Prison Break Season 2 Premiere Recap

It’s officially the Fall season. My FAVORITE time of year. Cliffhangers are revealed, favorite characters return, and possible new classics debut. Yes, the Fall TV season is a thing of beauty. And lucky for us, the first show back is none other than last year’s breakout hit, Prison Break.

It’s been a while since I had to recap a show, and I forget how tiring it can be. I’m sadly out of practice so my apologies in advance for this rather lengthy read. Once I get back into the swing of things, I’ll be a tad bit better and condensing the the episodes. In the interest of full disclosure, the first half of this recap is being done from memory as my TiVo failed me tonight and it only taped the second half of the show. Luckily for us, Fox sent out advanced screeners so I had seen this episode last week. But since I don’t have the DVD handy, I’m going to have to do this first part from memory. I may not remember all the details, but you’ll get the gist.

If you are a Prison Break newbie, click here for a VERY brief recap of Prison Break Season One.

For all you Prison Break vetrans, let’s pick up where we left off at the end of last season. The inmates used all their resource to break out of the prison walls. And in the last moments of Season One, Michael and his band of Merry Men were on the run from the police, the dogs, and the helicopters hovering above.And running full speed is just how we find the boys as we begin the Second Season of Prison Break. Whew…ok I’m exhausted just by trying to recap last season for ya. Someone get me some Gatorade, I think I just lost a few electrolytes. Moving on…

The convicts have escape but they aren’t out of the woods yet (figuratively or literally). Bellick and his crew are hot hot hot on their trail. Since these eight men are now the most wanted men in the country, it’s no surprise to find out that the FBI has quickly been brought in. As you would expect, there is no love lost between Bellick and the new FBI lead, Alexander Mahone, played by the great William Fichtner. (Sidenote: Ok here’s the deal with Fichtner – although he’s been in a ton of movies and TV shows, to me he’s Colonel Willy Sharp from Armageddon. So until he owns this new role on Prison Break, I’m going to just have to refer to his Armageddon character. Just wanted to give you a heads up).

Ok so with Bellick and the FBI hot on their heels, the boys are going all Forrest Gump on us and running for their lives. The guys are hoofing it full speed in an attempt to cross the train tracks before the train, well, kills them. Some of the guys make it across in time but Michael and Sucre aren’t fast enough and they are left hanging from the side of a moving train. Just as Bellick is about to lay some serious lead into Michael, Lincoln pulls them both to safety without a moment to spare. Score one for the convicts.

Speaking of convicts, not all the boys stayed together at the initial break. Tweener was sent on his own after he betrayed Michael. Haywire went haywire and the boys left him behind. And after having his hand chopped off by Abruzzi, T-Bag was struggling just to stay alive. Lucky for T-Bag, he stumbled across a campground, where he found a little cooler, just the perfect size to hold his severed hand (ew). I guess T-Bag has seen Grey’s Anatomy enough to know that cooling the severed body part is the only way to keep it fresh for reattachment. In another bout of incredible luck, T-Bag finds himself outside a Dr’s office. Too bad this Doctor is a Vet. Yup, much like Meredith Grey, T-bag stumbled on to McVet while he was hoping to find McDreamy.

The FBI guys are still on the hunt for the convicts. Willy Sharp hits the airwaves to show the public the faces of the men and explain how dangerous they really are. Soon thereafter, we see that the FBI is already interviewing someone with an intimate knowledge of the convicts plans…even if she doesn’t it. Yup, they have managed to track down Michael’s tattoo artist – who oddly enough had pictures of all Michael’s tats. Hmmm. Suspect? Maybe a little. Willy Sharp is not only an accomplished astronaut, he’s also very, very perceptive. In less that no time, he discovers that Michael’s tattoos hold all the answers they are looking for. Now he’s faced with solving the giant riddle, and the only clues are on Michael’s body. So he has to continuously stare at Michael’s bare chest for hours on end? Where do I sign up for that FBI program again?

Meanwhile the boys are probably pissed they forgot their OFF bug spray because they are spending a lot of time in the woods. They stop for a quick break, and Michael takes this opportunity to tell Lincoln about the $5M dollars that DB Cooper/Charles Westmore land has buried there. Unfortunately, a few of the other guys were around when Charles made his deathbed confession about the money, so it’s not going to be easy to get to it without incident. Lincoln suggests that Veronica help, but Michael doesn’t want to involve her anymore at this point in time. They will have to do it on their own.

