US Television: Breakout Kings, Episode 1.12, "There Are Rules"

Breakout Kings
Season One, Episode Twelve, There Are Rules
Original Air Date:  May 22, 2011

The Breakout Kings are called into action when five men escape from prison after an 18-wheeler crashes through the wall at Attica.  Ray sends Shea undercover at Attica to find out information on a sixth inmate who bailed on the escape putting Shea into danger.  Meanwhile, the new chief director pays a visit to Charlie letting him know that he wants to change things around with the team and they might very well lose one of their members.

Ronald Barnes (Jeff Seymour) walks through the yard of Attica Correctional Facility in Attica, New York holding a map.  He's walking as if pacing off steps to find something drawing curious looks from other inmates.  He makes eye contact with two inmates, Chester Rhodes (Avery Kidd Waddell) and Sandy Clemente (Dean Chekvala).  Rhodes taps on a table in front of yet another inmate, Tran Jun (Jeff Ong) who looks up from what he's writing then stands and follows Rhodes to stand before Barnes along with Clemente and a fourth inmate, Carlos Zepeda (Lombardo Boyar).  An inmate behind Barnes tells him he thinks he's lost.  Barnes turns and informs the man he's just enjoying the sunshine.  He's told by the larger inmate that that part of the yard belongs to him and he needs to get out of there.  Barnes looks to his watch and tells the man that it's funny as he was about to say the same thing to him.  At that moment, an 18-wheeler crashes through the wall of the prison yard.  As the guards start the lockdown, a man gets out of the truck with a gun and begins firing.  Barnes, Rhodes, Clemente, Jun and Zepeda run to the trailer of the truck and get inside.  In the process, Rhodes takes one of the guards hostage.  A guard fatally shoots the man who drove the truck into the prison yard.  The back of the trailer lowers and a black SUV drives out and through the hole opened in the wall by the 18-wheeler.

At the team office in Brooklyn, Richard Wendell (Gregg Henry) has paid Charlie a visit.  He reads off a list of complaints made against the team.  Charlie admits the team tends to be a little unorthodox but they always stay within the confines of the law.  Wendell asks if Charlie would say that with his hand on a Bible and receives no answer.  He closes the folder he is holding and sits down telling Charlie he's there to shake things up a bit.  Charlie tells him to speak with Director Knox and he'll learn they have all the necessary clearances.  Wendell informs him he did speak with Knox, once he became his new boss.  Wendell wants Charlie to put the fear of God in the cons to make the team more effective.  He tells Charlie he has a thick file in his office of guys that could replace any one of the mutts on the team.  Charlie tells Wendell they have a massive case they are about to take on and now isn't really the best time to make change for change sake.  Wendell stands saying he is going to study the case files and watch the operation and see if anything should be done.

The cons come into the main office and Lloyd is telling a joke, that no one seems to enjoy but him.  Wendell, who is leaving Charlie's office, comments on the team.  Charlie introduces him and Lloyd immediately says "it's a pleasure to meet you, Dick" and introduces himself then asks if he'd like to hear a tasty joke.  When "Dick" makes no reply, Charlie identifies him as the Marshall's new chief director then introduces Ray to Wendell.  Wendell leaves and Lloyd says he didn't know that Wendell was the boss but Charlie isn't pleased.  He tells the team they have no time for joking as they have a major case to work and a new director who is riding him hard for results and orders them to get to work.  Erica comments that it might be paranoia but she doesn't like the fact Wendell was just there, something Shea agrees with.  Charlie wants to put the issue to bed then and there and tells them Wendell might send one of them back to the big house, make his mark and take credit as if he put the team together himself.  He warns them if they pull their regular antics he might not be able to save them so the best thing they can do is play it straight and focus on the case.

Charlie starts the briefing telling the team of the five men on the run and of the guard that was kidnapped.  Ray runs down the crimes of each man.  Ronald Barnes was in for securities fraud and insider trading and took half a billion dollars before getting caught.  Before Ray can run down Rhodes, Shea tells the team about him.  He knows he's a bad man who has killed more people than smoking.  Ray continues with Carlos Zepeta who ran the biggest east coast car theft ring.  Tran Jun is a forger who has gotten half the Russian mob into Coney Island with his passports.  Finally, Sandy Clemente who is a drug runner.  His looks are deceiving as he's left a lot of bodies on both sides of the border.  He asks the team for thoughts and Shea theorizes that Barnes provided the money, Rhodes the muscle and one of his old prison buddies on the outside drove the 18-wheeler, Zepeta provided the transportation.  Erica adds that Clemente smuggles drugs over the border and this time it will be people--the escapees, and Ray adds that Jun will provide the passports.  Julie tells the team something just came in and Charlie informs them the guard that was kidnapped was found by a barn in New Paltz shot twice in the head.

