Spoilers abound in this blow-by-blow of the season premiere. Proceed only if you've seen it-- or just can't wait to find out.
Passages in italics are my thoughts. If you don't want to read the whole recap, scroll down to my end of episode thoughts. If you have a thought yourself, go ahead and post it. This could be a fun exercise (and ease up on the burden I put Brian and Neal through every Tuesday when I dissect the previous night's episode).
Please excuse any mispellings or whatnot, my fingers were flying on the keyboard trying to keep up-- and I know a post this long would cause Hell on the spellcheck...
I have to admit: even though I've already seen the season premiere, I was still shaking like a six-year old who just ate a box of Captain Crunch. I've waited all summer for this...
The episode opens the day after the daring prison escape.
We are introduced to Federal Agent Mahone. He asks his assistant who the escapees are. The assistant rattles off everyone's names and their crimes. A nice background and a primer for new viewers and a refresher for those who haven't seen the show since May.
Mahone asks if Schofield is the ringleader. When it is confirmed, he asks for all the information pertaining to him.
Next we see The Five (Michael Schofield, Lincoln Burrows, Benjamin "C-Note" Franklin, John Abruzzi, and Fernando Sucre) still together. They're still being closely chased by the prison guards and the dogs. They run to a train track where a train is just starting to go past. They end up getting around the train and losing their pursuers. Bellick almost hits Schofield hit a shotgun blast. He's got the wild look in his eye.
Mahone gives a press conference where he opens with passages from John Wilkes Booth's journal he kept while on the run. He mentions that while on the run, all the fears and paranoias a man would have from the original crime are heightened while being chased. Good foreshadowing as the escapees are showing signs that they are getting desperate. Mahone finishes by saying that things will be even tougher now that TV has become a part of the manhunt.
Cut to the escapees, as they argue with each other. C-Note blames Abruzzi's pilots for leaving early; Abruzzi informs him that he wasn't going to be a passenger anyway. C-Note calls out Schofield about Westmoreland's money, and Sucre is shocked to find out that there is a plan to nab money that Schofield never mentioned to him.
Mahone asks Pope to combine resources, and that includes interviewing prison staff, specifically Dr. Tancredi (and mentions that he knows Sara may have left the door unlocked on purpose). Pope refuses, and says, "She isn't going to be speaking to anyone."
Cut to Sara in a coma, hooked to a respirator. We overhear hospital staff saying she's stable but will have to fight to live. Clips from the previous season containing Michael and Sara are shown, and suddenly she wakes up.
T-Bag is rummaging through a campground, grabbing a cooler and all the ice he can fit in there. He threatens the campers with a screwdriver, and in typical T-Bag fashion, gives an almost honest "thank you" before he leaves.
Mahone looks at pictures of Schofield's tattoos and asks an assistant how long it would take a person to undergo that much ink. The answer is "100 hours... 200." The order is given to find the tatoo artist.
Next, Mahone mentions to Bellick the cooperation agreement he has with Pope, and Bellick's having none of it. Looks like Bellick will have to contend with the escapees and the Feds this season.
Next we find out what happened with Veronica and Steadman (who looks a little different than last year due to a necessary recasting-- note to producers: try to secure contracts with your minor characters who play major roles on the show; let's just call it the Patricia Wettig Clause since our new President will now be unseen since she was cast on another series). Veronica finds out she is locked inside the house with Steadman and has no way out.
Privately, Linc tells Schofield to ditch the others, but Michael tells him he can't because they all know about Utah, and the money buried there is paramount to their plans. He tells Lincoln they need to stick together to make sure they succeed (nice touch I think). Michael tells Lincoln that even though the jet is gone, he still has a plan.
Mahone interviews Michael's tattoo artist. She tells him that he was a "detail Nazi"; everything had to be perfect. He begins to piece together the meaning of the English, Fitz, Percy tattoo (remember, they are roads that intersect the prison, tattooed on Michael's wrist).
The five escapees run across a young girl. They almost talk their way out of a confrontation, but her dad arrives and aims his hunting rifle at them when he sees the men in prison garb talking to his daughter. Abruzzi grabs the girl and holds a gun of his own to her head until the father drops his gun. They take the father's gun and car.
