Episode Report Card Sobell: B | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Whoever had "burn" in the office pool wins
By Sobell | Season 1 | Episode 15 | Aired on 03.26.2006
The guard helps Lincoln sit down, as he's shaking pretty badly. I imagine he's probably also grateful for that adult diaper. Lord knows if I were facing imminent death by electrocution, I might lose control too. Michael's also pretty shaky and he asks what happened. Pope tells him, "Judge Kessler called. The execution's been delayed…apparently, some new evidence has come to light." Michael's totally unspooling now; he presses, "I don't understand. How long do we have -- one day, two days? Um, not that I need to know so I can go through plans B to J on the Escape 2006 project." Pope can't tell him, because he doesn't know. Veronica makes a quick exit after telling Lincoln he'll be with Michael, and it's all very sweet. Lincoln's practically comatose. Can you blame him? He rouses himself long enough to ask Michael, "Did you see him? The guy in the viewing room?" Michael anxiously answers, "No." Linc tells him, "It was Dad. It was Dad." Michael gaps incredulously, and we go to the credits.
Commercials. That Microsoft commercial showing all those stylish non-American people going to work depresses the hell out of me, because I too would love to have the kind of life where I do not work in an office park designed by someone who read too much 1970s sci-fi but in an excruciatingly well-designed urban office. I mean, I'm already forced to use Winblows at work -- where is my tasteful cubby flooded with natural light? I thought that was part of the fiendish deal.
We get back, and Lincoln is telling Michael that it is too Dad. There's some bickering back and forth, with Michael taking the position that it's just not possible. You would think that his brief tenure in Fox River would have broadened his imagination in terms of what is possible. Michael points out, "There were only half a dozen people in that room: me, Veronica, and a bunch of reporters." There wasn't anyone there from the VP's camp? Doesn't that strike anyone as odd, what with this purportedly being a high-profile execution? Also, given how Kellerman et al. have bungled other conspiracy-related tasks, wouldn't it have made sense for Madame Vice President and Mistress of Evil to send someone to confirm that something went right for a change? Lincoln points out that Michael wouldn't have recognized their father, so he's not in a position to say jack. Michael reasonably asks, "He took off thirty years ago. Why would he come back now, at the very last minute?"
Michael's not the only curious cat. We quickly zoom to Washington, where Madame Vice President and Mistress of Evil (we'll just call her "Madame Evil" for short) is asking sharply, "Why is he still alive?" Ah, it looks like Madame Evil is learning the first rule of conspiracy planning: if you want anything done right, you have to do it yourself. Kellerman is standing; he says, "It appears that some information was anonymously slipped to the judge." Madame Evil snarls, "'Anonymously'? It was your fat little friend Hale!" Kellerman's wearing a look like I would have called him "husky," maybe. Or "man-sized." There's no need to make hurtful comments about weight. Kellerman says it wasn't Hale, and the seated Brinker (a.k.a. "Agent Forbes," from her first appearance) sharply asks, "How do you know that?" Kellerman replies, "If he had given Veronica Donovan anything that could have gotten a stay of execution, I think she would have brought it up when she made her argument in court." Brinker is only temporarily thwarted by this logic. She attempts to blame the secret government machinery, but Kellerman quickly snaps, "Who else on your end knows? Why all the finger-pointing at us? Are you sure the delete didn't come from your end? From the company?" Madame Evil steps in to point out that they're all in this big conspiracy together, so there's no need to make like the 1972 A's and start with the locker-room brawls. Kellerman thanks Madame Evil and heads off. When Brinker gets up, Madame Evil bites out, "The next time you're in my office, I expect you to stand when you're addressing me." Brinker agrees in a way that suggests she's just put Madame Evil in the upper third of her "people to kill before the nest election" list.