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T-Bag (Prison Break character)
Encyclopedia
Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell, played by Robert Knepper
, is a fictional character
from the American
television series Prison Break
. He is part of the main group of characters in the series. After guest-starring in the series' second episode, "Allen
", the actor became one of the regular cast members.
The character was introduced into the series as a fellow prisoner of the protagonist, Michael Scofield
(played by Wentworth Miller
), at Fox River State Penitentiary
. As the leader of a white supremacist group, T-Bag is one of the most villainous members of the Fox River Eight. In the second season, the character's storyline veers from the main plot as a separate subplot. As the series progresses, more of the background story of the character is revealed. He is the only member of the Fox River Eight to be returned to Fox River State Penitentiary after his capture.
The character has appeared in A&E
's Breakout Kings
, reprised by Knepper once again.
, Theodore Bagwell was born of both incest
and rape
after his father sexually assaulted
his sister, who is implied to have been mentally handicapped; he was also molested
by his father. Bagwell's father is also the person responsible for his eloquent use of language, making him learn whole encyclopedias and dictionaries believing this would enable his son to lead a better life and maybe even become President one day. He once ordered his son to recite 10 synonym
s for "destroy" to demonstrate his ability in front of some friends of his father. Bagwell spent his youth in and out of jail, often for vandalism
and torturing animals. While in fourth grade, he attempted to set his teacher's house on fire and was sentenced to juvenile hall. During this time, he became a member of the Alliance for Purity, a white supremacist group.
As an adult, he starts committing more serious crimes, such as battery
, assault
, attempted murder
, murder
, rape
, and kidnapping
. It is also insinuated that he is a pedophile. He quickly becomes the leader of the Alliance for Purity inside Donaldson Prison in Alabama
and under his leadership the gang becomes so powerful inside the prison that the warden disbands it and sends Bagwell to Fox River.
Prior to incarceration at Fox River, Bagwell eludes the authorities and pursues a relationship with a single mother named Susan Hollander, who has two children of her own from a previous marriage. This was one of the storylines featured in the first season's flashback episode, "Brother's Keeper". Upon learning that he is a wanted murderer and rapist (by watching America's Most Wanted
), she notifies the police. He had genuine feelings for Susan and had tried to change, but her betrayal prompts "that old dirty bastard [to come] right back home".
Upon seeing that there are no Alliance for Purity members at Fox River, T-Bag starts a new chapter of the gang; its growth grants him significant influence within the prison. An open bisexual, he has no qualms about seeking sexual gratification from other inmates, often preying upon younger men.
, episode 4 "Cute Poison
" and episode 5 "English, Fitz or Percy
." He does not appear in three episodes of the second season; "Scan," "Disconnect" and "The Message." Bagwell appears in every episode in seasons three and four.
A younger version of the character, played by Michael Gohlke, appeared in one episode via a flashback sequence in "Bad Blood".
Theodore T-Bag Bagwell is has a child of a retard who has a daddy that raped his mangaloid sister. the series as the leader of the Aryan gang inside Fox River. As a racist
and a pedophile, he is detested by most other inmates, such as John Abruzzi (Peter Stormare
), or Benjamin Miles "C-Note" Franklin
(Rockmond Dunbar
), but his status within the Alliance for Purity protects him from attacks. Upon the arrival of Michael Scofield
(Wentworth Miller
) at Fox River, Bagwell wants to ensnare him as his personal plaything, but is unsuccessful. During a race riot in episode "Allen", his cellmate and lover is fatally wounded. Believing Scofield was responsible, Bagwell seeks revenge but is stopped by Abruzzi, who has his goons assault him, sending him to the infirmary after which the character is absent for two episodes. When he returns in the episode “Riots, Drills and the Devil”, Bagwell instigates a full-scale riot, during which he accidentally learns of the escape attempt and threatens to tell the other inmates if Michael and the others do not include him; the others have no choice but to agree. At the end of the riot, Bagwell defies the orders of Michael and Abruzzi and murders a guard that could expose the escape. He later frames his friend and fellow Aryan gang member Trokey for the murder. Following this, Bagwell becomes a fully fledged member of the escape team in the episode "The Old Head", blackmail
ing them to include him.
Bagwell is initially an endless source of friction on the escape team, testing the others patience with racist taunts, and is a constant strain on Michael’s conscience
. Throughout the season, T-Bag is shown as having a sexual interest in other inmates, and coerces
his new cellmate Seth into a sexual relationship. After Seth hangs himself, Bagwell moves on to harass newly arrived inmate Tweener, who had alienated himself among Fox River’s prison population. However, Michael, who was feeling guilty about Seth’s death, finally confronted Bagwell with a crowbar to the knee and told him to leave Tweener alone. In the following episodes, friction continues to increase between Bagwell and the other members of the escape team. When the group ultimately discovers that they have one too many for a successful escape, Abruzzi gives Bagwell an ultimatum in the episode "Odd Man Out": back out of the escape or die. Bagwell also learns that his cousin James Bagwell and his son had been killed and is deeply upset. Knowing that Abruzzi was behind it, Bagwell seeks revenge, and later slashes Abruzzi's throat with a razor blade; he fails to kill him, however. Bagwell is among one of six inmates included in the first unsuccessful escape attempt in the episode "End of the Tunnel".
Bagwell is more loyal to the team in the season’s later episodes, contributing to keep the escape tunnel hidden and engaging in reluctant relations with a transvestite inmate to further the escape plan. In the episode "Bluff" his skills at rigging a deck of cards also help the team. However, upon learning in "The Key" that Abruzzi has returned to the prison, Bagwell is frightened and makes a second attempt on Abruzzi’s life but is stopped by C-Note, who reminds him that Abruzzi is providing their transportation. Abruzzi claims to have forgiven Bagwell, but the two characters keep a wary eye on each other for the rest of the season. In the final episode of the season, Bagwell escapes from Fox River along with Michael, Abruzzi and five other inmates. In order to ensure his safety, he handcuffs himself to Michael, knowing that it will keep Abruzzi from killing him. However, Abruzzi finally manages to get his revenge when he later cuts off Bagwell's cuffed hand with an axe, seriously wounding him and leaving him for dead. Despite this, Bagwell survives and eludes capture. His last scene of the season features the character staggering through the woods with his severed hand tucked into his armpit.
And also Brad Sanders and Reece Blake knows more deatil about Theodore T-bag Bagwell
The first four episodes of the season features Bagwell's journey to Utah
, where Charles Westmoreland had hidden his money. Before heading to Utah, Bagwell has his hand reattached by a veterinary surgeon named Dr. Marvin Gudat, whom he murders afterwards, and bleaches his hair to change his appearance. In the fifth episode and the subsequent two episodes, he rejoins part of the main cast as the group of five fugitives dig for Westmoreland's $5 million under a garage. Bagwell tricks the other fugitives, stealing the money and begins his journey to find Susan Hollander, the woman who betrayed him. From the eighth episode onwards, Bagwell's storyline separates from the main plot, which concerned the protagonists escaping and later deciding to solve the conspiracy
. In the following episode, "Unearthed", Bagwell is captured by Brad Bellick
(Wade Williams
) and Roy Geary (Matt DeCaro
) after hiding the five million dollars in a locker at a bus station. The next episode follows Bellick and Geary's torture procedures of Bagwell as they try and discover where he had hidden the money. After he admits the location to them, they use plastic handcuffs to attach his wrist to a radiator. However, after Bagwell escapes in "Bolshoi Booze
" by re-severing his hand, he kills Geary, who had betrayed Bellick and took the money. Before leaving with the money, Bagwell frames Bellick for Geary's murder.
