The Expert

Out of 321 participants, I am currently in 15th.

4 points away from 10th, which is the first spot that pays out.

 I don't follow college b-ball in the slightest, yet somehow I managed to get the Final Four exactly right.

Now go Georgetown!

LOST- Episode 61: The Man From Tallahassee

  Previously on LOST:  Locke woke up from the plane crash with the ability to walk, remembered the time his dad stole his kidney and went with Kate to rescue Jack, who actually may not want to be rescued.

  Things kick off in flashback land where Mr. Locke is balder than he usually is in his memories.  He is answering personal questions to some stiff office lady who is filling out a form.  Locke is trying to continue getting disability benefits but is refused because he won't attend his therapy sessions.  He doesn't feel they are doing anything to help his depression.  Then he gets up and walks away.   Fooled ya.

  In the present, the Rescue Rangers are still lurking in the bushes, stunned by the sight of Jack playing football with Tom and Juliet.  Kate seems particurly intrigued by J and J touching arms and walking away together.  At the same time, Sayid notices that Rousseau has disappeared again.  Locke pulls out his binoculars and watches Jack shake hands with a wheelchair bound Ben.  "This is going to be more complicated than we thought," Locke says with a frown.  Cue creepy LOST title screen.

  Kate locks and loads and is ready to go in guns blazing but Sayid stops her.   He and Locke agree that Jack must have a plan of some kind and that they should get to him at night when he is alone.  Locke then flashes back to his lonely life full of dinners for one and TV movies.  There is a knock on the door and Locke reluctantly meets a young man named Peter.  Peter suspects his mom's new boyfriend is conning his mom and has followed the trail back to John Locke, who happened to donate a kidney to the man.  Locke looks at the picture of the man he knows as his father, Anthony Cooper, but denies ever meeting him.  He insists that the organ donation was anonymous and sends Peter packing. 

  In the present, night has fallen and the crew watches as Jack says good night to Juliet and enters a building alone.  They split up- Sayid covering the front, Locke covering the back and Kate going in to get Jack.  She finds him peacefully playing the piano and they share an awkward hello.  Jack tells her to get lost, not that he's not grateful and all, but They are watching.  Sure enough, the Others come busting in with guns and take Kate down.  They have Sayid too.  The new Danny asks who else is with them, and Kate says that they are alone.  This leaves Locke free to save the day except...

  ...Locke is not covering the back of the house.  He is in Ben's bedroom with his gun pointed straight at the leader of the Others.  Ben offers to tell him where Jack is, but Locke says he is not looking for Jack.  He is looking for the submarine.  Ben plays dumb, but Locke sees through it, mentioning how he got the information from Mikhail right before he killed him.  Alex enters the room against her father's warning and Locke grabs her.  There is a knock on the door so Locke takes the girl into the closet and waits.  Tom enters to inform Ben about Kate and Sayid.  Tom gets his orders and leaves while Ben continues to talk to a man named Richard.  (No one on this show, be they crash survivor, Other or flashback person has the same name as anyone else.  Explain that mystery, writers!)  Ben instructs Richard to get the man from Tallahassee.  BOM BOM BOM!  Locke emerges from the closet thinking that that line was some kind of code for danger, but Ben denies it.  Next Locke demands that Alex go and get him Sayid's backpack.

  Locke flashes back to a flower shop where he has tracked down dear old Dad shopping for flowers for his wedding.  They step aside to speak in whispers.  Locke reveals that he found his dad because the son came to him and is on to the scam.  Locke demands that his father break the engagement and leave immediately before more people get hurt and Dad agrees to do it without so much as an argument.  Yeah, cause that's how things work in all the other times we've seen this relationship. 

  Back in Ben's house, Ben uses his mind games to get Locke to help him into his wheelchair.  Ben doesn't seem to think that Locke has any intention of using the sub to escape.  He has deduced, of course correctly, that since Locke met Mikhail and found the Flame, that he must have taken some C4 with the intention to blow up the sub.  A big leap in deduction, but I'll roll with it since Ben is always so all-knowingly powerful.  They play the same game Mikhail played last week where Locke thinks Ben doesn't know him, but Ben reveals one tidbit after another, proving the opposite to be true.  Ben even adds that he knows Locke was in a wheelchair and he knows how he ended up in it.  Ben asks if it hurt.   "I felt my back break.  What do you think?" John answers.

