PRISON BREAK 3.4 - "Good Fences"

Writer: Nick Santora
Director: Michael Switzer

Cast: Danay Garcia (Sofia Lugo), Robert Wisdom (Lechero), Robert Knepper (Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell), Dominic Purcell (Lincoln Burrows), Wade Williams (Brad Bellick), William Fichtner (Alexander Mahone), Wentworth Miller (Michael Scofield), Chris Vance (James Whistler), Jodi Lyn O'Keefe (Susan B. Anthony), Amaury Nolasco (Fernando Sucre), Silas Weir Mitchell (Haywire), Laurence Mason (Sammy) & Carlo Alban (McGrady)

Linc receives a death threat from The Company, Michael puts his escape plan into action, and Sona suffers a power outage...

"Threatening the brother of the guy who's supposed to get you out of here might not be the smartest move."

-- Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller)

So, did you guess what was in the box? I think most people did. But it was still a shocking, gruesome moment to find Sara Tancredi's head packaged and delivered to Linc (Dominic Purcell). I don't think he'll be causing The Company too much hassle now -- well, unless he wants to risk the same grizzly fate visiting his son LJ...

After an awkward meeting with Susan B. Anthony (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe; never entirely convincing as a villainess, but certainly a good bitch), Linc decides to keep Sara's death a secret from her lover Michael (Wentworth Miller), so the escape plan can keep focus. It's a wise decision, but I don't think Michael's going to see it that way when he gets out!

In Sona, the prison suffers an electrical blackout; a system failure that again causes top dog Lechero's house of cards to wobble. He quickly enlists the help of Michael, who successfully fixed Sona's water blockage in Fire/Water. Unfortunately, the electrical junction box is situated underground, outside the prison walls in "No Man's Land". Lechero arranges for Michael to lead a team of inmates outside, under armed guard, to restore power.

Good Fences is thankfully a more vital episode than last week, with Michael's escape plan taking its first real step forward. Nick Santora's script performs tricks familiar from previous seasons, with Michael keeping his true intentions a secret from everyone, until his mundane requests and misdirection receive clarity later on.

Michael agrees to fix the prison's electricity supply in return for a different cell -- officially, because it receives first daylight; unofficially, because it overlooks the Sona perimeter fence and watchtower...

Mahone (William Fichtner) begins to deteriorate without his medication, and it's not long before a local drug-dealer is circling like a shark. A familiar face also returns to the show, as Mahone hallucinates Haywire (Silas Weir Mitchell), the mentally-unstable Fox River escapee who died last season. Haywire appears in ghostly, half-glimpsed visitations, filling Mahone's head with paranoid thoughts about Michael escaping without him. It's a gimmick, but it works well enough and Haywire's fans will love it. Both of you.

Fichtner himself remains a magnetic presence as the slowly-cracking FBI Agent, giving a strong and believable performance as Mahone essentially goes "cold turkey" in the worst environment imaginable. Despite his cold-blooded killing last season, he's always remained a sympathetic character, so it's easy to get invested in his storyline.

Bellick (Wade Williams) is almost back to his usual self, fully-clothed and desperately trying to appeal to Michael's better nature and secure a place on an escape team. Michael gives him the brush off, so Bellick rats on him to Lechero -- reminding him of Michael's duplicitous nature... and something he saw him hide in the underground junction box...

The writers seem to really enjoy torturing poor Bellick, as he again becomes the recipient of a nasty punishment when his intel about Michael's escape plotting turns up nothing -- this time involving a mug of boiling hot coffee... ouch.

This episode also marks a return to form for T-Bag (Robert Knepper), who's wasted as a sniveling lackey in Lechero's quarters. Here, T-Bag indulges his violent nature to climb a rung of the social ladder, after he kills a drug-dealer and later relishes teasing Mahone over his condition. Knepper finally reminds audiences why T-Bag was such a popular character back in season 1, so I hope this continues, because he's far more interesting when he has a proactive attitude.

It's also good to see Whistler (Chris Vance) get some development, as he reveals to girlfriend Sofia (Danay Garcia) that he doesn't trust Michael and Linc, and has no idea why The Company want him freed. We know it has something to do with a sea charter he did around Seattle, but so far Whistler's importance is being kept secret.

Linc is somewhat neutered this week, forced to comply to The Company's whims following the death threat. Acting on Michael's plan, he has to secure the cooperation of Sona's gravedigger, with Sofia acting as his interpretor. He strikes a deal to pay the gravedigger $15,000 to refurbish his car, but after the digger gets greedy, Susan kills him in cold blood.

Fortunately, Sucre (Amaury Nolasco) gets involved in season 3 properly, after the aborted romantic subplot with Maricruz and last week's extended cameo appearance. After realizing the depth of Linc's problems, the episode ends with Sucre assuming the dead gravedigger's job, providing Michael an "inside man", that should come in handy...

Good Fences is a well-structured episode, with Michael taking his first step toward freedom. I particularly enjoy Prison Break episodes where the stories have plenty of incident and seeing how various clues and requests slot together is always enjoyable.

As with season 1, the writers have a difficult task in crafting an escape plan that's plausible and can be spread over 20-odd episodes, but Good Fences is a decent start. Like me, I'm sure you'll smile when the relevance of a chemical to rid decomposing body odour is revealed...


15 October 2007
Sky One, 10.00 pm