The Prison Trope in Mysteries

A common trope in mysteries is that case that must be solved during a riot or lock-down takes over the prison. 

It bores me only slightly less than mafia tales. And doesn't strike me as terribly different from plane or Titanic mysteries--the problem must be solved before we land! Or sink! Or die in a riot! 

The prison trope does have the merit of the mystery usually being linked to the riot in some way. In Murder She Wrote, the prison's poor conditions are linked to fraudulent behavior by several prison employees. Uncovering the reason for the first death leaves to uncovering the deceit. And Angela Lansbury does a more than credible job as the woman holding everything together. 

But. Still. I get weary of the surge in violence before the commercial break (where the commercial break obviously came when the show aired): "Oh, no, the prisoners are about to kill the hostages! Oh no, what will the detective do?!" 

One exception is the NCIS episode "Caged" with Martha Hackett as the man-killing serial killer. The episode ends with McGee proving that he can handle a difficult situation diplomatically and intelligently without losing his fundamental kindness. 

Monk sharpened and cleaned his shiv.

The prison trope still isn't one of my favorites. I always suspect that these episodes are like the clairvoyant-shows-up episodes--they are thrown in there for the viewers who really, really like that kind of thing. Next week, the show can go back to less irritating crime stories.  

After all, even Due South and Monk and Bones did prison episodes. Though in all three cases here, the episodes were deliberately humorous.