US: Rumour I heard (** SPOILERS FOR IRL VIEWERS **)

Colm_OReilly

When I first heard about Prison Break I was told (can't remember by who) that it was all written out in advance, unlike Lost which they make up as they go along.

I really liked this idea because usually shows start out with an idea and then get lost in their own mythology. Remember "Enterprise"?

I DL'd and watched Season 1 and loved it. So I've got to ask, was the whole show from start to finish written out before they started filming, or have they essentially only thought a couple of shows ahead?

Thanks,
Colm

Rollo Tamasi

originally it was meant for one season and now they are doing a second so if you do the math and if pie is 3.17 then the answer is yes to the power of 2

tvnutz

nah,I reckon they were making it up as they go along,from episode 13 on anyway. I don't think they expected to get picked up past 13 episodes,and form then you can see they had to think things up from there.

Unearthly

I disagree tvnutz

I don't think I am allowed to say why though cause of spoilers

danniemcq

Lost had the same idea. they know how it's gonna end and have it mostly worked out long in advance but you do see a fair few filler episodes now it is so popular

tvnutz

Unearthly wrote:

I disagree tvnutz

I don't think I am allowed to say why though cause of spoilers

You could use spoiler tags...but its obvious is many places. They only had a 13 episode order and thats all they thought they would get. After that they suddenly realised they had to make up more storylines.

Unearthly

Right I'll have a go with this in spoiler tags, better change the title though

First I'll start with the Taj Mahal. I know I thought to myself that was a very silly storyline and completely pointless, but in episode 20, Michael used it in his plan to get at the Pope. Very clever, and it gave a point to what seemed a pointless storyline.

Next up Haywire, and his obsession with Michaels Tattoos, writing them down and remembering them. Again this popped up later when Michael needed a way to get back the blueprints that were melted away.

Tweener, why would they of bothered with him if he was never part of the escape crew? His Bellick storyline progressed and it was also well done


The Flashback episode - Sucres evil cousin appeared in that and was revealed he put Sucre in prison in the first place! We felt sympathetic to C-Note and realised he wasn't a bad person before Prison.

John Abruzzi - Would of been suicidal not to have him escape, A central character, and he was needed for the finale cliffhanger(plane wouldnt of been there without him)

Final episode - This was a teaser for the 2nd series, giving people an idea of what to expect in the 2nd series and to tell people that the prison is now left behind

Of course there were some things forgotten about, but overall alot of things that disappeared soon got a resurgance later on and we realised why it was there in the first place. The Series was incredibly consisten In my opinion, and I always felt like the writers knew where they were going.

tvnutz

The thread title does say spoilers but I'll just give people another warning right here that all of this contains major spoilers for episodes not aired in Ireland yet!!!

Unearthly wrote:

First I'll start with the Taj Mahal. I know I thought to myself that was a very silly storyline and completely pointless, but in episode 20, Michael used it in his plan to get at the Pope. Very clever, and it gave a point to what seemed a pointless storyline.

That storyline was used to show the kindness of Pope,and to immediately show that he was the anti-Bellick,to show that he was a good man,kind to his prisoners etc. If you remember Michael turned down the offer to help at first,and only agreed because he was going to be put in solitary. He ended up using the situation to his advantage,but it wasn't in his plan. The writers used the story during English,Fitz and Percy,but until the last episode I don't recall the Taj being in it all. They used it to their advantage,I don't believe when writing the pilot,they said,this is how we will escape int he last episode

Next up Haywire, and his obsession with Michaels Tattoos, writing them down and remembering them. Again this popped up later when Michael needed a way to get back the blueprints that were melted away.

Again another instance of the writers using an earlier story to their advantage. Like I said in the other thread,they did everything very well,but I really doubt it was in their plans from the beginning.Haywire was used the first time as a plot tool,just another road block (of many) to keep the story going as long as possible. When they brought in the Asylum,they realised they could use him again.

Tweener, why would they of bothered with him if he was never part of the escape crew? His Bellick storyline progressed and it was also well done

Tweener was brought in to show how Michael really is the great american hero! The first kid hung himself and Michael did nothing,so they brought Tweener in as a carbon copy of the last situation,and this time Michael does what his mommy taught him and saves the guy. Tweener is also a thief,and they used that. However he was not mentioned thereafter until they decided to bring him more into it with the extra episodes they had to fill. He also had no interaction with Belleck at all until the second half of the season so that has no relevence to the first 13 episodes.

The Flashback episode - Sucres evil cousin appeared in that and was revealed he put Sucre in prison in the first place! We felt sympathetic to C-Note and realised he wasn't a bad person before Prison.

