Michael spreads glue over another piece of the Warden’s Taj Mahal model. His eyes focused on the task at hand. Pope enters the room, “Hey, that’s looking good!” Michael tells the Warden that the plaster he is adding to the model is increasing the weight of the walls and he is going to have to add more supports. The Warden doesn’t mind as long as the model is finished in time for his anniversary.
Pope then tells Michael a story about a dark Taj Mahal built by the Shah across the way from the current Taj Mahal. Becky, Pope’s assistant, interrupts and informs Pope that Dr. Sara Tancredi is there to see him. Pope asks one of the C.O.s to escort Michael back to his cell. As Michael leaves, he meets eyes with Sara. An awkward moment passes between them, but Pope doesn’t notice.
Once Michael is gone, Pope and Sara walk into Pope’s office. She tells Pope that she’s concerned about the serious burn on Michael’s back. She initially believed that the burn was caused by another inmate, but she later discovered other evidence. She presents a plastic bag containing a scrap of fabric that had been embedded in Michael’s skin. She believes the fabric came from a guard’s uniform. Pope clearly understands the implication.
Back in his cell, Michael sits over a small pile of paper with a poorly drawn sketch on it. He taps his pen in frustration, and finally gives up, crumpling up the paper and throwing it away. Sucre sits on the bunk and asks Michael what he’s doing. Michael replies, “Trying to remember the blueprints. What was lost to the burn. Without them, we'll never be able to navigate those pipes beneath psych ward.” Michael tells Sucre he isn’t having any luck, “It’s like trying to take a test you studied for ten years ago.”
The inmates of A-Wing are scattered around the floor and on the tiers. Bellick marches in and bellows out a call to the P.I. crew. Sucre walks behind T-Bag as a new inmate, Annie the Trannie, saunters out of his cell wearing his shirt tied in a knot around his stomach. Annie’s pants are pulled low, revealing pink, women’s underwear. T-Bag says Annie has been, “tuggin’ on too many pockets.” Sucre asks if she tugged on his. Disgusted, T-Bag replies, “I may be ‘social’ in my own way, but that’s a boundary-line even I won’t cross.”
C-Note walks out of A-Wing in front of Michael. C-Note asks when they’re breaking out and Michael tells him he has one more “hiccup” to work out, “The road map is a little incomplete at the moment.”
In the guard room, Michael continues to try and recreate the map from memory. Sucre asks why he doesn’t try to get under the psych ward again and Michael tells him, “'Cause one, I don't have the guard uniform anymore, which means I can't get across the yard, or past the orderly. And two, even if I did, it's a mess down there.” Michael, growing increasingly frustrated, tells Sucre to stop bothering him.
C.O. Patterson walks into the room, making his rounds. Patterson tells them that they’re work is about done. Bellick is bringing in professionals to install the carpet the next day. The inmates quickly share looks, this is not good. Once Patterson leaves, T-Bag throws down his paint roller, “We got a real problem on our hands, don't we? Them rug monkeys come in here, tear up that carpet... that hole's just gonna be smiling up at them.” Michael tells them that they’ll need to do a patch on the hole with plywood and fast setting concrete. The carpet guys will never notice anything. On the night of the breakout, they’ll just smash through the concrete patch with a sledgehammer.
A C.O. steers Tweener into Bellick’s office. Waiting inside is the giant form of a particularly skanky con. The Con turns his fat, tall and disgusting gaze Tweener’s way. Bellick threateningly says, “Hey Tweener, you met Avocado?” Avocado reaches out with his fleshy, hairy arm and touches Tweener’s chin, “Look, she’s just a baby.” Tweener smacks Avocado’s hand away, and Bellick sends Avocado off. Bellick tells Tweener to sit, then asks for an update on Scofield. Tweener, again, tells him that he hasn’t heard anything. Not what Bellick was hoping to hear. Tweener says he’s trying to find out more, but Michael won’t let him into the P.I. circle. Bellick pauses, an idea forming in his head.
The cons quickly mix together concrete, getting ready to fill the hole. Westmoreland quickly comes in through the front door, “Fire on the line!” The inmates quickly shuffle around and cover the hole, each of them moving with the confidence that has now become their normal routine. Bellick swings the door open, and commends the cons on their work. But there’s a bravado to his body language, “You know, you girls have done such a good job, I thought you might like an extra pair of hands on the crew.” He gives a quick whistle, and in walks Tweener. The cons exchange looks.
