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First things first: Sona apparently burned down off-screen. You think of all that time Michael spent crafting escape plans when all he had to do was stick a handful of silverware in a microwave for ten minutes and he'd have been able to waltz out the door…
ANYWAY. Three weeks have elapsed since the season three finale, and Michael has managed to get himself another big board of planning. He's tracked Whistler, Gretchen (AKA Susan B. Anthony) and Mahone to Los Angeles, and he's planning to deliver unto them a world of pain. However, his crafty scheme is derailed when Gretchen claims that Dr. Sara escaped. Michael lets them go, mostly because Gretchen claims she knows where Dr. Sara is.
Too bad for Michael that Gretchen gets killed in the scene for bungling the deal that Whistler was supposed to make for the company. (Or at least we think she was killed. With this show, unless you see the body being carted out by One World Conspiracy stooges, ain't nobody dead. I'm still holding out hope for my long-lost lamb Kellerman.)
Anyway, it's but a hop, skip and a jump to the first of Michael's projects this season: breaking into a secured data facility to download the One World Conspiracy's entire database of evil contacts, all of which are on a little data card that Whistler happens to have stolen. You see, he was apparently doing a little double-agent type thing, where he was playing Gretchen with the idea of undoing the One World Conspiracy from within, and he had recruited Mahone to the cause. Whistler's all gung-ho about doing this -- and then he is gunned down, mid-sales pitch to Michael. In the ensuing scramble to make sure they're not , both Mahone and Michael run off before grabbing the data card. So … the good news is for Michael, he now has free time to try and track down the possibly-still-alive Dr. Sara.
Except that the minute Michael returns to Chicago, he is promptly captured by the police. They turn him over to Homeland Security agent Don Self. A few scenes later, and all the regulars, save T-Bag, are back behind bars for one reason or another, and Don's crafted a proposal for Michael: work with his pals, get the card and break into the One World Conspiracy headquarters in L.A., or else … well, they know Michael seems to like being thrown into prisons.
But then the boys' substantial bail is posted by old Tancredi friend Bruce and then -- oh, I squealed like an eighth grader at a Jonas Brothers concert when Michael and Dr. Sara reunited. She doesn't even have to keep her head on her neck with safety pins like Clancy Brown in Highlander! When the One World Conspiracy manages to track him and Dr. Sara down again, Michael eventually agrees to Don Self's deal.
The episode ends with the team coming together: Michael, Linc, Mahone, Bellick, Sucre and Dr. Sara. And we say goodbye to a very special character: Michael's tattoos, which Michael lasers off in the name of expediency for the job. Of all the deaths on this episode -- Gretchen, Whistler, Mahone's wife and kid -- this may well be the one that really signals the writers' intention to send things in a new direction this season.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Previously on Prison Break ... well, why don't I let Michael tell you? We see the glowering, shirt-and-tie wearing guy giving some hapless target the Blue Steel, and then we go to his voice-over monologue. Here it is, almost verbatim:
My name is Michael Scofield, and I'm a fugitive. Three weeks ago, I was in a Panamanian prison. While I was there, I was approached by the [One World Conspiracy]. The [One World Conspiracy] is a corrupt organization involved in all levels of industry and government. They gave me two options: break one of their men, James Whistler, out of that prison, or else they would kill the only woman I ever loved. [Note: here is when I paused the TiFaux and said, "So, Sucre's still got a shot?"] Dr. Sara Tancredi. I held up my end of the deal, and I broke Whistler out. But the [One World Conspiracy] killed Sara anyway. I don't know why the [One World Conspiracy] wanted James Whistler out of prison, but I've tracked him here, to Los Angeles. He's with another [One World Conspiracy stooge] I know only as Gretchen. The same agent who murdered Sara. This ends today. I came here seeking justice. The justice I now know the system cannot provide. So if you're reading this letter, you'll know I died avenging Sara's death.
