Prison Break: Once more unto the breach

It's that time again on Prison Break: Time for a motley band of desperate criminals with varying degrees of social acceptability (not to mention sanity and/or personal hygiene) to forcibly rejoin society. But first -- Treachery! Setbacks! Last-minute reversals! Weather drama! And more!

There's a 30 second delay before the backup spoiler kicks in.

You've heard of rain delays? In Sona, they have rain advances. That's because prison-yard showers don't just bring no-man's-land flowers, they also threaten to make the tunnel collapse. Michael announces they'll be escaping tonight.

His fellow jailbirds are aghast. Didn't you say a night-time escape was impossible? Aren't we rushing things a bit? And listen, you and Whistler are the only folks on a timetable -- we can wait a little bit. Now or never, Michael says, deploying one of his patented glares. Mahone plays the peacemaker and backs him up. Ah, Mahone -- you're my favorite. Don't let anyone tell you any different.

First order of business: Dig like there's no tomorrow. As the men are digging in shifts, it gives them time to conspire. That always works out well. Second: Figure out how to knock out the lights -- and how long they have until the backup generator kicks in. The answer: 30 seconds. Plenty of time!

While all this is going on inside, events progress on the outside, too. Here's the roundup:

Lincoln is in charge of lights, as well as Company-wrangling. He takes care of the former by hijacking a bus and driving it into an electrical pole, and the latter by ... ok, actually, the Company does all the wrangling. Sigh.

Sucre is having a very bad day. First, Linc tells him Michael may be having second thoughts about turning over Whistler. Then, Gretchen announces she found the bomb Sucre planted in her car. Duh. Cue the threats on Maricruz's person, and Sucre's increasing panic. Finally, he discovers that the false identity he's using has a warrant out for his arrest. He's not going anywhere, which is problematic since he's a part of the escape plan. About the only thing that goes right for Sucre is he manages to read off the backup generator's model number so Michael can make a customer service call.   

When Gretchen hears about Michael's cold feet, she decides to throw her weight around. She has Sofia nabbed and tortures her so Linc can see and Whistler can hear. Then she meets up with Whistler and Michael at the prison, but is amazed to discover that Whistler has developed a backbone. He's figured out the coordinates in the bid book, but he only gives her half -- he'll give her the rest when he and Sofia are reunited, and Michael, Linc and LJ are safe. Gretchen is most put out.

Right before escape time, Michael warns fresh-faced kid/cannon fodder McGrady about the dangers of escape and a life on the run, but tells him he can come along anyway. Then: Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal! T-Bag and Lechero produce shivs and announce they're taking over this jailbreak -- they get to go first! Bellick nervously joins in with them, while Mahone honorably stayed back with Michael, Whistler and the (presumably doomed) kid.

And finally: The escape is on! Well, it will be on. Next week. We've burned the entire episode getting up to the point where the escape is on. But still -- escaping! No, really! I promise!

Thoughts, highlights and odds and ends

• Michael meets with Linc to tell him the plan -- and to update him on a few changes. "T-Bag's coming. And Mahone, and Bellick... oh yeah, and there's a drug lord, too..." Heh.
• Have I mentioned how much I love William Fichtner? The scene where he's brokering peace between Michael and the rest of the group is fabulous. Although you have to worry when a twitchy ex-Fed is the voice of reason...
• Michael has the most affable phone voice when it comes to dealing with customer service people on the phone. He's lucky there's never a prison riot or Chicken Foot Death Match going on in the background whenever he calls.
• Where T-Bag makes scheming look good, in a delightfully overblown Southern Gothic sort of way, Bellick is pretty hopeless at it. Wade Williams does a great job teetering between ingratiating sniveling and outright panic.
• Right before the escape, Michael shares a bit of existential angst with Linc: "Mostly I'm just tired. Tired of choices, consequences... I just want this to be over." I suddenly have a vision of Michael in Marlene Dietrich drag singing "Is That All There Is." (Yes, I know it's a Peggy Lee song. But wouldn't Michael look great in a top hat, tuxedo and fishnets?)
• A couple of the reversals seemed like part of the plan to me -- there was that weird smile on Sucre's face when he saw the jeeps pull up outside the room he was being kept in at the prison. Is that because he found his getaway vehicle, or because he was where he was supposed to be? And T-Bag and Lechero insisting on going first -- surely Michael has been hanging out with T-Bag long enough to know he'd try some sort of coup. Do you think he built it into the plan? I really hope he did. It would serve T-Bag, Lechero and Bellick right.

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