The team arrive in New Paltz, New York where Ray tells Charlie Julie found out the land was owned by a holding company buried under a half dozen names and the bottom line is it belongs to Ronald Barnes.  Charlie asks the local police officer standing guard at the barn to open it but he's told they need a warrant.  Ray tells him they have exigent circumstances as the cons could be in the barn.  He takes a sledgehammer and breaks the lock then opens the door so the team can enter.  Lloyd notes that the cons have changed out of their prison gear into street clothes and Charlie finds where Jun had already started making passports by cutting up photos.  The local officer notices thinner tire tracks and radios to put out an alarm out for three cars and two motorcycles.  Erica corrects that it's four cars and one cycle.  From the office, Julie tells them that when Barnes' assets were seized, several cars in his collection were never found including a 1937 Jaguar Roadster valued at a half million dollars.  Charlie knows they will be using it to fund their escape out of the country and Zepeta will broker the deal.  Shea thinks they'll go someplace close and gives a few places where he can take them but Ray says he'll be needed for something else as there is a sixth set of civilian clothes and they need Shea to go inside, undercover, to find out who the sixth runner was supposed to be.  Shea is vehemently against this plan but Ray points out that the cons won't talk to a Marshall and asks Julie to run him up some prisoner transfer papers.  Charlie agrees with the plan and he takes Lloyd and Erica to check out the chop shops for the Jaguar.

At the office, Ray goes over four reasons why the sixth con didn't make the breakout.  He thinks the best option is that the sixth man was hurt and in the infirmary.  Julie confirms that five inmates were admitted a week before the escape.  Ray tells Shea he was transferred to Attica because he assaulted a guard at Sing Sing and assures him no one knows he's with the Marshall's, including the guards and wardens.  Shea isn't comfortable with the plan and wants to go back to Maybelle and will work the next case.  Ray slugs him telling him he would have gotten tuned up had he attacked a guard and they need authenticity.

Charlie, Erica and Lloyd arrive at a chop shop in New Haven, Connecticut.  Lloyd again tries making a joke but Charlie isn't amused.  Charlie asks the owner about the Roadster they're looking for and informs him if he helped sell it he'll book him on aiding and abetting.  The man nods toward one of the buildings and the team enters to find the Roadster with a man under it.  Charlie drops the raised side of the car down and the man starts screaming and, when asked what his name is admits it's Carlos Zepeta.  Charlie raises the car and asks where his pals are.

Zapata tells Charlie that because of Rhodes he'll be killed if he tells where they are and goes back inside.  Erica thinks that it should appease Wendell that they caught one but Lloyd doesn't think so.  She feels she's a necessity to the team, something else he disagrees with as she's just eye candy that can run fast.  As they argue, Julie tells them it will be her that is let go since the Marshall's let her go once already.  Charlie comes in for some water and Lloyd tells him he's been behind a desk for some time so interrogation might not be his strong suit and he has an idea.  Charlie declines Lloyd then comes back and asks what his idea is.

Lloyd enters the interrogation room dressed in a jacket and tie pretending to be Charlie's superior.  He tells Charlie to get he and Carlos coffee.  When Charlie leaves, Lloyd tells Carlos he needs him to talk but knows he won't rat on Chester Rhodes.  He asks what if he took Chester out of the equation by taking him out of Attica.  He will set him up at Maybelle with a new name and all he has to do is sign a form.  Carlos asks if it is legit and Lloyd tells him it is as legit as anything he can offer.  Charlie returns with coffee and Lloyd asks Carlos what he knows.  He tells him he was supposed to meet Tran Jun in Maywood, New Jersey at the bus stop on Palmer and Passiac with the money he got for the car.  It was Ronald's plan and he told him anything else.  Again, Carlos asks if the offer is iron-clad and Lloyd assures him an offer made by a U.S. Marshall cannot be rescinded under the law.  When Carlos starts to sign he realizes it isn't a transfer form and Lloyd admits he isn't a Marshall.

At Attica, Shea arrives and walks through the yard.  He sees an old friend, Stucky (Cle Bennett) and Stucky introduces him to a member of his crew Dee (Karl Campbell).  He tells Shea he always has a place at his table but in Attica, there's one alpha dog and that's him (Stucky).  Shea is cool with that and wants to know if Stucky can get him into the infirmary as it's easy work, something both Stucky and Dee agree can be arranged.

Two couples are playing a game in a house when Barnes and Rhodes break in.  One of the men tell them to take what they want and Rhodes hits him on the side of the head with the sledgehammer he used to break the door down.  Barnes points to an area of the floor and orders Rhodes to start tearing up the boards.  Rhodes doesn't want to but Barnes points out he can tear the floor up faster than he can as he's more muscular.  Reluctantly, Rhodes sets to work.

