The first season of the Prison Break premiered on American TV on August 29, 2005 and consisted of 22 episodes. It told the story of Michael Scofield and his attempt to break free his wrongly accused brother Lincoln Burrows from prison. This season chronicles the entire six week long stay of Michael at Fox River State Penitentiary. The season opener was entitled ‘Pilot’ which introduces us to Michael who gets himself incarcerated in Fox River State Penitentiary so as to help his brother Lincoln escape the execution he is condemned to face, for a offense he did not commit. His cellmate Sucre gives him a tour of the jail and Michael manages to join Prison Industries run by Abruzzi. He also meets Sara and tries to seduce her with his charms. The warden of the jail, Henry Pope inquires from Michael if he could make a model of the Taj Mahal for his wife for their anniversary.
The brothers reunite and Michael discloses that the strange tattoo on his body is the blue print of the Fox River State Penitentiary which will help them in planning their escape. When the trouble between the black and white prisoners began to foment, all attempts of Michael to stay neutral prove to be futile. Michael manages to catch hold of an Allen bolt and unscrews the toilet of his cell with its help. As the riots kick off in the jail, T-Bag suspects Michael of killing one of his friends. In order to help Michael see Sara regularly, C-Note gives him a medicine. In the meantime, the friend and attorney of Lincoln comes across some evidence which seems to confirm that it was indeed Lincoln who murdered Terrence Steadman.
The episode ends as Michael is ambushed and tortured by Abruzzi for some information about an informer. Next episode was entitled ‘Cell Test’ where Michael checks out whether his cellmate Sucre, could be relied upon with the secret of escape plan. Though Sucre proves to be reliable, he does not want to be part of this break out plan. On the other hand, T- Bag wants to teach Michael a lesson for his alleged betrayal to white inmates. Abruzzi changes his tactics and starts assisting Michael to get the information about Fibonacci’s location from him.
A woman gets in touch with Veronica, claiming to have information about Steadman’s assassination. Before Veronica could get that information from her, the woman is taken out by Agent Kellerman on Caroline’s orders. The next episode was entitled ‘Cute Poison’ where we see that Michael has a new cellmate, Haywire who starts to unravel the secret behind his tattoos. Sucre joins in the escape plans when he comes to know that his cousin, Hector is hitting on his fiancée. Michael arranges for Sucre to be back in his cell and they start corroding the pipes behind Michael’s cell with Abruzzi’s help. When Agent Kellerman learns that Michael is in Fox River jail, he makes arrangements for his transfer to another prison by blackmailing Pope, the warden.
Michael takes the help of the gang to decide the escape route. He makes the authorities believe that he is attempting an escape resulting in police cars inundating the streets called English and Percy, but the street named Fitz remain unruffled. Pope decides to retain Michael in Fox River. Michael’s plan of maneuvering prisoners and guards into prison lockdown backfires when T-Bag initiates a riot. On stumbling upon the escape plan, T-Bag wants to join in and wants to get rid of CO Hudson but is told not to do so. Another riot starts in sick-bay of prison, putting Sara’s life in danger. After watching it through CCTV, Michael hazards his break out plans and goes to save her. Sara manages to escape outside away from the rowdy inmates with the help of Michael. Sucre and Abruzzi reach a pipe after digging through the wall. Lincoln manages to stop the man assigned with the task of killing him.
Before riots are over, T-Bag murders Hudson despite being told not to do so. Following a lead, Veronica and Nick reach Washington DC where a stranger threatens them on the phone with their lives. In the next episode ‘The Old Head’, after a narrow escape, Veronica and Nick go into hiding to show that they are dead. Agent Kellerman and Hale kill L.J’s mom and step dad forcing him to run away as it becomes known that the agents got their orders from the Vice President. To remove the guards sitting atop the vital part of the escape route, Michael tries to enlist Westmoreland into the break out plan, but he refuses it. When Bellick kills his cat, Westmoreland incinerates the building which houses the part of escape and blames it on Bellick. In the episode ‘Tweener’ Veronica and Nick get their hands on L.J after deceiving the agents about their whereabouts. Michael attempts to save a new prisoner, Tweener from T-Bag’s evil predations and the break out plan is imperiled as Abruzzi Falls out of good books of Philly Falzone. In the next episode, the Company agents start following Veronica and Nick. Michael somehow sends Falzone to Canada to a false lead and Abruzzi reclaims the control over PI. On the down side, C-Note bullies his way into the escape team. The next episode ‘And Then There Were 7’ brings a shocking revelation for both the inmates in the escape team and the staff of Fox River in the form of Michael’s wife who comes to deliver a key card, essential for the plan. On learning that his daughter is on death bed, Westmoreland opts out of the escape team.
