Paul Kellerman

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Prison Break character

Agent Paul Kellerman
Paul Kellerman
First appearance: S1E01
Season: 1, 2

Episode Count = 38
Portrayed by: Paul Adelstein
Alias: Owen Kravecki (S1E17); (S2E13 - S2E14);
Roy Hawkings (S1E19);
Lance (S2E03 - S2E07)
Crime: Murder, attempted murder, complete list unknown.
Sentence: Trial pending
Occupation: Former Major in the US Army;
Former Secret Service agent
Family: Kristine Kellerman (sister)

Paul Kellerman, played by Paul Adelstein, is a fictional character from the American television series, Prison Break. The character was introduced to the series as a Secret Service agent in the series pilot but the actor was not listed as a regular cast member until the third episode. The character's role is most prominent in the series' conspiracy plot.

Contents

[edit] Background

After graduating with honors from West Point, Paul Kellerman served in the Gulf War in the U.S. Army Rangers; achieving the rank of Major.[1] Although he had a promising future in the military, he received a better offer from the federal government: a leadership position within the Secret Service, and was soon assigned to Vice President Caroline Reynolds (Patricia Wettig), whom he has served for fifteen years. He eventually hardened into a ruthless fanatic, capable of suppressing his humanity to commit horrible crimes in the name of Caroline Reynolds. Due to his commitment to her plans, he became a key figure in the conspiracy that framed Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell) for murder. Officially, as revealed in episode "The Rat", he is no longer listed as a member of the Secret Service or even as an employee of the Federal Government. Kellerman is at least 35 years old.[2]

[edit] Appearances

The character of Paul Kellerman was first introduced in the show's pilot episode. Although he is one of the principal characters of the series, he has not appeared in every episode of the show. Prior to "The Killing Box", Michael, Sucre and the other convicts except Lincoln were the only main characters who had not met Kellerman. Even Brad Bellick met "Roy Hawkings" after Kellerman failed to kill Lincoln in "The Key" and had to pretend to be a witness to the "car crash" that was supposed to kill Lincoln.

[edit] Season 1

Along with his partner Danny Hale, Kellerman was assigned to ensure that Lincoln’s execution proceeded as planned and to allow no one to interfere. Kellerman has gone to great lengths to fulfill his duty for the Vice President, even engineering the death of Bishop McMorrow when he refused to back down from his beliefs. Kellerman believed that Reynolds was the best choice as the next president and that he was doing what's best for his country. His almost fanatical devotion to her plans may also be explained in part by his romantic feelings for her clouding his judgment. It soon becomes apparent that he will kill anyone that threatens the conspiracy. When Veronica Donovan (Robin Tunney) begun to investigate the case surrounding Lincoln’s conviction, Kellerman and the all the more reluctant Hale went to great lengths to stop her. This included the brutal murders of Leticia Barris, whose late boyfriend was involved in the frame up, Lisa Rix and Adrian, who were LJ Burrows' mother and stepfather, and the attempted murders of Veronica and Nick (Frank Grillo) when they got too close. Kellerman kept a cool head throughout this, showing no remorse for what he had to do.

Kellerman was however a vocal opponent to Reynolds' alliance with "The Company", a powerful group of corporate multi-nationals that were funding Reynolds' campaign. Perceiving himself as a patriot, Kellerman resented The Company for its greed and selfishness. After Kellerman and Hale were taken off the case by the ruthless Company operative Quinn, he warned Reynolds' that with The Company involved in the situation, no one would be safe. When Quinn fails at his task of tracking Veronica, Nick and L.J. and gets trapped at the bottom of a well, Kellerman forces Hale to agree to leave him there to die. The two are then put back on duty, and sets out to finish what Quinn failed to do.

Kellerman was eventually forced to kill Hale with a headshot after he caught Hale surrendering information to Veronica Donovan in episode "End of the Tunnel". Having earlier killed innocent people without remorse (in the case of Quinn even with a hint of sadistic glee, and sweet revenge for Quinn's earlier breaking his fingers), Kellerman was visibly upset about having to kill Hale, who had been a friend of his ever since their time in the academy together. It was ultimately his naming in the information Hale wanted to give Veronica that visibly hurt him and convinced him to ignore his friend's tearful pleas for his life and pull the trigger. It is later revealed in episode "J-Cat", Kellerman lives under the name Owen Kravecki, a sales manager for a company that makes buffalo jerky. LJ discovered his alias and went to Kellerman's home with a gun to confront him. However, the police arrested LJ after he tried to kill Kellerman.

