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Previously on the dead zone
Sarah,there's something I
needto talk to you about.
That you knew walt was
goingto die that day?
And when I asked youif
you'd seen anything,
you lied to me?
All I wanted wasto protect you.
I don't think that there'sa
future here after all.
Watch out!
Gotcha.
Nice catch.
The sox could use youin center.
I can't hit a curve ball.
Say,you wanna getyour hands off my girl?
Hey,buddy.
Hi,boys.
Maria's beautiful,man.
Yeah,you got that right.
Go get him,drift!
What kinda nameis that for a horse?
Uh,actuallyit's splendid drift.
Drift for short.
The way I heard it,she had a nasty habit
of drifting in and out.
Drove jocks nuts.
Nobody'd go near her.
Maria got her to runin a straight line.
Two years later,
drift had a chanceto
make a lot of money.
No,this match raceI read about.
Yeah,battleof the sexes.
Splendid driftversus jitterbug's boy.
Colt versus filly.
500
grand.
Winner take all.
I mean,I think the colt
wouldhave a big advantage,no?
You never seenher run,my man.
Life is good.
Practice is boominG.
I
met the girl of my dreams.
Heck,the only thing
missingaround here is you.
how do you thinkdrift will do?
No worse than second.
how's frankie?
Oh,he'll be ready to go.
Frankie?
Ah,yeah.
That's how I met her.
There's drift's main man.
Frankie!
Hey,I hearda lot about you
from bruce duringour rehab sessions.
Nice to meet you.
So you see me winningon drift?
It doesn't work that way.
Nah,if it did,I'd be a billionaire.
How come you're not out
thereworking on your horse?
Bruce here has me re-habbin'my
knee around the clock.
Besides,my daughter,
she likes to ride the
horseduring the morning.
Lets her know how it's doing.
- Oh,maria's your daughter.
- Mm-hmm.
Excuse me.
Daughter-trainer.
Father-jockey.
Rags to riches.
Press eats it up.
hi,sweetheart.
How's the knee,dad?
Oh,I'm still standing,huh?
Whoa.
Wild,huh?
Is it something I said?
Uh,she's a little shyaround new people.
There's an easy cure for that.
A couple of these sugar cubes,and
you oughta be best friends.
grab her.
Looks like the two of you
gotoff on the wrong foot.
That's one way of puttin' it.
Someone's gonna kidnap drift?
That's what it looked like.
And you're sure that
it's drift's stall that you saw?
Pretty sure.
Why?
Match raceis tomorrow.
Maria's shipping her offto the farm
for a three-month restright after.
Meaning it happens tonight.
What happens tonight?
Planning something funwithout me,huh?
We're just gonna catch up
while you geta good night's sleep.
Uh-huh.
You gota big day tomorrow.
Oh,I can't waittill it's over.
The media's driving me nuts.
In fact,I have a
pressconference in a few minutes.
Ya wanna come?
I would love to.
Great.
I'd love the support.
See ya in a few?
Yeah.
You didn't want her to know?
I don't wanna worry herif it's nothing.
Although with you
usually nothing is something.
Let's hope not.
Are we moving again?
Well,you knew this was
justa temporary situation.
Is it because you and
johnnyaren't getting along?
Who said we weren'tgetting along?
I got it.
Something wrongwith
the space shuttle again?
Well,that'd be newsto me.
As far as I know,we
got nothin' up there.
Mr.
Vice president.
Sarah.
Uh,johnny's not here.
Uh,actually I dropped byto see jj.
me?
Yeah,you know,I've been on
vacationfor the last two weeks.
And now I need to fly outto detroit,
and I was wondering
if you'd like to take
that tripon air force two
like I promised?
- You are invited as well,of course.
- Yes!Yeah,yeah!
Today?
But you've got that bigtree
planting project tomorrow.
But mom,it's air force two!
I know,honey,but you're
already so far behind in school.
I'm afraidthat
you'll just--
I'm sorry.
It's just that jj's
missedso much school already
with everything that's happened.
We've just finally
gotteninto a schedule again.
Sarah,I understand.