Sara is interviewed by an agent and denies leaving the door open. She is told that not only Schofield escaped, but seven other men did, too. She looks genuinely shocked, and manages to ask "Who?" Side note: Sarah Wayne Callies said in an interview I saw that Sara thought she was saving Lincoln's life by helping Michael and had no idea others were escaping as well. Yet another of Michael's lies she will pay for...
T-Bag finds himself at a veterinary clinic. Even though it is closed, he sees a doctor in there and breaks in. He insists that he be helped and threatens the doctor until he agrees to attempt to reattach his hand.
The Five in the stolen car discuss Abruzzi's actions, and say he went too far. Abruzzi justifies his actions by saying they got away. C-Note finds out they're headed west, and says they need to go east to hook up with his family. Abruzzi remnds him that's the first place the police will be looking.
Bellick gets a hold of Schofield's credit card records and finds that he spent $8000 in just over a month in the immediate area before he was arrested.
Mahone visits Schofield's apartment and notices all the pin holes on the wall. He pieces together that Schofield planned the escape methodically and then destroyed the plans by throwing them out the window and into the river. He orders divers to search the river.
Veronica won't give up her efforts to escape from the Steadman house. She tries to get a cell phone signal. He says he is a victim-- and even though he is alive, no one else knows it, so he can't save Lincoln.
Bellick sees from the credit card records that Schofield rented a unit at a storage facility, so he heads off to check it out.
Sara's nurse friend visits her to apologize for letting the police and Feds know that Sara probably left the door to the infirmary unlocked. Sara tells her she has nothing to apologize for. She also tells her friend that her dad's office called, but not her dad as of yet. Her friend reminds her that she isn't the first person that fell for a con, and Sara replies with regret that "He never cared".
In the car, Sucre asks Michael what he is thinking about, and Michael answers: "Mistakes". Sucre knows immediately that he is talking about Sara and reminds Michael that he had to do it. Michaels answers that he didn't have to do it like he did and that he ruined her life. Sucre tells him there's nothing he can do about it now. Michael says, "That's not true."
Steadman pulls a gun on Veronica, but she calls the cops anyway. Steadman does not fire.
T-Bag's doctor tells him he is not qualified to perform the reattachment. T-Bag doesn't care and tells him to try and threatens his family. The doctor tells T-Bag that he has to put him under, but T-Bag refuses any pain killer. The doctor insists that no one can undergo a procedure like that without an anesthetic, but T-Bag replies, "I... ain't... nobody..." Daaaaaamn!
Mahone figures out more of the tattoo's meaning, and then hears that the cops are checking out a storage facility.
Bellick and his men arrive at the storage facility and he tells Mahone (who also just showed up) to stay out of the way. The cops close in, and we see The Five in a storage room grabbing shovels. Bellick opens the unit Schofield rented and finds it empty. "Schofield set us up."
The Five walk through a cemetary, carrying shovels. We are about to see what Schofield was digging up last season in a flashback.
Mahone figures out another tattoo; one that explains where he is headed: the cemetary.
The Five dig up a grave and grab the clothes Schofield had buried before his arrest. They change into the civilian outfits (Abruzzi, being a larger guy, has to wear pants two inches too short). Lincoln and Schofield are about to make a break from the others to a parked car Schofield has the keys to when Mahone shows up. Schofield looks worried that Mahone figured it out so quickly.
Mahone catches a glimpse of The Five as they run away. He chases them into a nearby city and loses them in the crowd.
Veronica gets a call from Lincoln. She tells him to stop running because she found Steadman. The police arrive and shoot Veronica point blank in the head and chest. Lincoln hears everything and is crushed. Another important person in his life is dead.
The "cops" in Steadman's house remind him that he doesn't need a gun in the house as he has them to protect him (and intercept any police calls to check out the house).
Back in the hospital, Sara sees the origami swan Schofield gave her. She opens it up and sees a note from him: "There's a plan to make this all right" with what looks like Morse Code below it. I'm not a hardcore fan of the Michael/Sara romance, but I thought this was the coolest surprise of the episode.
