EDITION: U.S.
retcons
Things I Hate About TV: Prison Break's stupid retcons
by Ryan j Budke, posted Apr 10th 2006 4:28PM
I finally got around to watching Prison Break from last week and although a decent episode, it
exemplified one of my biggest pet peeves about story telling-- stupid retcons. For those that don't know what a
"retcon" is, it stands for retroactive continuity, and my abbreviated definition would go something like this: "adding onto
or changing something or someone's history from what we already knew." I don't mind changes to a character's back
story, but they have to be done right, not just for the "shock value" that was all the rage during this
episode. It seemed as if the writers took every character and just made them the opposite of what they currently were, as if they were trying to make them redeemable. There's the problem though: they're criminals, they're not really supposed to be likable or upstanding citizens. That's why it's so much fun wondering what's going to happen once Michael and company make it outside Fox River's walls. Is Michael going to be able live with himself knowing he unleashed T-Bag on society again just for the sake of rescuing his brother? If C-Note or Abruzzi killed someone once free, would that innocent life have been worth Lincoln's freedom?
TV Squad Hot Topics
Most Popular Articles
Most Popular Tags
From Our Partners
- TV Ratings: 'American Idol' beats 'Big Bang Theory,' but CBS wins Thursday
- 'Extreme Couponing: Black Friday Blitz' sneak peek
- 'Gossip Girl' sneak peak: Blair is looking for love...sort of
- 'American Idol': Amy Brumfield brings the plague to Group Day
- 'The Big Bang Theory': Almost perfect
- More From Zap2it
- Nikita's Melinda Clarke Previews 'Fascinating' Amanda Flashback: 'She Is a Ruthless Creature'
- Ratings: The Mentalist Sees a Season High, Grey's Rises, 30 Rock Pops and The Office Falls
- Matt's Inside Line: Scoop on NCIS: LA, Person of Interest, House, Big Bang, White Collar and More
- Vampire Diaries Boss Talks Offing Originals, Teases 'Major Jeopardy' for All by Season's End
- Project Runway All-Stars Recap: Seasonal Subjective Disorder
- More From TVLine
- The Star Market: Is This the Year of Channing Tatum?
- Watch Oh Land's New Video, ‘Speak Out Now'
- ‘We Take Care of Our Own' Video: Sing Along With Bruce Springsteen
- Watch a Supercut of James Lipton's Most Absurd Questions
- Watch Gloria Estefan's Campy New Video, ‘Hotel Nacional'
- More from Vulture
