Prison Break 5x09 Recap: “Behind the Eyes” (What Goes Around) [Guest Poster: Rebecca]

“Behind the Eyes” 

Original Airdate: May 30, 2017

Last episode left us reeling with questions. Whose blood was splattered all over the door? Would Lincoln survive? Where was Sara? How would T-Bag navigate the strange waters of fatherhood? Would Michael’s four-year plan to get his family back work out? In typical Prison Break fashion, the answers to all these questions (and more) came together neatly in this season five finale.

“Behind the Eyes” is clearly a reference to Michael’s tattoos, which cover his hands — most prominently, a pair of eyes. Those eyes played a huge role in my favorite scene of the season, which I’ll dive into later.

“YOU DON’T LOVE ME. YOUR EGO IS TOO BIG.”

The episode begins six minutes before where “Progeny” left off. We see Mike coloring in the living room and A&W fake-tied up with her brown wig and a gun. This time though, we are taken down to the lake house basement, where Jacob and Van Gogh have actually tied up Sara. Jacob claims he still loves his wife and hoped his lies would die with time, but Sara hates him for sending Michael to Yemen to die and using their son as bait to bring him back. She drops a bombshell on Van Gogh: Michael didn’t kill Harlan Gaines — Jacob did. This information clearly makes Van Gogh uneasy, and he starts to second-guess who he’s actually working for.

Jacob leaves, and now we’re back in real-time. Michael enters the house, Mike reveals he didn’t draw the treasure map, Michael realizes he’s been tricked by Jacob, and A&W reveals herself. Meanwhile, Van Gogh’s conscious is getting the better of him, and he leaves Sara and heads upstairs to try to talk some sense into his partner. He tries to explain to A&W that they should take a step back, slow down, and ask Michael some questions to make sure they’re getting the right guy. He thinks they should just turn Michael in and disappear.

“THERE’S NO LEAVING 21 VOID.”

A&W realizes her partner has become a liability and shoots Van Gogh.

Michael uses the distraction to flee and tells Mike to go outside and look for his uncle. Sara, who freed herself when Van Gogh went upstairs, comes up behind A&W and knocks her out, giving her and Michael a chance to escape. They come outside just in time to see Jacob speeding off with Mike. They find Lincoln slumped over in his car, wounded badly from his run-in with Luca.

Once Sara and Michael take Lincoln to a hospital, they meet up with Whip and T-Bag, who have had a nice little father-son bonding session in the car ride over from Chicago. T-Bag had shown Whip the original letter sent to him when he was released from Fox River: the photo of Michael in Ogygia and the cryptic message at the bottom. T-Bag had thought the message had something to do with religion, but realizes the “progeny” mentioned meant his own son — Whip. When they meet up with Sara and Michael, Michael reveals Jacob was controlling his communication with family, friends, and allies, but not with people he “despised,” so he had to reach out to T-Bag. Michael says no one can be free until T-Bag kills Jacob.

Meanwhile, Jacob meets with Theroux, his computer-hacker. Theroux is still analyzing Michael’s tattoos and has found an even bigger, more complicated code has been encrypted into the eyes. Jacob dismisses Theroux and goes back to Mike, telling him Theroux was a detective and that Sara is dead. He takes Mike to his secret office at the university and crafts some tale about how he’s a secret agent and people are after him. He shows Mike the “wanted” posters of Kaniel Outis and says Michael is lying about being his real father. During this explanation, Jacob gets a phone call from Michael, and tracks the phone to the zoo.

Back at the rendezvous, Michael is assigning everyone their final roles: Sara is to take care of Lincoln, Whip and T-Bag are to collect a wildcard, and Michael is headed back to the place “where everything started.”

“I HAD TO KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT THE MAN WHO WORE HIS PLANS ON HIS SKIN.”

Jacob arrives at the zoo while Theroux continues working on decoding the message from the screengrab of Michael’s tattoos. He finally makes out a phrase and sends it to Jacob: “Never interrupt your enemy when he’s making a mistake,” a quote from Napoleon. Jacob realizes that Michael’s a step ahead of him — again. As this is happening, we see Michael enter the university and head to Jacob’s secret office. In a totally epic motion, one that I rewound about four times to watch again, Michael brings his hands in front of his face, and his tattoos reveal a perfect replica of Jacob’s face, eyes and all, giving him access to the office. Once inside, he calls Jacob and they arrange to meet at a shipyard.

Sara arrives at the hospital, but the nurse says Lincoln checked himself out. A doctor asks if she knows what happened up in the Finger Lakes region, as another person came in shortly after Lincoln with a gunshot wound. Sara knows this person is Van Gogh, so she tracks down his room and gets him to write down where her son is.

While Sara meets with Van Gogh, Lincoln has found Luca. He gets a few punches in before the police roll up and take Luca into custody.

“ATTENTION TO DETAIL LIKE THAT WILL DRIVE A MAN CRAZY.”

Fulfilling Michael’s orders, T-Bag and Whip roll up to Blue Hawaii’s house, who we learn is the wildcard. Blue Hawaii reveals Michael broke him out of a South American prison. He’s an artist who specializes in recreating real-life events; right now, he’s working on a model of the JFK assassination. The three of them meet back up with Sara and the brothers, and Michael prepares to put their final plan into action.

Michael and Jacob meet at the shipyard and argue over who is holding the cards (Jacob foolishly thinks he has the upper hand). Michael has all of Jacob’s communications and secret files that reveal everything he’s done, including killing Harlan Gaines, but Jacob reminds Michael he’s got his son — and the FBI is on their way, after receiving an “anonymous” tip about Kaniel Outis. Michael (very uncharacteristically) pulls out a gun and points it at Jacob, but A&W swoops in and takes the gun, giving it to Jacob. Whip and T-Bag come out of hiding and Whip pulls a gun on A&W, much to Michael’s displeasure, as this wasn’t part of the plan.

Whip’s temper gets the best of him, and he gets into a fight with A&W, who ends up shooting him. He dies in his father’s arms (☹), and T-Bag breaks A&W’s neck. The FBI comes in and arrests T-Bag... again.

Michael leads Jacob to the place where he’s hidden the hard drive when he gets a call from Sara saying she and Lincoln have retrieved Mike. The FBI gets closer, and Michael makes a run for it, swapping jackets as he runs. Jacob follows Michael through a door and shoots him; Michael falls, but is okay: the gun was loaded with blanks. Michael knew Jacob would take his gun. It’s revealed the pair are in the back of Blue Hawaii’s semi truck, which he has decorated to look exactly like the cabin where Jacob killed Gaines, complete with cameras and fake snow — and that jacket Michael changed into? Gaines’.

“THE TRUTH IS WHATEVER YOU TELL PEOPLE IT IS.”

Jacob drags Michael back into the warehouse and they fight until the FBI arrive and arrest Michael. Jacob makes up lie after lie to the police and finally asks to go home, but some CIA agents come in and tell him he’s under arrest for the murder of Harlan Gaines. They found the victim’s blood in his office, an office only Jacob has access to, and we see a flashback of Michael taking the container of blood retrieved by Whip and painting it onto Jacob’s belongings.

Michael meets with the CIA director and gives him the missing frames of the video showing Jacob killing Gaines and forcing Michael to move the body. The CIA director says they’ve arrested Jacob’s partner, Andrew Nelson (Theroux), and he admitted to everything: Jacob killing Gaines, 21 Void wanting to frame Michael, and all the steps they took to destroy his identity. The CIA director tells Michael he’s free to go, but Michael asks if he can call in a favor.

“STRANGE, BEING ALIVE AGAIN.”

Sara, Sheba, Mike, and the brothers sit at a park. The brothers exchange “I love you”s, and Lincoln joins the girls and Mike on a picnic blanket as Michael looks on, a smile on his face.

Cut to Fox River Penitentiary. A guard escorts Jacob to a cell, who learns his cellmate is none other than T-Bag. The episode ends with T-Bag taking Jacob by the throat, riling up the other prisoners.

THE VERDICT

I can’t believe it — we made it. I’m torn up about Whip, still bummed about Sid, vaguely disappointed about Kellerman, and strangely upset by Van Gogh. But for the most part, our favorites survived. Michael and Lincoln get their happy endings, and Jacob gets his comeuppance. The ending left me satisfied, which is all I wanted from this revival.

Last week, I voiced my concern that I had a feeling Whip might meet his demise, and I have never been so heartbroken to prove myself right. He was the best addition to the show and I’m sad to see him go. Unfortunately, I don’t think a gunshot to the abdomen can be faked, and I don’t think we’ll see him come back for future revivals.

Overall, I absolutely adored this revival. Of course, it didn’t have the same punch of the first two seasons of the show, but this season still packed enough humor, nostalgia, and shock value into its episodes and plot that I thoroughly enjoyed it. They somehow made the plotline of Michael coming back to life far-fetched but believable. I loved the new characters, especially Whip and Sheba. My only qualm is that we did not get nearly enough Sucre. Especially with his name in the opening credits, I thought for sure we’d see a lot more of him than we actually did. But I loved that we got to see him, Kellerman, and C-Note; they were good injections of past seasons who reminded us just how timeless Prison Break is.

Part of me hopes for a season six, and part of me would be satisfied if this is the last time we see Michael and Lincoln. I’m not sure how many more times Michael can break people out of prisons before it becomes contrived, but I’ll happily watch any more revivals that may come in the future.

Thank you Prison Break for the laughter, the tears, and the anxiety. It’s been a great five seasons.

Honorable Events Worth Mentioning:

• “Is this blood freaking you out like it's freaking me out?” T-Bag and Whip’s attempts to bond with each other were somehow simultaneously cringeworthy, sweet, and hilarious.
• Mike calling Jacob “dad”... did anyone else’s heart just completely break?
• Did the CIA director really think Michael would accept a job with them?!
• Van Gogh writing “let me die” on the notepad was heartbreaking. I get that he’s a killer, but it was still so sad to see him on life support. With Van Gogh, we saw just how much Jacob manipulated those who worked for him.
• “Killin’ ain’t right.” “Yeah, I read the Bible.” Listening to T-Bag try to give a lesson on morality to Whip felt like I was in The Twilight Zone.
• “Go easy, son.” The temper that Whip inherited from his father is what led to his death.

