Matt Olmstead answers a LOT of questions about the series finale! TVGuide.com and EW both have interviews with Matt that they have revealed.

I can now somewhat understand their reasoning for killing off Michael. But you know what - everyone’s hands were dirty. Even Sara killed someone. It doesn’t mean they needed to kill off everyone!

TVGuide.com: At what point during the four-year run did you decide that Michael would die in the end?
Matt Olmstead: At the beginning of this season, we had a debate about it. I was on NYPD Blue and I came on during Season 6, which was Jimmy Smits’ last arc — and it was some of the best TV ever. They had the thought that when a character goes that’s beloved, if you drop a safe on his head, the audience is going to hate you, because they haven’t had a chance to mourn. So let’s show up early that the character has a [health] problem. [NYPD Blue creator] David [Milch] did it brilliantly [with Smits' character dying of heart failure], and I always remembered that. So when we met with the writers after the [WGA] strike, we asked ourselves: Is Michael going to last? Either way, let’s [give him] a nosebleed in Episode 1. That way we can kind of suggest that something’s up, and it also gives us the opportunity to play some scenes — if we want to go down this road — where Sara can mourn it, Lincoln’s aware of it, and the audience is aware of it. Then they too have a chance to mourn the loss.

TVGuide.com: What was Wentworth Miller’s take on the matter?
Olmstead: He ultimately liked it. He had heard rumblings, and when that script went out, a complimentary email came back from him, because he saw the merits of it. The idea of Michael not making it stemmed from a conversation he and I had in Season 2. He said that at this point [Michael's] hands were as dirty as anyone’s, and that was something we addressed along the way, this mounting guilt. “I broke my brother out of prison, the ramifications of which have included people getting killed” — neither he the actor nor the character were ignorant or dismissive of that. So the idea of a finale where [in the coda] he doesn’t make it but everyone else does was the right ending for him as an actor. For Michael to have traipsed off into the sunset with Sara may have seemed a little like, “Hey, good for you guys.”

Read more

I sat in on a conference call with Matt Olmstead, executive producer with Prison Break, today! Here’s some of what he had to say (more to come later).

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:

Read more

Hey everyone! I get the chance to be on a conference call with Matt Olmstead on Tuesday (and a bunch of other press so I may only get to ask one or two questions!) What are the burning questions you want to know? I’ll try to ask something from the comments below!

Matt Olmstead talks about working with William Fichtner. Matt says that there is never a time that William takes a backseat. Someone always says, “Thank God for Bill Fichtner!”

William also talks about investing in the role. “What does it really mean to you? What is that really like?” And he tries to go deeper into his role.

The scene last night with Wyatt was pretty amazing. What did you think?

Matt Olmstead talks about the death of Brad Bellick. He says that they knew they had to take someone out. “It became Bellick’s time.” They predicted it in some ways and then left it as a turning point. He never stood up for anything but finally decides to be heroic.

Matt Olmstead sat down with iFMagazine.co to chat about Prison Break Season 4.

Olmstead revealed his thoughts on the plotline of Season 4. “It’s a culmination of – and I think that the three [seasons] that are behind us laid the groundwork – this feeling of this desperate pursuit of freedom and how special freedom is really reverberates through the show in general and certainly this season.” Even though the gang is out of prison, they’re still being forced to do something. Olmstead says that the fans should have this feeling that their goal is just beyond their grasp and they want it very badly.

One of the big challenges for this season was coming up with a premise that would push all of these characters together again. Especially T-Bag! “He was the most difficult character to accommodate. We found a way and believe me, it happened luckily fairly quickly.” Olmstead said that they would have spent weeks figuring it out though. He was not about to lose Rob Knepper! “One of our favorite dynamics of the show are the yard scenes where you have all the cons together. They hate each other, but they all want the same thing, so they have to band together.”