He is very familiar with Caroline Reynolds in private. Kellerman seems to genuinely care about her and supports her, especially after "The Company" threatened her in "Tonight". Although Kellerman is at first portrayed as a ruthlessly loyal henchman (especially compared to the remorseful Hale), the introduction of "The Company" greatly complicates his character. Kellerman is revealed to be a man who may not be so sure of his chosen path, as he fears that the woman he cares for is nothing more than a pawn in the schemes of The Company, an organization that Kellerman appears to hold a great disdain towards. Nevertheless, when Reynolds became President at the end of the season, Kellerman remained at her side.

[edit] Season 2

Kellerman's first appearance in the second season was in episode "Scan". Instead of directly involving himself in the manhunt for the "Fox River Eight", Kellerman decides to track Sara Tancredi (Sarah Wayne Callies), who he thinks will lead him to Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller) and Lincoln Burrows. The next two episodes follow Kellerman as he attempts to befriend Sara, identifying himself as a drug addict named "Lance". While he continues to report to President Reynolds in "Scan", Kellerman is disallowed from contacting her directly from the fifth episode onwards. In the episode "Subdivision" Kellerman is informed by William Kim, a ruthless, unconflicted member of the The Company that has been recently appointed to the administration, that he will no longer be allowed to se the president. Instead he is forced to report to Kim. While answering to Kim, Kellerman's fears are soon confirmed: he's working for The Company, not Reynolds. As this truth dawns on him, Kellerman begins to show doubt. He also grew increasingly bitter at Caroline Reynolds, whom he perceived as having betrayed him. This marked a stark contrast to Kellerman in season 1, who was often smug and upbeat.

Despite this, and although Kellerman disliked Mr. Kim, he continues to follow his orders. In "Buried", Kellerman's cover as Lance is compromised after Sara's father, Frank Tancredi (John Heard), spots him at the White House. While Kim arranges for both Sara and her father to be killed, Kellerman reconfigures his strategy and targets L. J. Burrows instead. After this fails, Kellerman returns to the coded messages Sara received. In addition, Kellerman's storyline converges with the storyline of Alexander Mahone (William Fichtner) in "Unearthed", where it is revealed that Mahone is blackmailed to work for Kellerman and "The Company".

In the next three episodes, Kellerman tracks Sara down with the help of Mahone and tortures her for the information about her father's hidden USB drive. Kellerman is then told by Kim to kill Sara. Having grown disillusioned with his cause, Kellerman nearly falters and has a crisis of conscience. He does however follow orders and attempts to kill Sara, but she manages to get away. Sara's escape prompts Kim to authorize a total disavowal of Kellerman and erasure of all records pertaining to him. In the final episode of 2006 in the United States, "The Killing Box", following the police capture of Michael and Lincoln, Kellerman calls Kim with a a plan to kill the brothers. In return he asks to be let back into the conspiracy and to report only to Reynolds once again. Kim agrees, but then instructs a reluctant Mahone to ensure that Kellerman dies after the brothers have been done away with. However, it turns out that Kellerman was well aware of Kim's duplicty, and that the plan was a ruse created by Kellerman to get his hands on the brothers and use them to seek revenge on the president. After helping the brothers escape from the transport van, they are quickly cornered by Kellerman and Mahone. In a move of self-preservation, Kellerman then shoots Mahone, thus helping both Michael and Lincoln escape. He also offers to help them to take down President Reynolds and reveal the conspiracy.

The next part of the character's storyline revolves around him and the two protagonists as they work together to find evidence that may help to exonerate Lincoln and destroy "The Company". The episode "John Doe" marks the first time Adelstein has worked directly with the two actors who play the protagonists of the series. After the three captures Terrence Steadman (Jeff Perry), Kellerman has to suffer humiliation as Steadman mockingly tells Michael and Lincoln of the time many years ago when Kellerman proposed to Caroline Reynolds, only to be rejected. When their attempt to use Steadman to bring down The Company later fails after he commits suicide, Kellerman, Michael and Lincoln contact Sara via a television broadcast. Sara joins the trio in the episode, "Chicago". After the protagonists retrieve the USB drive which holds a recorded conversation between Reynolds and Steadman two weeks after his supposed murder, Kellerman is left on his own.

Following this, Kellerman decides to target the woman who had betrayed him, President Caroline Reynolds. In the eighteenth episode, he obtains a sniper rifle (murdering the gun dealer in the process) and makes a final visit to his sister, who he has not seen for fifteen years. He tells her that he still loves her but that he's no longer the brother she remembers, and that he now is so confused that he no longer even knows what good or bad is. He asks her to remember the brother she grew up with. Towards the end of the episode, Kellerman is shown getting ready to assassinate the President, forming one of the cliffhangers of the episode. However, Kellerman fails to get a clear shot, and leaves when he sees Michael arrested by the Secret Service. He is then shown watching the President's press conference, where she unexpectedly announces she is resigning due to a "malignant form of cancer".