Bagwell eventually locates Susan in the last episode to be aired in 2006 in the United States, "The Killing Box
", which served as one of the episode's cliffhangers. In his next two appearances of the season, he holds Susan and her children hostage in their home in Ness City, Kansas
. He takes them to his childhood home in Alabama
in "Bad Blood", where he reveals that they are his "salvation" and that he wants to become part of their family. He also explains that he is incapable of having children
, presumably because of the nature of his own conception, and that the Bagwell bloodline will die with him. Susan rebuffs him, however, saying that she is not able to love him. Bagwell is heartbroken by her rejection and finally leaves them, calling the police to release them from his home. Beginning from the eighteenth episode, the next part of Bagwell's storyline concerns his decision to travel to Thailand
. After taking the identity from a therapist he deliberately kills, Bagwell buys a ticket to Bangkok
and boarded a stop-over flight from Chicago
, which coincidentally was the same plane Bellick is flying in. Bagwell recognizes Bellick at Mexico City International Airport
in the episode "Sweet Caroline", and is forced to hide, consequently losing his money in the luggage carousel. He then grapples with a security guard in an attempt to retrieve the money, but fails to overpower him or retrieve the money. He runs away to avoid being captured. Later, security footage of him fleeing is transmitted on a Mexican news station.
After narrowly avoiding Sucre and Bellick in the episode "Panama
", Bagwell travels to Panama
; there, he murders a prostitute and is finally able to live comfortably with an array of bodyguards under his employ. During an unseen encounter Bagwell is coerced by Agent Kim into aiding the Company's plot to capture Lincoln and Michael, who are also in Panama. Kim's plot fails in the following episode, "Fin Del Camino
", however, and T-Bag finds himself being chased by Bellick, Sucre and Michael. He escapes Bellick by shooting him in the leg, but is captured soon after by Sucre and Michael. Bagwell escapes once again by stabbing Sucre in the chest with a screwdriver but is followed by Michael to an abandoned house. After Michael refuses Bagwell's truce (feeling responsible for everyone Bagwell has killed since escaping from prison), the two fight. Michael ultimately apprehends Bagwell by viciously impaling his remaining hand to the floor and leaving him for the Panamanian police. He then is transferred to a Panamanian cell, where Bellick is also imprisoned. In his last appearance of the season, Bagwell is seen screaming in a Panamanian jail, a man from the Company leaving him imprisoned. Bagwell is the fifth member of the Fox River Eight to be taken down by the authorities, and the second member not to die upon interception (the first being C-Note).
along with Michael
, Bellick
, and Mahone
, Bagwell is once again able to charm his way to an easier prison life than most, ingratiating himself to Lechero, a drug lord
who is the most powerful man inside. Michael soon blackmails Bagwell about his pedophilic
past, in order to gain access to Lechero's cell phone. Bagwell gets Michael the cellphone, but when it is put back Lechero notices that it had been moved. In order to deflect suspicion, Bagwell gets Lechero to question the loyalty of his right hand man, Sammy, who has been openly hostile to Bagwell. Lechero is successfully manipulated into enlisting Bagwell as his personal spy, increasing Bagwell's position in the prison hierarchy.
Bagwell then gains the trust of Lechero's head drug smuggler and dealer, Nieves, only to then kill him by suffocating him with a plastic bag. He also covers up his murder by making it look like a drug overdose
, and as a result replaces Nieves on Lechero's crew in the prison. He also protects Sister Mary Francis when the guards enter Sona, developing a liking for her in the process. When she steals Lechero's money, he diverts blame from her on to him and is punished for it by Lechero.
Later, when James Whistler
is accused of murder and set to be killed, Bagwell attempts to 'help' Michael by asking him to frame his rival Sammy for the murder but Michael refuses to go through with it. When Michael and Whistler are caught trying to escape Sona twice, T-Bag becomes suspicious and figures out that Michael is trying to escape. He blackmails his way onto the team but, along with Bellick and Lechero, is tricked by Michael and captured to allow the others to escape.
After the escape, he is torture
d until he says Fernando Sucre
knows everything that happened about the escape. He finds the bird book that Whistler dropped and puts it into his pocket. He then is taken back to Sona and forms an ambitious plan to kill Lechero. He tricks Lechero into supplying $50,000 for an "escape" and then smothers him in front of a shocked Bellick. T-Bag then goes to the masses and hands out part of the $50,000 to all the cons. He begins the chant "all cons are equal" and ingratiates himself with everybody, leaving T-Bag as the new ruler of Sona.
, a riot in Sona led to T-Bag, Sucre, and Bellick escaping between the third and the fourth season. Much of T-Bag's character arc in this season is devoted to exploring the friction between his discovered yearning for legitimacy and his desire to seek revenge on Michael for leaving him behind in earlier seasons. After crossing the border, T-Bag begins to uncover the clues in the bird book and finds documents conjured up by Whistler to portray Cole Pfeiffer, a top salesman at a corporation called GATE. Because of this, T-Bag’s character becomes critical to the plot. However, T-Bag’s storyline is initially separated from the other main characters, and he spends most of his screen time attempting to carry on his charade as the top salesman for the Gate Corporation, while spending most of his time trying to decipher the contents of Whistler's bird book. Eventually, another sales manager exposes him as a fraud, and he quickly flees the building before being arrested. This begins his involvement with the main plotline. In the next episode, he is taken captive by former Company operative Gretchen Morgan, who interrogates him for his role in obtaining Scylla, The Company’s little black book. T-Bag learns that the bird book is a means to this end, and that there are people prepared to pay large sums of money for Scylla. For the next few episodes, T-Bag and Gretchen form a partnership, and while she murders the co-worker that exposed T-Bag, he takes Trishanne, the secretary from Gate Corporation, hostage to lure Michael to him and forces him at gunpoint to decipher the clues in Whistler’s bird book. They eventually discover the book contains blueprints to the Gate Corporation building, including a path to where Scylla can be decrypted. While forcing Michael at gunpoint into the secret compartment, Bagwell is surprised by Mahone, who along with Michael, capture him. However, T-Bag is freed in the next episode at the urging of Gretchen, and Michael and his team reluctantly accepts him as an ally, as T-Bag’s access to Gate is valuable to the plan.
