Warning: this article contains spoilers.
I know what you’re thinking: didn’t Michael Scofield die back in 2009? We all thought so, but the producers of Prison Break had something else in store for us. Word of FOX’s revival of Prison Break started back in June 2015. Last night, we finally began to learn about answers to questions we didn’t even know we had. How is Michael Scofield alive, and who’s behind the faking of his death?
The season premiere begins with a recap of the most important events from prior seasons. We see flashbacks of how Lincoln Burrows, Michael’s brother, found himself in jail, to Michael visiting him and learning of his death sentence, then getting arrested to save his brother, and their journey of breaking themselves out of jail with friends they made along the way. We even see a few clips of the early romance between Michael and Sara Tancredi, who eventually becomes Michael’s wife and the mother of his child. The flashbacks end with the death of Michael, who sacrificed his life breaking his wife out of jail. We even see his corpse being prepared at the morgue for his funeral, which makes it even harder for us to believe he may actually be alive.
Throughout the beginning of the episode, we hear a Michael voice-over. The line that stood out the most is: “Freedom has a price. But the dead talk…if you listen.” Hmmmm, what exactly are you implying here, Michael?!
The episode continues by introducing the main characters back into the picture: T-Bag, Lincoln, C-Note, Sara, and Sucre. We see T-Bag being released from jail, which is hard to believe with all of the murders he’s responsible for. When being released from jail, he is given an envelope with something inside that incredibly shocked him. Then we see Lincoln running away from someone. First thing that comes to my mind was, how is he still on the run? Turns out Lincoln went back to his old ways, getting himself into trouble by borrowing money he doesn’t return. When Lincoln returns home, he’s surprised and angered to see T-Bag on his deck. He gives Lincoln the envelope, and Lincoln cannot believe what he sees. We are now on terms with the fact that Michael Scofield may actually be alive, and someone wants them to know. Lincoln takes the information to Sara, and seems to be followed by two unknown characters in the process. We find out that Sara remarried and Lincoln hadn’t seen her in years. Sara chose not to believe the possibility of Michael being alive after all these years. We meet Sara’s new husband, Jacob, and Michael’s son, named after him. Jacob was a little too eager to throw back some beers and catch up with his wife’s ex brother-in-law, if you ask me.
Lincoln visits Michael’s grave to have a talk with his late brother. He looks down at the sheet of paper he was given with the picture on it and notices the words at the bottom, and how certain letters were bold and others weren’t. He cracked the code: Ogygia. He researches Ogygia and finds out his brother could be telling him he’s in a prison in Yemen. This inspires Lincoln to go back to the cemetery to dig up Michael’s grave to see if he’s really in there…and he’s not! Lincoln looks horrified and clings onto his brother’s jacket in the grave. The conspiracy now begins.
Lincoln then experiences another altercation with the man that seemed to be following him earlier in the episode. This mysterious man pulls up next to Lincoln’s car at a red light, and takes control of the car by operating on a laptop. The car goes flying off the road at full speed, sending Lincoln flying through the windshield and into the water. Of course, since it’s Lincoln, he swims away completely unharmed. Not like he just went through a glass windshield or anything. He manages to make it out alive, with Michael’s suit jacket, conveniently. Lincoln informs Sara on what happened, and the mysterious car Lincoln had seen earlier in the episode pulls up to Sara’s house. A blonde woman starts heading up the stairs to her house with a gun in hand. Sara yells to Jacob to grab the gun while she goes upstairs to protect Michael Jr. Jacob is left to get shot in the leg, and conveniently we hear police sirens when the woman is looking for Sara, and gets back into her car, leaving them unharmed.
In the hospital, Lincoln is trying to convince Sara to fight back with him against whoever is behind this conspiracy. Sara contends that she cannot leave her wounded husband and her child behind, so Lincoln finds someone who could help. Enter C-Note. Seen in a mosque, we learn that the former solider/inmate dedicated his life to Islam and fighting against radicalism. He tells Lincoln that Ogygia is a prison for the worst criminals in the world. When they call to ask about Michael Scofield, there’s no one in the prison by that name. Lincoln and C-Note fly to Yemen, without Sucre, who shows up at the airport vowing to help them find his was-dead-now-alive best friend, despite the fact that the country is in the middle of a civil war. Their first encounter in Yemen was not a good start to their trip. They got into the wrong taxi and their fake driver takes them to a mysterious garage. They get out of the car and are surrounded by a group of men, forcing them to brawl for their lives. It’s safe to say they won the fight, and a woman named Sheba shows up to save the day.
T-Bag receives a mysterious alert for an appointment with a Prosthetic Research doctor, who tells him he received a grant to perform surgery on T-Bag’s hand, under the name of “Outis.” He receives a new hand. We learn from the doctor that “Outis” is Greek for “nobody.” This name is brought to our attention again when Lincoln looks in the jacket from Michael’s grave. He noticed the tag read “Kaniel Outis.” Sheba helps them make their way into the prison, but in exchange for Lincoln’s passport- which is worth a fortune in Yemen. Many people want to leave the country because of the state it is in, and an American passport is of high value.
The guard at the prison claims there is no inmate named Michael Scofield. C-Note shows the mysterious image of Michael and the guard responds with “Kaniel Outis.” Sheba then storms out of the prison, as C-Note explains to Lincoln that Kaniel Outis is a terrorist working with ISIL. Woah. This is too much.
Michael then makes his first appearance rising from the dead- he walks through the prison and towards Lincoln and C-Note. C-Note is recording this encounter. At the same time, we see a scene between Sara and Michael Jr., who is asking about his father. She claims, “Michael Scofield was like a storm.” Michael Jr. replies by asking if storms can come back. Sara replies with, “The question is, if they come back, is it the same storm, or has something changed?” By the end of this statement, Lincoln and Michael are finally face to face as C-Note records it with a camera. Lincoln was shocked and overwhelmed with joy to see his brother, who somehow has new tattoos. The man standing before Lincoln contests that he isn’t Michael, and he has no idea who Lincoln and C-Note are. He walks away as Lincoln screams and chases after him, asking why he’s doing this. As Michael (or not Michael?) is running away, you can see the pain all over his face. This leads viewers to draw the conclusion that he lied about not remembering them, and it pained him to do so.
This is where the episode ends, leaving fans with a million questions. How is Michael Scofield alive? Did he fake his own death, or did someone put him up to it? Who is Kaniel Outis? If Michael had been alive for the last seven years, why is his family just finding out about it now? And who wanted them to find out? Also, is anyone besides me wondering where LJ Burrows is?! With a nine episode 5th season, we are expecting all of these questions to be answered. Start putting your theories to the test and watch Prison Break on FOX every Tuesday at 9/8c.