Episode Report Card Sobell: B- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Let Four Escaped Cons Bear Bellick …
By Sobell | Season 4 | Episode 10 | Aired on 11.10.2008
David Baker tells Mahone that his life goal is to build an autonomous, self-sustaining city, "a community living entirely in harmony." Mahone asks how close David is to making that a reality, and the mad city planner replies, "Well, that's a matter of opinion. People look at something like this and they think it's impossible. In reality, it could happen tomorrow." Yes, but that would probably require the One World Conspiracy reinventing itself as the One World Nonprofit, and the odds of that happening are ... actually quite good, given this show's pioneering work in implausible plot developments. "This won't just serve the rich," Baker adds, and Mahone's eyes narrow as he draws a bead on Baker's demons. Baker notices, and asks, "How long have you been working for them?" "Too long. I came in in 1994," Mahone replies. Baker grumbles about how he's temperamentally unsuited for day jobs -- "I like to finish a job and move on, put it in the past." Mahone asks, "Do you always leave your name behind, instead of the correct specifications?" Nope -- Scylla was special. Mahone bluffs about the blueprints and we establish that Baker included a legend with the blueprints. Mahone lies about reading that, and Baker concludes, "You're not [One World Conspiracy]." Cut to Mahone quietly freaking out.
Then we cut back to Sucre not-so-quietly freaking out. Linc tells him to be calm, and Sucre points out at the top of his lungs, "Calm? You just said I'm standing on top of a bomb!" Then he asks, more quietly, "You think Gretchen set us up?" That gives Linc an idea, and he races off.
Speaking of bombs, guess what T-Bag's doing as he prepares for his meeting? Gretchen rolls her eyes at the GATE talking points and asks if people actually buy this nonsense. Alas, we don't find out, because Linc picks that moment to come in and grab Gretchen for emergency bomb squad duties. T-Bag's left alone in his office, whispering, "GATE allows us to find the pathway ..."
"... to personal freedom!" he finishes exultantly in front of the new franchisees. Going by how they're all reacting, I'm guessing each of them is considering their back-up career plans. T-Bag realizes he's whiffing and begins riffing: "I'm going to tell you a better story about captivity than the regular spiel. Years back, I was providing volunteer leadership in a local penitentiary. I worked with the head guard, a big, burly bull named Brad. Mean as the devil -- all the prisoners were afraid of him, even the murderers. Then one day, Brad said to me, 'Cole, I want you to get out of here. I want you to get out of here right now, 'cause I can tell you're a man who loves freedom.' I said, 'Well, what about you, Brad?' He says, 'Oh, yeah, I'm going to be free, someday. When I retire.' I recently got the news that he had passed away. And where was he? Still in that prison. Still in the captivity of negativity! [chokes back a sob] [has a flashback to an inexplicably mirthful Bellick in his police get-up] Old Brad. As my pappy used to say, 'Stand by, your glasses steady, and drink to your comrades' eyes. Here's a toast to the dead already. And hurrah for the next to die.'" Well, insofar as eulogies go, it's not a bad one, if filled with tremendous lies. But I suppose that's better than "He fed me tobacco until I pooped, so I framed him for murder later."