Introduction
Films and television series, just like all other ways of expression of creative thought, are recognized as forms of art. In turn, similarly to other works of art, they have two major manifestations – as the representation of the ideas included in them by their creators and as the perspectives of their audiences. It often happens that the two manifestations differ significantly. As a result, exploring and discussing any kinds of art pieces, it is important to take into account both the author’s ideas underlying the work and the way it is perceived by viewers. In this paper, the discussion will focus on a popular television series Prison Break. It is known as one of the shows that gained a large audience starting from its first season. However, over time, Prison Break lost views as its later seasons were perceived as boring, underwhelming, and illogical. In that way, the metatextuality of this series can be explored from the perspective of the public in general, as well as from my point of view as a fan.
Prison Break: Series Overview
History
Television drama is widely known as Prison Break first saw the world in 2005. The show started during the so-called golden age of TV series when many famous franchises were launched. Some of them still air regularly and continue to gain new fans. Prison Break, however, was not as lucky. It ended after season four that aired in 2009 (Goodman). The short life of the TV show under discussion was accompanied by a gradual decline in views. At the same time, it is important to note that the first two seasons of the show were massively popular and gained a huge audience over a very short time. The popularity of Prison Break was so significant that the show remains on the lists of the most commonly binge-watched series. Moreover, seeking to bring back the success of the past, Fox, the channel that used host Prison Break, decided to revive the show in the form of a short sequel (Ryan). This announcement was made back in 2015, and just one year later, the fifth season of the show appeared as promised (Patten). This was not an attempt to relaunch the franchise that had fallen flat in the past but a chance to profit from the formerly successful show one more time. Analyzing that action of Fox, one could conclude that the authorities of the channel see Prison Break as a show with much potential that, unfortunately, was wasted and lost.
Social Perception and Criticism
In the light of Prison Break’s revival, the old discussions about its failure to keep its fans’ attention started all over again. In particular, the show was criticized for revolving around a rather narrow idea – an escape from prison. For that, the series is regarded as a one-trick pony whose capacity to impress ran out after the end of the second season (Goodman). In reality, the narrow range of the show might have served as a reason for its quick loss of popularity. As perceived by many fans, during the third and fourth seasons, the series became repetitive, unreasonable, and less believable as if its characters and storylines became hopelessly entangled in the spider web of conspiracies included in the plot.
Plot
The show began as a captivating story of two brothers one of whom, Lincoln, was unfairly sentenced for the crime he never committed and put on a death row. The second, younger brother, Michael, used all his resources and risked his life to save Lincoln by helping him escape from prison. The first two seasons of this show had many unexpected turns and fascinating stories. However, the concept of breaking someone out of prison became old very fast, and the series started to lose fans due to the lack of interesting development.
Discourse Analysis Using Course Concepts
Prison Break focused on a variety of topical themes and issues. The major one was the theme of brotherhood. Another vital issue overviewed on the show focused on the American prison as a community and a social phenomenon. By providing a closer look at the inner dynamics of the American prison and raising various related subjects through the presentation of the main characters’ experiences in jail, the creators of the series managed to draw their viewers’ attention to topics that are rarely discussed.
Dominant Discourse
The dominant discourse is a type of narrative that has the heaviest presence within a society or a community and can influence social perceptions and trends by directing public opinion towards a particular way of thinking (Cole).
In that way, when it comes to the American prison as a community and a social phenomenon, there is a definite dominant discourse that stimulates a negative attitude towards people serving a sentence and ex-convicts. Showing prisoners from up close, the creators of Prison Break made them look more relatable and human so that viewers could change their perception and see them as regular people and not as cruel monsters.