Sometimes I likesomebody saying no.
Normally I'm surroundedby
"yes" men and women.
You all right?
I've had better weeks.
Uh
well,if you ever want to talk,
always got time for friends,
and you and yours are friends.
I better go.
I'll let myself out.
Please,let jj knowthat
I will make it up to him.
I'm bill stark,jitterbug boy's owner.
Welcome to the 127th running
of the new england
down'sbattle of the sexes.
And now a word from
drift'sowners,the rasmussens.
We're thrilled to be here.
Drift's a special filly.
Dad forgot to
mentionthat,uh,she's gonna win.
sorry about that,jitterbug.
Father-son owners?
And a
father-daughterjockey-trainer?
Press loves it.
We're here to win too,
so someone's going home empty-handed.
How good is jitterbug's boy?
Damn fine.
Comes from the clouds.
But if driftcan manage her speed,
she'll pop the gateand never look back.
You've been spending waytoo
much time around here.
okay,everyone.
We're gonna open it up to
photos and interviews now.
Ready to go.
Ready to win.
Phew.
Well,thank god that's over.
Now I can get backto
worrying about the horse.
Grab her!
Boring stuff,huh?
No,I wouldn't say that,no.
the horses are comingonto the track
for the first race.
The first of the daily double.
One swipe and I'm done?
Pretty nifty.
Especially sinceyou're footing the bill.
Much simplerwith my visa card.
I get too many hitsoff of money.
Should we call the cops?
Ah,nah,man.
Let's say we goto the cops,
and tell 'em that a
horseis gonna get kidnapped
on the word of a psychic,
they'll thinkthat it's somehow tied
into a wayto fix the nightcap.
Who do ya like?
Who do you like,man?
I'm sorry.
I don't know you.
Doesn't mean youcan't give me a winner.
So who do ya like?
I got the five horse.
- That's 15 to 1.
Are you sure?
- Yep.
All right,listen,great.
I
got one for you.
Jitterbug's boy tomorrow.
I heard action's being
bought upall over town,huh?
Oh,a tipon a two-horse race?
Doesn't seem like a fair trade.
- Thanks,buddy.
- Yeah.
So you really likethe five horse?
Maybe we should bet it.
You don't wantto do that.
Oh
you were just tryin'to
get rid of the--
maybe it's today
for acceleration because
hereshe comes between horses!
Amazing run in the final quarterto win!
Wow,she looked hopelesslybeaten
at the quarter pole,
and down by a length
I could have paid my mortgagefor a year
with a horse like that.
attention,please.
The stewards have postedan inquiry
into the runningof the first race.
Never should have doubted you,bro.
Any suggestionson drift?
You still don't wanna tell your gal?
Wow,you really don't
want mariato know,do you?
She's just gonna worry herselfto death.
Well,that soundsvaguely familiar.
All right,look,this
is nothing like walt.
We know when and
wherethis is gonna happen.
We just gottabe ready.
Hey,they dq'd the nag.
Now,you owe me100 bucks.
You didn't have to beton that horse.
I didn't haveto bet on that horse?
- You gave me a tip!
- Go bug somebody else,man.
So,uh,you upfor midnight watch duty?
Yeah.
That guy stole my wallet.
He took everythingbut my credit card.
Good thing for you they've got plenty
of thosemachines around here.
You know I always sleepin the stables
the nightbefore a big race.
It'll be your faultif drift loses.
Superstitious brat.
Overprotective man.
Don't get himin any trouble.
Yeah,likethat would ever happen.
@H@n are you gonna
make heran honest woman?
Uh,man.
I've been carrying this
thingaround with me for a week.
I'm worried she's gonna see it.
Hmm.
Nice.
So what are you waitin' for?
The match race.
I'm giving
it to her afterwards.
If drift wins,she'll say yes.
If she loses,maybe it'll
makeher more happy than sad.
That's really cool,man.
It just seems wrong,me being so happy,
and you being miserable.
Yeah,it's my own doing.
All I've ever doneis
cause sarah heartache.
You know that,though,right?
Next thing you'll be sayingis
you shouldn't have come out
of that coma six years ago.