Tweener moves about the room. Everyone is uncomfortable with him there. C-Note steps towards Tweener saying, “My brush is all sticking together.” Michael plays along with C-Note’s remark. The others tell Tweener that according to rank, he gets the job of washing the brushes. They pile the gear up on Tweener and send him outside to the shed. Tweener acts like he’s leaving, but once the guard room door is closed, he turns back and tries to listen in on what’s being discussed. Westmoreland busts him for eavesdropping and makes sure Tweener finally makes his way outside.
Agent Brinker and Agent Kellerman move through a busy Secret Service field office. Brinker hands Kellerman a folder which contains a large surveillance image of the man Lincoln saw behind the glass at his execution. Brinker tells Kellerman that it’s the photo of a man who used to work for the Company and went rogue. Kellerman asks what the man has to do with the “situation.” Brinker is forced to admit that the man is Lincoln’s father. Kellerman stops for a moment and asks if the Company knew about the relation. Brinker tells him of course they knew. When Kellerman wants to know more, Brinker shuts him up, “How 'bout stopping with the questions. You're a glorified bodyguard, that's it. Your job's to be seen, not heard.”
Michael kneels next to C-Note, who is mixing the quick dry concrete, and asks how close they are to finishing the patch. C-Note says they’re ready, just as Westmoreland enters, “Got another badge!” he warns. The cons cover the hole and hide the concrete. C.O. Geary tells Michael that Warden Pope wants to see him and tells the rest of the cons to head back to A-Wing. C-Note argues that Patterson gave them until end of day, but Geary sends them out. Sucre whispers to Michael, “We’re dead,” the hole isn’t patched and the carpet installers are certainly going to find it. Michael says he’ll get it done as Geary barks to speed them up.
Lincoln stares at the ceiling of his Ad Seg cell. Stolte gets his attention and tells Linc the Department of Corrections re-filed all the paperwork. The execution is scheduled for Midnight a week from Friday. Linc asks to be let out into the yard. Stolte refuses. Linc just wants ten minutes, but Stolte’s hands are tied. Unless Stolte hears different from the Pope, Linc has to stay in his cell.
Inside Nick Savrinn’s apartment, Nick, Veronica and LJ are going over the medical records that have given Lincoln a stay of execution. Nick is still trying to wrap his mind around the situation and asks “Some guy just walks into the courthouse, drops off medical records, gets Lincoln a stay of execution, then disappears into the cold again.” LJ is frustrated that their trail to the truth has gone cold, “So once again, we have nothing,” he snaps. Veronica tells him that a two-week stay of execution is a step in the right direction, but LJ is tired of waiting around. Frustrated, LJ asks Veronica, “Do you guys really ever think you'll get to the bottom of this? That they'll ever let you get to the bottom of it? These guys they don't exist. You go after them with the law, they just use it against you.” Nick says that the law is the only way to bring them to justice, but LJ doesn’t want to hear that. He wants revenge for the death of his mother. He wants to hurt these people like they hurt him. Veronica and Nick tell LJ to relax, they’re going to just stay sharp and wait for the conspirators to slip up. And that triggers an idea in Nick’s mind, “Maybe they already slipped up. Up at the cabin, in the well.” Veronica, reading Nick’s mind, says, “Quinn…”
Nick, Veronica and LJ trudge through the woods near the cabin and find the well, now covered after Kellerman left Quinn for dead. Nick slides the plywood off the top of the well. They look down to see the bloated, rotting corpse of Quinn. They notice that Quinn’s cell phone is still with the body. They need to get that cell phone. Nick and Veronica quickly turn around and look at LJ.
LJ, with a rope tied around his waist, is slowly lowered into the well by Nick. Once LJ reaches the bottom, he reaches out, cautiously, and grabs the phone. “Okay! I got it!” Before Nick begins to pull him up, LJ looks behind him. Scratched into the well wall is the name, “KELLERMAN,” directly above the name, “O. KRAVECKI.” After LJ gets a good look at the names, he asks to be pulled up.