Aberrant Decoding
Aberrant decoding is another concept that applies to the history of Prison Break and how it was perceived by its fans. Aberrant decoding happens when a message intended by the sender is interpreted differently by the receiver (“Aberrant Decoding”). Knowing the development of Prison Break as a franchise and taking into account its rapid loss of popularity after the second season, it is possible to suppose that the intention of the series creators was misunderstood somehow. One of the main problems that drove the viewers away from the show was the lack of believable content. Practically, the show that started as a very down-to-earth story, over time, transformed into a confusing fusion of realistic and unrealistic twists. It is possible that doing their consumer base research, the managers of this show misinterpreted their fans’ interests and needs. As a result, the stories and plotlines that appeared in the series were perceived as underwhelming and impractical.
Personal Perception
As a fan of Prison Break, I used to be a part of a small community of people who liked this show. Also, as the show developed, I read many articles about it, exchanged information with other fans, discussed plotlines, and theorized about potential twists that the plot could take. This is how I became familiar with the opinions that were the most common in the community of Prison Break appreciators. These views were shared by my local group of fans and by the viewers all around the world. Throughout the first season, the fans became familiar with the characters and the overall style of the show. Based on this knowledge, we could form what is known as metatext – an interpretation of a series based on its history and content (Peterson 151). For me, the first two seasons were so exciting and captivating that I continued to expect the same level of tension in the next seasons. Possibly, because, alongside other fans, I was so focused on trying to predict what was going to happen next on the show, I spoiled it for myself.
The contemporary TV series that manages to remain relevant and interesting for many years usually have a very strong connection with their fan base. Learning about the most common fan theories and prominent speculations regarding plot development, the creators of a show can keep their storylines unpredictable and interesting for the viewers. At the time when Prison Break was first aired, the social media were not as well-developed, online-based fan communities – not as large, and the entire concept of the connection between the creators and the audience – not so well-explored. These reasons could be the causes of the show’s failure.
However, I have to admit that I am one of the fans who stayed devoted to the show even after it became boring and underwhelming. This happened because I had my metatext. Specifically, I had a special emotional connection to the show because I could relate to the theme of brotherhood that was one of its main subjects of focus. I associated myself with the younger brothers, Michael, because I have an older brother as well. We had to separate when I was about five or six years old as my brother went to the United States to become a student. When I turned eighteen, it was my time to follow my brother’s footsteps and come to America to study. I felt like Michael Scofield who took time to get ready and prepare properly so he could reunite with his brother with whom he was separated. Due to this unique interpretation of Prison Break, I had a deeper attachment to the show and its characters than just fascination about new plot twists. As a result, when the quality of the plot became lower, I continued to enjoy the relationship between the two brothers.
Conclusion
This report was dedicated to the exploration of the history, content, and social perception of a well-known television series – Prison Break. This media artifact gained much attention due to its massive popularity throughout its first two seasons and its fast decline in views during seasons three and four. As a result, the show is now perceived as a failure and the wasted potential for a great franchise. Partly, the failure is explained by the narrow focus on the show that limited the range of its story development. Also, some other causes of the loss of views could be the creators’ misinterpretation of the metatext created by the fans or aberrant decoding of the creators’ message by the fans. Either way, the show remains an outstanding media artifact for me personally because apart from the metatext that I shared with the fans of Prison Break on a global scale, I had my unique perception of the show. I related to the close relationship between the main characters and their brotherhood ties as I have a brother as well, and we are very close even though we spent many years in separation.
Works Cited
“Aberrant Decoding.” Revolvy, n.d., Web.
Cole, Nicki Lisa. “What Is Discourse?” ThoughtCo. 2018. Web.
Goodman, Tim. “‘Prison Break’: TV Review.” The Hollywood Reporter. 2017. Web.
Patten, Dominic. “‘Prison Break’ Review: Fox Revival Should Have Stayed on Lockdown.” Deadline, 2017. Web.
Peterson, Mark Allen. Anthropology & Mass Communication: Media and Myth in the New Millennium. Berghahn Books, 2014.
Ryan, Maureen. “TV Review: ‘Prison Break’ on Fox.” Variety. 2017. Web.