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The latest episode of Prison Break aired on March 5 and was called “Sweet Caroline” for the nastiest reason. Let’s get right to the recap to see what happened to Michael, Linc, and the other cons.

Michael: Michael puts everything on the line by going to the site of President Reynolds’s speech in order to try to talk to her. He passes her a note as she’s shaking hands with spectators, and that little move gets him picked up by the Secret Service. Soon Kim is in the room beating on him, but fortunately Reynolds gets the note, which says, “We have the tape.”

She makes her way down to where Scofield is being held and calls Linc (at Michael’s behest) in order to hear what the tape says. It’s a conversation between her and her late brother Terrence Steadman that not only takes place after Linc supposedly murdered him, but also alludes to incestuous relations between the President and her brother. Terrence refers to his sister as Sweet Caroline at on point — thus the episode title.

Michael demands a Presidential pardon for himself and Linc as a condition of not distributing the tapes to the media. In addition, he demands that President Reynolds announce the pardons on live TV so that there can be no going back on her word.

But right before Reynolds ascends the podium, Kim accosts her and says he also knows her secrets so she’s not safe either way. Caroline promptly announces that she’s dying of cancer and will therefore resign the presidency, effective immediately.

Linc: Lincoln spends most of the episode waiting around for Michael. In addition to fielding Reynolds’s phone call and playing the tape, he calls in a favor from an old friend who gets him three tickets to South America via the Great Lakes. Then he sits back until Michael returns.

Sara: Sara was just sitting in the hotel room waiting to go meet Michael and Lincoln. Suddenly, Mahone barges in and he soon starts questioning Sara about the whereabouts of the brothers. Of course Sara says she doesn’t know anything, at which point Mahone starts popping pills. Sara seizes on this opportunity to play the whole “It takes one to know one” addict angle, which Mahone actually seems to listen to.

Sara manages to grab Mahone’s unattended gun when he seemed distracted and was able to escape. Little did she know that was all part of a setup to get her to lead the FBI to the brothers.

C-Note: A prison guard noticed C-Note hanging from the rafters and managed to get him down in time. Later on, C-Note talks to a differen FBI agent who guarantees that his family will be protected if he gives up information on Mahone’s tactics.

Sucre/Bellick: Bellick finds Sucre’s aunt’s house in Mexico and is about to take the con in when Sucre proposes a deal: forget the $100,000 Bellick is supposed to get for Sucre’s capture. Why not go after the $5 million that T-Bag left at the airport? Sucre just happened to see T-Bag on the Mexican news and figured out that he must not have the money in his possession anymore. Bellick looks ready to agree.

My Reaction: I thought this was a great episode. It focused heavily on Michael and Lincoln, which is obviously the show’s strong point. The other cons got very little screen time and deservedly so: their stories are clearly secondary and don’t need to distract from the main plot. The episode flew right by with all the action and tension regarding the presidential pardon, and I found that I actually enjoyed myself for once.

The only thing I didn’t like about the episode was the whole incest angle. I mean, how many times is this sort of thing going to come up on prime time television this season? Couldn’t the writers come up with a more devastating secret? That’s just nasty.

Anyway, I thought this was a quality Prison Break episode. Now that a presidential pardon is out of the question, it’ll be interesting to see what the boys do next!

The most recent episode of Desperate Housewives was 3×16, which aired on March 4, 2007. It was called “My Husband the Pig” and offered viewers quite a departure from what we’re used to seeing. For one thing, the episode was narrated not by Mary Alice Young, but by Rex Van de Kamp (Steven Culp). I have to admit that it was nice to hear Rex’s voice again after all this time! For another thing, the episode focused on the men of Wisteria Lane and told things from their perspective for once. Again, this was a nice new twist. I wouldn’t want it to be this way every week, but it was definitely time for a change. Anyway, here’s what happened.

Tom/Lynette: It was Tom and Lynette’s 9th anniversary, and Tom wanted to do something really special to surprise her. But Lynette was so exhausted from working at the restaurant that all she wanted to do was send the kids to a babysitter, take a hot bath, and be in bed by 8:00. Tom put up a bit of a fight, but eventually gave in. He called to cancel the plans he had made and just invited all the guys over to the pizza place for a game of poker instead.