  Meanwhile, Kate is in the Othersville Pool Hall where she pulls her handcuffed arms around her legs to get her hands back in front of her just as Tom walks in to see her do it.  Awkward!  But Tom is only there to allow Jack to speak to her and leaves the two of them alone with a warning for Jack to be careful.  He explains that this is where the Others live and that the kidnapped children are safe.  Kate is incredulous at this patented Other 'answer without answering' and asks if he is with Them now.  Jack says he is not with anybody.  Kate says she didn't think he meant it when he said not come back.  She kneels down in front of him and sadly takes his hands in hers.  Jack tells her that he made a deal and he gets to go home first thing in the morning.  Juliet interrupts the bittersweet tender moment and tells Jack that they have to go.  Jack gets up and tells Kate that he will come back for her.

  In the past, Locke returns to his apartment complex from doing some shopping and finds two detectives waiting for him.  They ask him if he knows Peter but he denies it.  They press him until he admits that Peter did come to his door but he doesn't know him.  They want to know why Locke's name and number were in the boy's pocket.  Locke wonders why they were going through Peter's pockets, but he pretty much knows the grim answer- Peter is dead. 

  In the present, Ben and Locke continue to wait for Alex.  Ben says it wasn't easy to be with John in Station Six of the Dharma Initiative all that time, knowing who John was and what had happened to him, but not being able to ask about it.  Locke says to ask now.  Ben asks if Locke's ability to walk returned immediately upon crashing there and Locke says yes.  Then Locke figures out where this is going.  Ben wants to know why his own recovery is taking so darn long.  Ben speculates that John is afraid to leave the island because it would mean returning to the wheelchair.  Locke responds by asking for food.

  Meanwhile, Sayid is chained to a swingset outside, when Alex shows up and says that Ben wants the prisoner's pack.  The new Danny's name is Ryan, by the way, and he hands over the bag with little question.  Sayid guesses that the girl is Alex and says so.  He knew it because she looks like her mother.  Alex says her mother is dead and Sayid's assertion that that is what They told her earns him a swift shot to the gut from Ryan, the new Danny.

  Locke and Ben are out of the bedroom now and Locke takes some leftover chicken from the fridge.  Ben, with desperation in his eyes, decides to talk John out of his plan.  He claims that most of his people were recruited and are operating under the pretense that they can leave at any time and Ben needs them to believe that.  Ben offers to help Locke understand the island.  He tries to explain the inner workings of the island in a way that John can understand.  He tells him to picture a box somewhere on the island and whatever you want to be in it can be in it when you open it up.  Locke's only response is that Ben should wish for a new submarine.  Har har.  Ben asks why John is so angry and Locke responds that Ben's people are "cheating" by using electricity and water and guns-they don't deserve to be on the island.  "How is it that you think you know this island better than I do?" Ben asks.  "Because you're in the wheelchair and I'm not".  Point for Locke!  Circle gets the square.

    Alex returns with the backpack and Locke is ready to put his plan in motion.  He says that Alex will take him to the sub, despite Ben's request that it be him instead.  Ben stops him from leaving with his last, last shot to stop Locke's plan.  He says that the beacons and communications  aren't working and once Jack leaves in the sub, it can never return, therefore making the destruction of the sub unnecessary.  Locke doesn't respond to this either and heads out the door with Alex.

  Outside, Alex tells Locke that all her father does is manipulate people and he is probably doing it to Locke.  "He makes you think it's your idea, but it's his."  They arrive at the sub and Locke lets Alex go with an apology.  Watching Alex leave from the bushes is Rousseau wearing the same grim expression she always has.

  Nice call back to the end of Season One with Locke staring down the long way down the submarine ladder after opening the hatch.  Meanwhile, as Ben puts away the leftover chicken, Jack and Juliet enter without knocking.  Jack asks for one last thing-let his friends go.  Ben says that they are only there to rescue Jack so there's no need to hold them after he is gone.  Ben gives his word that as soon as Jack is gone, he will let his prisoners go.  Oh, Jack, you just made a sucker deal!  Ben and Juliet share an emotionless good-bye, maybe partially because Ben knows he will see her again sooner rather than later. 

