From Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License ===== Three friends, Lewis McBride, Sheriff and Tony, are seen having a fun vacation in a Malaysian paradise. Their adventures include being almost run over by a car while riding a bicycle, and being pressured into buying some rhinoceros horn from Malaysian locals. They also purchase a large bag of hash from a drug dealer. The three men wind up at their beach front house on the ocean pondering their future in the island paradise. Tony and Sheriff decide to return to New York, while Lewis, being a "greeny", wishes to travel to Borneo to save endangered orangutans. On the last day, they toss the remaining hash in the garbage. As time passes in New York, Sheriff is working as a limo driver and Tony as an architect. A young lawyer named Beth informs them that their friend Lewis has spent the last two years in Penang prison in Malaysia, because of hash found at their Malaysian house. She reveals that he will receive the death sentence unless one or both of the men return to share responsibility. Beth assures both of them that they will not suffer in prison, be tortured, or harmed in any way. After a gruelling eight days, during which they must make a decision, Beth and Sheriff begin a heated love affair, and both men decide to return to Malaysia. Upon their arrival, all seems well until they visit the prison to see Lewis. Lewis appears to have suffered psychological damage from the harsh imprisonment, although it is reported that he has not been tortured or starved as is the case with other prisoners. Beth subsequently reveals that she is Lewis' sister and has been blatantly manipulating the two men. Her lie makes Tony fearful of the Malaysian justice system and he abandons Lewis and flies back to the United States. Sheriff initially follows Tony, but decides to face jail to save his friend and returns to the courtroom in which Lewis is being tried. The judge seems heartened by this act of courage, until he discovers a news clipping from an American newspaper blaming the Malaysian justice system and condemning them for their harsh sentencing of Lewis. Because of this, the judge becomes infuriated and gives Lewis a death sentence, despite Sheriff's decision to accept his share of the responsibility. He also gives Sheriff an unknown period of jail time. As Lewis is taken to his execution, Sheriff hears his screams and struggles. From a window, he is able to call to him, to assure him repeatedly that he is not alone. Just before he is hanged, Lewis calms in response to these assurances and dies quietly. Sheriff assures Beth that Lewis, despite his emotional deterioration, seemed at peace in his final moments. Beth becomes emotional and kisses Sheriff as a sign of their love and connection. She tells him that the attorney general has said that the Malaysian government will quietly release him within six months, once the media attention dies down, to save face. As the guard takes Sheriff out, Beth says that she will take her brother back home and then return to Malaysia to wait for his release. ===== Princess Ling Moy lives next door to the Petrie family, and is romantically involved with Ah Kee, a secret agent determined to thwart Fu Manchu. It is revealed that Fu Manchu is Ling Moy's father. ===== In the early 1950s, Lily Kawamura tells her pre-adolescent daughter Mini about her father and the life that she barely remembers, as the two of them are walking to a rural train station. In 1936, Jack McGurn is a motion picture projectionist, involved in a campaign of harassment against non-union theaters in New York City. One such attack turns fatal, as one of his fellow union members starts a fire. McGurn's boss, knowing that the feelings of guilt would likely cause Jack to go to the police, urges him to leave the city. Jack moves to Los Angeles where his brother Gerry lives. Jack's role as a "sweatshop lawyer" strains an already-rocky relationship with Gerry who is willing to have any job, barely keeping his family afloat during the Great Depression. Taking the name McGann, Jack finds a job as a non-union projectionist in a movie theater run by a Japanese American family by the name of Kawamura. He falls in love with Lily, his boss' daughter. Forbidden to see one another by her Issei parents and banned from marrying by California law, the couple elopes to Seattle, where they marry and have a daughter, Mini. When World War II breaks out, Lily and their daughter are caught up in the Japanese American internment, rounded up and sent to Manzanar, California. Jack, away on a trip, is drafted into the United States Army with no chance to help his family prepare for their imprisonment. Finally visiting the camp, he arranges a private meeting with his wife's father, telling him that he has gone AWOL and wants to stay with them, whatever they have to go through. They are his family now and he belongs with them. The older man counsels him to return to the Army, and says that he now believes that Jack is truly in love with Lily, and a worthy husband. Returning, ready to face his punishment for desertion, he is met by FBI agents, who have identified "McGann" as being the McGurn wanted for his part in the arson of years before. Finally, in the 1950s, the train arrives and Lily and Mini reunite with Jack, who has served his time in prison and is now returning to his family. ===== Janice asks the group if any of the six of them have almost slept with each other. The episode then flashes back to 1993. Phoebe is tired of roommate Monica's obsession with cleanliness, so she moves out of their apartment a little at a time. Monica does not notice – Phoebe explains her missing things by saying she has taken them to get repaired; and Phoebe sneaks away at night and sneaks back in before Monica wakes. One night, while hanging out at their favorite bar, Monica mentions to Chandler that the bar is closing down to make room for a coffee shop (which would later become Central Perk). While there, she sees old high school friend Rachel Green, celebrating her recent engagement to orthodontist Barry Farber with friends Betsy and Kiki. Rachel mentions to her friends that she wants to have "one last fling" with the next guy she sees. Chandler, overhearing this, throws a pool ball near her table and goes to pick it up; but she ignores him. Monica and Rachel briefly catch up and promise to have lunch the next time Rachel is in the city. Later while driving back, Rachel fantasises about making out with Chandler in the empty bar. Chandler is looking for a new roommate after his previous one, Kip, gets married and moves out. He has been doing several interviews and has two more candidates – a photographer and an Italian- American actor. When the photographer, Eric, mentions that there may be models in the apartment and that his sister is a porn star, Chandler immediately jumps at the chance for the guy to move in, and rushes through his interview with actor Joey Tribbiani, whom Monica has a crush on. However, when Eric comes to move in, the girls' downstairs neighbor Mr. Heckles claims he is Chandler's new roommate. Thinking Eric was a no-show, Chandler lets Joey move in with him. As Joey is moving in, he and Monica flirt, and she invites him in for a glass of lemonade. Joey, however, believes she wants to have sex with him, so he strips naked before she gives him his lemonade. After realizing she did not want sex after all, he apologizes and hurriedly dresses. Things get worse for Monica when she is cleaning and notices Phoebe's bed is gone. Phoebe then finally admits she has moved out, because she needs to "live in a land where people can spill" but hopes that they can still remain friends. Monica is sad that Phoebe moved out, and wonders why she does not have a boyfriend. Chandler tells her she should have a boyfriend, and offers a hug. He says she is one of his favorite people, and the most beautiful woman he knows in real life. He convinces her that she will find someone, and they hug tenderly for a while until he diffuses the tension by asking about the fabric of Monica's towel. He then goes back to his place to watch Baywatch with new roommate Joey. Ross is glad that his wife, Carol, has finally made a friend – a woman she met at the gym named Susan. It does not take Ross long to realize that Carol likes Susan as more than "just a friend". Late at night in the empty bar, he mourns over the end of his marriage; Phoebe consoles him and they start making out. They almost have sex on the pool table in the bar, but Ross hits his head on the light above the table, then his foot gets stuck in a pocket, then the pool balls get in the way. They decide that sleeping together would not solve anything, and are content to just remain friends. The rest of the gang walk in and Chandler introduces Joey to Ross. ===== After Mr. Hankey fails to show up on Christmas Day, Kyle leads Stan, Cartman and Kenny into the sewers to investigate. When they find him, Kyle questions him, stating that nobody seems to have the Christmas spirit anymore. Mr. Hankey reveals that he has not surfaced due to issues with his family: his dissatisfied alcoholic wife Autumn, and their children (which he calls "nuggets") Cornwallis, Amber and Simon. Cornwallis wears glasses, scarf, and hat; Amber wears a hair bow and a dress; and Simon has a peanut sticking out from the top of his head (which renders him as being not too smart). The boys, along with Mr. Hankey's kids, attempt to revive the Christmas spirit by singing carols on the sidewalk, but are totally ignored. While they lament not getting any presents, Cornwallis begins to wonder about his significance in the world as a piece of poo. While watching a Peanuts Christmas special, where Snoopy is seen beating a naked Charlie Brown with a board, the boys get the idea to create a short animation to show the townspeople at the local drive-in which they would call The Spirit of Christmas. With backing from Mayor McDaniels, worried about South Park's economic state, the boys set about using cut-out animation to create their cartoon. Meanwhile, Cornwallis, who has sunk further into depression, reveals his feelings to his father, who comforts him by singing "The Circle of Poo". This shows how poo is the lifeblood of the whole planet, and the song even finishes with Mr. Hankey holding up Cornwallis atop a cliff. Rejuvenated, Cornwallis and the others begin preparing the dilapidated drive-in for the screening. After Cartman accidentally destroys a frame of the cartoon and quits the project, and Kenny is run over by a car, Stan and Kyle proceed with the project themselves, with Stan dubbing Cartman's voice over (taking extra opportunities to poke fun at his weight in the meantime), Kenny being killed off in the cartoon as well, and sending their cut outs to get made in South Korea. Finally, the film is ready and the whole town gathers to see it, including Cartman, who joins in getting credit for the movie, and claims he never quit in the first place. Only a few seconds in, though, the film breaks up. As everyone sits at home, forcing the children of South Park to celebrate a Christmas with no presents, Cornwallis and Mr. Hankey fix the projector and the film restarts playing. (The film is made using excerpts of The Spirit of Christmas aka "Jesus vs. Santa".) Upon seeing the film, the townsfolk finally come to realize that the true spirit of Christmas is commercialism, and rush to the shops for last minute presents. Finally content, the boys head off to open their presents, turning down an offer to make a TV series out of their film. ===== Odile von Rothbart is a young sorceress in training under her father's tutelage. She adores and respects him, at least in part because he has taught her that women are meant to be loyal to men. Living in the gardens is the "flock;" the group of young women von Rothbart has enchanted because they were unfaithful to their husbands or fathers. They are under a curse which compels them to become swans by day and women only during moonlit hours. The most beautiful and noble of these is Princess Odette, the Queen of Swans. Odile is restless because her father seldom praises her, even though (or perhaps because) she is growing to be his equal in magic. She has never seen much of the world outside her father's estate, but she knows she would like the company of other people. She has no interest in the swans because they seem to lack her intelligence, and because von Rothbart has taught her to despise them. When Odette openly defies von Rothbart, challenging him to give a convincing reason for his punishment of the flock, he offers her a deal; if she can capture and hold the loyalty of a man for an entire month, the curse which keeps the flock captive will be broken. A condition of the deal is that the young man must know exactly what Odette had done (refused the engagement her father had set for her and run away with a member of the court) and still pledge his loyalty to her. von Rothbart then leads the flock, plus Odile, on a long journey to Siegfried's kingdom. In the secondary plot, Queen Clothilde is a competent but ruthless woman acting as regent for Siegfried. She does not want to surrender power to her son when he turns 18; an event mere months away. She plans a birthday celebration for him at which six beautiful princesses, all prospective brides, will attend, hoping to distract him from his kingship. Clothilde secretly hopes to kill Siegfried and either take the throne in right or continue as regent for a grandchild. She is aided in her scheme by Uwe, her minstrel and former lover. Siegfried himself is a womanizer and a scoundrel, but a religious experience convinces him to change his ways. Clothilde is dismayed, since the reformed Siegfried is winning the respect of her court. Baron von Rothbart pays a visit to Clothilde and requests that his own daughter be allowed to attend the festival as a potential bride. She agrees, tempted by the prospect of having a sorcerer readily at hand. The flock arrives at a small lake. Odile, who has largely been in charge of their care, is getting to know the swan maidens and feels some sympathy for them. She wants Odette to succeed because she thinks she and her father would have more freedom to travel if the swan-maidens were no longer their burden. Siegfried, sent out hunting by his mother in search of swans, encounters Odette, and it is love at first sight. His friend Benno, returning to the lake by daylight to investigate, is quickly dismissed by Odile. When both men return to the lake at night, Odette is able to allay their suspicions that she is some sort of witch. She tells Siegfried why she has been cursed, and he agrees to marry her and thus break the curse. Happily, Odile tells her father that Odette has fulfilled her part of the bargain. The next day is the day of the fête where Siegfried will choose his bride. Odette leaves the flock in the morning to find him. von Rothbart and Odile also attend, Odile having little idea what to expect. Her father casts a spell on her which makes her look like Odette and controls her with more magic, keeping her from warning Siegfried. The Prince declares his desire to marry "the daughter of Baron von Rothbart," which breaks the vow he made to Odette. Worst of all, Odette arrives just in time to witness this. She flees, Siegfried follows, and Odile runs after them both. von Rothbart reveals that his aim the entire time has been to deliver judgment on Clothilde, since he knew she was plotting to kill her own son. He brings part of the Great Hall down on her and Uwe, who lives just long enough to reveal the plot to Benno and the court. At the lake, von Rothbart taunts Siegfried and Odette, while Odile watches from concealment. At a crucial moment, she kills him with his own dagger, then rescues Odette and Siegfried, who have jumped into the lake to drown together rather than be separated. When the sun rises, the girls remain girls, indicating that Rothbart's spell has died with him. Odette marries Siegfried and gives Odile a position on her council. Odile and Benno appear to be falling in love. ===== In 1959 the four dead bodies of the Clutter family are discovered on their Kansas farm. While reading The New York Times, Truman Capote (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is riveted by the story and calls The New Yorker magazine editor William Shawn (Bob Balaban) to tell him that he plans to document the tragedy. Capote travels to Kansas, inviting childhood friend Nelle Harper Lee (Catherine Keener) to come along. He intends to interview those involved with the Clutter family, with Lee as his go-between and facilitator. Alvin Dewey (Chris Cooper), the Kansas Bureau of Investigation's lead detective on the case, brushes him off, but Dewey's wife Marie (Amy Ryan) is a fan of Capote's writing and persuades her husband to invite Capote and Lee to their house for dinner. Capote's stories of movie sets and film stars captivate Marie. Over time, her husband warms to Capote and allows him to view the photographs of the victims. The Deweys, Lee, and Capote are having dinner when the murder suspects, Perry Smith (Clifton Collins Jr.) and Richard "Dick" Hickock (Mark Pellegrino), are caught. Flattery, bribery, and a keen insight into the human condition facilitate Capote's visits to the prison where the accused are held. Capote begins to form an attachment to Smith. He informs Shawn of his intent to expand the story into a full-length book. Following the trial and conviction, Capote gains continued access to the murderers by bribing Warden Marshall Krutch (Marshall Bell). Capote spends the following years regularly visiting Smith and learning about his life, excepting a year- long stint when he goes to Morocco and Spain to write the "first three parts" of the book, accompanied by his romantic partner Jack Dunphy (Bruce Greenwood). The story of Smith's life, his remorseful manner, and his emotional sincerity impress Capote, who becomes emotionally attached to him despite the gruesome murders. Capote aids Smith and Hickock by obtaining expert legal counsel for them and initiating an appeal. Still he is frustrated, as Smith declines to relate exactly what happened on the night of the murders. Though initially an effort to provide proper representation and extend Capote's opportunity to speak with the killers, the appeals process drags on for several years. Without the court case being resolved, Capote feels he is stuck with a story without an ending, and he is unable to complete his book. Eventually he gets Smith to describe the killings and his thoughts at the time in great detail. He has what he wants from Smith, but in the process he sees a callousness and selfishness in his own actions. Now with everything in hand, Capote still must wait for the appeals process to conclude before he feels he can publish his work. In the course of time, Lee's best- selling novel To Kill a Mockingbird is turned into a movie, but Capote is unable to share in the joy of his friend's success, too caught up in drinking through his own misery. With the last appeal rejected, Smith pleads for Capote to return before he is executed, but Capote cannot bring himself to do so. A telegram from Smith to Harper Lee ultimately compels Capote to return to Kansas. There he is an eyewitness as Smith and Hickock are executed. Capote talks to Lee about the horrifying experience and laments that he could not do anything to stop it. She replies, "Maybe not. The fact is you didn't want to." The final scenes show Capote looking through photos from the case and at the writings and drawings given to him by Smith. An epilogue points out that In Cold Blood turned Capote into the most famous writer in America, also noting that he never finished another book. A postscript to the film gives the epigraph he would have chosen for the title of Answered Prayers: "More tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones", a quote from Saint Teresa of Ávila. ===== Bart and Milhouse attend a Spinal Tap concert, which degenerates into a riot when the band plays for only 20 minutes due to a malfunctioning laser light show, among other problems. Bart decides he wants to become a rock guitarist, so Homer and Marge buy him an electric guitar, which he struggles to play. On the school bus, Bart tells the driver, Otto, that his guitar must be broken, but Otto plays it in an impromptu performance which wows the bus passengers. After his rendition of "Free Bird" makes the children late for school, Otto drives recklessly and crashes the bus. It lands on its side in the town square, smashing into the statue of Jebediah Springfield. Otto admits to Officer Lou he does not have a driver's license and is suspended without pay. Principal Skinner takes over his route but, being a less aggressive driver than Otto, is trapped at a busy intersection for an entire day. Otto fails the driver's test administered by Marge's sister, Patty, after he asks her if she was born male. Unable to pay his rent, he is evicted from his apartment. Homer and Marge reluctantly let him stay in their garage after Bart pleads with them, but Otto soon makes a nuisance of himself and Homer demands that he leave. Otto takes the license test again, angry that Homer called him a "sponge". Patty is unhappy to see Otto again until he tells her he plans to staple his license "to Homer Simpson's big bald head". Patty gives him the correct answers to the written test and ignores his careless driving on the test route. Patty is so amused by Otto's account of Homer's crude behavior that she passes him and offers to buy him margaritas. License in hand, Otto regains his job and Skinner returns to his job as principal of Springfield Elementary. ===== The story is set on the "Planet of Endless Illusion", a place where rogues of all sorts gather. The protagonist, Van, travels the world searching for a man with a clawed right hand who killed his bride. He is joined by several other travelers along the way, each linked to the clawed man by a personal loss. ===== 1816\. After the Battle of Waterloo, Louis XVIII is restored to the French throne. De Rochefort sets sail for Senegal on the frigate Méduse, captained by Captain Chaumareys, with the future governor of Senegal and his wife, Julien and Reine Schmaltz, on board. In no time, the atmosphere of the voyage is thick with hatred and mistrust. The tension mounts between the autocratic, incompetent Captain Chaumareys and Coudein, his lieutenant, until one fine day in June, despite Coudein's warnings, the Méduse is inexplicably wrecked. ===== Dante Remus Lăzărescu (Ioan Fiscuteanu), a cranky retired engineer, lives alone as a widower with his three cats in a Bucharest apartment. In the grip of extreme pain, Lăzărescu calls for an ambulance, but when none arrives, he asks for his neighbors' help. Not having the medicine Lăzărescu wants, the neighbors give him some pills for his nausea. A neighbor reveals that Lăzărescu is a heavy drinker. His neighbor helps Lăzărescu back to his apartment and to bed. They call again for an ambulance. When the ambulance finally arrives, the nurse, Mioara (Luminița Gheorghiu), dispels the idea that Lăzărescu's ulcer surgery over a decade before could cause this pain. While taking the patient history, she suspects that Lăzărescu has colon cancer. After informing his sister, who lives in a different city, that the condition could be serious and she should visit Lăzărescu in the hospital, the nurse decides to get him to a hospital. His sister makes arrangements to come the following day; his only child, a daughter, lives in Toronto, Canada. The film follows Lăzărescu's journey through the night, as he is carried from one hospital to the next. At the first three hospitals, the doctors, after much delay, reluctantly agree to examine Lăzărescu. Then, although finding that he is gravely ill and needs emergency surgery, each team refuses to admit him and sends him to another hospital. Meanwhile, Lăzărescu's condition deteriorates rapidly, his speech is reduced to babbling, and he slowly loses consciousness. The hospitals are jammed with injured passengers from a bus accident, but some doctors appear to reject him out of fatigue or because they do not feel like taking care of a smelly old drunkard. During the night, his only advocate is Mioara, the paramedic who stubbornly stays by him and tries to get him hospitalized and treated, while passively accepting verbal abuse from the doctors who look down on her. Finally, at the fourth hospital, the doctors admit Lăzărescu. The film ends as they prepare to perform an emergency operation to remove a blood clot in his brain. ===== The three titular ninjas of the story only known as ロッキー, Rokkī (lit. “Rocky“) the oldest brother; コルト, Koruto (lit. “Colt“) the middle brother; and タム • タム, Tamu-Tamu (lit. “Tum-Tum“) the youngest brother. They are the Douglas brothers who experience the pressures of growing up prior to a trip to Japan planned with their grandfather 森 •「新太郎」• 多名賀 - Mori “Shintarō“ Tanaka, who hopes to take them to a martial arts tournament of which he was the victor 50 years ago. Only Tum-Tum seems interested in going, and even then, only out of interest in seeing sumo wrestlers due to how much food they get to eat. He tells the boys he hopes to return a dagger awarded to him at the tournament when he defeated a boy named 古 · 賀 - Koga, so that it may be presented to the incumbent victor. In Japan, a man, later revealed to be Koga, breaks into a museum and steals a sword before escaping via hang glider. At a baseball game, Rocky seems too focused on a cute girl pitch properly, Tum-Tum causes constant breaks due to getting snacks, and Colt's temper causes a fight with the opposing team that grows so large that the umpire calls off the game until the next week, driving a nail into the boys' plans to travel. Meanwhile, back at Mori's cabin, a trio of grungers led by Koga's nephew Glam try to break into the house to steal the dagger. The boys manage to drive them off, counting it as an ordinary robbery attempt. Mori leaves alone, but the boys' father Sam accidentally gives him Tum-Tum's bag. Once he arrives in Japan, Mori's taxi is rear-ended by Glam and his friends who steal his bag. After hearing from Mori at the hospital, the boys discover their bags had been switched and have the dagger. They arrange a trip with Mori's credit card and meet him in Japan. He instructs the boys to give it to the master of the tournament. Glam and his friends record the conversation and deliver it to Koga, who punishes them for not retrieving the dagger, by having his bodyguard tossing them around. At the tournament, Colt takes the place of a fallen competitor but is promptly beaten by a girl named Miyo Shikigawa, wounding his pride. She helps them deliver the dagger to the Grand Master, and allows the boys to stay with her and her mother. She has a love of baseball but is not very good. The boys offer to train her in baseball if she teaches them some of her martial arts skill. Koga attempts to trap the boys and retrieve the dagger himself by pretending to be the Grand Master, but the boys and Miyo catch onto his scheme. They face several adversaries before they are finally captured. Meanwhile, Mori is kidnapped from the hospital by Koga's assistant, Ishikawa, after fleeing Glam and the others. Koga forces Mori to tell him the location of the Cave of Gold; an urban legend which the sword and dagger are the keys to open. Fearing the safety for his grandsons, Mori agrees to aid Koga. Soon after, the children come up with a plan and escape Koga's compound on hang gliders, arriving at the cave shortly after the adults. Inside, Koga and Mori realize the legend is true after they encounter walls and monuments of gold within. While the two battle each other, the boys and Miyo drop in on them and Koga pulls a gun. Using Mori's lesson on focus, Colt throws a ball bearing into the muzzle of the gun, causing it to backfire and start a cave-in. The group flees the cave, and Koga, now realizing the price of his greed, apologizes and leaves the group unharmed. Rocky realizes that they are a day ahead of America and that they can still make it home by the championship game. At the game, the boys overcome their flaws. Down by two in the last inning, one of the opposing team player gets a hit off Rocky's pitch, which is almost a home run, until a recent roster add, revealed to be Miyo, catches the ball. In the bottom of the inning, Colt focuses and hits a home run, allowing all three boys to score and win the game. The bullies face them down after the game, and he picks Miyo to fight for ruining his home run. Despite Tum-Tum's warning that "she's just a girl", he screams as she readies to attack him and the screen goes dark as he is beaten up soundly. ===== Rocky (Michael Treanor), Colt (Max Elliott Slade), Tum Tum (Chad Power) defend "Truth, Justice and the American Way", once more - this time, protecting a Native American village and the rest of society against a Toxic Waste Company. During a summer, the boys are staying with Grandpa Mori (Victor Wong) when they encounter a group assaulting a girl named Jo (Crystle Lightning) at a pizza parlour. After fending off the men, they are praised for their martial arts techniques which gives them big egos. Despite their efforts, they are put to work by Mori and the pizza owner to work off damages. Mori tries to teach them a lesson in humility, but the reference of a flower blooming goes over their heads. Jo comes to the boys later and explains that the men are under the employ of Jack Harding (Charles Napier), an industrialist who is illegally dumping toxic contents into the reserve. Without proof, they can do nothing. Jo's father had gone to investigate but had not returned. Colt, who is seemingly attracted to Jo, says that they will help, and they mount an escape plan for her father that night, which is successful. They spend the night celebrating with the tribe and getting thanks for helping them. Jo's father appeals for a court date with significant evidence to put Jack out of business for good, undeterred. Jack arranges to have Jo kidnapped by the Bikers and convince her father to falsify his evidence, which he has no other choice. Rocky and the others get information to where Jo is being held, drive out to free her and return before the court case is dismissed and all of her father's hard work accounts for nothing at all. After fighting through a small band of armed men, they find Jo and return her to the court house just before her father turns the real evidence over to Jack. He admits his mistake and hands the evidence to the judge who deems the case and shuts down the company producing the waste. Jo looks around for the 'heroes' of the day, but they are nowhere to be found. Rocky realizes the point of Mori's earlier lesson: that a flower is content to bloom quietly, without clamoring for attention. The film ends with Grandpa Mori and the boys somersaulting into the air in victory. ===== Leaving off where Season 3 ended, Ross is in the hallway between two bedrooms. One is the room he is sharing with Bonnie; the other, Rachel's room. He picks a door – and finds both Rachel and Bonnie sitting on Rachel's bed. Bonnie's bald head got sunburned, so Rachel is helping her rub some aloe on. After Bonnie leaves, Ross and Rachel kiss – and Ross leaves to break up with Bonnie. Rachel writes Ross a long letter ("Eighteen pages! Front and back!") about their relationship and asks him to read it – but he falls asleep while doing so. After he wakes up, Rachel asks him if he agrees with what she wrote. Ross says he does, and the two reconcile. He later finds the part in the letter she is asking about – for him to accept full responsibility for their breakup and sleeping with Chloe – and immediately disagrees with it, still stuck on the fact that she was the one who suggested they "were on a break." After Rachel goes on about how Ross is so great for accepting responsibility, Ross cannot hide his feelings anymore. He reveals he never finished the letter, and ends up criticizing her grammar before they angrily break up again. Phoebe is upset after Phoebe Abbott told her the truth about being her mother. Older Phoebe explains she was in a three-way sexual relationship with Lily and Frank, and after Frank (Phoebe's father) had gotten her pregnant, she was so young and scared and ultimately believed Ursula and younger Phoebe would be better off with Frank and Lily. An angry Phoebe declares she never wants to see her real mother again, and soon goes to Ursula's apartment to tell her about their mom – but Ursula already knows. She even produces a "suicide note" supposedly left by Lily – that Ursula herself writes while Phoebe is waiting in the hall. Phoebe Sr. comes into Central Perk to try and reconcile with Phoebe – who is not having any of it. Phoebe Sr. finally gets younger Phoebe to change her mind, by pointing out that she came to the beach looking for family – and found it. Phoebe then softens up to her birth mother upon finding out they have similar interests and they go off to have dinner together. While Chandler, Monica and Joey are enjoying the beach now that it has finally stopped raining, Chandler still tries to convince Monica he would make a great boyfriend. Chandler and Monica go check out Joey's hole – and Monica gets stung by a jellyfish. Joey, remembering a documentary he saw on jellyfish that mentions a cure for jellyfish stings – urine – and prompts Monica to try peeing on herself. After being uncomfortable around each other for a couple of days and refusing to talk about it afterwards, Joey, Chandler, and Monica reveal what happened after Monica got stung by the jellyfish. Monica tried to pee on her wound, but could not bend that way – so Joey stepped up. Unfortunately, Joey got stage fright – leaving Chandler to do the dirty work. At the end of the episode, Chandler again asks why Monica will not consider going out with him. She says that while she thinks he is a great guy, he will always be "the guy who peed on me." ===== It tells the story of a cold hearted man named Jack Kells who falls in love with Miss Joan Randle, a girl his legion has taken captive near the Idaho border. ===== After two female strip club workers disappear and are found dead later on, a team of reporters including Jesse St. Clair (Rachael Leigh Cook) and her camera operator Rob Latrobe (Kip Pardue) unearth a mysterious tape which shows the women being followed and later murdered by the cameraman. After investigating the cases further, the pair's producer Jane Berger (Annabella Sciorra) notify the police, the sheriff refuses to help. The reporters on the team become targeted by the murderer and have other chilling tapes sent to them. The team are joined by the host of the hit television show American Crime, who assists them on their journey to uncover the true murderer, as a man was already sent to jail for the killings. With a disbelieving sheriff ignoring the case, the reporters must solve the crime themselves before they themselves are killed. ===== The novel described the Yacoubian Building as one of the most luxurious and prestigious apartment blocks in Cairo following its construction by Armenian businessman Hagop Yacoubian in 1934, with government ministers, wealthy manufacturers, and foreigners residing or working out of offices there. After the revolution in 1952, which overthrew King Farouk and gave power to Gamal Abdel Nasser, many of the rich foreigners, as well as native landowners and businessmen, who had lived at the Yacoubian fled the country. Each vacated apartment was then occupied by a military officer and his family, who were often of a more rural background and lower social caste than the previous residents. On the roof of the ten-story building are fifty small rooms (one for each apartment), no more than two meters by two meters in area, which were originally used as storage areas and not as living quarters for human beings, but after wealthy residents began moving from downtown Cairo to suburbs such as Medinet Nasr and Mohandessin in the 1970s, the rooms were gradually taken over by overwhelmingly poor migrants from the Egyptian countryside, arriving in Cairo in the hopes of finding employment. The rooftop community, effectively a slum neighborhood, is symbolic of the urbanization of Egypt and of the burgeoning population growth in its large cities in recent decades, especially among the poor and working classes. ===== After being released from his time with Ta-Kumsaw, an Indian leader who taught Alvin the ways of Indian people, the young boy sets out to start his apprenticeship as a Smith in the town where he was born. While there he meets a young half-black boy by the name of Arthur Stuart, the son of a slave and a slave-owner who has been adopted by the owners of the local guesthouse. Another new friend comes in the form of Miss Margaret Larner, who he later discovers to be the "torch" who helped him to be born so many years ago, and with whom he has been strangely linked since that day. Eventually, Alvin is forced into helping Arthur to escape some slave-hunters, something that requires him to slightly change Arthur's DNA enough to prevent the hunters' knacks from identifying the runaway child. Alvin also creates a plow of living gold, which is bestowed with magical properties, as his journeyman piece to release himself from his apprenticeship as a Smith (and also as a Maker). The story ends with Alvin and Arthur leaving the town and returning to Alvin's home in the west. ===== The series focuses on Thowra, a silver colt, his brothers Storm and Arrow and their friends the bush animals in their continued quest to resist the Men's efforts to capture them. The series is very loosely based on the books. ===== Perfume magnate Hillary Kramer (Streisand) loses her company and is financially ruined when her accountant embezzles from her and flees to South America. Among her few remaining assets she finds a management contract with an inactive boxer, purchased as a tax write off. She decides to force Eddie "Kid Natural" Scanlon (Ryan O'Neal), who is now a driving instructor, back into the ring to recover her losses. Eddie thinks this will only get him killed and resists. As Eddie's unconventional comeback progresses, he finds himself drawn into conflict and romance with his unlikely manager. ===== The Priest and Balda (1940 animated film) The poem tells of a lazy (Russian Orthodox) priest who is wandering around a market looking for a cheap worker. There he meets Balda (Балда in Russian means a stupid or just simple, or not very serious person) who agrees to work for a year without pay except that he be allowed to hit the priest three times on his forehead and have cooked spelt for food. The priest, being a cheapskate, agrees. But then, after he gets a chance to observe Balda at work, he sees that he is not only very patient and careful, but also very strong. That worries the priest greatly and he starts giving Balda impossible missions to accomplish. The Priest asks Balda to collect a fabricated debt from sea devils. Balda troubles the sea with rope and forces the leader of the devils, an "old Bies", to come out. He agrees to pay the debt if Balda will defeat his grandson at running and weight carrying. Balda tricks the "little Bies", first by getting a hare, whom he proclaims his "younger brother" to run in his stead, and then by "carrying" a horse between his two legs by riding on it. The story ends when Balda gives the priest three blows to the forehead which results in the priest losing his mind. The final line is, "You shouldn't have gone rushing off after cheapness." ===== A tsar goes on a voyage and leaves his beautiful tsarina behind. She spends days and nights waiting for him by the window, and in nine months gives a birth to their daughter. Next morning her husband returns, and she dies from happiness and exhaustion the same day. In a year the tsar marries another woman — not only smart and beautiful, but also arrogant and jealous. She has a magic mirror in