Episode no. Season 1
Episode 4 Written by Matt Olmstead Original air date September 12, 2005 | Directed by Matt Earl Beesley Production code 1AKJ03 | |
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"Cute Poison" is the fourth episode of television series Prison Break. It was first aired on September 12, 2005 in the United States. The episode is directed by Matt Earl Beesley and written by series producer Matt Olmstead. The words "Cute Poison", one of Michael Scofield's (Wentworth Miller) tattoos, are a mnemonic for CuSO4 (copper sulfate) and H3PO4 (phosphoric acid), the two ingredients needed for the third part in his escape plan. Also, his new cellmate Charles "Haywire" Patoshik (Silas Weir Mitchell) starts to notice Michael's tattoos and may expose his escape plans. Michael has to stop him and get his old cellmate, Fernando Sucre (Amaury Nolasco), back.
Contents
Plot
Michael is three days behind on his plan to free his brother, particularly with his new insomniac cell mate, Haywire (Silas Weir Mitchell), whom he witnesses take some tablets to keep him lucid but spit out when the doctors leave, describing them as "invisible handcuffs". He then notices Michael's tattoo and sees the hidden "maze" in it.
Meanwhile, Veronica Donovan (Robin Tunney) meets with Nick Savrinn (Frank Grillo) from "Project Justice", who wants to assist her. They question Lincoln regarding the evidence, which he insists was planted. Sucre (Amaury Nolasco) is visited by his cousin, Hector Avila (Kurt Caceres), who tells him that Maricruz (Camille Guaty) is with him now. He eventually gets hold of Maricruz, and learns that Hector told her lies to get her not to come. With this new development, Sucre urges Michael to get him back into the cell.
Michael manages to get hold of two chemicals and uses them to corrode a pipe underneath the infirmary as part of the escape plan. He returns to his cell, and notices Haywire has drawn his entire tattoo and wonders what the pathway is. Michael purposely injures himself to get the officers to take Haywire away before the plan is exposed. Sucre gets transferred back to Michael's cell and continues the plan. Agent Kellerman (Paul Adelstein) suspects that Scofield may try to break Lincoln out and orders to transfer Scofield out the next day.
Production
Robert Knepper, who plays T-Bag, and Marshall Allman, who plays L. J. Burrows were credited for this episode. However, they did not make an appearance. Sucre's song to start the ruckus Michael needed to knock down a wall was "Eres tú" by the Spanish band "Mocedades". This song was chosen as Spain's entry in the 1973 Eurovision Song Contest, and won 2nd place.
Broadcast and reception
The episode was released as "Quimicos", meaning "Chemicals" in Latin America. The ratings were at an increase since "Cell Test", with a 4.5 rating from the 18–49 demographics, and viewing figures of 9.12 million, placing it the third most watched show on the day. After the release on Five on 13 February 2006, "Prison Break" has again risen in viewing figures, giving the series the sixth most viewed program on that week on Five, with a rating of 2.06 million.