Supercop007’s Blog

For the first time in a while, we actually see the guys getting something to eat! It’s also the point where the convicts break up again. Sucre, C-Note, and Abruzzi appear to be leaving together, but indications lead me to believe they will split once again in the near future. This leaves Michael and Lincoln as the group they envisioned at the start of the plan while everyone else is running around by themselves.

What happened to Tweener you ask? He actually does the clever thing and does a “bump-and-swipe” to get some money, blends in with the University crowd, and hitches a ride to Utah with a student. Just because it’s the most plausible of the outfits and different plans each group has, he gets a gold star sticker for this episode. On the other hand, we have Mr. Bagwell and his magical hand at Dr. Gudat’s Veterinary Clinic who gets the “check minus” for this episode. Is only a few hours with a veterinary surgeon enough to repair a severed hand (including nerves and tendons) and be close to a normal guy when he should be dead already? Apparently in the Prison Break world it’s enough. He even has the strength to attack Dr. Gudat, tie him up on a table, kill him (presumably), and drive away in his SUV.

Finally we find out what the significance of “Otis”. As it turns out, “Otis” is part of a larger clue. “On the third, look out for Otis Wright. Until then, keep your head up.” Otis is referring to the Otis elevator in the court house’s building on the third floor and “Wright” is signaling that LJ needs to go into the “right” elevator where Lincoln and Michael will be there to save him. “Keep your head up” refers to the ceiling of the elevator so he’ll know where to find them. Unfortunately Agent Mahone is smart enough to figure out the word play and gets in the elevator with LJ and stops Lincoln and Michael from taking him. Now the problem is that LJ Burrows will be tried as an adult for the two murders he didn’t commit and be sent to a prison in Arizona. Is this a sign that the brothers will be breaking LJ out of prison? Or could their dad make his first appearance in season 2 and save the day again?

The question everyone is probably asking themselves when they see the beginning of the episode is, “What happened in the 8 hours between the end of season 1 and the start of season 2?” Surely something happened other than Lincoln growing in his beard at an astronomical pace and Abruzzi getting a fresh haircut. Did they not use their helicopters well or were those dogs they sent out unable to smell them? Also how did T-Bag survive 8 hours with his hand chopped off when people that slit their wrists die from much less damage. I didn’t see him use a tourniquet to stop the bleeding, so he can’t possibly lose that amount of blood and not die (although I thought his chopped off arm looked like Luke Skywalker’s arm after his hand got chopped off too).

Amazingly (or unamzingly if you actually paid attention to the opening of the show) Dr. Tancredi is still alive after her overdose of morphine at the conclusion of season 1.

One of the nice additions shown right at the start is the introduction of FBI Special Agent Alexander Mahone. So far he seems like a pretty bright guy that looks like the main antagonist for our heroes. In stark contrast to Captain Brad Bellick, he seems like he really understands how Michael is thinking. I look forward to his work in uncovering what all those tattoos mean without having Michael tell us himself. The question is if some tatoos are double entendres for other significant things he might need to reference in the future, but evade the FBI and Mahone.

I was happy to see that the humor incorporated into the show is still working as well as it did in season 1. Something that 24 and other serial dramas (other than Lost) lack are the witty comments and situations that the characters go through. Particularly in this episode, T-Bag’s assault with a deadly screwdriver to steal a guy’s cooler and hat to Dr. Marvin Gudat’s Veterinary Clinic, T-Bag in general keeps the show light-hearted even with a violent overtone.

Then comes the big shocker. Veronica is killed in the first episode a la David Palmer and Michelle Dessler in season 5 of 24. Of course, there’s no way we would be seeing Terrance Steadman running free, but getting Veronica killed effectively leaves Michael and Lincoln as the last “good guys” of the starting 3 (or 4 if you want to include Nick Savrinn in season 1). In juxtaposition to season 1, it’s a bit ironic that it turns out that Dr. Tancredi lives and Veronica dies. Personally I found her pretty annoying anyway and to think it was going to be so easy to stop a government conspiracy is just wrong.