In the Attica kitchens, Dee tells Shea he couldn't get him in the infirmary and he's on bucket duty instead.  Shea protests it isn't straight up and Stucky warns him to take the job he's offered.  Shea and Dee fight, landing Shea in the infirmary.

The team are at the Corner of Palmer and Passaic in Maywood, New Jersey watching from a convenience store when Erica spots Jun.  The team exit the store and, when he sees them coming his direction, Jun takes off running.  He runs into the street and is hit by a bus leading Wendell to reprimand the entire team back at the office.  Ray asks what he would have had them do and Wendell said a real task force would have approached at a perimeter and surrounded the fugitive who would have known escape was futile.  Ray informs him they couldn't create a perimeter as three on the team cannot carry weapons.  Wendell orders Charlie to get the team in order or he'll do it for him, then leaves the office.

Lloyd and Erica argue again about how should and will be cut.  Ray orders them to shut up and look at the passports they confiscated off Jun.  They are remarkable quality and they got lucky as they could have carried the escapees anywhere in the world.  Julie informs the team she got a hit that a credit card reservation was made under one of Sandy Clemente's aliases at a private air strip in Delaware.

At the private airstrip in Delaware, the team arrives four hours before it opens.  Charlie wants them to bunk somewhere then come back after the place opens.  They bicker over which of the cons they will bunk with and Ray eventually is paired with Erica and Charlie, Lloyd.

At the hotel, Ray ends a conversation with his daughter as Erica exits the bathroom after a shower.  She asks about his daughter but Ray doesn't want to talk about her as he doesn't wear his kid on his sleeve as she does.  She tells him she does that way she has her with her and cannot get kicked off the team as she needs to get back to her daughter.  Ray tells her they have no idea what Wendell will do and all she can do is focus on her job.  Charlie and Lloyd have to share a bed because there weren't any two-bed rooms available.  Lloyd, much to Charlie's displeasure, talks a lot.  Charlie turns over and sees Lloyd's underwear on a chair and asks why they are there.  When he tells Charlie that he "sleeps unencumbered", Charlie jumps out of the bed.  Lloyd smiles and wishes Charlie "sweet dreams".

In the Attica infirmary, Shea's fight injuries are attended to.  He starts talking with the other inmates in the infirmary about the recent escape.  He notices one inmate isn't joining in the conversation and doesn't make a bet as to where the men will end up like the others do.  Shea approaches the man saying he should have been in on the escape and shouldn't deny it.  He asks the man for information but an intern comes in and takes the man out of the infirmary interrupting the conversation.

Barnes and Rhodes finally break through the floor at the house and find a stash of money.  Rhodes looks to the man he hit earlier and picks up the sledgehammer telling Barnes he'll be back.  Barnes stops him saying it was bad enough the guard was killed and if they get caught the deaths will be on him (Rhodes) and tells him to think.  Rhodes tells him they aren't any different.  He steals with his fists and Barnes steals with a pen and that he (Barnes) caused more devastation than he ever did.

While the team is sitting in the car at the airfield waiting for the escapees to show, Lloyd tries his Dennis Miller routine again causing Charlie to tell him to stop it.  Erica sees a car drive up and alerts everyone.  Ray has Erica and Lloyd get out of the car while he and Charlie remain.  Charlie drives the SUV after the car and stops it on the grass.  Inside is Clemente.  He gets out of the car and tells them none of the other guys are there, just him.

At the office Lloyd crosses off yet another captured escapee but finds that it's almost too easy.  Clemente doesn't want to talk to Ray as he knows he'll be killed if he does.  A knock on the door draws Charlie out of the room and, after he tells Clemente he's making a mistake and Charlie knocks on the window, Ray leaves the room.  Charlie tells him about Barnes and Rhodes entering the house and assaulting the civilian.  The man died at the hospital of a brain aneurysm.  Charlie tells Ray to do whatever he must to find out what Clemente knows.  When Ray asks about the chief director Charlie again tells him "whatever you gotta do".  Ray goes back into the interrogation room and draws the shades.  He takes a lighter from the table and puts his arm around Clemente's neck.  He burns his nose with the lighter until the man talks.  He tells Ray he was supposed to fly to some one-horse airfield in Florida where they would all meet and fly to the Virgin Islands.