Michael picks up the little origami rose he made for Dr. Sara three seasons ago and heads off. Based on the elaborate collage he's got on his wall -- always a sign that someone's up to no good -- and the camera's long, lingering shot on an invitation from Stampede Industries, I'm thinking Michael's off to crash the reception and quite possibly cause something that'll cause the speakers (scheduled from 9 to 10 p.m.) to be delayed.
We then cut to a shot of the Roosevelt Hotel in downtown L.A. Our favorite One World Conspiracy stooges are pulling up to it -- Mahone's playing driver, while Whistler and Gretchen (aka "Susan B. Anthony") are in the back. Gretchen's changed her hair. I'm not sure I dig it -- it looks a tad soccer-mom on her, and I'm not sure that's a look that works when you're merrily executing people in cold blood. Anyway, we establish that Whistler's job is to get a data card, drop off it off via a racing form, then get the heck out of the hotel. Mahone fishes for the name of the contact, and Gretchen smacks him down with "The One World Conspiracy wants the card back, period." Before I can get too distracted by Gretchen's new makeup job, I realize that Whistler's also altered his appearance by shaving. It's a good look on him. Gretchen thinks so too: she leans in and says, "You pull this off, you can come up to my room later and the word 'no' won't be in my vocabulary." Instead of thinking of all the requests he could make -- "Will you buy me a Saab?" "May I have a pony?" "Can you reconcile my ex-girlfriend to me?" -- Whistler dully replies, "Just make sure we get paid." Whistler is not that creative a thinker, is he?
Michael watches the three stooges run through their charade outside the hotel via some binoculars (note: it is not so amusing as it would be were the Three Stooges attempting to enter a hotel), then we switch to the inside lobby where Gretchen's instructing Whistler, "In and out." As Whistler heads for a back room, he passes a white-haired guy who seems very interested in him. Going by that beady-eyed glare, I'd peg him as a One World Conspiracy stooge. Michael bluffs his way into the gathering by dressing like a caterer's assistant, and we get a quick sequence of him opening the case of wine he's been carrying to retrieve a gun and a suit jacket. Within moments, Michael's become just another dude in a suit wandering around the hotel.
Whistler is now conducting some bit of business with a guy named Jason. During their back-and-forth about why Whistler wants the card, we find out why the One World Conspiracy was so hot to get Whistler out of prison: he's the only one who's been working on this months-in-the-making $50,000,000 deal, and Jason's under the impression that he's selling the stolen-from-the-One-World-Conspiracy data card to someone who's not part of the One World Conspiracy. Jason learns that he's wrong when Whistler whips out a gun and puts a bullet in his brain. Whistler also kills the other guy in the room and heads back across the lobby, all purposeful and distracted. This would explain why he fails to notice Michael tailing him.
, Whistler ducks into a back storage room and begins rummaging around in the ceiling for something. As he does, he takes a call from Gretchen. (You all have no idea how many times I've already typed "Susan B." and deleted them. And it's only five minutes into the show! Old habits die hard.) Displaying her usual zen management style, Gretchen asks, "What the hell are you doing?" Whistler tells her he's hiding the gun; what he's actually doing is duplicating the data from the data card and making a copy. The task is interrupted by Michael cocking a gun and asking, "Where is she?"
Whistler doesn't seem all that surprised to see Michael. We get a shot of him monkeying with the two cards (one of which is possibly an incomplete duplicate) and then he says, "You don't understand. Trust me." It's so cute how he thinks "trust me" will work. Whistler adds, "I'm not your enemy, Michael." Although Michael had ordered Whistler to summon Gretchen, she walks right in on her own, right past the gun-wielding Michael. Suddenly, Gretchen's capture whilst in a war zone makes a lot more sense.
