The second season of ''
Prison Break
''Prison Break'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Paul Scheuring for Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox. The series revolves around two brothers: Lincoln Burrows (Dominic P ...
'', an American serial drama television series, commenced airing in the United States on August 21, 2006, on Mondays at 8:00 pm (
EST) on
Fox
Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush").
Twelve species ...
. ''Prison Break'' is produced by Adelstein-Parouse Productions, in association with Rat Entertainment,
Original Film
Original Film is an American film and television production company founded by Neal H. Moritz. Notable films the company has produced include the '' I Know What You Did Last Summer'', '' Cruel Intentions'' and ''Fast & Furious'' franchises, the ...
and
20th Century Fox Television
20th Television, Inc. (formerly known as TCF Television Productions, Inc., 20th Century-Fox Television and 20th Century Fox Television) is the television studio arm of 20th Century Studios, owned by Disney Television Studios, a division of the Di ...
. The season contains 22 episodes, and concluded on April 2, 2007. Series creator
Paul Scheuring
Paul T. Scheuring (born November 20, 1968) is an American screenwriter and director of films and television shows. His work includes the 2003 film '' A Man Apart'' and the creation of the television drama ''Prison Break'', for which he was also c ...
describes the second season as "''
The Fugitive'' times eight," and likens it to the "second half of ''
The Great Escape''."
''Prison Break'' revolves around two brothers: one who has been
sentenced to death
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...
for a
crime he did not commit and his younger sibling, a genius who devises an elaborate plan to help him escape prison. The brothers, along with six other prisoners at
Fox River State Penitentiary
''Prison Break'' is an American crime drama television series created by Paul Scheuring for Fox. The series revolves around two brothers: Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell) and Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller); Lincoln has been sentenced ...
, manage to escape, and the second season follows a massive manhunt chasing the group. Dubbed the
Fox River Eight, the group splits, and members go their way, occasionally meeting up to help each other. They struggle to escape from the police while avoiding a secret group of
multinationals called
The Company, that wants them all dead.
For the season, three characters are downgraded from series regular to recurring status, and a new character is introduced. Filming took place in
Dallas, Texas
Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
, due to a close proximity of rural and urban settings. For the final three episodes, scenes were filmed in
Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only incorporated city, city in Escambia County, Florida, Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...
, to represent
Panama
Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...
. Critical reviews of the season were generally positive, with the addition of
William Fichtner
William Edward Fichtner (born November 27, 1956) is an American actor. Born in New York, he started his career with supporting appearances in '' Virtuosity'' (1994), ''Heat'' and '' Strange Days'' (both 1995). A prolific character actor in film, ...
to the cast receiving much praise.
Fox Home Entertainment
20th Century Home Entertainment (previously known as Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, LLC. and also known as 20th Century Studios Home Entertainment) was a home video distribution arm that distributes films produced by 20th Century Stud ...
released the season in
Region 1 on September 4, 2007.
Cast
Main characters
*
Dominic Purcell
Dominic Haakon Myrtvedt PurcellO'Connor, B,Break Out". '' Men's Fitness''. December/January 2007 Issue; retrieved 18 December 2006. (born 17 February 1970) is an Australian actor. He is best known as Lincoln Burrows in ''Prison Break'' (2005� ...
as
Lincoln Burrows
This is a list of characters in the United States, American television series ''Prison Break''. The characters are listed alphabetically by their last name or by the name which appears in the episode credits.
Overview
: = Ensemble cast, Main c ...
*
Wentworth Miller
Wentworth Earl Miller III (born June 2, 1972) is an American actor known for playing the role of Michael Scofield in ''Prison Break'', for which he received a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama in ...
as
Michael Scofield
Michael J. Scofield, portrayed by Wentworth Miller, is a fictional character and one of the main protagonists of the American television series ''Prison Break''.
Character development
Michael was conceived after ''Prison Break'' creator Paul Sch ...
*
Robin Tunney
Robin Tunney (born June 19, 1972) is an American actress who made her film debut in '' Encino Man'' (1992), and later rose to prominence with headline parts in the cult films ''Empire Records'' (1995) and '' The Craft'' (1996). Her performance in ...
as
Veronica Donovan
This is a list of characters in the United States, American television series ''Prison Break''. The characters are listed alphabetically by their last name or by the name which appears in the episode credits.
Overview
: = Ensemble cast, Main c ...
*
Amaury Nolasco
Amaury Nolasco Garrido (born December 24, 1970) is a Puerto Rican actor. He is best known for the role of Fernando Sucre on the Fox television series ''Prison Break'' (2005–2008, 2017), and for his role in ''Transformers'' (2007).
Early li ...
as
Fernando Sucre
This is a list of characters in the United States, American television series ''Prison Break''. The characters are listed alphabetically by their last name or by the name which appears in the episode credits.
Overview
: = Ensemble cast, Main c ...
