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Fox River State Penitentiary is a fictional level one maximum-security prison featured prominently in the first season (and briefly in the second season and fifth season) of the television series Prison Break as well as mentioned in the first season of the television series Breakout Kings. The real-life counterpart of the prison is the Joliet Correctional Center, originally known as the Illinois State Penitentiary, located in Joliet, Illinois.

Structural organization

Fox River State Penitentiary assumes many characteristics of its real-life counterpart, Joliet Prison. Its structure and layout are the same, with the exception of its three-tiered A-wing in contrast to the two tiers in Joliet Prison .^[1]

As shown in the episodes "Riots, Drills and the Devil (Part one and two)", the general prison population is divided into east and west cell blocks in A and B wings respectively. These two wings are completely segregated by the South wing, which holds the administration staff. In a subsequent episode, "The Old Head", it is revealed that the infirmary is located on the opposite end of the prison to the A wing. A storage room, which later became the correctional officers' break room, is located at the center of the prison, directly above the underground pipes.

Built in 1907, the prison has an extensive underground pipe system. In the episode "By the Skin and the Teeth", Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller) explains to his cellmate, Fernando Sucre (Amaury Nolasco) that over the century the original lead pipes were replaced by copper pipes and then later, by industrial plastic pipes. The replacement pipes were laid over the older ones, because that was cheaper, and thus leaving a complex network of pipes beneath the prison.

Reputation and incidents

Fox River State Penitentiary Seal

Rehabilitation program

During his eighteen years as the warden of Fox River State Penitentiary, Henry Pope (Stacy Keach) established the prison industries (PI) program to allow the prisoners to gain skills training in landscaping and various other industrial vocations. Armed with his belief in rehabilitation, Warden Pope also ran an award-winning educational program which helped the inmates gain high school equivalency diplomas and occasionally, bachelor's degrees.^[2]

Riots

The two notable riots which occurred during the incarceration of Michael Scofield were the race riot in the episode "Allen" and the "lockdown" riot in the episodes "Riots, Drills and the Devil" (parts one and two).

Days before the race riot, the tension between white and black inmates rose as they both prepared discreetly for the inevitable fight. The white supremacists led by T-Bag (Robert Knepper), a member of the Alliance for Purity, gathered weapons including shanks and a screw which Michael had loosened from the bleachers that had been claimed by T-Bag. The fight broke out during a head count, which resulted in many injuries and deaths. The riot was stopped when the guards eventually regained control and Warden Pope initiated a lockdown for the following 48 hours.

Soon after, due to the schedule of the escape plan, Michael was forced to shut off the air conditioner in order to cause chaos among the other inmates and in so doing, forcing the guards to put the A-wing in lockdown. T-Bag continuously complained about the heat and eventually caused C.O. Geary (Matt DeCaro) to toss his drink in his face and initiated a lockdown. However, T-Bag and his followers refused to return to their cells, resulting in the guards retreating back behind the gates. The inmates then started pulling on the bars and later, gained access to the control room which allowed them to free the other prisoners, causing a full-scale riot. The riot was stopped after the Governor of Illinois, Frank Tancredi (John Heard), intervened and sent special units to regain control of the facility.

Escape

A few years prior to Michael's arrest in flashback episode "Brother's Keeper", Fox River had undergone renovations and the company he worked for as a structural engineer had been delegated the task of re-fitting the prison, which allowed him access to all of the blueprints for the facility.

After Michael's brother, Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell) was framed for the murder of Terrence Steadman, brother of then-Vice President Caroline Reynolds (Patricia Wettig), he was convicted and placed on death row at Fox River. Michael eventually developed an elaborate plan to break his brother out of prison. He committed an armed robbery, then allowed himself to be arrested, pleading no contest to the charges but requesting incarceration at a facility close by – Fox River State Penitentiary. Prior to his arrest, Michael had extensive tattoo work done over his upper body which included the plans for the prison and various other codes (hidden in the artwork, so as not to arouse suspicion). Once inside, he enlisted the aid of several inmates who would prove useful to the escape.