Michael steps out of the shadows and points his gun at Gretchen, saying, "Despite everything, if Sara could weigh in right now, she'd tell me not to kill you. That's the kind of person she was. That's the kind of person you took from me." Gretchen turns to Whistler and says, "James? Didn't you tell him?" Whistler begins to protest, "He walked in--" "SHUT UP!" Michael orders. He demands that Gretchen look at him, aims the gun at her face, and says, "I never killed Sara." Michael replies, "I wouldn't expect someone like you to take this with dignity." Gretchen tries to muster a sincere look but her facial features are like, "What is this strange new behavior?" so she just looks kind of cross-eyed as she swears to God that Dr. Sara is alive. For that sort of invocation, I kind of hope that God strikes her down with a lightning bolt and booms, "So NOW you're calling on Me? When it's convenient?" Whistler looks frankly skeptical of both Gretchen's claims and Michael's ability to kill someone with anything less than a half-ton of dirt.
Gretchen spins a tale about how Dr. Sara managed to escape and "we knew if you found out, I wouldn't have any leverage. I fabricated the whole thing." Michael protests that Linc saw -- "A head in a box!" Gretchen says. You know if anyone from Prison Break ever makes it on to SNL, they're morally obligated to perform "Head in a Box" with Andy Samberg. (And why not? It's not like Samberg can do impressions. He might as well earn his NBC money for the week.) The back-and-forth comes to an end when Whistler whips out a pistol and aims it at Michael. He uses Michael's uncertainty about Dr. Sara to A) disarm him, and B) effect an escape before the cops show up. I hope for Michael's sake he gets back to his L.A. digs and shreds that "In the event of my death ..." letter. Since he's lost track of the stooges (who did manage to drop off the data card for the One World Conspiracy guy in the lobby), Michael will have plenty of time to do so.
We then zip out to the Mojave Desert, where Gretchen is meeting with General Von Baldy. He is, to put it mildly, not pleased with how the get-the-card caper was pulled off because what he has is not the original data card but a duplicate. Gretchen's taken aback by this news, but it's only the appetizer in what ends up being a banquet of berating. And then it is capped with the dessert of death, as delivered by a giant, gun-toting conspiracy stooge. However, since we don't see the actual gunshot -- possibly because the agent is so big, he blots out the sun -- and we don't see an actual body thudding to the ground, I am thinking that Gretchen did not get the dessert of death so much as she did a coffee of To Be Continued.
Then it's off to beautiful Panama City, Panama, where Linc's peaceful morning in a café is interrupted by Michael calling to ask Linc if he's absolutely, positively sure that it was Dr. Sara's head in the box. Linc's reply can basically be distilled to: "I was looking at a severed female head in a box, Michael! I didn't take it out to check!" He also passes along the information that those high-spirited inmates at Sona finally managed to burn the place down in their latest riot. Michael's expression says volumes, but most of the sentiments contain language not fit for print. Suffice it to say, he's kicking himself for not just sticking a handful of forks in the microwave and clicking "Time cook: 5:00." He's also kicking himself for getting Sucre anywhere near the Sona mess. 'S'okay, papi. You can make it up to him later.
We then shift to the Arizona desert, a scant five miles from the Mexican border, where Bellick and Sucre are getting out of a truck packed to the brim with some of Mexico's more enterprising workforce members. As Bellick gets out, he sasses the coyote, and Sucre has to smooth things over. Oh, Bradley. It's nice to see that Sona taught you absolutely nothing in terms of when to shut your mouth. We see that the coyote dropped the two Sona escapees off outside an abandoned gas station, and Sucre immediately begins fretting because there's someplace he needs to be in a hurry. Bellick assures him that Ma Bellick will be there to pick him up -- "she's never let me down. At least, she hasn't yet." We then hear a car horn honking and a woman shouting, "Bradley! Over here!" Bellick begins jumping up and down joyfully and shouting, "Mom! Mom! I told you -- don't worry, you'll make it there!" He bolts over to the station wagon and he and his mom have a really emotional reunion. Brad Bellick: corrupt CO, Panamanian fugitive and mama's boy.