Ok, back to the running…in the woods the boys counter a little girl out for a walk. Her parents obviously haven’t had the “don’t talk to strangers, especially when those strangers are escaped convicts” talk yet. She says Hi, and she and C-Note engage is some small talk until her father appears. He immediately recognizes the convicts from TV, and just as he raises his shotgun, Abruzzi grabs his daughter and threatens her life. After a sick game of death chicken, Abruzzi lets the little girl go in exchange for the man’s silence and his car. Yes, transportation…finally Wentworth Miller can stop looking extremely awkward by trying to keep up with his castmates. The boys take off in the Sweet Pickles Van and we soon learn they are heading for a little town called Oswego.

Conveniently enough, Oswego is just where Bellick is headed. A brief look at Michael’s pre-incarceration credit card charges leads Bellick to a storage facility right in the big O.

Over in the hospital, we have learned that despite a few touch and go moments, Dr. Sarah Tancredi is alive and (almost) well. Sarah, or as we like to call her, Tequila Tancredi, is catching up on some light reading when she is informed that she has a visitor. She looks up anxiously, but is visibly disappointed when she realizes that it’s Nurse Katie. She claims that she was hoping it would be her father visiting, but come on, we all know she was secretly hoping Michael found a way to go incognito and visit her.

Katie is all apologetic for throwing Sarah under the bus, but if there is anything Tequila Tancredi knows from her alcohol and drug addiction recovery process, it’s her steps. An one of those steps has to do with not throwing rocks at glass houses – no that wasn’t it. I don’t know what step it was, but it in the end she lets Nurse Katie off the hook. Katie returns the favor by letting Sarah off the hook for falling for a con. Sarah gets all weepy and claims that Michael never cared. Wah wah..shut it.

If only Sarah were in the Sweet Pickles van, she would know that in fact Michael does care. Sucre and Michael have a little heart to heart (I love when men share their feelings), and the minute Sucre tries to get Michael to admit his real feelings, Michael turns away. Be a man Michael!!

With all this running and good storytelling, I almost forget about one of the suckiest B-stories in all of TV, Veronica and the whole Terrence Steadman debacle. The story picks up just as it left off last season – boring. Ok, so Veronica has confronted Terrence about faking his own death and framing Lincoln. We dont’ get any answers as to why he’s in hiding, and why Linc was the target. We do kind of get the gist that Terrence wasn’t really down on this whole fake death thing, but rather forced into it. He claims that showing his face means instant death. Well, that sucks, especially during the hot summer months when he could be getting a nice tan. I mean really, if I were to fake my own death, and not have to work, I would really hope to at least do a little sunbathing. But anway. Terrence pulls a gun on Veronica, but the girl isn’t phased. Dude, you know how many times her life has been threatened at gunpoint over the last couple of weeks? Seriously, she’s a bit bored by the drama of it all. She calls his bluff, claiming that he has to deal with her body if he kills her. Veronica pulls out her cell phone and despite Terrence’s pleadings, she calls the cops to the house. She says she’s reporting a crime…by the President of the United States. Oh Snap!!

T-Bag is still in the vets office trying to get his hand sewn back on. The vet keeps telling him that he’s not qualified to handle the job, but T-bag doesn’t really want to hear any excuses right now. The vet finally agrees to do the procedure, but he has to first T-bag under. Yeah, that’s not happening. The doc says that since he has to cut away dead flesh (ew) there is no way anyone would be able to stand the pain. T-Bag isn’t just anybody, and he’s sure to let the doc know.

Colonel Willy Sharp and his sidekick are still flabergasted by the clues imbedded into Michael’s skin. Again, I think it’s a bit of a logic leap to think that (a) Michael let the tatoo artist take such detailed photos of his artwork and (2) the FBI guys figured out so quickly what it all meant. But anyway, I let things slide in the shows I love, so on we go.

Bellick and the Fox River COs are on their way to the storage facility in Oswego. The FBI guys are right behind them. Also, seeing the sights in Oswego are Michael and his Merry Men. The boys have entered a storage facility, at the same time the cops are showing up at the storage facility. There’s classic Prison Break high tension and drama as the convicts are about to be trapped in the storage space by Bellick and the boys. The convicts better get out fast because the police are about to storm in…uh oh better be prepared to run (again) boys. Just as the boys are about to get cornered, the Prison Break director pulls a page out of JJ Abrams Alias book, and it’s revealed that Bellick and the convicts are actually at two different locations….whew. That was a close one.