With nothing to lose, Kellerman dresses himself in his Army uniform and prepares to commit suicide. His pistol jams, however, and he calls his sister Kristine. He tells her he followed orders and he did terrible things because he thought they were right for the country. He now has nothing. Kristine convinces him he can start life again with a clean slate. She comforts her brother while he sobs on her shoulder. Kellerman then comes forward to testify at Sara's trial for aiding and abetting. Kellerman confesses to the entire conspiracy, proving it with documents. His testimony exonerates Lincoln and Sara, but Kellerman is then arrested and knows he will be assassinated. The driver transporting him takes a different direction than the usual route, making a lame excuse, and stops his vehicle under a bridge. Kellerman tells the officer with him that "In the French Resistance, it was considered as high an honor to smile when facing a Nazi firing squad."

Two masked gunmen open the doors, and Kellerman looks at them and tells them "Took you long enough." The masked gunmen shoot into the van, though the shooting occurs offscreen.

[edit] The Fate of Kellerman

Before the season finale aired, Adelstein said in a TV Guide article that, "There's a cliff-hanger to Kellerman's story line in the finale, and I think there will be some passionate discussion about exactly what happened. It's not really ambiguous, but it's still open to various interpretations."[3]

According to issue #4 of the Official Prison Break Magazine, writer and co-producer Karyn Usher discussed Paul Kellerman. When asked about his fate, she replied "...this is Prison Break, and I wouldn't be surprised if Kellerman appeared again."

An easter egg on the Season Two DVD release, in part a slideshow of all the characters that had been killed on the show, did not include Kellerman, implying that he is still alive, or at least didn't die in the second season.

[edit] Characteristics

Throughout the series Kellerman is depicted as someone who believes what he is doing for the good for the country. In one of the first season episodes he remarks to President Reynolds that everything he has done has been for her, her family and most importantly this country. He plays both the villain and the ally in the series, and portrays characteristics of both parts. Although perceived to be a cold blooded killer, he loves his sister very much, and shows reluctance to carry out Agent Kim's operations. Furthermore according to Paul Adelstein, who portrays Paul Kellerman, the character's moral compass told him that Reynolds was the best leader for the country, and that anything or anyone who jeopardizes her position must be eliminated, "He is a patriot, if a misguided one. If a few people have to die to ensure her status, so be it."[4]

There is a clear difference to his portrayal throughout the series. In the first season, Kellerman was not only a cold-blooded murderer but also consistantly cruel and nasty. The best example of this is in the episode Tweener where Kellerman, after having assisted in the murder of L.J. Burrows' mother, taunts the boy about his mom's death. Even killing his old friend and partner later in the season does not cause him much pain.

In the second season, however, Kellerman is portrayed as more human. He starts to object to the taking of innocent people's lives, and shows genuine remorse when he is ordered to kill Sara Tancredi. We are also introduced to his sister, whom Kellerman clearly loves very much. His character comes full circle when he abandons his old cause and basically sacrifices his own life to bring down the former President Reynolds.

[edit] Concept and creation

[edit] Character creation

The character was initially conceived to be a merely stereotypical villain. However creator Paul Scheuring comments that the complexity Adelstein has added to Kellerman's character has convinced the writers to make the character more of a regular and a fulcrum of the second season’s second half.[4]

[edit] Portrayal

Paul Adelstein initially auditioned for the role of Lincoln Burrows. Scheuring said the Burrows character needed to possess heart and yet be a physically imposing presence in prison. However, Adelstein portrayed a vulnerability that sufficiently impressed the directors to hire Adelstein for the role of Kellerman.[4]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Indicated by the silver oak leaves on the shoulders of his uniform in S2E21, "Fin Del Camino" ("End of the Road")
  2. ^ S2E16, "Chicago", Kellerman asks President Reynolds' impersonator a personal question about the restaurant at which they spent his (Kellerman's) 35th birthday.
  3. ^ Wayne Jones, Arnold, "Preview: Prison Break's Game-changing Season Finale! ". TV Guide. April 2, 2007 . Retrieved on April 4, 2007.
  4. ^ a b c Manly, L, "His Character Pursues Fugitives, an Actor Breaks Out Too". New York Times. Jan 22, 2007. Retrieved on March 1, 2007.

[edit] External links

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