In the main office, Lloyd tells the team Barnes isn't going to Florida even though Clemente said they were.  Lloyd feels Clemente was lied to as part of "Barnes' Strategy of Controlled Chaos" according to a Forbes article.  Barnes wants the authorities to think they have him because they have captured two of the men involved in the escape.  Lloyd says Barnes is in the northeast since he has them going south.  Shea calls Ray with news that he found the man who bailed on the escape.  He doesn't know why the man bailed out but he got himself into the infirmary before the escape.  Shea thinks the other cons in Attica might know he working for the cops and he wants Ray to get him out.  Ray turns to Charlie to tell him they need to get Shea out as his cover might be blown but Charlie says they can't pull him on a "might be".  Ray tells Shea to stay safe, find out what the guy knows and they'll get him out as soon as they can.  In his cell, Shea makes a rope to use later.

In the prison yard, Shea wraps the rope around Dee's neck and starts hitting him as other inmates, including the one who bailed on the escape, look on.  He tells Stucky, who is watching that he ran the syndicate, he ran Sing Sing and now he runs Attica.  He hits Dee one last time then frees him from the homemade rope and goes after the man who bailed on the escape.  He tells him unless he wants to be next he will answer his questions straight up and asks what he knew causing him to bail on the escape.  The man tells Shea Ronald was taking motion sickness pills and he knew that three weeks worth of pills were necessary only if you were going on a boat.  He knew Barnes was lying.  He couldn't quit the escape so he cut himself to get into the infirmary.  Shea calls Ray with the new information and again asks for him to get him out of Attica.  Ray hangs up and tells the rest of the team Barnes is taking a boat out of the country.

Barnes and Rhodes are at a storage facility and open a locker.  Rhodes goes inside to retrieve something and hears a gun cock behind him.  He turns to see Barnes holding a gun.  He shoots Rhodes and takes the boat keys from him and leaves.

Julie learns that Barnes had four boats that were all seized and sold at auction.  She names off the buyers including Gabe Trokie.  Ray recognizes the name and Charlie tells him Trokie was the man who drove the truck through the prison wall for the escape.  The boat is registered at Woodmere Docks, Long Island.

The team arrive in Long Island with Lloyd continuing to make jokes.  Charlie tells him to shut up and go show the harbor master Barnes' mug shot while he and Ray go to the boat with guns drawn.  They don't find him on the boat.  Lloyd calls to them and Barnes is standing behind him with a gun to his head.  Barnes orders Ray and Charlie to put their guns down and, after a few seconds, they do.  Charlie tells Barnes he has no way out as if he comes past them to the boat they'll get him and while he can shoot one of them, he can't get all three of them.  Ray tells Barnes they know about his stash and Barnes asks if they want part to let him go.  Ray tells him he wants it all.  Barnes tells Ray and Charlie to take half the stash now and get off the boat.  Once he gets into international waters he'll leave the rest of it on buoy marker 12.  If anyone follows him he will burn it all and will be taking Lloyd as insurance.  Charlie looks to Ray and says he wants the money first and gets off the boat.  He opens his jacket to show Barnes he isn't armed and walks up close to Barnes and Lloyd.  When Barnes takes the bag off his shoulder to toss to Charlie, Ray reaches down and grabs a flare and shoots Barnes in the leg with it.  Charlie cuffs him to take in.

At the office, an angry Shea arrives immediately telling Charlie there are rules and he should never leave one of his crew hanging.  A fight almost starts between Shea and the Marshall's until Wendell arrives.  He takes Charlie into the interview to speak with him and Lloyd turns the intercom in the main office on so they all can hear the conversation.  Charlie tells Wendell Shea has been having a rough go of it the past 24 hours and Wendell assures him he isn't tossing the gangbanger.  Lloyd and Erica are also safe.  Wendell wants Ray off the team because he's a corrupt Marshall.  Charlie asks for permission to speak freely and tells Wendell he's full of it and his whole issue of coming to check on the cons is smoke and mirrors.  Wendell maintains keeping Ray on the team is too much of a liability and Charlie counters that it's his task force and Wendell responds it's his Marshall's service.  He warns Charlie he'll be back behind a desk on Monday unless he backs off and changes his tone.  Charlie replies that there are rules and he will not leave one member of his crew hanging so come Monday morning he wants Wendell to make sure his desk is waxed and every pencil on it is sharpened because he'd rather be there than to spend another day here with out Ray.  If Wendell wants to explain to the feds about breaking up a team that solved a case of five escaped Attica prisoners in a day, fine.  But he will get his two cents worth in as well.  Wendell smiles and tells Charlie that if it goes south, he won't just nail Ray, it's on him (Charlie) now too.  Ray opens the door telling Wendell it's been on him since day one.  Once Wendell is gone, Charlie tells the cons to get changed up as the transfer van is waiting then goes into his office.  Ray follows him in and thanks Charlie for standing up for him. 

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