When it was first created back in 2005, Fox’s hit showPrison Breakfelt like it could do no wrong. It was brilliant and kept audiences guessing with its intricate plots and wonderfully crafted episodes. Not only did its main stars have a cult following, the show didn’t just rest on their innate coolness, but could back itself up with cleverness that gave itfar more depthbeyond just having sexy characters for viewers to swoon over.
However, despite its amazing run in the limelight, it was a show that soon fizzled in an unexpected way. Forever a poster child for wasted potential, the show initially never came close to lasting as long as fans thought it would.Prison Breakand its lead star, Wentworth Miller, were like mirror images of each other sometimes, seemingly both destined to be different from the impressions fans first got from them.
There seemed a time when Miller was every woman’s fantasy. He was once voted People’s Sexiest Man Alive, and adored by his armies of mostly female fans, even showing up as Mariah Carey’s love interest in her hit music video for “We Belong Together.” Yet, for all his popularity among women, Miller would later come out as a gay man, and the show that seemed to be so popular ran out of steam and was canceled after just four seasons.
The Initial Cancelation
Despite all its popularity,Prison Breakended after Season 4, and although ratings were dropping by that time, this was apparently not the reason why it first ended. The immense popularity the show had in its early renditions meant that even a ratings drop from its initial popularity still never left it in any danger of tapering off into being a complete loss for Fox.
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So, back then, Fox executives were quick to defend its cancelation, expressly mentioning that the show had simply run its natural course. If true, this would certainly have been an almost noble ending for the show then. Given its popularity, ending it for creative reasons and simply because it hadreached its logical endwas actually refreshing.
If anything, this was a hallmark of those rare few great shows that chose to do this, a prominent example beingBreaking Bad.It seems it was one of those shows that chose to end early, rather thanstretching out their lifespanto bleed every last dollar out of their popularity. This was almost preferable since those shows inevitably saw their plot lines eventually bastardized into realms that stopped being about what made them popular in the first place.
However, there was just one small problem with this seemingly idealized story of why it was first canceled. The problem was, asPrison Breakwould later prove, it wasn’t one of those shows that ended early.
The Fifth Season
After logically tying up its plot when it first ended,Prison Breakcould have concluded after Season 4 and not be that controversial for it. Sure, it had a huge cult following and was very popular. However, as it went on, there was a definite decline in its quality and a reason why it was never suited for going further than it did.
The first season seemed to have a hook and innate grittiness that subsequent seasons simply failed to replicate. Since the show had ended somewhat logically, asDoux Reviewsconfirmed, it also didn’t need to go further than that.
“The producers of this show had a serious problem to solve. They had a stable of terrific actors playing great characters, but the series structure, the actual breaking out of prison thing, obviously couldn’t continue.”
By the time Season 4 rolled around, the show had lost its luster in many ways and needed to end. While it was given a good ending and a finale that ought to have been the end of it, the show experienced a revival of interest from being aired on Netflix.
This led to it infamously receiving a fifth season. However, it was soon clear that there wereproblems with the rebootattempt and that it never fared well.
The Failure of Season 5
Despite its vastpopularity among fans, who were initially pumped about it getting a fifth season, that season only proved that the show’s creator, Paul Scheuring, and Fox President Kevin Reilly, were right. Their reasons for canceling the show after Season 4 proved to have been the right move all along, and the reboot should never have been made.
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On that front, it wasn’t just that nine years had passed between when Season 4 ended and Season 5 was released. However, this certainly impacted how weird it felt to see it back on screens. It was also that the show simply lacked the same dynamic nature now, unable to recapture any of the magic that made it such a hit in the first place.
Why Season 6 Will Never Happen
Theill-fated fifth seasonofPrison Breakshould have been enough to dissuade any further attempts to rekindle it. However, the show was so popular that regardless of Season 5’s general failure, there were still plans for a sixth season.
However, these plans soon wound up in the wilderness as equivocation by Fox, and a general lack of interest, eventually canned the idea altogether. However, it wasn’t just Fox’s ambivalence that sounded the death knell for any hopes of a Season 6 ofPrison Break.
That eventually came down to someone a lot closer to fans' hearts than Fox executives were. It was actually Wentworth Miller himself who indirectly made it clear that there would be no Season 6. This was a natural consequence of his public remarks that he wanted tostep back from playing straight men.
As bad as the fifth season ofPrison Breakwas, none of it even comes close to even contemplating how the show could survive without Michael Scofield being in it. However, no matter how many fans remember the show’s original magic with fondness, given how Season 5 almost threatened to destroy those memories, it seems Miller may have done us all a favor by ruling himself out of a return.
Though it may be sad to actually have to say goodbye this time, Miller’s comments also ensured that there surely wouldn’t be a Season 6 ofPrisonBreakever, thereby also protecting whatever integrity the show still has.
