Episode Report Card Sobell: B | 1 USERS: A+ YOU GRADE IT Unready, Unsteady, Go
By Sobell | Season 1 | Episode 21 | Aired on 05.07.2006
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.Team Escarpara makes it over the wall! And there are surprisingly few screw-ups! I know, I'm shocked too.
So here's what happens: Michael apologizes to Pope in advance for holding him at knifepoint (wherein Pope makes a call ordering Lincoln to be sent to the clinic), tying him up in his desk chair, knocking him out, and shoving him in the closet. He then gulls the front office staff into thinking that Pope's on a conference call. This buys the team lots and lots and lots of time.
Then they all get through the toilet in Sucre and Michael's cell, set off a fire drill in the Whack Shack so they can all shuffle in as patients (except for Michael, dressed in Bellick's bizarrely well-fitting togs, who masquerades as a CO), get through the Whack Shack and to the clinic, and begin the real escape.
Fortunately, Dr. Sara's left the door unlocked. Unfortunately, Haywire's tagged along. Linc makes the last-minute executive decision to include the little nutbar in the escape, just to shut him up. Within moments, the team's gotten the bars off the window and is shimmying across the cable one at a time. Naturally, this is when Pope's discovered, so the alarms begin going off, the pandemonium mounts, we get some will-they-or-won't-they-type shotsâ¦
Michael is the last inmate to make it across the cable. Captain Calories (a.k.a. Manche) tries to go after him, but his weight takes down the cable. And back in the clinic, Westmoreland's gently bleeding to death; his gut wound is too severe. But before everyone takes off, Westmoreland lets slip that he didn't skyjack $1 million. He skyjacked $5 million -- thus providing C-Note and T-Bag with their motivation for sticking around in Season 2.
Meanwhile, in other news, Nick proves to be spectacularly lousy as a bad guy. Want more? The full recap starts right below!
We begin this episode with the same tableau that closed the prior episode: Michael holding a shiv on Pope. Pope snarls, "You son of a bitch!" Michael just tells him he plans on taking this real easy. Pope is in no mood to negotiate: "You just bought yourself ten years!" His walkie-talkie crackles, and we learn that Bellick's truck is, indeed, in the parking lot. Unsurprisingly, it's one of those "This is no way overcompensates for my manhood -- this is my manhood" trucks, like the ones Toby Keith shills in his not-at-all-homoerotic Ford Truck commercials. Michael grabs the radio, and Pope tries to reason with him one more time, but Michael overrides him: "Tell the guard you just spoke with Bellick, and he said he's taking some personal time." Pope protests, "You can't possibly get away with this!" Michael leans forward with the shiv, his voice thick with menace as he says, "I don't think you want to find out how badly I want to get my brother out of here." Pope notices that the blade is now closer to his throat. So he does as Michael asks. Michael is still giving Pope the Blue Steel as he keeps the shiv up, and he tells Pope he needs one more thing.
Apparently, it had to do with office supplies. Michael is taping Pope to his office chair as he gives Pope the order to have Lincoln transferred to the infirmary for overnight "testing." Pope asks Michael how long he's been planning this, and Michael keeps the knife to Pope's throat as he replies, "That is a conversation for another day. Or read the recaps now." It hits Pope right about then that Michael's been planning this all along, and whatever positive reform efforts he thinks he had were probably all a ruse. But Pope makes the order, and then Michael spills Bellick's location, then adds, "One day, you'll understand why I did this. After you read the recaps." Pope tells Michael that he'll never make it over the wall. Discouraged by this unconstructive criticism, Michael gags Pope. He then rolls the warden into the closet. That is one enormous closet. Granted, I live in a house built back before Americans invented closets, so I'm a little biased here, but it's a walk-in! With a whole second wardrobe! Michael then grabs the radio and walks back over to Pope. He's practically tearing up as he says sincerely, "I'm sorry, Henry." Then he knocks Pope out with a conveniently placed blow to the head. Panting heavily, Michael closes the door. He then dials a number and leaves the phone off the hook.