The episode picks up right where we left off, with Bellick gaping at the hole. Then he's gaping from the massive blow to the head Westmoreland delivers. Unfortunately, Bellick's primitive animal skull is hard as a rock, and he tussles with Westmoreland for a few minutes before the old inmate finally subdues him, ties him up, and tosses him in the tunnels. Even more unfortunately, the fight leaves Westmoreland with a giant, gaping, Nancy Spungeon-style abdominal wound. Silver Fox, no!
By this point, it's beginning to hit the brighter members of Team Escarpara that Tweener's a prison snitch. However, they appear to have shoved his well-deserved comeuppance to the bottom of their to-do lists, as the Bellick thing moves the escape timetable up dramatically. So now the new to-do list reads as follows: lose your scent in the cells; bleach an extra set of prison blues so they'll pass for Whack Shack jumpsuits; line up transportation (Abruzzi); figure out a way to get Lincoln unshackled from the wall (Michael).
Meanwhile, on the outside…Nick finally turns, pulling a gun on Veronica as she's about to head out to Montana. Veronica shows some unexpected grit, pointing out to Nick that he should at least have the guts to look her in the eye. Nick can not.
Madame Vice President's in trouble: not only are her puppetmasters at the One World Conspiracy unhappy with her, so is the president. This does not bode well for her political longevity, or for Terrence's overall longevity. Since Illinois governor Tancredi is not aware of the One World Conspiracy, he is also not aware that he's hitching his political wagon to a falling star. So he's extra-shirty when Dr. Sara swings by his musty old-boys' club to ask if he even bothered to review Linc's case file. When the governor testily informs her that he hasn't, then adds a few choice words about Dr. Sara's past as a junkie and a thief, Dr. Sara realizes that her daddy's being used by sinister forces.
This realization is helpful, as it may actually, eventually, maybe -- in a subsequent episode -- bring her around to doing what Michael begs her to in this episode, and keeping the clinic unlocked. Yeah, Michael and Dr. Sara have the post-not-break-up talk and she more or less manipulates him into admitting that yeah, he used her but he feels really bad about that.
And speaking of people Michael uses, there's Pope. After a very sweet scene in which Pope expresses his gratitude toward Michael for finishing the Taj Mabadidea, we find out that Michael's subtly sabotaged the thing so he can get Pope alone in his office. The episode ends with Michael holding a shiv on Pope, apologizing for what he's doing, but absolutely resolute that he'll do what it takes to get Lincoln freed.
This episode picks up exactly where the last one left off: Bellick's discovered the hole in the floor, and he's peering into it while he debates whether it would be better to bust Scofield right now, or catch him mid-escape. Unfortunately, he doesn't have time to draw up a list and write down the pros and cons for each plan because Westmoreland's just whapped him upside the head with a shovel. Viva el zorro de plata!
In a menacing voice, Westmoreland says, "You know I can't let you leave here, boss." Menacing and yet...strangely enticing. Westmoreland whacks him with the shovel again, but that fails to fell Bellick. Instead, there's some serious wrestling and back-and-forth bodyslamming, and when Bellick gets the best of Westmoreland for a moment, he slams him into the counter. The counter happens to have a broken coffeepot on it, and one of the glass shards drives deep into Westmoreland's gut. Ach nein, Silberner Fuch! Bellick then grabs the shovel and prepares to dig a big cavity in Westmoreland's skull, but the con's got a thermos and a lot of adrenaline, and lays out the CO with one well-placed blow to the head. What? It could happen! Westmoreland looks down and finally notices the giant slab of glass poking out of his stomach. Pulling it out seems to hurt as much as putting it in did. Westmoreland's shaky and alarmed-looking, but he looks at the unconscious Bellick and sets his face as he prepares for whatever's .
We then see a dog handler leading a German shepherd down the walk, right outside the yard. T-Bag watches it go and drawls, "Dawwwgs. The numerous times I've been apprehended while trying to elude the authorities, it's always because of the damn dogs." Oh, Robert Knepper, don't you ever get tired of pocketing every scene you're in? We switch to a shot of Westmoreland coming out of St. Louis. He's walking stiffly and wheeling a trashcan. I wonder if Bellick's inside. We see him pull his coat closed, the better to hide the red stain spread across his shirt.
T-Bag is still holding forth on canine olfactory prowess: "You can run from everything in your life except your own particular stink." C-Note needles him with, "Some of us stink more than others." T-Bag continues, "You can smell like a bou-quet of bonbons, but unless you get rid of your smell, you might as well send a letter to the police with directions and some cab fare." Abruzzi adds helpfully, "Theodore's right." Hee! Theodore! All we need are two more escapees named Alvin and Simon. Michael commands everyone to wash down their cells and their bunks. T-Bag adds dramatically, "Either get rid of your smell or change it." Westmoreland continues pushing that trash can with single-minded purpose: I really do think that's how he's moving Bellick to a point where he can drop him.