her possession that talks back to the tsarina, complimenting her beauty. As the time passes by, the young tsarevna grows up and gets engaged to the prince Yelisei. The night before the wedding the tsarina asks her magic mirror whether she is still the sweetest and prettiest of them all, but the mirror points at the tsarevna which drives the woman mad. She orders the servant girl Chernavka to take her stepdaughter into the heart of the forest, tie her down and leave to the wolves. Chernavka follows the orders, but as they go deep into the forest, the tsarevna starts begging to spare her life. Chernavka, who sympathizes with the girl, leaves her untied and lies to the mistress on return. Soon the news of the missing bride reaches the prince who immediately goes on a quest to find her. Meanwhile, the tsarevna wanders through the forest and stumbles across a terem guarded by a dog which she immediately befriends. She enters the hut, but doesn't find anyone inside, so she cleans everything up and goes to sleep. After a while seven bogatyrs arrive for a dinner. They kindly greet and feed the girl, calling her their sister, and from the way she talks deduce that she must be a tsarevna. The tsarevna stays with her newly found brothers, looking after the house while they hunt in the forest or fight foreign invaders. After some time the evil tsarina reveals that her stepdaughter is still alive with the help of the magic mirror. She orders Chernavka to get rid of the tsarevna under pain of death. The servant girl dresses as a nun and travels to the house of the seven bogatyrs. She is met by the barking dog that doesn't let her approach the mistress who throws her some bread anyway. In return the nun throws her an apple and disappears. As soon as the tsarevna bites the apple, she gets poisoned and dies. The dog leads bogatyrs to her, bites the poisoned apple in anger and also dies, revealing the cause of the tragedy. They put the girl into a crystal coffin and bring her to a cave. Same day the tsarina learns of her death. Meanwhile, the prince Yelisei rides around the world, asking everyone whether they saw his lost bride. At the end he decides to ask the Sun, which aids him to the Moon. He then asks the Moon, which aids him to the wind. As he asks the wind, it tells him about the cave with the crystal coffin where his bride lies. Yelisei finds the cave and hits the coffin with all his strength, causing it to break into pieces and his bride — to come alive. They ride to the palace and meet the tsarina who is already aware of the wonderful resurrection of her stepdaughter. But as she sees the tsarevna, she falls dead in agony. Right after her burial the couple gets married in a grand ceremony. There also exists Pushkin's own outline of the story which he planned to write, but which does not much resemble the version he ultimately published.Pushkin's original notes, № 7 corresponds to Dead Princess outline (in Russian) ===== The film is a retelling of the story of Hercules (Lou Ferrigno) battling the wizard King Minos (William Berger), who uses "science" in an attempt to take over the world. Hercules must stop him and rescue his princess love in the process. ===== Morris Bober, the 60-year-old proprietor of an old-fashioned grocery store, faces destitution as his customers abandon him in favor of more modernized shops. The situation is aggravated late one night when he's held up at gunpoint in his deserted store by a pair of masked thugs. The gunman beats him, leaving Bober with a debilitating head injury. Just at this time, Frank Alpine makes his appearance: a 25-year-old vagrant from the West Coast, raised in an orphanage after his father abandoned him. Leaving an abusive foster home to live as a drifter, he makes his way East in hopes of finding opportunities to turn his life around. (Later he berates himself for having had many opportunities but inevitably doing something to botch them.) Frank begins to haunt Morris' store and offers to work without pay as his assistant, claiming that this will give him experience he can use in a future job search. The grocer, weakened by the assault and trying to recuperate without benefit of medical care, accepts and arranges for him to have room and board with the upstairs tenants, a young Italian-American couple, and provides him some pocket money. Only at this point is it revealed to the reader that Frank was the accomplice to the gunman in the holdup. Frank works industriously to improve the store's upkeep, and his attentive service wins customers. The resulting increased income is being supplemented by Frank's surreptitiously returning, in discreet amounts, his share of the holdup take. Simultaneously, however, he begins pilfering from the till. He justifies this to himself by claiming it as recompense for his contribution to the store's improved situation, and keeps an account of his petty theft with the intention of eventually returning it all. Morris and his wife Ida, the latter particularly uncomfortable with the gentile's presence, attribute the improvement to the customers' "preferring one of their own," and Morris insists on offering Frank more money. During lulls in the work day the men's conversations touch upon philosophical and personal matters, and Frank privately struggles with his own ethical quandary. While Morris is notably tolerant of others, Ida is worried by the young Italyener's proximity to the couple's 23-year-old daughter, Helen, single and living at home. Helen is courted by the sons of the only other two Jews in the neighborhood, both young men with good financial prospects, but her dreams of a better life include true love. She also aspires to higher education, but has set aside her own plans in order to take a job as a secretary, as her wages are needed to supplement the family's meager income from the store. Helen and Frank begin to notice each other, and a romance develops between them. They share an interest in books and discuss their dreams for the future. Their clandestine meetings grow in physical intimacy, yet at Helen's request stop short of intercourse. Just when she realizes she loves Frank and is committed to their relationship, Morris catches his assistant in the act of stealing. He dismisses Frank on the spot, despite the latter's confession and revelation that he "was paying it back." (His confession to Morris of his role in the holdup will follow.) When Frank arrives late to a rendezvous in the park initiated by Helen, he finds her being raped and rescues her. Helen is overcome by relief and clings to Frank, declaring her love for him. In his fear that he's bound to lose her when she learns of his thieving and dismissal, Frank forces himself upon her, despite her repeated protest. Disgusted with herself for ever having trusted him despite her initial misgivings, Helen curses Frank and refuses to see him again. Frank obsessively berates himself with remorse and contemplates ways to make things up to her. He apologizes to Helen profusely at every opportunity, smothering her with his need for redemption. Meanwhile, the prospects for the store have remained bleak due to several turns of events, and Morris considers desperate measures. When he is hospitalized after inhaling gas from a radiator he failed to light (claiming afterwards that this was not deliberate), Frank comes back to run the store over Ida's protests. Frank resolves to be a good person, stop stealing and somehow win back Helen's love. He takes on a second job at a diner. But, when Morris decides to leave his sick bed, he throws Frank out for good, or so he thinks. Morris grows anxious about his life—his wife is miserable, his daughter on her way to spinsterhood and his poor business no more than a prison. Morris turns down an arsonist's offer to burn his home and store for the insurance money, but then builds a fire himself. As the flames catch on his apron, Morris is saved by Frank. After being saved, Morris sends Frank away again. Then, through tragedy, things begin to look up for the Bobers. A competing grocer on the block falls on hard times, and Bober's store benefits. Then, one night, Ward Minogue breaks into the liquor store owned by Bober's rival, Karp. Minogue smashes liquor bottles, then he lights a cigarette. A tossed match starts a fire that burns the store and the apartment upstairs to the ground. Minogue dies attempting to escape the fire. Morris is ashamed that he wished for his rival's comeuppance. Even so, Karp, knowing that he will lose his business while it is being rebuilt, offers to buy out the Bobers. For a few brief days, they are happy. It is the last day of March and thick snow is falling. Morris, in a burst of energy, goes out to shovel the sidewalk, despite Ida's many objections. Still weak from the gas incident, he dies three days later of double pneumonia. Morris is remembered at his simple service as an honest man and a good Jew. But Frank and Helen are alienated. Frank returns to run the store while Helen and Ida mourn privately. Money from a second job allows Frank to pay rent to Ida but ruins his health. Frank then settles on a plan to clear his debt with Helen. He will give over all his earnings so that Helen can go to college. After several painful and awkward confrontations, Helen reinterprets the night that Frank sexually assaulted her, concluding that she would have given herself to Frank that night had not Ward Minogue attacked her. She softens towards Frank, forgiving him for raping her. As the book closes, Frank is working in the store. He studies Judaism. He gets a circumcision. And, after Passover, becomes a Jew. ===== Pete Garrison (Michael Douglas) is a Secret Service agent and one of the personal bodyguards for First Lady of the United States Sarah Ballentine (Kim Basinger), with whom he is having an affair. He is one of the oldest and most experienced agents, having been involved in saving Ronald Reagan's life. His close friend and fellow agent, Charlie Merriweather (Clark Johnson), is murdered. Garrison is told by a reliable informant that the killing of Merriweather is linked to an assassination plot against the President. The intelligence given by the informant reveals the existence of a mole with access to the President's security detail. The Secret Service Protective Intelligence Division, led by Garrison's estranged friend and former protégé David Breckinridge (Kiefer Sutherland), with rookie partner Jill Marin (Eva Longoria), is tasked with investigating the plot. Breckinridge orders every agent to be subjected to a polygraph test. Meanwhile, the mole discovers the discussion with the informant and Garrison's affair with the first lady, and attempts to blackmail Garrison by luring him to a coffee shop known to be a meeting point for a Colombian cartel. After delaying for some time, Garrison is subjected to a polygraph. The agent in charge of the Presidential Protective Division, William Montrose (Martin Donovan), decides to randomly select the means of transporting the president using a coin toss. As the President and first lady visit Camp David, Garrison's informant calls, demanding that his payment be made at a shopping mall food court. Garrison goes to meet him, but he disappears in the crowd, and an assassin tries to kill Garrison. The agents pursue the assassin, but he escapes. Simultaneously, the presidential helicopter is shot down by a surface-to-air missile outside of Camp David, though neither the President nor his wife were aboard (due to Montrose's coin "deciding" to use the motorcade instead). Garrison failed the polygraph test due to concealing his affair with the First Lady. Breckinridge confronts him at his home and interrogates him, pinning him as the prime suspect. The source of rancor between them comes to light: Breckinridge believes Garrison had an affair with his wife and caused the breakup of their marriage, which Garrison denies. Garrison escapes capture and conducts his own investigation of the assassination plot. He tries to contact the informant who gave him the tip, but finds that he has been killed. In pursuit, Breckinridge gets the drop on Garrison but is unable to kill him, despite having given other agents "shoot to kill" orders. Using his contacts with sympathetic agents and family members, Garrison tracks down the location of one of the assassins, whom he kills in a firefight. He searches his apartment, finding evidence that shows the perpetrators are headed to Toronto to attack the president at a G8 summit. He leaves it in the apartment and tells Marin about it, but the Secret Service find that the evidence and body of the assassin were removed before they arrived. The President's wife discloses her affair with Garrison to Breckinridge, who now understands why Garrison failed his polygraph test. Together in Toronto, Garrison and Breckinridge learn that the assassins are former KGB operatives hired to kill the president by a Colombian cartel and the mole, William Montrose, who was never polygraphed. Montrose is in charge of directing security at the summit. The leader of the assassins (Ritchie Coster) blackmails Montrose into helping him, threatening the agent's family. Emotionally torn, Montrose is instructed to jam Secret Service's radios, and leave the summit with the President via a specific route; the assassins will handle the remainder of the work. On the night of the President's speech, Breckinridge and Garrison race to the summit. The assassins, posing as Royal Canadian Mounted Police Emergency Response Team officers, kill several agents and corner Montrose and the President in a tunnel. Montrose reveals his treason to the President and purposely steps in front of one of the assassins, who kills him. Garrison, Breckinridge and Marin arrive, rescuing the President and the First Lady and killing the assassins. As they reach the ground level, Montrose's handler comes forward dressed as an RCMP officer to personally perform the killings. He takes Sarah hostage and aims his pistol at the President, but Garrison shoots him dead. In spite of these events, Garrison is forced to take an early retirement due to the disclosure of his affair with the first lady, who looks on sadly from her window as Garrison leaves the White House. He does, however, make peace with Breckinridge, who finally realizes that Garrison did not sleep with his wife. Breckinridge tells Garrison that he has a date with her that evening. ===== Goody Goblin, the only nice male goblin, goes to see the Good Magician Humphrey so he can get his question answered. As the Magician charges a year's service or the equivalent, Goody has to find a good home for a pet peeve. The pet peeve is a very annoying bird who can mimic the voice of the person carrying it. Goody starts out with the bird and Hannah Barbarian, whose service is to accompany the goblin on the quest and protect him. Throughout the journey, we discover that Goody is nice because he had to take reverse wood and disguise himself as a girl to avoid being captured by an invading goblin tribe. He was also married, but his wife is dead because she was fated to die young. On the trip, Goody and Hannah meet various people. They all refuse to adopt the pet peeve, or in the case of Princesses Melody, Harmony, and Rhythm, are not allowed to by their mother. Goody and Hannah travel to Robot World, one of the moons of Princess Ida, and bring back some robots to live in Xanth. Unfortunately, the robots decide to take over Xanth, which means all of Xanth must join together to fight the menace. Goblins, ogres, dragons, and other creatures come to combat the robots, which have been expanding, and the harpies feed the armies with lunch boxes from their lunch box plantation. Eventually the robots are defeated, In the process, Goody finally gets over his late wife's death and falls in love with Gwenny Goblin, the first female goblin chief. She in turn, falls in love with him, as her time spent with a family of winged centaurs cause her to like only polite goblins. The pet peeve finally gets a home with Grundy Golem, Rapunzel, and their daughter, Surprise Golem. ===== Stressed from doing household chores and running errands for her family, Marge hears DJs Bill and Marty make a cruel prank call during their radio show. She suddenly snaps when Maggie accidentally breaks her baby bottle, splattering milk everywhere, and blocks traffic by parking her car across both lanes of a bridge. When the police are unable to convince her to move, Homer persuades her to surrender and she is arrested. Since the town's women sympathize with Marge's plight, Mayor Quimby orders her release over Chief Wiggum's objections. Marge vacations alone at a health spa called Rancho Relaxo. She leaves Bart and Lisa with Patty and Selma; Maggie stays at home with Homer. Marge enjoys her much-needed rest while the rest of the family find it hard to adapt to life without her. Homer finds himself lonely and unable to care for Maggie. Bart and Lisa dislike living with Patty and Selma because they snore loudly, watch MacGyver and Divorce Court, and serve meals of tongue sandwiches, Clamato and Mr. Pibb. Upset by her mother's absence, Maggie leaves the house to find Marge. When Homer and Barney are unable to find her, Homer calls a missing baby hotline. Maggie is found atop the roof of an ice cream shop and returned to Homer as Marge leaves the spa. Marge finds her forlorn and disheveled family waiting for her on a train platform when she arrives home. While Homer and the kids are sleeping next to her that night, Marge tells them she needs their help around the house; they assure her she has nothing to worry about. ===== Dog Soldiers deals with the fall of the counterculture in America, the rise of mass cynicism and the end of the optimism of the 1960s. California has moved on from the Summer of Love to post-Manson paranoia. Converse, a once-promising writer now unable to do more than observe, waits for artistic inspiration as a war correspondent in Vietnam. Symbolic of his moral corruption is his decision to traffic in heroin, which the 1960s counterculture never embraced as they did marijuana and LSD. Converse involves a former friend, Ray Hicks, in the smuggling deal. Hicks will hide the heroin on the Merchant Marine vessel he works on when he ships from Vietnam to Oakland, California and deliver the dope to Converse's wife Marge in Berkeley, California. The novel's primary complication unfolds when Hicks arrives in the States and realizes that he was discovered before he arrived and is being aggressively followed. Unsure whether Converse was double-crossed by his suppliers or Converse himself betrayed him, Hicks elects to go on the run with the heroin, taking Marge as insurance. The novel's action follows Hicks and Marge's evasion of Converse and his suppliers, and Hicks's attempts to sell the dope, south through California to the desert. Once an all-American Marine, now a lone wolf, Hicks is a survivalist and an autodidact trying to apply in himself Zen Buddhism, martial arts and the philosophy of Nietzsche. Marge is a painkiller junkie and guilt-ridden mother who takes tickets at a porn theater because it is ironic; she presents herself as an advocate of freedom, both sexual and of speech. She had agreed with Converse to do the heroin deal. Their pursuer may intend to arrest them and keep the drugs off of the street, or allow his associates to kill them and keep the swag for himself, but no one can tell for sure. His thugs may be merely well-informed drug thieves or legitimately on the fringe of the law enforcement world. ===== In the future, in 2977 AD,TV series, episode 1. humanity has achieved a vast starfaring civilization, but is slowly and steadily succumbing to ennui or despair, often due to defeat and subjugation by a foreign invader. Rising against the general apathy, Harlock denies defeat and leads an outlaw crew aboard his starship Arcadia to undertake daring raids against Earth's oppressors. Their primary oppressors are the Mazone, a race of organic plant- based alien women who explored Earth in the mythic past and are now back to reclaim it. ===== The Golden Notebook is the story of writer Anna Wulf, the four notebooks in which she records her life, and her attempt to tie them together in a fifth, gold-coloured notebook. The book intersperses segments of an ostensibly realistic narrative of the lives of Anna and her friend, Molly Jacobs, as well as their children, ex-husbands and lovers—entitled Free Women—with excerpts from Anna's four notebooks, coloured black (of Anna's experience in Southern Rhodesia, before and during World War II, which inspired her own best-selling novel), red (of her experience as a member of the Communist Party), yellow (an ongoing novel that is being written based on the painful ending of Anna's own love affair), and blue (Anna's personal journal where she records her memories, dreams, and emotional life). Each notebook is returned to four times, interspersed with episodes from Free Women, creating non-chronological, overlapping sections that interact with one another. This post-modern styling, with its space for "play" engaging the characters and readers, is among the most famous features of the book, although Lessing insisted that readers and reviewers pay attention to the serious themes in the novel. ===== During a general British and Portuguese retreat from the French after the First Battle of Porto, Captain Horgan orders Lieutenant Richard Sharpe and his men to help find and escort to safety 19-year-old Englishwoman Kate Savage, the daughter of a recently deceased prominent port merchant. For some unknown reason, she ran away from her home in Oporto. Horgan also tells Sharpe to "keep a close eye" on Colonel James Christopher, who has been staying with the Savages and was the one who requested help in retrieving her. After Horgan leaves, however, Christopher dismisses Sharpe and his men. Sharpe and his detachment, orphaned from the 95th Rifles, are trapped when the French seize Oporto, but are unexpectedly saved by a small detachment of Portuguese soldiers led by Lieutenant Jorge Vicente, a law student in civilian life. Despite his hatred of lawyers, Sharpe gradually comes to respect Vincente. Christopher was sent by the British Foreign Office to Portugal to evaluate the situation in Portugal. He has instead decided to use the situation to enrich himself. French Marshal Soult would like to declare himself King of Portugal, but his royal ambition does not sit well with many of his officers. Christopher contacts and encourages the potential mutineers, but intends to betray them to Soult. Just in case the French do not conquer Portugal, he also "marries" Kate in a sham ceremony for her substantial inheritance, despite already having a wife in England. Seen openly collaborating with the French, he assures Sharpe that he is simply on a secret mission for Britain. Sharpe is suspicious of his motives, but Christopher shows him his orders from General Cradock, the commander of the British forces in southern Portugal. Christopher orders Sharpe to wait for him, for perhaps a week, and entrusts Kate to him. Christopher then negotiates with the French, offering the identities of the mutineers and other information in return for a monopoly on the port trade in Oporto. Christopher's Portuguese servant deserts him and tells Sharpe that Christopher has betrayed Sharpe to the French as a token of good faith. Fortunately, Sharpe defeats the French detachment sent to kill him and his men. The riflemen escape and seek to rejoin the main British force. Sharpe spots three barges and a small boat overlooked by the French, who have burned all the boats they can find. He makes contact with a senior British officer. General Wellesley, Cradock's replacement, has been seeking a way across the Douro River. The British are delighted to be able to send a division and artillery across to occupy a seminary dominating Soult's lines of communications. The French make desperate, but futile attempts to seize it. The British position is far too strong, and the French are slaughtered. In the aftermath of the British victory and the French retreat, Sharpe informs Wellesley and Foreign Office dignitary Lord Pumphrey of Christopher's treason. He is ordered to dispose of Christopher before he can divulge more secrets. Portuguese forces cut off one retreat route, forcing the French to abandon their heavy equipment and plunder as they flee along a mountain road. Sharpe, Vicente, and their men race ahead of the French, seeking Christopher. The French manage to capture both bottleneck bridges from Portuguese irregulars and escape, but Sharpe finds and kills Christopher (and one of his riflemen who deserted) and rescues Kate. ===== Nianankoro's father Soma is a part of the order of Komo, who practice magic, but he uses his powers for self-gain. He becomes determined to kill his son after receiving a vision that his son will cause his death. Aided by his mother, Nianankoro steals several of his father's sacred fetishes and leaves his village to seek out his uncle for help. Soma pursues him with the aid of an enchanted pylon that tracks his son's location and breaks all barriers that deter it. As he travels, Nianankoro encounters a hyena who tells him his destiny is to be great. Passing through the territory of the Fulas, he is thought to be a thief and captured. Their king Rouma Boli orders him killed, but Nianankoro creates magic that freezes his guards and declares they cannot kill him. Impressed, King Rouma offers Nianankoro his freedom in exchange for aid against a rival tribe. When the tribe attacks, Nianankoro summons a swarm of bees and a fire that drives their attackers away. The king thanks Nianankoro and asks him to cure his wife Attou's infertility. Nianankoro creates an enchantment, but he and Attou are overcome by lust and sleep together. That night they return to Rouma to confess their crime, and the king reluctantly orders them married and to leave. Nianankoro and Attou continue their travels while his father remains in pursuit. Soma sacrifices an albino man and a wild dog to appease the gods who grant him power to hunt his son. He then meets with the Komo and warns them that Nianankoro intends to disperse their magic for all the people to use. Nianankoro and Attou reach his uncle Djigui, who was blinded long ago when he chose to use the artifact of Kore's Wing for his people. He gives the relic to Nianankoro and tells him and Attou, who is pregnant, that their children will become a nation who will face hardship and be sold in slavery, but ultimately prosper. Taking Kore's wing, Nianankoro leaves to confront his father and gives his cloak to Attou to in turn give to his son. She takes refuge with Djigui as they prepare for incoming devastation. Reaching his father, Nianankoro attempts to reason with him but is dismayed to find his father cannot bear to share his power and only wants him dead. They call upon the power of their artifacts, Soma with his pylon and Nianankoro with Kore's Wing, turning themselves into an elephant and a lion, respectively. The power of Kore creates a blinding wave that kills them both and transforms the land around them into sand. After their deaths, Attou and her young son come to the site and find two eggs. Her son takes the egg of his father and his mother gives him Kore's Wing, and they leave the desert. ===== Gene Autry (Gene Autry) is a singing cowboy who runs Radio Ranch, a dude ranch from which he makes a daily live radio broadcast at 2:00 pm. Gene has two kid sidekicks, Frankie Baxter (Frankie Darro) and Betsy Baxter (Betsy King Ross), who lead a club, the Junior Thunder Riders, in which the kids play at being armored knights of an unknown civilization, the mysterious Thunder Riders who make a sound like thunder when they ride. The kids, dressing up in capes and water- bucket helmets, play at riding "To the rescue!" (their motto). A chance to become real heroes occurs when Betsy, Frankie, and Gene are kidnapped by the real Thunder Riders from the super-scientific underground empire of Murania, complete with towering buildings, robots, ray-guns, advanced television, elevator tubes that extend miles from the surface, and the icy, blonde, evil Queen Tika. On the surface, criminals led by Professor Beetson plan to invade Murania and seize its radium wealth, while in Murania, a group of revolutionaries plots to overthrow Queen Tika. The inhabitants of Murania are the lost tribe of Mu, who went underground in the last glacial period 100,000 years ago, and now live in a fantastically advanced city 25,000 feet below the surface. They cannot now breathe the air at ground level and must wear oxygen masks. (Surface dwellers have no trouble breathing Muranian air.) The Thunder Guard emerges to the surface world from a cave with a huge rock door that swings up like a garage door. Both Muranians and Professor Beetson want to get rid of Autry, so he loses his radio contract and Radio Ranch is vacated.Magers 2007, pp. 23–24. ===== In 1840s Madrid, Spain, Don Diego de la Vega is in bed with a married woman. They are caught by her husband, Garcia, and Diego must sword fight with him and his five brothers. During the altercation, Diego's mute servant Paco reads (via gestures) a letter from Diego's father ordering Diego's return to California. Diego and Paco jump from a high wall into a waiting carriage. When the two arrive in Los Angeles, they are met by Diego's childhood friend Esteban, who is now capitán of the guard. He has married Florinda, for whom the men competed when they were boys. Diego learns that his father was killed in a riding accident, his horse "frightened by a turtle". Esteban is the acting alcalde until the Dons elect a replacement. Esteban is elected by acclamation and then gives a speech to the assembled peasants. He is interrupted by Charlotte Taylor-Wilson, a wealthy political activist from Boston. She and Diego meet, and despite their political differences, Diego is smitten. Diego is invited to a masked ball celebrating Esteban's elevation. He also receives his inheritance: Zorro's black cape, hat, and sword, along with a letter from his late father revealing that he was Zorro. That legacy now falls to Diego. He decides the masked ball is the perfect place to announce Zorro's return. On his way there, Zorro witnesses a peasant being extorted. He confronts and defeats Esteban's tax collector, then instructs the peon to spread the word that El Zorro has returned. Diego, in Zorro costume, dances with Florinda at the ball. Velasquez, the tax collector, reports the theft to Esteban, pointing to Diego as Zorro. A duel ensues with Esteban, and Zorro escapes by again jumping from a high wall, but this time injuring his foot and hobbling away. Later that night, a drunk Florinda attempts to seduce Diego at his hacienda, but Esteban arrives to speak about the evening's events. He suspects that Diego might be Zorro, but Diego convinces him that his foot is uninjured. A reign of terror begins, including torture and increased taxation. Diego is frustrated because, being injured, he cannot fight Esteban's tyranny. Fate intervenes when Diego's gay, foppish, and British-educated twin brother Ramón de la Vega, a Royal Navy officer, having adopted the name "Bunny Wigglesworth", comes home for a visit. Diego brings him up to date, and Bunny assumes the guise of Zorro, using a whip instead of a sword, while wearing flamboyant Zorro attire in a variety of coordinated colors. The colorful Zorro always eludes capture. Esteban hatches a plan to lure Zorro to the alcalde's residence with another ball to show off Florinda's expensive new necklace. Seeing through the plan, Diego arrives dressed as Zorro. So do the rest of the Dons and male party guests, saying that a message from Esteban instructed them all to dress that way. Adding to the confusion, Bunny appears in drag, masquerading as "Margarita" Wigglesworth, Diego's cousin from Santa Barbara. Esteban is smitten upon meeting her. Bunny spills a drink on Florinda, and in the resulting chaos attempts to clean her dress, makes off with the necklace. As Bunny leaves to return to the Royal Navy, he tells Diego that Charlotte Taylor-Wilson has confessed her love for Zorro. At the plaza, Diego as Zorro and Charlotte meet again, falling into each other's arms, but they are observed and Esteban is informed. As a ruse to lure Zorro, he has Charlotte arrested, and she is sentenced to be executed. Don Diego as Zorro surrenders to Esteban to save her, and he is sentenced to death. Seconds before the firing squad opens fire, Bunny, this time wearing a bright metallic gold costume, announces the return of Zorro. With Charlotte's and Diego's aid, Zorro incites the assembled peasants to rebellion. Esteban's guards also rebel, joined by Florinda, and Esteban stands alone, defeated. Later, Bunny finally rides off to catch his ship back to England, waving goodbye, after which Diego and Charlotte ride off to plan their wedding. As her wedding gift, Charlotte suggests that Diego donate all his family lands to the people so they can settle down and raise a family in Boston. ===== The Logan family goes through hard times trying to raise their children the correct way. T.J. Avery, Stacey's friend, is accused of murdering a white man, Jim Lee Barnett. Although he is innocent, he is tried by an all-white jury and convicted. Stacey does everything in his power to help his friend, but in the end, T.J. is sentenced to death. A man makes a file to join blacks and whites together so the cotton fields can be shared. The union does not succeed and the man who wanted to start it is beaten. Some people are told that they need to pull up the acres that were already planted because they planted too much. The plantation owners lied, claiming the government ordered it, but the plantation owners did it in order to receive money that was supposed to go to the sharecroppers. Mama's cousin Bud's daughter Suzella, who has a black father and a white mother, lives with the Logans. Suzella is venerated for being attractive and mixed, making her seem like a prize to all the males in the town because she is technically black and therefore accessible, but still has the lighter skin, hair and eyes; she can be assumed as white. Suzella struggles with identity issues that put a strain on her relationships with others. She catches the eye of Stuart Walker, a white boy who flirts with pretty colored girls to start trouble. When Stuart approaches her he genuinely respects her, assuming she is white. This takes a great toll on Stacey; he believes he must take care of his family before they lose their land. He and his best friend Moe run away to a sugarcane field to work. With the help of Mr. Jamison, a white lawyer who is kind and fair to black people, Mama, Papa and Caroline Logan (Big Ma) contact police stations in the next couple of towns. They address the letters in Mr. Jamison's name so that when the sheriffs receive the letters they will respond. Mr. Jamison says that if they see a black family name on the letters they probably will not respond. Seven months later, they find Stacey several hours away, jailed in a small town in Louisiana. Stacey and Moe were accused of stealing which put them in jail, where they became ill. While Stacey was at the cane field a pole rolled over his foot and broke it. Before they drive home, they stop by the house of a lady who took care of Stacey and Moe while they were in jail and thank her. They stay the night there and the next morning return home. ===== It is a complicated and politically dangerous period in Westmark. The country's ruler, King Augustine IV, has slipped into dementia, depression and illness since the supposed death of his only child, Princess Augusta, over six years ago. Despite the efforts of the queen, Caroline, and the court physician, Dr. Torrens, the King is increasingly manipulated by his chief minister, Cabbarus, who has designs on the throne. While the ill king is kept distracted by a series of mystics and charlatans who claim to be able to speak to his dead child, Cabbarus increases his control over Westmark, restricting freedoms and abusing the king's powers. Young Theo, an orphan, has been raised in a small town, Dorning, by a printer named Anton. After the pair accepts a job from a travelling salesman they are investigated by Cabbarus' men, who declare their job illegal and proceed to destroy their press. In the ensuing scuffle and chase, Theo attacks a soldier and Anton is shot and killed. With no one else to turn to, Theo takes to the countryside, eventually meeting up with the men who hired him and Anton for the printing job: Count Las Bombas, a con artist, and his dwarf driver/partner Musket. Theo joins up with them, rather reluctantly, and ends up participating in their money-making schemes. They eventually discover a girl named Mickle, a poor street urchin, who has a talent for throwing her voice and mimicry. The count builds a charade around Mickle, dressing her up as the Oracle Priestess and putting her on display, claiming that she can speak to the spirits of the dead. Theo, despite his growing affection for the bright but vulnerable Mickle, begins to find his new life too dishonest for his tastes and abandons the group, eventually falling in with Florian, an anti-monarchist and rebel who plans revolution with his band of loyal followers whom he calls his "children". Meanwhile, Mickle, Las Bombas, and Musket have been arrested for fraud, Cabbarus has attempted to have Dr. Torrens assassinated and a politically minded journalist, Keller, goes into hiding to save himself from Cabbarus' wrath. Events come to a head when Theo plots to break his old companions out of prison, with help from Florian and his friends. Their reunion, however, does not last long; Cabbarus has tracked them down and has them all arrested. He brings the group to the Old Juliana, the palace of King Augustine IV and Queen Caroline, where reveals his plans to the group and of how the "Oracle Priestess" will be his pawn to his uprising to the throne. While in Old Juliana, Mickle comes across a trapdoor leading to a water canal, and her memories race in her mind as she remembers her childhood. This leads to her high fever and Theo's worry of her having to act. Cabbarus presents the group to the King and Queen and the courtiers as the Oracle Priestess, and suddenly Mickle's long-repressed childhood memories come to the surface, revealing treason, attempted murder and corruption in the heart of the Westmark government. It is later revealed that Mickle is the long-lost Princess Augusta and that chief minister Cabbarus was responsible for her disappearance. Eventually, on the subject of Cabbarus's punishment, Theo, on behalf of his conscience, sends him into exile, instead of killing him. This decision will have a major effect on the final book of the Westmark trilogy, The Beggar Queen. ===== A meteor made entirely out of clay crash- lands on the grounds of a humble American circus. The goo from the interstellar object contaminates all of the circus' attractions, transforming them into bizarre caricatures of their former selves, with new superpowers. ===== Professor Charles Grimaud's meeting with friends at a London tavern is interrupted by the illusionist Pierre Fley, who threatens Grimaud and warns of an even more dangerous brother who seeks Grimaud's life. Grimaud tells him to send his brother and be damned. A few nights later, a visitor concealing his identity with a false face arrives at Grimaud's house and is shown up to his study by the housekeeper, Mme Dumont. Grimaud's secretary, positioned with a view of the study door, sees Grimaud greet the visitor and let him in; he continues to watch until a shot is heard. Inside the room, Grimaud is found to be dying; but neither visitor nor weapon can be found, and there is unbroken snow outside the only window. On his deathbed, Grimaud makes a confusing statement confirming that his brother was responsible. Gideon Fell discovers that before Grimaud settled in London he was known as Koroly Grimaud Horváth, and that he had