Michael finally realizes that escape team has more people than they can effectively handle and at least one person has to be left behind. After being tracked down by the Quinn, Veronica, Nick and L.J escape, leaving him in a well to die. Next episode was entitled ‘Odd Man Out’ where it is decided that T-Bag should be left behind. Abruzzi’s plan to kill T-Bag goes awry when in a moment of crisis of faith, he let’s him live on the condition of opting out of the escape team. But T-Bag ruthlessly slits his throat and leaves him to die. While stalling guards from discovering the escape plans, Lincoln ends up being taken away by the guards. In the episode ‘End of the Tunnel’ Veronica has a meeting with Hale where he tells her that Terrence Steadman is still alive. Before he could hand over the evidence to her, Kellerman shoots him dead. Michael comes up with a plan to get Lincoln out of the solitary confinement and he sends him a pill that gives him the same symptoms as of food poisoning. As a result, Lincoln is sent to infirmary which is one of the key spot for escape. Authorities get the corroded pipe replaced on the night of escape, which means that it has to be postponed. In the episode entitled ‘The Rat’ Michael tries to tamper with the electric chair after their escape plans come to a naught. Bellick appoints Tweener his rat, thus failing this plan as well.
Michael’s pleas to Sara, to appeal to her father to review Lincoln’s case, go in vain as he also works for Vice President. On the night of execution, Veronica and Michael bid Lincoln goodbye. In the next episode, the execution is postponed when fresh evidence comes to light. The corpse is exhumed by Nick and Veronica only to be confirmed that it really belongs to Steadman. With the reprieve, Michael gets time to work on plan B where Michael sneaks into prison’s asylum wearing a guard’s uniform to find the pipes leading to infirmary. His back gets burnt on the way back and part of his tattoo vital for the escape is also destroyed and Sara finds shreds of uniform in his wound. The episode ‘Brother’s Keeper’ is set three years ago and reveals the lives of many main characters. It delves into the murder set up that led to Lincoln’s conviction and importantly into the reasons why Michael risked his life to save him. It also shows how Sucre is falsely implicated by his cousin after he sees Maricruz. Sara was a drug addict and C-Note was dishonorably discharged from army while T-Bag was turned in by Susan Hollander whom he was seeing at the time, after she discovers the reality about him. In the episode ‘J-Cat’ Michael is put in solitary confinement when he fails to answer Pope’s queries about his burns. Sucre gets caught while making sure that escape plan remains concealed. When Tweener is rendered useless to Bellick, he is transferred to a nasty inmate. Michael pretends to suffer from nervous break down so that he could seek the assistance of Haywire after getting in the psych ward even as Haywire knows nothing about Michael. In the next episode, Michael reminds Haywire about himself by making him spit out the medicine.
When Haywire remembers Michael, he draws the missing part of the puzzle. The team tries to buy the now empty cell of Michael before it’s auctioned off. Despite having the money after winning an illegal poker game they are told that Geary has already auctioned the cell. As a result they frame him for injuring Michael and have him fired. When L.J is arrested, Lincoln is allowed to visit him but on the way, the transport van is run off the road by another lorry and it ends up crashing. The next episode is ‘The Key’ where Lincoln is rescued by his father who tells him the reason behind his set up for Steadman’s murder. Since both Kellerman and authorities are tracking him, Lincoln has to confront Kellerman first who flees when Bellick arrives and Lincoln gives himself up. Michael takes the help of his wife to make duplicate keys when he fails to steal the infirmary keys from Sara but by that time the lock has been switched by Sara. Tweener informs Bellick when he comes to know about the escape plan, who manages to find the hole in break room. In the next episode ‘Tonight’,
Just as Bellick discovers the hole, he is knocked down by Westmoreland, who gets injured in the process. Now the only option open to the team is to escape that very night. Michael is forced to include Sara in the plan as he has neither time nor any other alternative. He asks her to leave the door unlocked for him. Michael smashes the Taj Mahal and holds a shank to Pope to make him collaborate with them. When Veronica plans to go to Black Foot to investigate a lead, she is stopped at gun point by Nick. In the episode entitled ‘Go’ Michael forces Pope to get Lincoln released from solitary confinement he then knocks him off. Michael and his team successfully escape after passing out of psych ward and infirmary disguised as patients. Westmoreland collapses from his injuries but before dying he confides in Michael where he has hidden his $5 million. Haywire joins in and escapes from Fox River along with Michael, Lincoln, Abruzzi, C-Note, T-Bag, Tweener and Sucre. On the other hand, Nick allows Veronica to go to Black Foot and returns to his father but Abruzzi’s man turns up and kills the father son duo.
The season finale was entitled ‘Flight’ and it was aired on May 15, 2006. As the authorities start closing in on the escapees, they run for their freedom and lives. The Company abandons Caroline Reynolds and she takes the matter in her hands by getting the President assassinated so that she could takeover the charge. On Veronica’s arrival in Montana she comes across the irrefutable evidence of Lincoln’s innocence as she sees a hale and hearty Terrance Steadman. When T-bag handcuffs himself to Michael so that Abruzzi may let him live Abruzzi cuts his hand. He is abandoned by team and left to die bleeding. Tweener and Haywire are also left on their own devices but the team’s plans to leave go awry when authorities encircle the airport and the plane arranged by Abruzzi leaves without them, forcing the team to run.
