Brother's Keeper

Whenever an otherwise great show is lacking some content to fill the season, it has to do a filler - this is this episode. On the upside, this installment of "prior lives of our characters" actually has a lot of background, unlike those series where they reuse old shots to save money.

There is not much more to say about this episode. Sure, some of the background is interesting, even though the connections between some characters seem contrived. But ultimately, it is a filler episode, which kills some time while we wait for the next great escape plan.

Still, don't skip the episode. Who knows, maybe something will be relevant at some point, after all. And as fillers go, this one is really well done.

After the cliffhanger from the previous episode, 'By The Skin And Teeth' - in true Prison Break style, you'd have expected to tune into the latest episode eagerly hoping for a conclusion to the cliffhanger and how Michael and the rest of the escapees will battle on with the plan. That's not what you get with 'Brother's Keeper' - nevertheless, it doesn't disappoint and remains a personal favourite.

This episode is set entirely out of context of the rest of the season, it takes place three years before Michael was ever incarcerated in Fox River, with little reference to the prison itself. Amongst those stories of the two brother's been told, we also see what led to the incarceration of Fernando Sucre, Theodore 'T-Bag' Bagwell and Benjamin 'C-Note' Franklin and exactly what they want from the outside after the escape. We also get to see how Dr. Sara Tancredi has a slightly dark past of her own she's kept hidden, as well as a little more of an insight in Captain Bellick's character.

From this episode, we get see how Michael came to believe in his brother's innocence and give up everything to devise his brilliant plan to rescue him before execution. Also, watch out for designs for his tattoos and things Michael does that seem to have no apparent relevance in the escape from Fox River - these are foreboding moments for season 2 and shows how his tattoos also hold the key to staying on the outside.

Watching the story of the conspiracy unfold, and exactly how The Company and the Secret Service framed Lincoln and pushed for the death penalty is brilliant, and it answers a lot of questions you still may have about it. Danny McCarthy also gets the chance to reprise his role as Secret Service Agent Danny Hale and we see how he and Kellerman have been involved in the thing from the beginning.

The episode also includes a brief snippet from America's Most Wanted, which includes a special guest appearance from John Walsh.

You can see "Prison Break's" entire story in a new light from this point on. Instead of the claustrophobic tension of the escape or the ongoing political conspiracy, the show hits pause on the action to explore the characters' pasts, retracing the steps that led them to Fox River. And what could have been just an expositional filler episode turns into one of the most human and emotional moments of the season, showing that prison didn't begin when these men walked through those gates-it started long before, in every bad decision, every cruel twist of fate, and, most of all, in every choice that felt inevitable.

At the heart of the episode is Michael and Lincoln's relationship. The opening scene already sets up the distance between them perfectly: Lincoln trying to reconnect, Michael cold and judgmental. It's almost ironic seeing Michael take on this role, considering how much he's about to sacrifice for his brother. But that's one of the episode's greatest strengths-showing that not too long ago, Michael wasn't the meticulously calculating man we know. He was someone who saw Lincoln as a born loser, someone who always made the worst choices and expected others to deal with the fallout. And the emotional gut punch hits when that illusion shatters: Michael finds out that everything he achieved was thanks to Lincoln's silent sacrifice, that his brother buried his own life to give him a future. The moment he realizes Lincoln is on death row because of him is devastating, and that shift in perspective is what ultimately creates the man who will come up with an insane plan to break him out.

At the same time, the episode broadens that personal tragedy to the other characters, and this is where the show excels in turning criminals into fully fleshed-out people. Sucre's story is almost comedic in how absurd it is: the guy robs a store just to take a girl-who he JUST met-out to dinner, and then, when he decides to propose to her, he literally does the same thing again. It's not just stupidity; it's a level of naïveté that makes it impossible to feel sorry for him. And the worst part? The betrayal comes from where he least expected-from his own cousin, reinforcing a recurring theme in the show: the biggest betrayals don't always come from the system, but from the people who are supposed to have your back.

C-Note's story also carries that sense of injustice. Unlike Sucre, he didn't go down because of some dumb mistake, but because he tried to do the right thing. The guy could've just kept his head down and secured a safe job far from the front lines, but he chose to report the abuse of prisoners-and what did he get for it? A dishonorable discharge, a mark on his record that made getting a job impossible, and an inevitable fall into crime. The message here is clear: sometimes, no matter how hard you try to do the right thing, the system has already decided your fate.

And then, of course, there's T-Bag, whose criminal past shocks no one. What's interesting about his story is that there's no attempt at redemption or a tragic backstory to justify his actions. He's a monster, plain and simple. But the episode does give one fascinating detail about how he was caught: it wasn't his mistake, but an act of courage from a woman who refused to be complicit. Susan isn't just a victim running from him-she actively turns him in, showing that even in an episode focused on criminals, the show doesn't forget about the victims.

The episode also sheds light on Sara, revealing that the principled doctor has her own mess of a past. Her substance abuse problem is a small but significant detail because it puts her on the same level as the other characters-someone trying to escape her own mistakes, trying to rebuild herself while carrying the ghosts of her past. It adds even more weight to her relationship with Michael in the present-she's not drawn to him just because of attraction, but because she sees someone else carrying a burden too heavy to bear alone.

And finally, there's one last detail about the conspiracy behind Lincoln's case, adding another layer of frustration and hopelessness. Knowing there was evidence to clear his name from the very start only reinforces what the show has been hammering home all along: Fox River might have bars, but the real chains are outside, in the power that manipulates the rules of the game.

Overall, this is an episode that slows down the main plot to deepen the characters, and it does so masterfully. It reinforces that "Prison Break" was never just about the escape, but about how each of them ended up there and what's left of them after carrying these burdens for so long. The past condemns them all in different ways, but it also explains why some of them still believe they can change their fate-and that hope is what keeps the show alive.

This is the episode needed to fill-in the blanks for the characters before we meet them in episode one. Here we discover their motivations, backstories and the circumstances which led to their current situations.

There's one or two minor revelations, but generally speaking it's just a contextual storyline without any huge surprises. Good to see the Michael Scofield character before he became obsessively invested in gaining his brother's freedom, by all accounts a somewhat self-interested corporate type with little sympathy for his brother's apparently poor lifestyle choices.

Obviously things begin to unravel toward the end of the episode as we discover how Lincoln becomes entangled in the assassination plot, and we then fast forward through the intervening two years to the present day challenges. Useful character context isn't especially exciting, although gives us an insight into the characters before they became pawns in the apparent political conspiracy which is now threatening their lives.