"There's no nuance to their thinking, no unexpected wrench in the gears that they won't eventually be able to out-maneuver, and this weighs down an already laughably heavy-handed narrative," wrote Collider.
Vox had this to say: "It wants to be a dumb show, full of clichés, that has something to say, and you'd be surprised how easily that tilts over into outright offensiveness."
And Variety called it "puzzling ... by turns mechanical, grim and overly convoluted".
Even the more positive reviews seemed to hope that this might finally be the last we see of Prison Break.
A critic for Newsday wrote: "(It) suggests there's plenty of action ahead, some real-world parallels, and a shaggy dog that could lead us to an interesting place.
"Hopefully that place will finally be closure."
The show so far has a 48 per cent approval rating on Metacritic.
So far, there are no plans to screen Prison Break's fifth season on New Zealand screens.
