According to series creator Paul Scheuring, the writers try to let all the characters in the show "inhabit a gray area." Scheuring says that although Mahone's pursuit in the second season is very noble, "there are some things about him that we will learn that are slightly less than noble." Fichtner tries to play the character with a soft side, and believes that those characterizing him as "a hard guy" are "missing what I'm trying to do." Regarding the frequent intake of pills by Mahone, the series' executive producer and writer Matt Olmstead says: Mahone's anxiety is evident when he reaches for the varatril pills hidden inside his pen. When Mahone runs out of pills, he is tense and easily agitated. Fichtner notes the erratic behavior of his character, commenting, "The more twisted the better! Who wants to play a straight-away FBI guy?" He says that the actions that Mahone takes are affected by "some of the things that Mahone has in the back of his closet—and in the back of his mind, the voices he is hearing about his own life." Andy Dehnart of MSNBC observes that Mahone, "as played by William Fichtner, always seemed to be on the edge of a nervous breakdown." Although not a major characteristic, Mahone is depicted as remarkably good at unarmed combat (probably due to his military background). It is surprising when Lincoln attempts to kill him, he rapidly masters him and tries to choke him; Lincoln only manages to master him by squeezing his previous gunshot wound, only to be overcome again and have Mahone's gun on him. When one of Lechero's men attempts to stab Michael at the beginning of season three, Mahone stops him and breaks his neck in seconds. He is also the only one T-Bag believed could kill Sammy, but when the tunnel crumbles on top of Sammy Mahone rapidly masters his men. In season four when Christina Rose orders her bodyguard to kill Mahone, he beats both of them down within seconds. Development The character of Mahone was not in the original plan of the Prison Break staff writers for the second season. When the writers approached the Fox network with their plans for the second season, Fox Entertainment president Peter Liguori suggested including a fugitive pursuer who was "not corrupt"; a character who is "like the Tommy Lee Jones character in The Fugitive." Along with Paul