US Television: Breakout Kings, Episode 1.3, "The Bag Man"

Breakout Kings
Season One, Episode Three, The Bag Man
Original Air Date:  March 20, 2011

Lloyd, Shea and Erica are called in when exceptionally dangerous prisoner Theodore 'T-Bag' Bagwell escapes from the Fox River State Penitentiary in Joliet, Illinois.  Using the theory he has escaped to see a woman, the team follow him and the trail of bodies he leaves through Illinois, Indiana and Ohio fearing Bagwell is headed to Canada.  However, in Ohio they make a shocking discovery about Bagwell's purpose for escaping prison and where he is truly headed.  Will they catch Bagwell before he can hurt anyone else and will Lloyd get the opportunity he has long-desired:  to be able to have a face-to-face conversation with Bagwell and analyze him or will Bagwell make his escape for good?

At Fox River State Penitentiary in Joliet, Illinois, a prisoner is forced to brush the teeth of Theodore 'T-Bag' Bagwell (Robert Knepper).  When the one doing the brushing spills water on Bagwell while giving him water to rinse his mouth, the man is ordered to draw the curtain to the cell then get the "hurt stick".  Before he can retrieve the stick, a guard opens the curtain and informs Bagwell his transfer has been approved.  Bagwell pulls the inside of his pants pocket out, looks to his young cellmate and tells him "let's take a walk, boy".  The young man grabs the pocket and leaves the cell with Bagwell and the guard.  Bagwell is frisked by the guards then moved through the gates for his transport.  He turns back to the young man and tells him to keep a candle burning for him with a wink.

In the vehicle during transport Bagwell is chained and sitting across from a guard who is sickened by the fact Bagwell is being transferred to receive a new prosthetic hand when his own uncle who lost a leg during wartime cannot get a decent prosthetic from the VA.  Bagwell leans forward to show the guard that he needs a new hand because his is cracking.  He pulls the hand off to reveal a sharpened piece of plastic and plunges it into the guard eight times killing him.  He takes the guards gun and shoots the driver through the truck walls.  When the vehicle crashes, he jumps out, opens the drivers door.  While he's searching the driver, a passing motorist stops to ask if everyone is alright.  Bagwell takes the top of his prison overalls down to reveal his white shirt and tells the man the accident was his fault.  He turns and pulls the guards gun on the man telling him he has two dead bodies in the truck and would gladly kill him as well.  He orders the man to take his clothes off.  The man looks to his son in his car who Bagwell also sees and uses as leverage.  The man does as he's told and Bagwell, now wearing his clothing, puts the man and his son out on the road and steals his car making his escape.

Charlie and Ray are putting up photos and information about the teams latest case when Shea, Erica and Lloyd arrive.  Lloyd arrives complaining about what he felt was bad driving on the part of the man who transported them from prison.  Charlie jumps right into the case bringing them up to speed on Bagwell who has been out less than two hours.  Julie arrives carrying a heavy box which Shea and Lloyd compete to take off her hands (Lloyd wins).  Shea is mildly amused at Bagwell's nickname, "T-Bag" but Lloyd warns him not to laugh as Bagwell is an incredible mixture of psychopathic and sociopathic personality traits.  On the psychopathic side, Bagwell will plan his crimes and breakouts extremely well then, at the drop of a hat, turn sociopathic and kill someone and leave a ton of evidence behind.  Lloyd has read everything he can on Bagwell and has always wondered what it would be like to sit down face to face and analyse him.

Julie has received Bagwell's prison phone logs.  One of the two calls was to Cabe Green (William Christopher Ellis), a former inmate who now lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  She plays a recording of the call where Bagwell asks Green if he got him his birthday present.  When Green answers "almost", Bagwell tells him to let him know when it's wrapped and ready because he's excited.  Bagwell's birthday was five months before this call was made.  The second call was one week later to the prison pay phone bank.  Bagwell said hello and the other end hung up.  Shea theorizes of the code Bagwell was using.  The "birthday present" was the breakout planning.  The second call was a signal for the breakout.  When Shea and Ray have a small spat, Charlie interrupts them reminding them they don't have time to argue.  They have to protect people from Bagwell and get him back in prison before he can hurt anyone.  Charlie orders Ray and Shea to go to Fort Wayne to see Cabe Green while he, Erica and Lloyd go to Illinois where Bagwell broke out of prison.