Read More

Prison Break 5x08 Recap: “Progeny” (We are Family) [Guest Poster: Rebecca]

“Progeny”

Original Airdate: May 23, 2017

Unfamiliar with definition of the name of this week’s episode, I Googled “Progeny.” It means one’s descendants or offspring. After last week, I assumed this would be the episode Michael and his son reunited, so the title made sense... but I had no idea that we’d see two pairs of fathers and sons reunite. The T-Bag and Whip thing completely blew my mind! I like the think I’m a big enough fan of Prison Break that I can see these things coming (I predicted that Jacob was Poseidon in episode four), but I did not see this bombshell coming at all.

In typical Prison Break fashion, this penultimate episode left us with a ton of cliffhangers. Will Lincoln be okay? Who was shot in the final scene? How will Whip react to learning who his father is? Who will T-Bag kill? Who is Blue Hawaii? I have my assumptions as to how this season will end, but let’s break this episode down first.

“I OWN YOU, SCOFIELD.”

We pick up immediately where “Wine Dark Sea” left off. Whip, Sucre, and the brothers managed to escape the blast by hopping on a lifeboat. They wave down a small boat driving by, which takes them to Marseille, France.

Flashback to six years ago: Michael and Jacob walk through campus, and Jacob observes that Michael has been spending a lot of time at the zoo. Michael says he likes going there to think, to figure out how to break their targets out of prison. Jacob notices Michael has new tattoos, but Michael assures him that they don’t mean anything.

Jacob leads Michael into a secret room in the university, asking him if he’s set for the next project. Michael says he wants a partner, someone to have his back and increase their odds of getting more prisoners out. He hands Jacob a file on a man named “David Martin,” who we immediately can identify as Whip. Reluctant at first, Jacob finally agrees to the partnership.

“THE SECRET TO REAL POWER IS TO NEVER BETRAY YOUR INTENTIONS... AND TO NEVER LET ANYONE SEE YOUR FACE.”

Back in the present day, the gang arrives in Marseilles. Michael texts Sara, asking if Jacob is suspicious; however, he realizes he’s not actually texting Sara but is in fact talking to Jacob when “Sara” refers to Mike as “Junior.”

Lincoln tells Michael that after his surf shop and relationship with Sofia fell apart, he went back to his old ways. He ended up in the ‘hood doing odd jobs moving boxes to make cash. Eventually, Lincoln realized the boxes contained drugs that had killed people. He dumped $100,000 worth of the pills (remember the first episode where he was being chased?) and has had a man named Luca after him since. Lincoln calls Luca and says he can get Luca the $100,000 if he smuggles Lincoln, Michael, and Sucre into the U.S. Luca is skeptical that Lincoln has that kind of money, but figures he can always kill Lincoln if he doesn’t get paid.

Meanwhile, Jacob meets with Van Gough and A&W and explains his relationship to Michael. Jacob brings in a computer hacker named Theroux who managed to intercept the screenshots Michael sent “Blue Hawaii” from the Yemen gas station a few episodes back. Theroux tells Jacob and his crew that some of Michael’s tattoos are links to online message boards — message boards that link to photos and videos of the murder for which Jacob framed Michael. Theroux is working to identify any data that’s been encrypted into the files.

As Michael prepares to return to New York, he writes letters to various people and sticks them in sealed manila envelopes. T-Bag receives a letter that says he must take a life. C-Note receives a letter, detailing a plan that we’ll see play out in a few minutes. Michael also gives a letter to Whip, along with a plane ticket to Chicago. Whip doesn’t understand why he’s not going with Sucre and the brothers to New York, but Michael assures him it will become clear in time.

“LOOK’S LIKE THE GAME’S STILL GOING.”

Jacob is using GPS tracking on Michael’s phone and knows when his flight is coming in. He sends his henchmen to JFK when the flight lands. A&W and Van Gough track down the phone, but find it sitting on the floor with Michael nowhere to be seen. Sucre watches their confusion and steps off the plane with a smile.

Instead of going to JFK like Jacob thought, Michael lands at a small airport in upstate New York with Lincoln. They arrive at Luca’s warehouse, where Lincoln informs Luca that they don’t have the money. He points to a DEA agent waiting outside and says he set up Luca and his crew, but if they let the brothers go then Lincoln will call off the raid. Luca reluctantly acquiesces and runs off with his men. C-Note and Sheba pull up in black vans, disguised as DEA agents.

C-Note wants to continue to help his friends, but Michael knows Jacob has eyes on C-Note now and doesn’t want to put him in any danger. Sheba offers to help in C-Note’s place since Jacob doesn’t know what she looks like.

“THERE’S NO LEAVING 21 VOID.”

Jacob meets with the henchmen at his house and tells them to lay low for now. As A&W and Van Gough leave, the latter expresses his discomfort at the fact that Sara is being held prisoner in her own home. He realizes Jacob has gone too far and wants to leave 21 Void after they capture Michael. He tries to convince A&W to leave with him, but she doesn’t think there’s any way out of the operation.

Michael arranges to meet “Sara” at a steakhouse. Van Gough waits outside of the restaurant for Michael. A black SUV pulls up, and the driver tells Van Gough he’s here to pick up a lady and her child. Jacob tells Van Gough it was a decoy to identify Van Gough’s face. Lincoln trails Van Gough, and A&W follows Lincoln with instructions to “take him down.” A bus drives in front of a parking garage, blocking Lincoln from A&W’s view; when it passes, Lincoln is gone. She runs into the parking garage, but can’t communicate with Jacob via her headset because she doesn’t have reception. She circles back to Jacob’s car, and he drives away angrily; now the brothers know what his car looks like. Michael watches from the top of a building and describes the car to Sheba, who picked up Lincoln in the parking garage.

They meet up with Michael and find Jacob’s abandoned car. They open the trunk to find blood and a picture of a pirate ship. Michael knows it’s a map, that it’s in Mike’s DNA to created coded messages. Michael deduces Mike and Sara’s location, and Lincoln kisses Sheba and tells her to go back to her family.

“ONLY ONE PERSON CALLS ME WHIP, AND YOU AIN’T HIM.”

Whip arrives in Chicago and opens his envelope from Michael, which contains some coordinates in the middle of Lake Michigan. He goes to a boat rental and takes a boat out to a buoy that matches the coordinates given to him. He finds a duct-taped package containing…blood? Meanwhile, T-Bag sits in his car recording a confession on his cell phone, saying he’s been considering doing something the “old T-Bag” would do, but this time, the crime would be committed out of love.

Whip returns the boat and runs into T-Bag in the parking lot. T-Bag calls him “Whip,” catching Whip’s attention. T-Bag explains that he knows about Kaniel Outis/Michael Scofield and that he knows Whip is Dave Martin. T-Bag reveals Michael was looking for someone to help him comb prisons, so he did some research and found Dave Martin, a man who could rise to the top in any circumstance. T-Bag then drops one of the biggest bombshells this season: Whip is his son.

Meanwhile, the brothers arrive at Jacob’s lake house. Lincoln thinks he sees Jacob’s car and urges Michael to leave, but Michael can see the outline of a woman tied up in a room and knows something is wrong. He heads inside, where he meets Mike for the first time. The mysterious car turns out to belong to Luca, who learned the DEA raid was a setup and used the EZ Passes on the vans to track down Lincoln. He shoots at Lincoln multiple times and we can see blood, but we don’t know where or how many times Lincoln has been shot.

Inside, Mike reveals to his father that he didn’t draw a map. Michael realizes he’s been played, and A&W emerges from the room, whipping off a brunette wig and pointing a gun at Michael and his son. In the final shot of this episode, we hear a gunshot and see blood splatters.

THE VERDICT

This was definitely the most fast-paced episode of the season; I struggled to keep up with my notes and often found myself rewinding the episode because I was sure I missed something. So much craziness was going on that I had to remind myself to breathe a couple times! This episode was so fun to watch, though, and left me with my mouth hanging completely open at the end.

Whip being T-Bag’s son completely came out of left field, but I don’t hate the idea. I’ll admit it’s a bit farfetched, but that’s what I love about the show. Nothing is off limits. I hope we’ll find out how Michael tracked Whip down and why he was so necessary to the plan. I’m a bit skeptical as of right now, but we all know Michael doesn’t do anything without meticulous planning. There’s a reason for everything, as he’s shown us so many times before.

I cannot believe we only have one episode left, and I’m really going to miss the show. This has been a great reboot that picks up right where the previous season left off. I’ve loved seeing C-Note and T-Bag and Sucre (and even Kellerman!) again, and the plot has been thoroughly enjoyable. So, here are my predictions about what we’ll see in the season finale:

• A&W is the one whose blood we saw sprayed on that window. I think someone (Sheba? Sucre? Sara?) came in and popped her before she could get Michael.
• Someone we like has to die. I think Jacob will meet his demise, but no one cares about him. We haven’t had a sad death since Sid, and that’s too long for Prison Break. I have faith we’ll get happy endings for Lincoln and Michael and their significant others. The writers would face an angry mob if they killed off Sucre or Mike, so which leaves us with Whip and T-Bag. I’m afraid one of them might not make it. It may be poetic justice for T-Bag to meet his end, but I have a soft spot for the guy — as much as a soft spot as you can for someone like him. Which isn’t very soft, but still there a tiny bit. He’s at least trying to be a better person. Perhaps the life T-Bag has to take is the life of someone we love.
• Michael, Sara, and Mike (BETTER!!!) end up as a happy family

Honorable Events Worth Mentioning:

• “I don’t think your French is as good as you think it is.”
• Sheba: “I take care of [Lincoln], you mean?” So good to see her again.
• Michael sees his origami swans in the sewer and knows now why Sara never tried to contact him: Jacob always disposed of his letters and swans.
• Jacob gets the idea to hide a map in the drawing of the pirate ship after talking to Mike. Mike and his friend Jimmy hide each other’s Legos and create maps to find them. 
• Luca is the son of John Abruzzi, feared mobster and member of the Fox River 8 in the first season. This was a nice and believable callback to the brothers’ past.

Read More

Prison Break 5x07: “Wine Dark Sea” (Mask Off) [Guest Poster: Rebecca]

“Wine Dark Sea”

Original Airdate: May 16, 2017

Well, we finally know who Poseidon is, and I have mixed feelings about the person behind all of this “Kaniel Outis” stuff, and I’ll dive into my dilemma later on.

We’re getting into the home stretch of this reboot, and I’m sad to be nearing the end. Although I was a bit skeptical at first about how the producers and writers could continue Michael’s storyline, I’ve really enjoyed what they’ve done with this series. I’ll be sad when my Tuesday nights don’t include watching what shenanigans Michael, Lincoln, and their friends get into — and out of.

“HE REALLY IS ALIVE?”

