For years, people told me to watch Prison Break.
I ignored them.
I didn't understand why everybody was so obsessed with Michael Scofield. At the time, I didn't even know who Michael Scofield was.
Then one day I decided to give the show a chance.
I told myself I would just watch a little.
That was a mistake.
Because once I started Season 1, I couldn't stop.
Michael Scofield Wasn't Trying to Escape Prison
The crazy part about Prison Break is that Michael Scofield didn't accidentally end up in prison.
He deliberately got himself arrested.
His brother Lincoln Burrows was facing execution, and Michael believed his brother had been wrongly convicted.
So Michael created an insane plan.
He would get himself inside the same prison.
Then he would break his brother out.
Think about how crazy that is.
Most people would do everything possible to stay out of prison.
Michael did the opposite.
He put himself there because it was the only way he could save his brother.
Fact note: Prison Break premiered on Fox in 2005 and ran for four seasons (2005–2009), with a revival season in 2017. Wentworth Miller plays Michael Scofield, who gets himself imprisoned at Fox River to break out his brother Lincoln (Dominic Purcell).
The Tattoos Were Insane
One of the things that completely hooked me was Michael's tattoo.
It wasn't just a normal tattoo.
It contained information connected to his escape plan and the prison itself.
Michael had essentially turned his own body into part of the blueprint.
That was the moment I realized this wasn't going to be a normal prison series.
This guy had been planning everything.
The routes.
The prison structure.
The people.
The risks.
The escape.
And the crazy thing was that even after all that planning, things kept going wrong.
I Was Watching All Night
Season 1 had me locked in.
I kept thinking:
"Okay, I'll watch one more episode."
Then another episode started.
Then another.
Before I knew it, I had spent most of the night watching Prison Break.
That's what I mean when I say a series has to hook me.
I don't need explosions every five minutes.
I need a reason to desperately know what happens next.
Prison Break gave me that.
Michael Scofield Became One of My Favourite Characters
What makes Michael interesting isn't simply that he's intelligent.
It's that he is willing to sacrifice himself for his brother.
He doesn't just say he loves his brother.
He creates an almost impossible plan and walks directly into prison to prove it.
That's what made the character memorable to me.
Why I Still Recommend Prison Break First
Whenever someone asks me which American series they should watch, Prison Break is still one of the first names I give them.
I've watched Breaking Bad.
I've watched Marvel.
I've watched plenty of other American series.
But Prison Break Season 1 created a feeling that very few shows have created for me.
It made me want to stay awake just to see what would happen next.
And that's why, for me, Prison Break remains special.
Not because everyone has to agree that it's the greatest series ever.
But because it was one of the first shows that made me completely forget I was watching television.
I was simply trying to find out whether Michael Scofield would actually pull it off.
Related reading: I gave Breaking Bad two seasons and still couldn't understand the hype — read my full opinion here.
