Prison Break Finale Recap: Eyes on the Prize — Plus, Get the Latest Word on Season 6 (‘Ideas Are Percolating’)

Proving himself to be as crafty as ever, Prison Break‘s Michael Scofield uncorked a few very cool tricks in the name of sinking Poseidon in the Fox revival’s ninth and final hour.

But before we moved forward, we rewound a bit, to the six minutes prior to the gunshot that splattered blood on the lake house’s front door window. It turns out that Jacob had been in the cellar with Van Gogh and a tied-up Sara, struggling to argue his case to his thoroughly disenfranchised wife — resorting to striking her at one point. By the time Michael has “re”-united with his son, Jacob has driven off, while Van Gogh headed upstairs to try to talk A&W out of popping their prey. A&W sees no way out of 21 Void, though, so she paints the door with Van Gogh’s blood.

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In the mayhem that follows, Michael sends Mikey outside to run to his Uncle Linc, while Sara cuts free her rope ties and arrives upstairs in time to KO A&W and save Michael’s bacon. Alas, so much bad news awaits them outside: Mikey ran into Jacob’s waiting arms/car, while Lincoln is found shot, by Abruzzi’s men.

After rushing Lincoln to the hospital, Michael and Sara regroup with Whip and his dad (!) T-Bag, whom Michael tasks with “forcing Jacob to let go” of the iron grip he has on them. Meanwhile, Jacob’s computer wonk dives into the code embedded within the “eye” tattoos on Michael’s palms. They’re interrupted when Michael calls and makes his demands crystal clear: turn over the boy, or die. Having already introduced some suspicions about the man claiming to be Michael Scofield, Jacob puts the phone on speaker, so Mikey can hear the threats. The lad buys into it, warning the caller to “stay away from my dad!” — words that rocks Michael to his core on the other end of the line, while igniting the “killing gene” inside T-Bag.

Michael sends T-Bag and Whip to collect a “wild card” whom Jacob doesn’t know about, while Jacob tracks his phone to the zoo and the computer wonk slowly decrypts the code, which spells out the quote, “NEVER INTERRUPT YOUR ENEMY WHEN HE’S MAKING A MISTAKE.” Inside the zoo, Jacob recalls Michael saying years ago, “It’s what’s behind the eyes that counts” — just as Michael, having continued on to the university lair, reveals the back of his hands to be tattooed with Jacob’s face, allowing him to fool the bunker scanner. Inside, Michael rounds up enough evidence to send his nemesis away forever, he tells Jacob over the phone. The gents agree to make a trade the next evening at a shipyard warehouse, while T-Bag and Whip pay a visit to the “wild card” aka “Blue Hawaii,” a meticulous artist. At the hospital, Sara leans on a dying Van Gogh for any clue to her son’s whereabouts, ultimately finding and freeing him, with help from Lincoln.

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At the shipyard, Michael pulls a gun on Jacob, only to have it taken away when A&W gets the drop on him. Whip then shows up, only to have his gun shot out of his hands by A&W. All of this while the FBI closes in on the leaked location of “Kaniel Outis.” When Whip snaps and lunges at A&W, he takes a bullet in his belly. T-Bag responds by snapping A&W’s neck, just before the feds arrive and his newfound son soon fades away.

Michael leads Jacob on a chase through shadows, but is ultimately felled by his own gun, which Jacob took earlier. But something is odd about this whole denouement, including how Michael stopped to slip on a coat, and the snowy ground onto which he collapsed. Looking around, Jacob realizes that he has walked into a full-size “diorama” of the cabin exterior where he executed CIA deputy director Harlan Gaines. Michael, shot with blanks, has just caught on camera the footage needed to recreate the deleted part that incriminates Jacob, to “re-frame” him for a murder he actually committed. And just as Jacob starts to lay out his plan to expose Michael’s set-up, the truck which it is housed inside of simply drives away, while Michael beats Jacob to a pulp before getting hauled away by the feds.

Questioned by the CIA director, Michael spells out his activities for the past seven years, including how Jacob framed him for Gaines’ murder. And though the CIA director points to possible holes in the evidence — including Gaines’ blood, from the jar Whip found tied to the buoy, planted inside Jacob’s office — Michael has nothing to worry about, seeing as computer wonk Nelson flipped on Poseidon and 21 Void. Heck, the CIA even wants to offer a job to Michael, a man with such a particular skill set. Michael defers, but asks for one favor….

The finale’s coda is a mix of light and dark — first showing us Michael and Linc picnicking with Sara, Mikey and Sheba and without a care in the world. We then see what fate awaits Jacob inside no less than Fox River, where his cellmate is, of course, T-Bag.

Click over to Page 2 for our Q&A with co-showrunner Vaun Wilmott, who weighs in on the revival’s highs and lows as well as teases the Season 6 plan. Plus, grade the revival!