Prison Break: Here's Everything You Need to Know About the Revival

You thought Prison Break was dead! You were wrong! (And you underestimated Fox's love of bringing back dusty franchises.)

Fox is reviving the action series for a one-off miniseries that begins Tuesday, April 4, so it's time to brush up on how to make a prison lighter. It's also time to figure out what's in store for the nine-episode revival, so let's go over the basics.

Here's everything you need to know to get ready for Prison Break's return.

1. Michael is alive
Remember when Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller) died in the direct-to-DVD film and we were all like, "NOOOOOOOOOO!" Well, psych! He's alive. Otherwise it wouldn't be Prison Break, right? The circumstances around his "death" will be essential to the revival, and they won't be revealed right away, so expect to stick around for the long haul to learn how the writers pulled this off.

2. There will (probably) be a prison break
Look, it's the title of the show, so I don't think it's too much of a spoiler to say that someone is in prison and they try to break out.

3. It's set in a land far, far away
American prisons? Been there, done that. The revival moves the action out of the relative comforts of Uncle Sam and into the turbulent region of the Middle East. Specifically, Yemen, where ISIS has caused civil war and one ugly, nasty prison houses some of the worst in the world. How did our gang end up there? That's a major part of Season 5's plot.

4. Don't expect too much from the first episode
In a scenario like this where the "band has to get back together" after seven years apart, don't expect to dive right into the answers about how Michael is still alive. In fact, almost the entire first episode is devoted to catching up with our Prison Break pals as they learn that Michael is alive. It's a full reset of the series that establishes the new premise and setting rather than a quick dive back into the universe of the franchise.

5. The story follows The Odyssey
Literary folks will notice several comparisons to the classic epic The Odyssey by Homer. Creator Paul Scheuring isn't bashful about the influences, going so far as to lift the names of places in the book for use in his show. For example, Sara (Sarah Wayne Callies) now lives in Ithaca, New York, and Odysseus was the king of Ithaca in the book. The general themes of the book also carry over, though I'm pretty sure the Greeks never named anyone T-Bag.

6. It's more like Season 1 than Season 4
When looking at bringing the franchise back for a last(?) hurrah, Scheuring wanted to replicate the feeling of Prison Break's first season, which is considered by many to be the show's best. The basic idea of two brothers separated by prison bars is brought back for the revival.

7. Familiar faces will be back!
In addition to Michael, Lincoln (Dominic Purcell), and Sara, expect to see T-Bag (Robert Knepper), C-Note (Rockmond Dunbar), Sucre (Amaury Nolasco) and Kellerman (Paul Adelstein) returning for more prison-breaking action.

8. New faces will be there, too
Mark Feuerstein (Royal Pains) joins the cast as a new man in Sara's life, and British actor Augustus Prew joins the series as well. You'll also meet a new fan favorite in Inbar Lavi's Sheba, a tough Yemeni activist who helps the crew out.

9. You don't have to watch the other seasons to follow along
Because of its reset nature, there's no need to really be an expert on the original run of the series. Sure, it will help, and newbies won't get the same rush from seeing T-Bag for the first time, but the open-and-shut story stands on its own.

Prison Break returns April 4 at 9/8c on Fox.