While the Fox drama Prison Break centred on two brothers and their time spent attempting to escape various kinds of incarceration, the character of Dr Sara Tancredi was always a vital part of that equation. In a show drenched in testosterone, she brought a little balance to the proceedings – not least because she was very well written, and very well performed. It is great news, then, that the actress behind the character, Sarah Wayne Callies, is confirmed as returning for the forthcoming Prison Break sequel series – otherwise known as Prison Break, season five.
Dr. Tancredi first appeared in the pilot episode in 2005, as the prison physician at Fox River State Penitentiary. She crosses paths with one Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller) when he gets himself incarcerated for the express purpose of breaking his brother, Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell) out of jail. Burrows is on death row, having been framed for a politically motivated murder, and Scofield has had the schematic drawings of the prison buildings tattooed over his body so they can find a way out. Their exit plan involves going through the infirmary, where Tancredi works.
Inevitably, Scofield and the good doctor fall for each other, but their situation is complicated by his secret plan to escape, his brother’s involvement in a high-level conspiracy and her battle against drug addiction. There is betrayal, suicide and abandonment before Scofield and Burrows even make it to the prison walls, and their situation becomes even more dire on the outside.
Over the course of the following seasons (even the third, in which she is largely absent), the influence of Dr. Tancredi is ever-present, and when she appears, she is gloriously independent, flawed and capable. As such, it would be hard to imagine a fifth season being conceived without her, and it seems that Fox would agree.
The current synopsis of the new season suggests that Dr Sara Tancredi will once again be the anchor for the action.
“In the drama’s new chapter, which picks up after Michael’s apparent death, Sara has moved on with her life, raising her and Michael’s child with her new husband (previously announced guest star Mark Feuerstein, “Royal Pains”). When clues surface that suggest Michael may be alive, Sara teams with Lincoln to engineer the series’ biggest escape ever.”
The strength of this premise is the continuation of the themes of deception and intrigue, as well as the long-standing Prison Break tradition of nothing ever being as it seems – even a person’s violent death. This is almost certainly thanks to the show’s creator Paul T. Scheuring returning as showrunner and writer, as well as the original team of producers (Neal Moritz, Marty Adelstein, and Dawn Olmstead) assembling once more, too.
We are also promised the return of many familiar faces onscreen, but for now, we can rest assured that this Prison Break sequel will deliver Wentworth Miller, Dominic Purcell and Sarah Wayne Callies as the Michael, Lincoln and Sara that fans have come to know and love, when it returns some time between 2016 and 2017.