-splattering (he's already lost two toes for offending someone on prison), and then you have the dynamics with the family and love relationships. I find the whole government conspiracy stuff (revolving around how his brother got framed) kind of cheesy though. But it adds a whole lot of suspense and more opportunities to foil the poor fellow's plan, which happens every episode until the finale of Season 1, actually. I feel kind of bad for all the psychological pressure he must be under everyday in prison. He has to watch everything and everyone (lest he offends them or they backstab him) and he must manipulate the few individuals he does forms meaningful relationships with, like his cellmate; the prison warden who acts like a surrogate father to him; and his love interest, the female prison doctor.

Then there are also the really awful criminals he must take along with him when he makes his break because he needs them for some reason or other. Actually, isn't the whole premise of the show a moral issue? Is it right to do something illegal to save your only living kin in this world? Is it right to jeopardise the lives of innocents for that person? Does the end justify the means? Are people essentially good or bad?

There are issues of identity and fate too - are we the engineers of our own lives, as Michael (incidentally a structural engineer) attempts to do, or are we pushed and pulled by forces we can't control, as Michael experiences when his well-laid plans are foiled again and again by people and forces outside his immediate control? I also think he is willing to sacrifice and risk so much to save his brother because for most of his life his identity has been indelibly tied to his brother, who raised him after their father's death. So saving his brother is, really, saving himself, because he wouldn't know who he is without Lincoln. Of course it's all subconscious and it doesn't mean he loves his brother any less.

(Haha ok the Comms, Psych, and Lit student in me is taking over!)

Am I glad I'll never have to worry about these things, because He'll bring me out of every impossible situation. And all I have to do is rest. Which, incidentally, I must go and do now! xP