The rest of Team Escarpara's working on a timeline. Abruzzi tells them it'll be three days before he can get them into St. Louis for PI, and Manche (AKA "Captain Calorie") says he'll have the extra prison uniforms by then. C-Note then jinxes the whole operation by saying, "So we're good to go," and Michael further tempts the fates by adding, "All I have to do is figure out how to get through that door in the infirmary, and how to get Linc out of that box...three days is plenty of time." Oh, you silly, silly man. Have you been paying attention to any of the nineteen episodes? If not, would you like a quick formula to get up to date? Here you go:
Escape-oriented task + (unforeseen and totally coincidental complication * complete misreading of person necessary for to-do list) - improvisational fix = task completed + unfortunate development occurring at 51-minute mark.
In other words, assuming anything will work out as planned shows either a sweetly child-like naiveté or some sort of soap opera-esque amnesia wherein the events that take place in your presence are soon lost to the mists of forgetfulness.
And speaking of unforeseen consequences, here's this week's. Westmoreland comes over and tells 'em they've all got to amscray ASAP. Team Escarpara stares dumbly, because it's not like they've ever had to deal with any other obstacles or setbacks. Aaaaaand...credits!
Commercials. I realize I am one of maybe two dozen non-soccer-playing Americans who gets all geeked up over the World Cup, but dang it, that Gatorade commercial where they play "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" while soccer players do picturesque stunts suggesting they lifted all their best moves from housecats -- well, that just makes me misty.
Westmoreland's catching them all up on Bellick's unfortunate discovery and adds ominously, "It's just a matter of time before someone discovers Bellick's missing." Michael's all, "Come again? Missing?" Westmoreland does not reply, "You might say Bellick's gone underground for the duration."
Over in St. Louis, everything's miraculously tidy. Some CO makes coffee, completely oblivious to the fact that a few yards beneath his feet, a hog-tied and duct-taped Bellick is passed out in the sewer pipe.
Out in the yard, Sucre's trying to calm everyone down with, "Okay, okay, okay, this is a big place. Maybe they won't notice he's gone for a while." What, Bellick's other SEVEN coworkers at the prison? C-Note -- ever the chicken of despair -- glumly says that nothing happens without Bellick's say-so, and if the decider goes missing...well, unlike some other decider-centric situations, there is no cadre of evil geniuses to step in and overtly assume decider duties. Abruzzi -- who is channeling Bob Dylan this week in re: verbal tics -- says the guards will close down the place to look for Bellick once they notice he's missing. Sucre asks what they'll do and Michael Blue Steels as he says, "As soon as it gets dark, we go." "Tonight?" T-Bag protests. He continues to dither about how they're not ready, and Michael points out that the minute Bellick found the hole, they were ready. C-Note pulls out the chicken-of-gloom act again and Michael turns around to yell, "Then STAY! I'll be sure to read the papers in the morning, to see how many years you got when they realized which crew was working in that room." It's good to see him finally lose his temper with the whining already. C-Note sucks it up and falls into line, inquiring, "So what's the plan, man?" Michael asks Abruzzi, "Do you think you can have the plane ready by tonight?" Abruzzi can, and runs off to do so. Michael then turns to C-Note: "You have kitchen duty, right? ...What'd you use to scrub down the floors?" C-Note says it's peroxide. Michael declares that adequate for his purposes and tells C-Note to get as much as he can. Michael then tells everyone else to work on masking or eliminating their scents from their cells, and says he's off to work on his love li -- I mean, to settle the key situation with the infirmary. Westmoreland protests, "None of this matters if we can't get in the guard room!" and Michael snaps, "We're going to leave after dinner, during tier time, when the cells are open. Seven o'clock, one by one, in my cell." C-Note's back out of line, protesting that the whole point to the guards' room was to get a head start. T-Bag piles on with, "We leave from your cell, we ain't got no lead time. That's only --" "Sixty minutes to get over that wall and as far away from here as possible," Michael interrupts. Now Sucre joins the negativity parade with, "They'll be right on our asses!" A CO picks that moment to scream at the inmates about heading inside, and Michael schools the team in Metaphor 101 as he says darkly, "They already are."
The inmates shuffle back in. As they head up to their cell, Sucre tells Michael, "You know, there's one thing we didn't talk about out there. Your brother. He's under 24-hour surveillance. I'm just saying: if you can't get to him by tonight, we still have to go. You know that, right?" Michael looks almost like he's nodding. He turns to look across the cellblock, and there's Tweener standing in his cell, looking at Michael. Scofield heads inside his cell and deliberately turns around so he's looking right back at Tweener. The little snitch keeps staring, while Michael Blue Steels at him across the way. Raise your hands, all you who think Michael's just figured out how Bellick found the hole in St. Louis.
