At a party, Mike Grant sits with his wife Stacy. He goes to get a drink and a man, Danny quick, comes over and offers Eileen a drink and then sits with her despite her objections. Mike comes back and leads Stacy away, calling Danny a shithead. Danny glances over at his brother, Ed, and Ed nods. Once he gets the signal, Danny goes over and hits on Eileen again. Mike objects and Danny throws a punch at him. The two men fight and Danny falls backward out of a window...
Mike wakes up from his nightmare. His cellmate Ronnie tells Mike that he's been having the same dream every night.
The next day on the yard, a prisoner takes offense when Mike walks too close. Ronnie comes over and leads him away, and explains that the Brothers don't appreciate whites on their "turf." Two other convicts, Haas and Puckett, come over and Mike says that he doesn't want trouble. Haas demands $50 a week and tells him that someone on the yard has a contract to kill him.
A guard, Earl Lutz, comes over and takes Mike to meet his visitor: Stacy. He sends Mike on ahead down an empty hallway, locking the gate behind him. The lights go out and a man jumps Mike. Another guard, Snyder, comes by and wonders what's going on, and the assailant flees. Meanwhile, the guard tells Stacy that there's been an accident.
Later on the Blackwing, Libby tells the team that Mike is still in the prison hospital with a concussion and a broken arm. She explains that Ed is a big-time loan-shark and drug dealer. He's been indicted four times but walked each time after witnesses changed their stories. Christopher figures that he has to get inside, tie the hitman to Ed, and present the evidence in court. Jeff warns Christopher that once he's in, they can't help him and most prisoners will want to get a rep by killing the Human Target. Libby says that Stacy is scared and loves her husband, and is pregnant. Christopher agrees to take the case, and Jeff warns that they'll put Christopher in cage like in 'Nam. His friend tells him not to tell Libby and Philo about his concerns.
The team meets with Stacy, who brings videos and medical records. She confirms that Mike has been in prison for three weeks and was sentenced for three to five years. Stacy says that they didn't know anyone at the party, and Danny started the fight. She insists that Mike shouldn't die for what happened, and that Mike is a good man.
Mike and Philo go through the videos looking for a close-up. Once they get one, Philo warns that it will still be a stretch. There are x-rays from when Mike had a concussion, giving Philo what he needs. He wonders how they'll switch Christopher for Mike, and Christopher confirms that Jeff still has a gyroscopic navigator that they just replaced.
Philo makes the mask successfully and the team goes in posing as a medical team from the prison board sent to examine Mike. They have the navigator with them, claiming that it's an x-ray machine, and Warden Hudler and the prison doctor--Bittiger--meet with them. Christopher disguised as Mike is inside the box with the navigator mounted on top, and Philo has Hudler and Bittiger wait outside because of supposed liability issues. Philo gives Mike an injection to knock him out, and Christopher makes the switch with Mike.
Bittiger comes back and knocks on the door, and starts to unlock it. Philo goes out and claims that the radiation would Bittiger's eyes, and goes back inside. In the infirmary, Christopher tells Jeff to keep Ed under 24 hour surveillance while Libby does background checks on the inmates and staff. Philo puts the projector into Christopher's fake cast, and Christopher assures Jeff that it will be okay.
The team leaves and Lutz takes Mike back to the yard. A fight breaks out and Lutz runs over, and Haas tells Christopher that he set up the fight to have a private word. He says that the price has gone up to $75 a week, and Christopher agrees to pay. However, Haas refuses to say who jumped Mike. When Christopher walks off, Haas grabs him and Christopher expertly twists his hand. Lutz breaks it up and takes Christopher away.
Mike wakes up on the Blackwing and Stacy assures him that he's safe. Meanwhile, Jeff watches Ed long-distance via electronic surveillance, and Philo discovers that he's meeting with criminal Carlo Peroni. They get audio via a CIA satellite, and Ed tells Peroni that he wants Mike dead. Peroni assures him that Mike isn't going anywhere, and they can let him sweat for a while.
In Mike's cell, Christopher stands at the door and tries to keep control. The next morning, Ronnie finds him still standing there and is glad that he didn't wake him up with his nightmares for once. They end up on a wall-painting detail, and take a break for water. Haas comes over and knocks the water ladle out of Christopher's hand, and tells Christopher to suck it out of the cement. When he shoves Christopher, Lutz tells Snyder to let them have a fair fight. Christopher easily takes Haas down but loses his projector. Lutz picks it up and assumes that it's a camera, and takes Christopher to the box. Once he's alone, Christopher fights for control.
