History Series / PrisonBreak

* TheChick: Sara Tancredi. Sofia even more so. [[AvertedTrope Averted]] with Gretchen, a ruthless ex-military agent with exquisite combat skills.

* PrisonersLastMeal: In Season One, Lincoln Burrows is served blueberry pancakes for his last meal, before being strapped into an electric chair [[spoiler: and [[LastMinuteReprieve being issued a stay of execution at the last moment]]]].

* PrisonRiot: Michael and Sucre initiate a lock-down by disabling air conditioning so that Michael can keep drilling without worry of headcounts. Unfortunately, this leads to a full-blown prison riot.

* WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief: As mentioned under IdiotPlot, it helps to enjoy the show if you disengage yours.

** Dr. Sara Tancredi, UpToEleven. It's part of her backstory.

* SuddenlyShouting: Used to very great effect by [[TheStoic Michael]] on a few occasions, with one of the most memorable occasions being the scene where he's blackmailing the president and he begins chewing the scenery out of ''[[UpToEleven nowhere]]''.

** The Illinois corrections officers are portrayed as poorly paid (e.g., a veteran officer saying "I ain't a hero

for $14 an hour"). In reality for Illinois, because of the poor working conditions the pay is not bad for a job requiring only a high school education: about $24 an hour fresh out of the academy.

* ArtisticLicense:
** The Illinois corrections officers are portrayed as poorly paid (e.g., a veteran officer saying "I ain't a hero for $14 an hour"). In reality for Illinois, because of the poor working conditions the pay is not bad for a job requiring only a high school education: about $24 an hour fresh out of the academy.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: A major plot point in the series is that one of the inmates at Fox River is actually D.B. Cooper, who's been hiding the money from his famous plane heist since 1971. While the mystery of D.B. Cooper's ultimate fate has never been ''definitively'' solved, the FBI has long maintained that Cooper [[{{Anticlimax}} probably didn't even survive jumping out of the plane]]: most eyewitness accounts from the hijacking strongly suggest that he had little (if any) training or experience in skydiving, he jumped with subpar equipment (he didn't have a jacket or a helmet, and his reserve parachute was ''non-functional''), and he jumped in rainy and windy conditions that would have been highly dangerous for even an experienced parachutist. Even if he survived the jump itself, he would have found himself lost and stranded in the wilderness of the Pacific Northwest with no supplies, and no way to get back to civilization. The show also claims that Cooper made off with $1 million in ransom money ([[spoiler:revealed to be ''$5 million'' in reality]]); it was actually just $200,000.
* ArtisticLicenseLawEnforcement: In the second season, Bellick is shown actively participating in the manhunt for the escaped prisoners. This wouldn't happen: he's a prison guard, not a law enforcement officer; his authority ends at the prison gate. State and local police would have handled the manhunt.
* ArtisticLicensePrison: Michael visits the warden's office on several occasions, mainly to help the warden complete an elaborate model he's constructing as a present for his wife. No matter how much he's trusted, Michael wouldn't be allowed to meet with the warden one-on-one; regulations require that there always be a guard present for the warden's protection. A prisoner also would not be left alone and unobserved in the warden's office. He'd have access to files, the phone, the computer, and office supplies that could be crafted into weapons.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: A major plot point in the series is that one of the inmates at Fox River is actually D.B. Cooper, who's been hiding the money from his famous plane heist since 1971. While the mystery of D.B. Cooper's ultimate fate has never been ''definitively'' solved, the FBI has long maintained that Cooper [[{{Anticlimax}} probably didn't even survive jumping out of the plane]]: most eyewitness accounts from the hijacking strongly suggest that he had little (if any) training or experience in skydiving, he had subpar equipment (he jumped without a jacket or a helmet, and with a ''non-functional'' reserve parachute), and he jumped at ''night'' in rainy and windy conditions that would have been highly dangerous for parachuting under the best of circumstances. Even if he survived the jump itself, he would have found himself stranded in the wilderness with no supplies, and no way to determine his location. The show also claims that Cooper made off with $1 million in ranson money ([[spoiler:revealed to be ''$5 million'' in reality]]); it was actually just $200,000.

* ArtisticLicenseLawEnforcement: In the second season, Bellick is shown actively participating in the manhunt for the escaped prisoners. This wouldn't happen. He's a prison guard, not a law enforcement officer. His authority ends at the prison gate. State and local police would have handled the manhunt.

* AdultFear: In the first season, Lincoln's son, LJ, is framed for the murder of his mother and step-dad and briefly goes on the run. Lincoln is beside himself with worry, and pleads with anyone who will listen to allow him to join the search. LJ continues to [[IHaveYourWife serve this function for Lincoln]] up through the end of season three, when he was finally PutOnABus.

The first season follows Michael and Lincoln as they assemble an escape team, avoid the suspicions of the prison staff -- including Sara (Creator/SarahWayneCallies), the prison doctor who unexpectedly becomes integral to the scheme and Michael himself -- and put Michael's plan into action. Meanwhile, [[TwoLinesNoWaiting their lawyer friend]] [[HelloAttorney Veronica]] tries to uncover the conspiracy that's framing Lincoln. Seasons two through four involved the characters becoming fugitives, breaking out of other prisons and eventually taking on [[TheSyndicate "The Company"]], a shadowy cabal responsible for framing Lincoln in the first place. The 2017 series, dubbed ''Prison Break: Resurrection'', [[{{Retcon}} retconned]] the GrandFinale in season four, and [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools brought the characters back together once again]] to take on a rogue [=CIA=] faction known as 21-Void. In 2018, a sixth season was announced to be in early development; however, in 2019, Fox announced that they have no current plans for a new season.

The first season follows Michael and Lincoln as they assemble an escape team, avoid the suspicions of the prison staff -- including Sara, the prison doctor who unexpectedly becomes integral to the scheme and Michael himself -- and put Michael's plan into action. Meanwhile, [[TwoLinesNoWaiting their lawyer friend]] [[HelloAttorney Veronica]] tries to uncover the conspiracy that's framing Lincoln. Seasons two through four involved the characters becoming fugitives, breaking out of other prisons and eventually taking on [[TheSyndicate "The Company"]], a shadowy cabal responsible for framing Lincoln in the first place. The 2017 series, dubbed ''Prison Break: Resurrection'', [[{{Retcon}} retconned]] the GrandFinale in season four, and [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools brought the characters back together once again]] to take on a rogue [=CIA=] faction known as 21-Void. In 2018, a sixth season was announced to be in early development; however, in 2019, Fox announced that they have no current plans for a new season.

Lincoln Burrows (Creator/DominicPurcell), a petty crook from Chicago, has been tried, convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of the Vice President's brother. The evidence is damning, all appeals have been denied, the government has been railroading proceedings from the outset and Lincoln is left to wait out the last few months of his life in Fox River State Penitentiary, a maximum-security prison. Only one person believes that Lincoln was framed for the crime: his brother, Michael Scofield, a structural engineer, [[TheChessmaster genius]] and [[ChronicHeroSyndrome chronic do-gooder]]. Armed with an [[ThePlan incredibly intricate scheme]], in-depth intelligence on both the staff and prisoners, cleverly hidden tools and [[HumanNotepad blueprints for the entire prison tattooed on his body]], Michael [[GetIntoJailFree gets himself incarcerated]] at Fox River in order to break himself and his brother out of prison.

Lincoln Burrows, a petty crook from Chicago, has been tried, convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of the Vice President's brother. The evidence is damning, all appeals have been denied, the government has been railroading proceedings from the outset and Lincoln is left to wait out the last few months of his life in Fox River State Penitentiary, a maximum-security prison. Only one person believes that Lincoln was framed for the crime: his brother, Michael Scofield, a structural engineer, [[TheChessmaster genius]] and [[ChronicHeroSyndrome chronic do-gooder]]. Armed with an [[ThePlan incredibly intricate scheme]], in-depth intelligence on both the staff and prisoners, cleverly hidden tools and [[HumanNotepad blueprints for the entire prison tattooed on his body]], Michael [[GetIntoJailFree gets himself incarcerated]] at Fox River in order to break himself and his brother out of prison.

* SilkHidingSteel: Sheba.

* ThoseTwoBadGuys: [=A&W=] and Van Gogh are the two henchmen Poseidon sends to do his dirty work. [[spoiler: This dynamic ultimately breaks down in the GrandFinale, when Van Gogh tries to stop [=A&W=] from killing Michael.]]

* BaldOfAwesome / BaldOfEvil: Many of the characters on the show sport either shaved heads or hair that is cut ''extremely'' close, and evil or not each one of them pulls it off splendidly. Justified in that most prisoners tend to cut their hair very short, as long hair is a detriment in a fight because it's too easy for someone to grab a handful and yank your scalp off your head. Averted with Creator/RobertKnepper as T-Bag; he originally considered shaving his head but decided to go with a haircut that made him look more feral and threatening. Many of the actors, after moving on to other roles, liked the bald look so much they kept it.

* NotSoDifferent: T-Bag's constant taunt to Michael.
** Wyatt tries to say this to Mahone [[spoiler: right before Mahone shoves him off a dock as retribution for Wyatt murdering his eight year old son]].