We get an ominous and symbolic shot of the guard tower, and then we go to Linc in his cell. He appears to be shackled to the floor, but that does not deter him from calling for a CO. When a surly guard appears, Lincoln frets about how Michael has not been informed about his brief flirtation with freedom. The guard speaks for all of us when he says, "So?" Linc asks if he can get a message to Michael and the guard snaps, "Yeah. I have a pigeon here..." Oh, he does not. He actually snaps, "Yeah. Put it in your will." Wow, two guards escort you somewhere and suddenly you're the jerk. Linc rolls his eyes, all Would it be too much to ask not to get the hecklers?
Meanwhile, on the outside...an elevated train is running, as they are wont to do in Chi-town, and we get some more token skyline shots before going to wherever Veronica happens to be holed up. She's on the phone with someone, asking, "And you're sure all those dots connect?" The person on the other end of the phone says, "Yes. There are numbers to each dot. If you count on your fingers like a big girl, then count the dots, you'll get a bunny. Or a ridiculously baroque conspiracy." Actually, what happened is this: Veronica called a friend of hers at a title company, said friend got the address for the phone number in Blackfoot, Montana. Nick asks where it is, and Veronica replies, "It's not the 'where' that's interesting. It's the 'how.'" The upside to the "how": the $2 million spread in Montana was purchased via a holding corporation bankrolled by a trust financed by the estate of Terrence Steadman. Veronica says, "Looks like you and I are going to Blackfoot, Montana." Nick can hardly hide his excitement over the prospect of canoodling in the Big Sky state. Or over handing Veronica over to Abruzzi's tender mercies. This may well be a win-win situation for him.
Down in the tunnels below the prison, Bellick is coming to. He quickly discovers that Westmoreland was paying attention the day his Boy Scout troop learned to tie knots.
Aboveground, Stolte has realized that Bellick's missing. He asks another CO if he's seen Bellick, and as the two of them chat about how much Bellick they're not seeing today, Michael sidles by, looking very nonchalant. So nonchalant, in fact, that he practically screams, "I am eavesdropping! Don't be at all suspicious as to why I'd want to listen in on your conversation!" Stolte does notice that Michael's dawdling, but that's about as far as his powers of observation extend. C-Note pulls his chicken-of-pessimism act and groans, "They're already starting to ask questions." He goes on about how much it will suck if Bellick's found before then. Sensibly, Michael elects to ignore C-Note's mutterings and asks how that peroxide's coming along.
Meanwhile, T-Bag goes wandering the mess hall. He asks an inmate named Michaels if he plans on finishing his Brussels sprouts. Michaels is not. If this episode were airing 50 years ago, triumphant mothers across America would be saying, "See what happens if you don't like your Brussels sprouts? You'll grow up, become a criminal, go to prison and be forced to eat them anyway. So chew up!" Anyway, Michaels tells T-Bag to help himself: "Take 'em. They smell like crap." Then they're not being prepared correctly. With the right recipe, Brussels sprouts are darn tasty.
T-Bag pockets the sprouts and walks, smirking, past Michael and C-Note. Michael detours past the table where Tweener's eating alone. He stands there and Blue Steels in Tweener's general direction until Tweener asks, "'Sup?" Michael Blue Steels some more. Tweener gets justifiably unnerved. Michael finally says, "Tonight." Tweener's all, "Come again?" and Michael says, ""Change of plans." Proving that he will never, ever develop the survival instincts or good sense necessary to keep himself out of trouble, Tweener asks, "Why? Did something happen?" Michael tells him to chat with Sucre about what he needs to do to be ready for the escape. Tweener asks, "What about --" "Tonight," Michael replies. And then he gives Tweener one more stare, as if to imply, Now that I have used my Blue Steel to read your mind, I've confirmed you're a problem.
Meanwhile, on the outside...Madame Vice President is getting her butt handed to her by a cadre of white, middle-aged dudes. Of course they're white, middle-aged dudes. Are any worldwide conspiracies ever really bastions of diversity? The reason Madame Vice President is getting raked over the coals: the President apparently changed his mind about vetoing the environmental bill, and since it's not in the interest of any self-respecting conspiracy to embrace alternative energy, they're pissed about this. The random, generic white guys are all, "We were assured he was going to veto the bill," and Madame Vice President reminds him, "Assurances can tell you everything that a man is going to do until he wakes up and changes his mind." Random generic white guys tell her to change his mind back, and she snaps, "I don't think you understand --" They ask if she understands whether they can crush her like a grape by withdrawing their support. And so on and so on and let me just say: when it looked like Madame Vice President was the architect of a conspiracy, that was moderately interesting. For one, the idea of the nation's highest-ranking soccer mom secretly ordering the executions of innocent people and arranging things to her satisfaction is pretty damn amusing. For another, it's a lot more original than the usual "Blah blah blah we're a bunch of swotty over-privileged white dudes who are keeping everyone down blah blah blah" nonsense.
