Warning: major spoilers ahead for the Prison Break revival finale, "Behind The Eyes."
The Prison Break revival brought back the biggest and most unforgettable characters from the original run of the series for a set of well-crafted and seriously suspenseful episodes. Executive producer Paul Scheuring hasn't held back from killing off characters in the revival, and so the odds were good that some people would be biting the dust in the finale. After all, "Behind The Eyes" could very well be the last episode of the entire series, and all bets are off when it comes to series finales.
The finale did indeed kill off some major characters, one of whom kind of deserved to live. Whip, recently united with his father, couldn't take the pressures of a standoff and tried to lunge at an armed and very dangerous A&W, resulting in his tragic death. Although he didn't fire the shot into Whip's gut, Jacob's actions led to the death of T-Bag's son. Luckily, he paid for his actions at the very end of the episode in a fairly epic way. Paul Scheuring has come out and revealed why poor Whip had to die in the middle of the finale, saying this:
Well, that was irony. It was that I wanted Jacob to think that he'd outsmarted the system again and that he was going to get away even when he went to prison. I wanted this final moment where it's a poetic ending where we're back in Fox River, where we started the season, and Jacob is now in Fox River. Irony of ironies, who's his cellmate but T-Bag. We infer that T-Bag has killed Jacob in the cell, which is nice in a lot of ways than just seeing him die on camera, but T-Bag's truly got to be motivated. You have to have no doubt in that scene that T-Bag will kill him, and if Jacob has done something so insidious as to kill the son of T-Bag, who just found out he had, then you're pretty certain that T-Bag's going to kill him. Also, in a lot of ways, you could never have a happily-ever-after moment for T-Bag. He's too cursed. So it's supposed to be heartbreaking, but it also leads the ultimate justice for Jacob.
"Behind The Eyes" did end on a low note for T-Bag, as his only possible happy ending for his son was enacting vengeance on the man who led to his death. That said, it was a pretty awesome ending for those of us watching from the comfort of our homes. Jacob paid for all his many crimes with his life, and it was somehow more cathartic to infer that T-Bag totally murdered him as soon as they were locked in a cell together than it would have been to watch Michael or Lincoln or even Sara bludgeon Jacob to death. Besides, Michael, Lincoln, and Sara were all busy enjoying their happy endings, with little Mikey and even Sheba enjoying a nice day together.
Paul Scheuring's comments to EW reveal that he knew T-Bag was getting the short end of the revival stick. Of course, any of us who thought that T-Bag would end the revival on a happy note were probably fooling ourselves. At least he got to rejoice in the existence of his son for a little while, even if he had to watch his son die shortly after meeting him. In the grand scheme of all things Prison Break, it could have gone worse. He got some happiness before everything fell apart for him again.
T-Bag himself didn't die on screen, and we can be confident that Jacob didn't manage to land any mortal blows before he was killed in the cell. If Paul Scheuring and Co. manage to bring Prison Break back for another revival season, maybe T-Bag could have another go at a happy ending. Only time will tell. The main players all survived, which is more than we can say for Prison Break's first series finale on Fox. Anything is possible. We'll have to wait and see.
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