Come on,johnny.
You and sarahare meant to be together.
It's not
like you--
Look,I'll go look
around.
You go check on drift.
grab her.
johnny?
Johnny!
What?
I got knocked out,man.
I
didn't see him coming.
Me either.
But she's gone.
They took her!
What?
Drift's right there.
What
are you talkin' about?
Maria!They took maria.
Come on.
- What's this?
- Come on.
Call the cops *** the gial dies
call the cops,the girl dies.
Scratch drift from the match race,
the girl dies.
Win the race,
the girl dies.
I got this when I turnedon
my phone this morning.
I got mineon my answering machine.
So what the hellare we supposed to do?
I have to ride.
Ride and lose for maria.
What,we're just gonna throwit all away?
After getting this close?
I'm sorry you guysare in this position.
We could have used the money.
I've dreamt for years about getting
to a big stage like this.
I guess that's the thingabout dreams,
you've got to be preparedfor something
to come alongand shatter them.
Frankie,whateveryou have to do.
There's alwaysanother race,right?
I'm sorry.
Not like this one.
We're gonna head back.
See
if we hear anything else.
I hate doing this.
Those men have beenreal good to me.
We got the whole dayto
figure out where she is.
Come on.
Don't you havea country to run?
Or is this morning drop-ingoing
to be a regular thing?
I guess I should trycalling first,huh?
Weren't you supposedto be in michigan?
I came back early.
I can do that.
I am the vice president.
Please,come in.
- Mr.
president.
- It's okay.
I'll be fine.
So does this mean you
guyshave changed your mind
about the plane trip?
Sorry,jj,I can't goagainst
your mom on this one.
Why not?You're the vice president.
Your words count,like,I
don't know,triple.
So,uh,is thereany particular reason
you're dropping by?
I had a good ideato help jj out
with histree planting project.
What makes you thinkthis pickpocket
is still hanging around?
I only had 60 bucksin my wallet.
The guy's not gonna give upprime
hunting ground for that,right?
So this is more thanabout
just kicking his ***.
I want to findabout that bet.
He said there wasa lot of money
coming down on jitterbug's boy.
He might know something.
Like who's puttin' the fixon
the race and took maria.
Hey.
Hey!
Sit down.
You got the wrong guy.
In that coat?I doubt it.
Hey,I don't get it.
I already gave you a
tip.
What more do you want?
Quit messing aroundwith us!
Who's laying out those bets?
All right,listen.
But all I heard isthat
it's an insider thing,
you know,some owner-trainer deal.
Who told you that?
I wish I knew,pal
listen,guys,you know,
I hear a lot of
different thingsevery day.
This is what I do.
I collect info.
This owner or trainer,is
it someone involved
in the match race?
It's inside dope.
Didn't I tell ya?
What is it with you?You
don't speak english?
So are we done here?
Give me my wallet back.
I tossed it.
What?
I was gonna use itfor fake id's,
but john smith
Pal,you gotta come upwith
something better than that.
Who is itthat owns jitterbug's boy?
- Bill stark?
- Yeah.
You know where to find him?
For my science project I
thought it'd be a good idea
for all of us to plant trees.
It's a way of giving
somethingback to the earth,
instead of taking it away.
This tree I planted here,
I planted in honor of my father,
sheriff walt bannerman.
He was a good manwho dedicated his life
to make the worlda safer place.
And tha--that's
exactlywhat I want to do.
Well,of course I'm too young to carry
around a badgeand
chase after the bad guy.
But then I realized that
a healthier environment is
whatmakes the world a safer place.
Then I could bejust like my dad.
And now I have a special guest
who'd just liketo add a few words.
Everyone,give it up
for vice presidentgreg stillson.
Thank you,everyone.
Thank you,jj.
You know,uh,jj is right.
Global warming is
increasingat an alarming rate.
So much so that each one of you,
by the time you graduate high school,
which is actually not that far from now,
the damage done to this
planetwill have nearly doubled.
Now,as vice presidentI am committed
to getting american
companiesto help combat this.
But it begins with the individual.