Dr. Sara walks into the clinic, where Michael is waiting for her. She locks the door, and Michael says, "Sara, I was thinking about --" "Enough, Michael," she says. Dr. Sara folds her arms, and continues, "Enough with the lies and the coincidences and the stories -- all of it." Michael tries to protest and she cuts him off again: "I know what you did. The question is, are you man enough to admit it?" Good news for both of them: he is. Dr. Sara snaps, "Congratulations. Is that the first time you've been honest with me?" Oh, snap! She really did read all the way through Don't Do Time in the Prison of Love AND the sequel Don't Put Him on Probation In Your Bed. Then, projecting just a tad, Dr. Sara asks Michael if he was doing this all for drugs. Michael tells her, "Please understand, I never meant -- I never meant to involve you in this." Dr. Sara replies, "Well, you've done a pretty poor job of that." To his credit, Michael forges ahead, "I came here to tell you: I'm getting my brother out of here. Tonight. And I need your help." Dr. Sara stares hard at Michael, or perhaps at the commercial break bearing down over his shoulder.
Commercials. I rarely feel so disconnected from pop culture as I do whenever I see promos for a show like Unan1mous.
When we get back from commercials, Dr. Sara's still staring. Michael's beginning to shift uncomfortably under her gaze. So it doesn't feel so good when someone else silently goggles at you for minutes on end, does it, Mr. Michael "Blue Steel" Scofield? Dr. Sara eventually recovers enough to say, "Michael, honestly, for your own good, don't say anything more." Michael presses, "You know he's innocent." "Do what you're talking about and he won't be," Dr. Sara shoots back. Michael rebuts that Linc will still be alive. Getting angrier now, Dr. Sara says, "You understand that I'm required to report everything you're telling me? Then why would you (tell me)?" Michael tells her, "Because you're the only one who can help. And because you want to be part of the solution." Dr. Sara points out that aiding and abetting criminals isn't really part of the solution. Michael asks how she can do nothing, knowing what she does about the case, and Dr. Sara correctly calls him on his guilt trip with, "How dare you put this on me? I did what I could. I gave my father the information --" You can tell Michael's getting desperate because instead of his usual low, controlled delivery, he's actually emotional when he says, "No offense to your father, but the people who are framing Lincoln? Let’s just say they have a higher security clearance." Dr. Sara shares my contempt for conspiracy theories. Michael bursts out, "I'm asking you to make a mistake! Not hurt anyone, not steal anything. Forget to lock up. Leave the door unlocked when you leave tonight. Please." Dr. Sara looks around, immediately second-guesses every interaction she's ever had with Michael, and asks if he's planning on breaking out here. She realizes, "I was part of your plan." Without looking at Michael, Dr. Sara asks, too-nonchalantly, "Was it all an act?" He admits, "At first, yes. I needed to be here. But then I wanted to be here with you. And it's killing me to know you'll never believe that." And it's killing TiVos across America as countless women (and men) wear out that last sequence and imagine that Michael Scofield's talking to them. Michael then leans forward and asks Dr. Sara, "Whatever you might think of me, this is about Lincoln. Don’t make him pay for my mistakes." Dr. Sara storms out without a word. Perhaps she's going to go make Lincoln pay for Michael's mistakes.
Meanwhile, on the outside...some random beefy guy's waiting on an El train platform when his cell phone goes off. It's Abruzzi, explaining, "There's been an ACK-celleration...that thing's tonight." The fat flunkie swears, "Son of a bitch!" Abruzzi corrects him with, "I think what you're trying to say is 'No problem.'" The flunkie and Abruzzi confirm that there will be a van there behind the old mill. The flunkie asks, "Don't you want a bigger plane? It's only got three seats. I thought you said there were seven or eight guys." Abruzzi slurs, "Not everybody gonna have a ticket." The flunkie asks, "You wanna tell me who is?" and Abruzzi replies, "The few who are still breathing." Wow! Either he's more negative than C-Note, or Abruzzi's one of those dreary converts who assumes everyone's going to hell, or perhaps he's assuming he and Michael and perhaps Sucre will all be bodily assumed into Heaven the minute they get free of Fox River. That should reduce the number of cons who need plane sets, right?
