Episode Report Card Sobell: B+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT The Fool Of The World And The Flying Ship
By Sobell | Season 3 | Episode 8 | Aired on 11.11.2007
Alas, before we get any more intrigue on the outside, we must explore Lechero's latest intrigue on the inside. Michael and Whistler are inside Lechero's suite, and Michael has deduced that there's another door in the room. He pulls aside a tapestry to reveal it, then punches in the 4413 code. This leads to a long hallway and a staircase leading down. Michael and Whistler wind their way down, and Michael charges toward the second door, planning on using the same code again. Whistler hangs back, which allows him to fiddle around for that knife. Unfortunately, the door doesn't open, so there's Michael. There's Whistler behind him, having flashbacks to that long-ago moment before the credits when Susan B. told him to kill Michael. And then Michael turns around and muses, "T-Bag might be setting us up for someone. What do you say we get out of here?" As he goes to pass Whistler, we see that Whistler's got the knife poised behind his back. Whistler says, "I'm really sorry you got caught up in my troubles." Michael gives him A Look...
...And right as Whistler's about to get stabby, there's the clang of a door opening, and Michael pulls Whistler behind a stack of rum cases to hide with him. It's Lechero. He lumbers over to open the door, telling Michael he's the only one who knows the code. Both Michael and Whistler are rolling their eyes in exasperation, only for different reasons. Michael warns, "For a man who likes keeping secrets, using T-Bag as a go-between may not be the smartest move." Lechero figures that T-Bag won't put all the pieces together that quickly. Clearly, Lechero does not have quite the gift of reading people that he thinks he does. Anyway, he leads the men through the door and we're in a long hallway. Lechero explains, "Guard tunnel. The old administration used it to travel between cellblocks A and B. After the riots, they moved us all to B, and then the soldiers came in and blew this tunnel up." The upshot is, Lechero figures they can dig their way through the obstruction. Michael cracks, "Yeah -- me and a couple of payloaders." As Lechero tries to give Michael a motivational speech about digging them out, Whistler notices that they're all of forty-five minutes away from "bang and burn." Michael notices Whistler checking his watch, but tells Lechero, "We're not digging out -- but we might be digging up."
Meanwhile, on the outside...Sofia is discovering that the United States of America is under the impression that Dallas native Mr. Gary Miller would like to go traveling around with his shiny new passport. Before she can see any more, Susan B. has let herself in. I must say, I do like Susan B.'s dress -- it's rocking the kimono neckline and obi sash, but still looks appropriate for strangling someone in cold blood. Susan B. introduces herself as a friend of James's, and immediately throws Sofia off her game by adding casually, "I know where he is." Sofia makes to leave, and Susan B. pushes her up against the wall with one well-placed hand to the sternum. Then she leans in and purrs, "I can see why James loves you. You are beautiful. But if you keep sticking your nose where it doesn't belong, I'm going to make him miss you very, very much. Do you understand what I'm saying to you? Good." Susan B. then grabs the passport and tells Sofia, "You don't need to worry about this. Now listen very carefully to me, Sofia, and you won't get hurt..." and on it goes, with one of the most patently ridiculous lipstick-lesbian subtexts to come along since the nonsense on The O.C.. My feeling on these things is, either go ahead and have Susan B. lay one on Sofia, or back off the will-she-or-won't-she tease, because it feels a little crass and exploitive. Or maybe I'm just cranky because this scene has reminded me that one of the things this show has always been missing is an enjoyable rapport between two interesting female characters.