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crystalcazzieAnd here's the second part...
Episode 5.04 The Prisoner's Dilemma (part 2)
Location: The Streets of Sana'a
Lincoln is still staring longingly at Mustapha and his keys. Unfortunately, no matter how much he glares, Linc still hasn't developed telekinesis.
The kid from before appears out of nowhere and asks if Mr Tic Tac is going to fight ISIL men.
A lightbulb goes off above Linc's head and he tells the kid to listen closely.
The kid runs out to tell the ISIL group that there's an American around the corner who wants to fight them.
Unable to resist such a lure, all the men run around the corner to give chase to a long-gone Linc.
And the kid swipes the keys.
He returns triumphant.
And Linc gives him cash-wrapped Tic Tacs for his trouble.
As Lincoln runs off, the kid happily announces that “Mr Tic Tac goes to Bubble Gum Man!” Aww, I love you, kid. I hope you stay safe.
~*~
Location: Ogygia Prison
The foursome make it to the infirmary, where Whip surreptitiously pockets a scalpel.
And Michael makes Ramal call his friends to arrange for cars to meet them at the auto shop and take all of them to the border.
Whip thinks that Ramal could be screwing them. Michael thinks that's a given, and says they have to screw with him first.
He rips off a piece of map and scribbles on it.
And where's Ja during all this?
Scoring some sweet drugs, of course.
But now it's time for them to hide.
Cos Christian and his friends have found their way in.
~*~
Location: Evil Paul's House
Evil Paul thinks that Michael is a dead man, cos no one tangles with Poseidon and lives to tell the tale. T-Bag is still of the opinion that Poseidon is the guy sitting in front of him right now.
Evil Paul takes this opportunity to transform into Exposition Paul! Exposition Paul explains that Poseidon is a rogue CIA operative who the State Department have been looking for for years, but nobody knows who he actually is. He's a guy who didn't approve of how the White House went about foreign policy, so decided to take matters into his own hands. But rather than sending in armies, he gets a person killed or elected to office or released from prison.
T-Bag realises that this has to do with the Yemen prison where Michael's being held. And can I just say how weird it is to hear T-Bag call him Michael?
Exposition Paul says that he thinks this is all about Abu Ramal. That that's who Poseidon is trying to free.
But gee whiz, wonders T-Bag, isn't Abu Ramal a totally evil terrorist dude? Why would the CIA want to release him?
Exposition Paul explains that Poseidon isn't CIA any more. He then adds teaching to his repertoire and sits down to explain to Teddy how this all works. Say, for example, you hate both Russia and Iran and don't think that Washington is harsh enough on them. You free Ramal and, while he may be a radical nut job, he'll fight them both for you.
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Very good, T-Bag.
Exposition Paul says that Posiedon is so good cos he does it all without a network, which makes him so hard to find. He also comments on how one man can pull strings like that just by manipulating a handful of others. Are we supposed to be thinking about Michael and his manipulation of people now or have you finally given up on that thread, show?
He then says that while Ramal is a monster, Poseidon is worse cos he's letting Ramal loose and “those men” have the blood of thousands on their hands. I'm not entirely clear on who “those men” are. Ramal and Poseidon? Ramal and ISIL? Poseidon and his men?
He says that compared to them, he and T-Bag are angels, and if T-Bag can find out who Poseidon is and how Michael is wrapped up in it then maybe his fate is to be a patriot.
I wonder if that's as appealing to T-Bag as his own business cards?
Unfortunately we don't get to hear any more from Exposition Paul, cos he's just been shot.
Blonde Assassin is in the house!
T-Bag proves that his self-preservation instincts haven't gone anywhere as he abandons Evil Paul with nary a backwards glance and heads down into the basement. It looked like he'd been shot in the shoulder, but the ease with which he's moving about and picking things up seems to contradict that.
The Assassin Pair check out the ground floor as T-Bag reaches the basement window and delivers one of the best lines of the episode...
“There's a time for everything. 911? I need help.”
It's entirely Robert Knepper's delivery that makes it. I think I'm starting to love T-Bag again.
~*~
Location: Ogygia Prison
The escaping foursome have emerged back into the yard to see other prisoners climbing over the wall to make their own escapes. Seeing a way out, they go to join in...