two brothers, one of whom now calls himself Fley. The three had, years earlier, tried to escape a Transylvanian labour camp by faking their own deaths and being buried alive in their coffins. A newspaper reports that minutes after Grimaud's shooting witnesses saw Fley walking alone down a snow-covered cul-de-sac, and heard a voice shout "The second bullet is for you!" followed by a gunshot. Fley is found dead in the snow with the revolver that killed him (and Grimaud) lying nearby. There are no tracks in the snow but his. Word is received from Transylvania that the three brothers had been imprisoned for bank robbery, and that after escaping his coffin Grimaud had deliberately left the other two to die. Fley had been saved and returned to prison, but the third brother had perished. Fell reveals that Fley had been blackmailing Grimaud and threatening to disclose his part in the third brother's death. It was in fact Grimaud who had in retaliation been planning to kill Fley, not vice versa. Grimaud's elaborate plan had been to create the illusion that Fley had gone into the study, fired at him, then escaped from the window and returned to his own flat to commit suicide. In reality, Grimaud went to Fley's flat, shot him, posed him as a suicide with the gun in his hand, then put on a cardboard overcoat and mask ready to impersonate his own visitor. But his plan went awry as Fley had not been killed outright, and managed to get out into the street to seek a doctor. When Grimauld accidentally showed himself, Fley screamed "The second bullet is for you!" and fired, dying from the effort. Though wounded, Grimaud managed to return to his own house and proceeded with his plan. He had previously positioned a large mirror just inside the study door, and as the door was opened he removed his hat (and mask) making it appear to the watching secretary that he was already in the room and was coming forward to greet his visitor. Once inside, he burned the cardboard items and hid the heavy mirror up in the chimney, the effort bringing on a final haemorrhage. He had just enough time to set off a firecracker to fake a gunshot. The seeming impossibility of the crimes arose entirely by accident. Fley's shooting appeared to happen some minutes after Grimaud's because of an incorrectly-set clock in a shop window; and Grimaud had not anticipated snow, making Fley's purported escape from the window impossible. Mme Dumont (now revealed to be Grimaud's accomplice and lover) confirms the correctness of Fell's solution, and kills herself. ===== Set in the 13th-century court of England's King Henry III, the novel centers around the wedding of the title character. The wedding is interrupted by a merchant who claims to have been wronged by Gaston, in that Gaston murdered his kinsman. Henry is forced to hold a trial to determine the validity of the claims. The plot is further complicated by the machinations of an abbot who tries to suppress the truth, and by ghosts who want to expose the truth. ===== Eleven-year-old Coraline Jones and her parents, Mel and Charlie, move into an old mansion that has been divided up and is now known as the Pink Palace Apartments. Due to her parents struggling to complete their gardening catalog, Coraline is often left alone. While using a dowsing rod she plucked from a bush in the garden, attempting to find a well nearby, she meets the landlady's grandson, Wyborne "Wybie" Lovat, and the feral Black Cat who follows him around. Wybie informs Coraline that her dowsing rod is poison oak, which gives her a rash on her palm. Later, she meets her new neighbors: Mr. Bobinsky, who is supposedly training a circus of mice, and retired burlesque actresses Misses Spink and Forcible. Wybie later gives Coraline a button-eyed rag doll he discovered in his grandmother's trunk that resembles her. Soon after, Coraline discovers a small door in the living room that is bricked up and can only be unlocked by a button-shaped key. That night, a mouse guides Coraline through the door, a portal to a seemingly more colorful and cheerful version of her real home. Coraline meets her Other Mother and Other Father, button- eyed doppelgängers of her parents that appear more attentive and caring. During her visit, Other Mother puts mud on her rash; she goes to sleep and awakens in the real world the next morning, finding her palm has healed. Wybie later tells Coraline about his grandmother's twin sister who disappeared in the house as a child. Coraline continually visits the Other World each following night; entertained by the Other Bobinsky, who conducts a mouse circus for her, the Other Wybie, who has been rendered mute by the Other Mother to please Coraline, and the Other Spink and Forcible, who perform an elabortate vaudeville/cabaret show. On her third visit, Coraline encounters the Black Cat from the real world, who is able to speak in the Other World and likes to play "games" with the Other Mother, who hates cats. Other Mother invites Coraline to stay in the Other World forever, on the condition she have buttons sewn over her eyes. Horrified, Coraline goes to sleep, but when she wakes up, she finds she is still in the Other World. When Coraline, demands to return home, the Other Mother transforms into a menacing version of herself and imprisons Coraline in the hallway mirror. There, Coraline meets the ghosts of the Other Mother's previous child victims, including Wybie's great aunt. The spirits reveal that the Other Mother, whom they call the "Beldam," used the same doll Coraline had (each time disguised as the child in question,) to spy on them, taking advantage of their unhappiness and luring them into the Other World. After they agreed to let her sew buttons on their eyes, the Beldam "ate up" their lives, trapping their souls. Coraline promises to free them by finding their eyes. The Other Wybie frees her from the mirror and helps her escape back to the real world. Coraline cannot find her parents, eventually realizing they have been kidnapped by the Beldam. While she is unable to convince Wybie, Miss Spink and Miss Forcible give Coraline an adder stone. That night, Coraline is woken by the Black Cat, who shows her that her parents have been captured. She returns to the Other World, where Coraline proposes a game to the Beldam: if she can find the ghosts' eyes and her parents, they will all go free; if not, she will remain in the Other World and let the Beldam sew buttons over her eyes. Using the stone to find the children's eyes, Coraline ventures out into the now-hostile Other World; with each eye she collects, part of the Other World disintegrates until only the living room is left. Coraline sees the Beldam in her true form, a metallic skeletal-arachnid creature with needle-like hands. She is warned that even if she wins, the Beldam will never let her go. Coraline tricks the Beldam into unlocking the portal and she finds her parents trapped in a snow globe on the mantle. Coraline blinds the Beldam by throwing the cat at her, and narrowly escapes through the door, where she manages to close and lock it with the help of the ghosts, severing the Beldam's right hand in the process. Coraline's parents reappear in the real world with no memory of what happened to them. That night, the ghost children appear in Coraline's dream to thank her for freeing them, but warn her that the Beldam, as long as she is alive, she will never stop looking for the key. Coraline decides to drop it down an old well near her home, but before she does, the Beldam's severed hand attacks her. Wybie, who has realized Coraline was telling the truth, arrives and, after a struggle, smashes the hand with a stone. Coraline ties the smashed hand and the key to the stone with a blanket, and together they throw everything into the well and seal it shut. Soon after, Coraline and her parents, who have finally finished their catalog, host a garden party for their neighbors. Wybie brings his grandmother, Mrs. Lovat, and Coraline prepares to tell her about her sister's fate. ===== The novel tells the story of a highly dysfunctional family, the Pollits. The naive egoism of the eponymous Sam Pollit overwhelms his family, especially his wife Henny and eldest daughter Louie. The family is not wealthy, a situation exacerbated by Sam's idealism, Henny's accumulated debts, and the terrible rift between the couple. Stead details the parents' marital battles and the various accounts of the blended family's affections and alliances. The character Sam is largely based on Stead's own father, marine biologist David Stead. The Man Who Loved Children was originally set in Sydney but the setting was altered to suit an American audience, to Washington, D.C., somewhat unconvincingly due to linguistic nuances. Unsparing and penetrating, Stead reveals, among other things, the danger of unchecked sentimentality in relationships and in political thought. ===== Money tells the story of, and is narrated by, John Self, a successful director of adverts who is invited to New York City by Fielding Goodney, a film producer, to shoot his first film. Self is an archetypal hedonist and slob; he is usually drunk, an avid consumer of pornography and prostitutes, eats too much and, above all, spends too much, encouraged by Goodney. The actors in the film, which Self originally titles Good Money but which he eventually wants to rename Bad Money, all have some kind of emotional issue which clashes with fellow cast members and with their roles — the principal casting having already been done by Goodney. As examples: the strict Christian Spunk Davis (whose name is intentionally unfortunate) is asked to play a drugs pusher; the ageing hardman Lorne Guyland has to be physically assaulted; the motherly Caduta Massi, who is insecure about her body, is asked to appear in a sex scene with Lorne, whom she detests. Self is stalked by "Frank the Phone" while in New York, a menacing misfit who threatens him over a series of telephone conversations, apparently because Self personifies the success Frank was unable to attain. Self is not frightened of Frank, even when he is beaten by him while on an alcoholic bender. (Self, characteristically, is unable to remember how he was attacked.) Towards the end of the book Self arranges to meet Frank for a showdown, which is the beginning of the novel's shocking denouement. Money is similar to Amis' five-years-later London Fields, in having a major plot twist. Self returns to London before filming begins, revealing more of his humble origins, his landlord father Barry (who makes his contempt for his son clear by invoicing him for every penny spent on his upbringing) and pub doorman Fat Vince. Self discovers that his London girlfriend, Selina, is having an affair with Ossie Twain, while Self is likewise attracted to Twain's wife in New York, Martina. This increases Self's psychosis and makes his final downfall even more brutal. After Selina has plotted to destroy any chance of a relationship between him and Martina, Self discovers that all his credit cards have been blocked, and, after confronting Frank, the stars of film angrily claim that there is no film. It is revealed that Goodney had been manipulating him; all the contracts signed by Self were loans and debts, and Goodney fabricated the entire film. He is also revealed to be Frank. He supposedly chose Self for his behaviour on the first plane to America, where Goodney was sitting close to him. Felix, a bellhop, helps him escape the angry mob in the hotel lobby and fly back to England, only to discover that Barry is not Self's real father. Amis writes himself into the novel as a kind of overseer and confidant in Self's final breakdown. He is an arrogant character, but Self is not afraid to express his rather low opinion of Amis, such as the fact that he earns so much yet "lives like a student." Amis, among others, tries to warn Self that he is heading for destruction but to no avail. Felix becomes Self's only real friend in America and finally makes Self realise how much trouble he has: "Man, you are out for a whole lot of money." The novel's subtitle, "A Suicide Note", is clarified at the end of the novel. It is revealed that Barry Self is not John Self's father; his father is in fact Fat Vince. As such, John Self no longer exists. Hence, in the subtitle, Amis indicates that this cessation of John Self's existence is analogous to suicide, which of course, results in the death of the self. A Suicide Note could also relate to the novel as a whole, or money, which Self himself calls "suicide notes" within the novel. After learning that his father is Fat Vince, John realises that his true identity is that of Fat John, half-brother of Fat Paul. The novel ends with Fat John having lost all his money (if it ever existed), yet he is still able to laugh at himself and is cautiously optimistic about his future. ===== The novel begins with an internal monologue by the 31-year-old Maria Wyeth, followed by short reminiscences of her friend Helene, and ex-husband, film producer Carter Lang. The further narration is conducted from a third-person perspective in eighty- four chapters of terse, controlled and highly visual prose typical of Didion. Maria's story begins as she is recovering from a mental breakdown in a psychiatric hospital in the Los Angeles area, but soon flashes back to her life before the hospital. A not-quite lurid view of life in Hollywood follows. Didion's late 1960s Los Angeles is a mix of grimness and glamour. Maria's journey oscillates between dizzying and domestic, as her acting career slows and her personal life collapses. Maria moved to Los Angeles from New York City, by way of the small town of Silver Wells, Nevada. The daughter of a gambling father and a neurotic mother who bet on a mine and lost, Maria had originally moved to New York to become an actress. In New York, Maria works temporarily as a model and meets Ivan Costello, a psychological blackmailer who has no hesitation exploiting Maria for her money or her body. In New York, Maria receives news of her mother's death in a car wreck, possibly a suicide. Her father dies soon after, leaving useless mineral rights to his business partner and friend Benny Austin. Maria withdraws from acting and modeling, splits up with Ivan, and eventually meets Carter and moves to Hollywood. Later, we find that she and Carter have a 4-year-old daughter Kate, who is under mental and physical "treatment" for some "aberrant chemical in her brain". Maria truly loves Kate, as indicated by her tender descriptions, her frequent hospital visits, and her determination "to get her out". An inevitable divorce, and the ensuing social chaos bring Maria to indulge in self-destructive behavior. She plunges into long nights of compulsive driving, wandering Southern California's freeways, through motels and bars, drinking and chancing sexual encounters with actors and ex-lovers. After a series of disasters for Maria, infidelity among her friends adds further chaos to her life. Her friend BZ commits suicide and Maria is institutionalized. From her hospital, Maria turns her visitors away, and plans for a day she might see her daughter again. ===== Ajay Bakshi (Shahrukh Khan) is a successful loudmouthed reporter, working for a reputed news channel. The rival news channel ropes in Ria Banerjee (Juhi Chawla) to bring him down. Ria is the antithesis of Ajay and uses her intelligence, charm and wits to get her work done. Pappu Junior alias Choti (Johnny Lever) is a don who is to be ousted from his own gang, owing to his inability to make it big in the crime world. Ajay approaches Choti with an offer: arrange a fake attack on minister Ramakant Dua's (Shakti Kapoor) brother-in-law Madanlal Gupta (Mahavir Shah), on national TV. Choti will earn respect & Ajay's channel will gain ratings. Little does Ajay know that the plan is going to turn too real. Ramakant Dua's brother-in-law is gunned down by an assailant named Mohan Joshi (Paresh Rawal). Minister Ramakant takes advantage of his brother-in-law's death to gain votes and sympathy; he also instigates a pogrom to ensure his position in the government. Ajay and Ria start getting along as they work together to cover the city riots. Mohan is arrested and to avoid public unrest, the Police Commissioner declares that Mohan is a foreign terrorist. Mohan escapes jail and hides in Ajay and Ria's car. When Mohan accosts them, Ajay accuses him of being a terrorist. Mohan yells that he is not and tells the two his story: Mohan had a happy family with a wife (Neena Kulkarni) and daughter. One day, his daughter went for an interview and Ramakant's brother-in-law raped and beat her. She died from the trauma and as no lawyer was willing to fight the case due to the perpetrator's political power, Mohan was left helpless, running from door to door for justice. Hence hopeless, he took the law into his own hands and killed the rapist. Ajay and Ria decide to help Mohan, who sees them as his own kids and helps them realize their love for each other. Ajay hands over the videotape of Mohan's confession to his boss and uncle Kaka (Satish Shah). Unfortunately, the minister has joined hands with rival minister Mushran (Govind Namdeo) as he fears that their secrets might come out if Mohan's truth is revealed. Ajay's boss forms an alliance with Ria's boss Chinoy (Dalip Tahil). The ministers and channel heads come together and trick Ajay and Ria into giving them the tape. When Mohan is arrested and sentenced to be publicly hanged, Ajay and Ria realize they were tricked. They work together with Choti to get the tape back. Ajay succeeds in broadcasting Mohan's confession just an hour before Mohan's execution and tearfully requests the nation to stop this injustice. The ministers and policemen try to prevent the protesters from entering the prison ground but the ACP joins Ajay and Ria, thus neutralizing the police barricades. In a blatant mockery and critique of media's selfish obsession with ratings and views, Mohan is made to wear a shirt sporting logos of sponsors and companies. Seconds before the execution, Ajay saves Mohan and the protesters beat up the politicians and chase them out, ensuring their careers are over. Mohan's execution is called off and the film ends happily as Ria proposes to Ajay, who accepts. ===== The novel is a satirical epic of the colonization of Maryland based on the life of an actual poet, Ebenezer Cooke, who wrote a poem of the same title. The Sot- Weed Factor is what Northrop Frye called an anatomy--a large, loosely structured work, with digressions, distractions, stories within stories, and lists (such as a lengthy exchange of insulting terms by two prostitutes).The Sot-Weed Factor (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1960), 466-72 The fictional Ebenezer Cooke (repeatedly described as "poet and virgin") is a Candide-like innocent who sets out to write a heroic epic, becomes disillusioned and ends up writing a biting satire. The novel is set in the 1680s and 90s in London and on the eastern shore of the colony of Maryland. It tells the story of an English poet named Ebenezer Cooke who is given the title "Poet Laureate of Maryland" by Charles Calvert. He undergoes many adventures on his journey to Maryland and while in Maryland, all the while striving to preserve his innocence (i.e. his virginity). The book takes its title from the grand poem that Cooke composes throughout the story, which was originally intended to sing the praises of Maryland, but ends up being a biting satire based on his disillusioning experiences. Ebenezer Cooke is the son of Andrew Cooke, an English merchant who owns a tobacco (or 'sot-weed') plantation at the settlement of Malden in the colony of Maryland. Along with his twin sister Anna, Ebenezer is tutored privately by a young man named Henry Burlingame III. Later, while Ebenezer is studying at Cambridge University, he is reunited with Henry who reveals his past life as an orphan, travelling musician and seaman. Henry recounts a tale of saving a mother and daughter from pirates, and then persuades Ebenezer to travel to London, where Ebenezer decides that his true vocation is to be a poet. While ill, Andrew Cooke grants power of attorney to Ebenezer and reveals that, after the death of their mother, Ebenezer and Anna were nursed by a woman named Roxanne Edouarde. In London, Ebenezer declares his love for the prostitute Joan Toast, but refuses to pay her fee, and confesses to being a virgin. Joan's pimp and lover, John McEvoy, subsequently informs Andrew that Ebenezer has been leading a dissolute life, so Andrew sends Ebenezer and a servant, Bertrand Burton, to Maryland. From devotion to Joan, Ebenezer swears to remain a virgin. Before his departure, Ebenezer visits Charles Calvert, Lord Baltimore, who is the Governor of Maryland, and offers his services as a Poet Laureate of the colony. Calvert is bemused, but grants the commission. Ebenezer decides to write an epic poem entitled "Marylandiad". On the coach to Plymouth, Ebenzer encounters one Peter Sayer, who is really Henry in disguise. Henry reveals that, while trying to ascertain his true identity, he has become embroiled in the politics of Maryland, but has discovered that he was adopted as an infant by one Captain Salmon, after being found floating on a raft in Chesapeake Bay. He has also obtained part of a journal which reveals that his grandfather, Henry Burlingame I, took part in an expedition led by Captain John Smith that was attacked by Indians. In order to save his own life, and that of Burlingame, Smith undergoes a sexual trial with Pocahontas, the daughter of the Indian chief Powhatans. At this point, the journal breaks off, and Henry explains that he is searching for the remaining sections of the document. In Plymouth, Henry leaves Ebenezer, who is terrified by a sinister pair of seamen called Skye and Scurry who declare that they are pursuing a man by the name of Ebenezer Cooke. Ebenezer boards his ship, the Poseidon, only to find that his identity has been assumed by Bertrand, who is fleeing London because of an affair with a married woman. In order to escape detection, Ebenezer agrees to exchange places with Bertrand on the voyage. Bertrand then loses Ebenezer's savings by gambling with the Reverend Tubman and a young woman named Lucy Rowbotham. The Poseidon is captured by pirates led by a Captain Pound, and Ebenezer and Bertrand are taken on board their ship, which then attacks another ship, the Cyprian, which is loaded with prostitutes. The pirates rape the female passengers, and Ebenezer is tempted to rape a woman who reminds him of Joan. Captain Pound has Ebenezer and Bertrand thrown overboard, telling them that he has heard that someone by the name of Ebenezer Cooke has already arrived in Maryland. Expecting to drown, Bertrand tells Ebenezer that he has wagered away to Tubman the whole of the Malden estate. The pair make it to shore where they free a bound black man named Drepacca, and treat the wounds of an elderly Indian chief named Quassapelagh. They meet Susan Warren, a female swineherd who also reminds Ebenezer of Joan. Susan claims that she has been debased by Captain William Mitchell, and that she is acquainted with Joan. Ebenezer meets both Captain Mitchell and his son Tim, who turns out to be Henry Burlingame III in another disguise. Ebenezer and Henry visit Father Smith, a Jesuit priest who owns part of the journal sought by Henry. Smith relates how he was told by an Indian named Charley Mattasin the tale of Father Fitzmaurice, a missionary who fathered three children on Indian women of the same tribe. The journal gives further details of the capture of Captain Smith and Henry's grandfather, but in order to discover more, Henry turns next to locating a cooper by the name of William Smith. At the next settlement, Ebenezer witnesses a chaotic outdoor court in session. He hears how William Smith was once indentured to a man named Ben Spurdance and how Spurdance tried to swindle Smith out of his share of land upon expiry of his indenture. The court is about to find in favour of Spurdance, but an outraged Ebenezer insists that the court punish Spurdance by signing the rights to Spurdance's land over to Smith. The judge agrees and gets Ebenezer to sign a document, whereupon Ebenezer discovers that Spurdance is the overseer of Malden, and that his father's estate has now passed to Smith. Ebenezer meets Mary Mungummory, a prostitute who was once the lover of the Indian Charley Mattasin. He hears that John McEvoy has travelled to Maryland in search of Joan Toast, and meets Thomas Tayhoe, a man who has been indentured to William Smith because of trickery on the part of McEvoy. Ebenezer offers to exchange places with Tayhoe, and this plan is accepted by Smith on the condition that Ebenezer marries Susan Warren. After the marriage, Susan reveals that she is really Joan Toast. Upon hearing that his father is due to arrive at Malden, Ebenezer flees in the company of one Nicholas Lowe, who turns out to be Henry in yet another disguise. Henry reveals that Anna is in Maryland and Ebenezer resolves to find her. Upon arrival in the town of St Mary's, Ebenezer encounters Bertrand, who has again been posing as Ebenezer. Bertrand has become the lover of Lucy Rowbotham, who had married the Reverend Tubman only to discover that Tubman was already married. Because of the wagers made on board of the Poseidon, Tubman and Lucy both believe they have a claim on Malden. After deciding to return to Malden, Ebenezer and Bertrand commission a boat skippered by Captain Cairn. During a storm, they shelter upon Bloodsworth Island, where they are captured by a community of rogue slaves and rebellious Indians that is dedicated to waging war against white men. Another prisoner is John McEvoy. They meet Drepacca and Quassapelagh, but are threatened with execution by Chicamec, king of the Ahatchwoop people. Ebenezer mentions the name of Henry Burlingame, whereupon Chicamec suspends their execution. Ebenezer is allowed to read a journal that gives a further account of the adventures of John Smith and Henry Burlingame I. The journal relates how Burlingame became chief of the Ahatchwoops by winning an eating contest. Furthermore, Burlingame—who has a remarkably small penis—uses Smith's egg-plant recipe in order to impregnate the wife he marries as chief. The child is Chicamec himself, who then takes as his bride a young woman who is the descendant of Father Fitzmaurice. He has three sons; one of whom is white- skinned; another golden skinned; and a third dark-skinned. The first he names Henry Burlingame III and places on a raft. The second and third, Chicamec states, fell in love with white women, and betrayed the Ahatchwoops. Ebenezer calculates that the dark-skinned son became Charley Mattasin, who loved Mary Mungummory and was executed for murder. Ebenezer strikes a deal with Chicamec whereby, after leaving Bertrand and Captain Cairn as hostages, he will attempt to trace Chicamec's surviving sons and bring them to Bloodsworth Island. After leaving the island, they encounter Mary who, along with the trapper Harvey Russecks, explains that a golden-skinned Indian by the name of Billy Rumbly is living with a white English woman. They then encounter Harvey's brother, Harry, a crooked and violent miller who is jealous of his wife, Roxanne, and daughter, Henrietta. McEvoy plays a trick on Harry that results in Harry becoming gravely injured. It transpires that Roxanne and Henrietta are the mother and daughter who were saved from the clutches of pirates by Henry years earlier. Billy Rumbly arrives and is astonished to hear that his father and lost brother are still alive, but is reluctant to take steps to prevent the imminent conflict with the Indians and slaves. Rumbly leads Ebenezer to his cabin where it transpires that Rumbly's partner is Anna. After hearing of Anna's affection for Henry, Rumbly decides to return to Bloodsworth Island, accompanied by McEvoy. Ebenezer and Anna discover that Roxanne is their former nurse and that Henrietta is their half-sister. McEvoy returns with Bertrand and Captain Cairn but claims that Rumbly has now sided with the Indians and slaves. Ebenezer and Anna decide to return to Malden along with McEvoy, Henrietta, Bertrand and Roxanne. Their boat is seized by the pirate Ben Avery and the men forced to swim to shore. The women are freed after Ben Avery recognizes Roxanne as a former lover. At Malden, the ownership of the Cooke estate is decided by a court presided over by Governor Nicholson. The claim by Lucy Rowbotham and her father are rejected. By way of a legal nicety, Malden passes back to the Cooke family because of Joan Toast's marriage to Ebenzer. William Smith and his lawyer Sowter are threatened with imprisonment, but are released after presenting Henry with more of the journal that tells of his ancestor's fate. Together with a fragment held by Joan, this reveals the egg- plant recipe by which Smith and Burlingame increased their penis size and enabled them to fulfil their sexual challenges. Ebenezer and Joan consummate their marriage, and Joan falls pregnant. Burlingame leaves for Bloodsworth Island in order to quell the rebellion. He returns in Indian guise with the intention of marrying Anna but leaves once more and does not return. Anna falls pregnant, but is saved from disgrace when Joan and her child die in childbirth and Anna's child is reared as Ebenezer's. ===== The Jashinka Empire rises from the depths of the Earth to conquer the world. To stop them, Dr. Kyutaro Yumeno assembles five inventors to his laboratory, Yumeno Invention Laboratory and gives them the power to become Dynamen. Each member has their own goal, but as the Kagaku Sentai Dynaman, they are united to stop the Jashinka Empire in their tracks. ===== 46-year-old former high school dropout and self-described "junkie whore" Jerri Blank is released from prison and returns to her childhood home. She discovers her mother has died, her father, Guy, has remarried to the hateful Sara Blank, and she has an arrogant half-brother Derrick. To make matters worse, her father is in a "stress-induced coma". Taking the suggestion of the family doctor literally, Jerri decides to pick her life back up where she left it, beginning her high school all over again as a freshman at Flatpoint High. Jerri joins Chuck Noblet's science fair team, the Fig Neutrons, along with her new friends, Megawatti Sucarnaputri (a spoof on Megawati Sukarnoputri) and Tammi Littlenut. Noblet is not pleased to learn that Principal Onyx Blackman has hired a ringer for their team, Roger Beekman, to ensure that Flatpoint wins, and so Noblet creates a second team. As she struggles to fit in and make her teammates proud, Jerri discovers that though the faces may have changed, the hassles of high school are just the same. ===== The main character in "Prophet" is John Barrett, a television news anchor. Upon his anti-abortion father's accidental death, he is encouraged to investigate and report on problems at an abortion clinic. This only comes about after John catches his producer attempting to fabricate a story. Soon his colleagues are begging to stop him from finding out more, and he begins to hear mysterious and scary "voices". As John Barrett goes through the abortion investigation with Leslie Albright, he soon finds God and Truth, along the way. ===== Following a Health convention held in Springfield, the children of Springfield (including Bart) are deemed to be overweight. To help them stay in shape, their parents enroll them in pee-wee football. The coach, Ned Flanders, helps keep the team undefeated, but Homer heckles him relentlessly. Ned finally snaps and turns the job over to Homer, who admits that Flanders was doing a good job. Homer initially acts tough towards Bart, but when he is reminded of how his father Abe was hard on him as a child, he decides to be nicer to Bart. The next day, he decides to cut many players from the team, and replaces star quarterback Nelson with Bart, causing the team to criticize him. Bart is unable to play the position well and causes the team's first loss. While training at night Bart meets Joe Namath, who promises to help him, but soon after Joe's wife fixes the car, which had broken down due to vapor lock, Joe leaves without helping Bart. Lisa suggests that Bart pretend he is injured to get out of quarterbacking, which he eagerly does, but Homer claims that without Bart the team must forfeit. This causes Bart to become angry and quit the team. The next game, Nelson is made quarterback again and the team wins, but Homer has nobody to celebrate with and becomes lonely. Afterwards, Homer finds Bart and persuades him to rejoin the team. The next day, during the championship game, the score is tied when Chief Wiggum comes to arrest Nelson. Bart decides to pretend he is Nelson and the team finally wins the championship."Bart Star". The Simpsons.com. Retrieved on November 11, 2007. ===== One week before her vaginoplasty, a trans woman named Sabrina "Bree" Osbourne (Felicity Huffman) receives an unexpected phone call from a young man named Toby Wilkins (Kevin Zegers), a 17-year-old jailed in New York City. He asks for Stanley Schupak (Bree's deadname), claiming to be Stanley's son. Bree was previously unaware she had a son; she now wants to break with her past and renounce him. However, Bree's therapist (Elizabeth Peña) refuses to sign off for her operation if she does not face up to her past ties before facing her new future. Bree flies from Los Angeles to New York City to bail Toby out of jail. Toby is a foul-mouthed runaway who is a small-time drug user and male "hustler". His mother committed suicide when he was a child after which he was raised by his stepfather, whom he says he does not want to see. Bree pretends to be a Christian missionary and persuades Toby to ride with her back to the West Coast, secretly planning to leave him at his stepfather's along the way. When they arrive in the town of Callicoon, Kentucky, it turns out that Toby's stepfather was very abusive and he molested him several times in his youth. Bree and Toby continue driving to Los Angeles together. They also stop by a house in Dallas where a group of transgender women (many of whom are old friends of Bree's) are hosting a gender pride gathering. Later on in the trip, when Bree has to urinate, Toby accidentally discovers that Bree has male genitalia. He tries to be open-minded about it but is angry that Bree had not told him prior to his unintentional discovery. After their car and money are stolen by a young hitchhiking hippie who calls himself a "peyote shaman" (Grant Monohon), Toby makes some money by prostituting himself to a truck driver. To Bree he pretends that he got the money from selling some drugs he had taken along for his own use. They get a ride with a kindly rancher Calvin Many Goats (Graham Greene) to Bree's parents' house in Phoenix, Arizona. Calvin and Bree hit it off very well and flirt a little, which disturbs Toby. Here they find her pampered and self-centred mother Elizabeth (Fionnula Flanagan), her Jewish father Murray (Burt Young) who seems to be dominated by Elizabeth, and her rebellious and sarcastic sister Sydney (Carrie Preston). Elizabeth disapproves of Bree's transition (it is mentioned that she has been estranged for some time), but is astonished to find out she has a grandson. She is kind to Toby and invites him to stay and live with them. Toby likes the luxury and kindness, but hesitates because he does not like how disrespectful they are to Bree. Misunderstanding his feelings for Bree, he tries to seduce her, saying that he will marry her if she wants. Bree realizes she must tell Toby the truth immediately, saying that she was his real father. Toby is appalled and infuriated that Bree had not disclosed this earlier. Overnight he steals money and valuable antiques from the house and disappears. Heartbroken, Bree returns to Los Angeles via a plane ticket bought by her parents. Her family finally accepts her calling herself Bree and she has a completely successful surgery, but she is unhappy because she feels she will never again see or hear from Toby. The therapist visits Bree in recovery and Bree, after she confesses she made a mistake, sobs and cries heavily on her shoulder. Some months later, Bree is surprised to see Toby knock at her front door. Bree invites Toby inside and he reveals to her he has turned 18, bleached his hair blonde, and has become an adult actor in gay pornographic films in Los Angeles. Bree is vibrant, happy, and enjoying her job as a waitress at the restaurant where she was formerly a busser. Bree and Toby reconcile, seemingly happy to have each other. ===== The play chronicles the adult lives of two African-American brothers as they cope with poverty, racism, work, women, and their troubled upbringings. Lincoln lives with Booth, his younger brother, after being thrown out by his wife. Booth reminds Lincoln that his presence was meant to be a temporary arrangement. But Lincoln, who works at an arcade as a whiteface Abraham Lincoln impersonator, is their sole source of income. While the work is honest, both brothers find it humiliating. Booth repeatedly attempts to persuade Lincoln to return to running games of Three-card Monte. Lincoln had sworn off the hustle after one of his crew had been shot dead, believing he would be next. Idolizing his brother's former glory, Booth aspires to become a Three-card Monte card shark, frequently practicing the routine in his apartment, although his act is awkward; his own talent lies in shoplifting. Booth is preoccupied with a woman named Grace whom he tries to impress with shoplifted luxuries. He boasts to his brother about their relationship, but in truth she spurns his advances. Lincoln reveals that his wife Cookie had misread his depression as lack of interest in her, before she threw him out and slept with Booth. In the present, Lincoln is about to be laid off, replaced at his job by a wax model. Booth suggests that Lincoln save his job by vividly acting out Abraham Lincoln's death throes after the customers shoot him with the provided blank—an idea they rehearse before abandoning. The brothers reflect on their past together: Their parents deserted them as teenagers. Each parent, before leaving with a new lover, left one brother $500 in cash, which they refer to as their "inheritance". Lincoln spent his; Booth saved and hid his, never even opening the stocking that held it. After losing his job at the arcade, Lincoln returns to Three-card Monte the next day and comes home exuberant. Meanwhile, Booth boasts that Grace has proposed marriage to him. Lincoln suggests that Booth find employment in order to keep Grace, calling his card shark abilities "double left-handed." Insulted, Booth challenges him to a game of Three-card Monte. Lincoln leads him to believe that he can win, inducing Booth to wager his $500 inheritance on the game before beating him. Laughing, Lincoln explains that the conceit behind Three- card Monte is that the dealer always decides when he wins. Over Booth's protests, he tries to open the stocking containing the inheritance. An agitated Booth reveals that he had shot Grace. Lincoln attempts to return the inheritance, but Booth dares him to open it instead. As Lincoln cuts the stocking, Booth brings a gun to Lincoln's neck and shoots him. Booth rants at his brother's corpse for mocking him and stealing his inheritance, before crumpling and sobbing over the dead body. ===== ===== The book begins initially by showing the return of the ravians to the world, which they now call Obiyalis. The vamans loyal to the ravians (called the rebel union of marginal labour) and Manticore open the ravian portal to this world. Three champions of the ravians, Myrdak, Peori and Behrim, promptly kill the vamans so as to make sure there are no traitors to inform the world of the return of the ravians. Meanwhile in the newly constructed dark tower of Izakar, Kirin is facing trouble. Most of his council of rakshases are issuing mad orders in his name, while all he wanted was to stop the war. Aciram warns Kirin of the return of the ravians