It starts with each oneof
us thinking about others.
It's what walt bannerman did.
And that's what jjis doing here today
by honoring his father.
Now,what we can do is we
canfollow in their footsteps.
And by doing sowe
will make this country,
this world,
a much better,much safer place.
Let's hear it for jj.
Stark's horseis one aisle over.
It's pretty close proximityfor
the competition,no?
Well,it's not like there'sa lot
of secrets around here,johnny.
I mean,run fast and win.
That about covers it.
Anything?Any word?
Well,somebody's bettinga lot
of money on jitterbug's boy.
It might be stark.
I don't think so.
He's an honorable man.
Besides,if his horse wins,
he gets 400 grandon the purse alone.
Yeah,but if he knowsit's a lock
tell me another waysomebody
can double their money
in under two minutes.
Well,if that's what
he's done,I don't care.
Lord knows I love this filly,
but maria meansthe world to me.
Same here.
I knew it the momentyou two met.
It must have been my
secondor third rehab session.
Maria came to pick me up.
These two start talking.
We were an hour late for lunch.
They couldn't get their
eyesoff each other.
I just want her alive.
I tried to pull her
back,but she wouldn't stop.
Drift.
How is drift?
I didn't have the heart to
tellhim they put the horse down.
Unless we getthis
internal bleeding stopped,
he's gonna be joining her.
I'm sorry,girl.
But if it meansthrowing the race,
then I throw the race.
So how badis it gonna be,
what you saw?
Pretty nasty,frankie.
Drift breaks down
when you try to pull
her upand throw the race.
Well,at least I knowwhat to expect,huh?
Look,there's still timeto go see stark.
The press is gonna
wanna knowwhere maria is.
Well,you and the
rasmussenshave to fend them off.
We gotta tell themthat she came down
wi the stomach fluor something.
Whatever it takes.
Even if it means drift
and isacrificing ourselves.
That is what maria's doing nowfor us.
Maria toro's friend.
Bruce lewis.
My friend johnny smith.
How's maria doing?
Why do you ask?
I meant nothing by it.
Big day.
A big race.
Butterflies are natural.
How confident are youin your horse?
Working great.
Worth a bet?
I'm not a gambling man.
Then why bein this business then,huh?
Horse racing'sa passion.
Mr.
Smith,one thatmy other
businesses allow me to enjoy.
I bred jitter's daddyand grand-daddy.
I'm just a proud parentwhen
he gets on the track.
Whoa.
Ladies and gentlemen.
In light of today's events,
we are donatingall the purse money
to the horseman's relief fund
in memoryof that great competitor,drift.
And my companywill
match those donations.
We send our prayersfor frankie toro.
mr.
Smith,I take it
you're not a horse person.
That's a safe bet.
Yeah.
What'd you see?
Stark's not our guy.
If frankieand drift go down,
he donates the purse to
charityand then matches it.
Well,you gotta figure a
guywho fixes a horse race
isn't just gonna give
awaya million dollars.
Yeah,exactly.
Got another idea?
No,but I'm hopingthat drift does.
it's kind of overwhelming.
What's that?The peanut butter?
No.
No,you being herefor jj,
talking to the kids,the shirts.
Happy to do it.
Without a reporteror a
photographer in sight.
I'm on vacation.
Remember?
What do you say you trade
mea couple of those carrots
for my nice,shiny appleright here?
Oh,forget it.
No,I know how that works.
You take the carrots,and trade it in
for a half sandwich,
which in turngets you a cupcake.
Pretty soonwe're all eating apples,
and you're runninga bake sale.
Oh,you got meall figured out,don't ya?
Well,it has workedfor
my political career.
And look whereit's gotten you.
I always end upcoming home.
You know.
I thought you werefrom texas.
Mm,way back when.
I was a tadpolewhen my mama died,
and daddy brought usup north.
You were closewith him,right?
That's one wayof puttin' it.
We spent time together.
Yeah,I remember hearingthat
he passed away recently.
A heart attack.
I'm sorry.
I don't meanto dredge anything up.
It's all right,really.
