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« Prison Break
Michael Foils the Company's Plan to Bust Out Whistler!
Chris Vance and Wentworth Miller by Bill Matlock/Fox
Episode Recap: "Bang and Burn" (Nov. 12, 2007)
OK, color me a little bit confused. When I asked Jodi Lyn O'Keefe about the "fall finale" — which at the time was to air in mid-December, a few episodes from now — she mentioned the helicopter stunts. Then, thanks to the strike and Fox's rejiggered schedule, this week's episode was dubbed the "fall finale." And yet there the helicopters are...? This is something for me to figure out, but I had to share my puzzlement. [Editor's note: I have since been told that Jodi was mistaken when recounting the episode.] On with the recap!
I feel like so much has happened in the past three hours, after some middling, poky episodes. All of a sudden, Gretchen and the Company have some quasimilitary force at their disposal? Complete with a steely bunker for strategic plotting and unrolling maps?
I liked the sequence where Michael labored to get word to Lincoln at the same time Lincoln was trying to get word to Michael about Whistler's secret agenda. Good tension. Imagine if swaggering Sammy didn't bother to tell Lechero who was on the phone.
All of a sudden there's a tunnel beneath decrepit Sona, accessible by state-of-the-art keypads, both of which Lechero knows the code for? He never thought to round up his squad of goons to dig through the rubble? Or is the point that even if they did get outside, they didn't have a compromised section of fence to race for?
Lincoln and Sucre recording the gunshots — is that for something later? Or is that another clue that this episode was some sort of mishmash of "Bang and Burn" and the actual "fall finale"? I know, I'm getting caught up in that again. Sorry.
I sense that Dominic Purcell's want for Linc to get hot and heavy with Sofia may be a step closer to fruition now that Whistler's lady feels all betrayed and such by "Gary Miller." What does this guy know, what is he capable of doing, with the stakes so high for "the General" and his Company to bust him out? Seeing as how it almost worked (and that it would have were Michael not locked up in Sona), why wasn't "bang and burn" Plan A from the get-go?
Then there is Mahone. I can't tell if he was able to save his bacon as he eventually reached some sort of lucidity at the end there. Did Lang see him coming around, or did she toss the drugs as a form of giving up on him? Again, I can't tell.
This was the last new episode for a while, gang, until Jan. 14. Good cliff-hanger.
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Nov 13, 2007 7:58 AM
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Very, very, very disjointed episode. It was all over the place. And things just appeared out of nowhere, like Whistler's escape route....where'd that come from? And don't you think if it were that easy to get to the roof, others would have figured it out and escaped already. I think the strike forced the PB head honchos to piece plot points from several episodes together in their effort to make a memorable "Fall Finale". Unfortunately, I'll just remember it as being disappointing.
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Nov 13, 2007 8:52 AM
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Couldn't tell if Mahone saved his bacon? Lang told him at the end she had to send him back to Sona.
The previews at the end said the show is returning January 14, not February.
Yes, a bit of a mess, this episode, but an exciting mess.
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Nov 13, 2007 9:34 AM
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I agree the strike probably did hasten the finale, however jumbled it was, I still liked it. I hate I have to wait till Jan. to see new episodes. Not enough of the tatts. Loved Michael foiled Whistler's plan. I hope the general kills SBA for her screw up with getting Whistler out. Yes, they are totally setting Linc to be with Sophia.
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Nov 13, 2007 9:55 AM
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Yes it was very strange. I too dislike the secret door with a keypad to get through. What? ? ?
And I agree that the roof/helicopter probably would have been tried already. And I also agree that it would have been their first plan.
The Mahone stuff was weird too. I think he blew it for himself. How could the Company not have had him killed if they thought he was any kind of a threat? They were not the ones who set him up. Michael was. If his testimony against the Company was so important I think they would have given him something in the way of drugs so he didn't appear so crazy. I mean seriously ~ Could you blame someone for doing drugs if they thought they were stuck in that hell hole with no hope of getting out?
I don't know. I still like the show but not half as much as I used to.
Did anyone else think it was so stupid when Michael changed his shirt from a gray one to light blue? It looked just like the shirt he originally had on!
And another thing I do not understand is this ~ You hear about the hours in make up for his tatto. Now why wouldn't they just make something like the fake tattoos for kids that you press on ~ It would take minutes. It seems like in TV land that would be very easy to come up with. Especially since he had to sit there for hours just to change his shirt that took one second. Makes no sense to me!
