This post contains spoilers for "Prison Break."

What film or show comes to mind when someone says "popular prison escape story?" You might think of "The Count of Monte Cristo," a tale that, after all, uses a memorable prison escape as a catalyst for revenge and retribution. However, folks are more likely to mention 1994's "The Shawshank Redemption," an almost operatic tale of corruption and violence that ends on a hopeful, cathartic note. This critically acclaimed film is, of course, based on Stephen King's "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption," one of the author's most compelling realist novellas about perseverance in the face of systemic injustice. With this in mind, it makes sense for King to have an affinity for similar prison break stories, especially ones that approach the same premise from a vastly different angle.

In 2008, King wrote a passionate op-ed about Fox's "Prison Break" for Entertainment Weekly, praising the "bright exteriors,...