Escorted by C.O. Geary, Michael turns a corner near Pope’s office. Waiting in the hallway, is Warden Pope who asks for a minute alone with Michael. Pope tells Michael he wants him to be absolutely honest. Pope holds up the plastic bag with the scrap of fabric. “Dr. Tancredi found this embedded in your flesh when she was treating you. Apparently it came from a guard’s uniform. Have you been assaulted by an officer?” Michael turns away, he knows he can’t answer the Warden. The Warden begs Michael for an answer, but Michael keeps quiet. Pope gives Michael one more chance to confess and threatens him with placing him in solitary confinement if he doesn’t explain what happened. Michael’s eyes are wild.
Two C.O.s drag Michael, struggling madly, down the Ad Seg hallway with a third guard leading the way. Michael begs them, “Don’t do this!” but it’s too late. They throw Michael in a cell and close the door. Lincoln hears the commotion and sees Michael being thrown into a nearby cell.
Lincoln dives to the floor of his cell. He whispers, “Michael,” into the drain in the middle of the floor. Michael, hearing his name, looks around his dark cell until he finds the drain. Lincoln asks what he’s doing in Ad Seg. Michael replies, “We’re in a lot of trouble now.” He goes on to tell Lincoln that Pope’s got proof that Michael wasn’t where he was supposed to be. Michael is sure it’s only a matter of time until Pope connects all the pieces. Michael is losing hope in his plan. Lincoln tells Michael that the point of solitary it to break their will. This is no time to lose hope, Michael needs to stay strong. But Michael just stares coldly into the dark as he lays on the floor, muttering, “I put my blood into this.”
C-Note, on a payphone in the prison yard, talks to his wife, Kacee. Trying to cover for the delay in the escape, he tells her that his division isn’t mobilizing for a few more days. Kacee was worried and tells C-Note that she called the Army asking for more information. What they told her contradicts what C-Note is saying. C-Note starts to panic, but then covers by telling Kacee there must be some confusion. He assures her that he’s coming home soon. Kacee doesn’t seem to be buying it. He tells her that it will only be a few more days and he’ll call her when he knows the exact date he’s coming home.
C-Note slams the phone receiver down and walks back to P.I. duty. Sucre quickly walks over and gives C-Note the bad news, “Michael’s in the SHU.” C-Note is fed up, and Westmoreland tries to calm them all down. T-Bag interjects that with Michael in solitary, there’s no one to patch the hole in the floor of the guard room. Westmoreland offers the idea of someone else filling it, Sucre knows he’s the only one that could do the job but doesn’t want to. C-Note, T-Bag and Westmoreland keep pushing Sucre, and they don’t take no for an answer. C-Note ends the conversation by saying it has to happen tonight.
Michael sits in the dark of his solitary cell, eyes glazed and staring up at the ceiling. His mind flashes through layers and layers of blue prints. He’s trying to put the tattoo back together in he head. Lincoln whispers to his brother again, and asks what he’s doing. When Michael replies that he’s thinking about what’s beneath the psych ward, Lincoln tells him he needs to focus on getting out of solitary. Suddenly a hole in Michael’s sleeve catches his attention. He takes the sweatshirt off and stares at it. Then he begins wildly tearing the shirt apart, creating strips of cloth. Lincoln, obviously concerned with what is going on in Michael’s cell, keeps coaxing Michael to talk to him.
Sucre lays on the top bunk, his mind races as he thinks about what he has to do next. He quickly sits up and looks down over the floor of A-Wing. Something catches his attention. Annie the Tranny walks slowly through the crowds. Sucre looks down and smiles.
T-Bag replies to an unheard question from Sucre, “Uh-uh. Absolutely not.” Sucre bargains with T-Bag, if Sucre is the one who is going to be running through the yard at night, in plain sight, then T-Bag is going to have to help out. T-Bag tosses himself on the lower bunk, pouting. Sucre tells him he needs to do what he’s asking for the good of the team.
Annie the Tranny continues to skate around the floor. This time, T-Bag is close on her heels. He reaches out and snaps the back side of Annie’s exposed panties. Annie turns to face T-Bag who forces her up against the cell doors, “I take it you are a party girl.”