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Nov 13, 2007 9:58 AM
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Well I freaked out about the "season finale" bit too---in fact so much I had to go to the computer, click on TV Guide and look at the schedule for next Monday BECAUSE I KNOW I read about next Monday's episode about Michael going through solitary, etc. So therefore they DID cut the season short and I wasn't hallucinating!! Very good ep although I would rather have seen one more. I hope Linc cuts that ******* head off!!
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Nov 13, 2007 10:52 AM
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Couldn't tell if Mahone saved his bacon? Lang told him at the end she had to send him back to Sona.
I didn't catch that. I have no reason to lie.
The previews at the end said the show is returning January 14, not February.
Indeed; I have amended the return date.
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Nov 13, 2007 11:22 AM
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I just have to comment about the "bang and burn" plan not being tried previously.
Remember, Whistler had a price on his head and was in hiding. There was no way Gretchen could communicate with him. That is why they had to get Michael into Sona in the first place. He first had to find Whistler before he could bust him out.
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Nov 13, 2007 11:30 AM
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Hey that's right SweetOne! I forgot all about that.
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Nov 13, 2007 12:00 PM
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SweetOne you are right. Obviously. we (you) remember better than they do.
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Nov 13, 2007 12:31 PM
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I missed Alex's explanation of how he got hooked on drugs. Could someone fill me in? thanks....
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Nov 13, 2007 12:38 PM
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Hiya guys...
Ok, last night's episode was ok... I liked last week's 2 hour episode better tho...
Ok, let's see here...
What is Whistler's deal??? To me, mind you, it seems that his "other" life, he seems to be tied in with the company... In a sense... He seems more tied in with SBA... And with SBA... She is just an operative and she is disposable at any time, so "Pad Man" says... Have we found out a name for Pad Man yet????
Loved that Michael foiled Whistler's escape plan... I agree with one of the poster's here... Why Michael took off his grey shirt for a light blue one, I dont get... I'd figure what would it hurt for him to go shirtless?? It's not like his tats are gonna help him in SONA... And I wouldn't mind seeing Michael without his shirt!!! 
But is there a reason for him to cover up his tats that I might have missed??? (So need Ms. Rose's brain for that one!)
Linc's little "code" with Michael is classic... Wish me and my brother had a similar thing when we were growing up!
But really, how much does Linc know about the deception of the company and Whistler? And how is that going to unravel? Guess we gotta wait till Jan 08 to find that one out!
Oh yeah, forgot... My favorite line of the night... "Didn't you learn your lesson Lincoln?" (as he held a gun to Sofia's head)... "Yes, yes I did!" and pow, he shoots the guy in the head... My only qualm about the shooting was the guy's head got hit on the side that was nearest to Sofia... But hey, I am not one to complain... Wish he would have shot last week, that way we would have LJ out of the thick of things...
Now, from what I hear, or read, whatever, they say the SERIES finale is in Feb... The last Monday... Are they, the writers, whomever, going to be able to wrap up all the loose ends in time? Like:
Who and what is Pad Man? (the company)
What is Whistler's deal?
What will happen with our boys (being Michael, Linc, Sucre, Mahone, T-bag, & Bellick)
And so on...
Cant wait to find out!
Be good y'all and see ya later...
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Nov 13, 2007 12:41 PM
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I think Im the only one here who liked this episode. But I do have to agree that this episode was all over the place.
And good point ZZZ999 about the tats. You would think that they would of thought about doing that...but they didnt.
And as for the shirt....yeah it was stupid. But when all of the inmates were on the ground when the guards came in....I thought that they were going to kill the kid, cause of his shirt looked like Whistlers.
And as for the secret codes to the doors....I would like to know how Lechero became the head dude at that prison. I hope when the show returns in January we would know that.
I would also like to know when the show returns what were the gunshots for. What is the point with all of that. I can't wait until January till the new show. Man I hope this strike is over soon.
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Nov 13, 2007 1:26 PM
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Thanks for the explanation about why this episode seemed to have some holes in the story. It's all because of the writers strike. I didn't even realize until I started watching last night that this would be the last show until January, and I did feel a little abandoned by Fox. I support the strike, because I know I would feel the same way in their place. But it sucks right now to be a TV viewer.
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Nov 13, 2007 5:17 PM
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ZZZ999 - I think what they have now is like kids fake tatoos. It's a peel and stick. The reason it takes sooooo long to put on is because its in multiple pieces and you can't just nilly-willy place it anywhere on Michael's body. It takes precision to put it on and make it look seemless.
If we could see the seems, we would be bitching that we could.
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Nov 13, 2007 6:41 PM
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