and their plan to take over the earth. It seems that they are more dangerous to the humans now than to the dark lord. Nasud, a cousin of Kirin, grows tired of Kirin's peace efforts and declares a kin strife. Kirin kills him with a lightning bolt. Meanwhile in Kol, a secret society of the shapeshifters, called the Rainbow Council, prepare to battle against the mind-controlling foes who threaten history. Many Hero and villain guilds are formed in Kol in the wake of Kirin's ascension as dark lord. Arathognan (or Thog the barbarian) was one of these. In one of these encounters, Thog kills four jaykinis who were trying to eat children. However he notices that he is being followed by a mysterious girl, later revealed to be Peori. Asvin and Maya have fallen in love. Maya is now having doubts about Kirin, who was her former best friend. Asvin, however is eager to battle the hordes of the dark lord and still believes the ravians to be noble heroes who would save humanity. Red, the shapeshifter, is part of the rainbow council.She had named two voices in her head and was never able to make up her mind about anything. It is also revealed here that the heart of Kol and the seven Hero mirrors where actually created by the shapeshifters although earlier they had been credited to lord Simoqin. The ravians Myrdak and Peori attack the palace of Kol one night with the intention of kidnapping Maya and using her to get rid of Kirin. They encounter the Silver Dagger and battle with the shapeshifters but finally manage to escape with Maya. Asvin and Red (in the guise of Rukmini) follow her to the great forest of Vrihataranya. Red falls in love with Asvin on the way (although this may be because of the alter ego Rukmini she had named in her mind). In the meanwhile Behrim, whose task had been to assassinate the dark lord is shocked to learn that the dark lord is in fact Kirin. In an attempt to talk to Kirin, he is detected by the rakshases but barely managed to escape. However he is then caught by the werewolves who nearly kill him. He is healed within the dark tower, where he tells Kirin that it is his destiny to become a great leader of the ravians. Peori visits Ararthogorn and reveals to him that he is a descendant of the kings of Kol. She points out that he had the amulet that proved it so. She told him of the existence of a third Simoqin prophecy, that when the dark lord rose, the true king of Kol would return and with his hands strike down the evil powers which ruled Kol. She convinces him to assassinate Lady Temat. Thog tries to infiltrate the labyrinth but is easily caught. Meanwhile, Maya has managed to escape from Myrdak and is lost in the forest. She comes across some little fat men, whom she initially suspected to be dangerous but turned out to be harmless. They arrive at the temple of the black Star, where Myrdak recaptures her. Myrdak challenges dark lord Kirin to a duel, knowing he would come to rescue the girl he loved. Kirin seeks the advice of Behrim, who states flatly that he could not be defeated in an open duel as he was the greatest ravian warrior alive. Behrim rather suggests that they go to Asroye and seek help from the ravian council. Kirin agrees to this and leaves on a dragon along with Behrim, ignoring pleas by Aciram .As soon as Kirin leaves, Aciram, who probably aspired for the throne of Danh-Gem himself, takes on Kirin's face. Rakshases in the forest attack Myrdak and Maya manages to escape from the manticore. She takes shelter in Vanarpuri but Myrdak finds her. She escapes again with the help of Djongli and arrives at a peculiar place guarded by knights of Ventelot, called the Desolate Gard. Myrdak finally catches up with Maya and tells her that it was a ravian portal, and the nundu would give its blood to activate it. Maya then meets the unwaba, who tells her about the gods playing with this world. Myrdak leaves for his duel with Kirin. Kirin and Behrim arrive at the ravian outpost of Epsai, only to find it deserted. Behrim realizes that Myrdak and Peori are traitors to the council and the ravians had not yet returned in their numbers. Both of them feel very tired and want to play with some apparently harmless little fat men. However these creatures turn out to be monsters, who eat only ravian. Behrim is devoured by them but Kirin is saved by Qianzai, mother of dragons. It is revealed that these creatures are these world's response to the arrival of the ravians. He then goes along to the duel. Meanwhile in Kol, Peori has successfully infiltrated the labyrinth but runs into some minotaurs. She underestimates them and one of them gashes her. The Dagger appears and tells her they have some scores to settle. Peori raises the splintered glass to kill the dagger but Steel-bunz, who was small enough not to figure as dangerous nipped her from behind. This momentary distraction enabled the Dagger to throw his dagger and kill her. Asvin is guided by a firebird to the temple of the black star.Red keeps a watch on him. when he is attacked by the manticore, she changes it into a frog. Kirin's duel with Myrdak, which lasted for many hours resulted in Myrdak getting the upper hand, even though Kirin was armed with his shadowknife and his rakshas powers. After some time Asvin appears. He initially decides to fight against Kirin as he was the son of Danh Gem, however he realized that Myrdak was only interested in getting his armor and turned upon him. Myrdak whirled his sword in a blur and cut off his head. The duel continued. Myrdak then pushes Kirin into a state of trance duel, in which Kirin had no experience at all. He wins the trance duel, but as he emerges back into the real world intending to strike Kirin down, the shapeshifter Red kills him with his own sword. ===== The main character Ray and his party of Aqutallion warriors embark on a quest to find and destroy Homncruse, the evil power threatening their world. Ray begins his journey alone on a tiny island, but eventually he meets his friends and fellow Aqutallion warriors: Tina, Cody, Leona and Dan, and even creates a town for the victims of Homncruse's evil to live. Villains encountered along tend to range from comical, such as Cat Boo and Badbad, to the more sinister elite generals Homncruse. Initially all the teens are considered Pennon, the lowest rank of warrior. Before they can destroy Homncruse each of them must undergo a trial at their respective temples hidden around the world to receive the secondary powers of Banalet. Dan is an exception because he is the descendant of the Prosperous Wise Man clan of Aqutallion. When Ray, Tina, Cody, and Leona achieve the status of Banalet and are united by the powers of Dan, Aqutallion is reborn and the group gains incredible powers. The Aqutallions are not alone: eleven members of Kustera can be recruited to fight for the young warriors in their place for a time being. The Kustera are mostly meant to serve as a supplement to the Aqutallions, but their role in the story is vital to its progression. From the same temples where the Aqutallions gain their Banalet status, there is a Kustera only warp icon that sends the group to a dungeon where great treasures are hidden. ===== The film is about an extraterrestrial (played by Brad Dourif) who came to Earth several decades ago from a water planet (The Wild Blue Yonder), after it experienced an ice age. His narration reveals that his race has tried through the years to form a community on our planet, without any success. The alien also tells the story of a space mission he found out about through his job with the CIA. In the late 1990s debris from the Roswell UFO crash was unearthed and examined. Scientists incorrectly believed that they had contracted an infectious alien disease from the debris. An exploratory mission was launched to Blue Yonder (represented with archival footage from STS-34 and Henry Kaiser's diving expedition in Antarctica) to explore the possibility that a new, uninfected human colony might be established there. After deciding Blue Yonder was suitable for human habitation, the astronauts returned to Earth 820 years later, only to discover that the planet had been abandoned in their absence. ===== The novel is set in the late Ming dynasty. The protagonist, Yuan Chengzhi, is the son of Yuan Chonghuan, a patriotic military general who was wrongly put to death by the Chongzhen Emperor. The orphaned Yuan was brought to the Mount Hua Sect, where he was tutored in martial arts by Mu Renqing. After he grows up to become a fine young martial artist, he leaves Mount Hua in search of adventure. Serendipitous incidents lead him to discover the Golden Serpent Sword (or a Keris like sword.) and a martial arts manual, which once belonged to Xia Xueyi, a long-dead enigmatic swordsman. Yuan inherits Xia's possessions and skills and becomes a powerful swordsman. Yuan wanders around the land and meets Wen Qingqing, a young maiden from a family of brigands. Wen is actually Xia Xueyi's daughter and she follows Yuan after being expelled from her family. Although Yuan initially wanted to seek redress for his father, he eventually joins Li Zicheng's rebellion to overthrow the corrupt Ming government. He helps the rebels retrieve the gold robbed by the Wen family, sabotages a battery of cannons supplied to the Ming army by foreigners, and finances the rebellion with part of the treasure he discovered in Nanjing. Yuan also befriends several martial artists, who pledge allegiance to him out of respect for his heroism. He organises his followers to form a militia and they pledge to serve and defend the Han Chinese nation from internal and external threats. While Yuan sees overthrowing the corrupt Ming government as one of his key priorities, he also recognises that the Manchus in northeastern China pose an even greater threat to the Han Chinese nation. Eager to prove his loyalty to his fellow Han Chinese, Yuan infiltrates Mukden and attempts to assassinate the Manchu emperor, Huangtaiji, but fails and narrowly escapes. Later, despite holding a grudge against the Chongzhen Emperor for his father's wrongful execution, he saves the emperor from a coup launched by a treacherous noble, Prince Hui. Around the same time, he meets He Tieshou, one of Prince Hui's allies and the leader of the Five Poisons Cult. Yuan succeeds in reforming her and accepts her as his apprentice. He also develops romantic relationships with Wen Qingqing and another maiden, A'jiu, who is actually Princess Changping, a daughter of the Chongzhen Emperor. Yuan ultimately regrets his decision to support Li Zicheng because after overthrowing the Ming government, Li not only fails to fulfil his promises to restore peace and stability, but also condones his followers' brutality towards the common people. After seeing that the interim government set up by the rebels is as equally corrupt as the former Ming government, Yuan feels so disappointed that he decides to abandon them. In the meantime, Wu Sangui, a former Ming general, defects to the Manchus and allows them to pass through Shanhai Pass. The Manchus eventually conquer the rest of China and establish the Qing dynasty. Yuan realises that he is unable to do anything to reverse the situation and decides to leave for good, so he sails to a distant land (the Bruneian Empire) with his companions. ===== In the fictional African nation Zambeze, American mining engineer Rick Morgan is conned into an illegal operation involving toxic waste by his old friend, Jim Scott. Immediately after, the mine is attacked by a team of mercenaries, led by a rogue agent called Chang. Scott attempts to flee, but is supposedly killed by Chang. The mercenaries leave right as the army arrives. The government assumes Morgan is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of villagers, apparently caused by toxic waste. Due to the CIA, Morgan is allowed to return to America. One year later, Morgan is approached by Maurice Dupont for a mission to clear his name and prevent further deaths. Morgan reluctantly agrees upon finding out that Scott is alive. Morgan is introduced to World Health Organization researcher Dr. Kim Woods. The two are teamed up. After searching a mine, Morgan and Kim are captured by rebel forces. Morgan and Kim are almost executed until Scott reveals himself to be their secret leader. Not long after, Chang's mercenaries attack and lay waste to the camp. Scott gives Morgan a code and the last clue he needs to find the barrels. Chang then murders Scott as Morgan and Kim escape. Back at their hotel rooms, Kim is confronted by Dupont who reveals his duplicity. Morgan subdues Dupont, only for him to be rescued by Chang and another mercenary. Satisfied that he fulfilled his purpose, Chang shoots Dupont while Morgan and Kim make a run for it. Morgan reaches a contact who tells them the location of the barrels. Morgan recognizes the location as being an old hangout of his and Scott's. Chang arrives, kills the contact, forcing Morgan and Kim to flee. The two finally reach the old hangout which is a cavern. Upon retrieving the uranium rod, Chang corners them and reveals he had been tracking them the whole time. Chang takes the uranium rod, kidnaps Kim and attempts to leave Morgan to die of radiation. Morgan survives due to a prototype protective powder developed by the WHO. Morgan escaped the cavern and meets with Madumo, a rebel leader. Chang attempts to escape on a freight train headed to Point City. Morgan rallies the rebels to launch a massive assault against the train. The rebels are defeated by the government troops. Morgan and Madumo infiltrate the train. They are attacked by Chang's remaining mercenaries. After killing both of them, Morgan drops in, frees Kim and fights Chang. Morgan throws Chang off the train. Kim manages to detach the forward cars, leading them to a track in which the rebels sabotaged, killing all the soldiers. Scott's uncle, a CIA agent, arrives to provide extraction. However Morgan opts to save the uranium rod first. The second half of the train stops at a bridge where Chang reveals himself and attempts to drown Kim. Morgan arrives an sets Chang on fire, where he explodes along with the explosives on board the train. Morgan fishes Kim out of the water and drags her onto shore. Madumo arrives with the remaining rebels as Morgan and Kim kiss. An African warrior is seen observing all that has transpired. ===== The film is set in 1820 (at the start of the reign of King George IV [reign: 1820-1830], as mentioned by Pengallan in his first scene). Over and above its function as a hostelry, Jamaica Inn houses the clandestine rural headquarters of a gang of cutthroats and thieves, led by innkeeper Joss Merlyn (Leslie Banks). They have become wreckers. They are responsible for a series of engineered shipwrecks in which they extinguish coastal warning beacons, causing ships to run aground on the rocky Cornish coast. They then kill the surviving sailors and steal their cargo. One evening, a young Irish-woman, Mary Yellan (Maureen O'Hara), is dropped off by coach near the inn, at the home of the local squire and justice of the peace, Sir Humphrey Pengallan (Charles Laughton). She requests the loan of a horse so she can ride to Jamaica Inn to re-unite with her Aunt Patience (the wife of Joss Merlyn). Despite Pengallan's warnings, she intends to live at Jamaica Inn with her late mother's sister. Shortly afterwards, we learn that Pengallan is the secret criminal mastermind behind the wrecking gang; he learns from his well-to-do friends and acquaintances when well-laden ships are passing near the coast, determines when and where the wrecks are to be caused, and fences the stolen cargo. He uses the lion's share of the proceeds to support his lavish lifestyle and passes a small fraction of them to Joss and the gang. In another part of the inn, the gang convenes to discuss why they get so little money for their efforts. They suspect Jem Trehearne (Robert Newton), a gang member for only two months, of embezzling goods. They hang him from one of the rafters of the inn, but when they leave, Mary cuts the rope and saves his life. Trehearne and Mary flee the gang, narrowly avoiding capture by swimming for their lives. The next morning, they row a boat ashore to seek the protection of Pengallan, unaware that he is the gang's benefactor. Trehearne reveals to Pengallan that he is actually an undercover law-officer on a mission to investigate the wrecks. Pengallan is alarmed but maintains his composure and pretends to join forces with Trehearne. Mary overhears their conversation and goes to the inn to warn Patience that she must flee in order to avoid being arrested as an accomplice. However, Patience refuses to leave her husband. Meanwhile, Pengallan learns of a ship full of precious cargo which is due to pass the local coastline. He informs Joss and the gang, who go to the beach,and there extinguish the coastal warning beacon, as they wait for the ship to appear. However, Mary re-lights the warning beacon, and the ship's crew avoid the treacherous rocks and sail by unharmed. The gang angrily resolves to kill Mary as revenge for preventing the wreck, but Joss, who has developed a reluctant admiration for her, rescues her and the two escape by horse-cart. Joss is shot in the back and collapses when they reach Jamaica Inn. As Patience is about to tell Mary that Pengallan is the secret leader of the wrecking gang, Pengallan shoots and kills Patience from off-camera. Joss dies of his wound as well. Pengallan then takes Mary hostage, ties and gags her, and tells her that he plans to keep her now that she has no one else in the world. He drives her, still tied up and covered by a heavy cloak, to the harbour, where they board a large ship going to France. Back at Jamaica Inn, Trehearne and a dozen soldiers take Joss's gang into custody. Trehearne then rides to the harbor to rescue Mary and capture Pengallan, who attempts to escape. During the chase, he climbs to the top of the ship's mast, from which he jumps to his death. ===== In Las Vegas for a quickie divorce, a just-paroled ex-cop and his wife wander into the Cowboy Country Casino, run by the shady Charles Atlas. They win big, right as the casino is being robbed. The police believe their big win was a staged diversion, and the two of them become suspects. Over the course of the evening and next morning, the two attempt to escape the surrounded casino and prove their innocence, as well as save their marriage. ===== Mary Yellan, 23 years old, was brought up on a farm in Helford. After her mother's death, Mary goes to live with her only surviving relative: her mother's sister, Patience Merlyn, in a coaching inn called Jamaica Inn. Patience's husband, Joss Merlyn, is a local bully, stands almost seven feet tall and is a drunk. On arriving at the gloomy and threatening inn, Mary finds her aunt in a ghost-like state under the thumb of the vicious Joss, and soon realises that something unusual is afoot at the inn, which has no guests and is never open to the public. She tries to squeeze the truth out of her uncle during one of his benders, but he tells her, "I'm not drunk enough to tell you why I live in this God-forgotten spot, and why I'm the landlord of Jamaica Inn." Against her better judgement, Mary becomes attracted to Joss's younger brother, Jem, a petty thief, but less brutal than his elder brother. After Mary realises that Joss is the leader of a band of wreckers and even overhears Joss ordering the murder of one of their members, she is unsure whether to trust Jem or not. She turns to Francis Davey, the albino vicar of the neighbouring village of Altarnun, who happened to find Mary when she got lost one day on the moor. Mary and Jem leave the moors for Christmas Eve and spend a day together in the town of Launceston, during which Jem sells a horse he stole from Squire Bassat back to the squire's unwitting wife. When it comes time to return to Jamaica Inn, Jem leaves Mary to get the jingle, but never returns. Mary has no way to get home except by walking, but when she attempts this realises the weather and distance make it impossible. At this point Francis Davey passes her on the road in a hired coach and offers her a lift home. He leaves the coach at the crossroads to walk to Altarnun. The coach is then waylaid by her uncle's band of wreckers, and the coach driver is killed. Mary is forced to go along with the wreckers and has to watch as they 'wreck' - tricking a ship into steering itself on to the rocks and then murdering the survivors of the shipwreck as they swim ashore. A few days later, Jem comes to speak with Mary, who is locked in her room at the inn. With Jem's help, Mary escapes and goes to Altarnun to tell the vicar about Joss's misdeeds, but he isn't at home. She then goes to the squire's home and tells his wife her story, but Mrs Bassat tells Mary that her husband already has the evidence to arrest Joss and has gone to do so. Mrs Bassat has her driver take Mary to Jamaica Inn, where they arrive before the Squire's party. Mary goes inside and finds her uncle stabbed to death; the squire and his men arrive soon thereafter and discover Patience similarly murdered. The vicar arrives at the inn, having received a note Mary left for him that afternoon, and offers her refuge for the night. The next day, Mary finds a drawing by the vicar; she is shocked to see that he has drawn himself as a wolf while the members of his congregation have heads of sheep. The vicar returns and tells Mary that Jem was the one who informed on Joss. However, when he realizes that she has seen the drawing, the vicar reveals that he was the true head of the wrecker gang and responsible for the murders of Joss and Patience. He then flees the vicarage, taking Mary as his hostage. The vicar explains that he sought enlightenment in the Christian Church but did not find it, and instead found it in the practices of the ancient Druids. As they flee across the moor to try to reach a ship to sail to Spain, Squire Bassat and Jem lead a search party that closes the gap, eventually coming close enough for Jem to shoot the vicar and rescue Mary. Mary has an offer to work as a servant for the Bassats, but instead plans to return to Helford. One day as she walks on the moor, she comes across Jem, leading a cart with all of his possessions, headed in the opposite direction of Helford. After some discussion, Mary decides to abandon her plans to return to Helford to go with Jem. ===== An elderly man, his death rapidly approaching, takes his young grandson up onto a hill behind his house and gives the boy his pocket watch. Then, standing among falling apple blossoms, the man also "gives instruction" on the nature of time: how when you grow up, it begins to move faster and faster, slipping away from you in great chunks if you don't hold tightly onto it. Time is a pretty pony, with a wicked heart. ===== Commercial director Ian, Hollywood producer Will, three extreme sports enthusiasts Chloe, Kittie and Silo, cinematographer Mark, and Ian's boss, Jeffery, take their trip to the Alps for seasonal practice and stunt filming in preparation for filming a daring, yet dangerous big-league advertisement against an actual avalanche. They are flown to a resort under construction for comfort by their helicopter pilot Zoran. On the first night of their stay, as Will and Silo are bluffing, they spot a man with a woman entering a room. Will and Silo, on a dare, secretly videotape the beginning of their affair, but are chased away by a pair of dogs. Will and the team are unaware that the man they videotaped is Serbia's most wanted war criminal, Slobodan Pavlov, who was believed to be killed in a plane crash, and that the resort the enthusiasts are residing is actually his hideout; the woman with Pavle is his love interest, Yana (whom Jeffery had encountered on the train en route to the mountain). Pavlov is also accompanied by his henchmen, Ivo, Ratko, Goran, Jakša and Pavlov's son, Slavko. Will states later in the film that he read about Pavle in a newspaper article. On the second day of filming, the enthusiasts proceed to film the first controlled avalanche. At nightfall, as Will, Chloe, Kittie and Silo play truth or dare in a hot tub Will had heated up using coal, Slavko spies on them. Deducing they had videotaped his father and mistaking them to be members of the CIA, he reports this to Pavle, and recommends killing them swiftly, which Pavle agrees to do. On the third day of filming, after Ian, Will, Chloe, Kittie, Silo, and Mark head to the mountain again, Jeffery is kidnapped by Slavko and Ivo and is brought before Pavlov. After finding Will's camera and seeing the footage containing the start of the affair, Slavko and Ivo hijack Zoran's helicopter when he returns to the resort, and force Zoran to tell where the group is filming. Once they land on the mountain, Slavko and Ivo confront and hold the group at gunpoint. However, when a perverted Slavko attempts to force Chloe and Kittie to engage in foreplay, a disgusted Ivo pulls a gun on him, which escalates into a Mexican standoff between the two. Mark, who had planted explosives high up the mountain, detonates them on Ian's cue, startling Slavko and Ivo, and causing them to accidentally shoot each other dead. After narrowly escaping an avalanche in the helicopter, the group realize that by accidentally videotaping Pavle, they have jeopardized their own lives and plan an escape. They return to the resort, but they find Ratko, Goran and Jakša roving the compound. They manage to subdue Ratko and attempt to escape on a cable car, but Pavlov, having been alerted of the group's presence, takes control of the cable car and has it sent back to the dock. The group make a quick escape and ski further down slope as Pavlov and his henchmen open fire, during which Kittie is nearly shot when they shoot her snowboard apart. They are blocked off by a very steep cliff, and decide to tether down to a gap they intend to use as an escape route. As Will is trying to tether down, Pavlov and his henchmen, after recapturing and killing Zoran, arrive in his helicopter. After throwing Zoran's body out, they open fire upon Will, who parachutes to safety, before concentrating their fire on the rest of the group. Silo manages to throw his snowboard into the helicopter, hitting Jakša and causing him to fall to his death, but not before he shoots Silo in the abdomen. The remaining henchmen attempt to continue shooting at them, but the helicopter's low fuel lines and the time remaining until nightfall force them to return to the hideout to refuel and wait out the night. Kittie stays behind to tend Silo's wounds, armed with a rocket launcher with only one round while Ian, Chloe and Mark split up to escape. At the hideout, Pavlov tells Yana he is determined to kill them in an effort to avenge Slavko and Ivo, but then slaps her, threatening to kill her when she negatively mentions his son. After Pavle leaves the room, Yana double crosses him and pleads with Jeffery to take her to New York. Jeffery agrees and they decide to wait until Pavlov and his remaining henchmen leave to track down the team again. Will, who has landed on a tree and stayed hidden throughout the day, manages to free himself and escape. As morning rises, Pavle and his henchmen resume their objective. Hearing the helicopter approaching them, Ian and Chloe escape through another gap while Mark stays behind to set a trap. At the same time, Kittie attempts to fire the rocket into the helicopter, but it misses and nearly hits a cable car carrying Jeffery and Yana. As the helicopter hovers below the edge of a cliff, Mark takes out a string of cable and when he ski-jumps off the cliff, jams the tail rotors with the cable in mid-air before safely landing his jump. This causes the helicopter to spiral out of control and crash on the ledge of a cliff, killing everyone on board. The sound of the explosion causes a massive avalanche, and Ian and Chloe ski for their lives while also successfully video taping it for the commercial by having Chloe ski in front of it. They narrowly manage to take cover behind a rock as the snow nearly engulfs them. Back in the States, after viewing the commercial to Mr. Imahara and his assistant, Kana, the commercial is met with a positive response and agree to air it on television. Ian then receives a phone call from Kittie, and tells him to look out the window. When he does, he sees that Will, Chloe, Kittie and Silo are on top of a train performing stunts, something they also did at the beginning of the film when they were en route to the Alps. The film ends when the four enthusiasts let go of their skateboards and let them fly through the commercial's billboard, one of which goes through Chloe's mouth as Ian says "There we go again" while smiling. ===== A clan of terrorists, of all backgrounds and types, seize the "Thunderblast" top-secret super tank, hiding it in Mexico. The task of recovering it is entrusted to "Bulletproof" Frank McBain, a former secret agent and current cop. Gary Busey plays McBain, the stereotypical die- hard main character in this film, as he attempts to recover the Thunderblast and his ex-girlfriend. ===== As the novel opens, Kris peKym and his cronies are doing an unprecedented and revolutionary thing – they are robbing a bank. Although the Nidorians use paper money, it is always backed by reserves of precious metal, in this case cobalt. The gang removes all the cobalt from one of the regional banks, making its scrip worthless. The plan is to use their cash reserves from other banks to buy up the worthless notes at a steep discount, then let the cobalt be re-discovered, multiplying their funds overnight. The scheme appears to succeed, but in the process Nidorian society becomes ever more fractured. Del peFenn Vyless, the radical leader of Norvis' party, is assassinated. His place is taken by Kris peKym who, as a Yorgen and direct descendant of the Lawgiver, is an ideal figurehead for the movement to restore the old ways. Kris peKym spreads a rumor that the Earthmen are responsible for the theft of the cobalt, and when the Earthmen refuse to deny this rumor, he foments a riot that results in the sacking of the school. The cobalt is discovered there, where Kris had planted it. The Earthmen do nothing – they stand and watch the destruction, then float up into the sky, surrounded by a blue glow. As far as the Nidorians can tell, they have been driven off Nidor. Things progressively get worse until mass starvation, food riots and breakdown of the law result in the destruction of the main Temple. Norvis confronts his grandfather, who collapses and dies as his world crumbles around him. Norvis' party appears to have won, but it is a Pyrrhic victory, with new religious sects appearing and more economic problems. Kris peKym is appointed executive officer by the remnants of the High Council, the first autocratic leader in the history of Nidor. Norvis sets out on a quest – his mother had told him how she happened across an encampment of Earthmen in the mountains, and he wants to know if they are still there. He finds the camp, but it is abandoned. However, he has company – the Earthman he knows as Smith, who caused his downfall. Smith has been waiting for Norvis. Norvis pulls out a weapon to exact revenge, but holds off long enough for Smith to persuade Norvis to come with him to a place where all will be explained. Rising together, just as the Earthmen did when the school was sacked, they enter a spaceship, which rises above the atmosphere. Norvis is shown what the Great Light really is, and how far away it is. He sees his planet from above, the first Nidorian to do so. Smith explains that when the Earthmen first encountered Nidor, it was the first time they had found a species they had anything in common with, albeit one that had no inkling of other worlds, because they never saw the sun or stars. Intelligent life is rare, and previous encounters with aliens had been hostile and traumatic. Nidor promised humans something they thought they lacked – stimulating companionship and competition. However, Nidorian society was locked in stasis. It could never provide a challenge to humans, and any significant interactions would destroy it through culture shock. Instead the humans adopted the role of the beneficent Earthmen, with a distinctive appearance, for instance wearing beards, and created institutions like the School of Divine Law, which, over the years, would result in the disruption of the static society. They also created the conditions for intelligent, outward-looking Nidorians to meet and marry, thus breeding a new Nidorian who would lead the new society. Norvis realizes that he is a result of that breeding program. Smith explains he was kicked out of the school because they knew what problems the peych hormone would cause. Indeed, the tactic proved so successful they have been kicking out other students of Norvis' calibre so they would be just as motivated as Norvis himself. Smith returns Norvis to the surface of the planet, but not before telling him "See you in a couple of centuries". Humans and Nidorians will not meet again until Nidor lifts itself into space, as it must. When that happens, humans will not look like the hated Earthmen, and the two species will become friends. Back on the surface, Norvis has an epiphany. He has been trying to get rid of the Earthmen for what they did to Nidor, but everything they did, even partly causing the peych glut, was minor. The person really responsible for ruining Nidor, by killing Del peFenn, by starting heretical religious sects, by creating the Merchants Party itself in opposition to the priests, is Norvis himself. The Earthmen did not need to ruin Nidor. They simply bred a Nidorian to do it for them. Now there is no going back. Norvis returns to his own kind. He is shocked to find that Kris peKym has been assassinated while he was gone. He nominates a new leader, and prepares to do, behind the scene, what he must, starting with rebuilding the school. ===== The film follows four families, with different nationalities (French, German, Russian, and American) but with the same passion for music, from the 1930s to the 1980s. The various story lines cross each other time and again in different places and times, with their own theme scores that evolve as time passes. In Moscow, 1936, an aspiring dancer Tatiana marries a man, Boris, who will give her a son just before he is killed during World War II. In Berlin, Karl Kremer's success as a pianist is confirmed when he receives praise from Hitler – something which will haunt him throughout his life. In Paris, a young violinist Anne falls in love with a Jewish pianist, Simon Meyer; they marry and produce a son, but they end up on a train bound for a Nazi concentration camp. In New York, Jack Glenn is making his name with his popular jazz band. Twenty years on, their children are reliving their experiences, and Anne Meyer continues her hopeless quest to find the son she was forced to abandon. The main event in the film is the Second World War, which throws the stories of the four musical families together and mixes their fates. Although all characters are fictional, many of them are loosely based on historical musical icons (Édith Piaf, Josephine Baker, Herbert von Karajan, Glenn Miller, Rudolf Nureyev, etc.) The Boléro dance sequence at the end brings all the threads together. ===== Jin Fei, played by Ti Lung, known as the King Eagle, stumbles into conflict within the Tien Yi Tong clan when he falls in love with the clan's 7th chief, Yuk Lin, played by Li Ching. ===== Jean-Claude and Pierrot are young men who travel around France, committing petty crimes and running from the law. After they get in trouble with a hairdresser in Valence for stealing his car, they grab his pistol and kidnap his assistant Marie-Ange, an apathetic girl. When they are bored with unorgasmic Marie-Ange, they decide to find a passionate woman and meet Jeanne Pirolle, a woman in her forties who is just released from prison and had spent ten years in a cell. After a threesome, Jeanne commits suicide and the men return to Marie-Ange. They find Jeanne's son Jacques who had been incarcerated as well. Then, the four consider founding a crime family but at their first crime, an attempted robbery, Jacques commits a revenge killing and the others flee. While on the run, they meet a family having a picnic near Col d'Izoard and the delinquent teenage daughter Jacqueline wants to join them. They take Jacqueline and on learning that she is still a virgin, they decide to deflower her. After dropping Jacqueline, the three ride away aimlessly. ===== The story revolves around three teenagers: Nomiya Tomomi, a high school dropout, Togawa Kiyoharu, an ex- sprinter who now plays wheelchair basketball and Takahashi Hisanobu, a popular leader of the high school's basketball team who now finds himself a paraplegic after an accident. Real features a cast of characters who find themselves being marginalized by society, but are all united by one common feature: a desire to play basketball, with no place to play it in. Nomiya, being a high school dropout, has no future in his life. Togawa, being a difficult personality, finds himself constantly feuding with his own teammates. Takahashi, once a popular team leader, now finds himself being unable to move from the chest down. Real also deals with the reality of physical disabilities, and the psychological inferiority that the characters struggle against. The characters break through their own psychological barriers bit by bit. ===== Akademik Vladislav Volkov, a Russian research vessel in the South Pacific, communicates with the orbiting space station Mir. A large energy source traveling through space strikes Mir, killing the cosmonauts and beaming itself down to Volkov. The electrical surge takes over the ship and attacks the crew. Seven days later, the tugboat Sea Star, captained by alcoholic Robert Everton (Donald Sutherland), loses its uninsured cargo while sailing through a typhoon. Sea Star's crew, led by navigator and ex-Navy officer Kelly Foster (Jamie Lee Curtis) and engineer Steve Baker (William Baldwin), discover the engine room taking on water. When Sea Star takes refuge in the eye of the storm to make repairs, Volkov appears on their radar. Realizing that it could be worth millions in salvage, Everton orders his crew aboard. On Volkov, most of the electronics have been destroyed and the Russian crew are seemingly missing. Everton orders Steve to help a fellow crewman, Squeaky (Julio Oscar Mechoso), restore power to the ship. Immediately afterward, the ship's anchor drops on its own, sinking Sea Star with deckhand Hiko (Cliff Curtis) and first mate J.W. Woods, Jr. (Marshall Bell) on board. Steve leaves Squeaky to guard the engine room, where he is lured to his death by a robotic, spider-like creature. Steve rescues an injured Hiko, while Woods comes out unscathed. As Foster treats Hiko in the sick bay, Chief Science Officer Nadia Vinogradova (Joanna Pacuła)—the sole surviving member of Volkov's crew—shoots at the crew and is subdued by Steve. Nadia is hysterical about "it" needing power to travel through the ship and implores the crew to shut down the generators. She attacks Everton and Foster, who subdues her and takes her to the bridge. Steve, Woods, and crewman Richie Mason (Sherman Augustus) go to the engine room to look for Squeaky, but instead stumble upon an automated workshop producing more of the strange robots. The three are attacked by the robots and what appears to be a gun-wielding Russian crew member. The Russian is revealed to be a cyborg, but the three bring it down with salvaged munitions from the ship's small arms locker and take its seemingly dead body to the bridge. Nadia explains that the sentient electrical energy beamed from the Mir took over the ship eight days prior, scanned the ship's computers to find information on killing humans, then used the automated workshops to convert Volkov's crew into cyborgs; the one brought to the bridge was the ship's captain and Nadia's husband. As the storm resumes, the crew head for the computer room. On the way, they are ambushed by a converted Squeaky and a giant robot that kills Woods. The survivors barricade themselves in the communications room, where Richie sends out a mayday; however, Everton shoots out the radio, unwilling to give up his salvage. Foster punches Everton and removes him from command. Richie uses the computers to talk to the alien (credited as The Intelligence); it tells them that it is "aware" and sees mankind as a "virus" which it plans to use as "spare parts." This drives Richie insane, causing him to gun down Squeaky and flee. When the remaining crew leave the room, Everton takes the opportunity to talk to the Intelligence, which recognizes him as the "dominant lifeform." The crew discovers that the Intelligence has moved Volkov 's computer elsewhere in the ship. Realizing that the ship is moving, they return to the bridge by going outside, where Hiko is lost to the typhoon. Meanwhile, Everton is guided to one of the workshops, where he makes a bargain with the Intelligence. Foster identifies Lord Howe Island as Volkov's destination, with Nadia surmising that the Intelligence wishes to seize a British intelligence station from which it could seize control of the world's military forces. As they decide to sink Volkov, the survivors are confronted by the now-cyborg Everton, which they defeat with a thermite hand grenade. They empty the ship's fuel tanks and set explosive charges. Foster, Steve and Nadia run into Richie. A giant robot (piloted by the Intelligence) suddenly appears and attacks Nadia, Richie and Steve. The Intelligence captures Foster and tortures her for the location of the detonator. A mortally wounded Richie informs Steve that he prepared a jury-rigged ejection seat that can be used for escape. Nadia and Steve rescue Foster, and Nadia sacrifices herself by shooting a flaregun at nearby gas tanks to kill the Intelligence. Foster and Steve make it out safely by using Richie's ejection seat, which triggers an explosion and sinks Volkov, causing the sentient electricity to disperse in the seawater. Foster and Steve are rescued by a U.S. naval ship. ===== Unmarried English couple Colin and Mary are vacationing in Venice for a second time, in an attempt to rekindle their passionless relationship. As they meander through the city visiting landmarks, they are surreptitiously photographed by a stranger. Over dinner, Mary questions Colin as to whether he likes her two children, whom she conceived during her last marriage. While wandering through the streets, the couple get lost. They encounter Robert, an elegant British-Italian man who offers to take them to his bar. Over several bottles of wine, Robert regales the couple with intimate, bizarre details of his life, including stories about his sadistic father, an Italian diplomat, as well as cruel pranks his younger sisters played on him during his childhood. He also recounts how he met his wife, Caroline, the daughter of a Canadian diplomat. Colin and Mary attempt to return to their hotel after their night with Robert, but become lost. Mary suffers a migraine and the two end up sleeping on the streets. At dawn, the couple awaken and visit a cafe in the square at St Mark's Basilica. There, Mary expresses unease and wishes to abort their vacation. The two are again met by Robert, who apologizes after learning the couple slept on the street. He offers to have them over for a meal at his home, which they accept. The three are taken by a water taxi to Robert's spacious, Moorish-styled apartment, and the couple take a nap. They awaken and are met by Caroline. She tells them Robert has left to work at his bar, and offers Mary food. As Mary spends time with Caroline, she notices that she appears to have a back injury. Caroline confesses to having looked in on the couple while they were sleeping, and remarks their beauty. When Robert returns, he continues to unfurl anecdotes about his domineering father and grandfather. When Colin insults Robert in the library, Robert punches him in the stomach. Colin does not tell Mary about the incident. After dinner, Colin and Mary return to their hotel, where they have passionate sex. Later, Mary has a nightmare, and upon waking, admits to Colin that she saw a photograph of him in Robert and Caroline's apartment. While the couple visit the beach later, Colin confesses to Mary how Robert hit him. The two subsequently discuss getting married when they return to England. While walking through the city, Colin and Mary stumble upon Robert and Caroline's residence by happenstance. Caroline, out on a balcony, notices them, and calls out for them to come and visit. Caroline and Robert inform the couple that they will be leaving the next day to visit Caroline's family in Canada. Robert insists Colin accompany him on a short trip to tend to his bar, to which he agrees. Caroline stays with Mary at the house, and finds the home is mostly packed. Caroline tells Mary that she and Robert plan to sell it when they return. Over tea, Caroline tells Mary her back injury stems from years of sadomaschistic sex that she and Robert engage in. Meanwhile, Robert tells Colin he is selling his bar. Colin asks Robert why he took photographs of him, but Robert continues to steer the conversation toward anecdotes relating to his family. Mary begins to suffer vertigo, and suspects she has been drugged. She is escorted by Caroline to a bedroom, where she finds the walls covered in photographs of her and Colin taken over the course of their vacation. Caroline explains that Robert has been stalking the couple since the day they arrived, having passed them on the street. Robert and Colin return to the house, and Colin is alarmed to find Mary unable to speak. Realizing that he and Mary have been lured there to take part in Robert and Caroline's twisted sex game, Colin attempts to fight the couple off, but they slash his throat with a razor as Mary helplessly watches. As Colin bleeds to death, Robert and Caroline begin to have sex. Later, Mary is questioned by the Italian police before she goes to view Colin's body. As she escorted out of the police station, Robert and Caroline are interrogated. As the detectives commence their interview with Robert, he begins telling another story about his father. ===== The story concerns Marshall Zebatinsky, a Polish-American nuclear physicist. He is concerned that his career has stalled, and in desperation consults a numerologist for advice on restarting it. The numerologist advises him to change the first letter of his name to "S": Sebatinsky. A complicated series of events ensue in which Sebatinsky is investigated by the Security establishment, who feel that he must be trying to hide something. His Polish origins lead them to suspect that he is trying to distract attention from relatives in the Eastern Bloc. They discover that he does have a distant cousin who is also a physicist, which leads to the discovery that the Soviet Union is working on force-fields as a nuclear defense. The Americans immediately start to develop their own counter-defense. They still have no real reason to suspect Sebatinsky, but just in case they look for a discreet way to get him out of the classified project in which he is engaged. Much to his surprise (and delight), Sebatinsky is appointed to a senior professorial post, which is exactly what he hoped for when he went to the numerologist. At the end of the story, it is revealed that the numerologist is actually an extraterrestrial and that he was involved in a bet as to whether he could avert a nuclear war on Earth with a minor stimulus (see butterfly effect). Though it is not explicitly specified, it is clear that the extraterrestrial in question is a brilliant school-boy (or the equivalent among creatures of pure energy who live in space) who made a bet with another pupil. The story concludes with the same two beings making another bet to put everything back the way it was with another minuscule alteration, with the inevitable consequence that the world will end in nuclear holocaust. Asimov comments that the last section of the story was put in as an afterthought. Despite the original happy ending, Asimov was not satisfied, because the numerologist had not been accounted for. So he put in the last part to explain the numerologist, giving the story a sad ending after all. ===== NATO operative Jacques Kristoff is summoned into action by his superior, General Zakev. His objective to track down Galina Konstantin, who has stolen an extremely valuable and dangerous top-secret container from the Slovakian Government. and extract her to Munich by train. Kristoff is given assistance by Lars, who is working with NATO. Jacques is able to locate Galina. After a car chase they are forced to advance to the train station on foot, having to constantly evade soldiers. They are able to reach the train and it departs. During the trip, Galina attempts to seduce Jacques, but is rejected. After one instance, Galina goes to change. Jacques is surprised to discover his wife, Madeline, and his two kids, Bailey and Ethan, have boarded the train planning to surprise him for his birthday. Galina, unaware of the Madeline's presence, comes out of the bathroom. The kids soon leave, and Madeline, believing Jacques to have been secretly having an affair, storms out and tells him that she and the kids will get off the train at the next stop. During Jacques' encounter with his wife, the train's engine compartment is hijacked by two men who take control of the train. They install a cellphone jammer to prevent people from calling authorities. They are working with a man by the name of Mason Cole, an infamous international criminal, who has boarded the train. After the train has departed, Cole initiates a hostile takeover of the train, killing all of the train's engine and baggage staff, with the exception of the conductor, who hid in a cabinet after being shot in the leg. He orders his henchmen to corral the passengers to the bar room, where he reveals his intention is to locate Galina, as she has something he wants. Jacques, upon discovering Cole's plans, takes out one of his henchmen and runs to the back of the train, where Galina is hiding. When asked why she is being hunted by Cole, Galina reveals the top-secret cargo she is carrying is a set of 3 vials containing a mutated smallpox virus that was mixed with other deadly pathogens, with the capability to kill millions. Jacques takes the vials. The two climb on the outside of the train to spy on Cole and the other passengers. However, they are detected, and a fight ensues. Jacques is able to take out some of the henchmen before being knocked off the train, presumed dead. However, he survives and discovers Galina has been captured by Cole. Cole is able to retrieve the vials from Jacques. When Galina attempts to take the vials back one breaks, exposing everyone on the train to the virus. In the fiasco, Jacques is able to escape. The two men controlling the train announce they need to check the hydraulics, and stop the train. While one of them is examining the parts, Jacques ambushes him, and takes out his partner, re-taking control of the train. He disables the cell jammer, but is discovered by two more henchmen, whom he takes out. He then starts the train back up after getting help from the conductor. They start the train and rupture the brake lines, preventing the train from stopping. Soon, Madeline, a doctor, discovers that the virus that infected everyone is smallpox, and that everyone born after 1973 is likely to be infected, as vaccinations for smallpox stopped being administered due to its eradication. She, with help from passenger Angus, treats the infected passengers, including Bailey and Ethan. Cole, now in possession of the virus, plans to be extracted from the train via helicopter. However, they miss the rendezvous point due to Jacques not stopping the train, forcing the helicopter to follow. As Cole attempts to escape while the train is in motion, Jacques ambushed him and ties the helicopter's ladder to the train, causing it to crash as the train goes through the tunnel. He also steals the remaining virus back. Jacques hides at the tail end of the train and notifies General Zakev of the events that transpired. However, he is discovered by two henchmen. He is able to take out one of them, and evades the other by getting off the train with a motorcycle. Zakev soon alerts the rest of NATO, along with the World Health Organization. They send Dr. Reno and a group of quarantine specialists to the German railway authority, where they meet with Zakev. Due to the deadliness of the virus aboard the train, along with the fact that everyone on board is infected, Zakev announces that, should the train come close enough to Germany, they will be required to detonate a bridge along the train's path using thermonuclear missiles. Jacques soon re-boards the train, and discovers Cole has captured his family and threatens to kill them if he does not return the vials. He does, but Cole attempts to shoot Ethan anyway. However, Ethan is able to disorient Cole and steal the vials. He runs towards the back of the train, as a henchman follows. However, the train is hit by another train, killing the henchman. Cole is forced to fall back, and Jacques runs to the back of the train to discover it has been taken clean off. Ethan is nowhere to be found and is presumed dead, with the vials in his possession. Jacques then meet back up with the conductor, and they attempt to separate the engine car from the rest of the train. As they are about to separate, they are ambushed by Cole, who kills the conductor and gets in a fight with Jacques. During the fight, the train detaches, and Jacques is able to kill Cole by trapping his feet to one car and his tie to another. The train is now significantly close to the detonation bridge, and Zakev orders the train to be destroyed upon its arrival. In order to stop the train, Jacques, along with other passengers, initiate the hand brake and try to stop the train. As they get closer, the bridge is destroyed and the separated engine car falls of the bridge and explodes. However, the passengers are able to stop the train just before it is about to fall off. Realizing this, the passengers jump cars seconds before the car they were in falls off the bridge, and Ethan suddenly appears, vials in hand. The train is then put under quarantine and everyone is removed to a medical tent, as infected people are treated. General Zakev, Dr. Reno, and Lars show up in hazmat suits to assess and treat the infected. When they approach Jacques, Jacques reveals that Lars had to have been behind the hijacking, claiming Cole's plan would have been impossible without insider information, which Lars denies. Zakev is convinced, however, and orders Lars to be arrested. Madeline and Jacques reconcile, and they soon wonder where Galina disappeared, before quickly coming to the conclusion that she will turn up again. In the final scene, Galina is discovered to be alive and uninfected, and stealing diamond necklaces. ===== The Atlantic Ocean, the year 1659. The infamous English pirate Thomas Bartholomew Red (Walter Matthau), known as Captain Red, and his ship's teenage cabin boy Jean-Baptiste (Cris Campion), nicknamed "Frog", are lost on a raft without supplies in the ocean. Luckily, Captain Red and Frog are picked up by Neptune, a Spanish galleon en route to Spain. Thrown into the brig, Red and Frog meet the ship's cook Boomako (Olu Jacobs), imprisoned after being accused of poisoning the Neptune's captain Linares (Ferdy Mayne) in a supposed attempt at stealing the golden throne, loot from the Aztec King Capatec Anahuac, that is being secretly transported in the galleon's hold. Captain Red becomes obsessed with capturing the throne for himself. Meanwhile, Frog falls in love with Maria-Dolores (Charlotte Lewis), the niece of Maracaibo's governor, who is travelling on the Neptune as a passenger. Captain Linares dies and the command of the ship is taken over by his ruthless and ambitious first mate, lieutenant Don Alfonso de la Torré (Damien Thomas) who is also in love with Maria- Dolores, though she does not reciprocate his feelings. Red and Frog, put to work along with Neptune's crew, make an attempt at instigating a mutiny. In response, Don Alfonso has them sentenced to death along with a few other mutineers. However, Captain Red devises a plan that allows them to avoid execution and use the ensuing confusion to launch an open rebellion, which proves successful when most of the crew members rally against their masters. After the battle, Frog gains Maria-Dolores' interest when he saves her from an attempted rape, killing one of his fellow mutineers in the process. Putting himself in command of the Neptune, Captain Red directs the ship to a pirate cove, led by Dutch (Roy Kinnear), a merchant and old associate of Red. Meeting his former crewmates, Captain Red throws a party and imprisons Don Alfonso and his officers. However, one of Dutch's hostages releases them while the pirates are partying. Don Alfonso and his men return to the Neptune and retake the ship, sailing away with the golden throne in the morning. Using the money he has gained from Dutch, Captain Red purchases an old brig and pursues the Neptune to Maracaibo. At night, Captain Red, Frog, and Boomako sneak into the governor's residence with Maria-Dolores as their hostage. Red plans to use her as a bargaining chip and force her wealthy uncle to exchange her for the golden throne. Although the governor proves to be unsympathetic for his niece's fate, he becomes more cooperative after Captain Red tortures him instead, finding out that he is suffering from podagra. As Red demands, the governor provides him with a document that entitles him to confiscate the golden throne, posing as the governor's secret messenger. However, Red and Frog fail to carry the throne out of the bay and are later captured by Don Alfonso, who puts them in prison. Maria-Dolores visits them in their cell. She reveals her feelings toward Jean-Baptiste as the two embrace and share a kiss. Maria-Dolores returns to the Neptune, which soon sets off to Spain again, with Don Alfonso promoted to captain. The pirates, informed by Boomako of what has happened, assault the prison the following night, releasing Red and Frog. Captain Red pursues the Neptune and launches an assault on the galleon. Red sinks his own ship, making retreat impossible, and secretly orders Boomako to prepare a boat in order to make off with the golden throne. In the heat of battle, Frog finds Maria-Dolores and duels with Don Alfonso over her. However, in the end, he remains loyal to Captain Red, abandoning the fight with Don Alfonso in order to aid his leader in capturing the throne. With the Neptune burning and beyond repair, her remaining crew and passengers flee on the boat, while Red, Frog, and Boomako make off in one of their own with the golden throne in their possession. With Maria-Dolores out of his reach now, a furious Frog throws insults at Don Alfonso, who tries to shoot him in retaliation. However, Maria-Dolores intervenes desperately, disrupting his aim, and Boomako is shot dead instead. Red and Frog then leave the scene, abandoning their surviving crewmates in the water. The last scene from the film mirrors the first one, with Red and Frog finding themselves alone on a small boat in the open ocean once again. ===== With the love and unconditional support of his wife Lucía (Laura Flores), Ramón Mendoza (Sergio Goyri) has progressed in his work to achieve an excellent economic position. Their two children, Liliana (Florencia de Saracho) and Miguel Ángel (Franco Gala), attend the best schools and never endured the shortages that their parents suffered at the beginning of their marriage. However, Lucía isn't happy; Ramón has become materialistic and cruel. He constantly humiliates her and has made it so that their children have lost respect for her. Liliana, spoiled and capricious, goes as far as to follow her boyfriend to Spain, where the boy gets her pregnant and abandons her. Hiding the secret of her maternity, Liliana leaves her daughter Natalia in the care of some nuns and returns to Mexico, where she must steal money from her father in order to care for the baby. Miguel Ángel, for his part, is a lazy and irresponsible boy who believes that he deserves everything. Lucía has become a shadow, sad and doesn't know where her dreams have gone. Her only happy moments are when, alone before her computer, she opens her heart to a twin soul who understands her, advises her, and with whom, little by little and in silence, she has been falling in love — that mysterious man whose face she can only imagine, whose voice she hasn't heard, and signs his messages simply as "wind". Her friend Rosario (María Marcela) also carries a heavy cross. She had to flee with her children because her husband is a psychopath that beat her constantly. Eduardo (Jorge de Silva) and Gabriela (Andrea Torre) don't remember how Víctor (Manuel Landeta) was in reality; Rosario let them believe that their father was a loving and responsible man who died when they were small. This lie creates a rift between Rosario and her children when Víctor finds them. He wins the friendship of the young adults; Gabriela eventually leaves to live with him, and Rosario lives in a constant terror for her daughter's life. The story of Triana (Raquel Olmedo) is a great story of love. Having left Spain three decades ago after discovering her husband in the arms of her best friend, she arrives in Mexico and meets Martín, with whom she lived for many years in love and happiness. But after her beloved Martín's death, Triana finds out that she will be reunited with him when she is diagnosed with terminal cancer. When she receives the news that her husband in Spain has died and she's inherited his entire fortune, Triana laughs at the irony of fate. Before dying, she makes her will and leaves Rosario her apartment in Mexico City and Lucía her inheritance in Spain. Rosario and Lucía feel great pain for the loss of their dear friend, and gratitude for her generosity. One day, by coincidence, Lucía finds out that Liliana has a daughter, and wants to give her up for adoption. Lucía, who spent her childhood in an orphanage, will not allow her granddaughter to suffer as she did. Determined, Lucía confronts Liliana, who refuses to admit the existence of the little girl. Lucía goes to Ramón to ask for his help, but she finds him with Rebeca (Sabine Moussier), his lover. Destroyed, Lucía receives the final blow when her son Miguel Ángel blames her for his break-up with his most recent conquest and stops talking to her. With a shattered soul and feeling that she is a hindrance for her family, she packs her things and goes to Spain to start a new life and try to find little Natalia. In Spain she meets three of Triana's friends: Santiago (René Strickler), a distinguished painter, and Jordi (Luis Javier) and Mayte (Yolanda Ventura), who welcome her with care and offer her a home. Santiago and Lucía feel attracked to one another immediately, but, although her heart is consumed with love for Santiago, turns out to be "Wind", Lucía is still married and offers him her friendship. In short time, Ramón asks for a divorce and annuls their marriage. Lucía is able to restart her life with Santiago and her love for him becomes stronger, which causes the love that she had for Ramón to dissolve. While Ramón's company collapses from debts and their children's lives sink further into vice and emptiness, Lucía transforms into a new, elegant woman who is sure of herself. Lucía discovers her talent for finance upon becoming Mayte's associate and her fortune increases. Furthermore, her happiness is immense when, with Santiago's help, she finally finds Natalia. Now, Lucía knows that in order to be completely happy, in order to be able to turn over her body and soul to her passionate love for Santiago, she must return to Mexico one more time and confront the fears and pain she left behind so that she can finally take out all of her illusions out of the drawer of memories and take the reins of her destiny. The love that Santiago has shown her has reinvigorated her autumn skin, and love never arrives too late. ===== Although the plot of the story is modelled on the classic ratiocination stories of Conan Doyle, there are two separate mysteries in the book, only one of which the Holmes character is able to solve by the end. The story opens with the description of a chance encounter between the old man and the young boy Linus Steinman, who, we find out moments later, is a German-Jewish refugee staying with a local Anglican priest and his family. Because the parrot sitting on the boy's shoulder is in the habit of rattling off German numbers in no obvious order — "zwei eins sieben fünf vier sieben drei" ("two one seven five four seven three") — the old man quickly deduces the boy's reason for being in England. After we are introduced to the priest, his wife, son and two lodgers sitting at dinner, we find out that the numbers may have some significance. One lodger speculates that the numbers are a military code of some kind and seeks to crack it. The other lodger, a Mr. Shane, from the British foreign office, pretends at dinner not to even notice the bird, which the family and Linus call Bruno. But because everyone else around the table is intensely interested in it, Shane's behavior only heightens their suspicions. After Mr. Shane is found murdered the next morning and the parrot Bruno has gone missing, the local inspector, Michael Bellows, recruits the old man to help solve the mystery. The old man, his interest piqued by the boy's strange attachment to his bird, agrees only to find the parrot — "If we should encounter the actual murderer along the way, well, then it will be so much the better for you," he says (ending chapter 3). Although the Holmes character succeeds in that endeavor, neither he nor anyone else in the book discovers what the true meaning of the numbers are, though there are clear implications of a solution. One hint, given by the author Chabon, is that the numbers are often recited in the presence of trains: the implicit suggestion is that they are the numbers of the cars and indeed, the parrot calls it "the train song." In the final scene, the boy is reunited with the parrot in a train station and starts to speak at last as he watches a military transport train pass, reciting "sieben zwei eins vier drei," "sieben acht vier vier fünf." Another hint, revealed in the book's penultimate chapter, which is told from the perspective of Bruno, is that the boy and his parrot used to visit an Obergruppenführer while still in Germany, where it is implied he learned the song. But the biggest hint of all is the book's title and the boy's dumbness. Added to that, neither the parrot nor the boy ever voice the German numeral "null." ===== Barry Ryan is a late 1960s Australian mobster who controls the Sydney gambling scene and is making huge profits from casino slot machines. His profitable venture attracts the unwanted attention of the American Mafia, who attempt to secure a piece of the action by sending in two of their henchmen: the pensive, world-weary veteran Tony and his violent, not-too-bright sidekick Sal. Ryan soon finds himself fending off the trigger-happy "yanks", outback-style, while also contending with his feisty wife, needy mistress, and a crooked cop. ===== In the middle of the night Trojan guards on the lookout for suspicious enemy activity sight bright fires in the Greek camp. They promptly inform Hector, who almost issues a general call to arms before Aeneas makes him see how ill-advised this would be. Their best bet, Aeneas argues, would be to send someone to spy on the Greek camp and see what the enemy is up to. Dolon volunteers to spy on the Greeks in exchange for Achilles's horses when the war is won. Hector accepts the deal and sends him out. Dolon leaves wearing the skin of a wolf, and plans on deceiving the Greeks by walking on all fours. Rhesus, the neighboring king of Thrace, arrives to assist the Trojans soon after Dolon sets out. Hector berates him for coming so many years late, but decides better late than never. Rhesus says he intended on coming in the beginning, but was sidetracked defending his own land from an attack by Scythians. Meanwhile, on their way into the Trojan encampment, Odysseus and Diomedes run into Dolon and kill him. When they reach the encampment with the intention of killing Hector, Athena guides them to Rhesus' sleeping quarters instead, pointing out that they are not destined to kill Hector. Diomedes slays Rhesus and others while Odysseus takes his prized horses before making their escape. Rumors spread from Rhesus' men that it was an inside job, and that Hector was responsible. Hector arrives to cast blame on the sentinels for, due to the sly tactics, the guilty party could only be Odysseus. The mother of Rhesus, one of the nine muses, then arrives and lays blame on all those responsible: Odysseus, Diomedes, and Athena. She also announces the imminent resurrection of Rhesus, who will become immortal but will be sent to live in a cave. This short play is most notable in comparison with the Iliad. The part with Dolon is pushed to the background, and much more is revealed about Rhesus and the reactions of the Trojans to his murder. ===== Author Dana Adams Schmidt with President Sallal, March 1967 At least four plots were going on in San'a. One was headed by Lieutenant Ali Abdul al Moghny. Another one was conceived by Sallal. His plot merged into a third conspiracy prodded by the Hashid tribal confederation in revenge for Ahmad's execution of their paramount sheik and his son. A fourth plot was shaped by several young princes who sought to get rid of al-Badr but not the imamate. The only men who knew about those plots were the Egyptian chargé d'affaires, Abdul Wahad, and al- Badr himself. The day after Ahmad's death, al-Badr's minister in London, Ahmad al Shami, sent him a telegram urging him not to go to San'a to attend his father's funeral because several Egyptian officers, as well as some of his own, were plotting against him. Al-Badr's private secretary did not pass this message to him, pretending he did not understand the code. Al-Badr may have been saved by the gathering of thousands of men at the funeral. Al-Badr learned of the telegram only later.Schmidt (1968), p. 22 A day before the coup Wahad, who claimed to have information from the Egyptian intelligence service, warned al-Badr that Sallal and fifteen other officers, including Moghny, were planning a revolution. Wahad's purpose was to cover himself and Egypt in case the coup failed, to prompt the plotters into immediate action, and drive Sallal and Moghny into a single conspiracy. Sallal got imamic permission to bring in the armed forces. Then, Wahad went to Moghny, and told him that al- Badr had somehow discovered the plot, and that he must act immediately before the other officers would be arrested. He told him that if he could hold San'a, the radio and the airport for three days, the whole of Europe would recognize him.Schmidt (1968), p. 23 Sallal ordered that the military academy in San'a go on full alert — opening all armories and issuing weapons to all junior officers and troops. On the evening of September 25, Sallal gathered known leaders of the Yemeni nationalist movement and other officers who had sympathized or participated in the military protests of 1955. Each officer and cell would be given orders and would commence as soon as the shelling of al- Badr's palace began. Key areas that would be secured included Al-Bashaer palace (al-Badr's palace), Al-Wusul palace (Reception area for dignitaries), the radio station, the telephone exchange, Qasr al-Silaah (The Main Armory), and the central security headquarters (Intelligence and Internal Security). ===== The film is set in Flower Capital, a land ruled by an evil queen (Qu Ying), who started hating men after her lover, High Priest Wei Liao (Daniel Wu), betrayed her. All men in the kingdom are slaves to women. However, a prophecy foretells that one day, the Star of Rex will find and wield a mythic sword, rise to power, overthrow the queen, and restore the balance of the two sexes. At the start of the movie, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (Donnie Yen), a master swordsman who has made it his quest to overthrow the queen's regime, has commissioned Peachy (Edison Chen) to steal for him a certain engraved stone from the queen's palace. Peachy is successful, but the queen's soldiers and spies pursue him. Before the stone can be recaptured, it comes into the possession of Peachy's two friends Charcoal Head (Jaycee Chan) and Blockhead (Bolin Chen), who like Peachy earn a humble living by street- performing in a troupe led by their adoptive father, Blackwood. The two set out to deliver the stone to Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, along the way discovering the stone is actually a map, which they assume will lead them to riches. Before they can meet Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, they are intercepted by two lovely, but lethal, female warriors, Spring (Charlene Choi) and Blue Bird (Gillian Chung), each of whom is pursuing the pair for different reasons. The four agree to follow the map together, eventually learning that the map leads to the mythic sword and that either Charcoal Head or Blockhead is the Star of Rex. The journey takes them through dangerous terrain, culminating in an encounter with the Lord of Armour (Jackie Chan) who guards the way to the sword. Even as the four make their way toward the sword, the queen is preparing for their destruction, using her army and her powerful magic. A final battle will decide the fate of the land. ===== Ray Dolezal, a bored Torrance County Deputy Sheriff, is called to the scene of an apparent suicide in the desert. Alongside the body of Bob Spencer is a suitcase containing $500,000. During the autopsy, they find a digested piece of paper with a phone number; Dolezal, posing as Spencer, calls the number and goes to a meeting, where he is robbed and instructed to meet Gorman Lennox at a restaurant. FBI agent Greg Meeker intercepts Dolezal and informs him that Spencer was an undercover agent. Now that Dolezal has lost the money, Meeker suggests he continue posing as Spencer to recover the money or help arrest Lennox. Dolezal meets Lennox and his wealthy associate Lane Bodine and learns the money is intended for the purchase of unused military weaponry to arm left-wing freedom fighters in South America. The arms dealers demo the guns for Dolezal and Lennox, but demand an additional $250,000 due to unforeseen expenses; Meeker, unwilling to provide more money, pushes the responsibility on Dolezal, who romances his way into Lane's life so she will attract rich humanitarian donors to fund the deal. Meanwhile, two FBI internal affairs agents suspect Dolezal of killing Spencer and stealing the money. Dolezal is forced to admit to Lane he is not really Spencer, but she agrees to help raise the money because she finds Dolezal a better alternative to the volatile Lennox. Dolezal learns from Noreen, who had an affair with the real Spencer, that he was working with an FBI agent who likely killed him. Noreen runs away at the sight of Meeker and the internal affairs agents grab Dolezal. Lennox runs the agents off the road; Dolezal flees and returns to Lane. He discovers Noreen shot dead and a Polaroid of her with Spencer and Meeker. Dolezal breaks into a surveillance van outside Lane's house and beats up the FBI agent. He confronts Meeker, accusing him of killing Spencer and Noreen. Meeker admits he took the $500,000 without authorization to steal it and capture Lennox at the same time, but Spencer lost his nerve and wanted out; Meeker confronted him out in the desert and convinced him to shoot himself. He tells Dolezal the Polaroid proves nothing, and no one will believe his word against that of a minority agent with a spotless record. Lennox meets Dolezal and reveals the two internal affairs agents tied up in the trunk of his car. They drive into the desert, where Lennox says he knows Dolezal is not Spencer, because Lennox is really a CIA agent who wants the arms deal to go through, ensuring the survival of the military-industrial complex. Lennox kills the two agents and informs Dolezal that he has Lane hostage. Dolezal must find where she hid the $250,000 and meet Lennox on a deserted military base in the White Sands desert. Dolezal uncovers the money in a briefcase buried in Lane's horse's stall. He kidnaps Meeker, takes him to White Sands, and handcuffs him to a pipe inside an abandoned building. Dolezal explains that Lennox is CIA, the FBI will be arriving soon, and Meeker can either face punishment or try to flee. Dolezal leaves a gun behind, so that with some effort Meeker is able to grab it and hide inside a bathroom stall. Lennox arrives and reveals that Lane is waiting at the base entrance. Dolezal placed the briefcase in the abandoned building, but when Lennox walks in, Meeker shoots and kills him. After disabling Lennox's car, Dolezal picks up Lane. He drops her off at her estate and explains that he needs to return to his family. He hands her the $250,000 she had obtained through her pseudo-fund raising event. A small army of FBI arrive in cars and helicopters. Meeker breaks the pipe he was cuffed to and runs through the desert with the briefcase. Dolezal left the original $500,000 he was originally suspected of stealing so the FBI will stop investigating him, but one of the agents notices footprints going out into White Sands and so they head off in pursuit. As the FBI catches up with him, Meeker stumbles and drops the briefcase, which breaks open; it contains nothing but sand. ===== Robert Rath (Sylvester Stallone) is a paid assassin who wants to retire, haunted by the memory of murdering his own mentor Nicolai years ago. He is on an assignment when someone else gets to the 'mark' (target) before he does. That intruder turns out to be Miguel Bain (Antonio Banderas), a fellow assassin and a competitive sociopath. Bain plans to kill Rath to become the number one assassin. As Rath tries to figure out who sent Bain, the contractor offers him a lucrative job that could allow him to retire: kill a computer hacker named Electra (Julianne Moore) and the four Dutch buyers of a computer disk and retrieve the disk. Electra has set up CCTV cameras and an elaborate mechanism for remotely moving items between rooms in the building where she is based. Bain gets there first and kills the four Dutch buyers, who turn out to be Interpol agents. Rath, meanwhile, spares Electra, and the two escape from Bain with the disk. Rath exchanges the disk for his fee, given to him in a briefcase, which actually contains a bomb placed by his own contractor in an attempt to kill him. Electra then tells him she had swapped the disk, not sure if Rath was coming back. Rath demands a greatly increased fee from his contractor, this time to be wired to a bank. The contractor (who is also Bain's contractor) sends Bain a new mark: Rath. Rath and Electra travel to the bank, where Rath identifies the decrepit, abandoned hotel that Bain will use as a sniper post and plans a trap. After Bain's apparent death, Nicolai appears, revealing that he had had a bulletproof vest on when Rath had shot him years ago. Knowing that Nicolai would kill him too, Bain revives and joins Rath in shooting him dead. Bain still plans to kill Rath and become number one. Electra puts on her sunglasses, allowing Rath to see Bain; Rath shoots through his own jacket to kill him. ===== The game begins with an amnesiac Edward Carnby, a paranormal investigator recovering from an exorcism performed on him by a group of occultists led by Crowley. A guard is instructed to take him to the roof for execution, only to be dragged away and slaughtered by an unseen force. He wanders the collapsing building in search of an exit; witnessing several people being killed in a similar fashion as the guard, as