But Christian has other ideas.
They run back into the prison with Christian and his gun hot on their heels.
Michael and Whip hide under adjoining beds and who do they see hiding in the cell opposite?
Sid! He's alive!
Everyone's hiding in their cells while Christian wanders the walkways with his gun. Whip suggests handing Ramal over, but Michael thinks Christian will gun them down anyway.
As if to prove his point, Christian shoots another prisoner who was edging out with a shiv and announces that anyone who gets between him and Abu Ramal dies.
The shiv has fallen to the floor and Sid eyes it up eagerly.
Michael tells Whip that there's a boy in Ithaca, New York, called Mike Scofield and if Michael doesn't make it out he wants Whip to tell him that his father loves him very much.
Whip is confused. I guess he doesn't know as much about Michael as he thought.
Sid grabs the discarded shiv and stabs Christian right in the chest. Michael, Whip and Ja all come out and help subdue the gunman.
While Abu Ramal looks on, appalled by this uncouth display of violence.
Ouch! Right in the cross tattoo!
Lincoln runs back into the prison, passing more fleeing guards. I'm surprised there are any left to flee, I'd have thought they'd all be long gone by now.
He unlocks the gate to allow the prisoners to spill out, and runs in shouting Michael's name.
And arrives just in time to see them climbing over the wall. He calls out for Michael again.
But his brother doesn't hear him.
Linc runs back out the front, still shouting Michael's name.
~*~
Location: Evil Paul's House
Evil Paul is not in a good way. He asks Brunet Assassin if Poseidon sent him and lies that T-Bag already left out the back door.
Blonde Assassin says that the door is locked from the inside and he must be inside the house. She heads off on a T-Bag hunt.
Giving Evil Paul the chance to play mind games with Brunet Assassin. He says that he was like him once, killing for a lie, but it's human nature to find out the truth and either he will or she will and then the lie has to kill the truth.
Basically I think it's a fancy way of saying that one of the Assassins is going to end up killing the other.
Brunet Assassin isn't interested in hearing more and shoots Evil Paul in the head.
Alas, Evil Paul.
Blonde Assassin heads down into the basement to search for T-Bag.
But only finds the open window.
Sirens can be heard so the Assassins head off.
Blonde Assassin asks what Evil Paul said. Brunet Assassin says “nothing” but looks troubled. Did Evil Paul get to him?
As the Assassins drive off, T-Bag pops his head back up and follows them in his car.
~*~
Location: The Streets of Sana'a
Michael and co are on the run. But wait a minute, where's Ja?
He's stopped for a snack! Can't blame the man really, fruit's good for you and he'll need to be fuelled for what's to come.
Michael stalks back and they have the fakest of fake fights ever. But it does give us this wonderful exchange:
“You're stopping to eat? Are you high?”
“Don't come at me, man. You're not my mama.”
Michael pushes Ja over and announces that they're done.
Do you think Ramal bought it?
Michael and the others leave, and Ja opens up the piece of paper that Michael gave him.
Which has this message. The map is on the other side and I assume it shows where the auto shop is, cos otherwise that's an incredibly useless clue.
Ja runs one way. Michael, Sid, and Whip run another.
And Linc is also running about. He wonders where Michael would go. Hmm, I don't know Linc? Maybe the one place in the city you already know he was planning to go?
Ja makes it to the auto shop and looks under the work bench to find...
Guns!
But then he too is found.
The others arrive at the auto shop at the same time as a carload of ISIL rebels and Ramal tells his men to seize these dogs. Michael asks what's going on.
Turns out that you don't get to be a Big Bad terrorist leader by being an idiot. Ramal knew full well that Michael was trying to trick him by sending Ja ahead and going the long way round.
He says that Michael was going to screw him.
Michael's all “Yeah, well, you were gonna screw me too.” Two men of their word right here.
Ramal says that lying to enemies is called Taqiya. A quick Google tells me that that's the practice of being permitted to lie about your religious beliefs to avoid persecution. I don't claim to be an expert in Islam but I'm not sure that really applies here, Ramal.
Ramal tells one of his followers to take out his camera so the world can see what happens when you screw Abu Ramal.