In the following episodes, T-bag appears mainly in scenes at Gate, where he continues to play a salesman. It is established that, together with Gretchen, he is planning on double crossing Michael and his team after they steal Scylla, in order to sell it to a Chinese crime syndicate for 125 million dollars. However, by the episode “Quiet Riot”, it becomes apparent that Gretchen is clearly the more ruthless and devoted to the plan, while T-Bag begins to grow increasingly attached to his new life and his dialogue shows that he wishes that he actually was Cole Pffeifer rather than Theodore Bagwell. Because of this, the character often shows a softer side in this part of the season. For instance after he learns about the death of Bellick, T-Bag seems to be somewhat upset, despite the nature of their relationship in past seasons. However, he is still shown as intent on exacting revenge on Michael. T-Bag and Gretchen are waiting in T-Bag’s office with machine guns in “Selfless” prepared to ambush the Scylla team when they return. When T-Bag’s boss Mr. White spots Gretchen’s gun under the table, she takes the entire company hostage. Seeing his chance at a new life at Gate being destroyed forever, T-Bag reluctantly helps her take the GATE employees hostage, but in the same episode T-Bag is arrested by Trishanne (who is actually an under-cover federal agent sent by Homeland Security agent Don Self). At the end of the episode, Michael’s team is successful in getting Scylla and hands it over to Self who, in the episode’s twist ending, betrays everyone and steals Scylla. After Self murders Trishanne, he forces T-Bag to help him track down Gretchen by giving him the home address of her sister Rita and daughter Emily, whom T-Bag holds hostage while Gretchen and Self finds a new buyer for Scylla. In the episode "Just Business", T-Bag continues to mourn the loss of his new life. When a bible salesman asks to come in, T-Bag believes him to be a Company agent and pistol whips him. After saying he wanted to be Cole Pffeifer and not Theodore Bagwell, he is about to kill the man when Rita tells him not to, saying that he has a chance for a new life. So he lets Rita and Emily go and unties the man, only to be knocked unconscious, proving that the man was a Company agent.
In the final third of the season, T-Bag is forced by The Company to work with Lincoln, Gretchen, and Self to get Scylla back by tracking down the buyer. The team is later joined by Mahone. When Gretchen is shot by in a fire-fight with the buyer’s underlings, T-Bag’s character shows lingering hints of his softer side as he implores the others to spare Gretchen’s life. Still holding onto his desire for legitimacy, however, T-Bag continues to work with the rest of the team in the next few episodes, but also spies on the rest of them, and in several episodes reports back to The Company’s leader, General Krantz, with secret information that he has overheard. It is revealed in "VS" and "SOB" that T-Bag hopes to be rewarded for his efforts by becoming a fully fledged Company operative with his own office and desk. As the plot unfolds, he begins to grow back into his old ruthless persona. After the general arrives in Miami in "SOB", T-Bag starts working more directly with him and his minions. Attempting to impress the general and give him leverage against Michael, T-Bag tracks down Michael's girlfriend Sara Tancredi
and holds her captive in "Cowboys and Indians". Still bent on revenge on Michael, T-Bag decides to rape Sara in "Rate of Exchange", but is knocked unconscious by Michael, who rescues Sara. After Michael hands over Scylla to Paul Kellerman
, he gives them the option of letting T-Bag be exonerated with the rest of them or not. In the end, Sara, Michael, Lincoln, Sucre, Mahone and C-Note vote to have him taken back to prison. In the character’s final appearance in the series epilogue of the series finale, set 4 years after the main events of the show, T-Bag is revealed to be back at Fox River. He is seen overhearing an inmate speaking of the captivity of negativity (a term used by GATE). He sees the inmate was reading a book from GATE and he warns the inmate telling him he does not ever want to see that book again and the inmate replies, referring to T-Bag as sir. He is last seen whistling to a boy to hold his pocket. T-Bag looks up at the sky, once again the king of prison. He is the only member of the Fox River Eight to be sent back to prison when the series ended.
, titled "The Bag Man". Breakout Kings is helmed by Prison Break writers Nick Santora
and Matt Olmstead
and is about a squad of U.S. Marshals who team up with convicts to track down escaped prisoners. Robert Knepper agreed to reprise his famous role as long as the character wasn't killed off.
In the episode, T-Bag once again escapes from Fox River and is pursued by the team of U.S marshals. As T-Bag begins seeking out and killing certain people, the U.S. Marshals try to track him down by deducing T-Bag's motivations for escape and why he murdered the people that he did; its eventually revealed that his mother is dying at a nursing home, and the people that T-Bag had murdered were orderlies who had abused and stolen from her in the past. The group eventually tracks down T-Bag at the hospital his mother is staying at, but they allow him one final moment to spend with his mother before taking him back into custody.
However, in the final scene, T-bag has a sadistic smile in his face, that might mean that we have not seen the last of Theodore Bagwell.
Despite being despised by the other convicts for his heinous crimes and affiliation with the Alliance for Purity, T-Bag is quite eloquent and seen as charming by many of the women he meets. Knepper comments that, "T-Bag's not crazy. He knows exactly what he's doing. He's not going to make himself stupid." In a separate interview, Knepper says, "I never play him like a stereotypical racist
or redneck. He's actually quite cunning and smart." He likens the character to "Truman Capote
without a degree".
In the episode entitled "Eagles & Angels" (Season 4, Episode 4), T-Bag pretends to be Cole Pfeiffer, a top salesman for a corporation called GATE. He is assigned a corner office
with the room numbered 122B. The numbers 122 are the reverse of 221, a sly reference by the episode's screenwriters to: 1) Sherlock Holmes's Baker St. address; and 2) T-Bag's Holmesian powers of reasoning and deduction (yet whose powers have been twisted and corrupted toward evil ends). Ultimately, T-Bag is a cleverly crafted anti-Sherlock Holmes, a stock character
whose personality is shaped in certain key facets to be the polar opposite of Holmes. Indeed, T-Bag is a modern-day descendant not of Holmes, but of Holmes's archnemesis Professor Moriarty
.
The character's sexual interest ranges from men to women and children. When asked about the character's sexuality, Knepper asserts, "We're not passing judgment. We're not trying to get these people off the hook. T-Bag's not a homosexual. He's a raw animal. He'd [sleep with] anything."
Knepper has stated that, "Around episode 6 or 7, I got so many letters from people saying, 'When I first started watching this show, I absolutely hated you and I wanted you dead. Now I still want you dead, but I'm starting to feel for you.' I think there's something in my eyes, a childlike thing in there. There's still an innocence. There's still a bit of hope".
During season four T-Bag starts showing disillusionment with his actions, even saying that he wishes that he could have been Cole Pfeiffer, respected salesman and person. He shows reluctance to undertake disturbing tasks. He showed emotion and upset after receiving the news of Bellick's death. He did not want to take GATE hostage, and showed authentic reluctance to kill Gretchen's family or the Bible Salesman/Company Agent. He eventually offers to even release him, at great risk to his personal freedom and lets Gretchen's family go. In the fall finale, T-Bag is the main party against Lincoln killing Gretchen, citing her being a mother as a reason, which can be seen as significant as she had tried to kill him not more than a few days earlier.
s Maya Schechter as "one of the creepiest characters on television" and is mentioned by Entertainment Weekly
as one of "TV's best villains".