A few hundred miles to the west, Michael's surfing the Web at the Los Angeles public library downtown. He hits europeangoldfinch.net and finds a message from someone calling themselves 3.5nando asking him for a meeting behind the Santa Monica pier. Within moments, we've zoomed over to the pier and Mahone's swung by to say hi. Michael asks brusquely, "Where's your new best friend?" Mahone takes off the shades (regrettably, his floppy hat is still on, giving one the impression that he's taken time out from pruning the hedgerow for this meeting) and says, "I don't know about that, but he's not who you think he is. We're working together against the One World Conspiracy." Michael is all, "Please, then, to explain your association with girlfriend-beheading type?" Mahone tells Michael that Whistler's just using Gretchen, and if he really was part of the One World Conspiracy, he'd have shot Michael already. Michael gets to the point: he wants information about Dr. Sara. He shouts, "I want you to tell me right now, right here! Or we can get Gretchen on the phone." Mahone tells Michael that his mobile service provider doesn't quite have the range to reach the seventh circle of Hell, which is where Gretchen can presumably be reached. However, if Michael would like to follow Mahone to a deserted spot under the pier, they can continue their conversation.
Michael and Mahone are under the boardwalk, down by the sea. Sadly, they are not on a blanket. Mahone explains, "Whistler and I went to that conference to get a data card. It's like the One World Conspiracy's black book. It lists all their agents, all their operations. They refer to it as 'Scylla.'" For those of you not up on your mythology: Scylla was a monster that lived on one side of a narrow strait. She had six necks and heads, and each was armed with three rows of teeth. Scylla also had a neighbor across the strait, Charybdis, a monster who sucked in tremendous amounts of water and spit it out to create shipwrecking whirlpools. Ergo, to be caught between Scylla and Charybdis is to be A) navigating two equally treacherous perils at once, and B) annoyed that Sting can't write a simple pop song without trying to convince you that he is smart and deep.
Anyway. The One World Conspiracy has a data card named Scylla. I'm betting we'll meet some vast data-sucking technology later in the season called Charybdis. Michael's two nemeses from last season were teaming up to get the card, and -- and Michael could not care less. He only wants the 411 on Dr. Sara. Mahone says, "I understand that. I want nothing more than to get home to my wife and my son. But that's not going to happen for either of us with the One World Conspiracy out there trying to kill us." There's some more hissysulking on Michael's part before we finally get to the main point of this conversation: Whistler will swap information about Dr. Sara in exchange for a face-to-face with Michael.
Moments later, we're all meeting in an alley and Whistler lays out his deal: "There's one more step [to accessing the information on Scylla] and that step involves breaking into a secured structure ... my book, the bird book, the one I lost in Sona, contained information that would have helped facilitate the break-in, but it can still be accomplished, with your help." Michael only wants to know about Dr. Sara. Whistler says, "Only thing I know for sure is that a week ago, some information came through the wire. Sara may have bought a bus ticket in Santa Fe." She's headed for Chicago. Whistler continues his sales pitch: "If Sara's out there, she's not safe. Nobody's safe. The One World Conspiracy knows we have the original card, and that's why Gretchen was the first to go." Insofar as Michael is concerned, anyone who shoots Gretchen is OK by him. Mahone makes a very moving and urgent appeal to Michael, saying this is his chance to bring down the One World Conspiracy and clear his name. But Michael's still in the middle of a tremendous snit: "I spent the last month thinking Sara was dead and it was my fault. If she's out there, I'm going to find her. That's all I care about." Whistler says urgently, "This can be done in a week, maybe less. At least let me show you the --" The inside of his head, it looks like, as a sniper's shot just took off the top. Michael and Mahone hastily dive for cover and scamper off before they too are taken down by Agent Blots Out The Sun. Bad news for Mahone: the agent got Scylla. But it's even worse news for Whistler, who will not be joining us in the season four caper.