LJ washes his hands inside the cabin. His eyes fall on the old cabinet with the secret door. He approaches the cabinet and carefully opens the door, revealing a small collection of guns belonging to Nick’s father. He closes the door just before Veronica walks in. She tells him they are leaving. Veronica heads out the door. LJ takes one more look at the cabinet.
Veronica walks outside and gets in the car with Nick who is trying to get power to Quinn’s cell phone. “We get this thing powered up, we
might have a gold mine of information on our hands.” Nick tries the power adapter in his car, but it doesn’t work. Veronica asks if they’re going to leave Quinn, Nick answers coldly, “You mean the guy who shot me in the back? Yeah…we’re just going to leave him here.”
T-Bag walks down the second tier of A-Wing, towards Sucre and Michael’s cell. Sucre meets him at the entrance. T-Bag leans in and hands him something, then threatens Sucre, “If you tell anyone about this…” Then quickly moves off.
Inside a local diner, a news anchor on the TV rattles off the latest update, “Capitol Hill saw its first deadlock of the term on the Senate floor this morning. The hotly contested energy bill ended up in a 50-50 tie. Which means it will now be up to Vice President Reynolds to cast the deciding vote.” Sara and Katie sitting nearby ignore the TV. Katie is trying to convince Sara she needs to get out more. Katie thinks Sara needs something more than the prison. The conversation turns to the topic of Michael. Katie tries to press Sara for more details and asks if she has any feelings for Michael. Sara admits that she thinks Michael is interesting, even attractive. But at the end of the day, he’s still an inmate. Sara assures Katie that nothing will ever happen between herself and an inmate.
Michael sits on his bed, looking over the scattered mess of cloth strips he has arranged on the floor. He struggles to recreate the missing piece of the map, but his memory of the blue prints is failing him. Michael frantically moves about the floor, trying to fill in the gaps, but it’s just not working. Frustrated, he swings his arms about, scattering the strips of cloth. He stops when his hand is gashed open, and blood slowly trickles to his wrist. Lincoln tries to talk to Michael again and he hears Michael whisper, “I put my blood into this.” Lincoln is confused and worried. Michael, enraged, begins punching his fist against the wall of his cell, harder and harder. Lincoln begins to fear that he’s lost his brother for good.
Sucre stands at the cell door, trying to put himself in the right mindset for what he’s about to do. He slowly turns and moves the toilet, then enters the familiar catwalks. Sucre warily makes his way through the tunnels to the hole in the guard room floor.
Sucre scrambles up into the guard room and quickly pulls the table aside. He hurriedly prepares the hole and begins mixing the concrete. He throws down a piece of plywood the guys had earlier cut to fit the hole and pours the concrete over it. Outside, Sucre hears the jingle of keys as C.O. Stolte makes his rounds. Sucre rushes to finish smoothing the surface of the freshly poured concrete. In his hurry to finish, Sucre slips and knocks over a plastic bucket. After hearing the noise, Stolte pauses outside and walks back to the entrance of the guard room. Sucre rushes to clean up and reset the room.
Stolte opens the door and walks in for a closer look. He passes through the foyer, where Sucre has hidden himself behind spare supplies. Stolte looks around the room and sees the bucket on the floor. Assuming that the bucket fell from the table, he turns and exits. Sucre still waits behind the supplies.
Sucre now moves out the front door and sprints to the corner of the building. He looks around the yard, then makes a dash for the sewer grate that Michael used to gain access to the psych ward. Just as he is about to make it to the grate, the prison flood lights slam on and the alarm fills the prison yard. A C.O. spots him and barks out orders to stop. Sucre immediately throws his hands in the air and drops to the ground begging them not to shoot. Two C.O.s pile on top of Sucre, wrench his arms behind his back and handcuff him.
