The Company (Prison Break)
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The Company is a fictional covert organization featured in the American television drama/thriller series Prison Break. It is a secret group of multinationals known almost exclusively by those who work for them (with the exception of those opposing them). Its influence and power over individuals stretches to the White House, influencing every decision the country makes.[1] Its main goal is to maintain control over the country's economy. The Company has thus far also been described a group of multinational corporate interests.[2] , and as a shadowy cabal of corporations that influences everything that goes on in the United States.[3]
The Company has influence over many agencies of the United States government, especially the Secret Service. With Caroline Reynolds (Patricia Wettig), the former Vice President of the United States in their grasp, The Company held control over the government's sway on the energy bill and subsequently, the country's economy. However, The Company considers every individual who works for them a pawn to achieve their goals.
The Company and its operatives has on several occasions displayed their complete lack of reason and regard to innocent people's lives. Its desperate need to attain control of the country's economy eventuated in illegal dealings through Caroline Reynolds' brother's company, Ecofield. When one of their employees leaked information about Ecofield into the public, The Company went to incredible lengths to capture him. This man was Aldo Burrows (Anthony Denison). In order to bring him out into the open, The Company masterminded a conspiracy and used Caroline Reynolds' power as the Vice President to convict his son, Lincoln Burrows of Terrence Steadman's murder, thus framing an innocent Lincoln.
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[edit] The Lincoln Burrows Conspiracy
As the root of the conspiracy is only gradually revealed to the viewer, the existence of The Company is not alluded to until the tenth episode of the first season, titled Sleight of Hand. Because while The Company had chosen Burrows as the fall guy, they applied a surprisingly hands-off approach in regards to the conspiracy surrounding Steadman's death, preferring to stay out of it as much as possible and allowing Reynolds and her agents to handle things. Reynolds didn't even notify them at first of the threat posed by Veronica Donovan. Only when her own men failed to do the job did she bring them up to speed. Once they were brought in, however, The Company quickly began to take over the operation. This starts in Sleight of Hand, when the ruthless Company operative Quinn replaces Reynolds' own henchmen Paul Kellerman and Daniel Hale in the pursuit of Veronica Donovan in order to silence her. Quinn fails in this task, and the nature of The Company is not explained at this point.
In the episode By the Skin and the Teeth, we learn that Samantha Brinker, The Company's link to Reynolds, now was present at all meetings regarding the conspiracy operation. In the episode "J-Cat", we learn that they had a hiden agenda regarding the framing of Lincoln Burrows, but what The Company is exactly is not revealed until "The Key", where Lincoln's father Aldo, an ex-Company operative, explains that they are a group of multi-national corporations that effectively controls politics in America.
The Company became increasingly worried about Caroline Reynolds chances at winning the presidential elections after her support started to plummet in the polls. After Reynolds lost President Richard Mills' confidence and the support for a key energy bill in the episode "Tonight", The Company decided to cut her off and advised her to drop out of the race, or they would have to make her. They were greatly surprised when Reynolds had the President killed shortly thereafter (disguising it as a heart-attack) and was then sworn in as the next President of the United States. Although this decisive act seemed to have somewhat improved her power and autonomy against The Company, she still needed them to win the upcoming election and remain in office. Thus, Reynolds continued to follow their orders after becoming President.
[edit] The Fox River Eight
As soon as Lincoln Burrows escaped from prison in the episode Go, The Company's nefarious operatives soon took charge completely. Caroline Reynolds was cut out of the loop and told to attend to other matters, as even her own men now reported to The Company directly. This scheme was effectively in practice by the time of the episode Map 1213, where Kellerman is told that he can no longer speak to Reynolds.
The Company has taken a direct role in the hunt for the Fox River Eight, and has appointed William Kim to lead these efforts. It is finally revealed in the episode "Dead Fall" that the leader of the FBI manhunt, Special Agent Alexander Mahone is under blackmail from Kim, Kellerman and The Company to ensure the death of all the fugitives. It even seems that Kim, through his connections with President Reynolds, arranged for Mahone to be the one to sparehead the pursuit. Kim also functions as a way of cutting Reynolds off from everything regarding Lincoln Burrows as well as her lackey Paul Kellerman. In the eyes of The Company, Kellerman was a loose end who was disloyal and dangerous, allowed to exist only as long as he remained useful. Isolating him from Reynolds was the first step in his eventual elimination and the mysterious Pad Man, the apparent leader of The Company, would later order Kim to "retire" Kellerman in the episode "The Killing Box". This plot would backfire horribly when Kellerman, aware of the impending betrayl, shot his would-be-assassin and allied himself with Michael and Lincoln in hopes of bringing down The Company and the president.
