Episode Report Card Sobell: B | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT It's so hard to find good conspiracy participants
By Sobell | Season 1 | Episode 5 | Aired on 09.18.2005
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.So is it just me, or is the evil Agent Kellerman rapidly becoming one of the most entertaining characters on the show? This week, he attempts to bring Warden Pope into line with regards to transferring Michael out of the prison. Apparently, Pope had a (now-deceased) son by another woman, and Mrs. Pope doesn't know. Kellerman offers to bridge that little communication gap -- unless Pope approves a transfer. He's a remorseless conspiracy machine!
However, Pope soon realizes that when it comes to fortieth anniversary presents, the matchstick Taj beats a huge secret, so he blocks the transfer at the very last minute, then goes home to tell the wife about his sordid past.
Michael spends the episode: introducing the breakout gang to one another; getting an earful of guff from Lincoln; doing a test run for his cell exit that ends up being both very suspenseful and hilarious; and having a general freak-out when he thinks he's being transferred. Veronica spends the episode gradually realizing that her Legal Beagle friend may be in on the conspiracy. And Dr. Tancredi goes fishing for Michael's medical history. Want more? The full recap starts right below!
Warning: this recap may contain effusive expressions of gratitude. Reader discretion is advised.
So before I begin, many thank-yous are in order: Sars, who has suffered through the Sobell Relocation Drill before ["and can totally empathize -- welcome back!" -- Sars]; LTG and Joe R, who both produced such great recaps, I will be spending the rest of the season trying to hit the standard they've set; all of you forum posters for being so welcoming and accommodating; and lastly, fellow Vidiot Jason "Dr. TiVo" Snell, who revived our beloved antique mere hours before this week's episode. It's safe to say that without him, this recap wouldn't be possible.
And now, on with the episode! Due to some graphic content, viewer discretion is advised. Promises, promises.
So the show opens with Michael watching as a tattoo needle inks his arm, and then goes from his face to the most recent installment on his tattoo: some fake-Gothic lettering reading "English Fitz Percy." The camera pans up so we can see that these words are being used as footstools for an angel, and the angel is looking up toward another figure we can't quite see; all we get is an arm outstretched toward what appears to be a clerestory window set among arching eaves. The tattoo pans over and we see that the angel is standing back-to-back with a sword-wielding devil. Behind the devil's batwings, on the right of this panorama, is another window set within gothic arches; this one has a very intricate grillwork, and unlike the other window, it appears to open into the dark.
We zoom in on the grillwork to the dark window, and lo! It matches the grillwork of a vent leading into Warden Pope's office. Say, you don't think there's a parallel there or anything? The writers aren't trying to point out that Michael, in addition to encoding mnemonic devices on his tattoos, also managed to draw what amounts as an escape narrative? Are they? I'm sure I'm reading into this too much.
Anyway, Pope blusters around his office and we see that Agent Kellerman is sitting in the visitor's chair, politely reminding Pope that when a transfer request drops onto your desk for no good reason, it would behoove you to examine it tout de suite. And then to honor it. Kellerman wants to know why Pope's denied Michael Scofield's transfer, and Pope tells him politely to shove it with, "Look, Mr. Kellerman, do I come into your house and tell you where to put your furniture?" Agent Hale says, "We're just asking for professional courtesy." Pope disputes that notion too: "You're asking for federal courtesy in a state prison." Kellerman tries another angle: "Most people in your position would be happy to have another body taken off their hands." Well, if this show ever does a 180 and decides to become more like OZ, that won't be a problem; instead, Pope will be straining to keep his inmates alive from one episode to the next.
In this show, however, Pope demonstrates that despite comparing the inmates to furniture, he has their interests in mind: "Those men are my responsibility. From the minute they walk into these walls to the moment they've paid their debt to society, I'm responsible for them. Which means unless Mr. Scofield has done something I don't know about, he is going to stay here at Fox Hills under my watch." So Michael's out of here at the ten-minute mark? Is that what you're saying?