Bellick confidently paces in his office, Sucre, defeated and dirty, sits with his head down. Bellick puts his feet up and continues to work his scare tactics on Sucre. “You know the State of Illinois doesn’t look too kindly upon inmates who try to escape. Bellick crosses in front of him. He’s stern, straightforward, telling Sucre what happens to cons caught trying to escape. “Charges are filed, they transfer you back to county for three months. You come back here with ten more years added to your bid.” Sucre pleads that he wasn’t trying to escape. Bellick, quickly tires of Sucre’s excuses and charges him. Bellick grabs Sucre’s neck and chokes him against the wall. Sucre, struggling to breath, confesses that he stayed out in the yard and hid under the bleachers until dark because he was waiting for something to come over the walls. Bellick tells Sucre that receiving drugs over the wall will add five years to his time. Sucre again, defies Bellick, “It wasn’t drugs!” Bellick stands Sucre up and orders another C.O. to frisk him. The C.O. finds a package tucked into Sucre’s right sock. He hands it to Bellick who quickly tears it open. Inside, Bellick finds Annie the Tranny’s underwear, but Bellick believes they were from Sucre’s fiancé. Bellick thinks Sucre is crazy, “You risked getting thrown in the SHU -- hell, you risked extra time on your bid, all for a pair of panties?” Sucre continues the act and asks Bellick if he understands. Bellick grumbles, “Sure, I understand,” and slowly moves the underwear across his face.
Two C.O.s then drag Sucre down to Ad Seg and toss him in a cell. Lincoln yells to Sucre through the glass. They try to get Michael’s attention. Sucre and Lincoln loudly call for Michael, hoping for an answer. But Michael stays quiet. Lincoln calls for a C.O. and asks that he check on Michael. The C.O., a little disgruntled by the request, walks to Michael’s cell door and flips open a slot at knee height. He turns his flashlight on and moves it through Michael’s cell. The C.O. seems a little shocked at what he sees. He springs to his feet and immediately calls for medical assistance.
Nick hangs up the phone after tracking down a place where he can purchase a cell phone charger that will work with Quinn’s phone. He tells LJ to stay on the couch. Once Nick and Veronica leave, LJ jumps up from the couch and over to Nick’s computer. He opens a search engine and enters the name, “O. Kravecki.” The search returns an address and phone number for an Owen Kravecki. LJ grabs the phone and dials the number. After several rings, voicemail finally answers. LJ’s eyes grow bigger as he realizes the voice on the message is that of Agent Kellerman. He can’t believe what he’s hearing.
Michael’s cell door slides open. She asks the C.O. to wait outside the cell. Sara slowly enters and sees Michael, hunched over on the floor and holding his injured hand. She then looks up and sees the maze of bloody lines drawn on the wall. Sara reaches down and slowly raises Michael’s head. She flashes her penlight across his open eyes, but Michael doesn’t react. Next, she slowly takes Michael’s hand and checks the wound as he rests his head on her leg. Sara assures him that he’s going to be okay.
Out in the yard, Tweener digs quietly along the fence line, keeping an eye on Westmoreland. Westmoreland stands near C-Note, who is squatting and repairing a piece of the fence. Westmoreland says he hopes Sucre had enough time to finish the job. T-Bag walks up and says they’re about to find out. He points over to the guard room as a carpet installation truck pulls up. Tweener sits off to the side, watching everything that is going down and trying to listen in.
Kellerman is calling in from the field, looking for answers about Lincoln Burrows and his father. The Vice President is vague in her answer, telling Kellerman that her agenda and that of the Company just happened to be the same. Before she hangs up, Kellerman makes her promise that he is working for her and not working for the Company.
As the Vice President hangs up, Brinker enters her office. Brinker has come to talk to the Vice President about the deadlocked energy bill. The Vice President says she understands her part and she will vote no. But Brinker has a change of plans, “Actually, we’re going to need you to vote yes on this one.” This request stuns the Vice President. Brinker tells the Vice President that this isn’t about the vote, it’s about how she’ll look to voters. If she votes in favor of the bill, she will look more like a centrist and be in good standing with the voters during the next election year. Brinker finishes by saying, “Besides, once the bill hits the president’s desk, he’ll veto it, then we'll get precisely what we always wanted anyhow, won't we?” The Vice President sits quietly.
Avocado walks up to the other side of the fence from where Tweener is standing and says, “You probably don’t have a hair on your body, do you?” But before things can escalate, Bellick orders Tweener to his side. Tweener walks to Bellick, the rest of the P.I. crew keeps a close watch on him. Bellick threatens to make Avocado and Tweener cellmates if Tweener doesn’t give Bellick some good information on Michael, and soon. Tweener tells him that the P.I. crew is definitely up to something and it has something to do with the carpet. Bellick leaves Tweener and heads for the guard room.