“Wine Dark Sea” (a mysterious phrase that is found often in Homer’s work) opens with Mike drawing a Greek hero in his sketchpad. He tells Sara he favors Greek heroes over superheroes because they’re mortal.

One of the Phaeacians offers to smuggle Michael into Greece to get to a doctor, but Lincoln knows he’ll be recognized as Kaniel Outis and arrested on site. Whip says their only other option is to let Michael die and accuses Lincoln of being a bad brother, but Lincoln says he has another idea.

In Ithaca, Sara gets a phone call from Lincoln informing her that someone stabbed and poisoned Michael with antifreeze. Sara reiterates that Michael needs medical attention from a real doctor, and finally agrees to meet them in Crete. Jacob tries to convince Sara to stay, citing that it’s not safe over there, but Sara refuses to listen and knows she is Michael’s only hope.

“I OWE YOU MY LIFE; YOU GAVE ME BACK THE WORLD.”

Ja decides to stay in Phaeacia to start over, but Whip tags along with Michael and Lincoln as they head for Crete. Michael doesn’t want Sara involved, but Lincoln tells him he’ll die without her help. It’s a 12-hour boat ride to Crete, but Michael isn’t sure he can make it that long. Upon arriving, Whip takes care of Michael until Sara gets there. Although Michael is asleep, Whip talks to him, asking why he’s Michael’s “whiphand.” Whip realizes his future is uncertain if Michael dies.

Meanwhile, Mike plays with a remote control helicopter in his backyard. The helicopter goes down behind some tries, and an unknown figure snatches Mike when he wanders into the trees to look for it.

Sara finally arrives in Crete. After an emotional reunion with Michael, she hooks Michael up to an IV and begins a blood transfusion. Whip apologizes for calling Lincoln’s loyalty to his brother into question, and the two try to figure out a way to get off the island. Whip says they need a boat, and Lincoln suddenly has an idea.

Van Gough and A&W meet with Agent Koshida, who is investigating 21 Void after the henchmen’s surprise visit to the NSA. Koshida asks who the henchman are working for and why they’re trying to kill Kaniel Outis. In response, A&W shoots him through the head.

“IT’S HIM. YOUR HUSBAND. JACOB IS POSEIDON.”

Once Michael wakes up, he tells Sara he’ll explain everything if he can see a photo of Mike first. Sara hands Michael her cell phone, and in an attempt to see another photo of his son, Michael swipes left and sees a picture of Jacob with Sara. He then drops a huge bombshell on Sara: She’s married to the man who is behind everything that’s happened. Shocked, Sara explains she did catch Jacob in a lie, but that he covered his tracks well. Michael then tells her everything he explained to Lincoln previously: Poseidon is a deep over CIA operative undertaking a project called 21 Void. He needed Michael’s skills to break political prisoners out of jail, and threatened to imprison Sara and Lincoln if he didn’t comply. He also forced Michael to fake his death and cut off all communication with his family. Four years ago, Poseidon (but I guess we can just call him Jacob now) betrayed Michael by murdering the deputy director of the CIA who was investigating 21 Void and framing Michael for the crime. Apparently, Jacob killed the CIA director and had Michael move the body, explaining the security footage we saw in Kellerman’s office earlier this season. Sara suddenly realizes that Jacob is alone with Mike.

Lincoln calls Sucre (remember, he works for a cargo company), who is in Morocco. He tells Lincoln it will cost them $50,000 to ride on the boat. They obviously don’t have that kind of cash, but Sara offers up her grandmother’s ring, which is worth $125,000. As Sara gears up to head home to get Mike, Michael encourages her to play Jacob’s game until he can get back.

Meanwhile, Jacob tells Van Gough that Sara is coming home, which means Michael won’t be far behind. He asks Van Gough to plaster Michael’s face everywhere so he can’t travel.

“PAPI, YOU’RE ALIVE.”

Sucre and Michael reunite, and Michael wonders how Sucre ended up working on a boat when he’s afraid of water. Sucre says that most people won’t hire someone with a record, but more importantly, he can use the ship to house his project.

Sara returns to Ithaca and tries to pretend like everything is okay with Jacob. He tells her Mike is at his friend Patrick’s house and asks about Michael. Sara convincingly explains that Michael was barely alive and that he slept most of the time. She says he changed and isn’t the guy she knew anymore, casually mentioning that Lincoln was also there. Jacob notices her grandmother’s ring is gone, and Sara says she misplaced it, but Jacob seems skeptical. Sara sneaks away into her bathroom and calls her friend Heather, asking her to pick Mike up from his friend’s house.

On the cargo ship, the captain receives a fax of Michael’s picture and an explanation that he’s a wanted man. He sends out a naval alert informing the Navy SEALS of his location in the Mediterranean, and SEALS and helicopters are deployed to “seek and destroy Kaniel Outis.” Lincoln, Sucre, Whip, and Michael can hear all the commotion and quickly devise a plan to get out of their locked cabin.

The SEAL team breaks into the cabin and finds Sucre tied up with a black eye. He says Michael jumped out the window, and that he’s got no part in this; he’s just a member of the crew. The SEALS believe him and take him upstairs, allowing Michael and the others to climb out of their hiding spaces.

Upstairs, the captain punches Sucre for allowing a criminal on board. Sucre informs the captain that he accepted Michael’s payment, so he’s partially responsible too. Additionally, it seems as though the captain has some illegal weapons on board that could land him on the terrorist list. The captain realizes Sucre planned the entire thing. Meanwhile, a group of SEALS discover Michael and the others and try to smoke them out, but they manage to escape.

“I FORGAVE YOU FOR THE LIES... HOW IS THAT NOT ENOUGH FOR YOU?”

Jacob sneaks up on Sara as she’s trying to leave to go get Mike and asks if she remembers their honeymoon. He reminds Sara that she once told him she was ashamed of what she did at Fox River and sometimes regrets knowing Michael. Once he finally leaves, Sara retrieves her gun from its hiding place and loads it.

Back at sea, the SEALS realize the ship’s navigation and control are not working. They’re moving towards Algeria at top speeds and they don’t have time to fix the controls. Soon, they’ll be out of international waters and wouldn’t be able to continue the mission without permission from Algerian forces. A&W calls Jacob to inform him that the Navy decided the pull the team, and Jacob says he’ll handle it from here.

Michael, Lincoln, Sucre, and Whip notice the ship is a little too quiet and realize that there is a missile headed straight for them. As they’re jumping off the ship, it explodes, and we are unsure of their fates. While this is happening, Sara pulls her gun on Jacob and tells him to explain everything.

Upon returning home with Mike, Heather finds Van Gough in her house. Jacob tells Sara he has Mike and doesn’t want to hurt him, but will if Sara doesn’t put the gun down. Reluctantly, she complies.

THE VERDICT

This episode was absolutely wild from start to finish. I was starting to lean toward thinking Koshida was Poseidon, but it seems that my first instinct was right; however, I have some mixed feelings about the reveal. On the one hand, I don’t want Sara and Mike in danger, since I definitely wouldn’t put it past Jacob to kill his stepson if it meant protecting his identity from the government. On the other hand, though, Sara’s current husband turning out to be an insane evil mass murderer gives her a pretty valid excuse to leave him and get back with Michael. I know, Michael has changed and Sara has changed and it may be selfish for me to want them to continue their happy ending, but it’s how I feel. Although a part of Sara will always love Michael, she did (does?) love Jacob too, and I think her leaving him for Michael would feel contrived — if he wasn’t the insane evil mass murderer that he is. So I’m confident we’ll get our happy ending.

Honorable Events Worth Mentioning:

• Why does Ja have to be so cryptic about whether or not he actually has Freddie Mercury’s ashes? (I think he does.)
• “There’s a drawing hanging on Sara’s fridge that Mike did of him, Sara, and Jacob. Jacob is labeled as “step-dad,” which seemed kind of odd to me. Why wouldn’t he be called “Jacob” or even “Dad?” After all, Mike never knew his real father; Jacob is the only “dad” he knows. It doesn’t seem too far-fetched to me that Mike would have grown up calling Jacob “dad.”
• “I feel like we’ve been brothers since we met.” Okay, right in the feels.
• Sucre’s comeback to the captain calling him a good-for-nothing Mexican: A punch in the face followed by “I’m Puerto Rican.”
• This doesn’t really have a lot to do with the show, but something my boyfriend said about Lincoln: “Why do his shirts always gotta be so tight?”

Read More

Prison Break 5x06 Recap: “Phaeacia” (Blue Hawaii) [Guest Poster: Rebecca]

“Phaeacia”

Original Airdate: May 9, 2017

In this episode, the gang tries to get to the fictitious town of Phaeacia and secure a boat to sail on home to Ithaca, New York.

A quick Google search of the word “Phaeacia” further illustrates the theme of Homer’s The Odyssey in this season of Prison Break. In the book, Phaeacia is the final destination for Odysseus as he tries to return home from Ogygia — much like Michael is trying to get to his safe haven of the seaside town Phaeacia from the Ogygia prison. The Phaeacians loan Odysseus a boat to get back to Ithaca, much like what is happening in Prison Break.

Something I’m really enjoying about the parallels to The Odyssey is how subtle they are. Prison Break clearly is not trying to recreate such a timeless masterpiece, nor are they trying to appropriate the story and make it their own. Rather, the writers and producers have taken aspects of the story and seamlessly integrated them into Michael’s story. Nothing feels forced, and I can appreciate that.

“IT'S NOT OUR JOB TO ASK QUESTIONS.”

“Phaeacia” picks up immediately where “Contingency” left off: Michael, Lincoln, Ja, and Whip manage to find a spot to hide from the terrorists who discovered them at the airport. They know they can’t leave that night or they’ll be killed. So Michael says they need to improvise.

At the police department in Ithaca, an officer visits A&W’s cell and informs her that she’s made bail. She meets up outside with Van Gough, who was released shortly before her. They watch the video of Ramal’s murder on a cell phone and wonder why Michael killed his supposed ally. A&W scolds Van Gough for questioning Poseidon’s motives and says they only need to worry about their task: killing Kaniel Outis.

Michael and the others arrange to hitch a ride with Omar, one of Sheba’s contacts we met at the beginning of the series. He recognizes them as Ramal’s killers and claims there aren’t enough seats in his car to take them to safety — a small town called Phaeacia. He eventually comes to a deal with the group: if they go get Omar’s vehicle parked two blocks away, he’ll drive them out of Sana’a. Omar warns them that the battery will probably be dead, but Michael, Lincoln, and Ja go anyway. Michael asks Whip to stay behind with Omar and load up the car.