A couple hours later, he got a phone call from the limo driver and learns that the driver never received the cancellation message. So that meant Lynette was stranded out in the country (where Tom was supposed to swoop in with a horse-drawn carriage) all by herself. Tom hastens out there to find Lynette half-freezing by the side of the road.

Lynette wasn’t as livid as I thought she would be. In fact, she actually forgives Tom pretty quickly and tells him that he’s right to want to keep the romance alive in their marriage. The only thing worse than just going through the motions, according to Lynette, is not even bothering to try.

Austin/Julie/Danielle: The writers picked up with this love triangle again. Austin wrote a “heartfelt” letter to Julie begging her for a second chance. She actually decides to give him one, which is the first time anyone in his life has ever done that for him. But then Austin finds out that Danielle is pregnant, so he’s suddenly got to deal with that dilemma.

Orson steps into the picture and comes up with a solution. Danielle will accompany him and Bree on their honeymoon. Then, after he and Bree return, they will tell everyone that Danielle decided to study abroad for a year. This will give them time to find suitable parents for the baby and go through with the adoption process. Austin wants to stick around and help, but Andrew tells him he has to leave town and never come back. Austin protests, saying that Julie is giving him a second chance, but Andrew won’t have any of it. He says Julie deserves so much better than Austin, so Austin relents and says his good-byes.

Mike/Ian/Susan: This triangle doesn’t seem like it’s going to go away anytime soon. Mike goes to return the engagement ring he bought for Susan, and just happens to run into her at the store. She’s there to resize the ring Ian gave her. The sales clerk doesn’t have her sizing tool on hand, so she uses Mike’s ring to measure Susan’s finger. It’s a perfect fit.

Later, Mike has a short conversation with Ian during which Ian makes a throwaway remark about not being able to return a ring with an inscription on it. Mike puts two and two together and realizes that Ian must have seen the engagement ring at some point. Mike further deduces that this is what prompted Ian to propose to Susan so suddenly.

At the poker game, the two have a showdown. They go head-to-head to essentially determine which one of them will get to have Susan. If Mike wins, he can tell Susan about the rings and why Ian proposed at the grand opening. If Ian wins, Mike has to walk away and keep his mouth shut about the rings. Ian wins.

Carlos/Gabby: Well, these two didn’t actually share any screen time during this episode, but they’re always connected in my mind, so I’m going to recap them together as usual. Carlos meets a hot woman online and arranges a date with her. Just as things are moving to the bedroom, he notices Edie’s young son (Edie’s ex-husband usually has custody, but had to leave the boy with Edie for a month) playing out in the street by himself at 11:00 at night. Carlos, who always has a soft spot for kids, ends the date and brings the boy inside. Edie wanders by later to pick Travers up, but she’s drunk so Carlos tells her to come back in the morning. Later, he tells Edie that if she ever needs a babysitter, just let him know.

Meanwhile, Gabby meets a new guy. His name is Victor Lang (played by John Slattery) and he’s a candidate for Fairview mayor. He noticed Gabby in a parking lot and had his chauffeur deliberately run into her car just so he would have a chance to meet her. Even though Gabby is onto him from the start, she has dinner with him anyway and it looks as though there might be something to this relationship down the road.

My Reaction: I actually liked this episode for the most part. As I said above, it was nice to see the guys’ various points of view for a change, and this episode actually moved several of the storylines forward for once. For example, I’m glad that Austin is finally gone (I thought that character was annoying) and it’s good to see that Danielle’s baby drama has already been dealt with. Furthermore, I’m glad they showed Carlos trying to move on with his life since up until now we’ve only seen Gabby’s side of things.

I’m still not wild on the whole Susan/Ian/Mike triangle. I think Mike is the most boring regular character on the show and think that he and Susan have absolutely zero chemistry together. She and Ian are a much more interesting couple and I just wish Mike would go away. The whole Tom and Lynette debacle was pretty boring too, but I’ve come to expect that from their storylines. The writers really need to pick up the pace with the Scavo clan because there are plenty of opportunities for interesting developments there.

Overall, I was rather pleased with this episode. It was better than many of the recent offerings have been, so let’s hope this trend continues for the rest of the season.