Prison Break introduces viewers to Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller), who has made a name for himself as a structural engineer in Chicago. Why would this man, who is not lacking in funds, rob a bank? It's baffling, but the judge at Michael’s trial believes he acted out of malice by discharging his weapon and has sentenced him to five years in Fox River, a maximum security prison. 

Also incarcerated at Fox River is Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell). He's scheduled to be executed a few weeks after Michael enters the prison. The evidence of Lincoln's guilt includes a tape from a parking lot surveillance camera that shows him murdering Terrence Steadman, the brother of Caroline Reynolds (Patricia Wettig), who holds the office of  U.S. Vice President. 

The murder weapon was found in Lincoln's house, and he had blood on his clothing. When apprehended, he was trying to wash out the blood on a pair of white pants. Lincoln also had a motive to kill Steadman, having been fired from his company recently. 

We soon discover that Michael robbed the bank on purpose because Lincoln is his real brother. He needed to be incarcerated with him in order to help him escape. Because Michael was part of the prison design team, he knows the prison plans. In fact, he had the blueprints tattooed on his body to serve as a map that would lead the two siblings out of Fox River. 

Among the other inmates is Michael's cell mate, Fernando Sucre (Amaury Nolasco), who has 16 months to go before being released. Fernando wants to ensure that nothing goes wrong, so he will get out when he's supposed to. When Fernando learns of Michael's escape plans, he can't wait to transfer to another cell. He receives this transfer, and that complicates matters for Michael. 

Michael's new roommate, Charles "Haywire" Patoshik (Silas Weir Mitchell), is being re-introduced to the general population after being in the psych ward. "Haywire" suffers from a disorder which causes him to remain permanently awake. This means Michael cannot do any digging during the day or night behind the toilet because of his roommate. "Haywire" is also the only one who can see a maze in Michael’s tattoo -- which could jeopardize the escape. Therefore, Michael makes it look like "Haywire" attacked him in order to have him removed.

One of the important prisoners Michael needs for his escape plan is John Abruzzi (Peter Stormare), who was a powerful mob leader before his incarceration. Abruzzi is in for 120 years with no opportunity for parole because of the gravity of his crime: he was convicted of murder and conspiracy to commit murder. A witness named Otto Fibonacci is in the witness protection program for being the person who sealed Abruzzi’s fate at trial by taking the stand to divulge information against him. Abruzzi put out a contract on Fibonacci. Michael has a photograph of Fibonacci and knows where he is. He uses this as leverage to get Abruzzi, who runs the Prison Industry Program that allows prisoners to work on projects, to give him a reason to be in a certain shed that's crucial to the escape. 

Veronica Donovan (Robin Tunney) is a lawyer and Lincoln’s former girlfriend. She defended him for murder, all the while believing he was guilty. Now that a source has given her a duplicate of the surveillance video, she feels differently and has teamed with Nick Savrinn of Project Justice who specializes in death row cases. Veronica and Nick must work against time to find the truth behind Steadman’s murder.

Meanwhile, Lincoln thinks he is about to be interviewed by a reporter who is sympathetic toward his case. But the so-called journalist warns him to give up and stop fighting his execution so that his son LJ (Marshall Allman) will not get dragged into this situation. Someone named Burrows will die, and it is up to Lincoln to determine if it will be him or his son.

Prison Break boasts strong casting, directing, writing and performances. The six-disc Season One DVD box-set contains all of the first 22 episodes. By watching this extensive DVD presentation, fans and newly converted viewers can experience, relive, or get caught up on the storyline all over again -- just as Season Two begins in late August (2006). 

(Released by 20th Century Fox; not rated by MPAA.)