Prison Break

Prison Break S02 E20 "Panama" Recap

Episode 2.20
"Panama"
Airdate: 03/19/2007
Source: Fox.com

A baggage handler checks a boarding pass against a tag on T-Bag’s backpack which is locked inside a security cage. She confirms the names and pulls the bag out. She then hands it to another man who walks into the busy airport. The man stops at a kiosk where T-Bag is waiting. T-Bag takes the bag and looks up he see Bellick and Sucre, their eyes locked on him. T-Bag turns and sprints out the front door. He dives into a cab and yells as the driver to go. Sucre runs along the car and manages to get an arm insideT-Bag swats Sucre’s arm away and the cab is too fast for Sucre to catch up.

Michael and Lincoln walk down a shipping dock near Chicago. Their boat to Central America leaves shortly. Lincoln is happy that they were able to remove President from power, one way or another, but Michael is still concerned. Lincoln tells Michael that when he first told Lincoln that he was going to break him out of Fox River, he didn’t think they had a chance. But now, Michael’s plan is almost complete and they just need to finish what they started. Lincoln skips up the stairs to board the boat, Michael slowly walks after.

Sara drives towards the dock to meet Michael. She answers her cell phone, Michael is checking in. Sara tells him she’s about five minutes away and he tells her there is room for her to leave with him and his brother.

Behind her, Agent Lang continues her pursuit and calls Mahone with an update.

Bellick lays into Sucre because all he could get was the tag off T-Bag’s backpack. Sucre pleads that he tried to get it, but Bellick doesn’t care. Sucre tells Bellick, “Maybe we can call the cab company and find out where T-Bag was dropped off.” Bellick likes the idea and heads towards some payphones. Sucre moves quickly and pulls Bellick’s gun from his holster. Sucre asks Bellick how much it would take to forget he ever found Sucre and Maricruz, Bellick grumbles, “There ain’t enough pesos in TJ.” Bellick reminds Sucre that he’s the only one who knows where Maricruz is. He says Maricruz has enough food and drink to last three weeks, “But any longer and that sweet little plum’s gonna dry up like a raisin.” Bellick continues to say that Sucre isn’t going to get Maricruz back until they get the money, “Guess that makes us partners,” he smiles.

Lincoln finds Michael on an upper deck of the boat looking out over the docks. Michael is concerned that Sara hasn’t arrived yet.

Sara sees an unmarked FBI sedan in her rearview mirror and turns a corner. The sedan follows. She continues on towards the docks, and then sees another sedan pull alongside her. Sara knows the FBI has found her and stops near an old building that says, “Windy City Donuts.” He phone rings, Michael wants to know what’s wrong. She eyes the sedans surrounding her, and then looks to the dock signs ahead. She’s close, but can’t give away Michael’s location. She tells him that she’s on board and she’ll find him. Michael looks around, he knows something is wrong. “I’m on my up. I love you,” Sara trails off. She opens the car door, and puts her hands above her head. Agent Lang steps out of her car and puts handcuffs on Sara. Mahone pulls up to the scene and he’s not happy. Mahone walks up to Sara, “Where is he?” Sara plays dumb and dodges Mahone’s questions.

Michael hurries around the boat looking for Sara as it slowly pulls away from the docks. He meets up with Lincoln who is looking at several squad cars race down the docks. They both know that Sara has been caught. Michael wants to turn the boat around, but Lincoln tells him there’s nothing more they can do.

Sara tells Mahone that she just wanted a donut. He looks up and sees the sign on the building. “Get her a donut. Can we get her a donut? Get her a donut! Get her a dozen donuts! Lock her up!” Mahone screams to the agents.

Michael hangs his head over the side of the boat. It’s over.

Mahone sits on the floor of his basement office, before him on the wall is a mad collage of everything about Michael Scofield and the Fox River 8. The Photos, drawings, and news clippings, are sprawled across the wall. Mahone’s eyes move across it, looking for anything, “Where the hell did you go, Michael?”

Agent Wheeler walks through the halls of a county jail with Agent Sullins, Mahone’s rival from Internal Affairs. Sullins asks about Mahone’s whereabouts, but Wheeler hasn’t heard from him in over a week. Wheeler and Sullins enter a holding room and sit before C-Note and offer C-Note a deal to testify against Mahone. But C-Note rejects the offer, saying that he can be locked up knowing Mahone is out there and possibly hunting his family. “Now, I’m sorry if seem a little bit skeptical,” C-Note calmly tells Sullins, “but the time a last federal agent that came up in here offering a deal, there was a string attached…that I was supposed to put around my neck.” Sullins offers that C-Note’s sentence will be reduced from eighteen years to eighteen months. C-Note laughs and says the moment Mahone finds out that he’s talking, he probably won’t last eighteen days. C-Note says he needs to be outside those walls, protecting his family. C-Note stands and calls for the guard. Sullins knows he has to make this right and stands to look C-Note in the eye, “Free man. You. Your family. Witness protection. A fresh start.” C-Note says if Sullins can deliver that in writing, he’ll be a witness.