, who was cast in the role of Charles "Haywire" Patoshik, originally auditioned for the role of T-Bag.
Robert Knepper
Robert Lyle Knepper is an American actor. He is best known for starring as Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell in the Fox network's drama series Prison Break, for which he was nominated a Satellite Award...
, is a fictional character
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
from the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television series Prison Break
Prison Break
Prison Break is an American television serial drama created by Paul Scheuring, that was broadcast on the Fox Broadcasting Company for four seasons, from 2005 until 2009. The series revolves around two brothers; one has been sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit, and the other devises an...
. He is part of the main group of characters in the series. After guest-starring in the series' second episode, "Allen
Allen (Prison Break episode)
"Allen" is the second episode of television series Prison Break, which was first broadcast on television on August 29, 2005. The episode is the second to air alongside the Pilot episode as part of the two-part start of the series. "Allen" was written by series creator Paul Scheuring and directed by...
", the actor became one of the regular cast members.
The character was introduced into the series as a fellow prisoner of the protagonist, Michael Scofield
Michael Scofield
Michael J. Scofield is the main protagonist in the American television series Prison Break. He is portrayed by Wentworth Miller. The character first appeared in the series pilot as a man who stages a bank robbery in order to get sent into the prison where his older brother, Lincoln Burrows , is...
(played by Wentworth Miller
Wentworth Miller
Wentworth Earl Miller III is an English-born American actor; model and screenwriter who rose to stardom following his role as Michael Scofield in the Fox Network television series Prison Break.-Early life:...
), at Fox River State Penitentiary
Fox River State Penitentiary
Fox River State Penitentiary is a fictional level five maximum-security prison featured prominently in the first season of the television series, Prison Break. The real-life representation of the prison is Joliet Prison, which is located in Joliet, Illinois...
. As the leader of a white supremacist group, T-Bag is one of the most villainous members of the Fox River Eight. In the second season, the character's storyline veers from the main plot as a separate subplot. As the series progresses, more of the background story of the character is revealed. He is the only member of the Fox River Eight to be returned to Fox River State Penitentiary after his capture.
The character has appeared in A&E
A&E Network
The A&E Network is a United States-based cable and satellite television network with headquarters in New York City and offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, London, Los Angeles and Stamford. A&E also airs in Canada and Latin America. Initially named the Arts & Entertainment Network, A&E launched...
's Breakout Kings
Breakout Kings
Breakout Kings is an American drama television series created by Nick Santora and Matt Olmstead, which airs on the A&E network. The series premiered on March 6, 2011. The series was picked up for a second season on July 6, 2011, which is expected to begin in 2012.-Premise:In order to catch escaped...
, reprised by Knepper once again.
Background
A native of Conecuh County, AlabamaConecuh County, Alabama
-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*51.3% White*46.5% Black*0.3% Native American*0.1% Asian*0.0% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*1.0% Two or more races*1.2% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...
, Theodore Bagwell was born of both incest
Incest
Incest is sexual intercourse between close relatives that is usually illegal in the jurisdiction where it takes place and/or is conventionally considered a taboo. The term may apply to sexual activities between: individuals of close "blood relationship"; members of the same household; step...
and rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
after his father sexually assaulted
Sexual assault
Sexual assault is an assault of a sexual nature on another person, or any sexual act committed without consent. Although sexual assaults most frequently are by a man on a woman, it may involve any combination of two or more men, women and children....
his sister, who is implied to have been mentally handicapped; he was also molested
Child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include asking or pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities , indecent exposure with intent to gratify their own sexual desires or to...
by his father. Bagwell's father is also the person responsible for his eloquent use of language, making him learn whole encyclopedias and dictionaries believing this would enable his son to lead a better life and maybe even become President one day. He once ordered his son to recite 10 synonym
Synonym
Synonyms are different words with almost identical or similar meanings. Words that are synonyms are said to be synonymous, and the state of being a synonym is called synonymy. The word comes from Ancient Greek syn and onoma . The words car and automobile are synonyms...
s for "destroy" to demonstrate his ability in front of some friends of his father. Bagwell spent his youth in and out of jail, often for vandalism
Vandalism
Vandalism is the behaviour attributed originally to the Vandals, by the Romans, in respect of culture: ruthless destruction or spoiling of anything beautiful or venerable...
and torturing animals. While in fourth grade, he attempted to set his teacher's house on fire and was sentenced to juvenile hall. During this time, he became a member of the Alliance for Purity, a white supremacist group.
As an adult, he starts committing more serious crimes, such as battery
Battery (crime)
Battery is a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact, distinct from assault which is the fear of such contact.In the United States, criminal battery, or simply battery, is the use of force against another, resulting in harmful or offensive contact...
, assault
Assault
In law, assault is a crime causing a victim to fear violence. The term is often confused with battery, which involves physical contact. The specific meaning of assault varies between countries, but can refer to an act that causes another to apprehend immediate and personal violence, or in the more...
, attempted murder
Attempted murder
Attempted murder is a crime in England and Wales and Northern Ireland.-Today:In English criminal law, attempted murder is the crime of more than merely preparing to commit unlawful killing and at the same time having a specific intention to cause the death of human being under the Queen's Peace...
, murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
, rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
, and kidnapping
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
. It is also insinuated that he is a pedophile. He quickly becomes the leader of the Alliance for Purity inside Donaldson Prison in Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
and under his leadership the gang becomes so powerful inside the prison that the warden disbands it and sends Bagwell to Fox River.
Prior to incarceration at Fox River, Bagwell eludes the authorities and pursues a relationship with a single mother named Susan Hollander, who has two children of her own from a previous marriage. This was one of the storylines featured in the first season's flashback episode, "Brother's Keeper". Upon learning that he is a wanted murderer and rapist (by watching America's Most Wanted
America's Most Wanted
America's Most Wanted is an American television program produced by 20th Television, and was the longest-running program of any kind in the history of the Fox Television Network until it was announced on May 16, 2011 that the series was canceled after twenty-three years, with the final episode...
), she notifies the police. He had genuine feelings for Susan and had tried to change, but her betrayal prompts "that old dirty bastard [to come] right back home".
Upon seeing that there are no Alliance for Purity members at Fox River, T-Bag starts a new chapter of the gang; its growth grants him significant influence within the prison. An open bisexual, he has no qualms about seeking sexual gratification from other inmates, often preying upon younger men.
Appearances
Bagwell appears in every episode of the first season except the series pilotPilot (Prison Break episode)
The Pilot is the first episode of the American television series Prison Break, which premiered on August 29, 2005 in the United States. That night, it was aired as the first of a two-part pilot special, along with "Allen", which broadcast straight after this episode...
, episode 4 "Cute Poison
Cute Poison (Prison Break episode)
"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...
" and episode 5 "English, Fitz or Percy
English, Fitz or Percy (Prison Break episode)
"English, Fitz or Percy" is the fifth episode of the television series Prison Break. The episode was broadcast on September 19, 2005 in the United States. It is directed by Randall Zisk and credited to writer Zack Estrin...