  As Jack, Juliet and their escorts reach the dock, they encounter Locke striding up the dock.  He quietly surrenders and accepts his capture.  Jack asks him what he is doing there and John's only answer is, "I'm sorry, Jack."   KA-BOOM!  Bye bye, submarine.  We will miss your metallic warmth and charming ability to get us off the island.

  Locke flashes back to his frantic visit to Dad's fancy apartment.  He is desperate to be assured that Dad did not kill Peter.  Dad claims that he is a con man, not a murderer.  In fact, he's in a pickle because of this tragedy.  Turns out, his bride to be called off the wedding.  Locke wants to call her to make sure this is true so Dad points to the phone.  Locke calls the bluff by going to the phone, so Dad has no choice but to lunge at his son and knock him out the window.  Unfortunately for Locke, they are eight stories up and he takes quite the fall.  I'm thinking he'll need a wheelchair.  Lucky to be alive though!  Worst of all was that Dad spilled his McCutcheon whiskey in the process.  That stuff ain't cheap.

  Locke wakes up in the hospital to learn from the detectives that Dad skipped town and could be anywhere.  Case closed!  Then an annoying orderly comes in to force Locke to do his physical therapy.  Locke is resistant and since he still has bruises on his face, I'd say the accident was, like, yesterday and dude should give him a break.  But the orderly insists and picks Locke up and sits him in his new wheelchair.  "You fell eight stories and survived.  I don't want to hear about what you can't do," the orderly tells him.  That eventually will become Locke's mantra, but for now he just wants to sit in his wheelchair and cry.

  Present day Locke is chained to a pipe and Ben and Richard enter to unlock him.  Richard has turned out to be the guy who aggressively recruited Juliet.  Ben tells John that he is not a cheater.  He was about to let Jack leave and look bad in front of his people when out of nowhere, he got exactly what he wished for-a way out in the form of John Locke and his C4.  Locke tells him not to start talking about the magic box, but Ben says he can do better and show John what came out of it.  As they walk down the hall, Ben clarifies his earlier question.  He wants to know if it hurt when his own father tried to kill him.  Ben speculates that John destroyed the submarine because he is afraid and is in the one place where his father can never find him.  Ben says Locke has a special communion with the island and he wants to help him understand it better.  Any guesses what's behind Door Number 1?  Why, it's dear old Dad, bound and gagged!

  Next time on LOST: Somebody dies and it could be because of Sun.               

   

LOST- Episode 60: Par Avion

  Previously on LOST:  Kate swore to go and get Jack back from the Others, her team found an above-ground Dharma Station manned by Mikhail, who turned out to be an Other, and Desmond warned Charlie that he was going to die.

  Things kick off with the now rare opening eyeball.  It belongs to young Claire, who has black hair in this flashback and has just woken up in a wrecked car.  She climbs out the windshield that was broken open when her mom flew threw it.  Claire wails on the pavement next to her gravely injured mum.

  In the present, Claire awakens from her dream to find that Charlie has been taking care of the baby and preparing a lavish breakfast for her on the beach.  Claire wonders why Charlie is no longer moping around and he says he has decided to stop feeling sorry for himself and seize the day. 

  Deep in the jungle, the Rescue Rangers have stopped to consult the electrical grid/map that Sayid got from the Flame Station.  Locke is not confident in the accuracy of the map, so Sayid sarcastically remarks that it couldn't be as infallible as the magic carvings on Eko's stick.  Locke points out that the stick led them to the Flame, followed by Sayid pointing out that Locke blew up the Flame.  Locke says that Sayid should have warned him about the C4 lining the basement.  An actual point-counterpoint instead of everyone just shrugging their shoulders?  A first for LOST in three seasons!  Kate stops the bickering by asking Mikhail straight up if they are going the right way.  He says yes.  Locke and Rousseau agree that Mikhail is very disposable, but Kate and Sayid want to keep him alive.  Kate tells everyone to just keep moving.

