Orientación

Infobox Television episode
Title = Orientación
Series = Prison Break


Caption = Michael and Mahone in Sona
Season = 3
Episode = 1
Airdate = September 17, 2007
Production = 3AKJ01
Writer = Paul Scheuring
Director = Kevin Hooks
Season list = Infobox Prison Break season 3 episode list
Episode list = List of "Prison Break" episodes
Prev = Sona
Next = Fire/Water

"Orientación" is the 45th episode of the American television series, "Prison Break" and the first episode of the series' third season. It premiered on September 17, 2007 in the United States on the Fox Network. "Orientación" is Spanish for "Orientation." [ [http://www.wordreference.com/es/en/translation.asp?spen=Orientaci%F3n Orientación] - Wordreference.com] On iTunes, the episode is known as "Visitation". Regarding the casting of this episode, Amaury Nolasco (who plays Fernando Sucre), does not appear in this episode.

ummary

As Michael and Mahone enter Sona's courtyard and witness a brutal fight between two prisoners which results in a prisoner's death, Lincoln tries to convince a clerk at the American Consulate to drop the charges against his brother and release him. The clerk explains to Lincoln, and the audience, about Sona: after violent riots a year previous, the prison guards pulled out of Sona and left the prisoners to their own devices. Since then, the prisoners have organised their own internal forms of leadership, economy and workforce and run the prison themselves. However, evidence uncovered by the Panamanian police is backing up Lincoln's claim that the killing of Bill Kim was self-defense, and the clerk suggests he will be able to arrange a transfer for Michael to a safer facility until his trial.

Within Sona, Michael is confronted by Mahone, who wants the pair to ally in order to survive within the prison, but Michael refuses because he can't get past the fact that Mahone shot and killed his father. Later, Michael and Mahone are among the new prisoners who are brought before Lechero, a prisoner who effectively governs the entirety of Sona and its residents. Lechero tells the new prisoners about their main rule: if one man has an issue with another, they are to fight to the death in an organised event. During the meeting, Lechero makes known that he is aware of Michael's history and is wary of the new prisoner. Soon after this, T-Bag enters the prison and immediately tries to integrate himself into Lechero's inner circle.

Bellick discovers that he is at the very bottom of the social strata within Sona, forced to clean the bathroom and perform other such tasks. While alone in the prison's basement, he is contacted by another prisoner living in the sewers, and agrees to pass on a message in exchange for some scraps of rat meat.

A prisoner accuses Michael of stealing his stash of drugs - a set-up by Lechero - and challenges him to a fight, which Michael is forced to accept or else face Lechero's lackeys. In the frenzy before the fight, Bellick slips written messages into both Michael and his opponent's pockets. Mahone advises Michael to fight dirty, and Michael does once the fight commences, but even when his opponent is practically beaten he refuses to kill the man. The prisoner is slipped a shank and tries to stab Michael in the back but Mahone intervenes by attacking and killing the prisoner. Since weapons were against the rules of combat in the event, Lechero is forced to let Michael and Mahone off. When the dead body is dumped outside the prison, a woman searches his pockets and finds the written message.

Meanwhile, Lincoln searches Panama City for Sara and is momentarily worried when the Chief of Police brings him to the morgue to identify a body, but it is revealed that it is not Sara's. Later, he is contacted by LJ, and goes to meet his son at a restaurant in Panama City. He is instead met by a representative of the Company (portrayed by Jodi Lyn O'Keefe). At the end of the episode Lincoln visits Michael at the prison and tells him what the Company had said: they had kidnapped both LJ and Sara, and unless Michael can break out of Sona with another prisoner in tow - Whistler, the man in the sewers - their loved ones will be killed.

International broadcasts

Via Global's simulcast, the episode was broadcast on September 17, 2007 in Canada. It aired in Ireland on September 20, 2007, Great Britain on September 24, 2007, Australia on September 26, 2007, Armenia on January 1, 2008, Spain on April 10, 2008 and Italy on June 27, 2008.

Reception

On the episode's original airdate, "Prison Break" attracted 7.41 million viewers in its usual Monday 8:00 pm timeslot, which was the lowest audience the show has ever had for a season premiere. [Ryan, Joal, " [http://www.eonline.com/news/article/index.jsp?uuid=412df9e4-7154-43ed-90f1-32bb58839c3b Prison Break's Start as Slow as Fox's] ", "E! News", September 18, 2007. Retrieved on September 19, 2007.] [ [http://entertainmentnow.wordpress.com/2007/09/18/broadcast-tv-ratings-for-monday-september-17-2007/Broadcast TV Ratings for Monday, September 17, 2007] , "Entertainmentnow.wordpress.com". September 18, 2007. Retrieved on September 21, 2007.]

Trivia

* Faf LaRage's song "Pas le temps" used during the French opening credits of the show can be heard in the background during Lincoln's conversation with Susan.
* The fight at the start of the episode is what Michael walked in on when he stepped through the door and into the rain outside at the very end of "Sona".
*This episodes features a Spanish version of All Along the Watchtower
* Although credited, Amaury Nolasco (Fernando Sucre) does not appear in this episode.
* The sepia-tinted commercial bumper, which consisted of streets and fields, are replaced with enhanced green forests, reflecting the fact that the fugitives are in Panama.
* One of the prisoners who is fighting each other in the mentioned brawl is played by actor and stunt performer Sala Baker. Baker played Sauron in the The Lord of the Rings film trilogy directed by Peter Jackson.

References

External links

* [http://www.fox.com/prisonbreak/recaps/recap_301.htm Episode summary] at the official site