Though the escape attempt suffered a number of setbacks and a number of other inmates forced their way into the escape plan, they eventually successfully escaped climbing across a wire and going over the prison walls. Michael, Lincoln, and the six other escapees would come to be known as "The Fox River Eight" in the second season. They consisted of the following inmates:

• 
  Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller) – 5 years for armed robbery (thought to be deceased)


• 
  Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell) – Scheduled to be executed two days after the escape for the supposed murder of the Vice-President's brother, Terrence Steadman (exonerated)


• 
  Fernando Sucre (Amaury Nolasco) – 5 years for aggravated robbery (exonerated)


• 
  John Abruzzi (Peter Stormare) – 120 years for Conspiracy to murder (deceased)


• 
  Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell (Robert Knepper) – Life for 6 counts of kidnapping, rape and first degree murder (captured)


• 
  Benjamin Miles "C-Note" Franklin (Rockmond Dunbar) – 8 years for possession of stolen goods (captured) now exonerated


• 
  David "Tweener" Apolskis (Lane Garrison) – 5 years for grand larceny (deceased)


• 
  Charles "Haywire" Patoshik (Silas Weir Mitchell) – 60 years for second degree murder (deceased)

Additionally, two other inmates, Charles Westmoreland (Muse Watson) – (60 years to life for vehicular manslaughter) and Manche Sanchez (Joseph Nunez) – (6–7 years for break and enter and burglary) were involved in the escape plan, though Sanchez was captured, and Westmoreland died of injuries sustained earlier.

The Fox River Eight escape was the first successful escape in the history of Fox River State Penitentiary.^[3]

The escape of eight felons led to the dismissal of Captain Brad Bellick (Wade Williams) and the resignation of Warden Henry Pope. Dr. Sara Tancredi (Sarah Wayne Callies) was arrested and faced possible charges in aiding the escape, though she was later bailed out by her father, Governor Frank Tancredi.

Pope was succeeded as Warden of Fox River soon after by Ed Pavelka (Brandon Smith), a much more hard-line individual who vowed not to make the same perceived mistakes as his predecessor.

Aftermath

The Fox River Eight led authorities on the largest nationwide manhunt in American history. John Abruzzi was killed by an FBI team outside a motel in Washington D.C. David Apolskis was killed by FBI Agent Alexander Mahone (William Fichtner) in Tooele, Utah. Charles Patoshik committed suicide in Wisconsin. Benjamin Miles Franklin turned himself in, but all charges against him were dropped, and he was placed in the Witness Protection Program after making a deal to testify against Alexander Mahone. Theodore Bagwell, Michael Scofield, and eventually Fernando Sucre were recaptured in Panama where they were sent to Penitenciaría Federal de Sona. Michael Scofield managed to escape from Sona with three others. Lincoln Burrows was exonerated of all charges by the testimony of Paul Kellerman, and he is, as a result, now a free man. C-Note, Sucre, Scofield and Burrows all get their charges dropped for giving Scylla to Kellerman. Theodore T-Bag Bagwell was returned to Fox River after his capture.

T-Bag was eventually released seven years later, but was returned after killing A&W. Poseidon, after being exposed by Michael Scofield, was sent to Fox River as well and ended up as T-Bag's cellmate.

Filming

Scenes at Fox River State Penitentiary were filmed on location at the real-life Joliet Prison, which closed in 2002. Although some sets were specially built due to certain constrictions of the facility, many exterior and interior scenes were filmed within Joliet Prison, such as the cell that was briefly occupied by serial killer John Wayne Gacy.^[4] Moreover, the utilization of Joliet Prison as the real-life representation of Fox River State Penitentiary contributed to the "narrative feel of the show".^[4] Series creator and executive producer Paul Scheuring further describes the prison as "a character in itself".^[5]

Crossover

The penitentiary is mentioned in Breakout Kings (Season 1, Ep. 3). The Breakout Kings squad is hunting Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell.

See also

• List of fictional prisons


• Penitenciaria Federal de Sona

References

Coordinates: 41°32′49″N 88°04′27″W / 41.54694°N 88.07417°W / 41.54694; -88.07417