well as a young woman becoming possessed by a demon which claims to know of his past. After battling the entity, he meets art dealer Sarah Flores. They make their way to the basement parking garage where they meet Theophile Paddington, the occultist who performed Edward's exorcism and an old apprentice and friend of Carnby's. Theo explains the nature of the Philosopher's Stone and Crowley's desire to unleash its evil power. Hijacking a car, they drive into New York City, finding it in the same destroyed state as the building; supernatural fissures erupting from the earth. They crash in Central Park and Theo gives Edward the Stone, telling him to find him in a room of a museum before killing himself. On the way to the museum, Edward begins to bleed out from his injuries. Making his way through the destruction, Edward learns his surname from Crowley. Later, his past medical records from an attending medic reveals that he is over a hundred years old, having disappeared in 1938. Finding Room 943 of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Theo's ghost explains more of the Stone's history. Forged by Lucifer after his fall from Heaven, the Stone tempted men with promises of mass wealth and immortality; in actuality, it merely made them vessels for the Devil's soul. Sarah stays behind in the museum to research Paddington's notes, emailing Edward various texts as well as receiving some from Crowley, both of which reveal more of his past and the Stone. Delving deep beneath Belvedere Castle, he solves various puzzles trailing the Path of Light. Reaching a hidden chamber in the underground temple, Edward meets Hermes Treismajice, one of the alchemists who built Central Park and the holder of the other half of the Stone - rendering him effectively immortal as he waited for the Carrier of the Stone (Edward) to release him. While driving Hermes back to the museum, Sarah is kidnapped by Crowley and held hostage. In a final confrontation, Edward finally kills the mad occultist by quickly shooting him in the head while he was struggling with Flores. Treismajice then leads them to the innermost chamber. Inside the chamber, they find a large portal between the living world and the afterlife; a gateway for Lucifer to return to a body. Needing both halves of the Stone to unlock it, Edward and Hermes reunite it on the pedestal only for the Light Bringer to begin repossessing Carnby. Sarah - unwilling to let Edward sacrifice himself - takes the Stone from him, allowing Lucifer to begin possessing her instead. The player is given a choice: to kill her and take the Light Bringer into his own body, or to let her live and allow the Devil to use her as his vessel. If he chooses the former, he becomes fully possessed by Lucifer and declares his intention to rule over humanity. If he chooses the latter, Sarah becomes possessed and the Devil mocks Edward for being so alone; to which he replies, "I'm used to it," before walking away in defeat. ===== A young man, Juvenal, is apparently able to cure the sick by the laying-on of hands. Mysterious stigmata appear from time to time on his flesh. The former evangelist Bill Hill, tired of selling mobile homes for a living, persuades his friend Lynn Faulkner to befriend the innocent ex-monk and encourage him to aim for the big-time. But matters become complicated when the young couple falls in love, and even more complicated when fundamentalist August Murray takes exception to their relationship. ===== Coralee Elliott Testar's version of the story revolves around letters written by James' son to his wife and children. Harry and Davy have brought them in a box James had carved for his son many years before. Through these letters, James begins to find healing from his grief over the death of his son at the hands of Dutch soldiers in the Second Boer War in South Africa, deliverance from the hatred in his heart for neighboring Dutch farmers, and acceptance of his daughter's love for the village doctor who is also of Dutch heritage. The movie's title refers to the discovery and rescue by Harry and Davy of the neighbor's baby briefly left unattended on a beach and their decision to hide and care for it themselves rather than risk their grandfather's harsh and unmerciful reaction to it. ===== The crucial starting point of all following events is the Wrights’ annual Thanksgiving dinner in 1969, when author Jonah Boyd, the new husband of Mrs. Wright's friend Anne, accidentally loses his notebooks including his almost finished novel. ===== The residents of the village of Frankenstein feel they are under a curse and blame all their troubles on Frankenstein's monster. The Mayor allows them to destroy Frankenstein's castle. Ygor finds the monster released from his sulfuric tomb by the explosions. The exposure to the sulfur weakened yet preserved the monster. Ygor and the monster flee the castle, and the monster is struck by a bolt of lightning. Ygor decides to find Ludwig, the second son of Henry Frankenstein, to help the monster regain his strength. Ludwig Frankenstein is a doctor who, along with his assistants Dr. Kettering and Dr. Theodore Bohmer, has a successful practice in Visaria. Bohmer was formerly Ludwig's teacher but is now his envious assistant. Ygor and the monster arrive in Vasaria, where the monster befriends a young girl, Cloestine Hussman. The monster carries her onto a roof to retrieve her ball, killing two villagers who attempt to intervene. After Cloestine asks the monster to bring her back down, the monster returns the girl to her father Herr Hussman and is immediately captured by police. The town prosecutor, Erik Ernst, comes to Ludwig and asks him to examine the giant they have captured. Ygor then visits Ludwig and informs him that the giant is the monster. Ygor implores Ludwig to heal the monster's body and brain. Ludwig refuses, but Ygor threatens to reveal Ludwig's ancestry to the villagers. At the police station, the monster is restrained with chains as a hearing is conducted to investigate the murder of the villagers. When Ludwig denies recognizing the monster, it breaks free in a fit of rage, and is led away by Ygor. Elsa, Ludwig's daughter, finds the Frankenstein journals and learns the story of the monster. She sees Ygor and the monster in the window, and after breaking into Ludwig's laboratory, the monster kills Dr. Kettering. The monster grabs Elsa, but Ludwig is able to subdue him with knockout gas. Ludwig is examining the monster when it awakens and tries to kill him. Ludwig tranquilizes the monster and then tries to enlist Bohmer's aid in dissecting him. Bohmer refuses, claiming it would be murder. While studying his family's journals, Ludwig is visited by the ghost of his father Henry Frankenstein. The spirit implores him to supply the monster with a good brain. Ludwig calls in Bohmer and Ygor and tells them that he plans to put Dr. Kettering's brain into the monster's skull. Ygor protests and asks Ludwig to use his brain, but Ludwig refuses because of Ygor's sinister nature. Elsa begs Ludwig to stop his experiments, but he chooses to operate on the monster as soon as possible. Ygor tells Bohmer that he should not be subordinate to Ludwig. Ygor promises to help the disgraced doctor if he agrees to put Ygor's brain into the monster. The police soon arrive at Ludwig's house, searching for the monster. They find the secret room, but Ygor and the monster have fled. The monster abducts Cloestine from her home and returns with her in his arms to Ludwig's chateau. The monster conveys his desire for her brain to be placed in his head. Cloestine does not want to lose her brain, and the monster reluctantly gives her to Elsa. Ludwig then performs the surgery, not knowing that Bohmer has replaced Kettering's brain with Ygor's. In the village, Herr Hussman rouses his neighbors by telling them his daughter has been captured by the monster and that Ludwig is harboring it. Ludwig shows the monster to Erik, but when the monster rises, Ludwig is shocked to hear that it has Ygor's voice. The villagers storm the chateau and the Ygor-Monster decides to have Bohmer fill the house with gas to kill them. Ludwig tries to stop him, but the Ygor-Monster repels the attack and mortally wounds Ludwig. The Ygor-Monster suddenly goes blind. The wounded Ludwig explains that the blindness is a result of the incompatibility between the blood types of Ygor and the monster. Feeling betrayed, the Ygor-Monster then throws Bohmer onto the apparatus, electrocuting him, and inadvertently sets fire to the chateau. The Ygor-Monster becomes trapped in the burning chateau while Erik and Elsa escape, walking out into the sunrise. ===== Some four years after the events of The Wolf Man and The Ghost of Frankenstein, two men break into the Talbot family crypt to open the grave of Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.), seeking jewelry buried with him, on the night of a full moon. During the robbery, the thieves remove the wolfsbane buried with Talbot, and he is awakened from death by the full moon shining on his uncovered body. Talbot reflexively grasps the arm of the grave robber with a fur-covered hand, as the other thief flees. Talbot is found by police in Cardiff later in the night, with a vicious head wound (administered by his father at the end of The Wolf Man), and taken to a hospital where he is treated by Dr. Mannering (Patric Knowles). Talbot slowly comes to understand his situation, but during the full moon, he transforms into the Wolf Man and kills a police constable. The next morning, Mannering realizes his patient had been roaming about, and tries to reason with him, though unable to accept Talbot's explanation of his curse. Dr. Mannering allows Inspector Owen (Dennis Hoey), to question Talbot who becomes violently irate, then is overcome by orderlies and bound to his bed with leather straps. Not believing his story of being a werewolf, the doctor and detective travel to the village of Llanwelly to investigate Talbot and his story. While they are away, Talbot escapes from the hospital, by biting through the restraints with his teeth. Seeking a cure for the curse that causes him to transform into a werewolf with every full moon, Talbot leaves Britain and seeks the gypsy woman Maleva (Maria Ouspenskaya), who has hearsay knowledge of Dr. Frankenstein (Ludwig Frankenstein, as the action is returning to the Ghost of Frankenstein locale) and opines he may able to help Talbot. Together they travel to the village of Vasaria, where Talbot hopes to find the notes of Dr. Frankenstein in the remains of his estate, and permanently end his own life through scientific means. The townsfolk want no part of them or their desire to meet with the deceased Frankenstein and rudely order them to leave. An upset Talbot transforms into the Wolf Man and kills a young woman, causing the villagers of Vasaria to raise a mob to chase him down. Fleeing toward the ruins of the Frankenstein castle, Talbot falls through the burned- out flooring and into the frozen cellars below. Talbot recovers from his animal state, and wanders around, discovering Frankenstein's Monster (ironically portrayed by Lon Chaney Jr. in the preceding film, but actually Bela Lugosi) trapped within an icy chamber; using a stone, Talbot breaks the ice and helps pull the now-revived creature free. Finding that the Monster is unable to locate the notes of the long-dead doctor, Talbot seeks out Baroness Elsa Frankenstein (Ilona Massey) the daughter of Ludwig, posing as a potential buyer of the estate, hoping she knows their hiding place. She declines to assist Talbot, but the pair are invited to the "Festival of the New Wine" by the Burgomeister (Lionel Atwill). During the festival, a performance of the life-affirming folk song Faro-la Faro-Li enrages Talbot as Dr. Mannering arrives. The doctor, having followed him across Europe, converses with Talbot to persuade him to return to Wales before he has another spell. Talbot refuses to go with Mannering, and the Monster crashes the festival. With the Monster revealed, Elsa and Mannering agree to help the villagers rid themselves of the Frankenstein curse forever. The following morning, the couple, with Maleva in tow, meet with Talbot and the Monster at the ruins. Mannering is instantly fascinated by the Monster scientifically, and the Baroness gives the notes to Talbot and the doctor. Mannering studies the notes and learns how to drain all life from both Talbot and the Monster, believing the laboratory can be repaired for the task. In the meantime, the villagers are dismayed to see crates of instruments arriving for Dr. Mannering to enable the experiment and become restless, knowing nothing of the doings at the ruins. Vazec, the innkeeper details a plan to destroy the dam overlooking the old estate with dynamite and drown all within, ending their troubles in one blow. The Burgomeister dismisses the idea as nothing but a drunken notion, but Vazec is determined and puts his plan into action. Unfortunately, Dr. Mannering's scientific curiosity to see the Monster at full strength overwhelms his logic, and to Elsa's horror he decides to fully revive it. The experiment coincides on the night of a full moon, and Talbot transforms yet again as the Monster regains his strength (and eyesight); both escape their restraints. The Monster begins to carry Elsa away, but the Wolf Man attacks him, and she escapes from the castle with Mannering. The Wolf Man and the Monster then engage in a fight until they are both swept away in the flood that results when Vazec dynamites the dam. ===== Monty Bodkin, despite his wealth, needs to hold a job down for a full year so when he is sacked from his job, he jumps at a tip that his old job as secretary is available, especially on hearing that his former fiancee will be on the premises. Hearing that Monty is on his way, and concerned about Ronnie's jealous nature, Sue heads to London, dines with Bodkin and warns him to be distant. On the train back, they both encounter Ronnie's formidable mother and claim not to know each other. Lady Julia, having seen Sue and Monty at lunch together, tells her son about their suspicious behaviour, and Ronnie is at once convinced that Sue loves Monty. Meanwhile, Connie and Parsloe-Parsloe, unaware of these developments, task Percy Pilbeam with obtaining Galahad's manuscript, used to ensure Sue and Ronnie's marriage is permitted. Lord Tilbury, also wanting the book, visits the castle and is rebuffed. Leaving, he calls on the Empress, but is locked in a shed by Pirbright the pig-man, instructed by a suspicious Lord Emsworth to guard the pig closely. He is released by Monty Bodkin, who he persuades to steal the book by offering him a year's guaranteed employment—he is worried about his tenure at the castle, as Lord Emsworth suspects him, being the nephew of his rival Parsloe-Parsloe, of scheming to nobble his pig, the Empress. Beach, catching Pilbeam in the act of grabbing the book, tells Galahad and is instructed to guard the book himself. When he overhears Tilbury and Bodkin plotting in the garden at the Emsworth Arms however, he sees the task is too much for him and hands the book on to Ronnie Fish. Fish is distracted by his loss of Sue's love, but once the storm breaks feels better; he sees Monty Bodkin, drenched from the rain, and is friendly towards him. However, when he sees "Sue" tattooed on Bodkin's chest, his mood turns sour once more. Sue, having heard Ronnie's kind words, is also cheered and rushes to find Ronnie; when he is once more cold and distant, she breaks down and breaks off the engagement. Bodkin finds Ronnie and asks him a favour—to get Beach to hand over the book, explaining he needs it to marry his girl. Ronnie, inwardly furious, chivalrously hands it over. Gally sees Sue is upset, learns all and confronts Ronnie with his idiocy. He explains about Bodkin and Sue, and Ronnie forgives her. Gally then confronts his sisters, threatening them once more with his book; although Julia is at first unmoved, when Gally relates a few of the stories it contains concerning her late husband "Fishy" Fish, she is defeated. Bodkin, having engaged Pilbeam to find the book for him, tells the detective he is no longer needed, revealing where he has hidden the manuscript. Pilbeam steals it, planning to auction it between Tilbury and the Connie-Parsloe syndicate, and hides it in a disused shed. He informs Lord Emsworth that Bodkin released Tilbury, and Bodkin is fired. Pilbeam is summoned to see Lady Constance, and primes himself with a bottle of champagne. She is insulting, and Pilbeam vows to sell the book to Tilbury, who he calls promising to deliver it, but he retires to bed first to sleep off the booze. Lord Emsworth, having moved the Empress to her new sty for safety, finds her eating the manuscript. Pilbeam sees this, and hurries to Connie and Parsloe-Parsloe, but is denied his fee when they find the pig has eaten the book. He then rushes to the Emsworth Arms, and gets a cheque out of Lord Tilbury, telling him the book is in the pigsty. Bodkin is on hand, however, and destroys the cheque and warns Emsworth by phone that someone is heading for his sty. Later, full of remorse, he offers Pilbeam a thousand pounds to employ him for a year in his agency. While Emsworth is being badgered by his sisters into denying Ronnie his money, a mud-spattered Lord Tilbury is brought in, captured by Pirbright. Gally and Sue then appear, informing Emsworth that Ronnie has the pig in his car and will drive off with it if denied his cash. Emsworth coughs up, and the happy couple depart, much to Gally's satisfaction. ===== ===== Hungarian Count Alucard (Lon Chaney Jr.), a mysterious stranger, arrives in the U.S. invited by Katherine Caldwell (Louise Allbritton), one of the daughters of New Orleans plantation owner Colonel Caldwell (George Irving). Shortly after his arrival, the Colonel dies of apparent heart failure and leaves his wealth to his two daughters, with Claire receiving all the money and Katherine his estate "Dark Oaks". Katherine, a woman with a taste for the morbid, has been secretly dating Alucard and eventually marries him, shunning her long-time boyfriend Frank Stanley. Frank confronts the couple and tries to shoot Alucard, but the bullets pass through the Count's body and hit Katherine, seemingly killing her. A shocked Frank runs off to Dr. Brewster, who visits Dark Oaks and is welcomed by Alucard and a living Katherine. The couple instruct him that henceforth they will be devoting their days to scientific research and only welcome visitors at night. Frank goes on to the police and confesses to the murder of Katherine. Brewster tries to convince the Sheriff that he saw Katherine alive and that she would be away all day, but the Sheriff insists on searching Dark Oaks. He finds Katherine's dead body and has her transferred to the morgue. Dr. Brewster is shown reading the novel Dracula. Meanwhile, Hungarian Professor Lazlo arrives at Brewster's house. Brewster has noticed that Alucard is Dracula spelled backwards and Lazlo suspects vampirism. A local boy brought to Brewster's house confirms this suspicion—there are bite marks on his neck. Later, the Count appears to Brewster and Lazlo but is driven away by a cross. Vampiric Katherine enters Frank's cell as a bat and starts his transformation. After he awakens, she tells him she still loves him. She explains that she only married Alucard (who is really Dracula himself) to obtain immortality and wants to share that immortality with Frank. He is initially repulsed by her idea, but then yields to her. After she explains that she has already drunk some of his blood, she advises him on how to destroy Alucard. He breaks out of prison, seeks out Alucard's hiding place and burns his coffin. Without his daytime sanctuary, Alucard is destroyed when the sun rises. Brewster, Lazlo, and the Sheriff arrive at the scene to find Alucard's remains. Meanwhile, Frank stumbles into the playroom where Katherine said she would be. He finds her coffin and gazes down at her lifeless body. Knowing he must kill the love of his life, Frank takes off his ring and puts it on Katherine's left ring finger. Once Brewster and the others reach the room, they see Frank appear at the door. He steps back allowing them to follow. As they enter the room, they see Katherine's burning coffin. They all stare, speechlessly, while Frank mourns the loss of his love. ===== Cover of the US mass-market paperback The action revolves around a few characters brought together by a Hollywood millionaire, Jo Stoyte. Each character represents a different attitude toward life. Stoyte, in his sixties and conscious of his mortality, is desperate to stave off death. Stoyte hires Dr. Obispo and his assistant Pete to research the secrets to long life in carp, crocodiles, and parrots. Jeremy Pordage, an English archivist and literature expert, is brought in to archive a rare collection of books. Pordage's presence highlights Stoyte's shallow attitude toward the precious works of art that he affords himself. Other characters are Virginia, Stoyte's young mistress; and Mr. Propter, a childhood acquaintance of Stoyte's who lives on a small nearby farm and works to improve the lot of the mistreated and underpaid laborers Stoyte had working for him. Mr. Propter believes: > ... every individual is called on to display not only unsleeping good will > but also unsleeping intelligence. And this is not all. For, if individuality > is not absolute, if personalities are illusory figments of a self-will > disastrously blind to the reality of a more-than-personal consciousness, of > which it is the limitation and denial, then all of every human being's > efforts must be directed, in the last resort, to the actualisation of that > more-than-personal consciousness. So that even intelligence is not > sufficient as an adjunct to good will; there must also be the recollection > which seeks to transform and transcend intelligence. This is essentially Huxley's own position. Though other characters achieve conventional success, even happiness, only Mr. Propter does so without upsetting anyone or creating evil. Propter also says, "Time and craving, craving and time--two aspects of the same thing; and that thing is the raw material of evil." For this reason, he sees any effort to extend human lifespans—the very work that Stoyte had hired Dr. Obispo and Pete to do, as nothing but "a couple of extra lifetimes of potential evil."After Many a Summer, London: Chatto & Windus, 1962, p. 108. Dr. Obispo views science as the ultimate good and is therefore cynical and dismissive about straightforward notions or morality. Because he views himself as a man of science, he has no qualms about deriving pleasure or happiness at others' expense. According to Propter's philosophy, he is trapped in ego-based "human" behavior that prevents him from reaching enlightenment. One evening, Obispo visits Jeremy, who reads to him from the diaries of the Fifth Earl of Gonister, written in the late eighteenth century. At the time, the Fifth Earl was extremely old and looking into the secrets of long life. He eventually concludes it can be obtained by eating raw fish guts. Obispo is at first skeptical but then realizes the Fifth Earl may be onto something. Throughout the book, Obispo repeatedly rapes Virginia,After Many a Summer, London: Chatto & Windus, 1962, p. 182-3 which results in Virginia's self-recrimination and feelings of sordid guilt: > It had happened again, even though she’d said no, even though she’d got mad > at him, fought with him, scratched him; but he’d only laughed and gone on; > and then suddenly she was too tired to fight anymore. Too tired and too > miserable. He got what he wanted; and the awful thing was that it seemed to > be what she wanted--or rather, what her unhappiness wanted; for the misery > had been relieved for a time...After Many a Summer, London: Chatto & Windus, > 1962, p. 298 Stoyte sense Virginia acting differently and assumes she is having an affair with Pete, who is the only person Virginia's age living on Stoyte's estate. Stoyte finds out the truth when he witnesses Obispo and Virginia, which results in his getting his revolver with the intention of shooting Obispo. He accidentally kills Pete (whose thoughts and morals had slowly started to expand under Propter's tutelage) instead. Obispo knows Stoyte intended to kill him but covers up the act for money and continued research support. This takes him, along with Virginia and Stoyte, to Europe, where they find the Fifth Earl, now 201 years oldAfter Many a Summer, London: Chatto & Windus, 1962, p. 313. and living locked in a dungeon with a female housekeeper, whom he beats. The Fifth Earl and his housekeeper both resemble apes -- "a foetal ape that's had time to grow up," according to Obispo,After Many a Summer, London: Chatto & Windus, 1962, p. 312. who sarcastically asks Stoyte if he would like to undergo the treatment. The book concludes with Stoyte's response: > 'How long do you figure it would take before a person went like that?' he > said in a slow, hesitating voice. 'I mean, it wouldn't happen at > once...there'd be a long time while the person...well, you know; while he > wouldn't change any. And once you get over the first shock—well, they look > like they're having a pretty good time. I mean in their own way, of course. > Don't you think so, Dr. Obispo?' he insisted. Dr. Obispo went on looking at > him in silence; then threw back his head and started to laugh again.After > Many a Summer, London: Chatto & Windus, 1962, p. 314. ===== In the first part, the fictional narrator is contacted by a mysterious individual, who informs him of the disappearance of a deaf and dumb boy in a shipwreck. The boy is also called Gaspard Winkler—the adult narrator of the story discovers that he took on the boy's identity after deserting the army, although at that time he believed he had been given forged identity papers. In the second part, the fictional narrative (apparently based on a story written by Perec at the age of thirteen) recounts the founding and organisation of a remote island country called W, said to be situated near Tierra del Fuego. Life in W, seemingly modeled on the Olympic ideal, revolves around sport and competition. While at first it seems a Utopia, successive chapters gradually reveal the arbitrary and cruel rules that govern the lives of the athletes. The final autobiographical chapter links back to the fictional narrative by a quotation from David Rousset about the Nazi death camps, where Perec's mother died: by now the reader has discovered that the story of the island is an allegory of life in the camps. Like much of Perec's work, W is characterized by word play. The title W is a pun on "double vé/vie", referring to the two lives and two stories narrated in the text. ===== Dr. Gustav Niemann (Boris Karloff) escapes from prison along with his hunchbacked assistant Daniel (J. Carrol Naish), for whom he promises to create a new, beautiful body. The two murder Professor Lampini (George Zucco), a traveling showman, and take over his horror exhibit. To exact revenge on Bürgermeister Hussman (Sig Ruman), who had put him in prison, Niemann revives Count Dracula (John Carradine). Dracula seduces Hussmann's granddaughter-in-law Rita (Anne Gwynne) and kills Hussmann himself, but in a subsequent chase, Niemann disposes of Dracula's coffin, causing the vampire to perish in the sunlight. Niemann and Daniel move on to the flooded ruins of Castle Frankenstein in Visaria, where they find the bodies of Frankenstein's monster (Glenn Strange) and Lawrence Talbot, the Wolf Man (Lon Chaney Jr.), preserved in the frozen castle. Niemann thaws them and promises to find Talbot a cure for the curse. However, he is more interested in reviving the monster and exacting revenge on two traitorous former associates than in keeping his promises. Talbot transforms into a werewolf and kills a man, sending the villagers into a panic. Niemann and Daniel save a gypsy girl named Ilonka (Elena Verdugo), and Daniel falls in love with her; it is unrequited, however, as Ilonka falls in love with Talbot. Daniel tells Ilonka that Talbot is a werewolf, but she is undeterred, and promises Talbot that she will help him. Events reach a crisis point when Niemann revives the monster and Talbot again turns into a werewolf. The werewolf attacks and fatally wounds Illonka, but she manages to shoot and kill Talbot with a silver bullet before she dies. Daniel blames Niemann and turns on him. The monster intervenes, throws Daniel out of the window, and carries the half-conscious Niemann outside, where the villagers chase them into the marshes. There, both the monster and Niemann drown in quicksand. ===== Count Dracula (Carradine) arrives at the castle home of Dr. Franz Edelmann (Onslow Stevens). The Count, who introduces himself as "Baron Latos", explains that he has come to Visaria to find a cure for his vampirism. Dr. Edelmann agrees to help. Together with his assistants, Milizia (Martha O'Driscoll) and the hunchbacked Nina (Jane Adams), he has been working on a mysterious plant, the clavaria formosa, whose spores have the ability to reshape bone. Edelmann explains that he thinks vampirism can be cured by a series of blood transfusions. Latos agrees to this, and Edelmann uses his own blood for the transfusions. Latos has his coffin placed in the castle basement. That night, Lawrence Talbot (Chaney Jr.) arrives at the castle. He demands to see Dr. Edelmann about a cure for his lycanthropy. Talbot is asked to wait. Knowing that the moon is rising, Talbot has himself incarcerated by the police. A crowd of curious villagers gathers outside the police station, led by the suspicious Steinmuhl (Skelton Knaggs). Inspector Holtz (Lionel Atwill) asks Edelmann to see Talbot, and as the full moon rises, they both witness his transformation into the Wolf Man. Edelmann and Milizia have him transferred to the castle the next morning. Edelmann tells him that he believes that Talbot's transformations are not triggered by the moonlight, but by pressure on the brain. He believes he can relieve the pressure, but Talbot must wait for him to gather more mold from his spores. Despondent by the thought of becoming the Wolf Man again, Talbot says he wants to kill himself and jumps into the ocean. He ends up in a cave below the castle. Edelmann searches for Talbot and finds that he survived the fall, but has turned into the Wolf Man. The Wolf Man attacks, but suddenly returns to his human form as the moon goes behind the clouds. In the cave, they find the catatonic Frankenstein's monster (Strange), still clutching the skeleton of Dr. Niemann. Humidity in the cave is perfect for propagating the clavaria formosa, and a natural tunnel in the cave connects to a basement of the castle. Dr. Edelmann takes the monster back to his lab, but considers it too dangerous to revive him. Latos tries to seduce Milizia and make her a vampire, but Milizia wards him off with a cross. Edelmann interrupts to explain that he has found strange antibodies in the Count's blood, requiring another transfusion. Nina begins shadowing Milizia, who is weakened by Dracula's presence; Nina notices that the Count casts no reflection in a mirror. She warns Edelmann of the vampire's danger to Milizia. Edelmann prepares a transfusion that will destroy the vampire. During the procedure, Latos uses his hypnotic powers to put Edelmann and Nina to sleep; he then reverses the flow of the transfusion, sending his own blood into the doctor's veins. When they awake, Latos is carrying Milizia away. They revive Talbot and force Latos away with a cross. Latos returns to his coffin as the sun is beginning to rise. Edelmann follows him and drags the open coffin into the sunlight, destroying Dracula. Edelmann begins to react to Dracula's blood, and becomes evil. He no longer casts a reflection in a mirror. Falling unconscious, he sees strange visions of himself performing unspeakable acts. When he awakens, his face has changed to reflect his evil nature just like in his vision, then he returns to his normal self. Edelmann performs the operation on Talbot. Afterwards, he transforms again into his evil self and brutally murders his gardener. When the townspeople discover the body, they chase Edelmann, believing him to be Talbot. They follow him to the castle, where Holtz and Steinmuhl interrogate Talbot and Edelmann. Steinmuhl is convinced that Edelmann is the murderer, and assembles a mob to execute him. Talbot is cured by the operation, but Edelmann again turns into his evil self. He revives Frankenstein's monster, but the monster is very weak. Nina is horrified by Edelmann's transformation, and Edelmann breaks her neck and tosses her body into the cave. Holtz and Steinmuhl lead the townspeople to the castle. The police attack the monster, but the monster subdues them. Edelmann kills Holtz by accidental electrocution. Talbot shoots Edelmann dead. Talbot traps the monster under fallen shelving. A fire breaks out, and the townspeople flee the burning castle. The burning roof collapses on the monster. ===== Victor Ajax has been sentenced to death, sitting in an electric chair. In a flashback, we learn that Victor once was a promising young technician in the employ of Trend-Odegard Security. Mr. Trend, co-owner of the company, has learned of a plan by his partner to sell the company to Renaldo "The Heel" and responds by hiring two exterminators who promise to "kill all sizes" in order to eliminate Odegard and his plan. When Victor, who has been installing security cameras in Trend's apartment building, seems about to go back to the store, Trend distracts him with a lecture about "the grand design" and sends Victor on a quest to find his dream girl. The dream girl is found in the form of Nancy, who responds minimally to Vic but is enamored of Renaldo. Victor and several residents of the building, including Mrs. Trend, run afoul of the killers, and a seemingly random series of slapstick murders occur, for all of which Victor is ultimately blamed. Nancy inevitably becomes a target and Vic saves her and kills the exterminators after a long comical fight sequence. The flashback ends and Victor is in the electric chair, and awaits his execution while an elaborate race sequence occurs in which Nancy, accompanied by several nuns, drive manically, Nancy at the wheel, to the scene in order to prove his innocence. Before the switch is pulled however, Nancy arrives just in time and clears his name. The movie concludes with their marriage. ===== Young billionaire Clay Beresford, Jr. is in love with Samantha "Sam" Lockwood, his mother's personal assistant. Clay requires a heart transplant. Dr. Jack Harper is Clay's heart surgeon and friend. Clay asks Dr. Harper to arrange his elopement with Sam. They marry privately at midnight, then Clay goes to the hospital for the operation. While Clay's mother Lilith awaits completion of his surgery, Clay encounters anesthesia awareness. The surgical pain causes Clay to have a clairvoyant experience exposing Dr. Harper's plot to murder him, also revealing that Sam worked at the hospital under Dr. Harper and has conspired with him against Clay. Sam's plan was to poison the donor heart by injecting Adriamycin to cause its rejection, thus murdering Clay to collect insurance money to pay off Dr. Harper's malpractice lawsuits. The scheme unravels and Lilith, realizing what has happened, sacrifices her own life so that Clay, who is close to death, can live: she commits suicide so her heart can be switched for the poisoned one, and save Clay. While Sam tries to get away with what she did, Dr. Harper feels guilty and he holds onto proof so she can be arrested too. Another surgical team takes over the operation, as Clay barely clings to life and the conspirators are arrested. The new team takes Lilith's heart and transplants it into Clay's body, as Clay and Lilith have their final moments together in spirit (out of body experience). The new head surgeon announces that Clay has come back to life, as the new team stitch Clay's wound. Clay, in spirit, is still in the afterlife with Lilith, tries to commit suicide to stay with his mother. Clay makes his new heart stop beating and the surgeons have to use the defibrillator in attempt to revive Clay. As Clay resists being revived, Lilith forces Clay (in the "afterlife-world") to revisit a scene from his childhood, when Lilith accidentally killed Clay's abusive father. This scene reveals the truth for Clay and connects his childhood flashbacks. After seeing this scene, Clay gives away to revival, and before the surgeons could shock his body again, Clay allows his new heart to begin beating. Clay opens his eyes when the surgeons remove the eye tapes while Harper ends his narratings with "He is awake". ===== The film begins four years after the events of the first one, with George Banks telling the audience he is ready for the empty nest he'll soon receive with all of his children grown up. Shortly thereafter, Annie tells the family that she's pregnant. George begins to mildly panic, insisting he is too young to be a grandfather. He has his assistant make a list of people who are older than him, dyes his hair brown, and decides he and Nina should sell the home their children have grown up in if one more thing goes wrong with it. Termites strike the house two weeks later. George puts the house on the market without telling Nina, and sells it to the Habibs. At dinner, after a discussion on whether the baby's last name will be hyphenated or not, George reveals the house has been sold. Nina is livid, as she and George have to be out in 10 days and have no place to go. The Banks stay at the mansion owned by Bryan's parents. As the MacKenzies are on a cruise in the Caribbean, the Banks have to deal with their vicious Dobermans, much to the chagrin of George, who is still paranoid from a previous mishap with them. Nina begins experiencing symptoms that bring up the concern of menopause. After visiting the doctor the following day, they are given the opposite news: Nina is pregnant, too. Days later, they have a chance meeting with Franck, Annie's former wedding planner, who is elated at both women expecting. George has switched gears, now believing he is too old to be a father again. His feelings come to a head when he and Nina go to Annie's and Bryan's house to announce their news. Nina brings his insensitivity to light and tells him not to come home. As an apology, George reluctantly hires Franck to do the baby shower. As they are driving home, Nina and George have differing perspectives on the prospect of becoming new parents again. Both express how strange it will be, but begin to welcome the change. Out for a walk, George notices that the street to their old house is blocked off and sees a demolition crew with a wrecking ball at the house, learning that Mr. Habib plans to demolish it. An upset George runs in and tries to stop them as the wrecking ball is about to slam into the house. He pleads with Mr. Habib not to tear down the house since he is going to be a father again, as there is great sentimental value to it. He realizes that if he's going to have another child, he wants to raise him/her in the house his family grew up in. When George offers to buy the house back, Habib agrees on the condition that George pay him $100,000 up front. Although reluctant to pay that money, he gives in. The Banks then move back into their house, right as Bryan is called away to an emergency meeting in Japan. Meanwhile, Nina and Annie are moving along in their simultaneous pregnancies and need around the clock care from George. Matty takes over when his father George is away at work. Franck turns simple redecoration of Nina and George's new baby's nursery into a full-scale renovation/addition, which he affectionately calls, 'the baby's suite'. Eventually, all the stress and nights of sleep deprivation wear George out. When 'the baby's suite' is revealed, Franck offers George some sleeping pills from his native country called 'Vatsnik' after George tells him that he has not been getting enough sleep. George unknowingly