Basic Trope: Breaking out of prison with the help of a Caper Crew, which never goes as planned.
- Straight: It's The Alcatraz, and Jack, a burglar who once robbed an embassy, along with his Rag Tag Bunch Of Misfits, consisting of (but not limited to) Richie, one of the prisoners doing manual labor to at least get by in life, providing tools to dig out, Wilford, The Old Convict who knows the place like the back of his hand, and Troy, who's small enough to slip through and identify any Air-Vent Passageway within The Alcatraz, are plotting to break out. All they need now is someone strong enough to do the dirty work, from taking down guards, to inciting Prison Riots, and they got just the guy: A huge Brooklynite named Flash Young, who just got into prison for caving in the skull of some rich slimeball named Tommy Sharpe with a fire extinguisher. Flash proves to be an ideal pick once he tanks the heaviest blows that Head of Security Jason Bloodspiller threw at him, and now Flash is roped into this plot. But wait! There's a snitch hiding within the prison! Jack and the rest of the crew are oblivious to the snitch, and so, as they go over the plan one last time the night prior (which involves a Cutlery Escape Aid, hiding in laundry carts, Dressing as the Enemy, the identified Air-Vent Passageway, and much more), and begin to set it in motion by putting Sleeping Dummies in their beds, Jack, along with the rest of his crew (but unfortunately not Flash), are all caught by Jason and hundreds of his guards. The plan goes disastrously wrong, as in the end, practically half the prison population had been killed, including but not limited to guards (Jason in particular was reduced to a confusing, bloody mess, implied to be killed by Flash in this manner), prisoners, and other staff, while the only known escapees were Jack, Richie, Wilford, Troy, and Flash.
- Exaggerated: Jack and his Rag Tag Bunch Of Misfits (and there are loads of these bastards, up to 25 or more) go through every known Cliché of this trope, from Jail Bakes, to Bedsheet Ladders, Sleeping Dummies, and more. When the time has come, the plan goes off horrendously, with Flash being the only survivor of the Prison Riot that ensued (by way of killing just about everyone after Jack and his Rag Tag Bunch Of Misfits have died).
- Downplayed: Jack and his Rag Tag Bunch Of Misfits (or, more accurately, just him, Richie, and Flash) go for a much quieter, stealthier, and less conspicuous approach; Instead of having to go through something as egregious as a Prison Riot, they instead go through a very tense and thrilling escape route that involves Dressing as the Enemy (and eventually dressing in civilian clothes) while having to constantly take Refuge in Audacity. As a result, they've actually gotten much more successful than if they incited a Prison Riot as a distraction. And as for any snitches that come abound, Flash is there to ensure that they shut up for good.
- Justified: Well, it's The Alcatraz. You'd either be really damn stupid to think you can just wait your sentence out or have dipped far past the Despair Event Horizon to even bother anymore. Jack and his Rag Tag Bunch Of Misfits are neither, and they're the kind of people who'd rather get the hell out as soon as possible than waste away in their cells.
- Inverted: Jack and his Rag Tag Bunch Of Misfits, consisting of equipment guy Richie, scouter Troy, legendary thief Wilford, and heavy muscle and driver Flash are plotting to pull The Caper on The Alcatraz. Essentially having to break into instead of out of a place.
- Subverted: Jack calls off the escape plan, feeling it'd be too risky in order to pull off...
- Double Subverted: ...But secretly continues it, eventually managing to successfully escape, even if it means he had to leave everyone else behind.
- Parodied: They go through all the cliches, 90% of their dialogue consists of nothing but Stock Phrases, and it swiftly devolves into complete Mind Screw territory once the plan goes off.
- Zig-Zagged: The escape plan is... Screwy. It doesn't know whether to break into or break out of The Alcatraz.
- Averted: Jack never pulls an escape plan like this, as after all, everyone's sentences are being lowered for good behavior.
- Enforced: It's a Stock Plot.
- Lampshaded: Flash smirks, saying "A Great Escape? Just like in the movies? Count me the fuck in."