Is this the end for our beloved Michael?
No! Because Linc is here to save the day!
He demands that Ramal's men put down their weapons and for Ramal to step away from his brother.
The men comply, but Ramal still has the knife to Michael's throat resulting in a stand off.
Whip gets in between the two of them, saying that it's not going to go down like this cos he has way too many questions for Michael.
He tells Ramal about how he went to prison in the first place. A bar fight when a guy pulled a knife and the next second that guy was dead and Whip had the knife in his hand.
Ramal doesn't think that Whip is that fast.
But he is, and Ramal goes down.
And all of this is still being filmed.
Linc shoots up the rest of Ramal's men but more show up and they have to make a run for it.
~*~
Location: Ithaca, New York
T-Bag's driving along and he seems to be in pain, so I guess he was shot after all?
He parks up and observes the Assassins talking to someone. He tries to get a photo, but unfortunately the convenient tree is blocking his shot.
So he gets out of the car for a better angle...
DUN DUN DUN!
“Behold the villain.”
T-Bag seems shocked too. I'm trying to remember if T-Bag has ever actually met Jacob? But I guess he must know who he is.
~*~
Location: The Streets of Sana'a
Michael and co run into a nearby restaurant.
Which works out well for Ja, who still has a serious case of the munchies.
Whip wants to know who the hell Lincoln is.
“He's my brother.”
“He's my brother”
Michael's voice breaks as he says this and he and Lincoln hug and I'm actually tearing up cos it's such a wonderful reunion.
Lincoln wonders why Michael said he didn't know him back at the prison. Michael says it's cos he was filming him and “They” can't know he's getting out.
Michael emotionally asks about Sara and Mike, and Linc assures him they're good. Michael seems so relieved and oh god I hope his reunion with Sara is as satisfying as this.
Whip is clearly put out though, upset about how much Michael has obviously been keeping from him all this time.
But it looks like they have bigger things to worry about, as Ja points out the TV...
Which shows them killing Abu Ramal. Well, if Michael didn't want to be filmed back at the prison I can't imagine he'll be happy about this.
Sid translates for the rest of us, saying that the station has been taken over by ISIL and is talking about how ISIL's beloved leader has been murdered and they're the ones who did it. So now the entire army of ISIL has declared war on them. As if they don't have enough to worry about already.
~*~
My thoughts
Such a good episode! I'm disappointed by the lack of Dr Sara, but other than that it was brilliant. It felt like old school Prison Break and I'm so excited for next week!
I'm hoping Sara will get a lot more to do now that we know her husband is evil. But do we think he's Poseidon? I'm still thinking that Henry is (I was convinced that it was going to be him behind that tree.) Jacob probably works for him, sent to keep close to Dr Sara so they have her as leverage over Michael and to make sure that Michael doesn't contact her.
I'm glad that Ramal's dead. He's such an evil guy I wouldn't be comfortable with Michael continuing to work with him or being responsible for setting him free. Assuming, of course, that he really is dead. He looked pretty dead to me, but then this is Prison Break. Master of bringing supposedly dead characters back to life.
Speaking of which, do we think Evil Paul is really dead? We've seen him be shot off camera before and he turned out to have survived that. But I'm thinking that he really is dead this time, cos when the Assassin shot him he stopped talking mid-word and the sound was a lot more consistent with a bullet going into someone's head than into the ground.
I loved Michael asking Whip to tell Mike his father loves him. And the way that he immediately asked about Sara and Mike when he was reunited with Lincoln. It shows that his family is still his number one priority.
Speaking of his family, how good was that reunion between Michael and Lincoln? I'm not sure I could have imagined a better one, and, like I said in my recap, I really hope the reunion between Michael and Sara is as good.
Did we see what Whip did with the pilfered scalpel? I don't recall him using it for anything or on anyone, so presumably he still has it? Will it be relevant later? I'm assuming so, cos they made a point of showing him picking it up, and then grabbing something to wrap around it.
Best lines:
“There's a time for everything. 911? I need help.” - T-Bag
“Behold the villain.” - T-Bag
“You're stopping to eat? Are you high?”
“Don't come at me, man. You're not my mama.”