takes too high of a dosage and suddenly passes out during dinner. The family becomes worried, which is only increased when Annie finally goes into labor. Franck takes over the role of driving the family to the hospital with a barely coherent George in tow. After being mistaken for a patient in need of a prostate exam, George finally regains full consciousness and goes to see Nina when she goes into labor. George is initially cynical about the female obstetrician who fills in because their own is unavailable. Despite wanting his grandchild to be delivered by the same doctor who delivered his children, George comes to terms with the arrangement. Bryan soon returns to be with Annie, who gives birth to a baby boy, while Nina gives birth to a baby girl, named George and Megan, respectively. George finishes telling the story about Nina and Annie's pregnancies. Bryan and Annie then move to Boston with baby George, since Annie took a job there. The film concludes with George standing on the road in front of his house, admiring it with Megan by his side. As he completes the story, he begins walking up the driveway, telling Megan about all the basketball tricks George will teach her. ===== Rizka is a gypsy who lives just outside a town in a vardo and waits for the return of her gypsy father after the death of her mother. She has Big Franko looking out for her and the company of her cat Petzel. Throughout the story, she experiences numerous adventures helping out friends and folks in town as well as outwitting local town official Sharpnack, who will do anything to get rid of Rizka. ===== Chiba Prefecture, Japan. Acting on the advice of an anonymous note, Takuro Yamashita (Kōji Yakusho) returns home early one night to find his wife in bed with another man. He kills her and then turns himself in to the police. After being released from prison, he opens a barber shop and brings along a pet eel which he talks to while mostly ignoring conversation with others. He helps save Keiko Hattori (Misa Shimizu) from a suicide attempt, resulting in her working at the shop. She starts developing romantic feelings for him, but he acts nonchalant and refuses the boxed lunches she prepares for him when he goes eel-hunting with the fisherman Jukichi Takada. Takuro recognizes the local garbageman from prison and the garbageman starts to stalk Takuro and Keiko, believing that Takuro isn't repentant enough for his crimes. He attempts to rape Keiko and leaves a letter revealing Takuro's past on the door of his barber shop, but it is removed by Takada. Keiko finds out that she is pregnant with the baby of Eiji Dojima (Tomorowo Taguchi), a loan shark, and that it is too late for an abortion. One night the garbageman goes to Takuro's shop and lectures him, accusing him of killing his wife out of jealousy. The two get into an altercation and Takuro fends him off. Keiko goes back to her old company, where she is the vice-president, and retrieves her mother's bankbook. This results in Dojima angrily going to the barber shop, along with henchman, and accusing her of theft since he was planning to reinvest the funds into his business. Dojima's group and Keiko's fight, with the false revelation that Keiko is pregnant with Takuro's child. The police find that Keiko's mother never signed power of attorney papers for Dojima, but a parole violation meeting for Takuro causes him to be sent back to prison for a year. Takuro lets his eel go and accepts a boxed lunch from Keiko, who promises to wait for him with her baby. ===== Artie Sawyer (Griffith) is a World War II veteran who has been laid off from his factory job. His relationship with his wife, Iris (Lupino), is strained as a result. He takes a job as the superintendent of an apartment building in New York. One night, when Iris is out of town, Artie goes to a bar. He meets a pretty girl named Claudine (Benton) who is looking for an apartment. He brings her to his apartment building intending to let her stay in Apartment 7A, but she seduces Artie. Artie falls for the girl, but her attentions are a ruse. Her sadistic boyfriend Billy (Brandon) and his Army buddies Riff and Virgil plan to use the apartment as a base from which to rob the bank next door. Not knowing about their plans, Artie is suspicious of them when they arrive, but they promise to leave as soon as possible. Artie allows them to stay temporarily, fearing they could expose his tryst with Claudine to Iris. Artie's conscience gets the better of him, and he sneaks into 7A while the conspirators are away. He discovers the tunnel leading to the bank vault. He is caught by Virgil, who holds him there until Billy and Claudine return. Billy orders Virgil and Riff to kidnap Iris, and Iris and Artie are tied up in 7A until after the robbery. The robbery is foiled when the police surround the bank, and Virgil is killed in an exchange of gunfire. Billy blames Riff when the bomb they rigged to open the vault does not detonate on schedule. To escape the police, Billy forces Riff to plant another bomb in the elevator of the apartment building. Billy orders Iris to tell the police that he will detonate the bomb, killing everyone in the building, if the thieves are not allowed to escape. Claudine's growing reluctance with the increasing violence and guilt for what she put Artie and Iris through forces her to openly resist Billy's plans. He ridicules her, but leaves her behind (her fate is left unknown.) Billy and Riff then take Artie with them as a hostage. In the elevator, Billy berates Riff again for the failure of the first bomb. When Riff rebuts that the second bomb is their salvation, Billy tells him that he is no longer entitled to the money and kills him with a shotgun. Billy decides to still detonate the bomb. In response, Artie jams the elevator. Billy, enraged, threatens Artie with the shotgun. Artie asks him where he placed the bomb, warning him that now he too will die with everyone else in the building when it goes off. They struggle over the gun, and Billy is shot in the shoulder, losing consciousness. Artie grabs Billy's two-way radio and climbs to the top of the elevator where the bomb is. The police are able to guide him in disarming the bomb, and Artie saves the building. Artie confesses his indiscretion, and he and Iris reconcile their differences and embrace their relationship. With Iris' support, Artie begins taking engineering classes so that he can get a better job. ===== After Mr. Burns gets teased about his old car by the kids at Springfield Elementary School, he sends Homer to pick up a brand new Lamborgotti Fasterossa car (a parody of the Lamborghini Gallardo) in Italy. The family flies over on Alitalia, and have a great time touring the country, despite Homer and Bart's mockery of the culture and history of Italy. Lisa tries to pass the family off as Canadian to avoid potential ridicule from Europeans who believe Americans make stupid choices, though this backfires when Homer brings in an American flag to smooch off the other passengers. After two huge food wheels—one made of Mortadella and the other of cheese—land on their car and crush the hood, they slowly push it into a small (fictional) Tuscan village nearby called Salsiccia (sausage), and are told that the mayor speaks English. The Simpsons are shocked to find out that the mayor is none other than Sideshow Bob, who is equally shocked to see them. He explains that after he last attempted to kill Bart, he wanted a new life away from Springfield. Bob decided to get a fresh start elsewhere by "randomly" settling on a new destination in Italy (but only after passing over Orlando, North Korea, Shelbyville and, ironically, "Bartovia"). After a rough start, the Italians warmed up to him when he helped them crush grapes into wine using his enormous feet. After that, they elected him as mayor of their tiny village. As a result, Bob no longer has any intention of killing Bart, and he reveals that he has a family. He introduces them to his wife, Francesca and his son, Gino. They know nothing about his past life in America. Bob begs the Simpsons not to tell anyone, and they agree in order to have the car fixed. One month later, Bob hosts a farewell party in the village for the Simpson family. However, that goes awry when Lisa gets intoxicated on wine and starts to spout off about him being an attempted murderer. He leads her away from the table, but as she stumbles backwards, she rips off his suit to reveal his prison uniform. The village finds out that Bob is a robber and attempted killer, and they sack him as Mayor. The Simpsons take off in the fixed car, and Bob swears a vendetta — not only on Bart, but now on the Simpson family as well. The family flees, and Bob follows them on a motorcycle (a Ducati 999). Homer drives into a ditch and onto a Roman aqueduct, eventually landing on top of Trajan's Column in the Roman Forum. Bob's wife and son meet him, and though Bob initially promises to give up his vendetta, Francesca professes her love and loyalty to Bob and offers to help him take revenge as a family. Meanwhile, the Simpsons are wondering what they should do next, since they are in a foreign country with no car and no money whatsoever. Lisa spots a bus with a poster advertising Krusty the Clown's performance in the opera Pagliacci. They meet up with him at the Colosseum in Rome, and he puts them in as unnoticed extras. However, Bob, Francesca, and Gino find them and corner them on the stage while Krusty, who went through a trap door, flees the stage, allowing Bob to perform the climax of Vesti la giubba. Before Bob and his family can finish off the Simpsons, though, Krusty's limousine picks them up; Krusty needs them to smuggle an ancient artefact back to America. The Terwilligers are disappointed at first, but then walk away, grinning maliciously and plotting revenge together. ===== After searching for his father in Utah for a few weeks, Zach Young finally returns home to find his father anxiously awaiting his return. After becoming re-settled with domestic life, Zach asks his father if what Felicia had said about his birth mother was indeed true. Paul nods and tells him that they were just trying to give him a better life. Zach then asks if he knows who his real father is. Paul tells him that he does not know who he is. However his actual biological father lives a few doorsteps away. Days later, Paul knocks on Mike's door to tell him that Zach is home and to leave them alone. Mike tells him that he has no intention of staying quiet and that if he sees a "For Sale" sign or anything suspicious he will phone the police. Bree arrives at George's home to learn from the police that George has committed suicide in a hotel room shortly after his home invasion. Bree looks surprised at the police officer's news but becomes even more amazed when the police ask her if several garments of underwear belong to her. The police take a mannequin out of George's study that has a likeness to that of Bree. When Bree asks if that is supposed to be her, the detective tells her that according to his belongings, George was quite perverse. Detective Barton then advises her to tell her family and friends the truth of her relationship with George before a leak is released to the press. She proceeds to tell Susan, Gabrielle and Lynette who feel bad for Bree since George was poisoning Rex. Andrew then returns home from deprogramming camp in a jeep. Bree tells him what happened with George and that his father was murdered in order for George to marry Bree. Andrew is very upset at this revelation and promises to have his revenge on Bree. Against Bree's will he decides to invite Justin to spend the night. As the two play video games, Andrew tries to kiss Justin. But Justin says to wait a little while, and that he'll make it worth Andrew's while. Andrew then tells Justin that he wished his mom would walk in on them, as part of how he plans to bring Bree down. The following morning, Bree tells Andrew about how George really died and Andrew plots to use it against her in the future as part of his plan for revenge. During a church meeting aimed at improving the water situation in Botswana Gabrielle learns that Sister Mary Bernard will not be able to go there due to a lack of funds. She agrees to put up the $8000 so that Sister Mary can go there and leave Carlos alone for a few months. Sister Mary asks Carlos to come anyway since she will need a "male companion". Gabrielle scoffs at this and forgets to tell a nurse about Carlos' allergies to eggs during his vaccinations. Carlos has an allergic reaction to the Yellow fever vaccine and is forced to stay in bed, thus missing the missionary trip. As Gabrielle holds Carlos in bed, he complains about how hot the village is and moans the name "Sister Mary". Susan tries to build her relationship with her father Addison by showing him pictures from her life. Addison bores easily over the pictures which include a Halloween where she was dressed as a chicken or when she had to go to the Father-Daughter dance with her mother's hairdresser. Addison tells Susan he has to leave and asks if they are done. Susan feels rushed and asks where he is going. Addison proceeds to take the "hobo picture" and runs off. Susan does not receive a phone call from Addison until he is arrested for soliciting to a prostitute who was actually an undercover cop. Susan tells Addison how ashamed she is and goes to pay his bail money. After dropping him off, Addison's wife, Carol sees them together and writes down Susan's license plate. The following morning, Susan goes out to get her newspaper and finds "WHORE" written in dark red lettering on her garage door. Susan then calls Addison who comes over and tells her that it was definitely the work of Carol. Susan then runs into Carol at the grocery store and tries to explain her situation but Carol does not want to hear it and starts to throw groceries at her. Only when Susan says that Addison is her father she stops and becomes saddened over the fact that Addison has been unfaithful since the beginning. Susan comforts Carol who leaves and tells her that Addison isn't as good as he seems. The next day, Susan paints over her garage door as Addison drops by. He tells her that he would not mind seeing her again since she has been so good to him and that he was being rude. Susan agrees and invites him to call whenever he is in the mood. Lynette tries to create a company day care center when she spends yet another night without seeing her kids. Her boss Ed agrees and Lynette tells him that they need at least 16 children to seek approval. Lynette has 15 so far but needs one more child to make the day care official. Ed then tells her that his daughter Mindy could come but that they would have to ask his wife Fran if that would be all right. When Lynette meets with Fran, she tells her straight the criteria of the day care and that Mindy would not be required to stay the entire day. Fran tells Lynette that she objects since she "loves spending time with Mindy". Ed plans to go to desperate measures to ensure that they receive the quota. The following morning, Ed brings Mindy to work without Fran's consent which leads Fran to show up and ask what is going on. As the two quarrel, Lynette takes Mindy into her office and locks the door behind her. Lynette tells Ed that what he did was stupid and advises them that they need better ways of communication in order to get what they want. Fran admits that she does get tired now and then and that maybe day care is not such a bad idea. Lynette agrees and recommends that the two talk about the situation in the lobby over coffee. The next week, day care is in session and Lynette is happy to see baby Penny during her break. Betty Applewhite finds out from Edie that Gabrielle's intruder is remaining quiet and that his identity is unknown. The police are currently keeping Caleb in a mental hospital until he starts talking. Betty and Matthew decide to bring Caleb home by planning a secret escape. As Betty plays piano for the other patients, Matthew secrets Caleb out of the room unaware that someone disguised as a hospital employee has followed Caleb and Matthew. ===== The Fifty Year Sword is essentially a mature-audience ghost story, in the disguised form of a children's book. The events of the book take place at Belinda Kite's 50th birthday party in an orphan's foster home. The story is narrated by Chintana, a kind yet sullen seamstress who is struggling with the recent divorce from her husband over an affair he had with the birthday girl, Belinda Kite. A storyteller is invited by a social worker to entertain the orphans. He brings with him a long, black box. The storyteller entertains the orphans by explaining his adventures of obtaining the contents of the box: His Fifty Year Sword, a weapon that never fails to cut but shows no wound until the victim's 50th year of life. He recalls a suspenseful, epic journey through mystical rocky trails and soundless forests, bent on finding an otherworldly swordsmith to satisfy a dark, never explained personal grudge. He then opens the box, revealing a seemingly bladeless sword, and he waves it in the air at the candles. Just then, the mistress and Birthday Girl, who has barged in toward the end of the story, gets annoyed at the storyteller and tells the children the whole thing is a bunch of hogwash, and sets out to prove it. She takes the hilt of the sword, and slashes it around at herself in any and all places in order to disprove the man's story, much to the horror of the children and the bemusement of the shadowy storyteller. The suspense grabs the reader even more as the storyteller finishes and Chintana and the other guests go outside so the Birthday Girl can toast herself as her 50th year of life begins at the stroke of midnight. As they take the toast, and the clock hits midnight, signaling the 50th year of Belinda Kite, Belinda falls to pieces, as she has sliced herself in all discernible locations. Chintana, in a fit of empathy, runs to Belinda and holds her as the different discernible entities of her human body fall off. Chintana, at this point, likens holding her together to a series of stitches and the pressures and cuts that can tear it apart. How does one know how much it will take before it tears? ===== At the start of the episode, the four housewives are reading different parts of the daily papers. Susan scans the front page and sees something. On her calendar she sees a Post-it note on that day's date which reads "Mary Alice's Dinner". She walks over to Lynette's house and there is a flashback of Susan walking into Lynette's house for their weekly poker game. Mary Alice tells the girls that she wants to host a dinner party, for the housewives and their husbands. The girls all agree that it is a good idea and Mary Alice is excited. When it returns to the present time, Susan shows Lynette the note and the girls soon gather to discuss it. They decided to throw it anyway, as a way to honor Mary Alice. Bree decides to host it at her house, Susan seems rather disappointed that she will be the only housewife without a partner. Mike Delfino passes them jogging and waves to Susan and Susan subtly hints that she has found her date. Susan reunites with her ex- husband Karl when their daughter Julie goes to stay with him for the weekend. Before leaving, however, Brandi, Karl's girlfriend, attempts to throw a soda can in the trash but it misses and lands instead near Susan's feet."Pretty Little Picture" approx 10:01 Karl tells Susan to pick it up and she refuses."Pretty Little Picture" approx 10:18 Susan is angered then kicks the can near the sidewalk where Mike and Bongo are walking."Pretty Little Picture" approx 10:46 Mike asks Susan if she would like him to pick up the can."Pretty Little Picture" approx 10:55 Later, Karl visits Susan (who has just gotten out of the shower) and asks why she does not like Brandi, and why she is treating him so harshly."Pretty Little Picture" approx 24:29 Susan tells Karl that she is still reeling from the divorce and not to expect her to be nice to his new girlfriend."Pretty Little Picture" approx 24:41 Karl tells her that it is not an excuse. Susan is clearly finished talking and shows Karl the door."Pretty Little Picture" approx 25:20 Susan follows Karl to his car where her towel gets stuck in his car door."Pretty Little Picture" approx 25:50 Susan is shockingly stripped of her towel and is now naked."Pretty Little Picture" approx 26:08 Susan panics and runs toward her house which is locked and secretly tries to get back in before someone catches her."Pretty Little Picture" approx 26:19 She holds a potted plant in front of her body and tries the back door, which is locked as well."Pretty Little Picture" approx 27:12 She then tries to climb to the window. Susan then falls into her bushes and is discovered by Mike."Pretty Little Picture" approx 27:29 Mike helps her out and manages to get her back into the house by jimmying a window."Pretty Little Picture" approx 28:18 Susan then asks Mike if she would like to go with her to Bree's dinner party. Mike accepts and the two end up having a very good evening despite the tension caused by Bree."Pretty Little Picture" approx 33:15 The following day when Karl brings Julie home, Susan apologizes to Brandi for being immature and tells her that she will try to be more accepting."Pretty Little Picture" approx 38:01 Brandi accepts her apology and also apologizes to Susan for her own behavior."Pretty Little Picture" approx 38:22 As Bree and Rex's marital problems continue to surface, Bree tries to cover up the fact that she and Rex are in counseling since she does not want to be seen as weak or to be mocked for her "failed" marriage. When Rex asks what their cover story is, Bree replies that they will be taking tennis lessons and hands him a racket, which they will both use as decoys before and after the sessions."Pretty Little Picture" approx 9:01 Bree's plans quickly backfire, as Rex tells everyone at the dinner party that he and Bree are in marriage counseling."Pretty Little Picture" approx 29:35 Suddenly, Bree drops a plate but quickly changes her tone as dinner is about to be served."Pretty Little Picture" approx 29:44 The following day, Bree packs Rex's bags as he tells her that he has checked into a motel and they discuss how they are going to tell the kids about their separation."Pretty Little Picture" approx 36:15 Bree jokes that she can say that he "went to tennis camp" which Rex does not find in the least funny."Pretty Little Picture" approx 36:28 Later, Bree visits Dr. Goldfine's office in the hopes that she can talk to him about what happened the evening prior. Dr. Goldfine tells Bree he is in between clients and that she will have to wait until tomorrow's appointment."Pretty Little Picture" approx 40:47 As Dr. Goldfine walks into the hallway, Bree snoops around and find Rex's tape from his private session. Instead of taking it, she suspiciously comes across a tape labeled "Young, Mary Alice". Bree decides to take the tape for herself to see if it can shed any light on Mary Alice's mysterious suicide."Pretty Little Picture" approx 41:43 During the awkward dinner, Susan manages to break the ice by telling her embarrassing story of how, earlier that day, she was locked out of her house naked and Mike came to her rescue by helping her out of a bush."Pretty Little Picture" approx 31:40 Gabrielle then tells how she and Carlos broke a waterbed in a hotel room"Pretty Little Picture" approx 32:14 and Lynette tells the group that she and Tom were accused of lewd conduct while on Main Street, USA in Disneyland."Pretty Little Picture" approx 32:02 Bree ends the conversation by telling everyone that, "Rex cries after he ejaculates"."Pretty Little Picture" approx 32:28 At that moment, Rex embarrassed, gets up from the table, grabs his car keys and leaves as everyone quietly finishes eating."Pretty Little Picture" approx 32:49 Lynette is happy that Tom has finally returned home from work but becomes angered over a photo taken a few months prior. When Lynette asks Tom if he would come to the dinner party with her, he informs her that he is tired and would rather skip it. Lynette is obviously upset since this party is probably the only social dinner for a while since most of her time is spent with "children under the age of 6" who do not talk as maturely as adults do. Lynette decides to go to the party without Tom who volunteers to stay home with the kids. To give Tom the experience of what it is like to be her, she gives the kids sugar and snacks beforehand which gives Tom quite a night. When Lynette arrives home, he thanks her for giving them sugar as part of her revenge and tells her that they are really raising "little terrorists"."Pretty Little Picture" approx 34:30 The following day, Tom makes it up to Lynette by wearing a sombrero and makes mimosa which leads the two to dance."Pretty Little Picture" approx 39:12 When Carlos tells Gabrielle that she needs to relax, she calls up John to invite him to come over and "help her" feel better. John comes over after school, in his gym sweats and begins to take them off as the two make out. Their kissing is interrupted however when a little girl catches them from Gabrielle's door. Gabrielle quickly runs after the little girl and continues to search for her throughout the afternoon. When she finally finds her, she is shaking hands with Carlos who tells Gabrielle that Ashley and her mom are new neighbors. The following day, Gabrielle visits Ashley who is playing with sidewalk chalk and gives her a new doll as a "bribe". Gabrielle then explains to Ashley that many people can kiss as friends even if they are not married. Ashley nods but tells her that she wants a bicycle if she does not want Carlos to find out what she saw. Later on, Gabrielle gives Ashley a top of the line bike which leads her to ask Gabrielle if she will teach her how to ride. Gabrielle tells her some other time but Ashley wants to learn now. Gabrielle, fearing she has no other choice helps her ride (in her heels) until Ashley gets tired. Ashley says that she would like to do it again tomorrow. Gabrielle quickly interrupts saying that she has school tomorrow. Ashley then tells her that she is home-schooled and that she is home all the time. Gabrielle gives a nervous smile as she walks away. Zach Young asks his father why he has not put an obituary notice in the paper."Pretty Little Picture" approx 11:05 Paul tells Zach that he had completely forgotten and asks why. An angered Zach then says to Paul "that when you die, maybe I won't put an obituary in the paper". Paul tells Zach that it is his choice if that is what he decides to do. That evening, Zach finds the gun Mary Alice used to kill herself in the garage which is still in fact loaded. Zach then sits in the dark playing with the gun as Paul comes in. Zach then confronts Paul about why he kept the gun. Paul asks Zach if he has taken his medication today but the question is not answered as the doorbell suddenly rings. Bree Van De Kamp greets Zach as she invites him and Paul to her dinner party. Paul then comes from behind Zach and tells her that they have already made plans. Zach quietly hands Paul the gun. Zach thanks Bree for remembering his mother as she walks away from their home. The following day while Zach is asleep, Paul watches a news report about a mysterious toy chest that was found in the lake days prior. Paul quickly turns the television off and walks away as Zach opens his eyes and becomes suspicious. During the middle of the night, Paul puts a "for sale" sign in front of his house. ===== Jack Kelso, an American ace pilot in World War I, is shot down and nursed back to health by a German nurse, Baroness Elsa von Halder. They marry and return to America after the war. After Jack is killed in a car accident, Elsa returns to Germany with their eldest son Max, who assumes the title of Baron von Halder. Harry, his identical younger (by ten minutes) brother, remains with his grandfather, millionaire Abe Kelso. Inspired by their father's example, both brothers become ace and much decorated pilots in opposing forces. Max joins the Luftwaffe and Harry, after fighting in Finland, returns to England, joining the Royal Air Force as a 'Finn'. The brothers rise in rank and number of 'kills', occasionally hearing of the others exploits. They actually meet again in the skies and also when Harry is shot down. Max summons an English rescue boat using his airborne radio. Elsa continues her social climbing amongst the Nazi elite, although Max warns her of the potential danger. Harry becomes a special duties pilot and crashes in France whilst landing a French Resistance leader. He is captured by the Germans and imprisoned at a local chateau, where he and Max finally meet face to face. Heinrich Himmler, learning of the capture of one ace, arranges for the brothers to be blackmailed. Max is to assume Harry's character, 'escape' to England and assassinate General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Fearing for his Mother's life, Max is forced to agree and flies back home. Elsa tries to intervene, but is shot dead in the attempt. The brothers' plot fails, mainly because the brothers see themselves as flyers and honourable men, not assassins. Max returns to France, rescues Harry and flies back to England, but Max is killed when they are intercepted by a Bf 109. Harry returns to flying and is killed in a later mission, late in the war. The narrative is surrounded by a 'frame story', with a prologue and epilogue. In 1998, the author and his wife, an experienced pilot, are forced to ditch their airplane in the English Channel and are rescued by the Cold Harbour lifeboat. They learn something of what happened in Cold Harbour during the War and later meet other surviving characters. A central character of the story is 'Tarquin', a bear wearing flying kit with both RAF and RFC insignia. He was Jack's lucky mascot, later Harry's and was lost when Harry crashed. Tarquin passed to a French family and was later bought in an English antiques shop by the author's wife, also as a flying mascot. There are a few twist reveals in the final chapter of the story, having to do with the fate of some of the earlier characters. Also when the twins are split after their father dies, they argue over who will take possession of Tarquin, they agree the bear stays in America, Max the oldest wins the toss and stays with his grandfather as "Harry" sending Harry to Germany as "Max"...so when Himmler forces Max to become Harry, they are actually switching back to their original selves. The book is supposedly based on a true story. Category:1998 British novels Category:British historical novels Category:Novels by Jack Higgins Category:Novels set during World War II Category:Aviation novels ===== In 1977, Piper Dellums (Shadia Simmons) is a black girl who lives in Washington, D.C. with her father, Congressman Ron Dellums (Carl Lumbly), an outspoken opponent of the South African apartheid system and the oppression of black South Africans, her mother Roscoe Dellums (Penny Johnson), and two younger twin brothers, Brandon (Anthony Burnett) and Erik (Travis Davis). Piper, who has been taking an interest in the different nations of Africa, begs her parents to host an African exchange student. Meanwhile, in South Africa, Mahree Bok (Lindsey Haun) is a white South African who lives in a manor house with her parents and little brother. They comfortably benefit from the system of apartheid without questioning its morality; Mahree's father, Pieter Bok, is a South African policeman who cannot hide his joy when Stephen Biko (a black South African man fighting against apartheid) has just been captured. They also have a black maid, Flora (Melanie Nicholls-King), whom Mahree, in her racial blindness, considers her best friend, not realizing that Flora is not satisfied with her life under apartheid. However, Mahree's observation is not entirely wrong, as Flora is a kindly woman who is indeed friendly with the Bok children, believing that gentleness and persuasion work better than agitation. Flora tells Mahree that when she was a little girl she would observe the weaver bird, which has many different styles of plumage, and its communal nest- building, which is used as a metaphor for the possibility of racial harmony that Mahree does not understand at the time. Mahree also asks her parents for permission to study in America, which is granted by her father, who believes she will either get homesick or realize that America is not a paradise. Upon meeting each other, both Mahree and Piper have misconstrued notions about each other's countries: Mahree does not think that there are black politicians, only knowing the patriarch of her host family is "Congressman Dellums", and although Piper is expecting a South African exchange student, she does not realize there are white residents. Mahree reacts with horror bordering on panic when confronted with this new situation, and locks herself in Piper's bedroom when she is brought to the Dellums' home. Eventually, Piper picks the lock on the door to bring Mahree some fries and a chocolate shake. Mahree is standoffish, and Piper, upset by her attitude, tells Mahree how disappointed she is in her. Stunned by this, Mahree sees how rude she's been, and agrees to stay and try to make this work. Roscoe tries to play peacemaker, chalking up Mahree's reaction to misunderstanding and culture shock, while telling Ron and Piper they have been judgmental as well. During Mahree's stay, she and the Dellums family grow close. Mahree sees people of different races getting along and realizes how much she and Piper have in common. The two become good friends and Mahree also begins to see her host family as individuals and learns to live among them day to day. Gradually, she develops a better understanding of what life under apartheid must be like for black South Africans. When Stephen Biko dies under suspicious circumstances in the custody of South African police, there are mass protests around the world, including at the South African embassy in Washington, D.C. In the wake of these protests, South African embassy diplomats arrive at the Dellums' house and take Mahree to the embassy, intending to send her back to South Africa. In response, Ron goes to the South African embassy. After he threatens to tell the press that the embassy kidnapped Mahree from her host family, the embassy releases Mahree. Mahree returns to the Dellums' without fully understanding what happened to her and why, and during her discussion with Piper she makes a cold offhand comment about Biko's death. Outraged, Piper shouts at her for being blind to the racial struggle happening in South Africa. Hurt, Mahree runs outside but Ron follows her. He tells Mahree that the United States had a long, hard history of trying to overcome problems, which is what South Africa is doing now, and she finally fully grasps what the liberation fighters in South Africa stand for. She and Piper reconcile. An epilogue-like scene at the end of the movie shows Mahree with the Dellumses at an African pride event back in America. Ron Dellums delivers a speech that includes the weaver-bird story, as told to him by "a new friend from South Africa." Mahree leaves the United States, now a very different person. When she returns home, the first person she greets is Flora. Secretly, Mahree shows her an ANC flag sewn inside her coat, signifying her decision to side with the black liberation movement. Flora is touched and pleased. Mahree then releases the weaver-bird. ===== This is an account of the life of Mrs. Rosa L. Parks and her actions in the civil rights movement. After she refused to give up her seat for a white man on a racially segregated bus after a long day at work, she was arrested. Her example and treatment prompted a bus boycott as a major civil rights demonstration in Montgomery, Alabama; it lasted 381 days from 1955 to 1956. The film shows her background and indicates the issues in the segregated society of Alabama and the Deep South. As a child, Rosa was educated at a private school run by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), where she was encouraged to overcome the limits of segregation. In her late-adolescence, she married Raymond Parks, a barber and advocate of equal rights. She joins the local branch of the NAACP, although her husband believes that the organization has been ineffective in its battle against legalized racism. She worked as a seamstress in a department store. On December 1, 1955, after a tiring day at work, Rosa Parks took a seat in the designated "colored" section of a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama. When the "white" section at the front filled up, the driver, James Blake, ordered Parks to relinquish her seat, as was the practice. She refused, and was arrested and jailed. Civil rights activists organized a one-day bus boycott the day of her trial (she was fined). With its success, they founded the Montgomery Improvement Association, and began a citywide bus boycott, led by a new local minister, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. The boycott lasted 381 days, made to work by African- American citizens, many of whom made sacrifices of time and energy to walk to work and other destinations. As they comprised the majority of bus passengers, the boycott greatly reduced the profits the bus company earned. Eventually a ruling by the United States Supreme Court, in a related case, declared bus segregation unconstitutional. The boycott was important for mobilizing people in the civil rights movement both in the Deep South and on a nationwide basis across the United States. In 1995 Rosa Parks got the presidential medal of freedom. ===== Jessie Coulson, in the introduction to a 1966 Penguin publication that includes the story, states of "A Nasty Story": > Its theme is the terrible gulf between a man's idea of himself, his ideals, > and his motives, and what they prove to be in the harsh light of reality. > Its cruelty lies in the recognition that the tragedy of failure to come up > to one's own expectations ... is essentially comic... .Coulson, Jessie. > "Introduction." From Retrieved 20 December 2013. Richard Pevear proposes, in his introduction, that the story's target is "the spirit of reform that spread through Russia in the early years of the reign of the 'tsar-liberator' Alexander II, who came to the throne in 1855."Pevear, Richard. "Preface" . From Retrieved 20 December 2013. ===== Theo is traveling through Westmark, learning about the country of which he will soon be Prince Consort. He is not surprised to find great poverty: Mickle - now known as Princess Augusta - could have told him that from her years on the street. His friend Florian could have told him about the aristocracy's graft and corruption. But neither could have foreseen a loaded pistol in the practiced hand of the assassin Skeit. The echoes of that shot ring from the muskets and cannons of a Westmark suddenly at war - a war that turns simple, honest men into cold-blooded killers, Mickle into a military commander, and Theo himself into a stranger. As set up in Westmark, Theo and Mickle are in love. A corrupt general is in a cabal with a rival country, and plans to surrender after a token resistance, allowing a country with a more aristocratic government to replace the more populist Mickle who is seen as too close to revolutionaries like Florian. However, although the general surrenders, his soldiers refuse to, and the nominal resistance becomes a full-blown war as the people fight to determine their own destiny. Similar to how the aristocratic powers of the time invaded France to restore the aristocracy, here a foreign country is meddling in the internal affairs of Westmark. And just as France repelled the great powers with an army led by the people and of the people, the Westmark forces run by Florian, and his lieutenants, Theo — now the eponymous Kestrel — and Justin, fight to preserve the country. But becoming a general, a tradesman in blood and death, costs the artistic and conscientious Theo a