Lj In Prison Break ((exclusive)) Access

When we think of Prison Break , our minds go straight to Michael Scofield’s intricate blueprints, Lincoln’s gruff one-liners, and T-Bag’s terrifying charisma. But buried in the chaos of season one is a character who served as the entire emotional engine for the first 22 episodes: Lincoln “LJ” Burrows Jr.

We talk about the “Shovel Talk” between Michael and Lincoln, or the death of John Abruzzi. But one of the show’s quietest tragedies is that LJ Burrows never got a happy ending. He got a bus ticket to nowhere. lj in prison break

Actor did a fantastic job aging the character from a brat into a traumatized survivor. You can see the deadness in LJ’s eyes in Season 4—this is a kid who watched his stepdad die, his mom die, his dad nearly executed, and spent months in a Panamanian hellhole. When we think of Prison Break , our

In the early episodes, LJ is a rebellious teenager smoking pot and skipping school. It would be easy to hate him, but the writers grounded him. He has every right to be angry. His dad is on death row for a crime he didn’t commit, and his mother (Lisa) has remarried a man who doesn’t want LJ around. The moment the conspiracy turns its eyes on LJ, the stakes go from “Will Michael cut his foot?” to visceral terror. When the Company kills his mother and stepfather and frames him for the murders, LJ is thrust into a nightmare no child should experience. But one of the show’s quietest tragedies is

By Season 4, LJ is almost entirely sidelined. He is shipped off to live with an aunt off-screen. The show literally drives him to the airport and waves goodbye. After being the emotional core of the first two seasons, the son is written out with the casualness of a sitcom character moving to college. LJ Burrows is a victim of Prison Break’s escalating absurdity. In a grounded thriller, LJ represents the innocent life our heroes are trying to save. In a convoluted spy-vs-conspiracy soap opera, he is baggage that slows down the car chases.

What do you think? Was LJ a necessary character or a narrative dead weight? Let me know in the comments below.

Once the crew escapes to Panama, the writers seemed to have no idea what to do with LJ. In Season 3 (Sona), LJ is kidnapped again to force Lincoln into working for The Company. This is where the character fatigue sets in. How many times can we watch LJ get tied to a chair?