." He does not appear in three episodes of the second season; "Scan," "Disconnect" and "The Message." Bagwell appears in every episode in seasons three and four.
A younger version of the character, played by Michael Gohlke, appeared in one episode via a flashback sequence in "Bad Blood".
Season 1
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
and a pedophile, he is detested by most other inmates, such as John Abruzzi (Peter Stormare
Peter Stormare
is a Swedish film, stage, voice and television actor as well as a theatrical director, playwright and musician.- Early life :...
), or Benjamin Miles "C-Note" Franklin
Benjamin Miles "C-Note" Franklin
Benjamin Miles "C-Note" Franklin, played by Rockmond Dunbar, is a fictional character from the American television series, Prison Break. The character was introduced as a prisoner in the pilot episode. The actor was promoted from a recurring guest star to a regular cast member midway through the...
(Rockmond Dunbar
Rockmond Dunbar
Rockmond Dunbar is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Kenny Chadway on the Showtime television drama series Soul Food, and as Benjamin Miles "C-Note" Franklin on the FOX television drama series Prison Break...
), but his status within the Alliance for Purity protects him from attacks. Upon the arrival of Michael Scofield
Michael Scofield
Michael J. Scofield is the main protagonist in the American television series Prison Break. He is portrayed by Wentworth Miller. The character first appeared in the series pilot as a man who stages a bank robbery in order to get sent into the prison where his older brother, Lincoln Burrows , is...
(Wentworth Miller
Wentworth Miller
Wentworth Earl Miller III is an English-born American actor; model and screenwriter who rose to stardom following his role as Michael Scofield in the Fox Network television series Prison Break.-Early life:...
) at Fox River, Bagwell wants to ensnare him as his personal plaything, but is unsuccessful. During a race riot in episode "Allen", his cellmate and lover is fatally wounded. Believing Scofield was responsible, Bagwell seeks revenge but is stopped by Abruzzi, who has his goons assault him, sending him to the infirmary after which the character is absent for two episodes. When he returns in the episode “Riots, Drills and the Devil”, Bagwell instigates a full-scale riot, during which he accidentally learns of the escape attempt and threatens to tell the other inmates if Michael and the others do not include him; the others have no choice but to agree. At the end of the riot, Bagwell defies the orders of Michael and Abruzzi and murders a guard that could expose the escape. He later frames his friend and fellow Aryan gang member Trokey for the murder. Following this, Bagwell becomes a fully fledged member of the escape team in the episode "The Old Head", blackmail
Blackmail
In common usage, blackmail is a crime involving threats to reveal substantially true or false information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a demand is met. It may be defined as coercion involving threats of physical harm, threat of criminal prosecution, or threats...
ing them to include him.
Bagwell is initially an endless source of friction on the escape team, testing the others patience with racist taunts, and is a constant strain on Michael’s conscience
Conscience
Conscience is an aptitude, faculty, intuition or judgment of the intellect that distinguishes right from wrong. Moral judgement may derive from values or norms...
. Throughout the season, T-Bag is shown as having a sexual interest in other inmates, and coerces
Coercion
Coercion is the practice of forcing another party to behave in an involuntary manner by use of threats or intimidation or some other form of pressure or force. In law, coercion is codified as the duress crime. Such actions are used as leverage, to force the victim to act in the desired way...
his new cellmate Seth into a sexual relationship. After Seth hangs himself, Bagwell moves on to harass newly arrived inmate Tweener, who had alienated himself among Fox River’s prison population. However, Michael, who was feeling guilty about Seth’s death, finally confronted Bagwell with a crowbar to the knee and told him to leave Tweener alone. In the following episodes, friction continues to increase between Bagwell and the other members of the escape team. When the group ultimately discovers that they have one too many for a successful escape, Abruzzi gives Bagwell an ultimatum in the episode "Odd Man Out": back out of the escape or die. Bagwell also learns that his cousin James Bagwell and his son had been killed and is deeply upset. Knowing that Abruzzi was behind it, Bagwell seeks revenge, and later slashes Abruzzi's throat with a razor blade; he fails to kill him, however. Bagwell is among one of six inmates included in the first unsuccessful escape attempt in the episode "End of the Tunnel".
Bagwell is more loyal to the team in the season’s later episodes, contributing to keep the escape tunnel hidden and engaging in reluctant relations with a transvestite inmate to further the escape plan. In the episode "Bluff" his skills at rigging a deck of cards also help the team. However, upon learning in "The Key" that Abruzzi has returned to the prison, Bagwell is frightened and makes a second attempt on Abruzzi’s life but is stopped by C-Note, who reminds him that Abruzzi is providing their transportation. Abruzzi claims to have forgiven Bagwell, but the two characters keep a wary eye on each other for the rest of the season. In the final episode of the season, Bagwell escapes from Fox River along with Michael, Abruzzi and five other inmates. In order to ensure his safety, he handcuffs himself to Michael, knowing that it will keep Abruzzi from killing him. However, Abruzzi finally manages to get his revenge when he later cuts off Bagwell's cuffed hand with an axe, seriously wounding him and leaving him for dead. Despite this, Bagwell survives and eludes capture. His last scene of the season features the character staggering through the woods with his severed hand tucked into his armpit.
And also Brad Sanders and Reece Blake knows more deatil about Theodore T-bag Bagwell
Season 2
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, where Charles Westmoreland had hidden his money. Before heading to Utah, Bagwell has his hand reattached by a veterinary surgeon named Dr. Marvin Gudat, whom he murders afterwards, and bleaches his hair to change his appearance. In the fifth episode and the subsequent two episodes, he rejoins part of the main cast as the group of five fugitives dig for Westmoreland's $5 million under a garage. Bagwell tricks the other fugitives, stealing the money and begins his journey to find Susan Hollander, the woman who betrayed him. From the eighth episode onwards, Bagwell's storyline separates from the main plot, which concerned the protagonists escaping and later deciding to solve the conspiracy
Conspiracy theory
A conspiracy theory explains an event as being the result of an alleged plot by a covert group or organization or, more broadly, the idea that important political, social or economic events are the products of secret plots that are largely unknown to the general public.-Usage:The term "conspiracy...
. In the following episode, "Unearthed", Bagwell is captured by Brad Bellick
Brad Bellick
Bradley "Brad" Bellick is a fictional character from the American television series, Prison Break. He is portrayed by Wade Williams. As one of the principal characters of Prison Break, he has been featured in all four seasons of the series...
(Wade Williams
Wade Williams
Wade Andrew Williams is an American actor who is best known for his starring role as Brad Bellick on Fox's television series Prison Break.-Personal life:...
) and Roy Geary (Matt DeCaro
Matt DeCaro
Matt DeCaro is a film and stage actor. He appeared in the film Mr. 3000 as a reporter and in Victory Garden’s production of Symmetry. He is arguably best known for his role as Correctional Officer Roy Geary on the hit series Prison Break....