The brothers and Ja locate Omar’s car easily and discover the battery isn’t dead, much to their surprise; Michael realizes they’ve been set up. Omar knocks out Whip and ties him up. Lincoln manages to dodge their attackers and drive the group out of the parking garage and stop Omar from running away. Michael frees Whip, who wants to kill Omar, but the group has no choice but to follow him out since they don’t know the way out of Yemen; the map to freedom is in Omar’s head.

At the State Department, Agent Koshida moves into Kellerman’s old office. Kellerman was looking into 21 Void — Poseidon’s rogue CIA organization — before he was killed. Koshida’s boss asks Koshida for the files, thinking Kellerman must have been close since he was murdered. Koshida assures her that it’s full of dead ends, but his boss takes the folder anyway. After she leaves, Koshida calls A&W to follow up on an earlier conversation about the Middle East.

“WE JUST FOUND OUR MAN, DIDN'T WE?”

Back in Yemen, Ja is struggling with remaining sober during this whole ordeal, but Michael is able to help him. Lincoln receives a phone call from Sheba on C-Note’s phone saying everyone is in Jordan and leaving for the U.S. later that night. She and Lincoln make plans to meet for drinks when he gets back. Little do they know, A&W and Van Gough are tracking C-Notes phone and are therefore able to locate Michael.

We learn A&W used to work in the NSA until Poseidon took her away from it to work from him. She and Van Gough meet up with one of her old coworkers for help locating Kaniel Outis. The henchmen and A&W’s ex-coworker have drones watching Omar and Whip in one car and Ja, Michael, and Lincoln in the other. They stop at a gas station to fuel up and Michael insists on going inside to use the Internet. Van Gough calls one of the rebel leaders and tells them where to find the men who killed Abu Ramal.

Back in Sana’a, the terrorists are cutting Cyclops loose from Sid’s corpse when they get a radio call explaining Michael and Lincoln’s location. They leave Cyclops behind, but he carjacks a random passerby and takes off.

Inside the gas station, Michael video chats with someone named “Blue Hawaii.” We cannot see the person he’s talking to, as he is conveniently having technical difficulties with his webcam. Before Michael leaves, he frantically holds his tattooed hands up to the webcam and asks Blue Hawaii to take a screenshot.

“OUR MAP IS DEAD.”

Michael exits the gas station to find terrorists flooding the building and Omar bleeding from a gunshot wound. Whip uses the group’s single bullet to shoot at a gasoline tank and it explodes, killing the terrorists. The group notices Cyclops approaching them in the car, and although they can’t make out who he is, they know he’s the enemy. Michael carries Omar to the car and the group escapes. They wind up in the desert when Michael comes to an abrupt stop, informing the other car that Omar is dead. Now, they have no way of getting to Phaeacia. Lincoln wants to head back, but Cyclops suddenly appears and begins shooting at their cars.

A&W’s ex-coworker asks how terrorists found Michael and quickly realizes that it’s no coincidence A&W came in here asking for help locating someone and then militants showed up to murder that same someone. She asks the henchmen to leave. On their way out, Van Gough and A&W wonder about why Michael was spending so much time in the gas station.

With no cell phone signal and no indicator of where they’re going, Michael, Lincoln, Ja, and Whip stop their cars and take a minute to figure out a plan. They use binoculars to identify their attacker, who they realize is the same man who killed Sid. Michael notes that Cyclops has way more gas than they do, so it’s only a matter of time until they run out.

Michael comes up with an idea: drain one of the cars’ gas tanks into the other, so one car will have a full tank of gas. Then, they can make two sets of tracks and Cyclops will have to choose which car to follow. Michael “randomly” decides who will take the car with minimal gas by dropping colored rocks into everyone’s hands; whoever has the white rock will go alone. Shockingly, Michael receives the white rock. He stresses to Lincoln that he makes good track marks so Michael can find them later.

“WE'VE BEEN LOOKING THE WHOLE TIME. THAT'S THE PROBLEM.”

Cyclops follows Michael in the white car, and it becomes clear Michael has no idea what he’s doing, and he’s already almost out of gas.

Similarly, Lincoln is completely lost when it comes to getting to Phaeacia. Ja realizes there are seagulls flying overhead, and following the birds will lead them to the sea. This strategy finally leads Lincoln, Ja, and Whip to Phaeacia, where they are greeted by a bunch of eager children, thinking Omar is in the car. They get over their initial disappointment and take an instant liking to Ja. Lincoln asks the town’s leader to arrange a boat for them.

Back in the desert, Michael stops his car behind some rocks. We don’t know what he’s doing, but Omar appears confused. Finally, the car starts back up again and soon after runs out of gas. Cyclops approaches the car but realizes he’s been tricked; Michael placed a rock on the gas pedal and followed behind Cyclops on foot. He attempts to steal Cyclops’ car, and a fight ensues between the two. Michael manages to stab Cyclops in the eye (heyyyyy Odysseus), and he eventually dies, but not before stabbing Michael in the side. Michael is still able to get in the car and drive off, but he seems like he’s in pretty bad shape.

A&W and Van Gough manage to track down the screenshots Blue Hawaii took of Michael back in the gas station. They locate Blue Hawaii, who invites the duo inside.

Michael struggles to find Lincoln’s tracks and is quickly losing consciousness. The car breaks down, and he is forced to abandon it and go on foot.

“OMAR WAS RIGHT. THIS PLACE, LIKE THE REST OF THE WORLD, DOESN'T EXIST.”

In Phaeacia, the group has secured a boat. Lincoln, Whip, and Ja agree that they shouldn’t have left Michael behind and knowing that nightfall will come soon, Lincoln wants to go back to the desert to get his brother.

Instead, the group decides to shoot off fireworks, which Michael sees. He manages to follow the light and sounds, collapsing at the foot of the town. Lincoln runs to save him. He looks for a doctor, but the town’s only medical staff is in Sana’a. The final camera shot zooms in on Michael’s face, clearly in pain. He is dying.

THE VERDICT

Well, we are officially two thirds of the way through the Prison Break reboot and I am busy piecing together my predictions and losing hope that Sucre will come back.

“Phaeacia” did a great job with propelling the plot. In typical Prison Break fashion, we have a main character on the brink of death with seemingly no way out; however, I’m confident the gang will think up some kind of plan. There’s no way the writers would kill off everyone’s favorite character twice... or would they?

No. There’s no way. Michael will get back to Ithaca, remarry Sara, and live happily ever after with his beautiful family. At least that’s my hope.

Anyway, after this episode, I’m less concerned with figuring out who Poseidon is and more concerned with identifying Blue Hawaii. I’m fairly confident our villain is either Jacob or Agent Koshida, but we got a glimpse of Blue Hawaii and he doesn’t appear to be anyone familiar. I’ll admit, hopes that Brad Bellick had escaped from drowning in the pipes in season four flashed through my mind for an instant, but I’m a realist. I know that’s not true. I didn’t recognize Blue Hawaii, but we did only see him momentarily and he was wearing sunglasses. Obviously, he is someone whom Michael trusts, someone he’s known for a while, but how easy is it to create relationships founded on trusts when you’re working for a guy like Poseidon and a cause like 21 Void? I think we will get our answer next episode, and I’m already looking forward to it.

Honorable Events Worth Mentioning:

• Lincoln muses to Whip that Michael betrayed him; perhaps this will cause some tension between Whip and Michael. Whip is finally starting to question Michael’s motives and his plan, and feeling betrayed will only intensify that doubt.
• It is implied that A&W and her old coworker were lovers at one point.
• A&W’s real name is Emily.
• This episode is the first real proof we have that the tattoos mean something. Anyone who has watched Prison Break from the beginning knows that in the first few seasons, Michael’s tattoos illustrated the layout of Fox River Penitentiary; obviously, these new tattoos have meaning too. In an earlier episode, it looked like he was copying something from his tattoos onto the paper airplane he sent out to the children outside of Ogygia, but we couldn’t be sure. 
• Lincoln tells the townspeople that Omar had to go somewhere safe because of the war. Whether or not they believe him is unclear.

Read More

Prison Break 5x05 Recap: “Contingency” (10 Million Rial) [Guest Poster: Rebecca]

“Contingency”

Original Airdate: May 2, 2017

Last week’s episode was a total whirlwind, culminating in the heart-wrenching realization that our very own beloved Sara could be married to the man orchestrating everything going on, including Michael’s faked death and imprisonment in Yemen. Naturally, we don’t have all the answers yet, but we are slowly getting closer to uncovering what exactly happened to Michael Scofield and who all was involved.

“WE WILL NOT REST, NOT SLEEP, UNTIL THE MURDERERS OF THE MARTYRED ABUL RAMAL ARE DEAD.”

This episode opens with T-Bag sneaking up on Sara at a phone booth as she’s calling Jacob at work. She demands to know what he got out of Kellerman, and he somberly shows Sara the picture of Jacob with Poseidon’s henchmen, assuring Sara Kellerman was not their guy. T-Bag says he couldn’t hear what Jacob, A&W, and Van Gough were talking about, but he could make out her name and Michael’s.

Meanwhile, Ramal’s corpse is being passed through a crowd of armed terrorists, who have declared war on Michael, Lincoln, Sid, Ja, and Whip. They broadcast all over the city that they will offer 10 million rial (equivalent to about 300 U.S. dollars) for the group — dead or alive.

Michael leads the group to an abandoned building and argues with Lincoln over his plan. Lincoln says that the town and streets have changed in the time that Michael was in prison, and his plan might not be any good anymore. He wants to go to the airport, but Michael assures his brother his plan will work. Finally, Lincoln is able to convince Michael to explain what’s going on.

“EVERYTHING I DID, I DID FOR FAMILY.”

A few weeks before marrying Sara, Michael received a phone call from a deep cover CIA operative named Poseidon who said Kellerman did not have the authority to exonerate the group from the crimes they committed in the previous seasons of the show. Poseidon threatened to send them away for life unless Michael helped him break terrorists and political prisoners out of jail from all over the world. Part of the deal was to fake his death and cut off contact with his family. Michael also tells Lincoln that Poseidon is the leader of a cell within the CIA called “21 Void.” Lincoln becomes angry at Michael for not reaching out to him when he was in trouble, but Michael repeats over and over that he didn’t have a choice.

Nearby, the others notice the terrorists are searching buildings, and the group makes their way to the train station.

