TVSquad

Don't get me wrong. I like Michael Rappaport. I've seen him in dramatic and comedic roles and he's equally impressive in both, but something just didn't work at all every moment he was on screen in Monday night's season premiere of Prison Break. Maybe it's because everyone from Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell to William Fichtner and even Robert Knepper talks in this sort of subdued menacing whisper. And then here comes Rappaport all filled with bluster and his thick New York accent and that quarter smile that's always on his face.

I don't know what it was, but every time he spoke it pulled me right out of the fiction. I know Prison Break isn't anywhere close to Shakespearean in quality or writing, but one thing it's always had going for it is the quality of the cast and their performances, making you believe all the ridiculous things that happen.

You find yourself completely accepting that it wasn't Sarah's head last season and that Bellick actually serves a purpose on this task force. No matter how ridiculous, you just roll right along, grab some more popcorn and enjoy the ride. But I just can't immerse myself in Rappaport's performance. I hope he finds the groove of the show soon or I'm going to have to write letters to NBC to make his enjoyable role on My Name is Earl a regular one just to pull him from this show the way Patricia Wettig was yanked after season one for Brothers & Sisters.