Episode 7 - Five The Hard Way
22 January 2009
Review
Synopsis: Lincoln, Sara, Sucre and Roland head to Las Vegas to track down the fifth card holder. Sara fails to get into his room but Sucre has more luck and is surprised when he meets Scuderi’s wife. On their way home Roland tries to get some money from a slot machine and his device is confiscated. Bellick, Mahone and Michael head to meet Trishanne who calls with information about T-Bag. Mahone escapes but T-Bag takes the others back to Whistler’s apartment. Michael realises that the bird book is a blue print for how to access Scylla. Gretchen kills Andrew Blauner to get him out of the way and T-Bag and Michael find a hatch in his closet. They head down it and Mahone helps Michael lock T-Bag up. But Gretchen is waiting outside to cut a deal with them. Meanwhile Self gets some protection from the General who had instructed Wyatt to kill him.
The Good: There are plenty of solid developments throughout this busy episode.
The writers have always done a decent job of explaining why characters don’t just kill each other. And T-Bag’s role as Cole Pfeiffer makes him conveniently and understandably indispensable both to Gretchen and to Michael. T-Bag gets to sink his teeth into all sorts of scenes and is generally excellent. He gets to grovel before Gretchen, then wave his gun in Michael’s face before screaming (very believably) in frustration when he ends up behind bars once more. He also reveals his insecurity when he demands that Michael admit he isn’t better than him. It’s clever writing because we know that T-Bag doesn’t want to be seen as scum by society and that has to be one of the key motivations for his sociopath behaviour. It’s a nice touch that as he walks in to GATE with Michael he is almost desperate for his new status to be recognised “Cole Pfeiffer is a man of refinement. One of the GATE Corporation’s tippy top sellers as a matter of fact.” It’s subtle writing and it’s good to see.
Gretchen reminds anyone who had doubts that she is a ruthless killer by murdering poor Andy in front of Bellick and Trishanne. Slicing up T-Bag was also brutal and unlike him she is unencumbered by ego to allow her to make silly mistakes. She is an excellent foil for Michael and hopefully we will get to know who she is as this story unfolds.
The confrontation between Don Self and the General is another excellent scene. It does a lot for both characters. By standing up to the General, Self looks brave and intelligent for using his position to defend himself. After taunting him arrogantly the General is impressed by Self’s bold behaviour. But instead of attacking him, the General coolly states that Self may well end up working for him one day. It’s a beautiful riposte because it hints at the Company’s omniscient reach and clearly demonstrates one of their methods for recruitment and coercion. The comment from the General that it isn’t easy for him to kill a federal agent is also good to hear. It gives us a hint of the limits of the Company. If they are going to be taken down by a gang of criminals then they need to have exploitable weaknesses and this gives us an example of their limitations.
Michael also has a nice moment to remind us who has the biggest brain. His decision to leave the page saying “GATE” on the floor is so simple and yet leads Mahone directly to where he will be. The revelations about his mothers nose bleeds is the most logical explanation for his condition and it will be interesting to see where it goes from here.
For many though the most enjoyable part of the episode will be Sucre sent in to seduce card holding Howard Scuderi. The childish teasing from Roland helps build up the awkward tension as Sucre tries to avoid doing anything too unpleasant with the urbane Scuderi. The conclusion to that story is a delightful twist (see Best Moment).
The Bad: There is probably too much going on in this episode. While a casual viewer may enjoy the fast pace, I don’t think it quite fits this episode. The confrontation between T-Bag and Michael really suffers because of the rush here. Their reunion should have been a bigger deal and had all the tension between them exploited and explored further. Instead their confrontation wasn’t nearly as interesting as the General and Self or even Sucre’s with Scuderi. Aside from the glut of developments, the other main problem was the lack of consequence to T-Bag threatening Michael with a gun. There should be no one who really believed either indispensable piece of the puzzle was going to come to harm.
Lincoln and Sara show moral outrage at Roland using his device to steal money from slot machines. It seem ridiculous that they should be so outraged after all the immoral things they have now done. Particularly Lincoln who was involved in criminal activities before he was even incarcerated in the first place. Roland seems needlessly stupid for trying to take money from a casino he had been banned from. The device being taken away feels like a plot device rather than a cruel twist of fate as a result.
The Unknown: Nothing in particular this week.
Best Moment: Some funky music begins Sucre’s seduction of Scuderi the card holder. Later on Sucre takes one for the team and goes with Scuderi up to his hotel room. The tension builds as Scuderi shares some personal information with him about his military background. Sucre’s discomfort with a potential sexual encounter keeps the amusing but tense situation gripping to watch. Then Scuderi reveals that it isn’t him (and the funky music fires back up) but his wife that Sucre is there to pleasure (because Scuderi can’t). She is of course a busty blonde and Sucre is suddenly happy to stay a little longer. It’s an unexpected and amusing twist and the use of the music is a very effective punchline. Moments of real humour in Prison Break are rare and this is a really surprising and enjoyable scene as a result.
The Verdict: After last weeks good sense of focus, this week is more of an overload of developments. Most fans will probably be satisfied with an action packed edition with some excellent developments. But I think something is lost when so much is crammed in. T-Bag is the big loser here, his intriguing game at GATE has been replaced and now he is everyone’s puppet. It’s a bit disappointing because his character is one of the show’s most interesting.
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