Michael Scofield is alive. How? Why? PRISON BREAK has failed to provide an answer for those burning questions yet, but they are a big mystery for the new season of the old Fox series.
To its credit, PRISON BREAK didn’t try to fake out fans on the fact that Michael is definitely alive. Word came almost from the beginning that Wentworth Miller would be reprising his role and the show very literally dove right into the that fact in the opening moments of the premiere. As Michael tells us in a voiceover “Freedom has a price. I died seven years ago. Left behind a brother, a wife, a son. But the dead talk, if you listen. They’re there with you, reaching out, trying to tell you something. Because not all deaths are the same. Some are real. Some are a story. The question is, do you believe the story? Was the man who died who you thought he was? The dead talk, if you listen.”
Then we’re back at the site of the original prison break: Fox River Penitentiary. T-Bag is being released from prison when he’s handed a strange envelope. In it is a grainy photograph of Michael Scofield — a man that T-Bag believed was dead.
T-Bag can’t keep this news a secret, so he immediately heads old to find his old frenemy Lincoln Burrows (who has gone back to his old, illegal ways in the time since his brother’s death). Lincoln is, of course, disbelieving of the news that Michael could be alive, but T-Bag insists this isn’t a trick. Michael could be alive and in another prison according to this photo.
Armed with this photo Linc visits Sara, who is living in Ithaca, New York with her son, Mike, and new husband, Jacob. Sara doesn’t want to give herself false hope; after all, Michael was terminally ill as far as she knew. Linc later admits to Michael’s gravestone that he’s just desperate to see him again, but holding up the page to the sun reveals a clue in the message at the bottom: Ogygia. Which just so happens to be a prison in Yemen. And when Linc digs up Michael’s grave he’s shocked to find his brother’s beige suit, but not his brother’s body.
Linc soon learns that there are other people who are either interested in finding Michael or interested in keeping his continued existence a secret. One man tries to kill Linc, who just manages to survive a horrific car crash. Meanwhile, others head to kill Sara and Mike. She manages to hide herself and her son thanks to a warning call from Linc, but poor Jacob gets shot (but not killed) while trying to intervene. Jacob heads to the hospital, while Sara and Mike follow. Soon after, Linc arrives to tell his (former?) sister-in-law that he’s going to find out if Michael is alive.
But Yemen is a world away, so Linc turns to someone he knows can help him: C-Note. His former Fox River ally has converted to Islam in the intervening years and has contacts that could be helpful in Yemen, which is on the brink of civil war thanks to ISIL. Plus, there’s the fact that someone is seemingly erasing Michael’s real existence from the internet and replacing him with with the face of another man.
As the men head to Yemen Linc tells Sucre (who has stopped by) he needs to stay behind, despite Sucre’s desire to help his best friend.
As Linc goes on his adventure, T-Bag is contacted by a mysterious man who wants to give him a new high-tech prosthetic hand. The doctor who is gifting him with the hand did this thanks to a mysterious benefactor that only gave him one word: Outis. It’s Greek for “nobody”. Pay attention to that, because it’s going to be important.
The situation in Yemen seems even more dire than C-Note had anticipated. Everyone seems to be escaping via the airport, but C-Note has a contact who might be able to help: Sheba. Unfortunately, the U.S. assassins have already recruited some contacts in Yemen to try and kill the two men. They manage to escape (with some help from Sheba), but it’s clear finding Michael won’t be a cake walk. Later at the hotel, Linc finds a mysterious label sewn inside Michael’s beige suit: Kaniel Outis. Armed with this clue Linc is more determined than ever and he’s willing to give up his American passport in order to arrange a visit inside the prison.
Linc, C-Note and Sheba make their way inside Ogygia, which is about as unpleasant as you’d expect. And Linc learns that the guards are referring to a man resembling his brother as “Kaniel Outis”. Sheba is horrified when she hears that name and C-Note tells Linc that Outis is a big-time terrorist, working with ISIL to take down the government. But Linc doesn’t believe his brother is capable of such things and soon he comes face-to-face with Michael again after so many years, with C-Note filming the reunion.
“We’re going to get you out of here,” Linc says. But Michael turns his back on Lincoln, denying that he knows him. As Michael walks back to his cell we see pain flicker across his face.
Why is Michael turning his back on his brother? How did he end up in Ogygia? You’ll have to wait for the next new episode of PRISON BREAK — airing on April 11 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on Fox — for some answers.