Oh god, Haywire is breaking my heart. Seriously, I had no idea I would feel so sorry for him, but this whole sequence is just awful. He's like a mentally ill little kitten up there, just absolutely scared out of his crazy crazy mind. Mahone pulls up, annoyed with Bellick for allowing a crowd of rubberneckers to assemble. Like the "Keep him alone and away from other people so I can carry out my secret homicidal government orders" part of the plan was supposed to be understood, or something. How the hell is he supposed to murder an insane person with all these people gawking at him? He climbs up the ladder, stopping to pop a few pills from his Magic Pen. Hooray, Magic Pen! I thought they'd forgotten you! This scene is just torturous, but it's also a very nice showcase for these two actors. Haywire doesn't want to go back to prison. He says this in the same heartbreaking 5-year-old way my little sister says she doesn't want to "take a X ray" whenever she's in a doctor's office. Actually, he pretty much is a 5-year-old - a homicidal one, sure, but the point is he's essentially a child and that's why this is so hard to watch. He just wants to go to Holland. Mahone says he can't do either of those things, but there is a way out. He glances downward. "Nonononono!" Haywire and I both say. We know from earlier that Mahone doesn't want to kill this guy, and while talking someone in to suicide is pretty despicable, we can see that Mahone really does get it. Haywire's out of options. He's tired of running. Mahone understands what that's like.
The Family Truckster™ is parked outside a building in downtown Chicago. Kellerman says there are private humidors in the back with each member's name on them. That's where the key goes. There's no security to get by, just a receptionist. But hey, Kellerman's not quite as visibly wanted as the rest of them, so he volunteers to go. Michael doesn't dignify this suggestion with a response. He just smirks and asks Sara if she wants to go for a little walk. They approach the building together.
Haywire steps over the guard rail and swan dives off the platform. We get a shot of the wide-eyed wonderment on his face just before he hits the ground. Dag, yo.
Next time: Goddamn Maricruz. Maybe this is the episode wherein she meets a tragic demise, thus restoring Sucre to his old self. Remember his old self? No? I'm having trouble myself. More cops chase Michael and Sara. And Mahone faces off with C-Note and poor poor Dede. Until then!
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Comments (5)
loved that part where bellick practiced his G-man introduction in the rearview mirror of his shiny new truck. HI-larious.
getting bellick out of the joint was a smart move for the writers, as it simultaneously enables them to more easily integrate the search for the other escapees and reinforces the increasingly tenuous connection to the prison. damn hell yeah!
glad to see from the previews that stacy keach (the warden) is back on the scene next week, and that the plot may be returning to fox river. this show got unruly after the actual escape. for one thing, it's no longer a 'prison break'--it's 'the fugitive(s)'. and with all of the prisoners spread out, things got messy. now that there are fewer prisoners to catch, the story is regaining cohesiveness, but then again, the less distractions there are, the easier it is to spot the gaping plot holes (how on god's green earth could t-bag--by far the most dangerous of the escapees--not have been cornered yet? i know ted bundy busted out of jail in colorado and made it all the way to florida, but he had 2 hands and looked like a normal dude rather than a skeezy bottle-blonde truckstop hustler).
i also agree that the haywire/mahone standoff was one of the finer acting moments this show has seen. william fichtner is really on a different level than the rest of the cast, and while he's been saddled with some ham-fisted scenes (wouldn't mahone pop his precious pills BEFORE he started climbing the silo ladder?), when given the chance, he can actually make a cardboard character like mahone seem 3-dimensional and sympathetic.
glad to see sara get a little saucy on kellerman and then finally get to neck with michael, setting the hearts of millions of ladies and gay men aflutter. hell, i'm not even gay, and i'd probably make out with ol' wenty. he's soooo adorable.
1 of 5 | Posted by jack
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Posted on February 8, 2007 6:21 AM
I liked this episode a lot. So happy to see Sara and Michael together, and I wanted to jump up and down when they FINALLY made out! But of course the train had to stop before it got really good. :)
This show frustrates me somewhat b/c I want to see smart writing, plausible scenerios, good plot twists, etc and it doesnt always happen. I didn't see the "fake president" situation coming so that was pretty clever.
Thankfully Went is so fun to watch, even with that permanent mean face he has going.
2 of 5 | Posted by TVCheese
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Posted on February 8, 2007 7:55 AM
The plot holes bother me less and less as time goes on. It's kind of like a comic book, really. The actual storytelling, particularly the main "troubled genius stops at nothing to exonerate his lovable thug brother" plot, is usually interesting enough to outweigh the continuity/plausibility problems that would drive me bonkers on other shows. Maybe they're just good at distracting me.
Re: T-Bag, Robert Knepper does a really good job of reminding me that sociopaths, sort of by definition, are scary good at blending in and gaining trust from otherwise reasonable people. Ted Bundy even used a fake cast to get girls to trust him, so I think the fake hand kind of works to T-Bag's advantage. People don't want to be rude so they don't look too hard. So I buy it, but only because I watch way too much Court TV.
I didn't see the fake president thing coming either! That's another thing I like, is that this show surprises me pretty often, probably because I don't speculate about it obsessively.
And yeah, I'm really glad William Fichtner has something to do. Much like Adelstein with Kellerman, I love the Mahone character, but I definitely think that has a lot to do with the actor. He seems genuinely troubled and exhausted and desperate, not cartoonishly evil. I also think I've underestimated Wentworth Miller's talent, now that we're seeing more of the non-prison Michael. And Sara, actually. I barely noticed her last season, but she's knocked it out of the park lately.
I totally didn't see the Warden in the previews! That's fantastic. I've missed him.
3 of 5 | Posted by Loula
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Posted on February 8, 2007 9:11 AM
Loula - What a great recap! I LOL'd many a time. I actually think Kellerman is a genius character...and the actor who plays him is perfect. Just menacing enough to be believeable, just babyfaced enough to be extra terrifying.
4 of 5 | Posted by suedisco
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Posted on February 8, 2007 11:07 AM
I think I've only ever watched 3 complete episodes of this show. But I'm in the loop thanks to these great recaps!!
5 of 5 | Posted by fignuts
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Posted on February 8, 2007 11:58 AM