*
Marshall Allman
Marshall Scot Allman (born April 5, 1984) is an American actor. He is known to television audiences for his role as L. J. Burrows on the Fox television series ''Prison Break''. He is also known for playing Tommy Mickens on ''True Blood''.
Earl ...
as
L.J. Burrows
*
Wade Williams
Wade Andrew Williams is an American actor. He is known for his various character roles, and for a major supporting role as correctional officer Brad Bellick on the Fox television series ''Prison Break'' and Father Cronin on ''The Bernie Mac S ...
as Captain
Brad Bellick
This is a list of characters in the United States, American television series ''Prison Break''. The characters are listed alphabetically by their last name or by the name which appears in the episode credits.
Overview
: = Ensemble cast, Main c ...
*
Paul Adelstein
Paul Adelstein (born April 29, 1969) is an American actor. He is known for the role of Agent Paul Kellerman in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox television series ''Prison Break'' and his role as pediatrician Cooper Freedman in the American Broad ...
as Secret Service Agent
Paul Kellerman
Paul Kellerman, also known as Owen Kravecki, is a fictional character from the American television series, ''Prison Break''. Played by Paul Adelstein, the character was introduced to the series as a Secret Service special agent in the series pi ...
*
Robert Knepper
Robert Lyle Knepper (born July 8, 1959) is an American actor best known for his role as Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell in the Fox drama series ''Prison Break'' (2005–2009, 2017), Samuel Sullivan in the final season of the NBC series '' Heroes'' ...
as
Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell
Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell is a fictional character from the American television series ''Prison Break''. Played by Robert Knepper, he is part of the main group of characters in the series and is part of the Fox River Eight. After guest-starring i ...
*
Rockmond Dunbar
Rockmond Dunbar (born January 11, 1973) is an American actor, best known for his roles as Baines on the NBC series ''Earth 2 (TV series), Earth 2'', Kenny Chadway on Showtime (TV network), Showtime family drama ''Soul Food (TV series), Soul Food' ...
as
Benjamin Miles "C-Note" Franklin
This is a list of characters in the United States, American television series ''Prison Break''. The characters are listed alphabetically by their last name or by the name which appears in the episode credits.
Overview
: = Ensemble cast, Main c ...
*
Sarah Wayne Callies
Sarah Wayne Callies is an American actress. She is known for starring as Sara Tancredi in Fox's ''Prison Break'', Lori Grimes in AMC's '' The Walking Dead'', and more recently, as Birdie Nicolletti in ABC's '' The Company You Keep''. She ha ...
as Dr.
Sara Tancredi
This is a list of characters in the American television series ''Prison Break''. The characters are listed alphabetically by their last name or by the name which appears in the episode credits.
Overview
: = Main cast (credited)
: = Recurr ...
*
William Fichtner
William Edward Fichtner (born November 27, 1956) is an American actor. Born in New York, he started his career with supporting appearances in '' Virtuosity'' (1994), ''Heat'' and '' Strange Days'' (both 1995). A prolific character actor in film, ...
as FBI Special Agent
Alexander Mahone
Alexander "Alex" Mahone is a fictional character portrayed by William Fichtner in the American television series ''Prison Break''. Mahone is introduced in the Manhunt (Prison Break), premiere of the Prison Break (season 2), second season as a sp ...
Recurring characters
Episodes
Production
Filming
Filming began on June 15, 2006, in Dallas, Texas due to a close proximity of rural and urban settings. Executive producer
Matt Olmstead
Matt Olmstead is an American writer and producer for television shows.
Early life
Olmstead graduated from California State University, Chico in 1988. He is an alumnus of the College of Humanities and Fine Arts. He went to Hollywood in hopes of ...
stated that the filming location was changed from Chicago in the first season to Dallas in the second season because the characters were on the run. Many locations were needed to represent various American towns, which Dallas provided, whereas locations within Chicago took several hours to travel between. Olmstead noted, "It really came down to a financial thing." Other locations that were considered for filming were
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
,
Arizona
Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
and
Louisiana
Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...
. Dallas was chosen because of its "resourcefulness, cost effectiveness and variety with regard to activities available for the crew", which was considered to be a major component for the final decision.
[ Filming took place in Dallas for nine to ten months, where 20 of the 22 episodes were shot. The series was expected to bring $50 million into the city of Dallas.] For the final three episodes of the second season, filming took place in Pensacola, Florida to represent Panama. Filming for each episode took place over eight days, which contributed approximately $1.4 million to the local economy.
Release
Critical reception
Mike Duffy of the ''Detroit Free Press
The ''Detroit Free Press'' (commonly referred to as the ''Freep'') is a major daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest local newspaper owned by Gannett (the publisher of ''USA Today''), and is operated by the Detro ...
'' commended the premiere for delivering "rocking good entertainment," and living up to the standard set by the first season. Duffy praised the "motley crew of cellblock characters" and the "taut, ingenious storytelling of series creator Paul T. Scheuring and his staff." Robert Bianco of ''USA Today
''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...
