Episode Report Card Sobell: C+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Sarah, Plain And Tall
By Sobell | Season 3 | Episode 4 | Aired on 10.07.2007
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.We have a good news-bad news situation. Shall I give you the bad news first?
If you've been doing time in the Prison of Love with Michael and Sara, I'm afraid your 'ship just got the shiv: Susan B. Anthony beheaded Dr. Sara and sent the detached cabeza to Linc in a box. Linc has elected not to tell Michael about this for now, perhaps fearing that his brother will lose all motivation to escape from prison (instead of getting angry enough to get out of prison and kick some ass). But the good news is, this clears the path for Sucre and Michael to finally act on their feelings -- Sucre has been so shaken by the decapitation, he's back on Team Escarpara. He's now the new gravedigger at the prison. Susan B. shot the old one.
So Sucre's busy digging graves and spraying the fence with a chemical that, when lightly heated, burns through metal. The electric fence -- which happens to be metal -- is now heated thanks to a bait-and-switch scheme Michael pulled with the electricity. He managed to make the lights go out in the prison and used that as an excuse to fix the fence out in no-man's-land. When Bellick sees him doing this, he snitches to Lechero that Scofield's busy burying things in the transformer box outside. However, when Michael re-digs his hole, he explains to the utilities-ignorant prison posse that he was merely fixing the power. As a result, Bellick is discredited. He is also the owner of some fine second- and third-degree burns along his back, as Lechero tortured him for offering bad intel.
Meanwhile, T-Bag finally kills someone. I know! I was also wondering what the delay was. By dispatching the in-house drug dealer, T-Bag has guaranteed himself a place in the prison posse. Sammy is not pleased by this development.
Finally, Mahone is not dealing with drug withdrawal well. He's hallucinating that a bloodied Haywire is in the clink with him, giving him instructions on dealing with Scofield. The sad thing is, Haywire's advice is proving useful. Want more? The full recap starts right below!
When we begin the episode, Linc is taking a cab ride through some truly lovely green valley. Too bad he's not seeing any of it. What he sees instead are flashbacks to last week -- walking down to the garage, noticing the blood pooling below the box.
In Sona, Michael is perched in his usual indoor spot -- at a window, staring out at the gravedigger and the ivy-covered electrical fence. Wait a minute... Anyway, Whistler comes rolling on over and asks, "What's so interesting out there, other than our freedom?" No doubt that line looked better on the page than it sounds when uttered aloud. Michael points out that live vines equal dead electrical fences, but Whistler's like, "Really, College Mouth? That's not news -- nor are the trigger-happy guards on the other side of the fence." Michael snots something and Whistler decides to sling attitude in return: "I get what you're doing with my book. They hold your girlfriend, you hold what they want. Countering needs -- Churchill 101. Soon those bastards are going to ask what progress I've made in figuring out what they want, and I'm going to say, 'Nil, because Lincoln Burrows has the book.'" Michael does not ask how a humble fisherman is so conversant in Churchill. Instead, he points out that "threatening the brother of the guy who's supposed to get you out of here might not be the smartest move." Whistler's all, "Threatening? Who's threatening?" and says he's merely worried that the One World Conspiracy will take action against them. Michael shoots back, "'I never worry about action, but only inaction' -- Churchill 101. Now, like I said, I've got a lot of work to do." He skulks off. Whistler has a distinctly appraising look on his face as he watches him go.
Meanwhile, Lincoln is still in the throes of a flashback with opening the box. He is also walking toward his daily rendezvous with Michael. Michael trips up to the fence and notices that Linc looks like he's just taken a two-by-four to the back of the head. He asks if Lincoln's okay, and Lincoln lies, "I'm sorry, man. All this stuff -- it's just starting to get to me." He's practically in tears. Michael looks both confused and concerned. But he quickly perks up and tells Linc they've got to pull the gravedigger into this escape effort; all the instructions are on a piece of paper that Michael quickly tosses through the fence. He excitedly says, "We got to get started now." Lincoln very nearly breaks down in tears. He can't even look at Michael. Scofield asks, "What are you not telling me?" Linc looks at him and says, "All these people who have been hurt because of me. You know, it's...I'm so sorry, Michael." Michael reminds him, "They did this, not you. Okay? It's not your fault." When Michael adds, "I feel like we're running out of time," Linc looks sick to his stomach. He silently limps away. Michael looks really worried as he watches him go. At this point, someone should open a line as to which one of the brothers is going to be felled by a stress-induced cardiac incident first. I mean, we're looking at months of pent-up trauma.
However, my money is on Linc. He leaves Sona, walks down a surprisingly lovely and remote set of stairs, and falls to his knees in grief once he reaches the bottom. We see the flashback through to its finish: Linc has lifted the lid on the box, and inside is Dr. Sara's head. We see Linc stuff his fist in his mouth when he's in the garage. Back at the base of the sunny staircase, he just whispers Sara's name.