Meanwhile, down in Panama City, T-Bag is bidding an affectionate adieu to Sister Mary Hooker, or whatever her name was. She wants to know why he can't just start a new life here, seeing as how he's got a big pile of money and a sweet young thang who has no issues with any of Teddy's behavioral tics and peccadilloes. T-Bag explains, "Where I come from, there's something called a blood feud. Michael Scofield left me for dead one too many times, as it turns out." So, T-Bag figures he might as well leave a fulfilling life of luxury and affection for one of revenge schemes. Good luck with that, T-Bag. Anyway, bird book is packed, Sister Mary Hooker is paid off, and T-Bag is now being ferried northward by an allegedly reputable collection of coyotes.
Meanwhile, Agent Blots Out The Sun has met with General Von Baldy; the agent hands over the card and Von Baldy determines its authenticity. He also tells Agent Blots Out The Sun that he's now responsible for cleaning up the mess around Scylla: "Everyone who was close to Whistler. Scofield, Mahone, Burrows. Clean up."
We cut to Mahone calling his ex-wife. He says shakily, "I have to tell you, Pam, you know, I had a plan? For all of us to be together? Aaaaaand ... I'm not going to stop working on it." Pam is not a big plan of premeditated scheming: "Why do you need a plan if you want to be with someone? You just ... be with them." Mahone does not reply, "Well, it takes planning to get out of several murder raps and the occasional drug or conspiracy charge. That's why." Instead he practically gushes, "Don't say that unless you mean it. 'Cause I'll turn this world upside down to get back to you." Oh, Pam means it. She's made Mahone the happiest fugitive in America!
The happiest ex-fugitive in South America is now amiably squabbling with Sofia over the relative merits of chili burgers vs. plantains as they shop at an open-air market. Linc's still amiably bantering with Sofia when he spots a really anglo-looking guy giving him the cold, calculating stare we so often associate with the One World Conspiracy. Linc quickly hustles Sofia and LJ out of the market, explaining that he saw a stooge, and after both Sofia and LJ are like, "Just relax, it's fine," the little family turns a corner and runs right into said stooge. We all know what happens : LINCOLN SMASH. LJ, no stranger to this sort of mayhem, hustles Sofia out of the way. In the ensuing grappling, Linc disarms the stooge and shoots him. About a dozen police descend upon him. Oh, this isn't good.
And now, Agent Blots Out the Sun has just forced his way into Pam Mahone's home, and his ears have perked up upon hearing Cameron shout, "Mom?" Oh, this really isn't good.
Fortunately, the producers have exercised unprecedented amounts of restraint and not shown us a woman getting tortured and/or killed (I know!), so we're able to go right to Chicago, where Michael's merrily flitting across the streets in broad daylight. So intent is he on his mission of finding Dr. Sara that he totally doesn't notice the cop car he's just stepped out in front of. Way to go, O fugitive of the Illinois correctional system. Anyway, Michael manages to find a working phone booth, and he calls Bruce Bennett, Dr. Sara's old family friend from season 2. He begs, "I'm looking for Sara, and right now, you're the only person I can think of who can help me." Bruce is cagey: "Meet me in front of the Drake Hotel in half an hour." Michael asks, "Please just tell me: is she alive?" Alas, he doesn't get an answer to that because those cops he jaywalked in front of have just drawn a bead on him. Bruce listens as Michael's arrested. Oh, this really, really isn't good.
Within moments, Michael's in an interrogation room being introduced to this season's sketchy authority figure, Homeland Security special agent Don Self. Michael Rapaport is playing Don Self, and I don't know if the My Name Is Earl set prematurely ages you or what, but holy cats, he's looking, um, weathered. Don Self gives us some background on Whistler -- a longtime freelancer with the One World Conspiracy, it turns out -- and babbles a little about how Whistler was going to give him a copy of Scylla. Don Self proposes a deal with Michael: He won't do a minute of time in prison if he can get Don Self a copy of Scylla. Michael leans forward and says, "All right. Sara Tancredi, last seen in Panama. If you help me find her, we've got a deal." Don Self bunts on that, and Michael coldly says, "Go find it yourself. Seems to me the U.S. government should have a little more reach than someone who's looking at major time." Don Self breaks it down: "To perform the operation, Michael, that would require signatures from about twenty different department heads. You want to bet at least one of them is One World Conspiracy? The only way this is going to work is via freelancer. Off the books." Michael will take a pass. Don Self mentions the fifteen-year jail sentence. Michael shrugs it off; either staying put in prison will be a pleasant change, or he'll just escape. Don Self cannily mentions the time Lincoln's facing, on account of shooting a guy in self-defense. Since Don Self's brokered a deal, Linc should be serving his time in the U.S. Don Self then slams down a bulky accordion file, explaining that it contains all sorts of notes on Scylla. And if Michael takes up the project, he'll have a chance to finish the work that dead Aldo Burrows started.
