Riots, Drills and the Devil

Infobox Television episode
Title = Riots, Drills and the Devil
Series = Prison Break


Caption = T-Bag starts a prison riot.
Season = 1
Episode = 6 & 7
Airdate = September 26, 2005 (Part 1)
October 3, 2005 (Part 2)
Production = 1AKJ05 (Part 1)
1AKJ06 (Part 2)
Writer = Nick Santora (Part 1)
Karyn Usher (Part 2)
Director = Robert Mandel (Part 1)
Vern Gillum (Part 2)
Season list = Infobox Prison Break season 1 episode list
Episode list = List of "Prison Break" episodes
Prev = English, Fitz or Percy
Next = The Old Head"Riots, Drills and the Devil" is a two-part episode of the first season of the television series "Prison Break". The first part constitutes the sixth episode of the series and the second part constitutes the seventh. They were aired separately in the United States on September 26, 2005 and October 3, 2005 consecutively. The first part of "Riots, Drills and the Devil" was written by Nick Santora and directed by Robert Mandel with the second part being written by Karyn Usher and directed by Vern Gillum. This two-part episode features a prison riot deliberately manipulated by the protagonist Michael Scofield in order to keep his escape plan on schedule.

ummary

Part 1

Michael (Wentworth Miller) realizes that to complete the digging job inside the walls, he needs to spend a good block of time there, which has been proving difficult as he has to keep coming back to his cell to make count. After explaining this to Sucre (Amaury Nolasco), Sucre admits that "there are only three certain things in life. Death, taxes and count" and that the only time count doesn't take place is during a lockdown. Michael uses his access to the inside of the walls to turn off the air conditioning. The prisoners suffer in the heat, leading T-Bag (Robert Knepper) to start a fight with a guard who then initiates a lock-down while some of the prisoners are out of their cells. The prisoners riot and break into the prison cell control room, in which T-Bag opens all the cells and then finds a set of keys, giving him and the rioters access to the entire prison.

When news of the riot reaches the sick bay the prisoners there also riot. After taking out the guard, they trap Dr. Sara Tancredi (Sarah Wayne Callies) in the adjacent room. Michael uses a tracing of a devil from his tattoo to provide the coordinates (calculated using Hooke's law, also referred in this episode as hooker's law) needed to collapse part of the wall. This is vital to his escape plan as the wall prevents the team from entering a pipe that will take them to the infirmary. Michael notices Dr. Tancredi's plight on CCTV and goes to rescue her through an air duct. Lincoln is ambushed by loose prisoners and the rookie guard escorting him is taken hostage by T-Bag. The guard is thrown against the sink in Michael and Sucre's cell, which parts from the wall to reveal the hole that Michael has dug. T-Bag is about to proclaim the discovery to the rest of the prisoners when Abruzzi quiets him. Sucre is sent to finish breaking through the wall.

Meanwhile, Westmoreland stumbles upon a battered Lincoln and alerts him of the situation. A distraught Lincoln demands to know where Michael is. When Westmoreland is unable to answer, another prisoner named Turk steps forth to lead Lincoln to Michael.

Part 2

Michael navigates the pipes of the prison to rescue Dr. Tancredi from the Sick Bay, where she is surrounded by rioters. Lincoln is led by another prisoner, Turk, who he believes knows where Michael is. Turk is in fact under the employment of Agent Kellerman (Paul Adelstein), and takes Lincoln (Dominic Purcell) to a secluded, out-of-bounds place where he tries to kill him. However, after a struggle, Lincoln manages to knock Turk unconscious.

Meanwhile, back in Michael's and Sucre's cell, T-Bag is keeping an eye on the guard who knows of their escape plan, while making crude remarks about the man's daughter. John Abruzzi (Peter Stormare) enters the hole and helps Sucre with breaking down the wall. Sucre, who has devout religious beliefs, struggles with drilling through a depiction of the devil. Also adding to the dilemma is the fact that gas pipes lie behind the wall, and that drilling in the wrong place may cause a fatal explosion. While they are in the pipes, Sara asks how Michael knows about the pipes and he replies by saying that he has had PI duties to clean up toxic mold in the pipes.

Outside the prison, Veronica (Robin Tunney) and Nick (Frank Grillo) arrive in Washington D. C. and receive a piece of information from one of Nick's associates, a private detective. The detective has traced the anonymous phone call alleging Lincoln's crime to a nearby payphone. The payphone is next to the building of the company the Vice President uses. The phone rings and Veronica answers it. The caller tells them that they are dead. In a panic, Veronica and Nick run away from the payphone.

Abruzzi and Sucre manage to break down the wall. Michael and Sara make it to an exit but a government sniper brings his sights onto Michael, though he is unable to shoot until Sara is free. Michael urges Sara to go, and ducks out as she does, letting the prisoner chasing them to take the bullet. Heavily armed SORT teams invade the prison and force the inmates back to their cells, and in the midst of the chaos Michael and Lincoln´find each other and hug. Whilst in Michael's cell, the team discusses what to do with the young guard. Michael, Lincoln and Sucre want to keep him alive - but T-Bag kills him anyway, stabbing him in the stomach and throwing him down from the second level.

Sara asks a colleague why PI was ordered to clean up the toxic mold. The colleague replies that PI has never done such a job, which tells Sara that Michael's story was a lie.

Production

This episode was filmed in Chicago, Illinois and Joliet, Illinois in August 2005 where it was summer. ["Riots, Drills and the Devil" commentary, Prison Break Season 1 DVD, Paul Scheuring and cast.] The weather condition was reflected in the dialogue "hottest April on record", and the make-up and wardrobe of the characters.

The song "Nine Thou" by Styles Of Beyond begins at the end of "Riots, Drills and the Devil (Part 1)" when Lincoln attacks T-Bag and is also used in the opening of the episode "Riots, Drills and the Devil (Part 2)".

The second part of this episode is the first episode in the series in which regular cast member Paul Adelstein (who plays Agent Kellerman) does not appear.

The fictional Fox News broadcast in the episode describes Fox River State Penitentiary as a "Level 5" institution. On the other hand, in the series pilot, the judge, who convicted Michael Scofield, states that Fox River is a "Level 1" facility. In the state of Illinois, "Level 1" is the highest, while levels 6-8 have the lowest level of security in terms of federal prisons. [ [http://www.idoc.state.il.us/subsections/facilities/ Security designation: Corrections Security Levels] . "Illinois Department of Corrections".] However, it is more likely for the Fox River State Penitentiary be of a higher security level; this is due to the fact that high security prisons in the USA are described as having, "highly-secured perimeters (featuring walls or reinforced fences), multiple- and single-occupant cell housing, the highest staff-to-inmate ratio, and close control of inmate movement", (features found in Fox River State Penitentiary), whilst low security prisons are described as having, "dormitory housing, a relatively low staff-to-inmate ratio, and limited or no perimeter fencing". [ [http://www.bop.gov/locations/institutions/index.jsp] . "Department of Prisons: Types and General Information"]

References

External links

* [http://www.fox.com/prisonbreak/recaps/recap_106.htm Official summary for Season 1 Episode 06 from Fox]
* [http://www.fox.com/prisonbreak/recaps/recap_107.htm Official summary for Season 1 Episode 07 from Fox]