) after hiding the five million dollars in a locker at a bus station. The next episode follows Bellick and Geary's torture procedures of Bagwell as they try and discover where he had hidden the money. After he admits the location to them, they use plastic handcuffs to attach his wrist to a radiator. However, after Bagwell escapes in "Bolshoi Booze
Bolshoi Booze
"Bolshoi Booze" is the thirty-third episode of the American television series Prison Break and is the eleventh episode of its second season. Aired on November 13, 2006, it was the second of the four episodes to be aired during the November sweeps in the United States...
" by re-severing his hand, he kills Geary, who had betrayed Bellick and took the money. Before leaving with the money, Bagwell frames Bellick for Geary's murder.
Bagwell eventually locates Susan in the last episode to be aired in 2006 in the United States, "The Killing Box
The Killing Box
"The Killing Box" is the thirty-fifth episode of the American television series Prison Break and is the thirteenth episode of its second season. Broadcast on November 27, 2006, it was also the last episode to be aired in 2006 in the United States. The episode is written by Zack Estrin and directed...
", which served as one of the episode's cliffhangers. In his next two appearances of the season, he holds Susan and her children hostage in their home in Ness City, Kansas
Ness City, Kansas
Ness is a city in and the county seat of Ness County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 1,449. Ness City is famous for its four-story Old Ness County Bank Building located downtown, and nicknamed Skyscraper of the Plains.-Geography:Ness City is located at...
. He takes them to his childhood home in Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
in "Bad Blood", where he reveals that they are his "salvation" and that he wants to become part of their family. He also explains that he is incapable of having children
Male infertility
Male infertility refers to the inability of a male to achieve a pregnancy in a fertile female. In humans it accounts for 40-50% of infertility. Male infertility is commonly due to deficiencies in the semen, and semen quality is used as a surrogate measure of male fecundity.-Pre-testicular...
, presumably because of the nature of his own conception, and that the Bagwell bloodline will die with him. Susan rebuffs him, however, saying that she is not able to love him. Bagwell is heartbroken by her rejection and finally leaves them, calling the police to release them from his home. Beginning from the eighteenth episode, the next part of Bagwell's storyline concerns his decision to travel to Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
. After taking the identity from a therapist he deliberately kills, Bagwell buys a ticket to Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
and boarded a stop-over flight from Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, which coincidentally was the same plane Bellick is flying in. Bagwell recognizes Bellick at Mexico City International Airport
Mexico City International Airport
Benito Juárez International Airport , in Venustiano Carranza, one of the sixteen boroughs into which Mexico's Federal District is divided, is a commercial airport that serves Mexico City, the capital of Mexico...
in the episode "Sweet Caroline", and is forced to hide, consequently losing his money in the luggage carousel. He then grapples with a security guard in an attempt to retrieve the money, but fails to overpower him or retrieve the money. He runs away to avoid being captured. Later, security footage of him fleeing is transmitted on a Mexican news station.
After narrowly avoiding Sucre and Bellick in the episode "Panama
Panama (Prison Break episode)
"Panama" is the 42nd episode of the American television series Prison Break and is the 20th episode of its second season. The episode aired on March 12, 2007. The plot features the protagonists' escape to Panama while subplots include that of Sara Tancredi, Brad Bellick, Fernando Sucre, Theodore...
", Bagwell travels to Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
; there, he murders a prostitute and is finally able to live comfortably with an array of bodyguards under his employ. During an unseen encounter Bagwell is coerced by Agent Kim into aiding the Company's plot to capture Lincoln and Michael, who are also in Panama. Kim's plot fails in the following episode, "Fin Del Camino
Fin Del Camino
"Fin Del Camino" is the 43rd episode of the US television series, Prison Break and is the 21st episode of its second season. The English translation of the Spanish phrase, "fin del camino", is end of the road. Written by Matt Olmstead and Seth Hoffman, and directed by Bobby Roth, the episode first...
", however, and T-Bag finds himself being chased by Bellick, Sucre and Michael. He escapes Bellick by shooting him in the leg, but is captured soon after by Sucre and Michael. Bagwell escapes once again by stabbing Sucre in the chest with a screwdriver but is followed by Michael to an abandoned house. After Michael refuses Bagwell's truce (feeling responsible for everyone Bagwell has killed since escaping from prison), the two fight. Michael ultimately apprehends Bagwell by viciously impaling his remaining hand to the floor and leaving him for the Panamanian police. He then is transferred to a Panamanian cell, where Bellick is also imprisoned. In his last appearance of the season, Bagwell is seen screaming in a Panamanian jail, a man from the Company leaving him imprisoned. Bagwell is the fifth member of the Fox River Eight to be taken down by the authorities, and the second member not to die upon interception (the first being C-Note).
Season 3
Imprisoned in SonaPenitenciaría Federal de Sona
Penitenciaría Federal de Sona is a fictional prison in the TV series Prison Break. The prison is set in Panama...
along with Michael
Michael Scofield
Michael J. Scofield is the main protagonist in the American television series Prison Break. He is portrayed by Wentworth Miller. The character first appeared in the series pilot as a man who stages a bank robbery in order to get sent into the prison where his older brother, Lincoln Burrows , is...
, Bellick
Brad Bellick
Bradley "Brad" Bellick is a fictional character from the American television series, Prison Break. He is portrayed by Wade Williams. As one of the principal characters of Prison Break, he has been featured in all four seasons of the series...
, and Mahone
Alexander Mahone
Alexander "Alex" Mahone is a fictional character portrayed by William Fichtner in the American television series Prison Break. The series revolves around two brothers: one who has been sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit and his younger sibling, a genius who devises an elaborate plan...
, Bagwell is once again able to charm his way to an easier prison life than most, ingratiating himself to Lechero, a drug lord
Drug lord
A drug lord, drug baron or kingpin is the term used to describe a person who controls a sizable network of persons involved in the illegal drugs trade. Such figures are often difficult to bring to justice, as they might never be directly in possession of something illegal, but are insulated from...
who is the most powerful man inside. Michael soon blackmails Bagwell about his pedophilic
Pedophilia
As a medical diagnosis, pedophilia is defined as a psychiatric disorder in adults or late adolescents typically characterized by a primary or exclusive sexual interest in prepubescent children...
past, in order to gain access to Lechero's cell phone. Bagwell gets Michael the cellphone, but when it is put back Lechero notices that it had been moved. In order to deflect suspicion, Bagwell gets Lechero to question the loyalty of his right hand man, Sammy, who has been openly hostile to Bagwell. Lechero is successfully manipulated into enlisting Bagwell as his personal spy, increasing Bagwell's position in the prison hierarchy.
Bagwell then gains the trust of Lechero's head drug smuggler and dealer, Nieves, only to then kill him by suffocating him with a plastic bag. He also covers up his murder by making it look like a drug overdose
Drug overdose
The term drug overdose describes the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities greater than are recommended or generally practiced...
, and as a result replaces Nieves on Lechero's crew in the prison. He also protects Sister Mary Francis when the guards enter Sona, developing a liking for her in the process. When she steals Lechero's money, he diverts blame from her on to him and is punished for it by Lechero.