And now, the truly heart-wrenching scene of the episode. As Mahone drives down a quiet suburban street, he sees police tape, hears the cars, and moans, "Oh, no." Oh, yes -- Pam's house is the crime scene. It takes three cops to stop Mahone's charge through the front yard. One of them screams repeatedly, "You don't want to go in there." Mahone's eyes bug out in horror at that implication, and he sinks to the ground in shock and grief.
Then the show gets all circle-of-life on us, as we see a bearded Sucre nervously waiting in the anteroom of a maternity ward. At long last, Maricruz's sister Theresa brings out a baby wrapped in a pink blanket. Sucre takes her and smiles down at her. Theresa introduces little miss Leila Maria Sucre, and Sucre's overjoyed that his daughter has his last name. He coos to her in Spanish, and I believe I just spontaneously ovulated while witnessing that. Sucre kisses his daughter and gets all teary, and when he looks up, there's Theresa nodding at the cops she called earlier. Damn, Theresa, that's cold. She justifies it with "You can't keep bringing Maricruz down! You can't do this to her any more." Sucre gently hands back his daughter, and bolts outside where Bellick is waiting in Ma Bellick's station wagon. Alas, the two are caught in the time it takes you to read this sentence. So let's tally up: of the six fugitives and one cleared ex-con from the beginning of this episode, one is dead, five are in custody and only T-Bag remains at large. Of course.
And now here's T-Bag carrying on about why Michael Scofield hates him so much. Hint: it's not because T-Bag's a kiddy-raping spree killer. It's because "we're the same. And he just can't stand it. Drives his ass crazy. We got the same brilliant mind, the same natural-born leader tendencies, the same one-in-a-million charisma. He thinks he can just look down his nose at me?" The coyotes in the front seat ask a few questions, and one points out, "If I was you, I'd forget about this Scofield. You have plenty of money, si? I mean, how much money do you have in that bag?" T-Bag drops the Enemy Mind monologues and tells the coyote to mind his own business. The coyote does, in part because he and his friend have A) a concealed tire iron, and B) a plan to use said tire iron.
We cut back to Don Self giving Lincoln and Michael the sales pitch on retrieving Scylla. Linc's clearly open to it, possibly because he had an actual relationship with his dad beyond one rescue from an abusive foster home and a death scene in the backseat of a car. He's also thinking it's something that requires more than two people. Don Self promises help: he's getting the team back together! Linc's not at all thrilled at the idea of working with Mahone, but Michael says, "You're going to need Mahone to make this happen. He was working with Whistler." Don Self's all, "What am I, chopped liver?" Michael pursues the "you have to break into someplace" part of the plan, and Don Self admits, "The card has all the data on it, but it's encrypted. Once you get your hands on it, you're going to need to find a way to break into the One World Conspiracy's headquarters. It's the only way to unlock what's on the card." The One World Conspiracy is headquartered in Los Angeles, by the way. I look forward to the first time there's a car chase, all the people involved get on the 405 ... and then they're all stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic for 45 minutes. Michael sums up the whole situation: "So we've got a data card which could be anywhere, and we've got to break into a building, the location of which is yet to be determined. Simple enough." Don Self says, "You've broken out of two penitentiaries. I'm thinking breaking into a building isn't too far outside your wheelhouse."
