Michael (Wentworth Miller) returned for season 5 after his supposed death, leading many to wonder does Michael Scofield die in , and how he returned. season 5 saw Michael Scofield reunited with the original cast of Lincoln (Dominic Purcell), Sara (Sarah Wayne Callies), T-Bag (Robert Knepper), C-Note (Rockmond Dunbar), and Sucre (Amaury Nolasco) for another breakout scheme. The premiere of season 5 even started with Miller's distinctive voice, saying followed by a speech about freedom before the episode got going with Lincoln's discovery that his brother may still be alive and stuck in a Yemen prison.
The universe has no fantasy elements and is grounded in reality, so the question of how season 5 could see a character return from the dead in a Middle Eastern jail after seven years created questions. As the series' name implies, features plenty of daring escapes, many of which are orchestrated by Scofield himself. Thus, if anyone were to make a miraculous comeback after a carefully planned fake death, it would be Michael Scofield. However, the fact his death seemed so definite prior to season 5 means that — years later — there's still confusion and those wondering does Michael Scofield die in
Michael Scofield spent seasons 1-3 in seemingly perfect health. Michael's health was even a plot point in season 1 when he had to trick Sara into believing that he was diabetic to gain regular access to the infirmary. However, season 4 threw Michael Scofield a nasty twist, as it was discovered that Michael was dying. Michael started getting nosebleeds and severe headaches, even passing out from the pain.
At first, Michael hid his deteriorating health from Lincoln and Sara, but eventually, they found out, and Lincoln was appalled.
Lincoln mentioned Michael's teen years and their mother's health issues, revealing that their mother had similar problems before dying at 31 from an aneurysm. Michael, now at the same age, is taken to a hospital and diagnosed with hypothalamic hamartoma; a brain tumor requiring immediate surgery. However, he refuses to get the surgery, as he is too busy dealing with the antagonist, The Company, and the conspiracy that he, Lincoln, and Sara are attempting to uncover.
For a while during season 4, Michael gets Sara to treat him to ensure he's able to continue their work. However, he collapses while attempting to take Scylla (the information that everyone wants), and The Company kidnaps him and takes him to their facility. There, they explain to Lincoln and Sara that they can treat him, and their medical research is far more advanced than that available to the public.
The Company promises to operate and save Michael, but only if Lincoln retrieves Scylla for them.
The Company operates on Michael, using an experimental procedure that has worked in the past, but that is still largely untested. As Sara watches, Michael starts to flatline, before a mysterious serum is injected into his brain, allowing him to recover. The procedure actually helps Michael, as it allows him to understand elements of 's original central conspiracy that he didn't before. The Michael Scofield death in appeared to be averted, as he seems to be cured by the time he and Sara eventually escape the company.
It is only in , a TV movie special that wrapped up seasons 1-4, that the long-teased Michael Scofield death in happened. In , it is Sara who ends up in prison, arrested on her wedding day for a murder she committed to save Michael. Once again, Michael Scofield has to come up with a plan to break someone he loves out of prison. The plan involved Michael first sneaking into the prison, and then leading Sara out through underground tunnels to freedom.
At the end of the tunnel, however, there is a locked door, trapping them both inside.
This is what ultimately kills Michael and ends his . Michael reveals that he knew this was a possibility, and that he could open the door by creating a power surge to override the mechanism. It's not a perfect solution though, as the surge will electrocute and kill Michael. In an emotional goodbye, Michael brings two wires together, opening the door and going down in a shower of sparks. During 's finale, Sara learns Michael would have died anyway, as The Company didn't actually cure him, just delayed his death.
He said that he has no regrets and that now they are all, finally,
Michael Scofield's tragic death in season 4's finale movie was a blow to the show's characters and viewers alike, but it wasn't without reason. Although 2017 saw 's revival series come to fruition, this possibility wasn't a foregone conclusion back in 2009. Thus, 's writers would naturally have been looking for a way to give the show a fitting conclusion and finally end the cycle of imprisonment and prison-breaking that Michael Scofield and company had fallen into.
While the Michael Scofield death in was a brutal means of offering closure, it does feel like a natural conclusion to Michael's character arc. Having been through so much, offering Michael the opportunity to make a grand gesture of love for his family is a cathartic release. Likewise, while Michael Scofield himself rarely pulled the trigger in seasons 1-4, he did commit crimes and indirectly led to others getting hurt, thus making his death an atonement of sorts, too.
Naturally, the mystery of how Michael Scofield survived in season 5 arose as soon as the revival series announced Wentworth Miller would return as the main character. Likewise, and the revelation that Michael was stuck in a Yemen prison prompted the question of how he survived. In true fashion, the answer comes back to conspiracy and espionage. It's revealed in season 5, episode 5 that the Michael Scofield death in was staged.
Shortly before his and Sara's wedding, Michael is approached by a rogue CIA agent, Poseidon, who
asks Michael to fake his death and come work for him in exchange for his family's freedom. Michael's initial refusal is what led to Sara being arrested in , which motivated him to accept Poseidon's offer and go off the grid. This explanation for Michael Scofield's death-defying return in season 5 thus neatly supplies the reasoning for both his death being faked and his seven-year absence.
While the Michael Scofield death in turned out to be faked, there isn't a chance he will return to the franchise now.
The reasoning for this is that Wentworth wants to play a different kind of character from now on. Back in 2020, Fox Entertainment president Michael Thorn said there was a chance for a revival (via ) after . However, while fans might want to see Miller return as Michael Scofield again, that won't happen. Miller heard about the rumors and let the fans know that he wouldn't be back, writing, "."
The reason that is because criminals like Michael Scofield aren't a character type he's interested in playing anymore. He was clear that realizes this is disappointing for the fans he gained from , but was also clear what he sees for his future —
Miller no longer wants to play straight characters in movies or on TV anymore. "," Miller wrote. Dominic Purcell backed up his friend, saying it was a good decision for his "."
Given that audiences knew that season 4 was the series' final, viewers were prepared for some major character deaths. That had already been happening throughout the fourth season, as even the antagonist Brad Bellick (Wade Williams) had a redemption arc when he sacrificed himself for Michael and the rest of the crew.
However, nobody expected Michael to die, especially given that Michael and Sara's ending where they live happily ever after was totally in sight. Every viewer wanted to see that happy ending that had been teased for four years, and Michael's death was something of an upset.
As a result, Michael's return in season 5 was seen as a positive one. The way Michael's death was retconned might not have been the most plausible, but was never very realistic in the first place, especially as . In that respect, Michael's return was more than welcome. Michael is such a beloved character that it would have been impossible to bring back the spirit of the show without him.
Additionally, as Michael returned, the genius architect was finally able to get the ending audiences wanted for him, and he, Sara, and their son lived happily ever after.