Mahone tells his assistant what the tattoos mean-- that they contain the plans for the prison break as well as the plans for outside of the walls.
The episode ends with Michael dropping the handcuffs he finally got off his wrist into the dirt. Poetic...
Scenes from next week's episode include some faces we didn't see tonight:
Tweener buying a ticket-- to Utah. L.J. (wow, where's he been?) is interrogated by Mahone, and Linc & Michael attempt to break him out of lockup while they have a chance.
The only question marks are "Haywire" and Agent Kellerman. I know Kellerman plays a role this season as Paul Adelstein's been interviewed on the subject and he confirms, but I've heard nothing about Silas Weir Mitchell's "Haywire"...
All in all, a great episode. Things were tied up a little: Veronica, the only one beside L.J. to know a conspiracy exists, gets killed; Pope is being phased out (Stacy Keach is only supposed to be in the first two episodes of the season... for now). And while we didn't see Tweener, Haywire, or L.J., at least two of three will show up next week. Also, threads are being thrown out for this season: Lincoln taking a more active role, The Five beginning to unravel-- even without T-Bag around, Sucre realizing he wasn't told some big parts of the post-escape plans.
And the biggest question of all (although it really shouldn't be a surprise): how will Michael fix the problems he got Sara got into by allowing them to escape? I'm not sure why I'm fixated on that-- maybe because it was a complete surprise-- and gives just a little hope that someone will have a happy ending. Think about it: what are Sucre, Abruzzi, Tweener, T-Bag, Haywire, C-Note and Schofield himself gonna do? Lincoln could get pardoned, but the others still have to pay for their crimes. Heck, Linc escaped from jail, so he's not off the hook even if the murder rap goes away (although, again, he could get pardoned for the escape; maybe even Michael could).
Creator Paul Scheuing and Wentworth Miller have both said that there will be deaths this season, and I don't think they'll stop at Veronica. I'm scared to imagine who'll else will die. Sucre seems the most obvious, but he's a fan favorite (and has a great story yet to be told). C-Note has a great story to tell as well. Stormare and Knepper are too great of actors to lose. Stormare's Abruzzi was brought back from "death" already, and T-Bag, I think, will play a huge part as monkey wrench for the others. I doubt Schofield, Lincoln and Sucre, at least, would allow T-Bag to run wild in public-- their consciences wouldn't allow it.
As I said earlier, Agent Kellerman has a role this year as well, but I'm not sure in what capacity. Tweener is supposed to find love on the outside and is also supposed to play a little comic relief for the show. And President Reynolds will "disappear" for a bit until the ratings for ABC's Brothers and Sisters come in (I think the producers of Prison Break have all the voodoo dolls, prayer beads, and rain dances they can handle hoping Patricia Wetting's new show doesn't take off and she can return to the show-- okay that's pretty harsh, and I don't want to imply anything).
JESUS! Did I just spend two hours analyzing an hour-long show? Oh man, I think I have a problem...
And as if Prison Break wasn't enough, I also watched the other two great scripted shows airing new eps this summer tonight.
Last night's Entourage was fantastic. Drama got busted rubbing one out in his trailer while the director and crew waited for him to show on set. Vince and Turtle were on a quest for limited edition Nikes. And f-ing Jeremy Piven and Martin Landau on the same screen most of the episode. Incredible work. It's a young man's show, but Landau owned his scenes. Piven, of course, took it up a notch to meet Landau head-on. Great work-- there better be Emmy noms for both next summer. And how lucky was Kevin Connolly to be able to have scenes with both of those greats? Connolly held his own, by the way-- muy impressive.
And, finally, last night's Venture Brothers was also a classic. The usual great lines, and the added bonus of the main characters being in costumes. Dr. Venture was Obi Wan Kenobi, Brock was Chewbacca, 12-year old Dean was Princess Leia as Jabba's slave, and Hank was... Batman. Classic lines as Dr. Venture disparaged Hank for ruining yet another attempt at best costumed family. Hank's only response? "I am The Bat!"
Well, I've got some more TV to watch... Catch ya later!
***And if you've got something to say about anything I wrote, post it. If you just want to bask in my genius, that's okay, too... :) ***
1 comment:
Dang, you got problems man
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