Mahone mutters to himself as he scans a book of images. He’s on to something. Agent Lang walks into the room, “Sir, I knocked but…” Mahone doesn’t answer, his hands and eyes are piecing together a puzzle. He flips up an image of Michaels, “ENGLISH, FITZ, PERCY” tattoo and points to a small triangle in the corner, “What does this look like to you?” He continues showing Lang more tattoos with small characters in the corner of each image, “How’s your Greek alphabet, Lang?” Mahone spins around the room, and tells Lang that the sketches he has were pulled from Michael’s recovered hard drive. Michael numbered the steps of his breakout and escape using the Greek alphabet. Finally, he shows her Michael’s omega drawing. A picture of appears to be the image of Christ inside a flowering rose, the numbers “6-1-7” are written down the stem. Mahone mutters, “Six seventeen. June seventeenth. What is today?” Lang tells him, “The fifteenth.” Mahone lights up, whatever Michael is planning is going to happen in two days.

Sucre and Bellick lean over a counter at the Mexican Tourism Bureau as a worker types through his system looking for the name, “Stammel.” The man returns to tell them there is no Stammel. Sucre translates for Bellick and tells him they’re at a dead end. Sucre tells the man that if his wife and baby are in trouble and Mr. Stammel is the only one who can save them. If the worker hears anything, he should call Sucre immediately.

T-Bag sits in a bathrobe, merrily humming. A woman hands him a cold drink, and her appearance is similar to Susan Hollander. He stands and kisses her on the lips, “The day I met you was the day I was born.” The woman tells T-Bag that they’re, “out of time,” and T-Bag replies, “No, Susan. We got our whole lives together.” But the woman is out of her Susan character and tells him their hour is up and to continue, she’s going to need the cash up front. T-Bag grows frustrated because the woman refuses to stay in character and ruins the moment. T-Bag comments that for a moment he believed this woman was smart, but if she was smart, she wouldn’t be a whore. The woman pulls of her bobbed hair wig and snaps back at T-Bag, “I don’t know who this Susie-Q bitch is, but no wonder she wants nothing to do with you.” The woman moves to leave and T-Bag cuts her off. The woman, not backing down, tells T-Bag that she’ll scream. T-Bag grabs her by the throat and forces her to the bed. The woman struggles to break free.

Michael and Lincoln walk off the boat in Cristobal, Panama. Lincoln is happy to have arrived, but Michael says there’s someone he needs to see first. Michael looks down at the Christ Rose tattoo.

Agent Lang and Mahone sit inside the FBI command center, trying to crack Michael’s Christ Rose tattoo. As agents around him shout out possibilities, Mahone’s eyes focus on a nearby white board. Mahone grabs Scofield’s file and looks over his family history. Next to “MOTHER” is the name, Christina Rose Scofield. Mahone shares this with the group, and Lang replies, “I thought she was dead.” Mahone pauses, and then replies, “So did I.”

Agent Lang and another agent trail Mahone through the office. Mahone reminds Lang that the first thing Scofield did after breaking out was dig up a grave where he stashed supplies and he needs to know where Michael’s mother is buried. Mahone and Lang walk into his office and Mahone asks about Panama. They recovered information about Panama from Michael’s hard drive and it might be a clue. Lang tells Mahone that Michael is smart enough to stay out of a country that he knows Mahone might be waiting from him. Mahone replies, “Unless there’s something he needs.” Mahone tells Lang to investigate any links that Michael’s mother might have to Panama.

Michael and Lincoln bounce along inside an old bus. Michael stares off ahead, but Lincoln is alive and amazed by the scenery. Lincoln tries to raise his brother’s spirits, but Michael snaps, “She should have been here with us.” Lincoln tells Michael that there’s still time and one day, he can be with Sara again. But Michael cuts his brother off and doesn’t want to hear it.

A maid cleans T-Bag’s hotel room and finds the woman’s wig on the bathroom floor. When she moves deeper into the bathroom she finds the woman, bloodied and dead, inside the tub.

