According to the screen-writer, Burke was supposed to be the son of Charles Forsythe, he went on to say that this aspect of the story got completely muddled, along with the aforementioned they came up with another idea that Burke was the reincarnation of Forsythe.
My only criticism of the film is the back story, it doesn't make any sense, especially the newspaper article and the image of Forsythe who just happens to look exactly like Burke.
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Even though it wasn't explained at all, after seeing the picture in the newspaper I figured that he must be his son and MAYBE had some idea how his father had been set up. The fact that he was kind and helpful to the other inmates showed to me that he was not the actual vengeful guy himself.
That's a shame that they couldn't / didn't develop that at all; that would have really added some more depth to the film if they had been able to take the time to explain and fill in Viggo's reason for being there and the tie-in to the original guy that was killed...
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I actually brought this up recently on Facebook. Screenwriter Courtney Joyner did say Burke was Forsythe's son, but Renny and Irwin felt that the reveal - with Chelsea and Viggo at the end - was too on the nose. I suppose after it was all over she would have told him, which probably would have been really awkward. But I don't know. Maybe they thought it was best left to the public's imagination? It's certainly not enough to ruin the film, but it's probably its biggest blunder.
Might have been best to either include that revelation or just ditch the subplot altogether. For the most part Burke is just another inmate. I find it hard to imagine the ghost of Forsythe even acknowledging their relationship.
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