Escape at Dannemora Finale: Why "At"?

Herewith some thoughts on tonight's powerful Escape at Dannemora finale:

1. Michael Imperioli did a great Andrew Cuomo.  Doesn't look all the much like him, but he got the Governor's voice and manner down perfectly.

2.  Matt was indeed a pretty good artist.  The portraits of George W. Bush and Hillary Clinton  that we saw at the end were a lot better than most.  (I like Joel Iskowitz's work better - he's done a lot of my book covers, and is doing the cover for my new album, Welcome Up.  But if JI wasn't available, I might have asked Matt, if he was still alive and not a murderer.)

3. Matt really slowed Sweat down after the escape.  He was at his best, in control and usually comfortably in charge, in prison.  He was at his worst outside of prison, in the real world.

4.  But even on his own, had Sweat made it to Canada, would he have been home free?  The Canadians won't extradite people for whom there might be a death penalty, but there wasn't one awaiting Sweat, so it seems possible, even likely, that they would have extradited him.  Of course, they first would have needed to find him.  (Especially strong work by Paul Dano as Sweat tonight.)

5. Tilly seems to have an almost unbelievable power over men.   Her husband is staying with her, and if that scene near the end, with the new prison guard (or cop) propositioning her is true ... plus the prisoners at Dannemora ... well ...

6. All in all, an unusual and excellent series.  I still don't get though, why it's "Escape at" rather than "Escape from"?   Is that because they didn't succeed in their escape?  Do the results of an escape govern our grammar?

But I enjoyed the mini-series.

See also Escape at Dannemora 1-3: Cold True Crime ... Escape at Dannemora 4: Break Through ... Escape at Dannemora: Out ... Escape at Dannemora 6: Back Stories

 

this cover by Joel Iskowitz ... really

Escape at Dannemora 4: Break Through

The pace picked up in Escape at Dannemora episode 4 this past Sunday, as Sweat realized the shutting down of the main heat pipe for the summer made for a much easier and faster way to break through to the other side - the side of freedom.  By the way, Sweat - last name of David Sweat - is not just a character in this series.  It's the actual name of one of two escapees (I assume everyone in this docu-drama is based on real people - except maybe some of the very minor characters).  But given the hard work that Sweat is doing - the sweat and blood he's literally putting into this break through - you couldn't ask for a better name than Sweat.  In contract, Richard Matt is the brains of the operation, and not well named.  He's a strong, charismatic character - I assume that's an accurate portrayal of the prisoner - and certainly no one's doormat.

The same can't be said for poor Lyle, Tilly's long suffering husband.  He's earnest and devoted, and puts up with being constantly disappointed and hurt by Tilly.  When he discovers that Matt had made a sketch of Tilly's dogs, Matt lies to him and says Tilly asked Matt to make that as a present Tilly would give Matt on their anniversary.  Not only does Tilly stand Lyle up for a celebratory dinner, but she has no knowledge of Matt's lie about the sketch when Lyle tries to give it to her as a present.  Nobody gave her that memo.  She doesn't even try to fake it. And all Lyle gets is anger from Tilly about his looking through her possessions.

Tilly, for her part, is trying to make herself look better.   She's up for the trip to Mexico with Matt and Sweat after the escape.  But Mexico and its warmth is long way south, and it should make for some riveting viewing seeing how they don't get there.   I'll be back here next week with another in my continuing reviews of this unique series.

See also Escape at Dannemora 1-3: Cold True Crime