In Fort Wayne, at Cable Green's home, Green timidly tells them he doesn't know anything and that he missed Bagwell's birthday and owed him a gift since they are friends and that since he's done nothing wrong they have no right to be there.  As they are leaving, Shea notes that Green called Bagwell by his first name which shows he's still following prison rules and is still under Bagwell's control and will never give up information on him.  In Illinois, Erica, Lloyd and Charlie look over the scene of the truck wreck.  Erica points out that Bagwell has nine shots left in his gun.  Charlie speaks with the man Bagwell stole the car from.  He gives Charlie the information that Bagwell has a cut on his head above his left eyebrow.  Charlie orders Lloyd to have Julie update the alarm to include that information.  Ray contacts Charlie to tell him he and Shea cannot figure out how Green helped Bagwell escape an Erica suggests Green might have helped after the escape instead.  Ray has Julie, who is conferenced into the call, run the toll information on Green's EZPass.  She learns that Green drove into Illinois the same day the hang up call was made to Bagwell at the prison.  The second call was made from Madison, Illinois, just minutes away from where Charlie, Lloyd and Erica are.

In Madison, Illinois, the three search the parking lot and surrounding area of the Astro Motel for the "present".  In a box, Erica finds "the present".  They find cologne, nail clippers, cardboard and pins from a new shirt and a container with Canadian dollars in it.  Charlie calls Julie to have her alert Canadian border crossings that Bagwell is cleaned up, dressed nice and is low on funds and still injured.  Bagwell is standing outside a hospital.  He is now dressed smartly in a suit and has cleaned his appearance a bit but does need medical attention for his head.

At the office, Charlie tells the team there isn't a single hit on Bagwell in Illinois.  Ray wants the team to assume Bagwell is headed east and could be going to Toledo, then Lake Erie and on to Canada.  Shea feels he's headed toward a woman and that he's looking a little too much to his nickname (something Lloyd doesn't understand and Shea must explain to him).  Bagwell's former girlfriend is under protective custody but Erica feels he could have a new sweetheart.

At a Franchise convention just outside Brushy Prairie, Indiana, Bagwell steals an identification badge off a table and surveys the crowd looking for just the right woman.  He settles on a young woman, Candace Plub (Rebecca Field).  He strikes up a conversation with her, showering her with compliments and quickly winning her trust.  He gets two glasses of champagne for them and turns around to place them on a table to "right them" because of his hand.  When she cannot see the glasses, he slips drugs into one of them, turns around and gives Candace the drugged glass.

Julie gives the team the information that an Illinois ambulance was found on the side of the road in Brushy Prairie, Indiana.  Both EMT's were dead and one had his hand cut off.  The team head out for Indiana and Charlie calls back to Julie for her to call Special Operation.  In Indiana, Bagwell is driving with Candace who is becoming increasingly sleepy from the drugs in her champagne.  She invites him to her room but he declines telling her there is only one woman he's interested in seeing.  He takes a ring from her finger, opens the passenger door and shoves her out of the car and keeps driving.

At the scene of the ditched ambulance, the team find that the narcotics are missing and there is no gas in the vehicle.  The EMT's personal effects show their money was stolen and one of the effects bags doesn't have a cell phone.  Ray calls Julie so she can run the cell phone records of Arthur Bradshaw, one of the EMT's.  While they are waiting to hear back from Julie, Erica delivers the news that Bagwell has seven remaining shots after killing the two EMT's.  Julie found that a call was made with Bradshaw's phone after the bodies were found and she texts the called number to Charlie.  When he calls the number, he reaches the answering machine of a woman named "Lorraine".  Julie suggests the woman Bagwell is going to meet could be someone other than Lorraine.  She has found the news of Candace Plum who was found along the road and was able to identify Bagwell and is currently at a hospital not far from where they are now.  Charlie orders Ray and Lloyd to go to the hospital to see Candace while he, Shea and Erica pay a visit to Lorraine.