I mean,I should feel
something for him,but
I just don'T.
Well,you don't haveto
explain anything to me.
I'll tell you everything
youneed to know about my father.
When I was a kid,maybe six or so,
we wereon the road selling bibles.
And obviously he was using
meas a sympathetic shill
to exceed his quota.
I remember we were
somewhereoutside of cincy,
and I found this stray
dog nextto a diner.
Named him blur.
He
was--he was so sweet.
I think blur
waswith us maybe--
I don't know,maybe a month.
But that was--that wasthe
best month ever,I tell ya.
And I made the mistakeof
telling my daddy
that I'd rather playwith that dog
than swindle people outof
their hard-earned pay.
He dragged meout of there by my ear.
He had me knocking on
doorstill my knuckles were raw.
And I never saw blur again.
Then one day I found
oneof my daddy's boots.
And it was coveredin fur and blood.
And I knewwhat he'd done.
You stayedwith him all those years.
Well,you live the handyou're dealt.
You know.
Maybe I don't have youso
figured out after all.
Oh,that's quiteall right.
I'm still tryingto sort it out myself.
Hmm.
The first vision I got came
from feeding sugar cubesto drift.
The second one cameat
the press conference
because I realized mariawas
holding drift's blanket.
And the next time you gota vision was
after frankie grabbedyour arms.
And then I got one
offof jitterbug's boy.
I keep getting itfrom horses.
Be careful,though,drift
can bejust as skittish.
Yeah,jitterbug's boy didthe same thing.
It's almost as if they
sensesomething different about me.
Be good,girl.
It's okay.
Easy,girl.
grab her!
I just saw what drift saw.
Maria was kidnappedby drift's owners,
not jitterbug'S.
The rasmussens?
What kind of person
sabotagestheir own horse's chances?
Someone upto their eyes in debt.
Do you remember tommy
sayinghe could use the money
when we talkedabout the kidnapping?
I know the kid gambles.
I
didn't realize how much.
Fixing a two-horse race is
agreat way to get out from under.
They could have gone
to frankie and maria
and had them throw the race.
Nah,nah,they would never do that.
I wouldn't expectanything less
from a girlthat you fell for.
well,tommy's dropping dad off.
Let's split up,I'll
stickwith sonny boy,all right?
You go with pops.
All right.
Be careful.
You okay?
Maria,it's johnny.
You son of a ***!
You okay?
How'd you find me?
Drift.
She,uh--
- oh,my god.
- What?
It was tommywho kidnapped me?
And his father.
You never knew?
I was blindfoldedthis entire time.
I never saw him.
They were gonna let you go.
Until now.
it's 40 minutes till post time.
Don't give up yet.
Bruce always saysif your
basement floods at 3:00am,
johnny smithwould be the first one over
with a couple buckets,
won't leaveuntil the job's finished.
Lucky for me,brucedoesn't
have a basement.
Lucky for himhe has you.
You're just saying that
because tommy's aboutto charge in here.
I don't imaginethis is what you expected
when you left cleaves mills.
You were supposedto talk
to bruce about sarah,
not be locked upwith me.
Nah,I'm used to detours.
How are things with her?
How much did bruce tell ya?
That much,huh?
We don't have any secrets.
Yeah,I think I keptone too many.
Bruce blames himself.
What the hell for?
Talking youout of
telling sarah the truth.
Nah,he shouldn'T.
I wanted to tell
her,maria,I just couldn'T.
Sometimes I regret
thatmore than anything.
Have you told her that?
No,I tried to.
You should try again.
It's a little too latefor that.
Funny.
A minute ago youwere
telling me not to give up.
Listen,frankie,when
you pop the gate--
I know,amigo.
Drift and I,we're goingto
be as safe as we can be.
We're going to do it.
For maria.
I was gonna ask herto marry me today.
I will be so proudto
have you as my son-in-law.
- But if you
-no,
you are goingto ask
her to marry you today.
I will not thinkof this any other way.
Hmm?
help! Let me out!
Let me out!
Would you shut up already?
You're wasting your
time.
No one can hear you.
Let's get out of here.
