None of us are perfect.
In fact, if we’re honest, we’ll admit that we sometimes find ourselves in that dense gray space between good and bad, right and wrong.
And if we don’t, we’d like to.
That’s why Fox is kicking serious tail on Monday nights.
“Prison Break,” which unwittingly makes us root for criminals and thugs, is again catching its stride, while Jack Bauer on “24” is better than ever, even as he tallies a seemingly infinite body count and the plot reaches new heights.
And as we approach May sweeps and season finales, we can feel that we’re on the brink of something big on both shows.
| On TV
“Prison Break,” 8 p.m. Mondays, KCPQ, Channel 13“24,” 9 p.m. Mondays, KCPQ, Channel 13 |
Entering its fifth season, “24” had become a near parody of itself.
But the show quickly proved it’s not a joke.
In the first seconds of the season premiere, former President David Palmer (played by Dennis Haysbert, who had a new gig on CBS’s “The Unit,” so it was time to move on) was gunned down.
Lovebirds Michelle Dessler and Tony Almeida were targeted with a bomb that immediately offed Dessler and eventually claimed Almeida.
And our favorite office schlep, Edgar Stiles, fell victim to some nerve gas that was released inside CTU’s headquarters.
That’s right, terrorists infiltrated the very confines that house the nation’s counterterrorism unit.
That’s good stuff.
And while each season generally brings someone on the inside who is conspiring against the country, this season of “24” takes it all the way up to President Charles Logan.
Gregory Itzin plays Logan, a leader who has gone from a nervous bumbler to a wily mastermind and could make a run at a supporting actor Emmy nomination.
Meanwhile, back at the Fox River Penitentiary, things are starting to heat up on “Prison Break.”
The fellas are still not out from behind bars, but we’re getting the feeling that they’re close – again.
The series has been exhausting, at times, as the gang has repeatedly run into obstacles that thwart each attempt to make their break.
I’ve never tried to break out of prison, but I imagine if it were easy the prison population would be much smaller than it is.
But the action is picking up, with Monday’s episode ending in a bus crash that apparently gives our favorite execution candidate, Lincoln Burrows, a chance to make a run for it.
Previews for next week’s installment also show the return of mob boss John Abruzzi, who we all took for dead months ago. Should make for an awkward reunion with Teabag, being that he’s the one who tried to kill him and all.
Just another day in the hoosegow, and another reason Fox has claimed Monday night.
Victor Balta’s TV column runs Mondays and Thursdays on the A&E page. Reach him at 425-339-3455 or vbalta@heraldnet.com.
For more TV and pop culture scoop, check out Victor’s blog at heraldnet.com/blogpopculture.
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