Benjamin Miles "C-Note" Franklin
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| Prison Break character | |
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| Benjamin Miles "C-Note" Franklin | |
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| Role | Prisoner/Fugitive |
| Current status | Active |
| Crime | Possession of stolen goods |
| Sentence | 8 years |
| First appearance | Pilot (1x01) |
| Episode count | 25 |
| Portrayed by | Rockmond Dunbar |
Benjamin Miles "C-Note" Franklin, played by Rockmond Dunbar, is a fictional character from Fox television series Prison Break. He was promoted from recurring character to regular character midway through the first season.
Franklin was a Sergeant in the U.S. Army, stationed in Kuwait. While serving as a guard for a detention facility, he discovered illegal torture of several detainees and reported this to his commander. C-Note's commander dishonorably discharged him for his involvement in black market activities after C-Note refused to agree to keep quiet about the incident. With the shame of dishonorable discharge hanging over him, C-Note was unable to find other work to pay the rent for his wife Kacee and daughter Dede, and resorted to criminal means. His brother-in-law, Darius (Mike Jones) was a truck driver and suggested that he could help transport stolen goods. Eventually, C-Note was caught and because he would not give up the identities of his friends, he was sent to Fox River.
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[edit] Appearances
C-Note's first appearance in the series was as a recurring character in the pilot episode. After the thirteenth episode of the first season, the character was promoted to a main character.
[edit] Season 1
C-Note eventually started working in the prison kitchen and gained a reputation as the "prison pharmacist", being able to acquire any item or substance for other inmates for $100, or a "C-Note" (which, in conjunction with his namesake's appearance on the bill, spawned his nickname). He and Michael Scofield first crossed paths when Michael asks him to obtain some PUGNAc to allow Michael to feign diabetes and thus gain access to the infirmary (a critical aspect of his escape plan). C-Note was curious but Michael refused to tell him what it was for. In "Allen", C-Note refused to deal with Michael after seeing him associating with T-Bag, leader of a white supremacist group in the prison. He later reconsidered after seeing Michael apparently fighting one of T-Bag's men during a riot, though his curiosity was not diminished.
He later became suspicious of the PI crew when he realized that they were discarding pieces of concrete across the prison yard, from the hole they had been digging in the Break Room. After the PI head, John Abruzzi was briefly replaced by Gus Fiorello, C-Note bribed him to work in PI. He discovered the hole that Michael and crew had dug as part of the escape plan. When Abruzzi regained control of PI, C-Note threatened the crew to let him on board or he would tell the guards.
C-Note later became a respected member of the team when he helped the team out of several problems that nearly derailed the escape plan. He also befriended Charles Westmoreland as they both shared the same need to see their family again. One consequence of his joining the escape team, however, was C-Note being ostracized by other black inmates, ironically for the same reason C-Note had initially refused to deal with Michael: consorting with T-Bag, who had also joined the escape team. C-Note had two violent encounters with his former associates and only the escape prevented him from being killed.
After the "Fox River Eight's" escape, C-Note, Michael, Lincoln, Sucre, and Abruzzi met bigger problems as their escape plane took off and left them stranded with numerous police on their trail.
[edit] Season 2
The next morning, C-Note, Michael, Lincoln, Sucre, and Abruzzi continue to run from the authorities, narrowly running past a freight train to evade their pursuers. C-Note becomes the outspoken man of the fugitive group. He chastizes Scofield for failing to openly disclose to the group the existence of Westmoreland's money in Tooele, Utah, and he also demanded that Abruzzi be abandoned because he took a young girl hostage when her father recognized the five as the Fox River escapees. C-Note is focused on rejoining his family, and the little trust he ever had for his fugitive comrades appears to be wearing thin. His wife and daughter were, up until the start of second season, unaware of his incarceration as he had managed to trick them into thinking he is still serving overseas in Iraq. They learned the truth when his escape made the news.
By episode 3 "Scan", C-Note contacted his wife by payphone, and she was quite upset with his lies and even doubted that he was ever in the US Military. C-Note promised to explain everything and that he would come into a lot of money soon. He said in 7 days, that they would meet at the "Rainbow Room" at the window where they had their picture. Eavesdropping FBI agents assumed they meant a city restaurant. C-Note later meets his daughter at school and asks her to tell her mother to turn the porchlight on at seven o'clock as an indication of her trust. By the episode's end, C-Note is skulking about near his family's home, while an FBI Agent Lang interviews his wife.
C-Note then proceeds to make his own play for Westmoreland's money by taking a train to Utah. Borrowing a laptop and notepad from the commuter sitting next to him, C-Note accesses an online military database run by the United States Army Signal Corps to find the site where the money is buried. Unfortunately, midway through Preston, Idaho, an attendant tells him that the credit card used to buy the ticket is not valid. C-Note attempts to reason with him, but the attendant calls for security. Out of options, C-Note is forced to bolt out a window, into a nearby river. He passes through Cache County, Utah and inquires about an RV for sale. He is told that it will cost $40,000.00. C-Note replies that he will be back in a couple of days with cash.
He is later seen hitchhiking when Sucre, driving past on his motorcyle, agrees to give him a ride. They arrive in Tooele and are reunited with Michael. They proceed to dig for the money. Unfortunately, a house had been built over the burial site. Though the fugitives were initially able to fool the residents into thinking they were maintenance men, they eventually got wise. C-Note loudly voiced his disapproval to Michael about taking innocent people hostage, and his old tensions with T-Bag also resurfaced. But these feelings later give way to excitement when they finally dig up the money. Unfortunately for C-Note, Sucre chooses this moment to double cross them all and demands the money from them while holding them at gun point. C-Note immediately leaves for his family after seeing that the money is gone. In episode "Unearthed", he meets up with his old friends back in Chicago for help with executing his plan to reunite his family. He and his wife and daughter finally have their reunion in an alley after a narrow escape from the federal agents.
In the episode "Disconnect", C-Note has a happy time with his family until his daughter complains of stomach problems. Kaycee tells him that they don't have her medication, and they leave to find a pharmacy. While buying medication, the pharmacist recognizes Kaycee, and on the pretence of needing change from the back room, calls the authorities. Kaycee is arrested, but not before she drops the medication into the trash so C-Note could pick it up from there.
[edit] External links
- Benjamin "C-Note" Franklin's biography at Fox.com
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| Production: | Season 1 | Season 2 | Airdates | DVD releases | Mobisodes |
| Miscellaneous: | The Company | Escape plan | Europeangoldfinch.net | Fox River State Penitentiary |
| Characters: | |
| Main: | John Abruzzi | Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell | Brad Bellick | Lincoln Burrows | L. J. Burrows | Veronica Donovan Benjamin Miles "C-Note" Franklin | Paul Kellerman | Alexander Mahone | Michael Scofield | Fernando Sucre | Sara Tancredi |
| Secondary: | List of recurring and minor characters |