Best of luck to you,amigo.
- You too.
- Thanks.
I wish I could get my hands
onthe *** making me do this.
Yeah.
Me too.
Johnny?
Here.
Somebody wants to talk to ya.
Bruce?
Oh,my g--are
you okay?
Yes,I'm fine!Johnny made sure of it.
Has the race gone off?
No--no,uh,we're just
leavingthe paddock now.
is my dad near you?
Somebody wants to wish you luck.
Maria?
Yes,daddy,it's me!I'm fine.
thank god.
I'm gonna miss the race.
As long as you're okay.
I will be as long as you win.
Johnny says there's
nothing stopping you now.
I'll do my best.
I love you.
I love you too,daddy.
Go get 'em.
Who was that?
That was maria.
Maria?
It's okay!
Just a little disagreementabout a horse.
Oh,I guessthe sitter's upstairs
putting hope downfor a nap.
I can't believe how late
it isin the afternoon.
I really oughta get going.
Can I get you somethingfor the road?
A drink?Coffee?
Whatever it isone offers
the vice president.
How about a soda?
I can manage that.
So where's johnny?
Honestly,I don't know.
You tell meif I'm poking my
nose where it doesn't belong.
I just thoughtyou two were
that wasa long time ago.
Things have changed so much.
I don't thinkwe could really get back
to the way things once were.
No need to explain.
Actually,there's nothingto hide.
The truth is,I thinkthat
hope and jj and i
have overstayed our welcome.
It was always meantto be temporary.
Any ideawhere you're headed?
Well,that's the thing,
I just found out that
waltbought a cabin up north.
I think it was meantto be a surprise.
Problem solved,then.
Not really.
Seems to be some question
about how he got the moneyto pay for it.
That ridiculous investigation?Still?
I mean,in my heartof hearts,I know
that walt would neverdo
anything illegal.
But what if I'm wrong?
I don't
know.
I just--
I can't move in therewith
a clear conscience.
Walt bannermanwas exactly the man
that you thoughthe was.
No one will convinceme otherwise.
That's nice of youto say.
I just hate itwhen a friend is
on the wrong sideof a raw deal.
Maybe there's somethingI can do
to get to the bottom of this.
Oh,you don't haveto do that.
I want to.
You'd be surprised how oftenI
get something when I want it.
Actually,that doesn'tsurprise me at all.
Well,ya see?
I'm not that difficultto
figure out after all.
You just wave it over
thereader,and it's paid for?
Not you again.
This is all I got left.
I thought you tossed it.
I lied.
What?Are you gonna sue me?
I made a fortune on drift.
I thought you had a hot
tipon jitterbug's boy.
After the one you gave
me?Forget about it.
Man,the longer I'm here,
the less this placemakes any sense.
That means you're gettingthe hang of it.
So what's the dealwith
the rasmussen boys?
Ah,do not pass go.
Go directly to jail.
Of course it didn't stop
themfrom paying for this party.
What are you talking about?
Oh,because of the racketeeringand
the kidnapping charges,
they had to forfeittheir
share of the purse
to the new minority owners.
Minority owners?
Yeah,you're lookingat them.
You never said anythingabout that.
Well,you know,it really
wasn'ta whole lot to brag about.
I mean,they each only
owna percent of drift.
For two percentthey get 400 grand?
Actually 500,000.
Since they'reone and the same
nice wedding present,huh?
No,actuallythe best gift I got
was you bringing mariaback
to me safe and sound.
So does this meanI'm off the hook
for my wedding gift now?
Hell no!
By the way,what are yougonna
do about you and sarah?
I think I'm gonna takesomeone's advice
and give it another shot
before it's too late.
Really?Who told you that?
One very lucky gal.
do you have to go?
yeah,I'm afraid so,champ.
Thanks for comingto my school.
The t-shirts,everything.
It was the best day ever.
Well,I had a blast too.
And I promise I'm gonna
get youup on that plane.
All right.
Go get ready for bed.
I'll
be up in a minute.
See ya.
Well.
I'm sorrythis day had to end.
Jj and iwill never forget it.
Me either.