Cute Poison (Prison Break)

"Cute Poison"
Prison Break episode
Haywire, Michael's new cell mate
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 4
Directed by	Matt Earl Beesley
Written by	Matt Olmstead
Production code	1AKJ03
Original air date	September 12, 2005
Guest stars
Frank Grillo as Nick Savrinn Danny McCarthy as Daniel Hale Camille Guaty as Maricruz Delgado Patricia Wettig as Caroline Reynolds Stacy Keach as Henry Pope Silas Weir Mitchell as Charles "Haywire" Patoshik Kurt Caceres as Hector Avila Mac Brandt as Mack Andrews Deanna Dunagan as Judy Pope John Judd as Benjamin Forsik Kevin Kelly as Officer Weston Jennifer Kern as Allison Hale Phillip Edward Van Lear as Louis Patterson Haley Nero as Hale's daughter Brandon Tyler Russell as Hale's son Christian Stolte as Keith Stolte Jennifer Joan Taylor as Becky Michael Vieau as Christopher Trokey Jason Wells as Bo Cedric Young as Choppy
Episode chronology
← Previous "Cell Test" Next → "English, Fitz or Percy"
List of Prison Break episodes

"Cute Poison" is the fourth episode of television series Prison Break. It was first aired on September 12, 2005 in the United States. The episode is directed by Matt Earl Beesley and written by series producer Matt Olmstead. The words "Cute Poison" are one of Michael Scofield's (Wentworth Miller) tattoos, which is made up from a chemical formula, H₂SO₄ + Ca₃(PO₄)₂ + 6 H₂O ↔ 2 H₃PO₄ + 3 CaSO₄.2H₂O, which serves as the third part in his escape plan. Also, his new cellmate Charles "Haywire" Patoshik (Silas Weir Mitchell) starts to notice Michael's tattoos and may expose his escape plans. Michael has to stop him and get his old cellmate, Fernando Sucre (Amaury Nolasco), back.

Plot

Michael is three days behind on his plan to free his brother, particularly with his new insomniac cell mate Haywire (Silas Weir Mitchell), who he witnesses takes some tablets to keep him lucid, but spits them out when the doctors leave, stating them as "invisible handcuffs". He then notices Michael's tattoo and sees the hidden "maze" in it.

Meanwhile, Veronica Donovan (Robin Tunney) meets with Nick Savrinn (Frank Grillo) from "Project Justice", who wants to assist her. They question Lincoln regarding the evidence, which he insists was planted. Sucre (Amaury Nolasco) is visited by his cousin, Hector Avila (Kurt Caceres), who tells him that Maricruz (Camille Guaty) is with him now. He eventually gets hold of Maricruz, and learns that Hector told her lies to get her not to come. With this new development, Sucre urges Michael to get him back into the cell.

Michael manages to get hold of two chemicals and uses them to corrode a pipe underneath the infirmary as part of the escape plan. He returns to his cell, and notices Haywire has drawn his entire tattoo and wonders what the pathway is. Michael purposely injures himself to get the officers to take Haywire away before the plan is exposed. Sucre gets transferred back to Michael's cell and continues the plan. Agent Kellerman (Paul Adelstein) suspects that Scofield may try to break Lincoln out and orders to transfer Scofield out the next day.

Production

Robert Knepper, who plays T-Bag, and Marshall Allman, who plays L. J. Burrows were credited for this episode. However, they did not make an appearance. Sucre's song to start the ruckus Michael needed to knock down a wall was "Eres tú" by the Spanish band "Mocedades". This song was chosen as Spain's entry in the 1973 Eurovision Song Contest, and won 2nd place.

Broadcast and reception

The episode was released as "Quimicos", meaning "Chemicals" in Latin America.^[1] The ratings were at an increase since "Cell Test", with a 4.5 rating from the 18-49 demographics, and viewing figures of 9.12 million, placing it the third most watched show on the day.^[2] After the release on Five on 13 February 2006, "Prison Break" has again risen in viewing figures, giving the series the sixth most viewed program on that week on Five, with a rating of 2.06 million.^[3]

Goofs

In the Cute Poison formula, the chemical formula given for phosphoric acid has 2 double bonds from phosphorus to the oxygen with hydrogens attached. These both should be single bonds.

References

1. ^ Prison Break: Cute Poison, retrieved from TV.com
2. ^ http://prisonbreak.fan-sites.org/ scroll down to see "September 13, 2005: "Prison Break" ratings"
3. ^ "BARB's terrestrial top 30 programmes (Go on w/e 19/02/06, and scroll down to Five)". barb.co.uk. http://www.barb.co.uk/viewingsummary/weekreports.cfm?Requesttimeout=500&report=weeklyterrestrial. Retrieved 2006-02-19. 

External links

• Official summary for Season 1 Episode 04 from Fox