Sara Tancredi

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Prison Break character
Sara Tancredi
Role	Former prison doctor
Current status	Active
First appearance	Pilot (1x01)
Episode count	34
Portrayed by	Sarah Wayne Callies

Dr. Sara Tancredi, played by Sarah Wayne Callies, is a fictional character from Fox television series Prison Break.

Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, Sara Tancredi has wanted to be a doctor since she was very young. While at Northwestern University, she was introduced to the works of Mahatma Gandhi and decided to become a humanitarian, which later influenced her decision to work at Fox River State Penitentiary.^[1]

At 29 years old, Dr. Sara Tancredi was one of the few doctors at Fox River State Penitentiary, responsible for everything from administering drugs to performing emergency surgery. Her chosen occupation became a constant source of stress for her father. She had decided that this prison was where she could "be the change" and help the prisoners as well. Sara is the only child of the Governor of Illinois, Frank Tancredi (John Heard). Due to her father's hectic political career and vastly differing beliefs, Sara did not have a close relationship with her father. In episode "Buried", it was revealed that her mother has already passed away.

Her main role in the first season of the series was as a prison doctor and the love interest of the protagonist, Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller). As the season progressed, the character's role in the plot expanded as she became the key to Michael's escape. Sara's involvement in the escape initiates a chain of events in the second season which eventuates in her character becoming part of the show's conspiracy plot.

Contents 1 Appearances 1.1 Season 1 1.2 Season 2 2 Portrayal 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Appearances

Sara Tancredi is one of the main characters in Prison Break. In the first season, she is mostly featured in scenes with Michael Scofield, Frank Tancredi and Warden Pope (Stacy Keach). Thus far, she has appeared in every episode in the series except for the second episode of the second season, "Otis". After the death of Robin Tunney's character, Veronica Donovan, Sara Tancredi became the only remaining principal female character.

[edit] Season 1

The first season contains a flashback episode which explores the past of the main characters, titled "Brother's Keeper". Three years before Michael Scofield's incarceration at Fox River State Penitentiary, Sara was a morphine addict. After she was unable to help a young victim of a car accident due to her drugged condition, Sara immediately sought to change her lifestyle. Her drug addiction becomes a recurring theme when she overdoses in the season finale, "Flight". Eighteen months after the accident, while Sara was attending one of the Narcotics Anonymous meetings, she meets Brad Bellick (Wade Williams) who awkwardly asks her out after telling her about a job opening at Fox River State Penitentiary. Her polite refusal becomes the source of his dislike towards her.^[2]

From their first meeting in the pilot episode, Sara had sensed that Michael was different from the other prisoners. After she checked his academic record, she was surprised that he had graduated with a master's degree. In "Allen", she notices his nervousness as she tests for his glucose count to confirm his diabetes. However, she dismisses it after his test passed.

In Michael's subsequent visits to the infirmary, Sara carefully deflects all his attempts to charm her. When she was required to conduct a medical check-up for Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell), she discovers from Katie that Lincoln is Michael's brother. After a riot broke out in episode "Riots, Drills and the Devil", Sara was temporarily trapped by herself at sick-bay with the prisoners planning to rape her. Michael eventually rescues her using the cross space up on the ceiling. He claims that he knew his way around because of his previous assignation to clean out the toxic mold for PI (Prison Industry). Sara later finds out that he lied to her which further encourages her to try to figure out what would possess him to rob a bank and end up in prison. She searches for clues about Michael's background, and though she knows that something is utterly suspicious, she can't stop herself from being attracted to him.

Sara becomes jealous though and distances herself from Michael when she discovers he had a conjugal visit from his "wife" in episode "And Then There Were 7". However, she continues to help Michael in subsequent episodes despite their relationship. On Lincoln Burrows' execution day in episode "The Rat", Sara went to her father to ask him to review Lincoln's case after Michael pleaded with her. Her relationship with Michael deepens and they ultimately share a kiss in the infirmary in episode "The Key". However, after she discovers that Michael had stolen the keys from her, Sara distances herself yet again from him. After Michael tells Sara about his planned escape in "Tonight", Sara is confronted with the decision whether she should help Michael or not. Eventually, Sara returns to Fox River at night and unlocks the infirmary door. Horribly distressed at what she had done, Sara injects herself with morphine which she took from the infirmary. Suspected for being an accessory to the escape, the police officers charge into her apartment with an emergency warrant and finds her to be nearly dead from a drug overdose.

[edit] Season 2

In the season premiere, "Manhunt" Sara finally awakens in the hospital after having flashbacks of Michael. Later on, she is interviewed by FBI Agent Foley, claiming that she did not aid Michael Scofield's escape. Later, Nurse Katie arrives and drops off Sara's purse, which contained an origami swan. Under its wing was a message left by Michael - "There's a plan to make all of this right".

After her arrest from the hospital in the episode "Scan", which further strains the relationship between her father and herself, Sara becomes the target of "The Company". Posing as Lance, a homosexual addict at a Narcotics Anonymous meeting, Agent Kellerman (Paul Adelstein) attempts to befriend Sara to find out the whereabouts of Michael. Michael's phone call to Sara in "First Down" prompts Sara to take notice of the origami swans Michael continues to send her.

Her apologies to her father and her father's subsequent visit in the following episode resurrects their relationship. Sara eventually learns that Kellerman is not to be trusted when her father recognizes him as a Secret Service agent while he was in Washington, D.C.. However, her father's act to save her compromises his nomination for the vice presidency. When Sara goes to her father's residence to find him in the episode "Buried", she sees him hanging in an apparent suicide. Although she insists to the authorities that her father was murdered, they remain skeptical. As she leaves, she finds a mysterious gold key lying under her purse, which had fallen out of her father's pocket. Unbeknownst to Sara, this key may help to prove Lincoln's innocence, which is revealed in a subsequent episode.

The next three episodes follows Sara as she overcomes several obstacles to meet Michael at a rendezvous point. After escaping from an agent sent by "The Company", who confirmed her suspicions on her father's murder, Sara calls her father's aide, Bruce, who ultimately betrays her by sending a shooter. An innocent woman is killed after the shooter mistakes her for Sara. After her unsuccessful attempt at saving the woman, Sara takes the woman's wallet and finds a safe place to hide. She begins to examine the origami cranes Michael sent her. Eventually, she decodes the message as "Rendezvous Sundown Hotel" and meets Michael at Gila, New Mexico in the episode "Rendezvous". However, their reunion was short-lived after Kellerman and Agent Mahone (William Fichtner) found out about their rendezvous point. When Michael asks her to come with him to Panama, Sara is disappointed about his plan and is reluctant to leave. After leaving a note, she goes to her car, where she then changes her mind about leaving but is confronted by Kellerman.

Kellerman proceeds to torture Sara in the episode, "Bolshoi Booze", in an effort to obtain information about a USB drive he thinks her father gave her. When Sara denies having any knowledge of it, Kellerman decides to drown Sara in a tub. However, she escapes in the following episode but hurts herself in the process. After Micheal and Lincoln are captured by Mahone in "The Killing Box", Sara changes her appearance by shortening her hair and throws her wallet with her IDs away.

[edit] Portrayal

The character Sara Tancredi is portrayed by Sarah Wayne Callies who was the first actress the producers saw at the audition for the role.^[3] Incidentally, Callies was also the first to become a principal cast member.^[4]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Sara Tancredi's biography at Fox.com

v • d • e  Prison Break
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