Not Thriving: Jailbird Of Panama

• Film.Bananas: ZCE
• Film.Brokedown Palace: ZCE
• Series.Mac Gyver 1985: Usage: In "The Escape", a woman asks MacGyver to break out her missionary brother who's been unjustly thrown into a harsh prison in North Africa. Partway through the episode, MacGyver discovers he's being played: the woman is a KGB agent, and the "missionary" is a gunrunner whose skills she wishes to make use of.
• Series.Mission Impossible: ZCE ("Variation - both the jailbird and the rescuing team were in the IMF.")

Our heroes, Dave and Sarah, are busy minding their own business, when all of sudden Alice ([[AliceAndBob for it is she]]) arrives, looking all distressed and unhappy. She tells the following heart-rending story:
Her nephew Bob was an aid worker in [[LatinLand Central America]], namely a [[BananaRepublic military-ruled state]] (The DeepSouth will do the job just as well).

As he was driving along, the police pulled Bob over and found drugs in his car. He swore they weren't his, but the cops took him into custody. Now, he's in a really nasty prison, and he suffers from a medical condition that will kill him if he doesn't get treatment soon.

Alice asks Dave and Sarah to hop down to the country in their CoolPlane (she has connections) out of the goodness of their hearts. As a further incentive, she offers them a lot of money.
Dave and Sarah agree. They head to the country and employ various techniques to attempt to get Bob out. They try persuasion, [[ShowSomeLeg distraction]] and, if those don't work, [[StuffBlowingUp good old-fashioned firepower]].

See also SpanishPrisoner, which shares minor similarities and is always a confidence trick. The Jailbird of Panama can be, but usually isn't.

A pun on the title of the novel ''[[Creator/JohnLeCarre The Tailor of Panama]]''.
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!!Examples:

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* The basic premise of ''Film/BrokedownPalace'', only we the viewers experience from the viewpoint of the two girls who are in jail.
* The plot of the Creator/CharlesBronson movie ''Breakout''.
* ''Film/{{Bananas}}'' is basically a parody of this trope.

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
* ''Series/{{Airwolf}}'' did this on at least two occasions.
* ''Series/MacGyver1985'' did at least once.
** They also subverted it once: after breaking the aid worker out, he turns out to be a gunrunner, and Alice is a KGB agent who needs him free.
* The IM Force of ''Series/MissionImpossible'' did it to rescue one of their own in "Death Squad".
* ''Series/PrisonBreak'' Season 1 and Season 3 basically run on this trope.
** And the third season just so happens to be set in Panama, where several characters are jailed.
* ''Series/TheATeam'' has done this at least once.
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• Alice and Bob - part of list of tropes using Alice and Bob in descriptions
• Brokedown Palace - ghost wick; Film.Brokedown Palace has a commented-out Zero-Context Example
• Characters as Device - index, just a name
• Deep South - description: "If you're a liberal urbanite from one of the coasts, then this is probably the last place on Earth you'd ever want to visit. Especially if you belong to an ethnic, religious, and/or sexual minority. In fact, it will be the last place on Earth you'll ever go to if you piss off the locals, since everyone — including the snarling, tobacco-chewing sheriff who glowered at you in the gas station — is quite happy to make your godless, yuppie ass disappear if they take a dislike to your demeanor. The only people in the Deep South who don't carry guns are the axe- or chainsaw-wielding serial killers." (potholed from "disappear)
• Heroes "R" Us - under the "Live-Action TV" folder: "Airwolf's heroes get a fair degree of support from the F.I.R.M.- they must get Redeye missiles from somewhere, but also have Santini Air (a chopper hire company) for other money and occasionally get paid for rescuing a Jailbird Of Panama."
• Just For Pun - index, just a name followed by The Tailor of Panama
• Plots - index, just a name
• Prison Tropes - index, described as "A character is arrested and sent to jail in a foreign country."