He swings the door open as two carpet installers are taking measurements. Bellick moves around the room, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Agitated, Bellick barks at the carpet guys to leave. He flips the table over in the center of the room and begins tossing the room. He looks over the bare concrete floor, looking for any sign of tampering.
Sucre and Lincoln sit quietly in their cells. They hear the urgent approach of footsteps and guard keys. Outside their windows, they see the Warden, Sara and a C.O. move quickly into Michael’s cell. Michael now lays in a ball on the floor, his hand bandaged, but with the same blank stare on his face. Lincoln begins yelling Michael’s name. The C.O.s close the outer door of Lincoln’s cell to quiet him down.
LJ walks down a Chicago street holding a piece of paper with Owen Kravecki’s address on it. He finds the house, and walks up the front steps. He looks inside and tries the door, it’s locked. LJ moves around to the backdoor. When it’s locked, he smashes a small pane of glass with the handle of a gun taken from Nick’s cabin. What LJ does not see, is an older woman across the way, watching his every move with concern. LJ reaches through the glass and opens the door.
Michael sits comatose in the psych ward receiving room. Sara stands at the admitting desk, giving Michael’s status to a nurse. A psych ward C.O. unshackles Michael from the bench he is sitting on and leads him into the psych ward. He hands Michael off to another orderly as Sara watches him walk away.
LJ rummages through boxes in Owen Kravecki’s home. Inside the boxes are packages full of beef jerky. LJ examines them, confused. He cautiously checks out the interior of the house, pausing to sift through some mail. Then, LJ sees Kellerman walking up the front steps. LJ runs further into the house to hide. Kellerman enters, throws his briefcase down and looks through his mail. The cocking of a gun hammer slightly startles Kellerman. He turns to face LJ who now has Kellerman square in his sights. LJ looks scared, but determined. Kellerman sighs and brushes LJ off, “Put it down, you’re not a killer, you don’t want to make any rash mistakes here.” But LJ immediately fires the gun, the bullet grazing Kellerman’s neck. Kellerman drops to the ground and LJ advances on him. Kellerman tries to negotiate with LJ, telling him there are ways out of this. He says, “I can help you beat this rap. But if you pull that trigger now, you really will be a killer, and then I can’t help you. I’m government. There are a lot of things I can do for you.” But LJ isn’t listening and screams back, “The only thing you can do for me is die!” LJ pulls the hammer back again as Chicago police cars squeal to a halt outside. An officer outside yells to LJ, “Drop your weapon!” LJ drops the gun and raises his hands.
Tweener, belongings in hand, moves up to the second tier. He’s clearly upset. He begs Bellick, “I did what you said!” But Bellick says he gave him nothing. Tweener continues pleading, but it does no good. Bellick backs Tweener into his cell with his new cellmate, Avocado. “Have at it,” Bellick tells Avocado as he walks away.
Through Kellerman’s window, we see LJ being loaded into the back of a police cruiser. Inside, the cop tells Kellerman that he’s lucky, LJ had a warrant for double homicide. Kellerman plays dumb. He tells the officer that he’s never seen LJ before. When the officer asks Kellerman what he does for a living, Kellerman tells him, “I’m a regional sales manager for a dehydrated meat distributor.” He turns and looks at LJ, busted in the backseat of a patrol car.
And orderly sits Michael down inside the psych ward’s TV room. Michael, still displaying the same vacant stare, now wears a white jumpsuit. When the orderly walks away, Michael blinks and life springs back into his eyes. There’s a conniving look on his face as he stands. As Michael makes his way across the room, various flashbacks remind us of Haywire’s exposure to Michael’s tattoo. Finally, Michael stops and says, “Hello, roomie.” Michael sits before Haywire, who looks into Michael’s eyes. Michael continues, “You were right about my tattoo. It is a path, just like you thought. And I need you to remember when you saw it, Haywire. I need you to remember what it looked like. Do you think you can do that for me?”
Haywire pauses, then looks quizzically at Michael and replies, “Who are you?”
Michael glares back at Haywire, the slightest hint of concern creeps into his stare.
[Edit]
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