This post contains SPOILERS.
It’s always interesting to slowly discover the purposes of Michael’s tattoos. During the original run of Prison Break his tattoos were a map to help them escape. This time it doesn’t seem to be a literal map, but instead bits and pieces that will aid their eventual escape. This is shown through him copying what one of his tattoos said and passing it on to the children waiting outside. It’ll be interesting to see what all the other tattoos mean and how they play a role in his overall plans.
One thing I loved about this scene as well was how the children outside refer to Michael as “Bubblegum Man” and later refer to Lincoln as “Tic Tac Man.”
All throughout this episode, Michael struggles to keep his plans in place and the appropriate people on side, but he does manage to keep it going. It’s only when we get closer to the end that things really start to mess up. Firstly, we see Whip doubting Michael’s plans and he then continues on (throughout the episode) to question whether or not Michael will leave him and their other cell mates behind.
Out of all the relationships that Michael has formed, it seems like his one with Whip is the most genuine. He’s constantly reassuring Whip that he won’t leave him and he does take some pretty big risks to prove it. Although it can be hard to tell with Michael. Planting the watch in Ramal’s cell was partly to prove his loyalty to Whip, but also because he had already begun to change his mind on breaking Ramal out. The main things that make me side with Michael genuinely caring (and not planning to leave Whip and co behind) is that he’s never really seemed to be that heartless before, he attempted to stop them from trying to kill Sid, and although his message at the end was for Sara, he showed in that moment that he still cared about something and wasn’t completely heartless.
Either way, Whip and Michael’s relationship gives us a lot of information. It’s further talked about that they knew each other before prison and we now find out that they were doing work for the CIA. Well, according to Whip they were. We know that Michael recruited him, and Michael mentions in the episode that he was supposed to get Ramal out but things changed so now he’s refusing to do so. From the way Michael looks when Whip reveals that they’re CIA, I’m wondering if there’s something he’s not saying. I don’t doubt that there is genuine involvement with the CIA and that he did in fact recruit Whip, but I’m wondering now if maybe Michael went rogue at some point. It would most likely be while they’re in prison, especially for him to have changed his mind about breaking Ramal out, something he mentioned the government wanted. We know that someone named Poseidon is involved with the change. The most likely answer is that Poseidon is someone working against the CIA, but all these changes in place would Michael still have the CIA on his side or would he had to have gone off on his own?
Also, in the scene where Ramal and co are trying to kill Sid, a guard shoots into the air to stop them. This guard also appears in episode 2 when Michael is taken to medical. He looks disgusted when Michael is being beaten and is the one to give him the pills. He could easily just be a guard with a conscience, but I’m wondering if maybe this guard is also working undercover for the CIA or is somehow working with them as opposed to directly for them. It would also explain how Michael seems to have been getting information from the CIA (or other outside sources) while being in prison for the last four years.
It seems like we’re going to get some more answers through Sara, T-Bag, and Kellerman. She’s already suspicious of Kellerman because of her phone being hacked. There was something questionable about him from the moment he came on screen. T-Bag getting his new hand had to be for a reason and it seems like it might end up being used in his journey to get information from Kellerman. The fact that we didn’t see him last week and then this week he mentions the generous donation for his hand (to Sara) just suggests that it’s going to be important in some way and we know the next part of his story line is gathering information.
Not only will we start to get that information, but a lot of motives are going to change. If Kellerman really has had a direct involvement with all of this then Michael not escaping might cause issues. The fact that he failed was interesting, but not unsurprising. These episodes have been marketed as season 5 but also as a separate mini-series. If this is all we’re going to get then it’s, in a way, better that they chose to show Michael failing at least once, it’s a really big setback and it’ll make for a fascinating turn of events to see how he really does escape and how everyone else’s stories are going to be changed because of this one thing. Also, you almost expect it to work. Right up until Michael stands up and allows the guards to take them back inside, I genuinely thought they were going to escape. It was a bit of a shock that they didn’t.
The final scene at the end in solitary was really powerful and gave us so much. Earlier in the episode Whip questions if maybe Michael has gone too deep and really has become Kaniel Outis, however, while recording his message he asks Sara to make sure they put his real name, Michael Scofield, on his gravestone, cementing this idea that he hasn’t gone too deep and become so consumed by his current mission. Also, the way he tells Sara that he loves her and always has and how what he’s doing is for her shows that: 1) all those worries presented that Michael just uses people to get what he wants is wrong, even if he started off by using Sara his love for her really is genuine, and 2) staying away from her for all this time and playing dead wasn’t because he was (just) fixated on something else or he no longer needed her, but because maybe he had no choice and he felt like what he was doing was the right thing and whatever his reasoning, it was all for her.
The other big moments were from Lincoln and the others. It really wasn’t a surprise that things didn’t go well with the passports. It was horrible to see Sheba being attacked like that but it was also fantastic to see her defending herself and trying to fight back. She really is an interesting character and that’s something Prison Break has done so well. It’s easy to fall back in love with the characters we know from the original series, but to fall so easily in love with these new characters is amazing and makes the show easier and more interesting to watch.
With Lincoln interrupting the attack, and from a scene earlier in which Sheba can’t stop smiling (and glances at Lincoln) when the children call him “Tic Tac Man”, it seems like she really is coming around to this idea that Michael isn’t a bad person. Even if that’s partly down to her trusting Lincoln more and wanting to help Michael, it seems like it’s coming around to her becoming an even bigger part of the overall plan. At this point, I’m just excited at the prospect of having her around more and keeping her close to the main plot so she can continue to have interesting moments.
So far this season of Prison Break has been really good. I feel like any major concerns/issues with the season will come after all the episodes have aired and we know every single detail. I’m hoping that the reasoning for everything won’t disappoint. With each new episode we get more details so right now it’s hard to determine if the overall the reasoning for everything, meaning behind everything, etc is satisfactory or not. With a lot of things being a mystery right until the very end, I feel my biggest opinions (and possible concerns) will come after the finale.
For now, the show is just as entertaining as it always has been and although I do sometimes find things predictable, there are things that genuinely surprise me.
wonderoes 