This article contains references to murder, sexual assault, suicide, and kidnapping.
might have turned into a show about huge government conspiracies, but the original appeal of the series was Michael Schofield, the Fox River Eight, and what happened to them. The series followed Michael, who intentionally got himself caught during a bank robbery just so he could be thrown into Fox River Penitentiary. That happened to be the same jail as his brother, Lincoln Burrows, who was on death row for the murder of the Vice President's brother. Michael didn't just want to spend time with his brother for the final month of his life, but to break him out before the day of execution arrived.
Since Michael is an architect who helped build the prison, he was able to get his hands on Fox River Penitentiary's blueprints. on his whole body, which helped him inside the prison's walls. However, Michael made both friends and enemies in prison who learned about this plan, and they joined him on his great escape. They were known as the Fox River Eight. Two other inmates, Charles Westmoreland and Manche Sanchez, were almost part of the Fox River Eight, but Westmoreland was fatally wounded and Sanchez was caught during the break.
The mastermind behind the prison break, Michael Scofield had to overcome a lot of obstacles to be completely free. While Michael was one of the Fox River Eight who managed to remain under the radar for a while, sadly, he did end up getting captured again after being caught by the authorities trying to flee with Lincoln and Sara (season 2, episode 22). Imprisoned in Panama at the beginning of season 3 and facing several great challenges, by The Company, who had devious plans to take control of the USA's economy and wanted one of their operatives out too.
Given Michael's pure heart, it's not surprising that he created a plan to outsmart them.
Not only did he use their resources to break out of Panama prison in season 3, but he also got the upper hand once again in season 4 when Michael gave their device, Scylla, to the U.N., to secure his and several Fox River Eight members freedom. Unfortunately, it appeared that Michael wouldn't get his happy ending as he died helping Sara escape in .
Given that , it was devastating to see them end this way, so it wasn't surprising that there was a revival series that came seven years after the original series ended. In season 5, it's revealed that Michael didn't die but was thrown into a Yemen prison after being framed for murder (just like Lincoln was five seasons earlier).
However, this time, Lincoln, Franklin, Sucre, and even T-Bag, are the ones helping break Michael escape, and he eventually gets his happy ending with Sara and their son, Mike.
Lincoln Burrows was framed for the murder of the Vice President of the United States' brother, and as a result, he was put on death row. It's revealed in season 4 that Lincoln's incarceration was part of a government cover-up to keep The Company's identity a total secret. was going to be much different.
Although there are tons of episodes, a TV movie, and a revival series, it was originally going to be a limited series, which would have ended once Michael broke Lincoln free. However, Linc's story barely even started by the end of season 1's 22 episodes.
Once they escape Fox penitentiary, Lincoln accompanied his brother in searching for Westmoreland's money and trying to clear their names. Lincoln achieved that by the end of season 4, and after taking down The Company, he's exonerated in return for Scylla. Years later, Linc owns a scuba shop, something that he and Michael had talked about doing while in prison, and it was the most satisfying end to season 4 there could have been given that he'd gone through four TV years of suffering.
But it came with .
Fernando Sucre was sentenced to jail after he robbed a liquor store, but it wasn't entirely his fault, as he was pressured into it by Hector (who then called the cops on him). Sucre was the loveable romantic, and he decided not to search for Westmoreland's money in Utah and go after the love of his life instead. Unfortunately, he couldn't escape being tied to Michael and the conspiracy surrounding Lincoln. But along with the rest of the team, Sucre was exonerated by Kellerman in season 4 and got the happy ending he deserved.
And he very briefly returned in the revival, as .
Charles "Haywire" Patoshik was imprisoned after shooting his parents dead. Haywire got lucky when he became Michael's cellmate in , as Michael had no other choice but to recruit him into the crew. After escaping, Haywire attempted to flee to Holland, but he was caught by Mahone after killing an abusive father that reminded him of his own (season 2, episode 16). He jumped to his death to avoid going back to Fox River.
His death was one of the hardest-to-watch moments, as Haywire was easily manipulated and had a pure heart. If he stayed on longer, he could have become .
John Abruzzi was another member of the Fox River Eight, who managed the prison and bribe several of the staff to his side. Since he had connections, Michael needed the mob boss to escape with him as Abruzzi could provide the plane following the escape. While he managed to escape, Abruzzi was one of the first to get caught when he attempted to get revenge on Otto Fibonacci, killed by the FBI (season 2, episode 4).
Otto's death was bittersweet, as he immediately became hated when he cut off Michael's small toe (season 1, episode 2) but he grew into an anti-hero and became surprisingly lovable.
Benjamin "C-Note" Franklin turned to crime when he struggled to find a job after being dishonorably discharged by the U.S. Army. However, that discharge was a result of his attempt to uncover the army illegally torturing detainees. , C-Note totally deserved a place in the EIght, even though Michael didn't know it at the time.
After escaping, C-Note came so close to incarceration and even death several times as the FBI knew he'd try to be close to his family (with Mahone ordered by The Company to blackmail C-Note when he captured him, promising the safety of his family providing he take his own life).
However, another FBI agent offered C-Note to enter him into the Witness Protection Programme in exchange for a testimony against Mahone. C-Note accepts and it's the first time a Fox River Eight member was written off with a happy ending. Unfortunately, his life is in danger in season 4 when Internal Affairs doesn't follow through on the Witness Protection deal.
The character ultimately gets exonerated with the Scylla deal and became a UPS driver. He also seems to be happy , where it's revealed that he found peace within himself (which, given his hard journey, was a relief to see).
Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell was thrown in prison in Alabama for kidnapping, rape, and murder, but was transferred to Fox River when his prison gang became too powerful. He became a part of the Fox River Eight when he found the hole behind the sink in Michael's cell.
Between searching for Westmoreland's money, becoming a telesales expert, and returning to a life of crime, T-Bag's course changed so many times following the prison break, as his subplots were mostly separate from the main story. But he ultimately ended up getting caught and sent back to Fox Penitentiary ().
However, T-Bag was released in the revival series. Despite his vile past, T-Bag has a redemption arc, as he helps Sara and Michael, and it's revealed that . Although he ends up back in Fox River, he's put in a cell with his son's murderer (at Michael's request) and gets his revenge. Given that T-Bag was a vulgar and despicable inmate, killing guards and giving others no other choice but to kill themselves, somewhat redeeming the character was by far the weirdest direction the series could have possibly gone in.
David "Tweener" Apolskis was a naive kid who turned to pickpocketing after being deemed academically ineligible. Tweener was unluckily incarcerated for stealing a baseball card that he didn't know was worth $200,000. Michael felt sorry for Tweener and allowed him to join the team, as it was either that or ." Once escaped, Tweener rejoined Michael and the crew to help find Westmoreland's hidden $5 million. Unfortunately, he was caught by Mahone when he went into town to pick up fuel.
And After he lies about where the Fox River Eight was, Mahone shot him dead and made it look like a suicide (season 2, episode 7).
