'Prison Break' season 5 release date, spoilers: T-Bag on the operating table; is it for his hand?

A photo posted by the official "Prison Break" Twitter account featuring Robert Knepper as Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell.Twitter/PrisonBreak

"Prison Break" is returning to TV screens next year, and ahead of the season 5 premiere of the hit FOX series, the show's official social media accounts have been teasing some scenes from upcoming episodes.

One photo posted on the "Prison Break" Twitter account on Nov. 12 hints that a character may undergo a major operation when the show returns. In the picture, it can be seen that Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell (Robert Knepper) is in the operating room and appears to be talking to a doctor. The photo was captioned, "An operation is underway."

Immediately, fans thought that T-Bag might be getting a new hand in the upcoming installment, with some saying that it's been a long time coming ever since John Abruzzi (Peter Stormare) cut off his hand after the great escape from Fox River State Penitentiary in season 1. In season 2, T-Bag tried to find a way to reattach his hand, and though a veterinarian did it for him, he had to cut it off again as a way to escape the police.

Ever since series protagonist Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller) encountered T-Bag in Fox River, it seemed like he couldn't shake off the convict as T-Bag had always been around since he blackmailed Michael into taking him along for their first prison break. While it looked like T-Bag served no other purpose than to torment Michael and Lincoln (Dominic Purcell) in past seasons, the new installment will see the character in a fresh way as Knepper told Digital Spy that he wanted to do something new with T-Bag in season 5.

"I said to [series creator] Paul Schering, 'Please, can we keep it fresh? Can we do something different than what we did before?" said Knepper. "What has happened to Teddy in the last six years, while he was in prison? Could this person change? How could he change, and how deeply could he change, and would he stay that way?"

"Prison Break" season 5 will premiere in early 2017 on FOX.