This dry little observation breaks some ice. We soon find out that Don Self and Aldo were introduced through mutual friends, and that Don Self's been trying to take down the One World Conspiracy for five years. He doesn't mention how he came to learn of their existence, but after Linc suggests that Don's merely trying to maintain his job security with this operation, Don Self explodes: "Some people still care about their jobs. Some people still fight for this country. Maybe you've been a little too distracted boosting car stereos and breaking heads to remember that." There's a knock on the door before either brother can ask "Does 'some people' mean you, or were we just supposed to swoon at the implied nobility in your speech?" Don Self goes outside to see what it is, leaving Michael and Linc to debate taking the job. Linc's sort of for it; Michael thinks they'll be dead before he gets a chance to find Dr. Sara. Don Self comes in. As it turns out, Bruce has made bail on the boys. As they scamper away, Don Self urges them to take the file. "It means nothing to me anymore," he says.
A quick car ride later, and we're at a nondescript house with fairly undistinguished décor. But Michael's not pulled up short because he's offended by the rigorously character-free surroundings. It's because the woman who just turned around to see him is ... DR. SARA! And she's NOT keeping her head on by dint of safety-pinning it to her neck a la Clancy Brown in Highlander. She and Michael clasp each other as the soundtrack gets all swoony, and then finally Michael kisses her, and ... oh, my brain is saying how contrived this whole set-up is, but my inner 14-year-old girl is shrieking, "YES! True love always, forever and ever! Let's end the show right this minute before they get separated again!"
After a tasteful fade-to-black, we fade back in on Dr. Sara sitting up in bed (fully dressed) with Michael sharing his believes vis a vis any odds of an afterlife: "I thought I'd never see you again." He gives her some serious bedroom eyes, there's some romantic action that sets my inner 14-year-old off again, and then Michael tells her he's got something for her. It's sort of cute how he hides the origami flower behind his back and presents it to her. Dr. Sara is charmed too. She asks wryly, "Is that what this is about? Getting me my rose back?" No -- it's sort of about asking why Michael's still wearing pants. Woman, your adventures should have taught you to seize the day, seize the man, whatever. Don't tell me you two have just been talking. Michael replies, "Yeah, I guess I'm done now. I can retire." Then the levity goes as Michael explains the terms of the deal Don Self made. Then Michael adds, "I love you. That's all I know right now." I am going to have to name my inner 14-year-old and let her begin recapping if this keeps up.
Meanwhile, Linc's in a room trying to puzzle out a note that Aldo left behind, because it keeps him from brooding on the cosmic unfairness of Michael getting lucky while his lady friend is a few thousand miles to the south. Linc reads, "Must you battle in your heart forever? The bloody toil of combat? Old contender, will you not yield to the immortal gods? That nightmare cannot die, being eternal evil itself -- horror and pain and chaos; there is no fighting her, no power can fight her, all that avails is flight." As Linc reads, he flashes back to how his dad died. Oh, LINCOLN THINK is not his strong suit.
We then get a tattoo sighting! It's from the back -- Michael's pulling on his shirt, and when he walks over to the window where Dr. Sara's sitting and puts his hands on her back, she jumps up in fright. Michael asks, "Do you want to talk about it?" She pulls up her shirt and shows him instead: Dr. Sara's back is criss-crossed with thick white welts. Either she heals quickly or I'm even more confused on timelines ... Michael was in Sona for what, a week? And he's been out for three more weeks? I'm sort of amazed that Dr. Sara's torture scars -- because that's what they are -- aren't still a livid red. Anyway, the real point is not that Dr. Sara has a truly outstanding immune system despite years of systemic drug abuse. The point is that Gretchen and/or her goons tortured Dr. Sara when she was being held hostage. And also that Michael was uncharacteristically non-detail-oriented if he was in bed with Dr. Sara earlier because, dang, how do you miss scars that criss-cross someone's back like that? Anyway, Dr. Sara sniffles that it's not Michael's fault, and as he cuddles her, he says, "Tell me what happened." Dr. Sara says resignedly, "It's just the One World Conspiracy. It's just what they do. And it wasn't just me -- God, it was you and LJ and Lincoln. And they won't stop. And I don't know how to deal with that." Michael goes to pull Dr. Sara into his arms when her point is more or less proven again by a gunshot shattering the window where they've been standing. The two of them dive to the floor. We see Agent Blots Out the Sun reload outside, but it takes Linc to pull the brain trust off the floor and out the door. After everyone hides, Dr. Sara says, "I can't believe they found us so fast. Should I call Bruce and get him to find us someplace safe?" Michael's like, "No-ooo. I think Linc and I have just decided to make a deal with Don Self." Dr. Sara's along for the ride.