  Back at the beach, Claire and Charlie have their breakfast interrupted before it even gets started.  Desmond has emerged from the woods with a sudden great interest in what Charlie is up to.  They both know what this means and begin an awkward conversation like two kids on a first date.  Claire sees some birds flying off the island and over the ocean and runs off excitedly.  She tells the boys that she has an idea that could get them home!  Cue creepy LOST title screen.

  When Claire gets back to camp, she asks Jin for his fishing nets.  Sawyer finds her perkiness amusing, but stops short of calling her Barbie, since he lost the ping-pong bet andall.  Claire explains her plan to catch the birds and tie herself to them so she can fly off and get help.  Just kidding.  Turns out the birds are tagged by scientists and she wants to send a message out into the world.  Charlie seems very doubtful of her plan and is lost in thought when Claire starts bossing him around to help.  He thinks it's a waste of time and walks away.  Claire shoots a glance over at Desmond, who also walks away. 

  Claire flashes back to the hospital where she is being stitched up.  A cop comes in to ask her questions about the accident.  Claire had been driving the car and gets more and more defensive about her role in things.  The cop says he is not blaming her, but the questions are standard procedure when there has been a fatality.  Claire reminds him that her mother is still alive.

  It's time for a water break in the jungle, so Kate asks Rousseau why she never asks about her daughter.  Rousseau rightly points out that there is no way Alex knows who she is or that she ever cared, so what's the point of getting to know all about her?  She doesn't ask because she does not want to know the answers. 

  When the trek continues, Kate asks Mikhail how he came to be on crazy island.  Rousseau insists that everything he says will be a lie, but Mikhail seems to be a different breed of Other.  Perhaps it his role in communications that has made him more open to, ya know, communication.  He says he was recruited and came to the island by submarine.  The Others can come and go as they please, except the "come" part ended when an electromagnetic pulse knocked out the underwater beacons that lead to the island.  Kate wonders why anyone would want to come back there and Mikhail says she is not capable of understanding because she is not on "the list."  Mikhail proclaims the greatness of the man who brought him and his people here, which Kate mistakenly assumes is Ben.  Mikhail says that his present company is not on the list because they are flawed: angry, weak and frightened.  Sayid tells him not to speak to them as if he knows them, which emits a smirk from Mikhail.  Of course he doesn't know Sayid Jarrah or Kate Austen.  He claims to have a memory of Locke and begins to taunt him until Rousseau interrupts because she has found something.  They walk into a clearing and see giant pillars placed in a line to make what looks like an invisible fence.

  At the beach, Claire, Sun and Jin have put Claire's plan into action.  As Claire and Sun chop up fish to attract birds, they discuss mothers.  Sun says hers would be very disappointed that Sun is doing work and married a fisherman's son because she never worked a day in her life.  Claire seems saddened by the discussion and mentions how her mother WAS a librarian.  Sun seems interested in the past tense, but Claire speaks no more.  She flashes back to a bedside meeting with the doctor and her aunt, who doesn't seem to like Claire very much.  The doctor says that Mom may never wake up but she will be well cared for in the hospital because an anonymous someone is footing the bill.

  By the time Claire is done on memory lane the trap is set.  Unfortunately, all the birds fly away when a gunshot rings out from nearby.  Desmond apologizes and says he was hunting boar.  Claire is very suspicious, especially after Desmond stammers through his reasoning for being in the vicinity.  Claire thinks he doesn't want her to catch a bird at all.

  Back in the jungle clearing, Sayid is very cautious about going near the invisible fence.  He has noticed sensors on the sides of the pillars and thinks it's an alarm system or a trap.  Mikhail says he is right, but it hasn't functioned in years.  As Sayid checks the map to confirm Mikhail's claim that the fence surrounds the entire barracks, Locke puts down his bag and suddenly whips Mikhail into the fence.  Mikhail says thank you, then promptly foams at the mouth and drops dead.  Locke says sorry.  And really, what else can you say after becoming a murderer?

