The TV series Prison Break was based on a true story. The background of the story was a major scandal in the American prison system in 1994. A prisoner used his intelligence to plan a prison break. This incident attracted the attention of the US government and took a series of measures to prevent similar incidents from happening again. The TV series Prison Break mainly told the story of a high-ranking prison official who had a life-and-death struggle with the prisoners in order to cover up the scandal. Although the plot in the TV series was different from the original, the background and theme of the whole story were related to this scandal.