- Michael and Ja
“He's my brother. He's my brother” - Michael
Episode 5.04 The Prisoner's Dilemma (part 2)
Location: The Streets of Sana'a
Lincoln is still staring longingly at Mustapha and his keys. Unfortunately, no matter how much he glares, Linc still hasn't developed telekinesis.
The kid from before appears out of nowhere and asks if Mr Tic Tac is going to fight ISIL men.
A lightbulb goes off above Linc's head and he tells the kid to listen closely.
The kid runs out to tell the ISIL group that there's an American around the corner who wants to fight them.
Unable to resist such a lure, all the men run around the corner to give chase to a long-gone Linc.
And the kid swipes the keys.
He returns triumphant.
And Linc gives him cash-wrapped Tic Tacs for his trouble.
As Lincoln runs off, the kid happily announces that “Mr Tic Tac goes to Bubble Gum Man!” Aww, I love you, kid. I hope you stay safe.
~*~
Location: Ogygia Prison
The foursome make it to the infirmary, where Whip surreptitiously pockets a scalpel.
And Michael makes Ramal call his friends to arrange for cars to meet them at the auto shop and take all of them to the border.
Whip thinks that Ramal could be screwing them. Michael thinks that's a given, and says they have to screw with him first.
He rips off a piece of map and scribbles on it.
And where's Ja during all this?
Scoring some sweet drugs, of course.
But now it's time for them to hide.
Cos Christian and his friends have found their way in.
~*~
Location: Evil Paul's House
Evil Paul thinks that Michael is a dead man, cos no one tangles with Poseidon and lives to tell the tale. T-Bag is still of the opinion that Poseidon is the guy sitting in front of him right now.
Evil Paul takes this opportunity to transform into Exposition Paul! Exposition Paul explains that Poseidon is a rogue CIA operative who the State Department have been looking for for years, but nobody knows who he actually is. He's a guy who didn't approve of how the White House went about foreign policy, so decided to take matters into his own hands. But rather than sending in armies, he gets a person killed or elected to office or released from prison.
T-Bag realises that this has to do with the Yemen prison where Michael's being held. And can I just say how weird it is to hear T-Bag call him Michael?
Exposition Paul says that he thinks this is all about Abu Ramal. That that's who Poseidon is trying to free.
But gee whiz, wonders T-Bag, isn't Abu Ramal a totally evil terrorist dude? Why would the CIA want to release him?
Exposition Paul explains that Poseidon isn't CIA any more. He then adds teaching to his repertoire and sits down to explain to Teddy how this all works. Say, for example, you hate both Russia and Iran and don't think that Washington is harsh enough on them. You free Ramal and, while he may be a radical nut job, he'll fight them both for you.
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Very good, T-Bag.
Exposition Paul says that Posiedon is so good cos he does it all without a network, which makes him so hard to find. He also comments on how one man can pull strings like that just by manipulating a handful of others. Are we supposed to be thinking about Michael and his manipulation of people now or have you finally given up on that thread, show?
He then says that while Ramal is a monster, Poseidon is worse cos he's letting Ramal loose and “those men” have the blood of thousands on their hands. I'm not entirely clear on who “those men” are. Ramal and Poseidon? Ramal and ISIL? Poseidon and his men?
He says that compared to them, he and T-Bag are angels, and if T-Bag can find out who Poseidon is and how Michael is wrapped up in it then maybe his fate is to be a patriot.
I wonder if that's as appealing to T-Bag as his own business cards?
Unfortunately we don't get to hear any more from Exposition Paul, cos he's just been shot.
Blonde Assassin is in the house!
T-Bag proves that his self-preservation instincts haven't gone anywhere as he abandons Evil Paul with nary a backwards glance and heads down into the basement. It looked like he'd been shot in the shoulder, but the ease with which he's moving about and picking things up seems to contradict that.
The Assassin Pair check out the ground floor as T-Bag reaches the basement window and delivers one of the best lines of the episode...
“There's a time for everything. 911? I need help.”
It's entirely Robert Knepper's delivery that makes it. I think I'm starting to love T-Bag again.
~*~
Location: Ogygia Prison
The escaping foursome have emerged back into the yard to see other prisoners climbing over the wall to make their own escapes. Seeing a way out, they go to join in...