Later, when James Whistler
James Whistler
James Whistler is the name of:* James Abbott McNeill Whistler , American-born, British-based artist, known for the painting colloquially known as Whistler's Mother...
is accused of murder and set to be killed, Bagwell attempts to 'help' Michael by asking him to frame his rival Sammy for the murder but Michael refuses to go through with it. When Michael and Whistler are caught trying to escape Sona twice, T-Bag becomes suspicious and figures out that Michael is trying to escape. He blackmails his way onto the team but, along with Bellick and Lechero, is tricked by Michael and captured to allow the others to escape.
After the escape, he is torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
d until he says Fernando Sucre
Fernando Sucre
Fernando Sucre, played by Amaury Nolasco, is a fictional character from the American television series, Prison Break. He is introduced to the series in the pilot episode as the prison cellmate of the series protagonist, Michael Scofield .-Background:Of Puerto Rican descent, Sucre grew up in Chicago...
knows everything that happened about the escape. He finds the bird book that Whistler dropped and puts it into his pocket. He then is taken back to Sona and forms an ambitious plan to kill Lechero. He tricks Lechero into supplying $50,000 for an "escape" and then smothers him in front of a shocked Bellick. T-Bag then goes to the masses and hands out part of the $50,000 to all the cons. He begins the chant "all cons are equal" and ingratiates himself with everybody, leaving T-Bag as the new ruler of Sona.
Season 4
T-Bag’s character is once again central to the plot, as he holds Whistler’s bird book. As mentioned by Lincoln in the premiere episodeScylla (Prison Break episode)
"Scylla" is the 58th episode of the American television series Prison Break and the first episode of its fourth season which premiered as a two-hour episode with "Breaking & Entering"...
, a riot in Sona led to T-Bag, Sucre, and Bellick escaping between the third and the fourth season. Much of T-Bag's character arc in this season is devoted to exploring the friction between his discovered yearning for legitimacy and his desire to seek revenge on Michael for leaving him behind in earlier seasons. After crossing the border, T-Bag begins to uncover the clues in the bird book and finds documents conjured up by Whistler to portray Cole Pfeiffer, a top salesman at a corporation called GATE. Because of this, T-Bag’s character becomes critical to the plot. However, T-Bag’s storyline is initially separated from the other main characters, and he spends most of his screen time attempting to carry on his charade as the top salesman for the Gate Corporation, while spending most of his time trying to decipher the contents of Whistler's bird book. Eventually, another sales manager exposes him as a fraud, and he quickly flees the building before being arrested. This begins his involvement with the main plotline. In the next episode, he is taken captive by former Company operative Gretchen Morgan, who interrogates him for his role in obtaining Scylla, The Company’s little black book. T-Bag learns that the bird book is a means to this end, and that there are people prepared to pay large sums of money for Scylla. For the next few episodes, T-Bag and Gretchen form a partnership, and while she murders the co-worker that exposed T-Bag, he takes Trishanne, the secretary from Gate Corporation, hostage to lure Michael to him and forces him at gunpoint to decipher the clues in Whistler’s bird book. They eventually discover the book contains blueprints to the Gate Corporation building, including a path to where Scylla can be decrypted. While forcing Michael at gunpoint into the secret compartment, Bagwell is surprised by Mahone, who along with Michael, capture him. However, T-Bag is freed in the next episode at the urging of Gretchen, and Michael and his team reluctantly accepts him as an ally, as T-Bag’s access to Gate is valuable to the plan.
In the following episodes, T-bag appears mainly in scenes at Gate, where he continues to play a salesman. It is established that, together with Gretchen, he is planning on double crossing Michael and his team after they steal Scylla, in order to sell it to a Chinese crime syndicate for 125 million dollars. However, by the episode “Quiet Riot”, it becomes apparent that Gretchen is clearly the more ruthless and devoted to the plan, while T-Bag begins to grow increasingly attached to his new life and his dialogue shows that he wishes that he actually was Cole Pffeifer rather than Theodore Bagwell. Because of this, the character often shows a softer side in this part of the season. For instance after he learns about the death of Bellick, T-Bag seems to be somewhat upset, despite the nature of their relationship in past seasons. However, he is still shown as intent on exacting revenge on Michael. T-Bag and Gretchen are waiting in T-Bag’s office with machine guns in “Selfless” prepared to ambush the Scylla team when they return. When T-Bag’s boss Mr. White spots Gretchen’s gun under the table, she takes the entire company hostage. Seeing his chance at a new life at Gate being destroyed forever, T-Bag reluctantly helps her take the GATE employees hostage, but in the same episode T-Bag is arrested by Trishanne (who is actually an under-cover federal agent sent by Homeland Security agent Don Self). At the end of the episode, Michael’s team is successful in getting Scylla and hands it over to Self who, in the episode’s twist ending, betrays everyone and steals Scylla. After Self murders Trishanne, he forces T-Bag to help him track down Gretchen by giving him the home address of her sister Rita and daughter Emily, whom T-Bag holds hostage while Gretchen and Self finds a new buyer for Scylla. In the episode "Just Business", T-Bag continues to mourn the loss of his new life. When a bible salesman asks to come in, T-Bag believes him to be a Company agent and pistol whips him. After saying he wanted to be Cole Pffeifer and not Theodore Bagwell, he is about to kill the man when Rita tells him not to, saying that he has a chance for a new life. So he lets Rita and Emily go and unties the man, only to be knocked unconscious, proving that the man was a Company agent.
In the final third of the season, T-Bag is forced by The Company to work with Lincoln, Gretchen, and Self to get Scylla back by tracking down the buyer. The team is later joined by Mahone. When Gretchen is shot by in a fire-fight with the buyer’s underlings, T-Bag’s character shows lingering hints of his softer side as he implores the others to spare Gretchen’s life. Still holding onto his desire for legitimacy, however, T-Bag continues to work with the rest of the team in the next few episodes, but also spies on the rest of them, and in several episodes reports back to The Company’s leader, General Krantz, with secret information that he has overheard. It is revealed in "VS" and "SOB" that T-Bag hopes to be rewarded for his efforts by becoming a fully fledged Company operative with his own office and desk. As the plot unfolds, he begins to grow back into his old ruthless persona. After the general arrives in Miami in "SOB", T-Bag starts working more directly with him and his minions. Attempting to impress the general and give him leverage against Michael, T-Bag tracks down Michael's girlfriend Sara Tancredi
Sara Tancredi
Dr. Sara Tancredi is a fictional character from the American television series, Prison Break. She is played by Sarah Wayne Callies. Her role in the first season of the series is a prison doctor.- Background :...
and holds her captive in "Cowboys and Indians". Still bent on revenge on Michael, T-Bag decides to rape Sara in "Rate of Exchange", but is knocked unconscious by Michael, who rescues Sara. After Michael hands over Scylla to Paul Kellerman
Paul Kellerman
Paul Kellerman, played by Paul Adelstein, is a fictional character from the American television series, Prison Break. The character was introduced to the series as a Secret Service special agent in the series pilot but the actor was not listed as a regular cast member until the third episode...
