This post contains SPOILERS.
This episode provides more direct focus on Michael. Although we don’t know exactly what’s going on with him and why he’s in this position, we do know now that he is already intending to break out of prison and his intention to do so has been there for a while now.
Michael’s plans having hiccups and not going the way they should have was interesting because it meant we got to see a lot of Michael’s quick thinking and fast action. It’s mentioned in this episode, and has been before too, that he is incredibly smart so to see him put that into play is always wonderful to see.
I like the people in his cell that he’s working with. They all clearly have qualities that can benefit Michael, his escape, and whatever his overall plan is. Of course, it’s brought to our attention by Jacob that Michael could be pretending to be everyone’s friend in order to get his desired result, and he will be a person’s friend up until they’re no longer useful. Also by loving and getting close to a person, it’s easy to make them go against their better judgment. I personally don’t think this was the case for Michael when it came to people like Sara and Sucre and the others. Perhaps it started that way but when he came to love them and be close to them, that was genuine, something he probably didn’t expect. However, it could be what’s happening now. There’s clearly something bigger at play that we obviously don’t know what just yet, so perhaps Michael is being two faced and using these people. It all comes down to what his end goal is and why.
Something I really appreciate about Jacob is how he seems completely at ease with Michael being alive and discussing him with Sara. It’s like he’s known all along that if Michael ever came back things might end between the two of them, but they might not. After everything she could choose to stick with Jacob, we’ll have to wait and see. Part of Jacob’s ease might come down to the writers wanting it to seem like a more fluid and natural thing if Michael and Sara did get back together in the end and Jacob was fine with it, but I’d like to think it was intentional and that Jacob really is that kind of stand up and laid back kind of guy.
What leads Sara to have this discussion with Jacob is seeing Paul Kellerman. I knew he was coming back and it was interesting to see him interact with Sara again after all this time. The information he gave involving Micheal was interesting but just gives us more questions than it does answers. What is Michael up to?
When Michael, at the end of the episode, hugs the man everyone fears, it wasn’t really too much of a shock. Mostly because we spend a lot of the episode with characters who constantly mention their fear of the prisoners who will be released from solitary. It is mentioned in the episode that Michael knows what he’s doing and is smart. Kellerman mentions that Michael is someone with the capabilities to erase someone’s identity (in this case, his own) and replace it with a completely new one. That him being known as Kaniel Outis, could very much be his own doing. Which means, if getting caught and put in prison was also Michael’s choice, then he must have planned for it. Therefore, planning for scenarios like this one, so when they hug at the end, it was less of a shock because it only confirms that Michael is one step ahead, and has planned this from the beginning.
One other thing that confirms that Michael probably has good intentions at heart (if this is all his doing), is his origami flower to Sara. How he goes about doing it is fantastic. I didn’t know what the point in making himself ill was until he gave the pills to his cellmate in exchange for their cell phone and credit card. When he said he wanted to order a pizza, I couldn’t help but laugh. For me, seeing the message in the flower says, in Michael’s opinion at least, that what he’s doing is for good reasons, and maybe even selfless ones. Of course, all of this comes down to it all being Michael’s doing. He could have been put in a tricky situation, and this is his way of getting out of it. Just like when Lincoln was set up for murder and Michael had to break him out.
The other big things we see involves Lincoln, Franklin, and Sheba. We all know Michael and Lincoln will do anything for each other, but seeing the latter go into such a dangerous area really proved that. The way Sheba handled herself when they were stopped was interesting. She held her own but was still obviously terrified, which is more realistic. The three of them kept pushing through with their mission and started to work better together as time went on. I can’t wait for these three, and other characters, to become more closely involved with Michael’s plans. When they got back to safety Sheba looks in Lincoln’s general direction and it seems like she might be starting to believe him when he says that Michael is a good person and not who she, and everyone else, seems to think he is.
Right now, I really don’t know what to expect. Some little things are obvious, like the hug at the end, however, that was only obvious because of information we got earlier in the episode (Kellerman suggesting that Michael might have been behind the identity switch, and Jacob saying that Michael could be anyone’s friend if it benefits him). Other than that, I couldn’t even begin to guess where the overall story is going, what Michael’s true intentions are, and what the ending of this season/mini-series could be. In fact, I don’t think I want to know. We’re two episodes in and already I’m really enjoying just sitting back and watching the mystery unfold.
wonderoes 