S01E09: 'Tweener'

Light summary | Full summary

Note: The light summary of this article provides only gentle teasers as to what happens in this episode, and is suitable for reading before viewing. The full summary serves as a more detailed recap of the episode.










Light Summary: Abruzzi finds himself demoted in the prison hierarchy, placing the entire escape plan at risk; when T-Bag’s latest relationship sours and he targets a new “fish,” Michael is torn between wanting to protect the new kid and T-Bag’s threats that he will reveal the escape plan to the guards if Michael interferes; in the aftermath of the double murder, LJ runs for his life; the inmates digs themselves into a hole with the latest part of the plan












































Full Summary: While in the prison showers, T-Bag’s abused cellmate Seth asks Michael for help. However, Michael is afraid to upset the already volatile mix in the escape team and turns away, much to T-Bag’s delight. So when Seth commits suicide right in front of him, Michael immediately blames himself. “I could have done something,” he tells Lincoln. “It was just easier to look the other way to keep the plan safe.” Lincoln reminds him that he did the right thing. He’s far more concerned with reaching his son LJ before the agents who framed him for the murders of his mother and stepfather find him.

Although Michael is unconvinced, he soon has the chance to redeem himself as a busload of new inmates arrive. T-Bag quickly picks out 18-year-old wannabe gangsta Tweener, who unsuccessfully tries to make friends with C-Note and his gang, unwilling to accept the racial segregation inside the prison. “Boy’s a little confused about his pigmentation,” notes white-supremicist T-Bag, as he wanders over to introduce himself. But when he makes a move on the newcomer, Tweener pushes him off and yells: “You come near me again, I'm gonna kill you.” T-Bag, however, laughs and makes it clear that he won’t be rebuffed so easily. Michael realises he has to protect the youngster to redeem himself, but can he really stand up to the sociopath with so much at stake?

Outside Fox River, Veronica and Nick risk leaving their cabin safehouse to delve deeper into the conspiracy that framed Lincoln. Posing as representatives from the National Victims’ Rights Association, they talk to the widow of the murdered Terrence Steadman, the Vice-President’s brother. Mrs Steadman unwittingly hands them a massive clue by telling them all the investors in Steadman’s energy company would have had a motive for his murder, as he was about to be charged with committing fraud: “We’re talking half a billion dollars. People have killed for a lot less.”

Meanwhile, LJ is still on the run from Hale and Kellerman. Lincoln convinces one of his guards to let him call his son, and suggests he should ring Nick for help, since all Veronica’s numbers have been disconnected. But while the two are on the phone, Hale and Kellerman move in, ready to open fire. LJ gets away by the skin of his teeth, badly shaken up. He is on the phone to Nick when the agents turn up again. Veronica takes over and tells him to get a bus to Lake Mercer, on the Iowa border, where they will meet him. However, the agents are running a tap on his phone, and are horrified to learn that the two lawyers are still alive, although pleased that they now know where they’re hiding. “Looks like the bird in hand just became three,” grins Kellerman, setting off to silence them for good. Can they escape him again?

Things aren’t looking so good for Abruzzi either, as Bellick drops by the prison yard to tell him his monthly bribe hasn’t arrived. “It must be an accounting error,” he replies, playing for time so he can contact mob boss Philly Falzone, who is handling things on the outside. But it transpires that Falzone has lost patience with Abruzzi and has decided to promote another mobster, Gus, to the top job. This has drastic consequences for Michael’s plan, as now Bellick’s bribe is being paid on his behalf, Gus is the new boss of the Prison Industries programme. This means his friends and allies have been assigned to restoring the guards break room – the escapees have all been sidelined. And it can only be a matter of time before Gus finds the hole in the floor that leads to the sewer pipes..