T-Bag makes his way down the elevator and into the lobby and heads for the front door. He sees security guards spring to life. As he passes the guards, he locks eyes with one. Once T-Bag reaches the front door, the guard recognizes him and calls for help.

Lang tells Mahone haven’t found a connection between Panama and Michael’s mother, but there are several variations of the name, “Christina Rose” in the country. Mahone has her check everything against the “6-1-7,” and tells her to call the embassy to send an officer to that location if they find anything. Lang is hesitant and tells Mahone they can’t arrest someone who is a foreign citizen. Mahone reminds her, “Patriot Act, Agent Lang. I can arrest your grandmother for missing a stitch in her macramé if I wanted to.”

Michael and Lincoln wait inside a general store. Lincoln motions to the counter where an elder woman is working, “That her?” Michael confirms and the two walk over. Michael approaches her and greets her, “Hola, Mri. Vasquez.” Mrs. Vasquez tells Michael he is much later than they had planned and asks about Lincoln, “He’s a business associate,” Michael replies. Mrs. Vasquez hands Michael a folded piece of paper, “Christina Rose, I remember. This is where you’ll find her.” Michael tells Lincoln to wait outside and asks to borrow Mrs. Vasquez’s phone.

Michael dials a number on a rotary and asks to be connected with the United States, and then he gives the number. But before he can finish, Lincoln slams his hand on the phone and disconnects the call. Lincoln tells him that he can’t call her right now, if she’s in custody, they have her phone and they’ll be able to find them. Michael knows his brother is right.

Mahone’s phone rings, it’s Agent Kim. Mahone confidently tells Kim that he’s tracked the brothers to Panama, but that’s not why Kim is calling. Kim informs Mahone that C-Note is being released from custody, and the news hit Mahone like a ton of bricks. “That’s not possible. They would need permission from my office,” he tells Kim. Kim hangs up the phone. Mahone walks over to Lang and orders, “Find me Agent Wheeler.”

Meanwhile, Agent Kim stands at the end of a small dock as a man in a suit pats him down for weapons. A man tells Kim, “He’ll see you now,” and Kim looks out over a lake to see Pad Man sitting alone in another boat.

Kim sits across from Pad Man and asks, “Forgive me for asking sir, but couldn’t we be doing this in my office?” Pad Man glares at Kim, and then speaks, “For the next several hours this is what those in the intelligence community refer to as a blindspot. Something about the position of the sun, I’m told. Disrupts any long distance recording devices.” Kim apologizes how the President was dealt with and that they’re moving forward. Pad Man wants to make sure the brothers are dead, and Kim tells him Mahone believes they’re in Panama but does not have an exact location. Pad Man asks what Agent Kim knows about something called, “Sona,” and tells Kim, “Perhaps what the situation with the brothers requires, is a change in strategy.”

Wheeler pulls into the FBI garage, talking to Sullins on the phone. He asks Sullins, “How long until the court approves the arrest warrant for Mahone?” Sullins says it’s coming but Wheeler has to be patient. Wheeler knows he can’t walk back into the office because Mahone will see Wheeler is up to something. Sullins tells Wheeler to relax and act normal. Wheeler steps out of his car and turns around to be face-to-face with Mahone. “Wheeler. Where have you been?” Wheeler tenses up. Mahone reaches around Wheeler, looking for a wire. Mahone tells Wheeler that if he was going to betray him then he should have done a better job covering it up. But Mahone realizes that Wheeler wanted Mahone to realize it was him turning him in. Wheeler tells Mahone that no matter what he does to him now, it’s too late, he’s still going to jail. Mahone begins to crack, knowing that everything is starting to fall apart. Wheeler offers to take Mahone in and clean up the mess. Mahone coldly replies, “There’s only one way to clean this,” and he backs into the shadows of the parking garage.

Two guards arrive at C-Note’s cell door and tell him he has a visitor. C-Note begins to squirm and tells them he’s not leaving until he knows who is there to see him. When he resists, the guards pick him up and carry him down the hall. C-Note pleads with them to check who it is first. The shove C-Note into a hallway, and his face drops. Standing with Agent Sullins, is Dede and Kacee. The guards take the handcuffs off C-Note, and he hugs his wife and child. Kacee smiles and wants to know the details, but C-Note just smiles back. Sullins asks for a quick word before he releases C-Note, Kacee and Dede walk to the lobby. Sullins gives C-Note a thick envelope with all their new information. Sullins makes sure that C-Note understands that when he is called upon to testify, he must comply. And C-Note asks about Mahone, he doesn’t want to spend the rest of his life looking over his shoulder. Sullins tells C-Note that he’ll worry about Mahone.

