'Prison Break' S04E10: 'The Legend'

After the absorbing brilliance of recent episodes, 'The Legend' felt something of a let down. It still contained enough twists and developments to ensure our attention never wavered, but too much of the storyline was padding.

The decision to focus on the aftermath of Brad Bellick's death was a real double-edged sword for the show. On the one hand, it enabled us to see the transformation of the drowned mother's boy from a sneaky prison guard into a man who commanded respect from his former sworn enemies. Even T-Bag had to wipe the tears away with his fake hand! The image of Bellick in the coffin also confronted us, the viewer, into reassessing Brad's merit. It was all rather poignant, with some cleverly chosen flashbacks hammering home the emotion.

Yet the whole affair, with its meditation on the past, greatly contributed to the episode's lack of plot progression. The stalling effect was reinforced by Scofield's needlessly long hospital sojourn, Mahone's mostly inconsequential visit to David Baker and Sucre stood on a mine for far too long in a cynical ploy to wring out tension. At least the revelation that T-Bag's secretary was an undercover Agent provided a welcome surprise and makes us wonder what the fugitive snake has in store for her.

Not the best instalment by far, 'The Legend' plodded around for too long but did manage to raise some intriguing questions in its final moments. Just how will Scofield manage to grab hold of Scylla when it takes someone weighing less than two pounds and who doesn't breathe to accomplish the job. He'd better stick Bellick's corpse on the Atkins Diet - and fast!

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