In Waterloo, Indiana, Bagwell removes his coat, tie and shirt and knocks on a door.  When a man, Wayne Garrett, answers he tries to tell Bagwell he isn't interested in what he's selling.  Lorraine can be heard in the background.  Bagwell pulls a knife and slashes Wayne's head and enters the apartment.

In La Grange, Indiana, Ray and Lloyd speak with Candace at the hospital.  She tells them about the ring he took and that Bagwell told her there was a woman he wanted to see before pushing her out of the car.  Lloyd assures her that she's probably still alive because Bagwell did like her, as she thought he did.

Charlie, Erica and Shea arrive at Lorraine's apartment in Waterloo and see blood on the door.  Charlie draws his gun as Erica knocks.  He identifies himself as a Marshal and, when there is no answer, he kicks in the door.  They enter the apartment to find it trashed and the bodies of both Lorraine and Wayne.  He used two more shots and demonstrated his ability with knives.  They find that Bagwell had written something down while at the apartment.  Using powdered cleaner, they find the impression of "Tenpence Bryan" on a notebook.  Charlie calls Julie to run the nickname.  She gets a hit, not on the name but on Bagwell.  A man matching his description was seen racing through Bryan, Ohio, two towns from where they currently are in a car matching the type of vehicle owned by Lorraine.  He wants her to check all the streets in Bryan named "Pence".  She finds a 10 Pence Avenue in Bryan that is rented by Rodney Johnson.  Charlie orders the team to call the local police and wait for them at the apartment while he and Ray go to Ohio.

At Rodney Johnson's house in Medina, Ohio, Bagwell bursts into the house and begins beating on Johnson.  He pulls the phone from the wall and bashes him with it then tears a corner containing an address off a calendar on the wall.  He looks down to Rodney and tells him it's time he feels as much pain as he's caused.  Ray and Charlie arrive at the house but they've missed Bagwell.  Ray makes note of the calendar and takes another corner with the address knowing that that address is where Bagwell is headed.

At Conway Rock Quarry in Medina, Bagwell is dragging Rodney along a footpath.  Ray and Charlie arrive at the Quarry and order Bagwell to freeze.  He turns on the rock crusher and throws Rodney over the railing into it then pulls the gun and shoots toward Ray and Charlie.  Charlie pursues Bagwell while Ray goes to save Rodney.  He cannot turn off the crusher because it's busted.  Charlie and Bagwell trade shots at one another, both missing.  Ray calls to Charlie as he cannot save Rodney without his help.  Charlie fires at Bagwell once more then goes to help Ray giving Bagwell the opportunity to get away.  Even with Charlie's help, they cannot save Rodney and he falls into the crusher.

Rodney's employer at the Quarry tells Ray he'd only worked there for a couple of months and that he didn't recall hearing Rodney talk about any Theodore Bagwell.  He suggests Ray try Rodney's former employer, Willis County Nursing Home.  He did recall Rodney saying he hated that place.  Ray calls Julie to let her know that both Rodney and Wayne Garrett worked at the same nursing home.  Bagwell wasn't after Lorraine, he was after those two men and he wants her to run the home.  She finds nothing unusual or remarkable about the home or the employee and patient list.

Ray, Charlie and Lloyd go to the nursing home in Willis County, Ohio and speak with the director.  She tells them both Wayne and Rodney were fine workers but they quit because the job didn't fit them.  When Lloyd questions her as to why the men who didn't have high school educations and advanced skills would quit a job in a nursing home, the director states she will not be called a liar.  Lloyd points out how he knows she's lying and Ray warns her he will cuff her if she doesn't tell them the truth.  Only under threat of arrest when Ray breaks out the cuffs does she tell them the truth.  Wayne and Rodney were suspected of inappropriate physical contact with a mentally challenged geriactric patient and possibly stole some of her jewelery.  The men were fired and would have been charged had the woman not slipped into a comatose state.  Without her testimony, the case was closed.  She informs them that she took money from her own pocket to transfer the patient, Mrs. Bagwell to St. Victoria's, a small state hospital in New Jersey.

