Fox got the jump on competing television stations for the 8 p.m. time slot Monday nights by introducing "Prison Break" a few weeks before the real Fall season begins. The network seems to have made the right choice for the drama after the fourth episode of the series aired Monday night.

Imagine knowing your brother (Dominic Purcell as Lincoln Burrows) is sent to prison, sentenced to death, yet you know he's innocent, but the justice system refuses to cooperate. That's the basic story of Michael Scofield (played by Wentworth Miller), but he's not going to let the justice system get the best of him. The plan? Get sent to the same prison and break out.

Of course, a small snag in the plan is that no one has ever broken out of that prison. Don't worry because Scofield has one up on those who have tried previously; he's an engineer who helped build the prison.

The idea may be simple, but the execution is highly complicated. A full upper-torso tattoo which includes a map of the prison, faking diabetes and making nice with fellow inmates who would rather kill him are highly important parts of the plan.

While Scofield works on helping Burrows from the inside, Veronica Donovan (Robin Tunney) – a lawyer who is also a friend of the brothers – works on getting them out legally. However, Donovan is discovering that her job is more difficult. The government is getting involved and they are not on her side; they are turning out to be the ones behind Burrows' crime instead.

"Prison Break" is high drama, high action and high on the somber-emotion scale. Most of this can be attributed to the setting, a Joliet, Ill. prison. Most viewers wouldn't find a show about a prison believable if the prisoners were friendly and nonviolent.

Being able to encompass race wars and the fact that some of these men are the most dangerous people in society is captivating, yet scary. Plus the way they are shown treating each other is shocking. Case in point, some fellow inmates want information from Scofield and cut off some of his toes with gardening shears.

The acting is one of the best things about the show, but it's also one of the worst.

Miller's portrayal of Scofield is intense; he's brooding and stand-offish, but seemingly misunderstood. But is Miller a one trick pony? The persona he seems to give off – i.e. as Mariah Carey's boy toy in her "We Belong Together" video or on the new CBS show "Ghost Whisperer" – is always the same.

Purcell (formerly of Fox's "John Doe") does well to get his convictions of innocence across. But he also seems too serious for his own good.

The only one that seems to have a range in acting is Tunney. She can act coy, serious and in control. She has a full range of emotions- but she's also not in prison.

The plot is important of course, but there doesn't seem to be a set timeline. The audience knows that Burrows has one month before he is put to death. Time in the prison appears to be passing, but it seems that the show has made a dent in the month and isn't letting anyone know.

The previews for the next episode fires up the drama with the government catching on to the relation between Scofield and Burrows. The previews also show Scofield breaking out of the prison. Is Fox throwing in a twist? The show's creators would be throwing a curve if Scofield had to break out of prison, then break in out again.

The newbie on the Fox block is interesting, but how long can it last? There's only so long that writers can prolong the inevitable.

Grade: B

This article was published in The Marquette Tribune on September 15, 2005.