5.01. Ogygia
- Greek allusions are all over the place – Ogygia,
the name of the prison in Yemen where Michael is confined, Ithaca in the state
of New York where Sara is residing, sea metaphors (Michael’s son Mike asking
about “sunken treasures” his uncle should’ve brought him), the boy’s belief his
dad and uncle were like gods. “Outis” = “nobody” in Ancient Greek and might be
a phonetic pun on “Odysseus”. The seven years of waiting.
- “Mythological hero[s]”, as Mike sees his dad and uncle, is a fitting description. Lincoln does have a physique of an ancient Greek hero/athlete.
- I just wonder if it ever occurred to Lincoln in all those years to question if it really was Michael in that grave? Did they even see the body?
- There’s a beautiful symbolism when the letters O.G.Y.G.I.A. are revealed when the sunset light shines through the thin paper.
- I wouldn’t mind seeing Sara in an action mode – I liked the coolness with which she dealt with the assault on her house. She remembers how to fight. Or will have to.
- Funny extratextual reference: on the photos of “Michael Scofield” from the Web, instead of Michael, we see the face of Paul Scheuring, the series’ creator (if I’m not mistaken). Technically, it’s absolutely correct – he “wrote those hands”, this face and this character. Michael is him.
- Michael (that is, Wentworth) appeared in the episode for all of five minutes (intro, outro), but completely stole the show. The cliffhanger was reached with zero action shots but felt like a cold shower. You come all the way to Yemen, give away your passport in sound mind (cutting off your chances to escape the border – thus leaving you both prisoners in this country) – all because your long-lost brother has sent you a blurry photo and a cryptic letter inviting you to save him. Now, when you get as far as face to face with him, he coldly turns you down. Say hello, wave goodbye.
- But surely the “new tatts” were a hint? Standing in front of Lincoln behind the bars, Michael was openly showing him the artwork on his palms. C-Note was taking pictures. When Michael was coming back to his cell, eyes expressively closed, he kept showing them the palm of his head with a hamsa eye sign. Must be some hints in Arabic they should decode.
- Michael has upgraded from a smart, family-driven engineer-turned-convict to an internationally acclaimed criminal involved in politics, regime overthrowing, terrorism. And looks like he spent these years busy and even financially thriving. How else would he have the money to donate to the clinic to pay for T-Bag’s hand replacement surgery?
- With T-Bag, it feels like Michael, a noble strategist that he is, is both making amends for the injury the creepy molester has suffered because he unwisely handcuffed himself to Michael in the wrong place at the wrong time, and leaves him owing him a favour to be collected on later.
- It’s also clear why Michael wouldn’t want to involve his old cellmate Fernando Sucre into the new quest – he knew the man was raising a family of his own, I can’t imagine him willing to risk breaking that.
- I guess (wildly), Michael might have signed a pact with the Company or some other American below-the-radar government body in exchange for Sara’s deliverance, somewhere behind the scenes in the last film. Like, I fake my own death, do what you want me to do, you let her go. Willingly or unwillingly, he was coerced/recruited into/had to continue the line of work his parents had been involved in. Then at some point he’s probably got enough of the government’s plans for him, rebelled against this prison of the mind, and was thrown into a real jail for that.
- The writers are tackling topical issues (social tensions in the Middle East, migration, women as activists, the Internet of things – see that car manipulation) quite intelligently. Apart from this controversial moment, where C-Note boasts to their Sana’a attackers about his superior fighting skills learned at the American prison. Not PC. Then again, it may have been intentional – to show the literal clash of cultures.
- All in all, I really liked what I saw. The intimacy. The worry. The unquestionable devotion. The cliffhanger. Looking forward to Song 2.
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