At the airport, C-Note, Sheba, and her family are trying to get on a plane, but the airport has devolved into absolute chaos. C-Note refuses to leave without Lincoln and Michael and sneaks the group out of the building through a flight crew exit. C-Note tells the others to hang back as he ventures on his own into a parking lot, where he discovers a terrorist holding a civilian at gunpoint. Despite his efforts to hide, C-Note is discovered. Luckily, Sheba had followed C-Note and distracts the terrorist long enough that C-Note can get to his gun and kill him. C-Note offers to help the civilian, who leads the group to an old, private plane.

“YOU CAN TAKE THE MAN OUT OF THE STREETS, BUT YOU CAN'T TAKE THE STREETS OUT OF THE MAN.”

Back in the United States, Sara goes to Jacob’s parents’ lake house to get Mike. She tries to leave with him but Jacob comes home before they can escape. She shows Jacob the photo of him with Poseidon’s henchmen and Jacob explains he was worried about his family’s safety, so he took Sara’s hacked phone to his friend at the university, who did a deep data dive to get the hackers’ information. He then claims that he met up with the henchmen to confront them, but Sara doesn’t believe him and leaves with Mike.

Meanwhile, the Michael, Lincoln, and the others have arrived at the train station. Michael wants to hop a ride on a cargo train, but Lincoln still wants to go to the airport. One terrorist referred to as “Cyclops” wants the reward money and determines the only way the group can get out of Sana’a is by train, thus figuring out Michael’s plan.

“THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE, THE FATHER OF YOUR BABY, MIGHT BE ALIVE.”

Sara meets up with her friend Heather to explain what’s going on. Heather tries to calm Sara down and explain that Jacob is a good man, but Sara can’t be convinced. The pair decides to look up Andrew Nelson, the man Jacob claimed did the deep data dive on Sara’s phone, and meet with him to confirm Jacob’s alibi. Andrew is able to confirm Jacob’s story, and during their meeting, Sara gets a call from Jacob asking her to come to the police station immediately.

In Yemen, the crew has been discovered by a group of terrorists, but they manage to escape by jumping in front of a train to get to the other side of the tracks; however, Cyclops watches the whole thing and takes their picture, sending it to his leader. Michael says there is another train station 30 miles away from Sana’a and thinks they can make it there. While the two brothers argue, Whip hotwires a car and the group eventually agrees to trust Michael.

“I  TRUST MY INSTINCTS; THEY'VE GOTTEN US THIS FAR.”

Whip pressures Michael to tell the truth about who he is and why he chose Whip to get involved with the whole escape scheme. Michael tries to convince Whip the details are frivolous, and all that matters is that he’s taken care of Whip. Michael assures Whip there’s a reason why Whip was selected, but before he can say anything else, their car gets t-boned by another; they realize the terrorists have found them. The group manages to find shelter in an abandoned building.

Michael feels absolutely hopeless, but his brother encourages him to keep thinking, to keep trying to find a way out. Michael apologizes to Lincoln for everything, saying he didn’t mean to make things so much worse for everyone. Meanwhile, Sid, Ja, and Whip see the terrorists breaking into nearby buildings and searching them; they know they have to act quickly.

At the police station in New York, Jacob and a detective lead Sara to a lineup and ask her to identify her attacks. She correctly identifies A&W and Van Gough. Jacob explains to Sara he thought he could bribe the henchmen with money, and he put a tiny tracker inside the stack of bills; however, A&W and Van Gough would not touch the money. Sara examines the tiny tracker before bringing Jacob into a hug.

While Michael and Lincoln gear up to fight the terrorists, Ja wanders around the building singing “We are the Champions,” seemingly high, dousing the hallways with rubbing alcohol. Whip and Sid try to shut him up, but the terrorists follow the singing and shoot at what they think is Ja, but is really an elaborate booby trap Ja created to resemble a person. The gunfire causes the trap to explode, burning up the terrorists and allowing the group to escape unscathed. Michael finally agrees to go to the airport.

Lincoln and Michael call C-Note, and they agree to meet at a hanger off the runway in 20 minutes. As the group is planning their next move, Cyclops appears from behind them and shoots Sid. Before dying, Sid manages to handcuff himself to Cyclops so that Cyclops can’t escape to follow the others, but he has already notified other rebels that the brothers, Ja, and Whip are making their way to the airport.

C-Note, Sheba, and the others on the plane are getting antsy. Everyone wants to leave except for C-Note and Sheba, who feels she owes Lincoln her life. C-Note finally manages to convince everyone to wait five more minutes, but they end up having to leave immediately as a truck of terrorists pulls up and begins shooting at the plane.

Lincoln, Michael, Whip, and Ja are watching this scene unfold, and Lincoln calls C-Note and tells him to leave, that they’ll figure something out. The terrorists spot the gang, and they make a run for it.

THE VERDICT

I’m really glad we’re getting to see more of Ja and Whip, as they obviously serve important roles in the escape, we just aren’t sure what yet. I have to imagine Ja means more to Michael than just his access to a cell phone. Regarding Sid, I’m so heartbroken and can only hope that he didn’t die in vain and that everyone else makes it out alive.

Overall, I thought this episode did a great job of further establishing the characters’ relationships to one another, especially Whip and Michael. Whip is in limbo and seeks answers to his predicament, and only Michael can give them to him. The pair’s relationship teeters somewhere between friendship and brotherhood, which makes a really interesting dynamic. I look forward to figuring out how all of these puzzle pieces fit together.

Finally, I want to spend some time unpacking the final scene. I’ve mentioned multiple times the important role nostalgia plays in this reboot, and as we watch C-Note and Sheba’s plane fly over Michael and Lincoln at the end of this episode, I can’t help but reminisce. This scene is nearly identical to what we saw at the end of Prison Break’s first season: as the Fox River 8 make their way from Fox River to the rendezvous at the airport, they watch as their escape plane flies right over top their heads. Greeted by flashing lights and police sirens, the group turns and makes a run for it toward the woods. What we see here in “Contingency” is so similar, it gave me a little bit of a chill.

From the camera angle of the plane flying overhead to the hopelessness etched on the faces of Michael and Lincoln to the turning and running from a quickly-approaching enemy, the two scenes were eerily similar.

Honorable Events Worth Mentioning:

• Michael originally said no to Poseidon’s offer at first, but shortly afterward, Sara was arrested and beaten inside of prison. It was then Michael realized this offer was serious and agreed to it.
• All the references to Ja buying Freddie Mercury’s ashes were gold.
• Sid’s story about the man he first fell in love with. It was heartbreaking and made Sid’s death just that much more tragic. Why do the writers have to make us feel for a character right before they get killed off!?
• When Sara is hugging Jacob at the police station, does she put the tracker in his shirt collar? I think she did and I love her for this.
• The flashbacks of Michael following Sara and baby Mike at a zoo or botanical garden of some sort. Has he been keeping tabs on his family all along?

Read More

Prison Break 5x04 Recap: “The Prisoner’s Dilemma” (The Sin of Deceit) [Guest Poster: Rebecca]

“The Prisoner’s Dilemma”

Original Airdate: April 25, 2017

Our hearts broke as we watched Michael surrender to Ogygia guards at the close of last week’s episode. The look of disappointment and defeat on his face was enough to make my gut do a total flip-flop; however, as Michael has told us so many times before, we just need to “have a little faith.” For the last forty-five minutes, we’ve watched our favorite prisoner put his meticulous planning and genius brainpower to work once again to craft a “Hail Mary,” as we see in this week’s episode.

“The Prisoner’s Dilemma” opens with Lincoln sitting beside Sheba in the hospital, who is still recovering from her injuries. C-Note shows up at the hospital and informs Lincoln the terrorists will shut down the airport soon. Lincoln realizes they are out of time and asks C-Note to get Sheba and her family on a plane ASAP; he will take care of getting Michael out.

Sheba tells Lincoln and C-Note her father went to grammar school with a federal judge, who may be able to get Michael out of Ogygia. Sheba’s father arranges a meeting between the judge and the group, and the judge offers Michael a full pardon in exchange for a car.

"I HAVE A HAIL MARY."

Michael, Ja, Whip, and Ramal have been sent to solitary and are growing worried as the bombs finally reach just outside the prison walls. Speaking to each other through their cell walls, Michael asks which one of them has an “S” carved into a brick in their cell. Much to the group’s dismay, Ramal’s cell has the “S,” meaning the escape has to start from his cell. At first, he doesn’t want to help, but Michael finally convinces him as the prison begins to enter a full-out riot. The guards, fearing for their lives, abandon the prison and leave the prisoners unattended; however, one prisoner, Mustapha, manages to snatch the keys to the prison gates from one guard and escape. He brushes past Lincoln on his way out.

When Lincoln arrives at the Ogygia gates, the prisoners tell him the only person with keys is Mustapha. While Lincoln runs back to the city to track down Mustapha, the prisoners band together and plan to get Ramal out of solitary to negotiate with the terrorists (remember, Ramal is the terrorists’ leader).

Lincoln finally locates Mustapha, and hides behind a wall as he watches Mustapha confront a group of terrorists. They ask him if he’s police, but don’t believe him when he says “no.” The terrorists shoot Mustapha, killing him instantly.

"I WANT TO SEE THE TRUE FACE OF WHO'S PULLING MY STRINGS ONCE AND FOR ALL."

In New York, T-Bag follows Kellerman, whom he is convinced is the mysterious Poseidon, from the Department of State to his house. T-Bag breaks in, much to Kellerman’s surprise. T-Bag berates Kellerman for not exonerating him when he did so for the other surviving members of The Fox River Eight before accusing him of hacking Sara’s phone and sending assassins after her and her family. Kellerman denies hacking the phones and tells T-Bag that Poseidon is a rogue CIA operative with loads and loads of power.

Back to Ogygia. Michael instructs Ramal to remove the brick with the “S” and he’ll find string and a metal spoon. Michael explains how to use the string and spoon to yank down the cell’s water pipe. As Ramal works, Michael hears the prisoners threatening to kill Sid if Michael doesn’t get Ramal out of solitary.

Ramal fishes the water pipe through the slot in his cell door and removes the pins on the hinges of Michael’s door, but only after making Michael promise to get him out. Michael grabs keys and quickly unlocks Ja and Whip, but pauses at Ramal’s cell. He tells Ramal he won’t release him unless he helps Michael and his cellmates get out of the country.

The gang makes their way to the infirmary and Michael tells Ramal to use the phone to secure cars to get them to the Yemen border. Ja considers stealing pills from the infirmary, but Whip talks him out of it — or so we think.