Veronica is busy booking her tickets to Blackfoot, and while she's doing that, Nick fields a call from Abruzzi. The mob boss tells him that Nick needs to take Veronica to the airstrip tonight. Nick says, "Tonight?" and Abruzzi asks, "Was I not enunciating?" Well, no. You never are, Abruzzi. Nick warns, "Things could get messy." "So wear a smock," Abruzzi shrugs. Nick hangs up and looks all conflicted.
Back in the prison, Michael's keeping an eye on St. Louis. A few guards are wandering around the new and improved guard room, busy discussing the lucky women with whom they'd deign to sleep. Several yards below them, Bellick can hear them, but he is still undetected.
Sucre comes over to Michael and checks to see if he's solved that sticky infirmary problem yet. Michael indulges in a little wishful thinking with "I'm working on it." When the guards come out again, Michael seems to relax a little, and then he checks his watch.
Tweener walks over to the Anti-Pope and asks if he's seen Bellick. Nope. Westmoreland's watching with some interest now, as is Michael. Tweener persists with the guard: "I need to talk to him." The Anti-Pope snaps, "Do I look like his mother? He hasn't shown up yet." Westmoreland continues to watch Tweener, and the younger man persists, "Are you sure he ain't showed up yet, 'cause I seen him this morning." Westmoreland distracts them both right then by bellowing, "I need a hand over here!" Tweener heads over and actually notices that Westmoreland's looking very pale and shaky. He asks if the old man's all right and Westmoreland says, "I'm just sore is all. You live to my age, you'll know all about it." Something in that comment seems to suggest that Westmoreland's not placing any bets on Tweener living that long.
As Abruzzi works in the yard, he pockets handfuls of the manure that they're using to fertilize the gardens. C-Note comes over to talk to Michael and asks, "You know you got a couple of foxes in your henhouse, right?" Michael wants to know who C-Note's talking about. That would be T-Bag and Abruzzi or, as C-Note calls them, "the bastard and the born-again." Michael's confident that the children will play nicely until they're out of the schoolyard. C-Note shows Michael the shiv and points out, "I picked that off T-Bag yesterday. If I'd have been there ten seconds later, they'd be serving Abruzzi with red sauce in the morgue. I know you want to be shot-caller and everything, and that's cool, but you got to handle things, man. Are you picking up what I'm putting down?" Michael assures him that he is. They shake on it, and C-Note passes over the shiv.
Nurse Gossipson comes in to drop some paperwork on Dr. Sara's desk. The good doctor is mentally checked out: she'd standing in a corner, looking out the very same window Michael plans on escaping through. Dr. Sara asks her, "Do me a favor -- can you take care of that for me? I've got to get out of here." She grabs her coat and takes off, deflecting Nurse Gossipson's questions about where she's headed.
We see Westmoreland stuffing a sock against his wound and leaving the old, bloody dressing in a locker. He then shuffles over to join the rest of Team Escarpara. Michael tells everyone to put their clothes on over their PI gear, explaining, "We don't have time to get the suits we need. We'll have to make them." And this is how everyone learns Tweener's now joining the ever-expanding Team Escarpara. Nobody takes this well. T-Bag snaps, "Well, for health reasons, information like that should be disseminated a little more pronto." C-Note and Abruzzi also object and Michael says, "It's not up for discussion … I owe him. I don't owe you a damn thing." C-Note snaps back, "You gonna if we get nailed because you didn't cut down on the damn guest list." And then everyone shivers, because the temperature in the locker room -- in which they are totally unsupervised, by the way, because what better combination is there than convicts and a bunch of flat, straight-edged metal surfaces? -- just dropped ten degrees.
Everyone shuffles on out, looking a little bulkier and lot more surly than before. As they're walking out, a CO stops proceedings and says he saw some drops of blood on the floor of the locker room, and he'd like an explanation. Thinking quickly, Michael cuts his thumb with the concealed shiv, then shouts, "That'd be me, boss. I did it while I was loading some equipment back into the shed." The CO is all, "Be sure to get that patched up." Michael does not reply, "I'm sure the doctor would love to see me." As everyone walks off, Michael asks Westmoreland if he's okay, and the Silver Fox replies, "Okay enough to make it out of here, I swear." Michael looks troubled as he watches him go.
Meanwhile, on the outside...Dr. Sara's in her car, reciting the serenity prayer. Just so we know she's headed north to Chicago, an El train rattles by in the background. Dr. Sara then tries to get hold of her sponsor, Shelly, because she's obviously having a bad day, but she catches sight of the bar across the lot from where she's parked, and she heads over to it.
