Episode 414 "Going Under"
Sara meets Linc in the
Company's War Room, and is horrified to find that Linc has given
Michael over to the care of Company doctors. Gen. Krantz claims to be
acting out of empathy; she and Linc are guests during the surgery. Sara
is at Michael's side as preparation for the surgery begins; he's dazed,
but must remain awake throughout the process. Linc, in order to find
out where Don and Gretchen are meeting the buyer, begins pulling
T-Bag's teeth out. T-Bag gives up the location. As Mahone is
transported incarceration, he insists on stopping to relieve himself.
Wheeler is mistrustful, and only gives him fifteen seconds. Mahone
reappears in short order… but he's taken a piece of pipe from the sink.
Once they're back on the road he uses to shatter the car window, open
the door from the outside, and escape. Wheeler and Lang give chase.
Lang catches up with him first. Though she says she'll shoot, she
ultimately allows him to get away, telling Wheeler that she lost him.
Linc
recruits Sucre's help to go after Don and Gretchen, lying to him that
the Company is trying to get the location of Scylla from Michael (so
they have to get Scylla before the Company does). Michael's brain
surgery begins, and Sara is discomfited to learn that the Company
doctors are using an "advanced" technique unknown to her. Needles are
inserted into his head to stimulate the hearing and memory portions of
his cortex. It'll be the equivalent of a near-death experience, when
your life flashes before your eyes. Michael hallucinates that he's back
in his old cell at Fox River… and gets a visit from Charles
Westmoreland, who assures Michael that his efforts haven't been for
nothing. The answers are within him; he just hasn't found them yet.
Don
and Gretchen wait for the buyer, but he hasn't arrived. Vikan's PDA is
busted; but the contact number for the buyer, a Miami number, is still
visible on screen. Don keeps it to himself. Gretchen's sister Rita
calls, and tells her it'd be best if she stayed away from her and
Emily. Gretchen also learns that T-Bag is now in the hands of the
Company, which means that the Company likely now knows the location of
the exchange. Linc and Sucre arrive, but Don and Gretchen are gone.
They find Vikan's blood, still fresh. Linc surreptitiously calls the
Company's Operations line, and asks them to find and track Don and
Gretchen's car. Sucre finds two smashed cell phones and Vikan's PDA.
They are observed by a mysterious man, the Representative, who is on
the phone to somebody. He says there's somebody here, but it's not the
seller: What should he do?
Gen. Krantz tells Sara that the
procedure they're using on Michael has been used once before, and the
patient led a long and happy life. He also tells her that he knows what
she thinks of the work the Company does, but not everything is as it
seems. The Doctor says that the tumor is nestled up against Michael's
hippocampus, the seat of memory. In Michael's head, as he deals with
guilt for all the people who have died because of him, Westmoreland
prods him about Scylla. Not everything is as it seems. As Don plans to
re-establish contact with the buyer, and set a new location for the
exchange, Gretchen wonders why Don is uninterested in what Scylla
actually contains. Could it be that if he knew what it was, he might
have second thoughts about who he's selling it to? The Company tells
Linc that the Don and Gretchen were seen at a convenience store. They
go to the store. The cashier claims not to have seen them until Linc
gets rough. They bought a phone. The cashier gives Linc a copy of the
receipt. Linc uses the cell phone's tracking number. He learns that the
phone was used two minutes ago, two miles away, at an abandoned factory.
Sara's
concern grows: it turns out the tumor has spread into the hippocampus.
Removing it may affect Michael's memory, though the doctor assures her
that most memories aren't needed by the conscious mind anyway; Michael
will likely never realize that anything's missing. Michael begins to
convulse; he remembers the Scylla cardholder meeting he eavesdropped
on. They're talking about a "bargain." He recalls Krantz equating
Scylla with "power." He sees a flash of a periodic table. Westmoreland
tells Michael he's sorry, but it's time to go. Michael's heart rate
flat-lines, but — as Sara in the waking world implores him not to give
up — Michael insists to Westmoreland that it's not finished yet.
Michael has an epiphany… and wakes up. The Representative meets Don and
Gretchen at the factory. He doesn't have the $125 million in cash;
it'll be wired to them once he verifies that he truly has Scylla. As
Linc and Sucre pull up, Don looks at the computer monitor over the
Representative's shoulder. There are folders marked "Nuclear," "Fossil
Fuel," "Wind," "Solar," and "Bargain." This is no little black book,
Don muses aloud. The Representative is about to shoot Don and Gretchen
when Linc and Sucre burst in. In the confusion the Representative
escapes with Scylla.
Sara breaks it to Michael that the Company
carried out his surgery. Michael tells her his epiphany: Scylla is
something good. "Bargain" stands for the elements “B”oron, “Ar”gon,
“Ga”llium, and “In”dium. It's been theorized that if those elements
could be combined in a solar cell, you could harness 100% of the sun's
energy. Sara speculates that there could be other advanced information
in Scylla as well, like the surgical techniques they used on Michael.
Scylla is the future. Scylla is valuable, and sought after not by
people who want to bring down the Company… but by people who want to
become the Company. Sara wonders why the Company has kept these
advances secret rather than profiting from them. Michael points out
that they may be maximizing their profits by holding out and keeping
costs up until the time is right. Sucre tells Linc that he's out. He
can't do it any more. He wants to live his own life. He's moving on.
Linc is sad, but understanding. If Linc and Michael ever get down below
and open up that scuba shop, there'll be a job there for Sucre. The two
hug, and Sucre leaves.
Back at Company HQ, as Don and Gretchen
are patched up by Company doctors, Gen. Krantz orders him to team up
with them to retrieve Scylla. Linc balks, but Krantz tells him he's a
Company employee now. He can't do this on his own. Besides, he might
grow to like it at the Company: "Stranger things have happened – they
certainly did in your family." Linc meets with Michael, and breaks it
to him that he made a deal with the Company to save Michael’s life.
Michael's not getting out of here just yet. Linc no longer cares about
taking down the Company; he only wants to protect his family. Michael
protests, but Linc gives him the "Tombstone II" folder that the General
gave him earlier. Before their mother died, she worked for the Company
too; Linc's just going into the family business