Ed gets a call and Philo traces it. It's Lutz, who says that he's got Christopher right where he wants him. Meanwhile, Philo confirms that the call came from a private home. He confirms that Lutz is a guard, and Jeff tells Philo that the VC captured Chris and put him in a tiger cage for ten days... and messed him up real bad.
Christopher pounds on the door of his cell, yelling.
Jeff tells Libby that they've lost contact with Christopher and they have no way to warn him. Mike secretly listens to them, and then tells Stacy that he can't go back to prison. Stacy refuses to abandon Christopher in prison and admits that she's scared. Mike breaks into the arsenal and gets a gun, and then trains it on the team. Libby refuses to let him off without a direct order from Christopher, and Jeff walks over and says that they'll work it out. He assures the Grants that they're safe if they let them do their jobs, and asks Mike for the gun. Jeff tells him that they didn't leave a loaded gun around where he could find it, and Mike hands it over. Libby calls Hudler and says that it's an emergency.
Lutz goes to Christopher's cell and offers to get him out for a couple of minutes. Christopher begs him to let him out, and Lutz opens the cell door and takes him to a storage room with an exit on the other side. The guard offers him a smoke and tells him to enjoy his time out, and then clubs him in the stomach and the leg. He says that he'll break Christopher's neck and then hang the body up in the box to make it look like suicide.
Hudler's assistant Curtis tells the warden that Libby wants to talk to him about Lutz killing Mike. Hudler agrees to talk to her, and Curtis points out that Lutz is working solitary. The warden tells Curtis to bring Lutz up and get Christopher out of his cell.
Christopher manages to knock Lutz back and the guard chokes him with his night stick. However, Christopher opens a nearby steam pipe, blinding Lutz and knocking him down. He demands to know who hired him, and Lutz says that Ed hired him for $5,000. Snyder and his men break in, guns drawn, and Christopher says that Lutz tried to kill him. They cuff Christopher and take him off, and Lutz slips out.
In Hudler's office, Christopher asks to talk to the warden alone. Hudler agrees and once Snyder and the other guard leave, Christopher removes his mask and says that Mike is safe. He uses the projector to contact the team and has them put Mike on. Christopher gives Hudler a number in DC to call, and says that Lutz is long gone and Hudler's record isn't looking too good. Hudler agrees to call DC but says that Christopher is going back to the cell. Christopher tells Jeff to rescue him in four minutes, then easily removes the handcuffs.
Hudler yells for Snyder, and when he comes in finds Hudler handcuffed to his desk and Christopher heading for the roof. The Blackwing flies up on hover and lowers a rope ladder, and Christopher climbs up as the prisoners cheer.
Back in the air, Philo makes a new mask. Jeff is trailing Lutz, who is going to see Ed and explain what went wrong. Libby says that the judge who let Ed off the last time he was indicted was the same judge who sent Mike to prison. Christopher talks to the Grants and warns Mike that he would have spent the rest of his life on the run. Stacy tells Christopher to kill Ed before he kills Mike, but Christopher says that he wants to save a life, not take one. He assures Mike that they're making their move and will stage Mike's escape from the Blackwing.
Later, Lutz meets with Ed and insists that he can still get Mike. Ed tells him that Mike is on the run. Philo and Libby listen in and warn Christopher, who moves in. They monitor him via a camera as he rings the doorbell, disguised as Mike. Meanwhile, Libby warns Jeff, who is standing on top of Ed's building.
Peroni brings Christopher in, and he says that he brought money. Ed slaps him, cutting his mask, and admits that the judge cost him plenty. Libby and Philo record the entire thing, and Ed tells Lutz and Peroni to toss Christopher out the window. They realize that Christopher is wired, and Ed sees the mask tear. He rips it off and Libby gives the signal. Jeff swings in the window and takes out Peroni, and Christopher knocks out first Lutz and then Ed.
Later, Christopher and the Grants meet with Hudler. He admits that he made the call to DC, and Mike will get a new hearing in three weeks. Hudler tells Mike that he's a free man, and Stacy thanks Christopher. Mike says that they're naming the baby Libby.
Written by Gadfly on Nov 26, 2016