Olmstead briefly talks about his surprise at the way William Fichtner popped during Season 2 and the decision to keep him around. “I was aware that he was talented as an actor, but when he came on, that’s one of those things where it was a mutual decision.” At the end of that season Olmstead and Fichtner sat down together and chatted. “I tell him what we have in mind creatively, he tells me what he’s looking for, and thankfully, he’s given us what we need, we’ve given him what he needs and so he feels creatively validated and enthusiastic. This year especially, [Mahone] is completely just knocked sideways with a real major tragedy in his life and he’s at once broken and vengeful. [Fichtner] really brings it.”

MediaWeek does an interview on the set of Prison Break Season 4. Matt Olmstead talks about the popularity of the show.

“It’s one of the few shows on air that has real men,” he says. “There’s a lot of shows recently on network television about p*ssies essentially. Guys don’t relate to them and women don’t want to watch them. And this is a show about real guys and I think that a lot of people like that in the true heroic sense. They really like the characters in this show.”

Matt also talks about ditching the remaining plotlines of Season 3 (from the strike) in favor of starting Season 4 where it currently stands. Thanks Marisa for the tip!

Matt Olmstead answered the Prison Break cast’s questions in the latest issue of TV Guide! In Part 2 Matt talks about the Sara/Gretchen reunion, the possibility that this is the last season of Prison Break, and Sucre & Maricruz’s baby.

Jodi Lyn O’Keefe asks “Will you let Sara and Gretchen work out their history on their own terms without the boys around?”
Matt replies, “That essentially describes Episode 8 of the new season. In Season 3, we saw Susan B. as cocky, the scarred and abused ex-military Company employee who enjoyed abusing others. In her world, it’s war [with Sara] and she can’t understand why they can’t call a truce. But Sara has not descended into Gretchen’s amoral netherworld, and things can’t be so easily resolved. By the time Gretchen and Sara meet again, both of them have changed significantly. Gretchen had her fun, but now everything is going to be taken away from her. And Sara has had to deal with being abducted. You’d think it would be a catfight, but it’s not. Earlier on, the confrontation might have been a battle to the death. And that showdown might still happen.”

Wade Williams asks “Is Bellick getting a love interest?”
Matt replies, “Bellick has always had a love interest and will continue to have one: himself. He thinks quite highly of himself and his fanciful dreams and goals. And of course, he has his mother.” Read more

Matt Olmstead answered the Prison Break cast’s questions in the latest issue of TV Guide! In Part 1 Matt talks about Westmoreland’s money, the head ing the box, and the meaning behind Scylla. Part 2 coming shortly …

Dominic Purcell asks “Where is that bag of money and when do I get my hands on it?”
Matt replies, “This is a question you have posed numerous times, Dominic, and the answer is Linc ain’t getting it! The money is at the bottom of a lagoon in Panama. When the authorities came and dredged the shallow area for clues to the murder of Company operative Bill Kim, they found the bag. There were just a couple of bad apples in the normally trustworthy Panamanian police, but that’s all it takes. You’ll probably find some Panamanian cops with speedboats and vacation homes.”
Read more

Matt Olmstead has signed a new two-year contract to continue with Prison Break. At the same time, he’s also developing a the Prison Break spinoff, although it’s only in the script stage.

“Matt, along with Paul Scheuring, has done a phenomenal job in running an incredibly difficult show,” Walden said. “The show is produced in Dallas, it was produced in Chicago, they’re based in L.A. The storytelling is complicated and detailed, yet they manage to maintain an emotional core to these characters.

“He’s a problem solver, and a pleasure to work with,” she added.

Olmstead called 20th “a pretty damn good place to work.”

“A lot of times people leave hit shows to create other shows,” he said. “But my whole thing is, am I creatively happy working with the people around me? Am I supported by the studio and network? That all is happening here.”

Olmstead said “Prison Break” is enough of a well-oiled machine that he’ll be able to focus some of his attention on the “Prison Break” spinoff in the coming months. He’s currently casting the lead, Molly, who will show up later this season on “Prison Break.”

“There are a lot of people here in place to move up and help out,” Olmstead said of the “Prison Break” staff. “If I was struggling on the show, I wouldn’t have done it. But so many people here are carrying their own weight. I’m feeling great about it.”

Source: Variety