I was able to ask Matt two questions:
What happened to LJ!
Actually, it’s funny you should ask. There weren’t any regrets, but oddly enough the only actor we couldn’t get was Marshall. We wanted to bring him back for a couple of episodes, but it was later in the season and there was kind of a schedule conflict and we couldn’t get him. His character is addressed going forward.
In terms of the show his charactered lived on, but we weren’t able to get him in terms of showing him where he is now, kind of deal. He’s been a really important part of the show, and a good guy about it. Because, his character is kind of ping-ponged back and forth in terms of a couple episodes here, a couple episodes there - but unfortunately we couldn’t get our schedules to coincide.
Would you like to work with some of the Prison Break cast again in any new projects?
Yeah, very much so. Having been on a couple shows now, you can really appreciate there’s a special quality in someone who has a couple different things going for them - talent and professionalism.
Having worked with people like Bill Fichtner, Robert Knepper - it’s been a real joy and I think the same holds true for them. I think that their experience has been good on the show as well.
Matt also answered covered other topics from the press, including:
Returning/New Characters
Christina plays a big part of the last few episodes. A lot of secrets are revealed and Michael and Lincoln are certainly shook in terms of who they are, where they came from. At a certain point they wonder is this the truth or are they trying to be divided and conquered. We have a big surprise reveal, a returning character who comes in and plays the game when the wheels are coming off everybody.
On Prison Break: The Final Break
What happened was, when we were writing the episodes we had a storyline that didn’t really fit, it kind of kept getting bounced along. Then we had a conversation with the studio saying this is kind of a really cool story we wanted to tell, and it plays as a standalone. The studio went ahead and did episodes 23 and 24, not really sure where it would air.
It will be at some point viewed by the fans and hope it will be worthwhile to them. What it is basically, Episode 22 is the series finale. Everything is wrapped up. Then in the last act there’s a jump forward like four years from now. We show the characters where they are in one last bittersweet. In the next two episode kind of plays in that middle period, that wrinkle in time. So it plays really well, having viewed the entire finale. But not wanting to have to rip off the audience, we didn’t do Episode 22 like a cliff hanger. We didn’t want to infuriate the audience.
More to come…
On originally proposed Prison Break spin-off:
“There’s no plan for a Prison Break spin-off. We did a script for what would be establishing a character in season three,” Olmstead said in answer to the question from The Deadblot News. “A female character, and then spinning her off into, essentially, a female prison show.”
“And there were a couple hurdles involved. We couldn’t get the actress, the strike happened, and when we came back the show was in its last season. You know, The Sarah Conner Chronicles wasn’t doing that great and there’s a host of reasons why that idea, that project, cooled. Who’s to say if it could get a spark again? I’m not counting on it. You know, my days aren’t based around it, but for me the show is done.”
Matt said there is nothing in the stages, and although it is not officiall dead, it’s not likely. “It’s on the ground, leg is twitching, but there is still a heartbeat perhaps.”
On the fate of Michael and Sara:
“I’ll tell you this. It’s wrapped up unexpectedly because for a while there they were, just for like an episode or so, it felt like they were kind of Bonnie and Clyde. It worked for one episode, which is kind of coming up. It was that same fear of what do you do with two characters that there’s a real charged, fresh aspect to their relationship if they’re stuck together do they become the Lockhorns? What are they going to do after a while? That’s kind of the reason why in season three we had her character “killed” because there’s almost a disservice to the actor and the character like what are we going to do with her once they’re together because there’s always been walls between them?”
Matt continues, “So, we found a way in this season for this kind of torture that she suffered at the hands of Gretchen and company in season three off-screen that helped kind of put this new wall between her and Michael and it’s a wall that inhibits their intimacy and finally at the end of the season I can say that wall comes down, but there are unexpected ramifications to that. So, what seems like two people are joined at the hip want the same thing there’s a bunch of curve balls that are thrown at them in the finale. Ultimately it’s bittersweet, but very satisfying.”
On Michael Scofield’s tattoo removal:
When asked what the show’s biggest leap of logic has been over the series, Executive Producer Matt Olmstead admits it’s the tattoo.
“Wentworth was developing a skin irritation to having this thing applied to his body constantly, which I can get, even like the ones that were just on his arm. So we had to figure out a way; instead of him wearing long-sleeved shirts all the time can we zap the tattoo?”
“Since they were working for the government we kind of fudged it a little bit where he was in a super-secret tattoo removal place ten miles from South Dakota, but who knows. So we established that and it went away. It was a little bit of a wank. When I look at the other ones that we did I obviously don’t, we took a lot of those, but the momentum of the show I think accommodated that. This one for me was a little bit tough to swallow.”
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