Prison Break returned to TV screens this week as its fifth season got underway [read our review of the first episode here], and while creator and executive producer Paul T. Scheuring previously suggested that another season was a possibility, it now sounds as though he has had a change of heart, telling Collider that he plans to wrap up the series and provide a proper ending to the show with the event series.
“A big thing for me is to be able to deliver answers,” said Scheuring. “Then the audience knows that the things that you tease are not just for the tease, but there’s actually something there. I think a lot of shows figure out how to tease you very well, but then have to get out of it later, so they just keep kicking the can down the road because they don’t know how to get out of it. So in this case, especially with a short run, you want to start rolling out answers very quickly. This thing was designed as a close-ended piece. At the end, you’ll be like, ‘That was the dynamic. That’s what happened. And that’s how it was resolved. Wow!’ There’s no over-hanging piece that will make you want to come back next year.”
“I don’t like embarking on a story unless I know exactly where it ends,” he continues. “The reason I signed on to do this season was because I knew where the season ended. I couldn’t tell you another story about this group of people. Maybe somebody else can, or by accident, I’ll somehow, possibly, dream up another prison escape that’s new and fresh, but I would bet against it. You can only be open for business, if it’s worth being open for business. You can’t just be in business to be in business. Your product has to be worthwhile. Until I, or someone else, can come up with something that’s really worthwhile for the audience, you have to say goodbye to these people. You can’t do it just to do it, for sequelitis.”
Despite mixed reviews, Prison Break proved to be a solid hit for Fox ratings-wise, so if it can keep that up for the entire season the network will likely be hoping that Scheuring does manage to dream up another escape…
Originally published April 6, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
