(S03E05) "If we're going to get around these guys, we gotta get to know them." - Michael

Well, I suppose we were due to get an episode like this one. Slow, annoying, and for the most part, filler. Just a way to hash out a story that isn't fully conceived and doesn't depend on guaranteed accuracies. If we've learned one thing from Prison Break, it's that its not meant to be taken seriously. However, and this is just my opinion, that sub-conscious effort to disregard how foolish this show gets sometimes actually makes the bad stuff stick out even more for me.

Gallery: Prison Break - Season Three

Case in point? The continued misuse of Mahone, T-Bag, Sucre, and Bellick. These are integral characters and nothing seems to be changing for them. We thought it was... but it's not. Sucre got that job as the new gravedigger and already he's back to being no help. He sprayed the chemicals all over the fence last time we saw him but we never got any proof that the fence had been sufficiently damaged.

Now Sucre has just been reduced to an errand boy for Augusto. While it does seem that Lechero's suspicions about Augusto are right and he's working against him (Sammy, too, since he's the one retrieving whatever Augusto sends), what's the point of getting Sucre involved? Translation? There's nothing else for him to do and I suppose this is better than nothing. It'd be better if he started snooping in the packages to see if they could aid Michael.

Same goes for Bellick, Mahone, and T-Bag. The three of them are just dead weight, wandering around the prison. T-Bag deals whatever sludge in a vial Lechero has him selling and Mahone thinks it's finger lickin' good. Sure, Mahone noticed the guard and his coffee addiction, but how that one little tidbit weighed against a whole episode of nothing isn't doing it for me. Bellick? Big week for him. He has cheese. No... that was it for him. Cheese.

I think the thing that's starting to hurt this season for me is the way they're trying to relieve the tension each week. This time around, Michael was set on breaking out in 24 hours -- we know that ain't happening. In season one, the plan flowed, the tension stayed, and we knew they were getting out in the finale. It's no fun seeing Michael fail week in and week out now. His plan needs to flow better and, more importantly, it needs some longevity. No more of this "we're getting out now" talk when we're only five episodes in. I realize that set backs need to be created, but there's a better way.

All this complaining doesn't mean I didn't like the episode. Little things made it for me. Throwbacks to season one: Michael's MacGyver-ish skills when he made the EMP out of the microwave; the bed sheet hanging over the cell. The new prisoner was a nice touch too. What's he know about Whistler? He called him McFadden. Said he remembered him from Nice in 1997 and there was something about an ambassador. I think the set-up for this was awkward, but it really was the only way to introduce new info on Whistler... if that is his name.

I'll tell you what I didn't like. They're clearly setting up a romance between Linc and Sophia. This is just going to turn into more filler. Michael/Sara is not going to be re-created and there's no sense in wasting our time with some inevitable make-out sessions between Linc and his new co-conspirator. Then again, if Whistler isn't who he says he is... maybe Sophia isn't either?