Meanwhile, back at headquarters (I’ve always wanted to say that), Willy and his friend are intrigued by one of Michael’s tattoos. The “Ripe” “Chance” “Woods” tats on Michael’s seem to be another clue. But what does it all mean? Hmmmm…

After grabbing some shovels from the fake-out storage bunker, Mike and the guys head to a cemetary and start digging. And look at that, the grave belongs to a one E. Chance Woods. Not, Ripe Chance Woods? Nope, more like RIP E. Chase Woods (ah the boy is nothing if not clever…and hot). Michael digs deep enough to retrieve a trash bag from the grave. And that’s just about the same time that Willy figures out that “Ripe Chance Woods” is a name and not a place. Yeah, I thought that was a bit of a stretch too. Of all the tattoos on Michael’s body, Willy just happens to zone in on the one tattoo that is playing a real-time critical role in Michael’s escape plan? Yeah, right?! But this is another one of those things that you forgive in your pursuit to enjoy a little good quality TV, so on we go…

The boys are ripping open the trash bag to find the clothes originally intended for Michael and Linc. The clothes don’t seem to fit, and Sucre isn’t actually loving his new threads, but as Michael says: “If you want variety, hit Target.” Ha. Oh and by the way, you gotta love that these clothes have been buried, underground, for MONTHS, yet none of them are wrinkled. I mean, Michael is sporting a HOT khaki suit, that looks like it was just taken off the hangar at Brooks Bros. But clothes aren’t the only thing stored in that hefty bag. Michael and Lincoln now have passports, money and keys to an automobile that’s parked just down the lane. Convenient. Michael lets Lincoln know that the car is just for the two of them, but he hasn’t told the other guys yet. Is it wrong that I’m bummed that Michael wouldn’t consider taking Sucre along? I mean, maybe not through to the end game, but just for a little while? I feel like Sucre is a little bunny that needs to be nurtured, and he won’t last a day without Michael.

I guess there’s no time to figure that all out now because Colonel Willy Sharp is pulling up to the cemetary. The guys huddle behind a tree and the FBI lead makes his way to the grave of Mr. Woods. He studies the grave as Michael defiantly studies him. Michael stands up as if almost to taunt him my his presence. But all this seems to be a little too much for Willy to take in at once as we seem him open up the top of his pen to dispense some pills. Something tell me those weren’t Tums he was taking. Michael notices too. Willy hears a sound in the woods and looks up only to see the back of Michael as he runs away. With gun drawn, he follows him over some train tracks and eventually into downtown Oswego. Church is getting out and the convicts easily blend in with the other civilians. Willy has lost them.

Just as this was getting really exciting, we cut away to Veronica and Terrence. Zzzzzz. Veronica is trying to convince Terrence that coming out of hiding is the only way to end all of this. He’s not so sure. Just then Veronica gets a call from Lincoln who informs her that they are out and on the run. She tells him to turn himself in immediately because she’s with a very much alive (albeit depressed) Terrence, and this nightmare will end soon. Linc is a little confused, but she doesn’t have much time to explain, because just it’s just about this time when the cops show up. Veronica is miffed when the police tell her to put the phone down…dude she is talking to her ex-boyfriend, leave her be. But she’s even more miffed when she sees that the cop has a gun pointed right at her. This time she seems to be taking the situation a bit more seriously. Next thing you know BANG BANG….Veronica is shot once in the heart and once in the noggin. RIPV Eronica Donovan.

Sadly, Lincoln hears the whole incident and is freaking out. Baby Bro tries to comfort him but it’s not working. Dirty cops everywhere you look on this show. Oh and in case you were wondering if Veronica is REALLY dead, yeah, well they show the bad cops stuffing her into the trunk of the car. First them top half of her body, and minutes later her other half. That’s one way to keep internet speculation to a minimum. Yup, she’s dead.

Back in the hospital, Sarah is once again reading. She reaches into her bag and happens to find one of Michael’s oragami swans. Written on the side it says “There’s a plan to make all of this right” and underneath it, there’s a bunch dots which looks a little like morse code (sidenote: int he screener version I got, there was no morse code, and I think the note may have said something a little different. I can’t remember for sure, but definitely no morse code.)

Over at the FBI quarters, Willy explains to his partner that Scofield basically left a map of his plans – where he is going an how he plans to get there. And if Big Willy gets his way, the FBI will be waiting for Michael and his band of merry men when then get to their end destination.

As for us, I guess we will have to wait and see. Welcome back Prison Break….welcome back.