I'm not sure how this relates to anything. The flash back episode took place post episode 13. They could make up anything they wanted to at that stage. All we knew about Sucre's cousin was that he wanted his girl,and that plot was used as a reason for Sucre to be in on the plan. Getting him sent to prison was added in during the flashback episode,which was near the end of seaosn 1.

John Abruzzi - Would of been suicidal not to have him escape, A central character, and he was needed for the finale cliffhanger(plane wouldnt of been there without him)

He was dropped because he didn't get on with the cast,or he had a problem with someone anyway. They eventually worked things out and got him back,but if you notice for season 2 he is only a guest star,not a series regular. By the time he had been sliced by T-bag,he had already ordered the plane to be at the hanger,if he told anyone it wouldn't matter because they thought they would be escaping.

Final episode - This was a teaser for the 2nd series, giving people an idea of what to expect in the 2nd series and to tell people that the prison is now left behind

Not to sound like an ass,but duh? That has nothing to do with them knowing what they were doing through the season. That was them saying the 2nd season would be on the run,which of course it had to be considering they escaped in the last episode!

I think they did the second half of the season very well,they adjusted well. But for me,there are many bumps and a few dodgy episodes that show they did not have the 2nd half planned out when they first started the show!

Wow...another note,after realising all I just wrote,I need to get a job...fast!

Unearthly

Some excellent points made there and some which I never thought of before so fair play.

The Taj imo does show planning ahead. I agree the Taj wasn't soley just there for the finale, and you're right, It did give the impression to the viewers that Pope was a good man. At the end of the day, neither of us have proof whether they intended to do what they did in Episode 20 or thought of it last minute, although I'll argue it was a very important part of the series, and if the writers say they planned it out for 2 years(take your point about them talking crap sometimes but Im giving them the benefit of the doubt) then It would of crossed their mind. Of course Michael refused at first chance, but he wouldn't of known if Linc needed to be transfered to the infirmary at that time.

As for Haywire, yes he was a road block, but the fact that he was so obsessed with the tattoos, and more importantly written them down and remembered them was actually quite pointless till it was revealed later on. He was a roadblock in terms that he was a nutter who could not be trusted, and Michael needed his cellmate to be sane and trustworthy otherwise the plan would go tits up. Michael thought he got an easy way out with that, but later found out he really needed him, and without him the breakout wouldn't of happened.

You are wrong about Tweener and Bellick. Bellick first tried to bribe Tweener to snitch around episode 13, when he gave him the cheeseburger. I'm certain of this cause i Watched it on RTE last week. You're correct with your assessment of Tweener, but there was still far more to come from him. As for Michael, he wasn't very heroic to him. I got the impression he just used him. If anything you could say he tried to help him post episode 13 when that hairy rapist guy arrived.

I'll admit my point about the flashback was bollocks, and even if they escaped they could of done one.

As for Abruzzi, Yep I heard he fell out with the cast, but I also heard he had other things to film, so they had to factor in his departure for a small lenght of time. If John Abruzzi was finished with the show, why didn't they kill him off? They also set up a feud between him and T Bag which played a big part towards the latter part of the series, im sure will continue into the 2nd season, let alone the 2nd part of Series 1


Last point, don't worry you didn't come across as an Ass. My point is that the 2nd Season will be a whole new ball game, and that episode was done to let the audience know what they're in for and to adjust new surroundings and direction. There was no evidence of this in 13. Actually as a question, is the point you're trying to say that Prison Break was originally meant to be a mini 13 episodes program, no 2nd seasons, just 13 episodes and done? If thats the case the so called only written 13 episodes didn't finish anything off!

From watching programs I feel that weren't planned out from start to finish, I always find that they concentrate on subplots that have no relevance whatsoever on the grand scheme of things. 24 Series 5 is full of them, infact every 24 series is.

tvnutz

Some good points there as well,I guess we'll have to agree to disagree,because I may be unemployed at the moment,but I'm not sure I can write out that much again

Maybe I am wrong about tweener,but I thought

the thing between him and Bellick didn't start until near the end of the season.

Unearthly

Perhaps I should get a job that actually involves work :eek:

muckwarrior

Colm_OReilly wrote:

I really liked this idea because usually shows start out with an idea and then get lost in their own mythology. Remember "Enterprise"?

Sorry, off topic I know, but Enterprise was totally shít at the start and only got good half way through.

beanyb

I picked up the US boxset in Canada a couple of weeks ago. In the special features Brett Ratner says something along the lines of that when he was initially pitched the idea that the creator had a basic sketch of 5 seasons made out.

But they also acknowledge that when the show was picked up for more than 13 episodes they made changes such as C-Note being involved in the break out. He was only meant to be around when Michael needed the Pugnac.