  After a commercial to ponder this development, Sayid and Kate have decided that they are mad at Locke.  Sayid has even begun to wonder why Locke is really with them.  It's not like he was exactly bosom buddies with Jack.  Kate has decided that they should go over the fence and asks for the ax.  Locke insists on getting it from his bag, which makes Sayid even more suspicious and lo and behold, when he opens the bag, he finds some C4.  Now Locke is both a murderer and a liar, liar, pants on fire.  He says you never know when C4 might come in handy, which is in the lame excuse handbook right under "It's not you, it's me'.

  Backat camp, Claire has decided she is mighty angry and accuses Charlie of being up to something.  He professes innocence, but Claire calls him a liar and tells him to stay away from the baby.

  In the past, Claire arrives at the hospital to find that her mother is being looked at by a new doctor.  It is the man we know as Christian Shepherd, Jack's dad.  It seems Claire's aunt isn't too fond of him, either.  Tempers flare and Claire learns that Shepherd is one paying the bills and that he is the father she was told was dead .  Now we all know what that means.  It means when Jack delivered Aaron, he was looking at his sister's business.

*EDIT*  Amalfimama is right.  Kate delivered Aaron.  I'm seriously starting to worry about my formerly stellar memory.

  Meanwhile, the Rescue Rangers have chopped down a tree and leaned it onto one of the pillars.  It's time to climb and Kate is up first.  She gingerly shimmies up the tree, drops down and is SAFE!  Locke goes next and also makes it.  He and Kate then take a moment to check out the dead body, man!

  At the beach, Sun tells Claire she is right to be upset and the discussion leads to Claire deciding that she is going to get some answers.  She flashes back to Dad visiting her at work in the Wild Chick Piercing and Tattoo Parlor.  Cause she's a crazy punk with BLACK hair, so that's totally where she would work!  Dad insists on a cup of coffee and then he will be gone forever.  During the coffee break, Dad tells her that he visited a lot when she was younger but stopped coming around because Mom kind of resented him having another family in the States.  Then he gets to the point.  He wants Claire to pull the plug on Mom and knows ways to get around the law.  Claire is disgusted and storms off.  Dad stops her and tells her not to keep her mom alive out of guilt.

  In the present, Claire has tracked Desmond to a more remote part of the coast where he climbs a rock and catches a bird.  Claire is amazed, yet still kind of angry and bewildered that Desmond knew exactly where to go and what to do.  Desmond points to some more rocks nearby and says that that is where Charlie fell in the water and died.  BOM BOM BOM!

  But of course Charlie is not quite dead yet-he is relaxing at camp.  Claire approaches him and revealsthat Desmond told her everything.  Charlie asks her if she believes that rubbish.  Claire flashes back to a visit with her motheryears after the prior flashbacks.  Mom is still comatose and hospitalized.  Claire reveals to her that she is pregnant and she is going to give the baby away.  Then she breaks down and apologizes for her role in the accident.  Her role being a disobedient punk kid who argued with her mother and probably caused the accident on purpose. 

  As the sun sets at the beach, Charlie reads the note Claire has written.  He says it is perfect, but I disagree since she forgot to write SEND HELP!.  Charlie attaches the note to the tagged bird and sends it off. 

  In the jungle, Sayid returns to his friends from a bit of scouting and announces, "We're here".  The gang takes a peek through the bushes and sees the suburb of Otherville complete with people biking and walking and...Jack running for his life.  Kate wants to call out to him, but Sayid puts a hand out to stop her.  Then they watch in horror as Jack completes his route, catches the football and spikes it for the touchdown!  Tom to Jack for 6!  I told you Jack and Tom were BFF!  Is Jack now a card-carrying member of the Others?

  Next time on LOST: The one we've all been waiting for!  Locke confronts Ben, but more importantly, he flashes back to how he got in the damn wheelchair.

PS- If you see a Support John McCain ad at the top of this page, please be reminded that I have no control of the ads.  I've gotten used to it for the most part, but that one struck me as a new level of wrong.  The VCH has no political allegiance.

VCH Radio 3/12/07

The latest audio version of my journal is now available. Hear my ten favorite songs of the week.

 Plus: Remembering comedian Richard Jeni.

 http://www.yousendit.com/download/T2dkcHBKYUlKV00wTVE9PQ