This episode ushers in some major action, which is probably a good thing. It helps distract from close inspection, which I suspect the episode would not suffer well. Events spiral out of control in a manner that constantly threatens to descend into utter and complete chaos. It’s hard to believe that Michael would trust anyone within the Panamanian military, especially since Michael and Lincoln have both been warned not to say anything to anyone.

Granted, Michael is not in his comfort zone. Michael likes to plan and scheme his way out of situations. He can improvise, given his intellectual talents, but it puts him under enormous pressure. Add to that a horrible track record for reading people, and one can imagine that Michael might fail to consider other options. Still, after what happened to Sara, there’s every reason to think that his latest ad-lib could backfire.

From a writing perspective, the Panamanian general seemed rather capricious in his decisions to accept information or, alternatively, torture people. His intuition was uncanny; he seems to pick out the liars instantly. Strangely, Susan B. (or Gretchen, or whoever) seemed to play right into it. Despite having the best chance of claiming innocence, she revealed her experience with black ops by enduring the torture with little or no reaction.

This was enough to give Michael a reason to hope, but then the general foolishly ignores his suspicions about Susan by minimizing security with her in the field. The man who caught Lechero certainly didn’t seem so bright by the end of the episode. Yet his death seemed to be incidental in the end. Michael and Whistler are simply tossed back into the prison, as if nothing happened.

Equally dubious was Lincoln’s plan with Sucre. It was clear from the beginning that they were pretending to argue, and Susan’s organization should have been able to figure that out. The writers do suggest that Sucre could turn on Lincoln if the money is good enough, but that feels like a red herring. Mostly I was disappointed in the obviousness of it all. The actors didn’t sell the deception at all.

I’m still waiting for Bellick to be anything but a waste of time (despite signs that this might actually come to pass), so the highlight of the episode was the interaction between Mahone and T-Bag. T-Bag’s subplot with Sammy has restored my interest in the character, and Mahone’s compromised situation is fascinating to watch. It still feels like Mahone is starring in his own show, but as events converge, he should get more opportunity to interact with Michael, who remains his most powerful foil.