Prison Break had a very intense episode this week.? The title,”Greatness Achieved” apparently refers to my favorite character, Brad Bellick.? Formerly a very scary, mean prison guard in Fox River, who delighted in throwing together newbies and hardcore homos, some viewers hated him because he MAY have killed a cat belonging to one of the inmates. I am pretty sure that was never proved.
Wade Williams as Capt. Brad Bellick. RIP. Photo from Wentworth Miller Fansite.
But because the super writers of Prison Break knew what a gem they had in the actor, Wade Williams, they found ways to keep him around in all the next seasons! Bellick was fired from the prison after the boys escaped, and he became a freelance bounty hunter chasing them. His team up with Geary was brilliant, and so funny! Then he got thrown in the Panama prison, Sona, along with everyone else. When we saw him there at the end of Season 3, he was on the floor, beat up and filthy, with only a diaper as clothing. Obviously he had been raped. The boss of them to the lowest of them. That’s drama!
We knew from earlier episodes that he lived with his Mom (at 40!) and had some kind of drug problem at one time. (Posters at TWOP thought it was so funny that this butch, mean prison guard lived with his Ma – great writing! Then the moderator on the forum stepped in to say that in her family it was ok to live with your parents, so stop making fun of him! At 40? Really? Hello, it’s called Television without Pity, ding-dong.)?? He didn’t have much of a life except for his job. But he was street smart and in Sona, after being so humilated, he learned humility – and that he didn’t ever want to be with criminals again, or be like them. He gained morals we didn’t think he had.
Prison Break is a very fast-moving action packed show, with great characterization. You really get a lot for your money. But they killed Bellick this week, so I’m crossing it off my favorite list. He wasn’t the best looking, nor the most macho, but he was the only
person on the show who hadn’t yet killed anyone. And because he showed fear, he allowed all the other guys not to. I think he was essential to keep the show grounded.
And I’m afraid Mahone? tortured Wyatt so badly, it’s guaranteed he’ll die this season, too! No redemption for him. As so often happens on this show that is so dear to me , even though it’s getting worse, the rest of the plot was them digging a hole. The plan was for the guys to get into the DWP water system, move huge pipes, and divert millions of gallons of water and water pressure. Oh, okay. And part of the plan was to dig into the ground with jackhammers and some kind of blasting pipe cutter. But they had to stop after just a few minutes. Why? Because it was GRANITE. And Michael said it was impossible to dig through. And Michael knows.
I wrote the original synopsis for my Griffith Park blog, comparing the granite in the tunnel to the granite our ignorant city thinks it’s fine for its citizens to run on. So if you want to read more about running or granite, go there. Otherwise, just a tearful goodbye to the brave Bellick, and good luck to the wonderful Wade Williams.
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