Escape at Dannemora
I remember those escaped prisoners from Dannemora quite vividly. If you’re unfamiliar, here’s a link to the story, which was compared to the escape in The Shawshank Redemption. In fact, I’ve been outside Dannemora. Dan, one of my old fraternity brothers, and I drove around the area and stopped to get pictures of the prison. He referred to the guard tower as the “You ain’t going nowhere tower!”
In 2015, I used some of my summer leisure time to drive up to the little town of Plattsburgh, New York to visit some of my old friends who settled in the area. During that time, it was reported that Richard Matt and David Sweat had escaped from the facility and there was a manhunt. I joked that I was hoping to get a reward for turning them in. Some of my family and friends weren’t quite so humorous about it, warning me to be careful.
I happily was not spotted by either person, but I sadly did not spot them, so no reward money. But I did have the pleasure of seeing shots of what we refer to as the North Country and hearing the names of towns like Massena and Malone. And there was a scene shot in Monopole, one of the big Plattsburgh bars.
The miniseries, Escape from Dannemora, chronicles the story of how Joyce Mitchell, a prison employee, helped the two convicts escape. I knew the story but not the detail. It is slow-moving, much like I’d imagine prison life to be. But it is heartbreaking to see the portrayal of this woman.
Now here’s the pro-single part: Mitchell is married, and, well, she doesn’t seem to be happy with it. She is painted as an immoral woman. She’s been married to Lyle, who also works at the prison, for twenty-one years. SPOILER ALERT: But in a flashback episode, it’s revealed she cheated on her first husband, Kenny, with him and essentially manipulated Lyle to take a punch from Kenny so she could cite Kenny’s violent temper as evidence as to why she should receive custody of their son. At the end of that episode, she tells Lyle, “You took a punch for me. And I’ll never forget that.”
But, of course, her actions (namely, cheating on him with both Sweat and Matt) contradict that statement. She almost goes through with Matt’s plan of poisoning her husband so she can drive them to West Virginia. She reneges, which contributes to Sweat’s capture and Matt’s fatal shooting at the hands of a police officer. But Lyle finds out about his near-miss with death.
As far as I know, they’re still together, which disappointed me. And I think the filmmakers agree with it; Lyle is portrayed as a figure easily manipulated by Joyce, unable to really think for himself. And Joyce is absolutely horrid to him in most of their scenes together, accusing him of cheating when he says hello to a new female employee, when she’s the one cheating. And she yells at him for taking her to a museum in Plattsburgh (which is seen as a big city in that part of the country).
The Mitchells are portrayed as people who have very limited, small worlds. Joyce is the type of person who will cheat when she gets bored, and Lyle seems to have codependency issues. When I saw that graphic that stated, “Lyle is awaiting Joyce’s return,” I just felt sorry for him. The dimly lit grays of the film seem to indicate the filmmakers shared my perspective.
In 2015, I used some of my summer leisure time to drive up to the little town of Plattsburgh, New York to visit some of my old friends who settled in the area. During that time, it was reported that Richard Matt and David Sweat had escaped from the facility and there was a manhunt. I joked that I was hoping to get a reward for turning them in. Some of my family and friends weren’t quite so humorous about it, warning me to be careful.
I happily was not spotted by either person, but I sadly did not spot them, so no reward money. But I did have the pleasure of seeing shots of what we refer to as the North Country and hearing the names of towns like Massena and Malone. And there was a scene shot in Monopole, one of the big Plattsburgh bars.
The miniseries, Escape from Dannemora, chronicles the story of how Joyce Mitchell, a prison employee, helped the two convicts escape. I knew the story but not the detail. It is slow-moving, much like I’d imagine prison life to be. But it is heartbreaking to see the portrayal of this woman.
Now here’s the pro-single part: Mitchell is married, and, well, she doesn’t seem to be happy with it. She is painted as an immoral woman. She’s been married to Lyle, who also works at the prison, for twenty-one years. SPOILER ALERT: But in a flashback episode, it’s revealed she cheated on her first husband, Kenny, with him and essentially manipulated Lyle to take a punch from Kenny so she could cite Kenny’s violent temper as evidence as to why she should receive custody of their son. At the end of that episode, she tells Lyle, “You took a punch for me. And I’ll never forget that.”
But, of course, her actions (namely, cheating on him with both Sweat and Matt) contradict that statement. She almost goes through with Matt’s plan of poisoning her husband so she can drive them to West Virginia. She reneges, which contributes to Sweat’s capture and Matt’s fatal shooting at the hands of a police officer. But Lyle finds out about his near-miss with death.
As far as I know, they’re still together, which disappointed me. And I think the filmmakers agree with it; Lyle is portrayed as a figure easily manipulated by Joyce, unable to really think for himself. And Joyce is absolutely horrid to him in most of their scenes together, accusing him of cheating when he says hello to a new female employee, when she’s the one cheating. And she yells at him for taking her to a museum in Plattsburgh (which is seen as a big city in that part of the country).
The Mitchells are portrayed as people who have very limited, small worlds. Joyce is the type of person who will cheat when she gets bored, and Lyle seems to have codependency issues. When I saw that graphic that stated, “Lyle is awaiting Joyce’s return,” I just felt sorry for him. The dimly lit grays of the film seem to indicate the filmmakers shared my perspective.