The team meets in the lobby of the nursing home where Shea and Erica are brought up to speed.  Lloyd tells them the ring Bagwell took from Candace was a replacement ring for the jewelery Rodney and Wayne had stolen from his mother.  Lloyd is certain that Bagwell is headed to New Jersey to see his mother and give her the replacement ring before she dies.

At St. Victoria's Hospital in Paramus, New Jersey, Bagwell arrives and grabs a boquet of flowers from outside the hospital gift shop on his way to his mother's room.  The team arrive and Charlie gives them their orders with a warning that Bagwell has one round left in his gun.  Bagwell tells the registration nurse (Rebecca Amare) he's there to see Audrey Bagwell but she informs him visiting hours are over and all patients are asleep.  He tells her he'll be quiet but she again tells him he'll have to come back.  He tells her there is no tomorrow for him or her and grabs her by the hair and that she will find his mother's room number or she'll wind up in the bed next to her.  She finds the room number for him, 209, as Charlie spots him and orders him, gun raised, to stop.  Bagwell takes off running with Charlie in pursuit.  Charlie orders a nurse at the hospital to put the place on lockdown and close off all exits and elevators and continues after Bagwell.

In a hall, Erica has a run-in with Bagwell.  He knocks her to the ground then takes time to kick her before running out a door.  She gets up and follows him but he blocks the door and raises his gun to her through the glass on the door.  Charlie calls to Bagwell from behind and he takes off running again.  Shea spots Bagwell and Lloyd uses the intercom system to alert Charlie and Ray that Bagwell is running down the East Wing.  Ray jumps Bagwell in the hall and takes him to the ground.  The men struggle in front of Audrey Bagwell's room.  He wants to look at his mother but Ray has a tight hold on him.

As Charlie is cuffing Bagwell, his mother moves her fingers, astonishing him.  With urging from Ray, Charlie allows Bagwell to visit his mother.  Ray retrieves the ring from Bagwell's pocket for him and Bagwell places the ring on his mother's finger and delicately kisses her head.  He tells her 'I got 'em, ma ma, I got 'em".  He kneals by her beside and tells her he won't be seeing her in heaven but to enjoy it for the both of them.  Charlie and Ray lead him from the room.

At the office, Ray and Shea have a semi-civil discussion about boxers.  Erica tells Charlie that if the cases continue to be dangerous like the Bagwell case was then the one-month-off thing needs to get jacked up.  Charlie informs her that's as good as it's going to get.  Transport for Lloyd, Shea and Erica will arrive in a half hour and Lloyd is still pacing outside the room where Bagwell is sitting instead of sitting down before him to analyze him as he's always wanted.  He finally enters the room and sits down.  Bagwell tells him he has the arrogance of a 'white coat'.  Bagwell is much more than Lloyd bargained for and the conversation is one-sided.  Lloyd listens quietly and when Bagwell asks him if his "menagerie of misery" is what makes him so special a case he informs him it isn't.  He tells him when they started the case, he thought he would get some great insight into why Bagwell was the way he is that could perhaps shed light on bigger truths or help other sick people one day.  He did find a truth the closer he got to Bagwell and his work.  A small truth:  some machines just come out of the factory broken and Bagwell is one of those broken machines.  Lloyd leaves the room and, when he's gone, Bagwell acknowledges to himself that Lloyd is right.

Breakout Kings airs every Sunday night at 10:00 p.m. (Eastern time) on the Arts & Entertainment Network.
For more information:
Breakout Kings Official A&E Site:  http://www.aetv.com/breakout-kings/
The Internet Movie Database:  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1590961/
TV Rage:  http://www.tvrage.com/Breakout_Kings