Critical reception Mike Duffy of the
Detroit Free Press commended the premiere for delivering "rocking good entertainment," and living up to the standard set by the first season. Duffy praised the "motley crew of cellblock characters" and the "taut, ingenious storytelling of series creator Paul T. Scheuring and his staff." Robert Bianco of
USA Today commented on the "harebrained absurdities that have swamped this show", and accused the writers of being "incredibly lazy" for the continuous use of the tattoo as an "all-purpose plot fix". Ahsan Haque and Christopher Monfette of
IGN credited the creators for not being afraid to take risks, which they felt "paid off for the most part". The reviewers found the biggest success factors to be "the constant swerves and twists" throughout the season, and "the development of the hero-villain relationship between Scofield and Mahone". The addition of Mahone was well received by critics, who often referred to him as Michael's nemesis.
Rob Owen of the
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette found Mahone to be "a far more worthy adversary for Michael than prison guard Brad Bellick... who's still after the convicts but seems like a cartoon compared to the
Inspector Javert-like Mahone." Brian Zoromski from
IGN believes that the "strongest portions of '
Manhunt' deal with the introduction of a new character, an FBI Agent named Alexander Mahone, played by the great
character actor William Fichtner."
Digital Spy's Ben Rawson-Jones praised the "wonderful" Fichtner, claiming he "quickly became more appealing than the brooding hero himself". Robert Bianco of
USA Today said that Fichtner was a welcome addition to the cast,
Ratings The premiere of the season obtained an average of 9.40 million American viewers, a decrease from the 10.50 million viewers who watched the series premiere, and the 10.24 million viewers who watch the first-season finale. The season obtained its largest audience with the episode "
Chicago", which averaged 10.12 million viewers; however, the season finale received one of the lowest audiences in the series' history with 8.12 million viewers. The season averaged 9.30 million American viewers for all 22 episodes. Out of all regular primetime programming that aired during the 2005–2006 American television season,
Prison Break ranked #51 out of #142, according to the
Nielsen ratings system. In Australia, the season premiere was watched by an average of 1.22 million viewers, however ratings dropped consistently throughout the season. In the United Kingdom, ratings declined from an average audience share of 9% in the first season to 8.5% in the second. The season's penultimate episode, "
Fin Del Camino", was viewed by an average of 1.20 million viewers, gaining a 7% audience share. As a result of the declining ratings during the season,
Five decided not to air the third season and it was picked up by
Sky1.
Prison Break was
simulcast in Canada on
Global, where it ranked in the top ten of the highest rated television series.
Awards The season was nominated for five awards, winning one. Dominic Purcell won the
Australian Film Institute International Award for Best Actor. Work on the episode "
Disconnect" was nominated for two
Motion Picture Sound Editors Golden Reel Awards. Music editor David Klotz was nominated for Best Sound Editing in Music for Television — Short Form. The supervising sound editor, along with four
Foley artists and four sound effects editors were nominated for Best Sound Editing in Sound Effects and Foley for Television — Short Form. At the 2007
Teen Choice Awards, Wentworth Miller was nominated for Choice TV Actor: Drama, and Robert Knepper was nominated for Choice TV: Villain. ==Home media release==