Characteristics
Despite being despised by the other convicts for his heinous crimes and affiliation with the Alliance for Purity, T-Bag is quite eloquent and seen as charming by many of the women he meets. Knepper comments that, "T-Bag's not crazy. He knows exactly what he's doing. He's not going to make himself stupid." In a separate interview, Knepper says, "I never play him like a stereotypical racist or redneck. He's actually quite cunning and smart." He likens the character to "Truman Capote without a degree".
In the episode entitled "Eagles & Angels" (Season 4, Episode 4), T-Bag pretends to be Cole Pfeiffer, a top salesman for a corporation called GATE. He is assigned a corner office with the room numbered 122B. The numbers 122 are the reverse of 221, a sly reference by the episode's screenwriters to: 1) Sherlock Holmes's Baker St. address; and 2) T-Bag's Holmesian powers of reasoning and deduction (yet whose powers have been twisted and corrupted toward evil ends). Ultimately, T-Bag is a creatively crafted anti-Sherlock Holmes, a stock character whose personality is shaped in certain key facets to be the polar opposite of Holmes. Indeed, T-Bag is a modern-day descendant not of Holmes, but of Holmes's archnemesis Professor Moriarty.
The character's sexual appetite ranges from transsexuals to adult and young men to women and children. When asked about the character's sexuality, Knepper asserts, "We're not passing judgment. We're not trying to get these people off the hook. T-Bag's not a homosexual. He's a raw animal. He'd anything."
Knepper has stated that, "Around episode 6 or 7, I got so many letters from people saying, 'When I first started watching this show, I absolutely hated you and I wanted you dead. Now I still want you dead, but I'm starting to feel for you.' I think there's something in my eyes, a childlike thing in there. There's still an innocence. There's still a bit of hope".
During season four T-Bag starts showing disillusionment with his actions, even saying that he wishes that he could have been Cole Pfeiffer, respected salesman and person. He shows reluctance to undertake disturbing tasks. He showed emotion and upset after receiving the news of Bellick's death. He did not want to take GATE hostage, and showed authentic reluctance to kill Gretchen's family or the Bible Salesman/Company Agent. He eventually offers to even release him, at great risk to his personal freedom and lets Gretchen's family go. In the fall finale, T-Bag is the main party against Lincoln killing Gretchen, citing her being a mother as a reason, which can be seen as significant as she had tried to kill him not more than a few days earlier.
Read more about this topic: Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell