History YMMV / PrisonBreak

* MoralEventHorizon: Poseidon ([[spoiler:aka Jacob Ness]]) from Season 5 is a psychopath who will stop at nothing to get what he wants internationally [[spoiler: and with Sara]]. As a result, it's not a question on whether Poseidon has crossed the MEH, but ''when''. Here are a few milestones:
** TheReveal that [[spoiler:he had Sara incarcerated for the murder of Christina Scofield when Michael initially refused his [[AnOfferYouCantRefuse loaded offer]]. This act makes him directly responsible for the torment [[spoiler:Sara]] suffers in ''The Final Break'' and makes his marriage to her even more sickening in hindsight.
** Just when you think Poseidon wasn't bad enough, the finale show him brainwashes Mike into believing that his true father (Michael Scofield) is nothing more than [=ISIL=] terrorist Kaniel Outis. [[spoiler:Hearing a brainwashed Mike scream at his father to stay away from him on phone was a ''heartbreaking'' scene, and one that made many fans scream for Jacob's blood]].

** Michael is considered a CreatorsPet by some, especially in Season 4.

* AbortedArc: While not quite aborted completely, many of the plans for Season 2 had to be altered when Patricia Wettig's minor role on ''Series/BrothersAndSisters'' turned into a regular when that show became a surprise hit. Instead of having a prominent role through the season, Reynolds was instead moved to being busy as President and also added on how she was really a pawn of the Company rather than the mastermind she'd appeared to be. It did end up altering the Kellerman plotline as instead of being at her side as her bodyguard, Kellerman was cut out of the loop, realizing Reynolds never cared for him and the realization she was just a pawn would push him to aid the brothers.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Mahone barely subverts this. It can be a tall order to feel sympathy for Mahone after the death of his child considering all the people he killed back in Season 2. But to be fair, he goes through so much crap before the death of his son and the company was blackmailing him to things he didn't want to do. Plus, he goes through some great development.
** It can be an even harder buying Kellerman's redemption after all the people he's killed in both Seasons 1 & 2. It's even harder to like him when you remember he taunted LJ with the deaths of his mother and step-father. Not to mention, he tortured many people including Sarah. Unlike Mahone, Kellerman was shown he was proud of his actions, until he failed for the last time.

** The whole team in the first half of season 4, especially Lincoln. For their sudden bully mentality towards Roland, which many fans feel came out of nowhere. It's even worse that they hated him the moment they met him. Plus the endless {{IdiotBall}} moments they get themselves in.

** [[ScaryBlackMan Wyatt Mathewson]] from season 4 is a [[ProfessionalKiller professional hitman]] working for [[TheSyndicate the Company]] under its leader [[BigBad General Jonathan Krantz]]. He's the worst and most chilling PsychoForHire the Company has to offer, with nearly every scene involving him killing someone or [[ColdBloodedTorture torturing people to death]] while talking to them in a [[DissonantSerenity calm, soothing tone]]. He kills or tortures many people (mainly, anybody working against Krantz); this includes [[WouldHitAGirl women]] and even [[WouldHurtAChild murdering Cameron Mahone]] and [[BoomHeadshot blowing the child's head off]] post-mortem to mutilate the corpse just to spite his father Alexander Mahone further. When he's given intel on Scofield and his crew by the SixthRangerTraitor Roland, he [[FalseReassurance promises to give Roland $1 million and to let him go in exchange for the others]]. Once there, Wyatt progressively shoots Roland in the kneecap, then his thigh, and then in his stomach to watch him bleed out.

* UnintentionallySympathetic: While many fans hate Roland for being a narcissist computer hacker [[spoiler: who ends up betraying the team]], many other fans actually feel sorry for him. Michael and the group already seemed to hate Roland from the start for no real reason, with Lincoln calling him douche the minute they met. Roland was constantly bullied by both Lincoln, Mahone and Sucre just for even opening his mouth. Roland was also very important to the team because they wouldn't have gotten the Scylla keys without him, yet the team didn't show him any ounce of appreciation. While Roland's [[spoiler: betrayal was wrong]], many viewers felt the team pushed Roland too far because of their sudden bully mentality. Not only that, [[spoiler: his death at the hands of Wyatt was horrible.]]
* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: It can be a tall order to feel sympathy for Mahone after the death of his child considering all the people he killed back in Season 2. But to be far, he was trapped by The Company and couldn't get out. Plus, he goes through some great development.
** It can be an even harder buying Kellerman's redemption after all the people he's killed in both Seasons 1 & 2. It's even harder when you remember he mocked LJ killing his mother. Not to mention, he tortured many people including Sarah. Unlike Mahone, Kellerman was shown he was proud of his actions, until he failed for the last time.

* UnintentionallySympathetic: While many fans hate Roland for being a narcissist computer hacker [[spoiler: who ends up betraying the team]], many other fans actually feel sorry for him. Michael and the group already seemed to hate Roland from the start for no real reason, with Lincoln calling him douche the minute they met. Roland was constantly bullied by both Lincoln, Mahone and Sucre just for even opening his mouth. Roland was also very important to the team because they wouldn't have gotten the Scylla keys without him, yet the team didn't show him any ounce of appreciation. While Roland's [[spoiler: betrayal was wrong]], many viewers felt the team pushed Roland over the edge because of their sudden bully mentality. Not only that, [[spoiler: his death at the hands of Wyatt was horrible.]]
* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: It can be a tall order to feel sympathy for Mahone after the death of his child considering all the people he killed back in Season 2.

** Almost every character introduced in Season 3. At best, Gretchen and Whistler are {{Base Breaker}}s.

** [[EvilMatriarch Christina Rose Scofield]], who first appears in season 4 but is mentioned earlier, is a high-ranking leader of the Company and [[BigBadDuumvirate along with General Krantz]] is revealed to [[TheManBehindTheMan have been behind most of the events in the show]]. She's a [[TheSociopath sociopathic]] {{insufferable genius}} who [[ItsAllAboutMe only cares about her own advancement]]. She sacrifices her whole family; [[ParentalAbandonment she abandoned both her sons Lincoln and Michael]] while they were kids without saying a word, rejected her husband after [[DefectorFromDecadence he turned on the Company]] and had him hunted down, and arranged for her adopted son Lincoln (whom she despised for his relative lack of intelligence) to be [[FrameUp framed]] and executed for a staged political assassination of Terence Steadman. She tries to [[EnemyCivilWar kill General Krantz]] to steal a device called "Scylla" and sell it for its [[{{Greed}} profitable military use]], then kills her conspirator [[YouHaveFailedMe when he botches the hit]]. She pretends to sell the technology to a renowned Indian scientist/politician, but instead has him assassinated in public and frames Lincoln again, along with Michael, Mahone and Don Self. Christina intends to unleash a decades-long war between India and China [[WarForFunAndProfit so she can sell the tech to both sides for a quick profit]], knowing that it would quickly escalate into a global conflict. When Michael steals Scylla back from her, she kidnaps Lincoln and gives Michael [[HostageForMacGuffin an ultimatum for its return]] by shooting Lincoln in the lung to watch him die slowly. She later tries to kill Michael when he's ruined her plans one too many times.

* GodModeSue: Michael Scofield. No plan will work without his involvement. He starts to become entirely precognizant in season 4.

* LesYay: Gretchen with any adult female character she interacts with. Just watch "The Final Break".

** Almost every character introduced in Season 3. At best, Gretchen and Whistler are [[BaseBreaker Base Breakers]].

** Michael is considered a CreatorsPet by some, especially in Season 4 when he became a GodModeSue.

** [[spoiler: Caroline Reynolds and Terrance Steadman's [[BrotherSisterIncest incestuous relationship]], and the General and Gretchen's relationship]]).
** After having his hand cut off by Abruzzi, T-Bag forces a veterinarian (at knife point) to reattach it, and goes half a season before he has to abandon his hand. [[RunningGag The terrible condition of his hand is commented upon by various characters]].

* AccidentalInnuendo: When the PI crew sees a guard and the secretary leaving the break room, Sucre asks, "Do you think he found the hole?" and while he doesn't get it, Michael clearly does. Later, Sucre asks his cousin to tell Michael "I filled the hole". It's played straight.

* AccidentalInnuendo: Naturally there's loads of intentional sexual references--mostly of the PrisonRape variety--but in season 1, when the PI crew is tunneling out of prison. When a guard orders them out of the room, they're all concerned as to why... until they see him leave the room with the warden's secretary. Sucre doesn't seem to get the joke, but Michael clearly does.
-->Sucre: You think he found the hole?

** [[ScaryBlackMan Wyatt Mathewson]] from season 4 is a [[ProfessionalKiller professional hitman]] working for [[TheSyndicate the Company]] under its leader [[BigBad General Jonathan Krantz]]. He's the worst and most chilling PsychoForHire the Company has to offer, with nearly every scene involving him killing someone or [[ColdBloodedTorture torturing people to death]] while talking to them in a [[DissonantSerenity calm, soothing tone]]. He kills or tortures many people (mainly, anybody working against Krantz); this includes [[WouldHitAGirl women]] and even [[WouldHurtAChild murdering Cameron Mahone]] and [[BoomHeadshot blowing the child's head off]] post-mortem to mutilate the corpse just to spite Mahone further. When he's given intel on Scofield and his crew by the SixthRangerTraitor Roland, he [[FalseReassurance promises to give Roland $1 million and to let him go in exchange for the others]]. Once there, Wyatt progressively shoots Roland in the kneecap, then his thigh, and then in his stomach to watch him bleed out.

** [[ScaryBlackMan Wyatt Mathewson]] from season 4 is a [[ProfessionalKiller professional hitman]] working for [[TheSyndicate the Company]] under its leader [[BigBad General Jonathan Krantz]]. He's the worst and most chilling PsychoForHire the Company has to offer, with nearly every scene involving him killing someone or [[ColdBloodedTorture torturing people to death]] while talking to them in a [[DissonantSerenity calm, soothing tone]]. He kills or tortures many people (mainly, anybody working against Krantz); this includes [[WouldHitAGirl women]] and even [[WouldHurtAChild murdering Cameron Mahone]] and [[BoomHeadshot blowing the child's head off]] post-mortem to mutilate the corpse just to spite his father Alexander Mahone further. When he's given intel on Scofield and his crew by the SixthRangerTraitor Roland, he [[FalseReassurance promises to give Roland $1 million and to let him go in exchange for the others]]. Once there, Wyatt progressively shoots Roland in the kneecap, then his thigh, and then in his stomach to watch him bleed out.

** [[ScaryBlackMan Wyatt Mathewson]] from season 4 is a [[ProfessionalKiller professional hitman]] working for [[TheSyndicate the Company]] under its leader [[BigBad General Jonathan Krantz]]. He's the worst and most chilling PsychoForHire the Company has to offer, with nearly every scene involving him killing someone or [[ColdBloodedTorture torturing people to death]] while talking to them in a [[DissonantSerenity calm, soothing tone]]. He kills or tortures many people (mainly, anybody working against Krantz); this includes [[WouldHitAGirl women]] and even [[WouldHurtAChild murdering Cameron Mahone]] and [[BoomHeadshot blowing the child's head off]] post-mortem to mutilate the corpse just to spite Mahone further. When he's given intel on Scofield and his crew by the SixthRangerTraitor Roland, he [[FalseReassurance promises to give Roland $1 million and to let him go in exchange for the others]]. Once there, Wyatt progressively shoots Roland in the kneecap, then his thigh, and then in his stomach to watch him bleed out.

** [[ScaryBlackMan Wyatt Mathewson]] is a [[ProfessionalKiller professional hitman]] working for [[TheSyndicate the Company]] under its leader [[BigBad General Jonathan Krantz]]. He's the worst and most chilling PsychoForHire the Company has to offer, with nearly every scene involving him killing someone or [[ColdBloodedTorture torturing people to death]] while talking to them in a [[DissonantSerenity calm, soothing tone]]. He kills or tortures many people (mainly, anybody working against Krantz); this includes [[WouldHitAGirl women]] and even [[WouldHurtAChild murdering Cameron Mahone]] and [[BoomHeadshot blowing the child's head off]] post-mortem to mutilate the corpse just to spite Mahone further. When he's given intel on Scofield and his crew by the SixthRangerTraitor Roland, he [[FalseReassurance promises to give Roland $1 million and to let him go in exchange for the others]]. Once there, Wyatt progressively shoots Roland in the kneecap, then his thigh, and then in his stomach to watch him bleed out.
** [[EvilMatriarch Christina Rose Scofield]] is a high-ranking leader of the Company and [[BigBadDuumvirate along with General Krantz]] is revealed to [[TheManBehindTheMan have been behind most of the events in the show]]. She's a [[TheSociopath sociopathic]] {{insufferable genius}} who [[ItsAllAboutMe only cares about her own advancement]]. She sacrifices her whole family; [[ParentalAbandonment she abandoned both her sons Lincoln and Michael]] while they were kids without saying a word, rejected her husband after [[DefectorFromDecadence he turned on the Company]] and had him hunted down, and arranged for her adopted son Lincoln (whom she despised for his relative lack of intelligence) to be [[FrameUp framed]] and executed for a staged political assassination of Terence Steadman. She tries to [[EnemyCivilWar kill General Krantz]] to steal a device called "Scylla" and sell it for its [[{{Greed}} profitable military use]], then kills her conspirator [[YouHaveFailedMe when he botches the hit]]. She pretends to sell the technology to a renowned Indian scientist/politician, but instead has him assassinated in public and frames Lincoln again, along with Michael, Mahone and Don Self. Christina intends to unleash a decades-long war between India and China [[WarForFunAndProfit so she can sell the tech to both sides for a quick profit]], knowing that it would quickly escalate into a global conflict. When Michael steals Scylla back from her, she kidnaps Lincoln and gives Michael [[HostageForMacGuffin an ultimatum for its return]] by shooting Lincoln in the lung to watch him die slowly. She later tries to kill Michael when he's ruined her plans one too many times.

** [[ScaryBlackMan Wyatt Mathewson]] is a [[ProfessionalKiller professional hitman]] working for [[TheSyndicate the Company]] under its leader [[BigBad General Jonathan Krantz]]. He's the worst and most chilling PsychoForHire the Company has to offer, with nearly every scene involving him killing someone or [[ColdBloodedTorture torturing people to death]] while talking to them in a [[DissonantSerenity calm, soothing tone]]. He kills James Whistler and captures Gretchen Morgan, both Company agents who were working against Krantz. He was going to kill Gretchen, but at Krantz's behest Wyatt instead locks her up in a small room and tortures Gretchen for days until she escapes. He's given clearance to kill Mahone, Michael, Lincoln and everyone else who was connected to James Whistler. He takes Mahone's ex-wife Pam and his son Cameron hostage, [[WouldHurtAChild murdering Cameron]] and [[BoomHeadshot blowing the child's head off]] post-mortem to mutilate the corpse just to spite Mahone further. He takes a female correction officer's girlfriend hostage and threatens to kill them both if she doesn't give him the information he wants. He takes Bruce Bennet (a friend of Sara Tancredi) hostage to torture him for information and kills him after getting the info he wants on Sara. He tries to murder Mahone during a court hearing. When he's given intel on Scofield and his crew by the SixthRangerTraitor Roland, he [[FalseReassurance promises to give Roland $1 million and to let him go in exchange for the others]]. Once there, Wyatt progressively shoots Roland in the knee cap, then his thigh, and then in his stomach to watch him bleed out.

** [[EvilMatriarch Christina Rose Scofield]] is a high-ranking leader of the Company and [[BigBadDuumvirate along with General Krantz]] is revealed to [[TheManBehindTheMan have been behind most of the events in the show]]. She's a [[TheSociopath sociopathic]] InsufferableGenius who [[ItsAllAboutMe only cares about her own advancement]]. She sacrifices her whole family; [[ParentalAbandonment she abandoned both her sons Lincoln and Michael]] while they were kids without saying a word, rejected her husband after [[DefectorFromDecadence he turned on the Company]] and had him hunted down, and arranged for her adopted son Lincoln (whom she despised for his relative lack of intelligence) to be [[FrameUp framed]] and executed for a staged political assassination of Terence Steadman. She tries to [[EnemyCivilWar kill General Krantz]] to steal a device called "Scylla" and sell it for its [[{{Greed}} profitable military use]], then kills her conspirator [[YouHaveFailedMe when he botches the hit]]. She pretends to sell the technology to a renowned Indian scientist/politician, but instead has him assassinated in public and frames Lincoln again, along with Michael, Mahone and Don Self. Christina intends to unleash a decades-long war between India and China [[WarForFunAndProfit so she can sell the tech to both sides for a quick profit]], knowing that it would quickly escalate into a global conflict. When Michael steals Scylla back from her, she kidnaps Lincoln and gives Michael [[HostageForMacGuffin an ultimatum for its return]] by shooting Lincoln in the lung to watch him die slowly. She later tries to kill Michael when he's ruined her plans one too many times.

* FoeYay: Canonical, if unidirectional. T-Bag has had "designs" on Michael since their first meeting. It's not subtle. His nickname for Michael is 'Pretty'.

* TearJerker:
** The episode ''The Rat'' in season one. You know Linc [[YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle isn't actually going to get the chair]], but its still incredibly sad to watch him make the goodbyes to his loved ones, and watch Michael try to come up with just one more thing to save him.
** The last scene of the series, [[spoiler: when everyone gathers for Michael's memorial.]]

* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: There are quite a few. But taking the cake is the entirety of season 4's "Selfless", where Michael and the crew pull one over on the entire Company leadership.
--> '''Lincoln''': Bet you wish you'd framed somebody else, huh?
* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming:
** Michael's message at the end of "The Final Break", the direct-to-DVD series finale.
** Agent Mahone [[spoiler: giving the Teddy Bear (which the viewer was led to believe was for his injured son) to Franklin's daughter]].
** Mahone, Sucre, Michael, Lincoln & Sarah [[spoiler:telling Don Self that they won't help him if he doesn't have Brad Bellick's corpse returned to his mother so he can be buried as Self had previously promised to do if anyone died]].
*** Soon after that, there's [[spoiler: Michael leaving a police officer's badge on Bellick's corpse after he finds him laid out in his coffin. Bellick had always dreamed of being a police officer, and Michael thought that burying him with a badge was the perfect way to honor him. It's a small gesture, but it shows that Bellick has finally managed to earn Michael's respect and admiration]].
** In season two, Sucre is stuck [[spoiler: under a log and is urging Michael to leave him. Michael refuses to go anywhere because it would mean Sucre would die.]]
--> '''Sucre''': How long you have if you stay? How long until the dogs lead the cops here?
--> '''Michael''': What you're suggesting is not an option.

* CompleteMonster:
** Christina is a [[TheBaroness ruthless bitch]] who displays a complete LackOfEmpathy even towards her own son, and wants to use Scylla to start a WarForFunAndProfit.
** Wyatt is a chillingly scary hitman who spends most of his screentime either killing people or torturing them, or in Roland's case, both at the same time. He also [[WouldHurtAChild kills Mahone's young son]] [[ForTheEvulz for little reason]] other than to terrify his wife and possibly lure Mahone out into the open... Which would be bad enough if we didn't find out that he [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill first shot him in the chest]] and a ''full five minutes later'' [[BoomHeadshot in the head]]. One can only feel happy when [[PapaWolf Mahone]] gives him a ''very'' [[LaserGuidedKarma well deserved]] and [[CruelAndUnusualDeath painful death]].
** Kellerman definitely qualifies - despite his soft-spokeness and [[spoiler: his seeming HeelFaceTurn in season 2]] he never proves himself to be anything but a solely self-interested JerkWithAHeartOfJerk.