Each of Prison Break with three possible endings. Prison Break originally centered on the structural engineer Michael Scofield, who got himself sent to the same prison holding his innocent brother so that he could break them out from the inside, using the tattoos covering his body as a map.

The original show was mostly set within the walls of Fox River Penitentiary, and focused on the prisoners who would become known as the Fox River Eight. The main characters in Prison Break range from the wrongfully accused, like Lincoln Burrows, to the genuinely evil, like the scene-stealing Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell. Many of the characters are brutal, but the prison system is often worse, and while the show might have lost its way in season 4 as it became more sci-fi oriented, the scenes set in actual prisons are the most compelling of all.

Prison Break's Sona Is A Fictional Prison Located In Panama

Prison Break's Season 3 Is The Most Brutal Of The Original Series

After successfully escaping from Fox River Penitentiary in season 1 and staying a few steps ahead of a manhunt in season 2, Prison Break season 3 finally catches up with Michael. Michael ends up in the notorious Sona Prison in Panama, where he runs into some surprising acquaintances, including his former enemy, Alex Mahone. Prison Break season 3 only had 13 episodes due to the 2007-08 writers' strike, and it marked a turning point for the show. Some of Michael's enemies became allies, and as Sara Tancredi didn't appear in the season, the focal point turned to the prison culture.

While Fox River was far from pleasant, Sona Prison was a culture shock.

While Fox River was far from pleasant, Sona Prison was a culture shock, especially for Bellick. Fox River's sadistic guard had run the show in season 1, but when he found himself a prisoner in Sona, he found that the inmates ran the place, and he was at the bottom of the hierarchy. Audiences beginning to sympathize with the season 1 villain was one of the most unexpected things to happen in Prison Break, and as season 3 involves some violent beatings and terrible conditions in Sona, it is by far the most brutal of all Prison Break's seasons.

The Building Used For Sona Is Located In Fort Worth, Texas

Prison Break Has Used A Real Prison As A Filming Location Before

Prison Break used many different settings over the course of the show's run, but the setting for Sona is not an actual prison. The exterior shots of the Sona Prison building were not filmed in Panama, but in Texas. The building is actually the old Swift and Company meat-packing and processing plant in Fort Worth, located in the Stockyards area. The interior shots were likely a studio set, created specifically for use in Prison Break. That said, while season 3 might not have been shot in an actual prison, much of season 1 was.

Dominic Purcell (Lincoln Burrows) filmed some of his Prison Break season 1 scenes in the real-life cell of the serial killer John Wayne Gacy.

While the government conspiracy angle was introduced early on in Prison Break, season 1 was mostly set within the walls of the prison holding the Fox River Eight. Fox River Penitentiary was not based on a specific real-life prison, but it was filmed in one. Many scenes in Prison Break season 1 were filmed in Joliet Correctional Center in Illinois, which has held some notorious serial killers, including the "Killer Clown," John Wayne Gacy. The Joliet Correctional Center was used as the exterior for Fox River Penitentiary, and several scenes were also filmed inside the building too.

The Real Prison That Inspired Prison Break's Sona

Michael And Three Others Escaped Sona Prison In Season 3

The lawless Sona Prison was run by inmates rather than guards, and after watching Prison Break's most tragic moments in season 3, audiences may be shocked to learn that it is based on a real prison. Sona Prison is inspired by São Paulo's Carandiru Prison, the largest penitentiary in Brazil before a massacre in 1992. During this, 111 inmates were killed after a riot began due to the inhumane conditions within its walls. At its peak, the prison was housing as many as 8000 inmates, and there had even been escapes before the prison was finally closed in 2002.

The real-life Carandiru Prison held the record for the largest prison break in Brazil in 2001, with over 100 inmates escaping to the outside through a tunnel. That said, Michael managed a much smaller escape from Sona Prison in Prison Break season 3, though it also involved a tunnel. He and three others escaped, including the fan-favorite character Tracy McGrady, who had a rare happy ending in the show. Later, there was another escape, and Sucre, T-Bag, and Brad Bellick also got out after a riot similar to the one that occurred in the real Carandiru Prison.