Outside of the prison, Lincoln is still waiting for terrorists to leave Mustapha’s body so he can grab the keys. Michael’s messenger, the kid who referred to him as “Bubble Gum Man,” runs into Lincoln and they work together to create a distraction so Lincoln can get ahold of the keys.

"THE ENEMY OF MY ENEMY IS MY FRIEND."

Kellerman tells T-Bag what he knows as the latter. Apparently, Poseidon was upset with U.S. foreign policy and went rogue; the state department has been looking for him since. Kellerman suspects Poseidon sent Michael to Yemen to break Ramal out of Ogygia. Suddenly, A&W and Van Gough (I know you were wondering when they’d show up!) shoot Kellerman and T-Bag through the kitchen window. T-Bag manages to escape out the basement window and call 911. Kellerman begs Van Gough just to tell him who Poseidon is, so he can die peacefully, but Van Gough shoots him, killing him. The duo leaves Kellerman’s house as sirens approach.

Meanwhile, the rioting prisoners have realized Michael and his crew have escaped and scour the prison for them. The crew hides under some cots in a cell and Michael solemnly asks Whip that if he dies, to find a Mike Scofield in Ithaca, New York and tell him that his father loves him. One of the prisoners finds the crew hiding in the cell, but Sid shows up and shanks him, allowing Michael, Whip, Ja, and Ramal to flee.

Finally, Lincoln makes it back to the prison, just in time to watch Michael climbing over the roof, making his escape. He yells out for his brother, but Michael doesn’t hear.

Michael, Ramal, Whip, and Sid run for the auto shop, leaving Ja behind once they realize he’s high and therefore a liability. Michael asks Ramal to have his men shoot Ja if he tries to follow.

"OUR WAY OUT IS UNDER THE WOOD BENCH."

The whole group of escapees, including Ja (who had stolen a map Michael had drawn of the auto shop), arrives at the rendezvous where they are met by a large group of rebels. Michael realizes Ramal has double-crossed him — Ramal even plans to slit Michael’s throat on camera.

Lincoln finally tracks down his brother and manages to get to a machine gun on one of the rebels’ cars. He threatens to kill Ramal if he doesn’t let Michael go, but Whip abruptly launches himself at Ramal and manages to turn the knife around on Ramal, killing him instantly. Lincoln kills the other rebels and the group flees. Once they get to a safe spot, Michael embraces his brother and promises to explain everything. They watch Ramal’s murder on television and learn the entire terrorist group has declared war on them.

T-Bag is driving when he notices A&W and Van Gough standing near a tree. T-Bag parks and hides at first, until he sees a third person has joined them. He takes out his phone to get a picture of the third person, and it is revealed that A&W and Van Gough were meeting Jacob, Sara’s husband.

THE VERDICT 

I’ve mentioned before that “gotcha” plot twists are Prison Break’s signature, and we’ve encountered multiple of these just in this past hour. There’s so much good stuff to unpack, but I’d really like to focus on Jacob, who went from “poor, immobilized husband” to “potentially evil power player” in the blink of an eye.

Here’s my prediction: Jacob is Poseidon. It seems far-fetched, but it’s exactly the kind of far-fetched tale Prison Break would weave. Us fans who have watched the previous four seasons have been through our share of crazy upside-downs and surprises; heck, we’ve even seen people come back from the dead to hold positions of crazy high power (Michael’s mother and Paul Kellerman [R.I.P. for real this time], for example). Characters we thought were meek and innocent turned out to be masterminds.

Even if he’s not the infamous Poseidon, Jacob is definitely in on this whole thing somehow. And it actually makes total sense; his involvement doesn’t come completely out of left field. I have wondered for weeks now why A&W shot him in the leg and didn’t just kill him, but if he is an ally, it makes sense why she’d want him alive. Additionally, we don’t really know that much about him. He’s a dark horse, an underdog, someone to whom we aren’t (or weren’t) paying attention. He would be the perfect character to be behind this whole scheme.

On a side note, I was kind of hoping Kellerman would stay alive, but I’m not that heartbroken. He needed to die in order for the pressure to be on T-Bag and Sara to find Poseidon. And I will end this review/recap with how I’ve ended the other ones: Sucre. Where. Are. You.

Honorable Events Worth Mentioning:

• Kellerman tells T-Bag that Poseidon got his nickname because he is so untouchable that a nuclear submarine couldn’t even find him.
• “It’s a freaking Mexican soap opera out here!” 
• The reason Ramal needed to pry the hinges off of Michael’s cell door was because his side of the solitary chamber was old and hadn’t been remodeled, unlike Ramal’s side. The hinges on Michael’s cell were rusty and old.
• T-Bag drinking the kale smoothie. The whole scene was just way too funny.

Read More

Prison Break 5x03 Recap: “The Liar” (A Modern Day Odyssey) [Guest Poster: Rebecca]

“The Liar”

Original Airdate: April 18, 2017

Trigger Warning: There is a very brief mention of rape in the second half of the episode.

As we all know, social media and the Internet are black holes — especially when it comes to your favorite books/movies/TV shows/etc. Last week, after episode two of Prison Break aired and browsing Twitter, I stumbled upon an article comparing this season to Homer’s The Odyssey. And as a recent college graduate with a degree in English literature, I was appalled that I hadn’t made the connection sooner!

I did get a sense of déjà vu in the first episode, when Dr. Whitcombe tells T-Bag that “Nobody” was his benefactor. One of my favorite parts of The Odyssey is when Odysseus defeats the Cyclops using his wit and pretending to be a man named “Nobody,” but I didn’t make that connection at the time. Additionally, the first thing that comes up with you Google “Ogygia” is a reference to an island in The Odyssey. And, of course, the overall premise of both tales is the journey of man who disappeared for several years trying to return home to his beloved wife and son. Pretty awesome stuff!

"LOOK, BUBBLE GUM MAN IS SENDING US SOMETHING AGAIN!"

This episode picks up directly where “Kaniel Outis” left off, with Michael sitting in his cell looking at his tattoos and writing a letter in Arabic. He folds the note into a paper airplane and sticks a piece of bubble gum in it, throwing it outside much to the delight of some Yemen children who wait near the prison. One exclaims gleefully that the “Bubble Gum Man” has another gift for them.

The kid chews on his gum while making his way to Lincoln’s hotel and slipping the note beneath the mat. As he is turning to leave, he runs into Lincoln, who forces the kid to explain why he’s there. It’s clear the kid is frightened, but he relaxes after Lincoln offers him some Tic-Tacs.

Sheba examines the message from Michael, saying the letters and spacing resembled spokes on a wheel, like the city center. Sheba, Lincoln, and C-Note discover a red dot seemingly randomly placed in the message, and Lincoln realizes this is where he’s supposed to meet Michael after the escape. Lincoln promises to pay to get Sheba and anyone she wants out of Yemen if she can secure three plane tickets — one for him, one for C-Note, and one for Michael.

"ARE WE BREAKING OUT MICHAEL SCOFIELD OR KANIEL OUTIS?"

The gang follows the map and finds that the red dot is located at an abandoned auto shop, bought from the previous owner by an American. The shop is clearly not in operation and is littered with maps, markups, disguises, and passport photos. C-Note, Lincoln, and Sheba realize Michael is trying to break out multiple people (including Abu Ramal), causing the group (especially Sheba) to wonder who they’re really helping.

Inside Ogygia, the prisoners are becoming extremely agitated because the bombs are increasing in frequency and proximity. Abu Ramal and his gang call for “homosexuals” to be killed, and Sid (Michael and Whip’s cellmate whose father is Mohammed, the Sheik of Light) fears for his life. Michael finally convinces Ramal to let Sid go after threatening not to include him in the breakout if he kills Sid.

Back in New York, the man and woman who have been out to get Michael’s family learn that Michael has contacted Sara via Mike. (Side note: I’ve finally learned their names! Blonde chick = A&W, man = Van Gough. Thanks, IMDB.) They’re staking out Sara’s family at the hospital where Jacob is staying, still recovering from his gunshot wound and muse that Sara will be the one to lead them straight to Michael.

"LAZARUS HAS RISEN FROM THE DEAD."

Jacob is told he can leave the hospital soon, much to Sara’s dismay, as she thinks he needs more time to recover. Sara goes the bathroom and is followed by T-Bag, much to her surprise. She appears afraid, defensive, and frightened — and rightfully so, but T-Bag promises her he just wants to help. He tells her what he knows about Kaniel Outis and shows off his prosthetic hand.

As she leaves the bathroom, Sara checks her phone and notices strange codes and images flashing across the screen — she realizes she’s been hacked. She goes to a nearby phone shop to get a new phone and asks the salesman for help identifying her hacker.

Back in Yemen, Whip voices his concerns about the escape to Michael. He isn’t sure if he can trust Michael anymore, since more and more people have been invited to participate in the escape. Michael assures Whip that he’s just pretending to be on Ramal’s side but they’re not actually going to break him out. Whip puts his arm on Michael, who punches him. A guard comes to restrain Michael, and Michael stealthily commandeers his watch. He whispers something to Ramal as he leaves the yard.

A friend of Sheba’s offers to make Lincoln a fake passport, since he had to surrender his in the first episode to get a meeting in Ogygia. The gang agrees that C-Note and Mohammed will kill the lights while Lincoln and Sheba get the passport; however, upon arriving at the place to receive the passports, Lincoln and Sheba realize they’ve been set up. They are knocked unconscious and dragged away to separate rooms. When Lincoln comes to, he can hear Sheba being interrogated and severely beaten.

A guard comes into Michael’s cell and asks him where his watch is. Michael plays dumb, and the guard searches the cell top to bottom. He doesn’t find anything, so he puts the prison on lockdown and inspects every prisoner and every cell.

"ANY CHANCE POSEIDON WILL JUST LET US KILL HER?"

A&W and Van Gough show up at the cell phone store Sara had visited. They threaten the salesman into telling them that he had seen Sara. Looking out the window, the duo realizes Sara is watching them from a store window across the street; now Sara knows what her attackers look like. They attempt to chase her down, but Sara manages to evade them.

As the Ogygia guards search the prison cells one by one looking for the watch, Michael’s cellmates, Whip, Sid, and Ja (the junkie with the illegal cell phone) talk about what they’re going to do when they get out of prison.