Back on the inside, Michael's carefully pulling out an internal support that's deep within the bowels of the Taj Mabadidea. He pockets the support just as Pope comes in. The warden's very pleased, and quips, "Whoa! I think we should break a bottle of champagne across its bow." Michael wryly smiles and says, "If you're intending to get this thing home for your anniversary tonight, I wouldn't recommend it." Pope then says, very sincerely, "I want you to know...well, I feel very fortunate to have met you." Michael attempts to deflect where this is all headed by quipping about how few structural engineers make it into prison, but Pope doggedly says, "No, no -- I don't mean because of your vocation. I mean because you're a decent young man, and there's not many of those who make their way into Fox River." To his credit, Michael replies, "For what it's worth, there are a few down there." He does not add, "There will be a few less after tonight, but some should be left." Pope adds, "I know this goes without saying, but if there's anything you need … well, I owe you one." How about clemency? Unshackling his brother? Asking Dr. Sara to keep the clinic door unlocked? The possibilities are endless. Michael asks for a visit with Lincoln.
And now he looks like he's regretting it as he listens to Lincoln catch him up to date on the conspiracy, their missing father, and other skeletal features to be fleshed in subsequent seasons. Michael is busy looking at the wall and the chain that's fastened to it, and he says, "I don't believe it." Lincoln realizes that Michael's comment wasn't directed to him at all, and asks wryly, "You got something you want to tell me? I just told you everything you knew about Dad was a lie and you barely blinked." Michael hunkers down and explains that they have to escape tonight because Bellick found the hole. Michael's beginning to monkey with the chain as he says, "I know it's going to be tight, but I can do this." Lincoln gives him a reality check: "Go. You gotta go. Look at me -- you can't do this. There's not enough time. You stay here, and they'll nail you. You'll rot in here. I'm not asking you, man. I'm telling you. Leave me behind. Go." Michael slumps down, totally bummed out. And really, if you had just spent umpteen years, tattooed your entire torso, gone to prison, and lost a few toes, only to have the reason for doing that tell you to scram, wouldn't you be bummed too?
C-Note is busy filling up baggies with peroxide and taping the sacks of liquid to his legs. The same guy who gave him the shiner he's currently sporting -- named "Trumpets" as it turns out -- asks if C-Note's trying to "run something for those wonderbreads you've been running around with" and C-Note protests that he's not. After some more big talk, Trumpets makes the mistake of getting on C-Note's bad side with "What you trying to clean up, Sergeant Franklin?" C-Note throws a bag of peroxide in his face, and it is ON after that. We see C-Note stomping the living snot out of the guy. He finally spits on Trumpets and walks off; his tense stride suggests that brutalizing Trumpets was not what you'd call a stress-busting experience.
Commercials. You can shoot a bottle of Heineken so it looks totally classy, but that will do nothing to disguise the fact that the classy bottle is still filled with Heineken.
When we come back, Dr. Sara's in the bar, staring at a drink. Perhaps she's practicing in anticipation of her stare-down with Michael. As Dr. Sara pulls the drink closer, a conveniently-timed newscast on the TV alerts her to the fact that her dad's on the list of people Madame Vice President is considering as a running mate. Dr. Sara's head pops up as the reporter notes Governor Tancredi's on the list because of his reputation for being tough on crime, and that reputation's been helped by his recent refusal to grant clemency to Lincoln Burrows. Dr. Sara runs off, leaving her drink untouched.
Back in the prison, it's just before four p.m. and we see that Bellick still hasn't checked in. Stolte's looking nervous. Then we see Team Escarpara making their assorted preparations for the escape: T-Bag's scattering Brussels sprouts in his bed, clearly hoping their scent will overwhelm his own. We see Abruzzi spreading fertilizer all over his bed. His cellmate asks, "What the hell are you doing, John?" and Abruzzi replies, "The Lord's work." Cellie asks, "The Lord wants you to spread horse crap all over your mattress?" Abruzzi rolls his eyes and says theatrically, "It's not in our place to question His will." Heh. I think Abruzzi's conversion is just an extended practical joke, but I do love the flair with which he imparts his little statements of "belief."
Westmoreland is running a bar of soap over the walls of his cell. He stops for a moment and breathes hard against his pain, then continues. We then see Stolte visit Tweener. He drops Avocado's gear on the top bunk and shares the news that the big, hairy rapist is returning to his cell that evening. Already? Who knew the big lug had accelerated healing powers? Tweener is somewhat taken aback by this, but before he has time for a full-blown freak-out, Stolte asks about Bellick. Like all really bad liars, Tweener looks away from Stolte. Unfortunately, he happens to look right at Michael, who comes over and drapes himself on his cell door for a good long Blue Steel at the little prison rat. It works, because Tweener soon backtracks on his story and claims he didn't see Bellick today: "You know, time just sort of blends up in here." When Stolte leaves the cell, Tweener just collapses against his bunk. The poor guy needs to figure out what he's going to do, and it's not like he has a lot to work with on the figuring end.