The scene is of Don Self's mobile waking him up. We get a shot of him reaching for the phone. It's on a bedside table, along with some eyeglasses, a watch and a prescription bottle of some sort. You think he's a pill-popper like Mahone? Or is there a heart condition we're going to learn about later? I can't imagine late-night phone calls help much. In any event, Michael says they're in.
The shot is of Team Scylla all getting together. The only warm reunion is between Sucre and the brothers. Mahone's just hanging out by the window, looking as if he's gauging whether or not a jump out of it would kill him. Bellick grovels a little and Michael says evenly, "Sucre vouched for you. He says you came through for him down in Panama." The warm fuzzies dissolve once Sucre breaks the news as to who has Whistler's old bird book.
We cut to a shot of that book, as the coyotes look at it and discard it. Sure enough, they've beaten T-Bag and his fat little assistant, taken all their money, and left them to die in the desert. Amusingly, Team Scylla's asking, "Any idea where we can find T-Bag?"
Michael gives everyone his idea of a pep talk: "This is your last chance to back out. Because first on the list of things I can not guarantee you is your safety." We get shots of everyone's face: Mahone looks like he'd welcome death, but he's the only one. Michael continues, "We're all a long way from where this started, but what I can guarantee you is that if we do this thing right, we'll be close to where it ends: freedom. Finally." Also, Michael breaks the news that Dr. Sara's in. Oh, I'm sure Bellick will love that.
Don Self is now briefing the brothers -- "No games, and no stunts. Otherwise, you're going to see a whole different side of me." Linc mutters, "Likewise." The boys are set up with fake IDs, but Michael wants to go that extra step. He pulls up his sleeve and says, "There are some things you can't fake and some things you can't hide. Know what I mean?" Don Self looks at Michael's tattoo and asks, "How high is your threshold for pain?"
Answer: pretty darn high, as Michael's elected to get all his tattoos removed at once without benefit of any painkiller at all. And yet, in the scene, Michael is still wearing long sleeves. Dang, writers -- you go to all the trouble to laser off Michael's tattoos in one go, why not let the man wear short sleeves for the first time in four seasons? Anyway, Michael's telling Dr. Sara he now feels much lighter. Yeah, when people are no longer joking about you referencing your navel as to the location of your car keys, it's a relief. Michael also tells Dr. Sara, "I don't know how we're going to take them down, I don't even know who they are, but I do know one thing: the One World Conspiracy is going to pay for what they did to you." Dr. Sara says she's up for that, so long as she and Mike are hanging together.
The last scene of the hour: Team Scylla loading a sooper-sekrit plane. Don Self sends them off with: "If you're successful in obtaining Scylla, you're not only avoiding jail time, but you can take great pride in knowing you helped dismantle this country's greatest threat to its democracy. If you're killed while doing so, a proper funeral will be provided. But if you try to escape, you will have no funeral. You will have nothing. You will be apprehended, and buried where we find you. I sincerely hope we understand each other." Michael leans in and says, "You better hold up your end of the deal." Then Team Scylla boards and takes off for episode #2.
Read our recap of the second half of the season premiere here. Make sure to check out our list of the most implausible Prison Break moments from the first three season. Then check out our post of lingering issues with the season premiere.