"Prison Break" Season 3

Last night, my favorite TV show of recent memory "Prison Break" returned for its third season. The first season of "Prison Break" was genius, the most brilliantly crafted seasonlong narrative I've ever seen on a network television season. Unfortunately, the premise only lent itself to a single-season run. The second season dealt with the prisoners after the escape. It certainly had its moments and was still loads of fun, but most everybody agreed it became a caricature of itself as the narrative stretched on and on and on. Yet viewers kept tuning in, entertained by the insanity and riding out the train until it came to a stop.

While some of the major storylines were resolved at the end of season two, ratings were such that the series has returned for a third season, generally getting off to a fresh start with a new setting and several new characters. I anticipated a loss of audience, and was apparently right as ratings for last night's premiere are down nearly 25% from last year's season premiere. Qualitywise, the new season looks to be another fun ride, but the cache the series had in its first season is lost and the effort to keep the thin premise afloat is increasingly evident. I fully intend to ride out "Prison Break" till the end and may actually find this season's events to be a worthy renaissance, but I would bet money this will be PB's last season as the audience will only have so much patience for this limited capacity story to play out.

I have some political analysis to add to the blog, hopefully by tomorrow night, regarding recent Congressional retirements, so be patient with me.