Michael and Lincoln walk down a dirt road. Lincoln continues to try and console his brother about leaving Sara behind. Michael starts to tell Lincoln that just because they’re free doesn’t mean they haven’t left a trail of disaster behind them. Michael reminds Lincoln about Westmoreland, Tweener, LJ and his mother. Then Michael says Veronica’s name and Lincoln explodes. But Michael isn’t done, and reminds Lincoln that T-Bag is still on the run because they helped him escape, “Each life he takes, there’s blood on our hands. And for what?” Lincoln begins to walk off and tells Michael he never asked to be saved and maybe Michael should have let him die. Michael has had enough and for the first time, charges his older brother. The two roll down a small hill. Lincoln stands up and looks over his brother. “As bad as I feel about Sara, she had a choice. Veronica didn’t. I listened to her die, Michael. I listen to her die and there was nothing I could do,” Lincoln tells Michael. Lincoln takes a breath, “We’ve lost so much, man. We can’t afford to lose each other.”

Mahone tears down the wall of photos and sketches in his basement. He moves to take two trash bags out when he runs into Agent Kim coming down the stairs. Mahone tells Kim that he would kill him if he knew it would help. Mahone tells Kim he’s been able to hold it together because he knew he would be reunited with his family. But now, it’s all gone. Kim again offers to help Mahone, but Mahone doesn’t want it because he’s going to go to trial. Kim offers to help Mahone escape. Kim tells Mahone that T-Bag was apprehended in Mexico and they’re going to need him alive. All Mahone has to do is get to Panama.

Michael tries to deal with his feelings of what he’s done wrong to get them to this point. Lincoln tells Michael that he just needs to move forward until they find the one thing that makes all those lost lives matter. Michael asks when the last time Lincoln was happy was and Lincoln replies it was before their mother died. The two stop walking and look out ahead of them, “There she is,” Michael says.

Agent Lang calls Mahone and wants to know why other agents are going through his office. She asks him if he checked his fax machine, she sent him new information on Christina Rose. Mahone grabs the fax from behind him. Lang continues, “Looks like she was commissioned about four months before Scofield robbed that bank. From a builder in Panama named Amparo Vasquez."

Lincoln looks out over the ocean, “She’s beautiful.” Lincoln and Michael look at a beautiful boat, ready to take sail.

C-Note walks with his family out of the jail. The doors close behind him and he looks back, he can’t believe he’s finally a free man.

Sucre and Bellick continue the hunt for T-Bag. Bellick’s phone rings and the man on the other end speaks Spanish. He hands the phone to Sucre. Sucre thanks the man and turns to Bellick, “A man named E. Stammel just boarded a plane to Panama City.”

T-Bag walks quickly through the streets of Panama City. He makes eye contact with another man, who flashes a gun in his belt. The man stops nearby and turns to watch T-Bag. T-Bag approaches a group of young girls standing around the front of a building, clearly hookers. He asks if any of them speak English. He finds his girl and asks her how he feels about wigs. T-Bag looks back at the man, who then watches T-Bag walk away with the girl.

Michael grabs a lock on the boat’s door, then looks down at the Christina Rose tattoo. He spins the dial to 6-1-7, and pops the lock open. The two head below deck to find the entire boat full stocked with food and new TVs and PDAs. Lincoln tosses Michael a PDA and tells him to see if he can find news about Sara. Michael tries, there's nothing. Lincoln recommends checking out the European Goldfinch site. Michael checks, but still nothing, just updates from C-Note and Sucre. But Michael’s face changes when he reads Sucre’s message saying T-Bag is in Panama City.

Mahone sits in an airport, checking the Goldfinch site for updates. He catches an exchange between Michael and Sucre where Michael says they’re going to help find T-Bag.

Lincoln has reservations about heading to confront T-Bag and just wants to head to sea. But Michael holds his ground saying if they stop T-Bag, it will make everything they’ve done right. Lincoln says they should just call the police, and Michael notes that he chose Panama because they have no extradition. The police can’t touch T-Bag. Michael says they’ll figure out when they get here. Lincoln says they should get to sea, and think out their plan.

Mahone asks a ticket agent how long the trip is to Panama. She tells him it’s about 12 hours and hands him his ticket and ID, “Have a nice flight, Mr. Olshan.” Mahone smiles, he’s under the radar and finishing his mission.

Lincoln emerges from below deck with booze in hand. He begins telling Michael that the limes are too old, and then he realizes Michael is gone. He looks around, then screams Michael’s name. Michael is gone.