* InTheBlood: Michael and [[spoiler: Christina Rose]], which was [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by the latter and Lincoln.

* HappyEndingOverride: This season was this for Lincoln, who was happily living with Sofia in Panama. They broke up, and he returns to his old life as a crook in Chicago.

* {{Retcon}}: The timeline was heavily retconned between Seasons 4 and 5. Originally Michael died November 4, 2005 -- as seen on his grave marker -- and the plot of the entire first four seasons took place over a couple of months in 2005. In order to enable the event series to be set in 2017 -- with Michael "dead" seven years and his son seven years old -- his date of death was changed to November 4, 2010. Either we're meant to believe that the hunt for the fugitives in season two and/or the search for Scylla took quite a bit longer than previously assumed, or it's possible that all of the events of the previous four seasons were changed to take place during 2010.

[[folder: Tropes referring to the 2017 reprise]]

The first season follows Michael and Lincoln as they assemble an escape team, avoid the suspicions of the prison staff -- including Sara, the prison doctor who unexpectedly becomes integral to the scheme and Michael himself -- and put Michael's plan into action. Meanwhile, [[TwoLinesNoWaiting their lawyer friend]] [[HelloAttorney Veronica]] tries to uncover the conspiracy that's framing Lincoln. Seasons two through four involved the characters becoming fugitives, breaking out of other prisons and eventually taking on [[TheSyndicate "The Company"]], a shadowy cabal responsible for framing Lincoln in the first place. The 2017 series, dubbed ''Prison Break: Resurrection'', [[{{Retcon}} retconned]] the GrandFinale in season four, and [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools brought the characters back together once again]] to take on a rogue [=CIA=] faction known as 21-Void. In 2018, a sixth season was announced to be in early development; however, in 2019, Fox announced that they have no plans for a new season.

* BaldOfAwesome / BaldOfEvil: Many of the characters on the show sport either shaved heads or hair that is cut ''extremely'' close, and evil or not each one of them pulls it off splendidly. Justified in that most prisoners tend to cut their hair very short, as long hair is a detriment in a fight because it's too easy for someone to grab a handful and yank your scalp off your head. Averted with RobertKnepper as T-Bag; he originally considered shaving his head but decided to go with a haircut that made him look more feral and threatening. Many of the actors, after moving on to other roles, liked the bald look so much they kept it.

* CardboardBoxOfUnemployment: After Warden Pope discovers burns on Micheal, he pins them on Roy Geary, a corrupt guard who'd been shaking down inmates and stealing their possessions for months. The warden searches Geary's locker, finding several stolen items. The next scene is Geary being marched out of the prison, carrying his belongings in a box.

*** Apolskis in Season 2, when [[spoiler: Mahone pulls a gun on him]] after the former believed that for what he did he'd be safely escorted to jail by the latter. [[DonwplayedTrope Downplayed]], as we already knew by then what the agenda of the [[spoiler: FBI agent]] was.

The first season follows Michael and Lincoln as they assemble an escape team, avoid the suspicions of the prison staff -- including Sara, the prison doctor who unexpectedly becomes integral to the scheme and Michael himself -- and put Michael's plan into action. Meanwhile, [[TwoLinesNoWaiting their lawyer friend]] [[HelloAttorney Veronica]] tries to uncover the conspiracy that's framing Lincoln. Seasons two through four involved the characters becoming fugitives, breaking out of other prisons and eventually taking on [[TheSyndicate "The Company"]], a shadowy cabal responsible for framing Lincoln in the first place. The 2017 series, dubbed ''Prison Break: Resurrection'', [[{{Retcon}} retconned]] the GrandFinale in season four, and [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools brought the characters back together once again]] to take on a rogue [=CIA=] faction known as 21-Void. In 2018, a sixth season was announced to be in early development, however, in 2019 Fox announced that they have no plans for a new season.

The first season follows Michael and Lincoln as they assemble an escape team, avoid the suspicions of the prison staff -- including Sara, the prison doctor who unexpectedly becomes integral to the scheme and Michael himself -- and put Michael's plan into action. Meanwhile, [[TwoLinesNoWaiting their lawyer friend]] [[HelloAttorney Veronica]] tries to uncover the conspiracy that's framing Lincoln. Seasons two through four involved the characters becoming fugitives, breaking out of other prisons and eventually taking on [[TheSyndicate "The Company"]], a shadowy cabal responsible for framing Lincoln in the first place. The 2017 series, dubbed ''Prison Break: Resurrection'', [[{{Retcon}} retconned]] the GrandFinale in season four, and [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools brought the characters back together once again]] to take on a rogue [=CIA=] faction known as 21-Void. As of 2018, a sixth season is in development.