But Christian has other ideas.
They run back into the prison with Christian and his gun hot on their heels.
Michael and Whip hide under adjoining beds and who do they see hiding in the cell opposite?
Sid! He's alive!
Everyone's hiding in their cells while Christian wanders the walkways with his gun. Whip suggests handing Ramal over, but Michael thinks Christian will gun them down anyway.
As if to prove his point, Christian shoots another prisoner who was edging out with a shiv and announces that anyone who gets between him and Abu Ramal dies.
The shiv has fallen to the floor and Sid eyes it up eagerly.
Michael tells Whip that there's a boy in Ithaca, New York, called Mike Scofield and if Michael doesn't make it out he wants Whip to tell him that his father loves him very much.
Whip is confused. I guess he doesn't know as much about Michael as he thought.
Sid grabs the discarded shiv and stabs Christian right in the chest. Michael, Whip and Ja all come out and help subdue the gunman.
While Abu Ramal looks on, appalled by this uncouth display of violence.
Ouch! Right in the cross tattoo!
Lincoln runs back into the prison, passing more fleeing guards. I'm surprised there are any left to flee, I'd have thought they'd all be long gone by now.
He unlocks the gate to allow the prisoners to spill out, and runs in shouting Michael's name.
And arrives just in time to see them climbing over the wall. He calls out for Michael again.
But his brother doesn't hear him.
Linc runs back out the front, still shouting Michael's name.
~*~
Location: Evil Paul's House
Evil Paul is not in a good way. He asks Brunet Assassin if Poseidon sent him and lies that T-Bag already left out the back door.
Blonde Assassin says that the door is locked from the inside and he must be inside the house. She heads off on a T-Bag hunt.
Giving Evil Paul the chance to play mind games with Brunet Assassin. He says that he was like him once, killing for a lie, but it's human nature to find out the truth and either he will or she will and then the lie has to kill the truth.
Basically I think it's a fancy way of saying that one of the Assassins is going to end up killing the other.
Brunet Assassin isn't interested in hearing more and shoots Evil Paul in the head.
Alas, Evil Paul.
Blonde Assassin heads down into the basement to search for T-Bag.
But only finds the open window.
Sirens can be heard so the Assassins head off.
Blonde Assassin asks what Evil Paul said. Brunet Assassin says “nothing” but looks troubled. Did Evil Paul get to him?
As the Assassins drive off, T-Bag pops his head back up and follows them in his car.
~*~
Location: The Streets of Sana'a
Michael and co are on the run. But wait a minute, where's Ja?
He's stopped for a snack! Can't blame the man really, fruit's good for you and he'll need to be fuelled for what's to come.
Michael stalks back and they have the fakest of fake fights ever. But it does give us this wonderful exchange:
“You're stopping to eat? Are you high?”
“Don't come at me, man. You're not my mama.”
Michael pushes Ja over and announces that they're done.
Do you think Ramal bought it?
Michael and the others leave, and Ja opens up the piece of paper that Michael gave him.
Which has this message. The map is on the other side and I assume it shows where the auto shop is, cos otherwise that's an incredibly useless clue.
Ja runs one way. Michael, Sid, and Whip run another.
And Linc is also running about. He wonders where Michael would go. Hmm, I don't know Linc? Maybe the one place in the city you already know he was planning to go?
Ja makes it to the auto shop and looks under the work bench to find...
Guns!
But then he too is found.
The others arrive at the auto shop at the same time as a carload of ISIL rebels and Ramal tells his men to seize these dogs. Michael asks what's going on.
Turns out that you don't get to be a Big Bad terrorist leader by being an idiot. Ramal knew full well that Michael was trying to trick him by sending Ja ahead and going the long way round.
He says that Michael was going to screw him.
Michael's all “Yeah, well, you were gonna screw me too.” Two men of their word right here.
Ramal says that lying to enemies is called Taqiya. A quick Google tells me that that's the practice of being permitted to lie about your religious beliefs to avoid persecution. I don't claim to be an expert in Islam but I'm not sure that really applies here, Ramal.
Ramal tells one of his followers to take out his camera so the world can see what happens when you screw Abu Ramal.
Is this the end for our beloved Michael?
