Saturday 22 November 2008

Sara Tancredi (Prison Break)


Dr. Sara Wayne Tancredi is a fictional character from the American television series, Prison Break. She is played by Sarah Wayne Callies. Her role in the first season of the series was a prison doctor.

Raised in Chicago, Sara Tancredi's ambitions to be a doctor began when she was very young. While at Northwestern University, where she was a Phi Beta Kappa, she was introduced to the works of Mahatma Gandhi and decided to become a humanitarian, which later influenced her decision to work at Fox River State Penitentiary. Another factor which contributed to her occupational choice was her past morphine addiction, culminating in being unable to help a boy after he was run over because she was high, which was revealed in a flashback episode of the first season, "Brother's Keeper". At 29 years old, Dr. Sara Tancredi was one of the few doctors working at Fox River. Her chosen occupation became a constant source of stress for her father. Sara is the only child of the Governor of Illinois, Frank Tancredi (John Heard). Due to her father's hectic political career and vastly differing beliefs, she did not have a close relationship with him. In episode "Buried", it was revealed that her mother has already died.

In the first season, Sara is mostly featured in scenes with Michael Scofield, while in the second season, Sara has mainly appeared in scenes with Frank Tancredi, Paul Kellerman or by herself. Thus far, she has appeared in every episode in the series except for second season episodes, "Otis" and "John Doe". After the death of Robin Tunney's character, Veronica Donovan, Sara Tancredi became the only remaining principal female character. Coincidentally, just like Veronica (who was killed off in the first episode of the second season "Manhunt"), she was "killed off" early in the third season, apparantly beheaded by Gretchen Morgan, and her "head" was delivered in a box to Lincoln Burrows. In season 4 it is discovered that the head was a ploy and that Sara is alive.

In the television series, the character is described as "tall, slender, brown hair, brown eyes. The character's biography on the show's official site describes Sara as someone who wanted to be more than a "traditional doctor" and to follow a "more humanitarian path". Similarly, the actress portraying the character comments that, "At a certain point, in her past, she's worked with Doctors without Borders, worked in the Third World, and I think it gave her a different sense of the value of life and the potential of medicine in ways that resonated with her, for First World applications in a prison population.

Sara is shown in the series as a compassionate doctor who cared about her patients, while treating each one of them with the same cordiality and respect. In the episode "The Rat", Sara's father questions her motive for helping Lincoln Burrows, to which she replies, "It's my job to advocate for [my patients]. Sarah Wayne Callies, who portrays Sara Tancredi, remarks that the character "feels a certain level of responsibility to these guys. Partly because who her father is... she's the kind of person who would rather take a stand and sleep well at night than have a peaceful family.

In the second season, Sara becomes part of the conspiracy plot of the show after her involvement in Michael and Lincoln's escape, and her father's later pursuit of information concerning Lincoln's case. She is continuously chased by covert agents after the death of her father in "Buried". Sara later confides in Michael in episode "Chicago" that the two things keeping her going are her feelings for him and that she wants to seek justice for her father's death. The character is described by Jay Bobbin from Zap2it.com as "gutsy", while TV Guide's Maya Schechter remarks that Sara is "one tough cookie". Regarding her character's change in the second season, Callies says, "She's just someone who has really rushed at life and absorbed experience with real enthusiasm. She's getting a lot more than she bargained for right now, and I certainly don't think she'll be the same person after this.

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