Alexander "Alex" Mahone is a fictional character portrayed by William Fichtner in the American television series Prison Break.

[1] When the protagonist of the series, Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller), successfully orchestrates the escape of eight prisoners from Fox River State Penitentiary, Mahone is assigned to spearhead the task force assembled to recapture the fugitives and manages to capture four of them.

Mahone manages to escape, and is coerced into taking down the Company, a secret group of multinationals which exerts an influence on the White House.

[6] Mahone eventually tracks down John Abruzzi (Peter Stormare) and David "Tweener" Apolskis (Lane Garrison).

Mahone orders his men to shoot Abruzzi to death when he fails to surrender, and later murders Tweener in cold blood.

[7][8] When he returns to his office, Mahone is questioned by Internal Affairs Agent Richard Sullins (Kim Coates) about their suspicious deaths.

Although hesitant, Mahone agrees when an operative of the Company, Agent Kim (Reggie Lee), threatens to murder his family.

[9] He survives and decides to stop chasing the escapees, but is forced to resume his search when his son is injured in a car accident orchestrated by one of Kim's agents.

[10] Mahone returns to his FBI field office, where he is informed by Agent Wheeler (Jason Davis) that Internal Affairs is investigating him.

Michael and Lincoln travel to Panama, where Mahone lures them into a trap by impersonating fellow escapee Fernando Sucre (Amaury Nolasco).

He captures Lincoln and contacts Michael, ordering him to surrender Charles Westmoreland's (Muse Watson) five million dollars and his boat, the Christina Rose.

Mahone is taken to Sona along with Michael, Bellick and Fox River escapee Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell (Robert Knepper).

[18] When Mahone learns about the bounty placed on fellow inmate James Whistler (Chris Vance), he manages to find him and deliver him to Lechero.

[20] Agent Lang visits Mahone and offers him a deal: eight years in a St. Louis prison in exchange for testifying against the government in the Lincoln Burrows conspiracy, or multiple homicide charges if he does not cooperate.

[26] Michael, Whistler, Mahone and fellow inmate McGrady (Carlo Alban) manage to escape; Lechero, T-Bag and Bellick are caught by the Sona guards.

Mahone accepts, learning that other members of the operation are Michael, Lincoln, Sara, Bellick, Sucre[29] and computer hacker and identity thief Roland Glenn (James Hiroyuki Liao).

[39] They catch him in the lie; after Krantz arrives to take charge they interrogate Sandinsky, who reveals some information about a hotel room.

It is revealed that Christina is setting the team up for the assassination of the Indian Prime Minister's son (who was thought to have brought Scylla).

When the bomb fails to detonate and Christina realizes there is something wrong with Scylla, she calls on Mahone to check the device and threatens to kill him if he cannot activate it.

Mahone is offered his old job back with the FBI if he agrees to give them credible information that leads to proof of Michael's plans.

Mahone is depicted as an intelligent FBI agent with "an amazingly sharp mind", quickly discovering the secret of Michael's tattoos and his plans.

[43] Craig Blanchard of The San Diego Union-Tribune describes Michael as the "brains of the operation" and Mahone as his "arch-nemesis, sort of his equal on the other side of the law.

When one of Lechero's men attempts to stab Michael at the beginning of season three, Mahone stops him and breaks his neck in seconds.

The writers were aware of the increasing number of antagonists in the show, which led Olmstead to remark, "If there are too many people pursuing them, [the pursuers] are rendered inept because they're not all catching our convicts, and you can only have so many close calls.

[51] When approached with the scripts for the first two episodes of the second season Fichtner was uncertain of his character's background, but attracted to "the potential of who this guy is.

"[47] Fichtner was given two days to decide whether he wanted to play the character and, although he was unsure if the experience would be worthwhile, he later said that he was glad to have accepted the role.

He's brooding, sexy, enigmatic and a little scary as the FBI man waiting for the clan to cross state lines and make this a federal case.

"[56] Digital Spy's Ben Rawson-Jones praised the "wonderful" Fichtner, claiming he "quickly became more appealing than the brooding hero himself,"[42] however, he did not enjoy Mahone's storyline in the third season.

[42] Robert Bianco of USA Today said that although Fichtner was a welcome addition to the cast, he could not compensate for the "harebrained absurdities that have swamped this show.

"[57] Dehnart called Mahone the best new character of the second season, but remarked that his ability to move from various locations in a short amount of time made him seem to possess "the power of super fast transportation.