Episode Report Card Sobell: B- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT A Girl Named Disaster
By Sobell | Season 3 | Episode 9 | Aired on 01.13.2008
Out in the courtyard, the inmates are getting all excited for the Octavio v. Bellick match. I personally think they need to get that inmate who gives haircuts and make him the Sona equivalent of the bimbo who walks around the boxing ring holding up the round card. These guys lack a certain detail-oriented bent, I feel. Anyway, Bellick is frantically running through the halls of Sona, looking for something that'll give him an edge in the battle against a guy who's 80% muscle and 20% thug instinct. He finds it in the cell of the inmate who likes to paint, as said inmate has all manner of solvents and cleaners for his supplies. Of course. And I bet the inmate next door to him scrapbooks and there's a Cricut lying around, and next to him is the cell where Sona's stitch-and-bitch group meets and there are knitting needles, and...anyway, Bellick eventually finds what he needs, and when he comes out for the fight, his hands are wrapped in strips of gray cloth and his nostrils are plugged. We see Octavio leap in the air and land a juicy punch on the way down.
And then we see that Susan B.'s strapped in and ready for her water torture. Zavala gives her one last chance to answer, but Susan B.'s closed her eyes and gone to her happy place, so the waterboarding commences. For those of you who haven't been keeping abreast of what our government has been doing to its prisoners, a quick primer: the prisoner is pushed into a reclining position; a sheet of saran wrap is pushed over her face, flattening her nose and sealing her mouth shut; and then a torrent of water is unleashed on top of the plastic. The overall effect is to make you believe you're drowning.
As this is going on, Whistler and Michael get to hear everything -- the water running, Zavala asking, "Yes or no?" -- and Whistler's getting really fidgety. Michael notes, "You seem concerned for her." Whistler self-righteously says, "She holds our entire future in her hands. Yeah, I'm concerned." He shouldn't be. Susan B. withstands the waterboarding like a champ. After only a few coughs, she lies to Zavala about having anything to do with the escape attempt, and he says, "You proved one thing. This is not your first time." So he goes to get the boys in the lobby. Whistler looks incredibly concerned. I immediately put on a tinfoil hat and wonder if he and Susan B. ever had anything going on.
Once both guys are in the same room, Zavala asks if Susan B. knows them. She claims not to, and Michael immediately says, "That's a lie...she came to see [Whistler] in visitation. Isn't that right?" Zavala piles on with, "Is this the woman you work for? Did she order the prison escape?" Whistler stays resolutely silent right up to the moment when Zavala pulls out his gun. Then he looks down at Susan B. and admits, "Yes." Michael immediately turns the full Blue Steel on Susan B. Whether it's this or Whistler's admission that does Susan B. in, she finally says, "I don't know anything about a prison escape. I'm just a babysitter. I watch the kid...[he's] near Paloma, Highway 2. I can take you." Zavala takes her up on that offer. Before Michael's led back to Zavala's office, he turns to Susan B. and asks, "Was it you? Did you kill Sara?" Susan B. lies, "I have no idea what you're talking about." Michael gives her one last look before saying, "I'm coming for you." Susan B. does not look particularly concerned.