We then find out what Michael wanted the peroxide for: when it's poured into the toilet, it not only sterilizes the loo, it also provides a basin in which they can bleach out their PI jumpsuits so they can pass for Whack Shack uniforms. The good news: the peroxide is working. The bad news: once again, Sucre is Captain Bringdown with the whole "Wow, what a shame we can't unshackle Lincoln and bust him out with us" thing. Michael stalks to the other end of the cell, imperiously telling Sucre, "Worry about the suits. I will worry about Linc."
Meanwhile, on the outside...there's a bunch of men wearing keffiyah headdresses and milling around in front of a phlanx of Chevy SUVs outfitted with flashing lights. The president gets them to amscray as Madame Vice President walks up. She tells him, "You know why I'm here." As they walk away from the Capitol building -- and let me tell you, as someone who lived around DC and worked a few events where the Secret Service was involved, just gamboling near one of the nation's top tourist destinations is not nearly the spur-of-the-moment activity this scene is implying -- anyway, as the President and VP walk along this incredibly high-profile, not at all secluded or private area, she decides to ask him about the energy bill. The President tells her, "Yes, the bill is flawed, but it's better than doing nothing. Frankly, I find it's a little curious that you're here telling me to veto a bill that you voted in favor of." Madame Vice President says bluntly, "You're on the way out. Some of us need to think ahead." This is when the President drops the news that in his thinking ahead, he concluded that he won't be giving her the Presidential endorsement, Again, I stress, this conversation about national policy and presidential endorsements is taking place near the Capitol, in a town practically crawling with reporters, and they're all merrily babbling away at the top of their lungs. Madame Vice President bursts out, "You can't do that!" The President replies, "Can't I? Carolyn, you are everything that's wrong with politics. You vote, not to legislate change, but to profit. You run, not to make a difference, but to make demands." Madame Vice President lashes out, "You put me on your ticket not because I share your views, but because I didn't share your gender, so don't take the moral high ground. We all know how this game is played." And that's when the President decides to take his ball and go home.
Back in the prison, the Anti-Pope is asking. "You know what I got my wife for our anniversary?" Well, it wasn't fidelity. Was it...an STD? Or perhaps a lame excuse for that lipstick on the boxer shorts? Anyway, the Anti-Pope gave his wife a scarf. Pope says bluntly, "This is a big one for me. I had to do something special." It's a good thing to know the celebration's still on, even after the surprise about Pope fathering a kid with another woman. Everyone lifts the Taj Mabadidea on three, and that's when the roof detaches and slides into the structure at an angle. Pope snaps, "Get Scofield up here! Right away!"
Michael's chillin' like a villain in his cell. Sucre is playing washerwoman and reporting excitedly, "It's working!" with regards to the uniforms. Michael tells Sucre to get the uniforms out and dried, since they have to go on under their prison blues in 45 minutes. Exactly how is Sucre supposed to dry them out? Did Michael also somehow jerry-rig a Maytag dryer under the bunk? Or are the wet clothes supposed to bask in the white-hot heat of a Blue Steel glare? A guard comes in right then, and Sucre hastily covers what they're doing by pretending he's using the little cons' room. Stolte tells Michael that Pope wants to see him. Michael replies, "What for?" and Stolte replies, "A bar mitzvah. Let's go." You know what would have made that line funnier? If Stolte had said, "A bris."
The other members of Team Escarpara watch Michael head off; nobody looks happy about it. Down in the tunnels, Bellick happens to find a protruding screw, and begins working to fray his bonds. I see no reason why any of us needs to get a blow-by-blow recap of any scene in which Bellick is sweating, panting and rubbing things vigorously.