'' commented on the "harebrained absurdities that have swamped this show", and accused the writers of being "incredibly lazy" for the continuous use of the tattoo as an "all-purpose plot fix". Ahsan Haque and Christopher Monfette of IGN
''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
credited the creators for not being afraid to take risks, which they felt "paid off for the most part". The reviewers found the biggest success factors to be "the constant swerves and twists" throughout the season, and "the development of the hero-villain relationship between Scofield and Mahone".
The addition of Mahone was well received by critics, who often referred to him as Michael's nemesis. Rob Owen of the ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving Greater Pittsburgh, metropolitan Pittsburgh in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the fi ...
'' found Mahone to be "a far more worthy adversary for Michael than prison guard Brad Bellick... who's still after the convicts but seems like a cartoon compared to the Inspector Javert-like Mahone." Brian Zoromski from IGN
''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
believes that the "strongest portions of 'Manhunt
Manhunt may refer to:
Search processes
* Manhunt (law enforcement), a search for a dangerous fugitive
* Manhunt (military), a search for a high-value target by special operations forces or intelligence agencies
Social organisations
* Manhun ...
' deal with the introduction of a new character, an FBI Agent named Alexander Mahone, played by the great character actor
A character actor is an actor known for playing unusual, eccentric, or interesting character (arts), characters in supporting roles, rather than leading ones.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrie ...
William Fichtner." Digital Spy
Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its initial launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television pro ...
's Ben Rawson-Jones praised the "wonderful" Fichtner, claiming he "quickly became more appealing than the brooding hero himself". Robert Bianco of ''USA Today
''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...
'' said that Fichtner was a welcome addition to the cast, and Andy Dehnart
Andy Dehnart (born August 26, 1977) is an American journalist and television critic. He may be best known as reality television's "longest-standing critic" for his online journalism, as he is the creator of the genre's first tracking website, reali ...
from MSNBC
MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...
called Mahone the best new character of the second season.
Ratings
The premiere of the season obtained an average of 9.40 million American viewers, a decrease from the 10.50 million viewers who watched the series premiere, and the 10.24 million viewers who watch the first-season finale. The season obtained its largest audience with the episode "Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
", which averaged 10.12 million viewers; however, the season finale received one of the lowest audiences in the series' history with 8.12 million viewers. The season averaged 9.30 million American viewers for all 22 episodes. Out of all regular primetime programming that aired during the 2005–2006 American television season, ''Prison Break'' ranked #51 out of #142, according to the Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
system. In Australia, the season premiere was watched by an average of 1.22 million viewers, however ratings dropped consistently throughout the season. In the United Kingdom, ratings declined from an average audience share of 9% in the first season to 8.5% in the second. The season's penultimate episode, " Fin Del Camino", was viewed by an average of 1.20 million viewers, gaining a 7% audience share. As a result of the declining ratings during the season, Five decided not to air the third season and it was picked up by Sky1
Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989 ...
. ''Prison Break'' was simulcast
Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultaneously) ...
in Canada on Global
Global may refer to:
General
*Globe, a spherical model of celestial bodies
*Earth, the third planet from the Sun
Entertainment
* ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003
* ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007
* ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 198 ...
, where it ranked in the top ten of the highest rated television series.
Awards
The season was nominated for five awards, winning one. Dominic Purcell won the Australian Film Institute
The Australian Film Institute (AFI) was founded in 1958 as a non-profit organisation devoted to developing an active film culture in Australia and fostering engagement between the general public and the Cinema of Australia, Australian film indu ...
International Award for Best Actor. Work on the episode " Disconnect" was nominated for two Motion Picture Sound Editors
Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE) is an American professional society of motion picture sound editors founded in 1953. The society's goals are to educate others about and increase the recognition of the sound and music editors, show the arti ...
Golden Reel Awards. Music editor David Klotz was nominated for Best Sound Editing in Music for Television — Short Form. The supervising sound editor, along with four Foley artists and four sound effects editors were nominated for Best Sound Editing in Sound Effects and Foley for Television — Short Form. At the 2007 Teen Choice Awards
The Teen Choice Awards were an annual awards show that aired on the Fox television network between 1999 and 2019. The awards, based on a popularity vote that could be overridden by the producerswho reserved the right to choose the winnerscovered ...
, Wentworth Miller was nominated for Choice TV Actor: Drama, and Robert Knepper was nominated for Choice TV: Villain.
Home media release
References
;General
Prison Break: Season 2
at IGN
''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
Prison Break — Season 2 DVD Information
at TVShowsOnDVD.com
TVShowsOnDVD.com was a website dedicated to cataloging, campaigning for, and reporting news about Region 1 television series releases on DVD and region A Blu-ray. The site's slogan asked: "Is YOUR Favorite Show On DVD?".
From February 2007 un ...
;Specific
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prison Break Season 2
Prison Break
Prison Break episodes
2006 American television seasons
2007 American television seasons