Directed by Steven De Paul
Written by Anthony E. Zuiker, Ann Donahue, Carol Mendelsohn, Peter M. Lenkov & Bill Haynes
"Redemptio" is the 19th episode of Season 6 and the 136th overall. It originally aired April 14, 2010.
Sheldon visits a prison to witness an execution and gets caught in a riot while there. A familiar face shows up among the inmates.
Tropes for the episode:
- The Bad Guy Wins: Shane Casey turns out to have been the one who orchestrated the riot as a distraction so he would escape prison, and did so flawlessly.
- Come with Me If You Want to Live: Reggie Tilford, one of the inmates, convinces Sheldon that he wants to help him escape by invoking this line, word for word.
- Distressed Dude: If the inmates find out who Sheldon is, he's done for.
- Great Escape: Mac tells the team, "We're gonna have to break Hawkes out of prison."
- MacGyvering: Sheldon uses sulfuric acid from a recyclable battery to weaken some cell bars as he and the inmate helping him try to escape.
- Prison Episode: Most of the action takes place inside the PA prison Sheldon is visiting.
- Prison Riot: The inmates start a riot after a scheduled execution does not go as planned. They hold the guards captive, set fires, destroy property, and even beat the warden to a pulp.
- Redemption Equals Death: Sheldon is in the prison to witness the execution of Reggie Tilford, the man who killed his sister. After the execution goes awry thanks to Shane Casey's scheming, Tilford (who accepted being executed as karma for what he's done) saves Sheldon from being killed by rioting prisoners and they both reach an understanding. Then Tilford sees Casey trying to escape while dressed as a guard and tries to stop him, and the other guards and policemen shoot him dead while Casey gets away.
- Talking to the Dead: At the end of the episode, after finding out that his estranged sister had gotten clean and learning who had killed her, Sheldon visits Maya's grave to tell her all the new things in his life since they'd last spoken.
- Weapon Twirling: Upon being introduced as a fellow inmate by one of them to a group of others holding the warden hostage, Sheldon is handed a billy club and is told to use it on the warden as revenge. He hesitates, then twirls it much the same as a sword fighter would do. Just as he starts to swing it for real, the first inmate stops him and convinces the group that they don't need to harm the warden any further, but to use him as leverage.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: This is the only episode since Louie Messer was left in a coma back in Season 2 where he is specifically referred to again. Several of the team wonder aloud why Sheldon never told anyone he'd had a sister. Note the use of the past tense in Danny's comment: "I had Louie and I was always up front about him." The only other "mentions" are in "Hung Out to Dry" when Danny says to Shane Casey, "I know a thing or two about going to bat for your brother," and in "Green Piece" when he includes the name Louie on his list of possible baby names and tells Sheldon that several of his choices are "names of people in my family."