In New York, Sara, Jacob, and Mike arrive to Jacob’s parent’s lake house for a getaway. Brian, the cell phone salesman, calls Sara and tells her whoever hacked her phone used her thumbprint. We see a flashback of Sara sitting in Paul Kellerman’s office, drinking out of a glass of water. The camera zooms in on her fingerprint on the glass. She finally agrees to work with T-Bag to figure out what’s going on and tells him to visit Kellerman.

"I'M NOT MUCH OF A BROTHER."

Fifteen minutes until breakout. Whip tells Michael he’s become a brother figure to him and presses Michael to disclose if something happened to him in solitary. “Did you become Kaniel Outis in your head?” he asks Michael, who does not answer.

Five minutes until breakout. Ramal assures his cell mates that Michael will come for them when it’s time, but their excitement is halted when the guard finds his watch in Ramal’s cell. We learn Michael slipped the watch into Ramal’s pocket when they were whispering in the yard.

The lights go out, and Michael and his cellmates begin the escape, unlocking a grate in the ceiling above Michael’s bed. Chaos ensues inside Ogygia, and it becomes an all-out brawl between the guards and prisoners. Ramal heads for Michael’s cell, followed my others, including two brothers who shanked a guard.

Lincoln can hear Sheba screaming as she tries to defend herself from being raped by her interrogator. He finally manages to break down the door and fight off her attacker. He calls C-Note and tells him to go to the rendezvous without himself and Sheba, as Sheba needed to get to a hospital.

Michael, Ja, Whip, and Sid are all up in the vent when Ramal and his gang enter the cell. Whip breaks the top bunk so there is no way for them to climb up, but the brothers yank Sid out from the vent. Michael promises if they let Sid back up, he’ll bring them along. A guard shoots on of the brothers, and Michael makes the heart wrenching decision to leave Sid behind. The guards realize Michael and his cellmates have escaped. They call up to some other guards on the roof, who capture Michael, Whip, and Ja.

From the rendezvous point, C-Note watches as Michael reenters the prison with his hands up.

"I NEVER STOPPED LOVING YOU. THE WHOLE LIE, IT WAS FOR YOU."

In solitary, Michael examines the eye tattoos on his palm. He finally grabs Ja’s cell phone, which is very low on battery, and makes a video for Sara. He tells her he still loves her and implores to not to let anyone put “Kaniel Outis” on his headstone if he is killed. Before he can say his real name, the phone dies.

THE VERDICT 

I knew it! I knew there was no way Michael would have ever let someone erase his identity like that. Whether or not he actively played a role in this is still unknown, but I have a feeling he had a hand in it.

I thought this episode did a great job with fleshing out secondary characters, such as Whip and Sheba. We get a glimpse into Sheba’s past, and we are painted a better picture of who Whip is outside of “Michael’s cellmate.” We see him as a human with hopes and fears, whose experiences have completely obliterated his ability to trust. I also feel like this episode has set up the bigger picture of the series — instead of just watching Michael try to escape and hook back up with Lincoln, we’re learning more about why this whole thing is happening in the first place. This has been my favorite episode of season five thus far for these reasons.

That being said, I would be remiss if I didn’t express my sadness and disappointment that we haven’t seen Sucre since his brief appearance in the first episode. I’ve mentioned before that he’s my favorite character after Michael, so I was hoping to see a lot of him this season. I’m confident he’ll make an appearance later in the season, but I’m an impatient fangirl who wants her Sucre fix now! Perhaps he’ll show up next week to save the day.

Honorable Events Worth Mentioning:

• In the beginning of the episode, when Michael is writing his letter to the kids, it seems as if he’s copying his tattoos onto the paper.
• Van Gough has a bandage on his ear.
• We get our first glimpse into how Michael ended up in this situation. Michael mentions that himself and his other cellmates came to Yemen for foreign relations reasons, but were betrayed.
• The donation from “Outis” to Dr. Whitcombe was in the sum of $1 million... now how would Michael have access to that kind of money from a prison in Yemen?
• This is the first time we get the name of whoever is behind all of this: Poseidon.

Read More

Prison Break Recap 5x02: “Kaniel Outis” (Pizza is Always a Good Idea) [Guest Poster: Rebecca]

“Kaniel Outis”

Original Airdate: April 11, 2017

What does it take to completely erase an identity, to start fresh with a completely different name and lifestyle? And what does it take to ensure no one ever finds out that this identity has been changed?

This is precisely what we have learned has happened to Michael Scofield in the premiere episode of Prison Break’s fifth season. Whether or not he is responsible for his own transformation has yet to be answered, but I have a feeling Michael is up to something. He has never allowed himself to become a victim, hatching up seemingly impossible schemes and carrying them out to perfection, no matter what obstacles arise in his path.

Episode two, “Kaniel Outis,” begins with news footage of Abu Ramal, a big-time terrorist and rebel leader, who has been placed in solitary confinement at Ogygia. From conducting public beheadings to using young girls as sex slaves, this man truly is the definition of vile and is responsible for Yemen’s civil war. Although the only other time we get a glimpse of him this episode is for a few seconds at the very end, it’s safe to say he will become a very important character in the near future.

Michael and one of his cellmates, Whip, are trying to escape from Ogygia. They wait outside of their window, anxiously waiting on a light signal, which never comes, and are forced to return to their cell. They note that the bombings are getting closer to the prison, and they are quickly running out of time. Michael assures Whip that they still have one card left to play, and it’s already in motion.

Back at the hotel, C-Note explains to Lincoln that Kaniel Outis was thrown into jail for crimes against the government. He tried to escape Ogygia and was put in solitary confinement. He was just recently released to general population. Lincoln notices a shadow underneath the door, and opens it to find a child eavesdropping. The child runs away, leaving behind one of Michael’s infamous origami swans. Lincoln unfolds the swan and sees the phrase “find the sheik of light, and I will be free.”

Lincoln and C-Note visit Sheba, who is angry with them for defending a terrorist, and ask her to decode the note. She refuses — not wanting to aid the enemy — until Lincoln is able to bribe her with enough money to get her family out of Yemen. Sheba examines the note and finds a piece of tape. Stripping the tape off reveals a phone number for Mohammad El Tunis, an electrician. They discover he went to the suburbs (the frontline of the war) to retrieve his kidnapped daughter, and Sheba reluctantly agrees to get them past the checkpoint.

"IT WOULD TAKE A GENIUS TO TURN ONE MAN INTO ANOTHER — LIKE MICHAEL."

Sara receives Lincoln’s video of Michael in the prison and decides to go to the Department of State. She runs into Agent Paul Kellerman, who we all know from previous seasons as the man we thought was dead for a really long time until he randomly showed up in season four. Sara is reluctant to speak with him, but Kellerman assures her that she wants to hear what he has to say. Kellerman pulls up Michael’s official record on the computer, which identifies him as Kaniel Outis. He then shows Sara security footage of Michael killing the deputy chief of the CIA. He explains that immediately after this, Michael fled to Yemen and abandoned his luggage at the airport when he saw law enforcement officials waiting for him. They later found bloodstained clothes in Michael’s suitcase.

"I'M NOT JUDGING... BUT A SCHEMA AS DEEP AND CALCULATED AS THAT CAN, IN THE END, SPIN A MAN OFF INTO MADNESS. THE DANCE OF GOOD AND EVIL COULD BECOME JUMBLED."

After leaving Kellerman’s office, Sara visits Jacob in the hospital and fills him in on what’s happening. Jacob cautiously explains that although Michael did love her, he also asked her to unlock the door at Fox River — a key component of his elaborate escape plan in season one. Jacob suggests that Michael manipulated their relationship for his advantage.

"SOMETIMES, MY FRIEND, I CAN'T TELL WHICH IS BIGGER: YOUR PLANS OR YOUR LIES."

In accordance with Ramadan, as an act of forgiveness, Ogygia plans to release solitary prisoners back into general population. Whip reveals to Michael he was thrown in jail for 20 years for homosexuality, and knows he will be murdered when those in solitary rejoin the rest of the prisoners. Recognizing how quickly his plan needs to move, Michael pretends to be sick and asks a guard to take him to the infirmary, where he is chastised and beaten. One guard finally shows mercy and places some pills in his hand.

Back in the suburbs, C-Note, Lincoln, and Sheba find Mohammad, who refuses to leave the suburbs without his daughter, and Lincoln agrees to rescue her. He steals a truck from the rebels, driving Mohammad’s daughter, as well as several other young girls, to safety. C-Note, Sheba, and Mohammad also escape unharmed.

Meanwhile, Michael returns to his cell and spits out the pills given to him in the infirmary. He asks his and Whip’s third cellmate, a junkie who smuggled in a cell phone, if he will trade his cell phone and credit card number for the pills. The cellmate agrees, and Michael informs Whip that he’s going to order a pizza.

We learn that Whip is Mohammad’s son, and Mohammad agreed to help him escape by arranging a blackout. The blackout was supposed to happen a week prior, but then Mohammad’s daughter was taken. Lincoln urges Mohammad to try again, and he agrees to give the signal later that day.

"HIDE EVERYONE. A STORM IS COMING."

Back in the United States, Sara becomes frantic when her son, Mike, does not come out to her car after school. She finally finds him at the school’s playground. Mike tells her he was looking for the pizza deliveryman, who gave him an origami rose. Sara unfolds the rose to find a message imploring her to hide.

Mohammad gives the signal by flashing the power grid twice, and Whip and Michael know the escape is on, 24 hours from that moment; however, the guards begin releasing the prisoners in solitary for Ramadan. In the final shot of this episode, we see Abu Ramal emerge from his cell. Whip looks on fearfully as Abu saunters toward Michael, and the two embrace. Abu asks Michael if he has found a way for them to escape, and Michael replies “tomorrow.”

THE VERDICT 

I thought this episode did a really good job of setting the rest of the season up. While none of my questions from the previous episode were answered, more arose after watching this one, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Prison Break is famous for its complex and convoluted plots, which become clear and logical towards the end of the season; why should this reboot be any different?

Obviously, I’m curious as to whether Sara chooses to stay with Jacob or go back to Michael, and obviously I hope she chooses Michael. I get that Sara has a kid and a husband in the hospital, but I need her in Yemen, in the action, fighting to get Michael out of whatever situation he’s gotten into. I also need to know how Michael got involved with this terrorist organization in the first place, since it’s clear he murdered that CIA official and has a relationship with Abu Ramal. And, of course, I have a feeling we haven’t seen the last of T-Bag and Sucre — at least I hope not!

As I mentioned last review, nostalgia is such an important component of this reboot. These past two episodes feel like a continuation of the story, not like a spinoff. It seems the actors have fallen back into their characters seamlessly, and the plot isn’t really that farfetched (at least by Prison Break’s standards). I’m really impressed with this reboot so far.