No! Because Linc is here to save the day!
He demands that Ramal's men put down their weapons and for Ramal to step away from his brother.
The men comply, but Ramal still has the knife to Michael's throat resulting in a stand off.
Whip gets in between the two of them, saying that it's not going to go down like this cos he has way too many questions for Michael.
He tells Ramal about how he went to prison in the first place. A bar fight when a guy pulled a knife and the next second that guy was dead and Whip had the knife in his hand.
Ramal doesn't think that Whip is that fast.
But he is, and Ramal goes down.
And all of this is still being filmed.
Linc shoots up the rest of Ramal's men but more show up and they have to make a run for it.
~*~
Location: Ithaca, New York
T-Bag's driving along and he seems to be in pain, so I guess he was shot after all?
He parks up and observes the Assassins talking to someone. He tries to get a photo, but unfortunately the convenient tree is blocking his shot.
So he gets out of the car for a better angle...
DUN DUN DUN!
“Behold the villain.”
T-Bag seems shocked too. I'm trying to remember if T-Bag has ever actually met Jacob? But I guess he must know who he is.
~*~
Location: The Streets of Sana'a
Michael and co run into a nearby restaurant.
Which works out well for Ja, who still has a serious case of the munchies.
Whip wants to know who the hell Lincoln is.
“He's my brother.”
“He's my brother”
Michael's voice breaks as he says this and he and Lincoln hug and I'm actually tearing up cos it's such a wonderful reunion.
Lincoln wonders why Michael said he didn't know him back at the prison. Michael says it's cos he was filming him and “They” can't know he's getting out.
Michael emotionally asks about Sara and Mike, and Linc assures him they're good. Michael seems so relieved and oh god I hope his reunion with Sara is as satisfying as this.
Whip is clearly put out though, upset about how much Michael has obviously been keeping from him all this time.
But it looks like they have bigger things to worry about, as Ja points out the TV...
Which shows them killing Abu Ramal. Well, if Michael didn't want to be filmed back at the prison I can't imagine he'll be happy about this.
Sid translates for the rest of us, saying that the station has been taken over by ISIL and is talking about how ISIL's beloved leader has been murdered and they're the ones who did it. So now the entire army of ISIL has declared war on them. As if they don't have enough to worry about already.
~*~
My thoughts
Such a good episode! I'm disappointed by the lack of Dr Sara, but other than that it was brilliant. It felt like old school Prison Break and I'm so excited for next week!
I'm hoping Sara will get a lot more to do now that we know her husband is evil. But do we think he's Poseidon? I'm still thinking that Henry is (I was convinced that it was going to be him behind that tree.) Jacob probably works for him, sent to keep close to Dr Sara so they have her as leverage over Michael and to make sure that Michael doesn't contact her.
I'm glad that Ramal's dead. He's such an evil guy I wouldn't be comfortable with Michael continuing to work with him or being responsible for setting him free. Assuming, of course, that he really is dead. He looked pretty dead to me, but then this is Prison Break. Master of bringing supposedly dead characters back to life.
Speaking of which, do we think Evil Paul is really dead? We've seen him be shot off camera before and he turned out to have survived that. But I'm thinking that he really is dead this time, cos when the Assassin shot him he stopped talking mid-word and the sound was a lot more consistent with a bullet going into someone's head than into the ground.
I loved Michael asking Whip to tell Mike his father loves him. And the way that he immediately asked about Sara and Mike when he was reunited with Lincoln. It shows that his family is still his number one priority.
Speaking of his family, how good was that reunion between Michael and Lincoln? I'm not sure I could have imagined a better one, and, like I said in my recap, I really hope the reunion between Michael and Sara is as good.
Did we see what Whip did with the pilfered scalpel? I don't recall him using it for anything or on anyone, so presumably he still has it? Will it be relevant later? I'm assuming so, cos they made a point of showing him picking it up, and then grabbing something to wrap around it.
Best lines:
“There's a time for everything. 911? I need help.” - T-Bag
“Behold the villain.” - T-Bag
“You're stopping to eat? Are you high?”
“Don't come at me, man. You're not my mama.”
- Michael and Ja
“He's my brother. He's my brother” - Michael