Meanwhile, at the Rich White Guys' Club of the Greater Chicagoland Area (motto: "It's Great to Be Us!")...the governor and his toadies are all busy celebrating the fact that they're all rich white guys. Dr. Sara enters the room, and the governor excuses himself so he can go deal with his daughter. She congratulates him, adding, "I can't believe I had to hear about it on the news." The governor modestly says, "Oh, the VP thing? Well, that's just talk." "Is it?" Dr. Sara asks. The governor attempts to deflect again with, "What was it your mother used to say, about how it's nice to be invited to the dance, even if you don't have the right shoes?" That makes no sense at all, unless you're being invited to tap dance. Dr. Sara says, "She also used to say, 'Your father's a lying bastard,' but I figured that was just the booze talking." I wish my booze would talk. That would liven up cocktail hour. The governor deadpans, "It's always nice to see you, Sara. Is there something that you needed, or did you just come by to --" Well, she just came by to ask whether her dad ever actually looked at all that information Dr. Sara got from Lincoln's attorneys. The governor attempts to avoid directly lying first by telling Dr. Sara to move on from that case, then by making personal attacks ("I swear, working at Fox River has changed you -- you say you want to make a difference? At that place? It's too late!") and then he says bluntly, "I didn't need to [look at the information]." Dr. Sara asks, "Did they promise you the vice-presidency before or after you signed his death warrant?" That hits the governor where he lives. He snaps, "I will not discuss morality with an addict and a thief. You wanna talk reality, Sara? How many times did I use my influence to keep you or one of your junkie boyfriends out of jail? How many? Was it three? Four times? I swear Sara, it’s funny you know? You have no trouble whatsoever with me bending the law, especially when it’s bent in your direction. Grow up." Dr. Sara slumps away.
Back in the prison, the Anti-Pope and Stolte are fretting over Bellick's whereabouts. Stolte says, "It's six-thirty and no-one's heard from the guy. We gotta tell Pope." Abruzzi takes all this in and tries not to look panicked.
Meanwhile, on the outside...Nick is currently dealing with a stress headache brought on by the fact that he's a back-stabbing weasel. Veronica charges into the room and asks if Nick's called a cab. He says he hasn't, and Veronica asks, "Why not? The flight leaves in an hour!" Where is she flying out of where she can afford to check in less than an HOUR before the flight? Nick attempts to stall and it's all weaselly, and Veronica snaps, "I don’t know what your deal is lately, but I'm getting on that plane with or without you." Nick pulls a gun, aims it nowhere particularly lethal, then says, "I can't let you do that." Veronica whirls around and stares at Nick.
Commercials. I liked gambling and casinos more when they weren't so damned ubiquitous, Cache Creek.
We come back from commercials, and Nick still has that darned gun on Veronica. She asks, "All this time, you were one of them?" Nick doesn't answer. Veronica asks contemptuously, "Who's pulling your leash, Nick? The government? Kellerman?" He drops his eyes, clearly ashamed to be doing this. Veronica seizes that and orders, "Look at me. I want you to remember my face when you do whatever the hell it is you're going to do." Nick still can't look at her, even after she yells, "Look at me!" And then, the final insult: Veronica correctly calls Nick a coward. And you know, I'd never thought I'd write this in a recap, but go, Veronica. She may be dumb, but she's got courage.
Inside the prison, Michael's sitting in Pope's office waiting room, twiddling the model support he pocketed earlier. Before Pope can get to him, he orders Becky to call Bellick's available phone numbers, adding that Bellick's mom usually answers the home number. Pope talks to Mrs. Bellick and finds out, "Brad called you when he pulled in this morning? And he said he was here?" Pope gives the order to look for Bellick's truck and, if it's found, for him to be called immediately. Then he gestures for Michael.
Time passes. We go into a montage wherein every single one of the members of Team Escarpara flashes back to the reasons they have for escape, and gets a chance to sit in especially theatrical light so we can see how very dramatic this whole escape is. And you know, since we've all been watching, the flashbacks seem like an excuse to play Massive Attack's "Teardrop" and stretch out this episode by a few minutes. You want everyone's motivations? Abruzzi wants Fibonacci, Sucre wants to play Ward Cleaver with Maricruz and the Beav, T-Bag wants revenge on Susan, C-Note wants to come home to his family before they catch on that he's lying, Tweener would like not to be raped every few hours, Westmoreland would like to see his daughter before she dies (yeah, well, I wouldn't bet on that: we see the gaping gut wound and it doesn't look good -- sob!) and Lincoln would like not to be strapped to the electric chair again. After this extended flashback, we find out Michael romanced the wrong medical professional, what with Nurse Gossipson blithely locking up the clinic door and -- what? This montage is still going on? No. It's just the music. We see Dr. Sara walking along Lake Michigan, deep in thought as she debates what to do now.
"I've read that the actual Taj appears pink in the morning, milky white in the evening, and golden when the moon shines. The changes, they say, depict the different emotions of a woman. I can tell you something: if we don't get this thing fixed tonight, I don't want to know what kind of emotion my wife is going to have if I walk through that door empty-handed!" Pope says. Aww, it's cute how he's chattering nervously. He keeps rambling about how the support beam just snapped, and Michael lays down the support. He has the grace to look ashamed as he admits he took it. Michael's practically near tears and almost whispering as he says, "I'm sorry, but I needed to get back in here." He pulls out the shiv C-Note passed along and says, "I'm breaking out. And you're going to make sure my brother goes with me."
Or is he? We'll have to find out week.