, he gives them the option of letting T-Bag be exonerated with the rest of them or not. In the end, Sara, Michael, Lincoln, Sucre, Mahone and C-Note vote to have him taken back to prison. In the character’s final appearance in the series epilogue of the series finale, set 4 years after the main events of the show, T-Bag is revealed to be back at Fox River. He is seen overhearing an inmate speaking of the captivity of negativity (a term used by GATE). He sees the inmate was reading a book from GATE and he warns the inmate telling him he does not ever want to see that book again and the inmate replies, referring to T-Bag as sir. He is last seen whistling to a boy to hold his pocket. T-Bag looks up at the sky, once again the king of prison. He is the only member of the Fox River Eight to be sent back to prison when the series ended.
Prison Break: The Final Break
T-Bag made several appearances in The Final Break special. He was sent to Miami Dade prison before his return to Fox River where he was incarcerated alongside General Krantz. They had a short mutual friendship which involved T-bag helping out the General with his plan to get Sara killed in the woman's section of the prison. T-Bag was visited by Lincoln who asked him to set off the fire alarm at a certain time as part of Michael's plan to break Sara out of prison. T-Bag agreed to do this for a 6 figure sum, which was stolen by Lincoln and Sucre from one of the general's men. T-Bag was on the phone in prison waiting for the transfer which never came. He decided to blow the whole escape plan and told the prison warden of the prison break. It turns out that Michael had never planned to give him the money and knew he would rat them out. Michael wanted this to happen so all the alarms would be shut off and he could cut through a door in the prison chapel. T-Bag was presumed to have done this deliberately and was accused of aiding Michael in his break out and was placed in solitary confinement.Breakout Kings
T-Bag appeared in the third episode of the A&E series Breakout KingsBreakout Kings
Breakout Kings is an American drama television series created by Nick Santora and Matt Olmstead, which airs on the A&E network. The series premiered on March 6, 2011. The series was picked up for a second season on July 6, 2011, which is expected to begin in 2012.-Premise:In order to catch escaped...
, titled "The Bag Man". Breakout Kings is helmed by Prison Break writers Nick Santora
Nick Santora
Nick Santora is a writer and producer born in Queens, New York. Santora graduated from Columbia Law School and practiced law for six years before giving up full-time practice to write and produce television....
and Matt Olmstead
Matt Olmstead
Matt Olmstead is an American writer and producer for television shows.-Early life:Olmstead graduated from California State University, Chico. He is an alumnus of the College of Humanities and Fine Arts. He went to Hollywood in hopes of being a script writer. Olmstead eventually worked with an...
and is about a squad of U.S. Marshals who team up with convicts to track down escaped prisoners. Robert Knepper agreed to reprise his famous role as long as the character wasn't killed off.
In the episode, T-Bag once again escapes from Fox River and is pursued by the team of U.S marshals. As T-Bag begins seeking out and killing certain people, the U.S. Marshals try to track him down by deducing T-Bag's motivations for escape and why he murdered the people that he did; its eventually revealed that his mother is dying at a nursing home, and the people that T-Bag had murdered were orderlies who had abused and stolen from her in the past. The group eventually tracks down T-Bag at the hospital his mother is staying at, but they allow him one final moment to spend with his mother before taking him back into custody.
However, in the final scene, T-bag has a sadistic smile in his face, that might mean that we have not seen the last of Theodore Bagwell.
Characteristics
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
or redneck. He's actually quite cunning and smart." He likens the character to "Truman Capote
Truman Capote
Truman Streckfus Persons , known as Truman Capote , was an American author, many of whose short stories, novels, plays, and nonfiction are recognized literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's and the true crime novel In Cold Blood , which he labeled a "nonfiction novel." At...
without a degree".
In the episode entitled "Eagles & Angels" (Season 4, Episode 4), T-Bag pretends to be Cole Pfeiffer, a top salesman for a corporation called GATE. He is assigned a corner office
Corner office
A corner office is an office that is located in the corner of a building. Corner offices are considered desirable because they have windows on two exterior walls, as opposed to a typical office with only one window or none at all...
with the room numbered 122B. The numbers 122 are the reverse of 221, a sly reference by the episode's screenwriters to: 1) Sherlock Holmes's Baker St. address; and 2) T-Bag's Holmesian powers of reasoning and deduction (yet whose powers have been twisted and corrupted toward evil ends). Ultimately, T-Bag is a cleverly crafted anti-Sherlock Holmes, a stock character
Stock character
A Stock character is a fictional character based on a common literary or social stereotype. Stock characters rely heavily on cultural types or names for their personality, manner of speech, and other characteristics. In their most general form, stock characters are related to literary archetypes,...
whose personality is shaped in certain key facets to be the polar opposite of Holmes. Indeed, T-Bag is a modern-day descendant not of Holmes, but of Holmes's archnemesis Professor Moriarty
Professor Moriarty
Professor James Moriarty is a fictional character and the archenemy of the detective Sherlock Holmes in the fiction of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Moriarty is a criminal mastermind, described by Holmes as the "Napoleon of Crime". Doyle lifted the phrase from a real Scotland Yard inspector who was...
.
The character's sexual interest ranges from men to women and children. When asked about the character's sexuality, Knepper asserts, "We're not passing judgment. We're not trying to get these people off the hook. T-Bag's not a homosexual. He's a raw animal. He'd [sleep with] anything."
Knepper has stated that, "Around episode 6 or 7, I got so many letters from people saying, 'When I first started watching this show, I absolutely hated you and I wanted you dead. Now I still want you dead, but I'm starting to feel for you.' I think there's something in my eyes, a childlike thing in there. There's still an innocence. There's still a bit of hope".
During season four T-Bag starts showing disillusionment with his actions, even saying that he wishes that he could have been Cole Pfeiffer, respected salesman and person. He shows reluctance to undertake disturbing tasks. He showed emotion and upset after receiving the news of Bellick's death. He did not want to take GATE hostage, and showed authentic reluctance to kill Gretchen's family or the Bible Salesman/Company Agent. He eventually offers to even release him, at great risk to his personal freedom and lets Gretchen's family go. In the fall finale, T-Bag is the main party against Lincoln killing Gretchen, citing her being a mother as a reason, which can be seen as significant as she had tried to kill him not more than a few days earlier.
Reception
T-Bag is described by TV GuideTV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
s Maya Schechter as "one of the creepiest characters on television" and is mentioned by Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
as one of "TV's best villains".
Production details
Silas Weir MitchellSilas Weir Mitchell (actor)
Silas Weir Mitchell is an American character actor known for playing disturbing or unstable characters.-Career:He has had recurring guest roles in the first season of 24 , My Name Is Earl , and Prison Break...
, who was cast in the role of Charles "Haywire" Patoshik, originally auditioned for the role of T-Bag.
External links
Prison Breaks Theodore "T-BAG" Bagwell at Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...