Honorable Events Worth Mentioning:

• Sheba’s father is a government official, the targets of rebel attacks. This only strengthens her desire to get out of Yemen as quickly as possible.
• Whip and Michael’s third cellmate bought Freddie Mercury’s ashes for $2 million.
• Michael fashions a lighter out of a gum wrapper and a battery. Seriously, is there anything this guy can’t do?

Read More

Prison Break 5x01 Recap: “Ogygia” (Freedom Has a Price) [Guest Poster: Rebecca]

“Ogygia”

Original Airdate: April 4, 2017

“I died seven years ago.”

After a quick montage of scenes from the previous four seasons of Prison Break, we hear Michael Scofield’s hauntingly familiar voice echo through our television speakers. “Freedom has a price,” he says. “I died seven years ago. I left behind a brother, a wife, a son.”

And for all we knew, Michael Scofield did die seven years ago, in the final moments of season four. In an attempt to break his beloved wife Sara out of prison for killing his mother (I know, but I promise it makes total sense if you’ve watched the show), he sacrifices himself to free her, getting electrocuted while causing a power surge to open a locked door. We learn later that his brain tumor had returned, this time terminal, and he wouldn’t have had much time anyway. But that doesn’t make his death any less heartbreaking or shocking.

So when Fox announced they were creating a fifth season of Prison Break, and that Wentworth Miller would return to play his iconic role of Michael, my head was left spinning. So he didn’t die? How? Why hasn’t he reached out to his brother or Sara for seven years? Even if his electrocution was not fatal, how did he survive the brain tumor? While the first episode leaves us in the dark regarding how Michael actually survived, I suppose all of these questions will be answered in time.

“FATE HAS GOT US JOINED AT THE HIP SOMEHOW.”

Prison Break’s most notorious villain, Theodore Bagwell (otherwise known as T-Bag) is back and as slimy as ever. Robert Knepper’s voice alone is enough to make my skin crawl, which shows just how talented of an actor he is. We watch as a guard releases T-Bag from Fox River Penitentiary, where he was sent in the season four finale. As he is collecting his things, including a laptop and a pack of gum, one of the guards gives him a final piece of correspondence — a large manila envelope with a bunch of international postmarks.

Cut to Lincoln Burrows, the show’s other protagonist. He is Michael’s half-brother, and the catalyst for why there was a prison break in the first place. Currently, Lincoln is running from some guys to whom he owes money. When he finally makes it back to his house, he is greeted by T-Bag, who is waiting patiently on the porch. T-Bag shows Lincoln the envelope’s contents, and Lincoln is shocked to find a grainy photo of his thought-to-be-dead half-brother, captioned with one of Michael’s famous word puzzles.

Hoping Sara can decipher the puzzle, as she always could in the past, Lincoln hops a flight to New York. Unfortunately, Sara is unsure what Michael’s note means, and is skeptical that he’s still alive (considering the information came from T-bag, a known liar and master manipulator who has been known to betray the gang).

Lincoln visits Michael’s grave. He laments that he’s fallen back into his old ways, suggesting it was because Michael wasn’t there to guide him. “I got good in me,” he says. “It’d just be nice if you were here with me to help me find it.” He re-examines Michael’s note, and discovers that some letters are written in pencil. Erasing the pencil marks away reveals the letters “OGYGIA,” which Lincoln learns is a prison in Yemen.

Making the (slightly disturbing) decision to dig up Michael’s grave, Lincoln confirms his suspicions when he finds no body inside the coffin, just some clothes. He takes the suit jacket. As he’s driving home, he gets stuck at a red light. The man in the car next to him looks strangely suspicious, and Lincoln realizes he is being followed. As soon as the light turns green, we see that the person in the car next to him has somehow hacked Lincoln’s car and has full control of the gas and brake pedals. Lincoln accelerates, and the mysterious attacker leads Lincoln’s car straight for a lake, but Lincoln is thrown from the car and manages to escape with the suit jacket.

He quickly calls Sara to inform her of the attack, and pretty soon a woman with a gun appears at Sara’s house. She manages to hide herself and her son (that she had with Michael), Mike, and call the police. The woman is able to shoot Sara’s husband, Jacob, in the leg before she hears the police sirens and escapes.

“SOMEONE SEEMS TO HAVE PLANS FOR BOTH OF US.”

While all of this craziness is happening, T-Bag receives a notification his computer alerting him that he has an appointment scheduled with a prosthetic research doctor. He visits Dr. Whitcombe, who wants to perform a procedure on T-Bag to give him a fully functional prosthetic hand that can be manipulated by his brain (remember, he got his hand axed off in season one and has been using a wooden prosthesis since).

Dr. Whitcombe says he received a large grant from an anonymous donor named “Outis” for his research, under the condition that “Theodore Bagwell” would be the first recipient of this robotic hand. T-Bag has suspicions about undergoing the surgery, distrusting the doctor and not wanting to be put under anesthesia, but eventually goes through with the procedure.

Lincoln decides to go to Yemen, and tracks down Benjamin Miles Franklin, or C-Note, another member of the Fox River Eight (the eight men who originally escaped from Fox River in season one). C-Note has converted to Islam, and Lincoln believes he will be a beneficial travel partner, considering he knows Arabic and may be able to navigate through the war-ridden area of Yemen.

C-Note is familiar with Ogygia and explains it’s a jail for political prisoners. Unable to believe Michael would do something to warrant ending up in that kind of place, they call Ogygia and learn there is no prisoner there named “Michael Scofield.” Lincoln and C-Note Google Michael’s name and find that it has been attached to a completely new face. Someone has completely erased his existence — but who? C-Note encourages Lincoln to look at the situation from all angles: Michael has the brainpower and capability of pulling off a stunt as crazy and complex as faking his own death.

After arriving in Yemen, C-Note and Lincoln notice they’re the only people coming into the country; everyone else wants out. A man who claims he will take them to Sheba, C-Note’s contact, meets them at the airport. Lincoln and C-Note follow the man to a car. As they’re getting into the car, we see a different man arrive at the airport holding a sign with their names on it. Eventually, C-Note realizes they’ve been set up, and he and Lincoln fight their assailants until Sheba shows up and rescues them.

Sheba has a friend with connections to Ogygia. He can arrange a visit — but Lincoln must surrender his passport to the prison, who can then sell it on the black market for a large amount of money. Ignoring C-Note’s pleas to not give up his passport, Lincoln agrees and hands it over, effectively trapping himself in Yemen.

“[MICHAEL] WAS LIKE A STORM. HE WOULD SHOW UP IN YOUR LIFE OUT OF THE CLEAR BLUE SKY AND HE WOULD DISAPPEAR JUST AS QUICKLY.”

Sheba, Lincoln, C-Note, and Sheba’s contact visit the prison, who claim there is no one there named Michael Scofield. C-Note shows the photograph of Michael to the guard, who comments this prisoner’s name is “Kaniel Outis.” Sheba recognizes this name as a big time terrorist trying to overthrow the government, and becomes angry that she has been trying to help someone who is responsible for Yemen’s civil war.

The guards retrieve Michael from his cell, as C-Note takes a video to provide Sara evidence that Michael is still alive. Michael claims he does not know who Lincoln and C-Note are, and repeats that his name is not Michael. He finally asks to be taken back to his cell. As he walks away from his brother and friend, he looks absolutely pained and exhausted.

THE VERDICT

Prison Break was such a good show because of the suspense. Every episode had you sitting on the edge of your seat, holding your breath, heart beating out of your chest. You never knew who was telling the truth, who was going to double-cross whom, or what new character would randomly show up and completely overhaul the plot (Michael’s mom, anyone?). Prison Break was also one of those rare plot-heavy shows that also prioritized character growth (Remember Brad Bellick? Yeah, still crying about that, by the way).

This season has that same potential. The gripping storytelling of just this first episode had me on the edge of my seat. I walked away from my television with more questions than answers, a very Prison Break-esque feeling of uncertainty and confusion washing over me. It was so good to see Sara, Michael, Lincoln, C-Note, and even Sucre for a brief second. I’ve really missed them.

That being said, I do have some qualms about this upcoming season. This episode in particular relied heavily on nostalgia; someone watching this show without having seen all the other episodes, would probably, in all honesty, not like it. The characters are skeletal compared to what we saw in the previous seasons, and the plot is moving fairly slowly at this point.

Additionally, there were some inconsistencies regarding character relations, mostly in the fact that C-Note was never great friends with Lincoln and Michael in the first place. Why would he agree to go on such a risky venture to save someone with whom he never had a relationship? It would make way more sense for Sucre to have gone with Lincoln to Yemen, as he was Michael’s best friend. I’m also surprised Lincoln and T-Bag were able to be in the same room together without bloodshed.

And I have a few logistical questions. Are we just ignoring the fact that Lincoln has a son? And C-Note has a family — wouldn’t that deter him from wanting to go to a place as dangerous as Yemen? How did Michael (assuming that he is the “Outis” who donated a large sum of money to Dr. Whitcombe) wire that amount from prison? Does he even have that much money if he’s been “dead” for seven years?

I’m stoked for the remaining episodes, and I can’t wait to learn if Michael is really behind all this “Kaniel Outis” stuff. He definitely has the potential to pull a stunt as crazy as this one, but how did he end up here in the first place? My curiosity has been piqued, and I’m excited to see how this season pans out. I know a lot of Prison Break fans would have preferred the show ended when it did, but I’m thankful for this reboot.

Honorable Events Worth Mentioning:

• Fun fact: “Outis” is Greek for “nobody.” 
• Michael has new tattoos — those who watched the original series know what a huge role tattoos play in the show. In season one, Michael tattoos Fox River’s blueprint onto his body, later lasering off each one of those tattoos to hide his identity. One of Michael’s new tattoos features an eye on the palm of his hand, and I have a feeling this will be important in coming episodes.
• Sara is not in Yemen (at least, not yet), so it appears she’ll reprise her role as a main character from U.S. soil.
• Sucre. Is. Back! My favorite member of the Fox River Eight (besides Michael, of course) made a quick appearance. He wanted to accompany Lincoln to Yemen, but finally acquiesced to Lincoln and C-Note’s pleads not to go out of fear for his safety. I sincerely hope this isn’t the last time we see him, because Sucre is such a great character.
• The label on the suit jacket Lincoln found in Michael’s grave says “Kaniel Outis.”

Read More