In the episode "Sweet Caroline", when Michael successfully blackmailed Reynolds into a Presidential pardon for him and his brother with a tape revealing her incestuous relationship with her brother, Kim told her just before the press conference that The Company could expose her secrets just as easily as Michael. As a result, the President instead announced she had a malignant form of cancer which would cause her to resign the Presidency and drop out of the race.
At Sara Tancredi's trial in the episode "Sona", Paul Kellerman came forward as a key withness. He revealed everything: the existence of The Company, the President's role in the framing of Lincoln Burrows, etc, and he had documents to prove it. It is not yet known how severely this effected The Company's operations.
[edit] The Mystery of James Whistler
Michael Scofield's ability to break out of maximum-level penitentiaries, as well as being able to elude public authorities from time to time, seemed to have garnered the interest of the organization. They maneuvered him to break out another inmate from a Panama prison, Sona Federal Penitentiary, which comprises the third season's main plot. They are extremely interested in a man named James Whistler and thus they appointed one of their operatives, Gretchen Morgan to kidnap Sara Tancredi and Burrows' son L.J. in exchange for Scofield helping Whistler to break out of Sona. To ensure this, Gretchen Morgan went to great lengths to seemingly get Sara killed, personally decapitating her, thusly showed the brothers that she, and the Company meant business. James Whistler was extremely important in the Company's eyes and they eventually succeeded in aiding him to escape SONA.
[edit] Operatives
- Samantha Brinker, portrayed by Michelle Forbes, is a highly ranked operative who acted as an intermediary between "The Company" and the then-Vice President, Caroline Reynolds. She seems to be a mid-level executive, above the hitmen like Quinn but below the real bosses, whom she is seen reporting to in the episode "Go." She hasn't been seen since the last episode of the first season and it is unknown what happened to her.
- Jane Phillips, portrayed by Kristin Lehman, is a former operative who left "The Company" to join Aldo Burrows in the hope of bringing down "The Company". Ever since L.J.'s kidnapping, it was unknown what happened to her.
- Aldo Burrows, portrayed by Anthony Denison, is the father of Lincoln Burrows and Michael Scofield, who are the protagonists of the series. He left "The Company" and has attempted to gather enough evidence since then to destroy it. He was later killed by F.B.I. Special Agent Alexander Mahone, who was forced to work with "The Company". Now works for them by his own choice
- William Kim, portrayed by Reggie Lee, was a Secret Service agent who is working for a man known as the "Pad Man". He was killed by Sara Tancredi in the second season's finale, before he could kill Lincoln Burrows. Kim was entrusted with protecting the Company's operations from being exposed; he directed the efforts to stamp out Aldo Burrows' organization as well as the hunt for the Fox River Eight.
- Quinn, portrayed by Michael Gaston, was an agent of "The Company", assigned to track down L. J. Burrows, Veronica Donovan and Nick Savrinn. His intelligence and his analytical prowess are overshadowed only by his ruthless nature, having killed Veronica's fiance and then later shooting Nick Savrinn on the shoulder. He later got his comeuppance after he was pushed into a well by L. J. and left to die by Paul Kellerman and Daniel Hale.
- Gretchen Morgan, portrayed by Jodi Lyn O'Keefe, a Company operative who is appointed to ensure that James Whistler would break out of Sona after the death of William Kim.
- Elliott Pike, an agent who appears in the second season finale and in season 3. Pike was involved in using T-Bag as a means to lure Michael Scofield to Panama, before leaving Bagwell imprisoned in a Panamanian jail. He continues to monitore Michael Scofield and Lincoln Burrows during their attempts to break out James Whistler. He was eventually killed by Lincoln Burrows.
- Agent King, an agent who was one of LJ's captors. He is usually seen with Gretchen Morgan.
- Unnamed operatives
The following names are those used in the episode credits.
- "Agent Blondie", portrayed by Steven Chester Prince, is an agent who works for Agent Kim and was assigned to secure Terrence Steadman's location. He is every bit as ruthless as everyone working for the organization. He later killed Veronica Donovan and attempted to frame Sara Tancredi's suicide. After arranging the hit-and-run accident of Alexander Mahone's son, he was killed by Mahone.
- The "Pad Man", portrayed by Leon Russom, is the head of "The Company" and was Agent William Kim's supervisor before he (Kim) was killed by Sara Tancredi. He has spoken very little, preferring to hand terse notes to Kim. He finally spoke to Kim in the episode "Panama" aboard a remote rowboat. He only speaks where he can't be monitored. In the episode "Sona" he is addressed by another character as "General" and is seen wearing a white lab coat. He was last seen giving orders to Gretchen Morgan to advance with mission "Bang & Burn"
[edit] References
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Prison Break's official site at Fox.com
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