- Invoked: Jack decides he wants out of prison, and he gathers conspirators to hatch this kind of plot. He first gets Wilford, convincing him to try and break out since Wilford could either rot away in prison or break out and experience freedom again, and then he gets Richie after helping out and also convincing him to sneak in uniforms and tools to break out, and then he gets Troy after successfully fending off some bigger and meaner prisoners intending to do... Something with him, and then he finally gets Flash after he sees the big Brooklynite tank every last blow Jason had to offer, convincing Flash easily by promising him freedom immediately after getting sentenced to life in The Alcatraz. The others he recruits through small favors here and there.
- Exploited: Any snitch out there who foils this kind of plot benefits from getting the biggest amounts of good behavior points that they've essentially become national heroes.
- Defied: Jason ensures that security in The Alcatraz is so egregiously top notch that Jack can't scheme, plot, and sabotage hia way out of it, Wilford can't wander his way out of it, Richie never gets any tools to dig his way out of it, Troy never gets anything to climb into and crawl his way out of it, and Flash can't punch his way out of it.
- Discussed: The guards wonder if there's going to be some kind of great escape, because they've just foiled the 5th minor escape attempt this afternoon.
- Conversed: Alice and Bob are watching a movie with this plot, and they give it typical riffs and criticisms about it.
- Implied: Jack and his lifelong pals Richie, Wilford, Troy, and Flash, often tend to muse about what would happen if this and that happened differently. While their choice of words tends to allude to some kind of prison, it's never really expanded upon and is perpetually kept as a Noodle Incident, and a Riddle for the Ages to the listeners as to what the hell they're even talking about.
- Played for Laughs: The plan fails spectacularly, and it was supposed to be a stealth escape, but there were way too many Conveniently Timed Guards. So Much for Stealth, huh?
- Played for Drama: The entire livelihood of the plotters hinge on this plot, especially if they're considered innocent: If they don't escape, they may as well rot away while their loved ones wonder where they went. And as for the snitches, congratulations, you've ruined a bunch of (possibly) innocent convicts' chances at getting a normal life again, and their lives too. Enjoy getting stabbed to death repeatedly in your own cells, you rats.
- Played for Horror: The whole escape plan goes so horrifically wrong that it pretty much results in the deaths of the whole damn prison. Flash may actually die here instead of the other routes, and he'd have to be real damn lucky to even survive the chaos of the prison.
- Deconstructed:
- For a given value of deconstructed: The Great Escape is constantly foiled, due to some oversight made by Jack or Flash being too loud and accidentally giving the plot away. Eventually, they manage to hatch a plot so theoretically and practically perfect that they've pretty much made their way out.
- The Great Escape is foiled, and not only are the plotters tossed into maximum security prisons, they've made sure they're placed far away from each other.
- To the snitches who foiled the plans of the plotters, they get stabbed to death repeatedly with extreme prejudice.
- Reconstructed:
- For a given value of reconstructed: The Great Escape is constantly foiled, and because of the fact that Jack and his Rag Tag Bunch Of Misfits are adapting, this convinces Jason to ensure that they never pull off an escape again, even as individuals.
- The Great Escape is foiled, but that doesn't mean the plotters are giving up. Flash decides to throw a temper tantrum and start punching everything in his room, which causes several guards to come down there and pacify him, but they end up eating knuckle sandwiches for breakfast (or lunch, supper, or dinner, depending on the time of day). Afterwards, he manages to snatch their keys, incite a Prison Riot, and free Jack and the rest of the Rag Tag Bunch Of Misfits, showing that Flash really is capable of being a Magnificent Bastard, and they all escape The Alcatraz without even getting caught by the outside police forces.
- That doesn't stop other snitches from doing it anyways, and they even tell the prison officers about what's going on in order to curry more favor and get more clout within The Alcatraz to the point where even if they were missing for a second, the prison officers would be crawling all over The Alcatraz until they find the missing snitch in order to ensure their protection.
Plot the Great Escape from The Alcatraz, and make sure that it's airtight and completely foolproof!