great deal. He has to cut off pieces of himself in the service of a more pressing need. Meanwhile, Mickle must run her government in exile. Musket and his master, Count Las Bombas, are dragged in to serve as her advisors. She says she wants his advice, as he used to serve with the Salamanca lancers, one of his blustery claims from Westmark. The character Las Bombas is, like the bard Fflewddur Fflam in The Chronicles of Prydain, bombastic, yet of a true heart, and a solid friend. There are sub-plots involving some gamine children, and difficulties in the cabal involving Cabbarus, the villain of the first book. In the end, good triumphs not by force, but by compromise. Constantine, the young king, was set up to be killed by his guardian, but ends up being captured. He and Mickle come to terms, and they draw up a peace treaty to benefit both countries. Mickle sets up a representative government to reign along with her, but that forces her and Theo to postpone their wedding. ===== ===== The heroine of the bestselling Outlander, Claire, returns in Drums of Autumn, reunited with her husband Jamie Fraser and facing a new life in the American colonies. As the preceding novel, Voyager, concluded with Jamie Fraser and his wife Claire shipwrecked on the Georgia coastline in 1766 —and happy to be out of Scotland—Drums of Autumn picks up where Voyager left off. Jamie and Claire, as well as Fergus, and Ian, make their way first to Charleston, and then Wilmington, before settling in the North Carolina foothills in hopes of building a homestead. Fergus' wife Marsali stayed behind on the island of Jamaica expecting the arrival of their first child. At the same time, Brianna Ellen Randall and her suitor, historian Roger Wakefield, remain safely ensconced in the 20th century. Now orphaned by her mother's departure to the past, Brianna struggles to accept her loss and satisfy her curiosity about a father she has never met, only to discover a tragic piece of "history" that threatens her parents' happiness in the past. This discovery sends Brianna back through time on a mission to save her parents that sends Roger after her. ===== Claire, the heroine of Outlander, figures in The Fiery Cross as a reluctant oracle and wife to Jamie Fraser, her 18th century partner, and faces the politics and turmoil of the forthcoming American Revolution. As the preceding novel, Drums of Autumn, concluded with Jamie Fraser and his wife Claire helping their daughter and new son-in-law, from the 20th century, settle into life on Fraser's Ridge, The Fiery Cross picks up the storyline exactly where it was left - with Brianna Ellen Randall Fraser and Roger Mackenzie about to make their nuptials official and baptise their son Jeremiah. With the American Revolution only a few years away and unrest brewing, Jamie is called to form a militia to put down the beginnings of rebellion in North Carolina, and risk his life for a king he knows he must betray soon. Gabaldon delivers the endings to several strands of storyline she had woven through Drums of Autumn; mysterious plots and characters are revealed in the course of this intricate plot and at the end, the Frasers and their family are poised on the edge of war. ===== Claire is the wife of Jamie Fraser, her 18th century husband, and facing the politics and turmoil of the forthcoming American Revolution. The preceding novel, The Fiery Cross, concluded with political unrest in the colonies beginning to boil over and the Frasers trying to peacefully live on their isolated homestead in the foothills of North Carolina. Jamie is suddenly faced with walking between the fires of loyalty to the oath he swore to the British crown and following his hope for freedom in the new world. ===== Restaurant supervisor Jill (Karena Lam) has a handsome boyfriend, Chi-on (Hu Bing), but she is just his backup girlfriend. She knows she is the other girl, but her hope for being his one and only has never ceased until he changes his formal girlfriend once again. All her anger goes to her co-worker, Jack (Ekin Cheng), who appears to be a womanizer but indeed shares a similar unfortunate romantic situation of being the backup boyfriend of an airhostess. Knowing that both are victims in romantic relationships, Jack and Jill no longer spar with each other and a liking between them start to develop. ===== In the series, King Lief must find out how to save his kingdom. Although he has defeated the enemy, Deltora is rotting away - the Shadow Lord had taken thousands of Deltorans as slaves back to the Shadowlands. Lief and his friends must re- unite three pieces of the magical Pirran Pipe - the only thing the Shadow Lord fears - to save his people. ===== Set in the near future, it tells the story of a teenage girl named Ruby Crescent who wants to become a treasure hunter, following in the footsteps of her father. Her objective is to find O-Parts: magical items hidden in ruins which grant people fantastical powers and can only be used by an O.P.T. (O-Part Tactician). She soon meets a mysterious boy named Jio Freed who, due to having a dark, lonely past, seeks to conquer the world. Jio is hostile to her at first but ends up traveling with Ruby as her bodyguard. When Ruby is attacked by an O.P.T., who claims to be Satan, Jio rushes to her rescue and a battle occurs. Initially they are on the losing side, but Jio releases his true power and is revealed to be not only an O.P.T., but the real Satan. Thus, the two continue to travel together in hopes of achieving their dreams. ===== ===== The game is set in the year 2415, after a biological disease has wiped out Earth's population except for its one walled, protected city-state, Bregna. The city is ruled by the congress of scientists who discovered the vaccine for the disease. Æon Flux, the protagonist and top operative in the underground "Monican" rebellion, is sent on a mission to kill one of Bregna's most influential government leaders, Trevor Goodchild. Following a series of self-discoveries and revelations, Æon uncovers a world of secrets which makes her doubt her mission and question everything she thought she knew. The game's storyline attempts to bridge the gap between the TV series and the film and explain various discrepancies, such as the appearance of the jungle outside Bregna and the differences between the movie and TV series versions of Trevor Goodchild. However, much of the game's visuals and tone skew far more dramatically toward that of the film, supplemented by the fact that the look of Æon in the game is based almost entirely on Charlize Theron's film version, and the character is also voiced by her. ===== The Fishball factory Tong Xin Yuan is a successful local business, with thriving sales in both Singapore and overseas. But behind the company lies a dark mystery. The founder of Tong Xin Yuan, Zhou Dong (Chen Shucheng), married a beautiful factory worker Li Tian (Louise Li) many years ago. They had three sons – Dadi (Adrian Pang), Dashan (San Yow) and Daqiu (Cavin Soh). Zhou Dong disappeared after a kidnap attempt went awry; not even his body was found. Without the master around, a faithful worker in Tong Xin Yuan, Lin Shitou (Richard Low) took up the task of overlooking the factory. Three years later, Shitou married Li Tian and had another 3 sons – Dahai (Terence Cao), Dayang (Pierre Png) and Dajiang (Zhang Yaodong). From then on, rumours abound that Shitou killed Zhou Dong and usurped both his factory and wife. Tong Xin Yuan grew tremendously under Shitou and Li Tian’s management, and all six sons receive the same treatment. Li Tian, in an effort to let her children remain close by her side for as long as possible, as well as to encourage them to love and support each other, built a block of apartments with seven units inside. She lives in one of the units with her husband, with the remaining six units planned for her children. They may move into their unit only after marriage, and if they should choose not to move in, they will automatically forfeit all rights to the unit. Li Tian has even set a family regulation that no matter how busy each family member is, everyone has to turn up at her unit for a meal at least once a week. Six half-brothers, each with their own peculiarities, often rub each other the wrong way. All of them work at the fishball factory with the exception of Dahai and Dajiang who is still in university. Amongst the six sons, Dadi has the strangest temperament and is still single. He is nicknamed the Mad Man, and is secretly in love with their factory supervisor Xiuhua (Xiang Yun) who is a few years older than he is. Unaware of his feelings, Li Tian and Xiuhua select a Vietnamese bride Ruan Mian (Jesseca Liu) for Dadi, putting Dadi in an awkward position. Dashan had a sad past in his youth, falling into despair after witnessing the death of his beloved girlfriend. He fell into bad company and started taking drugs. Upon release from the drug rehabilitation centre, he meets cunning Su Haitang (Le Yao) who bears a great resemblance to his deceased girlfriend. He would have fallen into Haitang’s trap if not for the appearance of the kind-hearted Yang Qin. He have the tendency to let his heart rule over his head which hindered him further to achieve greater things in life. The scheming Daqiu married a shrewd Baozhu (Cynthia Koh). He constantly plots to take over Tong Xin Yuan but all his attempts fail. In contrast, his honest and straightforward brother Dayang marries Baozhu’s sincere younger sister Baobei (Felicia Chin). The two work hard to earn an honest living despite frequent efforts by Daqiu and his wife to put them down. Heaven seems to be watching out for Dayang and Baobei as they succeed in their lives. Dahai who spends most of his time working as a scriptwriter, marries a young lady from a wealthy family, Gao Jimei (Apple Hong). He goes against his mother's wishes by doing so and even moves into Jimei's household. Through his wife, he gets to know Fyn (Yvonne Lim) who has turned up for revenge, thereby putting both Jimei and his life in unnecessary danger. Dajiang is still in university. He changes girlfriends constantly just like changing his clothes every now and then as he prefers something fresh and new. He always like to try out new things and yearn for changes but he harbours no great ambition. How do Dadi, Dashan and Daqiu feel about their father Zhou Dong’s mysterious disappearance? Shitou wishes to hand Tong Xin Yuan over to Zhou Dong’s flesh and blood Daqiu, but Li Tian objects vehemently. Daqiu schemes to take back Tong Xin Yuan, unite his two brothers, and chase Shitou and sons out of the family. The family is turned topsy-turvy furthermore when the supposedly deceased Zhou Dong suddenly turns up! ===== In the 1940s Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, Eliška is a nurse who works alongside her lover, Richard, a respected surgeon. They are part of an underground resistance network that has formed to help those in danger of persecution from the Nazis. Eliška acts as a messenger. One night, Richard responds to an emergency call to a patient needing a risky operation. Because she has the same blood type, Eliška gives blood for the transfusion. Days later, she arrives at Richard's apartment to find their friend, Slávek, with news that the Gestapo has apprehended two of their members, putting everyone at risk of discovery. Eliška is told that Richard has emigrated, leaving papers for her to assume a new identity. Slávek says that she must leave the city with a man named Joza - the patient who had received the transfusion. Seeing no alternative, Eliška - now Hana - leaves for the countryside. As a mountain-dweller, Joza appears uncouth and disheveled, but he is kind and considerate to her plight. He provides her with temporary refuge in a small village, where she quickly becomes the object of curiosity. Some, such as Teacher Tkáč the schoolmaster, are xenophobic and suspicious. The Nazis have killed anyone harbouring enemies. Eliška tries to leave, but the village doctor reveals that the Nazis have executed Slávek. He tells her that to remain safe, she must marry Joza and live with him in the mountain village of Želary. Initially, Eliška is reluctant. Joza takes her to their new home, a small cottage with no electricity, dirt floor, and a fly- infested outhouse. On the day of their wedding, Eliška rebels, but relents upon Joza's explanation that the villagers will not accept a strange, single woman. So Eliška agrees, and the two are married. At the wedding, she meets most of Želary's inhabitants. Helenka is a young girl who lives near Joza and Eliška with her mother, Žeňa. Her best friend is Lipka, a boy whom the villagers treat as an outcast, but who is actually homeless due to his step- father Michal's dislike of him. He survives through the goodwill of Žeňa, Lucka the village midwife, and Old Goreik, an elderly gentleman who lives with his daughter-in-law, Marie, a victim of spousal abuse. Eliška seems ill-suited to rural life. She finds the villagers' behavior raucous and crude, and is particularly repulsed by Michal, the drunk, who makes unwanted advances. As time passes, Joza's patience and Žeňa's gentle guidance help her to assimilate. Despite this, Eliška remains wary of her husband, until one evening when she breaks their only lamp and fears a beating. On the contrary, Joza is comforting and gives her a gift: a stack of books that she may like. One day, he takes her to his mother's grave and Eliška is moved by the love and kindness he feels. Joza falls in love with Eliška and she with him, leading to the consummation of their marriage. Years pass and Eliška - called Hanula by the villagers and Hanulka by Joza - bears witness to a number of incidents. The Nazis, though scarce in Želary, kill an entire family for harbouring partisans, and then murder an innocent man in front of everyone. Eliška fears that the Gestapo will find her. Michal attempts to rape her at the saw mill. Helenka witnesses the attack and alerts Joza, who beats Michal and breaks his arm. His parents, the Kutinas, then force Michal's pregnant wife and Lipka's mother, Aninka, to do all the farm work, which leads to her miscarrying. Lipka alerts Eliška, Lucka, and Žeňa, but it is too late. Aninka's death destroys Michal's reputation and redeems Lipka in the eyes of the villagers. By the spring of 1945, Eliška is a nurse again, and learns the art of herbal healing from Lucka. The old woman divulges that Marie and her father-in-law, Old Goreik, are expecting a child. Following the birth, soldiers from the Red Army arrive with news that the war is over. After a night of celebration, Joza reminds Eliška that she is free to leave (their marriage being technically invalid). Eliška replies that she wants to stay with him always, and falls asleep on the mountain in Joza's arms. Young Goreik, furious over his father's relationship with his wife, arrives at Old Goreik's home with a drunken soldier who he persuades to rape Marie. Old Goreik arrives and shoots his son, as well as the would-be rapist, but the latter's brother arrives and shoots him. Intoxicated, the soldiers interpret the killing as the act of fascists and shoot at the villagers. With help from Lipka, many escape by crossing a swamp towards an old saw mill, where Lucka and Eliška tend to the wounded. Joza races back and forth between the haven and the village, and rescues several people - including Michal. Meanwhile, the soldiers kill the village priest and rape Žeňa. Vojta, a farmhand, comes to her aid and Joza goes back to rescue him. The next morning, they arrive at the saw mill and find soldiers heading in the same direction. The villagers are relieved, but Joza collapses (Vojta having shot him earlier after mistaking him for the enemy). Devastated, Eliška kneels beside Joza's lifeless body and weeps. Years later, Želary is virtually abandoned due to modernisation of the town below. Eliška, now with Richard, returns to visit the mountains and the cottage that she had shared with Joza. Lucka emerges from the ruins and is shocked to see Hanula, but remembers that "nothing disappears off the mountain, there’s always tracks". Astounded, Eliška asks if it is possible that Lucka is still alive, to which Lucka responds, "I'm none too sure. I'm none too sure at all." On the top of the mountain, the women laugh. ===== Carlos (Mauricio Ochmann) is a 21-year-old who finds himself married to Camila (Adriana Fonseca), his 18-year-old girlfriend after dating for five years and discovering that she is pregnant. Carlos decides to pursue married life since, he thinks, people marry every day and thus everything will work out fine. He gets a job to support his new family but does not realize the seriousness of his decisions until he discovers that his new boss (Luis Felipe Tovar) is having an affair with his secretary, Lucy (Anaís Belén), and Monica, his attractive new co-worker (Ninel Conde) is attempting to seduce him. To complicate things even more, Camila's father does not approve of the decision that she and Carlos made. Carlos struggles to defend himself against his father-in-law and from peer-pressure to be unfaithful to his wife. The title of the film derives from Carlos' co-workers theory that -in Mexico's demographics- every man is "entitled" to seven women and a homosexual. ===== The Republic is decaying, even under the leadership of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, who was elected to save the galaxy from collapsing under the forces of discontent. On the tiny but strategic planet of Ansion, a powerful faction is on the verge of joining the growing Separatist movement. The urban dwellers wish to expand into the prairies outside their cities - the ancestral territory of the fierce, independent Ansion nomads. If their demands are not met, they will secede - an act that could jump-start a chain reaction of withdrawal and rebellion by other worlds of the Republic. At the Chancellor's request, the Jedi Council sends Kenobi and fellow Jedi Luminara Unduli to resolve the conflict and negotiate with the elusive nomads. Undaunted, Kenobi and Unduli, along with their Padawans Skywalker and Barriss Offee, set out across the wilderness. Many perils lie waiting to trap them. The Jedi will have to fulfill near-impossible tasks, befriend wary strangers, and influence two great armies to complete their quest, stalked all the while by an enemy sworn to see the negotiations collapse and the mission fail. ===== After soccer practice, Bart waits for Homer to pick him up, though his father has forgotten. When Homer finally remembers, he reasons to an angered Bart that they should just both admit they are wrong and try to put the issue behind them. Later, Bart views a commercial for a mentor program called The Bigger Brothers, which pairs up fatherless boys with positive male role models. Still angry at Homer, Bart goes to the agency pretending to be a young boy whose father was a drunken gambler who abandoned him. Bart's story is so sad that the receptionist pairs him up with their best Bigger Brother, a military test pilot named Tom. The two spend time together doing a variety of activities, though Bart begins to feel guilty over taking up Tom's time despite not actually being fatherless. Eventually, Homer finds out about Bart's Bigger Brother and confronts Bart for it. Homer then decides to go to the Bigger Brothers Agency to get revenge by being assigned with a replacement son; a young poor boy named Pepi. Just like Tom and Bart, Homer and Pepi spend time together doing activities. Later on, it is Bigger Brothers Day in Marine World, where the Bigger Brothers and their boys attend to celebrate (including Homer, Tom, Bart, and Pepi). After running into Homer and learning how bad of a father he is from Bart, Tom begins to brawl with him. The fight rages across Springfield and ends with Homer's defeat, his back draped painfully over a fire hydrant. As a result, Homer is sent to a hospital on a stretcher, and Bart holds himself responsible for this. Later on, Tom sadly talks about how much he will miss being a Bigger Brother, while Pepi is sad over losing his Bigger Brother. Fortunately, Bart suggests Tom become Pepi's big brother, to which they happily agree, and both Tom and Pepi walk out into the sunset holding hands. At the same time, Homer (whose back is now fixed) and Bart reconcile, as Homer teaches Bart how to brawl due to his experience with Tom. In the subplot, Marge finds an anomalously high phone bill for calls made by Lisa to the Corey hotline — a premium rate phone service where television fans can listen to the voice of a fictional actor based on The Two Coreys. Lisa promises to stop increasing the family's phone bill, but continues to make calls to the hotline from such places as Dr. Hibbert's office and a telephone at Springfield Elementary. After Principal Skinner catches her, Marge suggests that Lisa try to go until midnight without calling the hotline; if she can do so, she will have conquered her addiction. Although tempted throughout the rest of the day, Lisa beats her addiction. ===== A public garden colony will be demolished to make way for a superhighway. But when the excavators find a bomb (unexploded ordnance, the 'dud' bomb in the title), on the land of old man Kupke, he threatens to detonate it: "the garden colony must stay!" The tenant of the neighbouring plot, an anarchic punk named Kanzler, joins in the fight: he demands a memorial for Germany's famous student leader Rudi Dutschke. The two very different men grow closer. ===== The short opens to an orchestral rendition of Stephen Foster's "Old Folks at Home", immediately setting the scene in the rural South of blackface minstrelsy. The setting is Lazy Town, perhaps the laziest place on earth. Neither the town's residents (all stereotypes of African-Americans) nor the animals can be bothered to leave their reclining positions to do anything at all. Their pastoral existence is interrupted by the arrival of a riverboat, carrying a svelte, sophisticated, light-skinned woman from Harlem (who bears a resemblance to Lena Horne), whose physical beauty inspires the entire populace of an all-black "Lazy Town" to spring into action. The visiting urbanite admonishes one of the town's residents her mother, "Listen, Mammy. That ain't no way to wash clothes! What you all need is rhythm!" She then proceeds to sing "Scrub Me Mama with a Boogie Beat", which the townsfolk slowly join her in performing. Thus begins a montage which is the short's centerpiece. The townsfolk are infected by the song's rhythm and proceed to go about playing instruments, and dancing suggestively. By the time the young light-skinned lady from Harlem is due to get on her riverboat and return home, she has succeeded in turning a dark-skinned Lazy Town into a lively community of swing musicians simply by singing. The cartoon concludes with the mammy washerwoman bending over, displaying the words "The End" across her buttocks. ===== The Tenth Doctor welcomes the viewer into the TARDIS. He tells them that he has been watching the viewer for some time, as they have been watching him, and that he has been impressed enough to want to take the viewer to help him on his next adventure. His current companion, Rose, has been dropped off at Wembley in 1979 for an ABBA concert. He then imbues the viewer's television remote control with the power of his sonic screwdriver, allowing the viewer to take part in the proceedings. To start, the Doctor shows his new assistant a family of six celebrating Christmas in a living room, by means of the TARDIS scanner – a family, it seems, like any other, except that one of them is an alien imposter. By alternating between two different viewpoints, namely from within the family's television set and from the handheld digicam the daughter got for Christmas, the viewer has to determine who does not belong. The mother's eyes glow for about half a second a few seconds into the sequence, revealing her as the imposter. She is now alone with the father in the house's kitchen. A small alien transmats onto the kitchen table, where he uses a handheld device to zap the father. The Doctor tells the viewer that the alien is a Graske, a species that invades planets by replacing its population. When he is done, the Graske transmats away, leaving a changeling of the father behind to join that of the mother. As the Doctor tracks the Graske through time, the viewer takes command of the TARDIS's controls, and activates the vortex loop, dimensional stabiliser, and vector tracker as requested. Eventually, the Graske is located about 120 years in the past, somewhere in Victorian Britain. The viewer must use a map on the TARDIS scanner to pinpoint its location, as the screen blips where the Graske's DNA is found. After zooming in to High Holborn in Holborn, central London, on Christmas 1883, the viewer takes a quick walk around a square and must then uncover the Graske from its hiding place. Having been found behind some boxes, the Graske kidnaps a young street urchin by zapping him, and, as before, leaves a changeling in his place. Tracking the Graske, the Doctor takes the viewer to the Graske's base on Griffoth and guides them through the base. Having used three number and logic puzzles to pass through the airlocks, the viewer arrives in a room filled with various beings in stasis pods; the Graske keep the originals to sustain the copies. The viewer also learns of the Graske's ultimate intention to replace every living, sentient creature in the universe with one of their doubles. However, the viewer is spotted and must duck to avoid a Graske's weapon fire. The blast ricochets around the room and frees a Slitheen from a stasis pod, who then proceeds to vengefully chase the Graske who imprisoned it. The viewer thus has the opportunity to make one last crucial decision — either the teleport settings can be reversed, sending all the kidnapped beings back to their proper places in space and time, or the Graske's own stasis control can be used against them, freezing the Graske and everything else in their base. Depending on the choice the viewer makes, there are two alternative endings to the episode: *If the viewer decides to freeze the entire Graske base, the Graske and all of their victims become trapped. The changeling mother and father talk mechanically with the rest of their family, and the daughter storms off to her room, believing that her parents are trying to ruin Christmas. *If the decision is made to send the victims back, the viewer sees all the stasis pods being emptied, and the mother and father of the family are quickly glimpsed livening up the party at their house whilst "Another Rock And Roll Christmas" by Gary Glitter plays in the background. The universe — and the family's Christmas — are saved. As the Doctor takes the viewer home, the programme evaluates the viewer's "score". Depending on how well they did, either the Doctor decides that his new companion is not quite ready for the job (but was not far off and should try again), or the Doctor comments on how impressed he is with the viewer, saying that perhaps one day he will call on their help to save the universe again. In either case, the Doctor then removes the sonic powers from the viewer's remote control and bids them farewell, firing up the TARDIS to go back for Rose, but warns the viewer that "if you turn the TV over to ITV, the galaxy may implode", referencing the rivalry between ITV and BBC. ===== The Tenth Doctor lands in North London in 1953. While looking around the Doctor and Rose see that most of the houses have TV antennas on them, which Rose recalls should be rare in this time. They question a local merchant, Mr Magpie, about the TVs and are told that the TVs are on sale to celebrate the coronation of Elizabeth II. The Doctor and Rose witness someone being taken from their home with a sheet over their head and driven away by the police. The Doctor and Rose question the Connollys, a local family. They are introduced to Grandma Connolly, whose entire face is missing. Before the Doctor can learn more the police burst in and remove Grandma Connolly. The Doctor follows where the police are taking her while Rose investigates Magpie's shop. At the shop Rose discovers an entity calling itself "the Wire", an alien that managed to escape execution by its people by turning itself into an electrical form. The Wire seeks to consume enough minds to recreate a body (also stealing the face of the victim in the process) and plans on using the broadcast of the coronation to do so. Rose is unable to flee before falling victim to the Wire as well. Magpie's shop, on location in Cardiff. The Doctor locates a holding pen where the police are keeping the victims. He speaks to Detective Inspector Bishop, and the police bring in a faceless Rose. Angered at Rose's condition, the Doctor, Tommy Connolly and Inspector Bishop confront Mr Magpie at his store. The Wire reveals herself and tries to consume them, but upon seeing the Doctor's sonic screwdriver she stops, retreats into a portable television built by Mr Magpie and escapes, heading for the Alexandra Palace television station. The Doctor and Tommy use equipment from Magpie's shop and the TARDIS to create a device to capture the Wire. The Doctor pursues Magpie as he connects his portable device to the transmitter, allowing the Wire to start to consume minds while killing Magpie. The Doctor connects his device to the transmitter, and the Wire is captured. The victims of the Wire return to normal. The Doctor shows Tommy that he has captured the Wire on a Betamax cassette. The Doctor gives Tommy the scooter he was riding throughout the episode, and he and Rose celebrate the coronation with the rest of town. ===== Four Daleks, accompanied by a device known as the "Genesis Ark", have emerged from the Void ship inside the Torchwood Institute's sphere chamber. The Cybermen who took control of Torchwood confront the Daleks, offering an alliance. The Daleks decline, and after a Dalek exterminates two Cybermen, the Cyber Leader declares war on the Daleks. A strike team from the parallel universe takes the Tenth Doctor to meet with Pete. After hearing that the parallel Earth has started warming at an unprecedented rate following the opening of the breach between the two Earths, the Doctor theorises this is the start of the process that will lead to both planets falling into the Void. In the sphere chamber, the Doctor realises that the four Daleks are the enigmatic Cult of Skaro, and allows the Cybermen to enter and attack the Daleks. Mickey accidentally activates the Ark while escaping with the Doctor, Pete and Rose. Dalek Sec takes the Ark outside. Pete saves Jackie from the Cybermen and the two embrace. The Doctor then takes everyone to the control room. Outside, the Ark — a prison ship built by the Time Lords to imprison the Daleks — opens. Millions of Daleks pour out and begin exterminating humans and Cybermen on the ground. The Doctor explains that if he opens the breach and reverses it, anyone who has travelled between the two separate worlds will be pulled in, including Rose, Mickey and Pete. The Doctor sends them along with Jackie to the parallel universe. Rose jumps back to help the Doctor. The Doctor and Rose open the breach and hang on to magnetic clamps as the Cybermen and Daleks are pulled into the Void, but the Cult of Skaro escapes using a temporal shift. Rose loses her grip and starts to fall towards the Void, but at the last second, Pete transports Rose back to the parallel universe as the breach is closed. She becomes extremely upset upon learning that there is no way back. Some time later, Rose has a dream where she hears the Doctor's voice calling her. The Tylers follow the voice to a remote bay in Norway where a holographic image of the Doctor appears. He tells Rose he is using the energy of a supernova to transmit to her via one last small breach between universes. Rose breaks down in tears and tells the Doctor that she loves him; before the Doctor can finish his reply, the breach seals completely and the Doctor's image disappears. As he gets back to piloting the TARDIS, he notices a mysterious woman in a wedding dress standing inside, demanding to know where she is, leaving him baffled and confused. ===== A couple of newlyweds, Olga and Michael, are traveling along the desert and accidentally trespass on the property of Magda Urtado (Ajita Wilson), who is the director of "Sadomania", a boot camp of sorts, where the women are treated as slaves and are half naked at all times. Magda keeps Olga in captivity while Michael is free to go, but later on in the film he plans an escape for Olga. She goes to work with the other girls out in the hot desert, and the rest of the film is a series of subplots, including one in which a few of the workers are sent out to be hookers, one where a worker participates in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse, and one where the impotent Governor (Antonio Mayans, billed as Robert Foster) buys a couple of the workers to help him perform. There is also a scene where the Governor is finally able to have sex with his wife, but only while watching one of the workers being raped by a dog. Director Jesús Franco also stars in the movie as an obviously gay man. ===== Doctor Phlox receives a letter from his Interspecies Medical Exchange counterpart, Doctor Jeremy Lucas, who is serving a term on Denobula. He begins to compose a letter back, describing his experiences with the crew, and the ways in which humans are different. Meanwhile, on the Bridge, the crew are discussing a pre-warp vessel they have encountered. The alien they speak with, a Valakian, begs them to assist with a medical emergency their species is facing. Sub-Commander T'Pol reveals that the Vulcans are unaware of the species, but she agrees with Captain Archer to help them. Phlox continues his letter, describing the challenges of treating the disease – with over fifty million lives at stake. Enterprise arrives at the Valakian homeworld, where they are met by Esaak, the Valakian director of a clinic, and Larr, a Menk orderly. T'Pol, Phlox, Archer, and Ensign Sato make a tour of the medical facility. Sato discovers that there is a second lesser-evolved yet unaffected race, the Menk, who live alongside the Valakians. Phlox makes the startling discovery that the Valakians are slowly dying out, not from an easily curable medical condition, but because of a genetic disease which is experiencing an accelerated rate of mutation. He also believes that the answer to a cure may lie in the Menk. Archer, meanwhile, is debating whether to provide the Valakians with Warp drive, ultimately deciding against it. Upon further investigation, Phlox learns that the Valakians suffer from the illness because their gene pool has reached a "dead end" and that the Menk are undergoing an "awakening process." He also finds that the Valakians have been stifling and underestimating the Menk. He has found a cure, but does not believe it would be ethical to administer. Archer considers how a "primary directive" would be helpful, and provides the Valakians with medicine that will diminish the symptoms for a decade, anticipating the Menks' natural evolution and new levels of understanding between them. ===== On board Pod 1, Commander Tucker and Lieutenant Reed are attempting to locate Enterprise in an asteroid field that Captain Archer had intended to map. Just then, Reed spots an impact crater surrounded by a debris field; with only one piece large enough to be identifiable as part of Enterprise, they conclude that the ship has somehow been destroyed. They are now alone, with ten days' worth of air left. Tucker orders Reed to head to Echo Three, a subspace amplifier, using the stars for reference as navigation is down. He intends to send a message to Starfleet, knowing they will not be alive when it reaches there, so that command will at least know what happened. To pass the time, Reed records messages to his family and friends, but Tucker becomes exasperated as Reed's recordings slowly become more pessimistic. On board Enterprise, it is revealed that the debris that Reed and Tucker saw was from an explosion while a Tesnian ship was trying to dock with the Enterprise. Archer asks about the Tesnians and Ensign Sato says that Doctor Phlox is rotating the 34 survivors in order to give them all six hours of boron a day. Ensign Mayweather reports that their ETA at Tesnia is 20 hours, allowing enough time to return to meet the shuttlepod. Archer and Sub-Commander T'Pol use a mini-shuttle to inspect the damage to the ship, and Archer orders work on a new door for Launch Bay 2. Later, T'Pol presents her analysis to Archer - both ships were hit by a theoretical "micro-singularity", but he remains sceptical. The shuttlepod's hull is also breached by a micro-singularity, which they quickly seal. Reed reports that one of the oxygen cylinders was damaged, leaving them with less than two days' worth of air. Tucker tells Reed that they can survive for an extra half-day if they lower the temperature to conserve power for the air recyclers. Later, the radio picks up a signal - it is Sato transmitting new rendezvous coordinates and gives an ETA of two days. Unfortunately, they only have one day's worth of air left and no way to communicate with the ship. They jettison and detonate the engine, hoping to attract Enterprises attention. It worksReed wakes up in Sickbay, relieved to see Tucker's sleeping form there as well. ===== Taimur Martin, the prisoner of war, spends five years analyzing and replaying his life while trapped in a single room. He has little outside contact. He occasionally exchanges words with his captors, and for a short interlude he is able to communicate with nearby prisoners using a tapped Morse code. He reads a book called Great Escape. He spends most of his time thinking about his life and relationship with his girlfriend Gwen. When his story resumes after he is released, he has a child and a wife, and much time has gone by. In the second narrative, a virtual reality machine ("The Cavern"), is being built by workers at the Realization Laboratory. The main characters are Adie Klarpol, an artist who no longer does original work; Stevie Spiegel, an engineer-turned-poet-turned-programmer; Ronan O'Reilly, an econometrician who hopes to predict the outcome of world events; and Jack "Jackdaw" Acquerelli, a young computer programming wizard. They are attempting to recreate the world inside a three-walled room. They create a completely immersing experience, but near the end Adie realizes that the technology will be used by the military. She has to reconcile with herself, but ends up creating another room which recreates the destruction and rebuilding of civilization. The two narratives are loosely connected through the idea of what can happen in a single room, and also by themes of war and rebuilding after a war. ===== 17-year-old Ikuro Hashizawa is kidnapped and turned into a Baoh, a bioweapon with super human strength and other abilities, by the Doress Laboratory. He escapes with the help of Sumire, a 9-year-old psychic girl. Professor Kasuminome, head scientist at Doress, sends various assassins and monsters to try and kill Ikuro, in means of stopping the Baoh virus from spreading and infecting the world. ===== Who Killed the Robins Family? is a mystery novel in which all eight members of the Robins family are murdered or disappear throughout the story. The hardcover book provided no solutions to the murders. The books were also a contest where the person who provided the best answers to who, when, where, how, and why each murder happened won $10,000. The paperback version, released after the contest ended, revealed the answers to all the questions. Most chapters revolved around the death of a Robins family member, though one chapter contained a murder and a disappearance, and two others involved a disappearance. Most chapters contained all the needed information to provide all five answers regarding each death, though some gave only a hint as to an answer. However, if properly understood, it only took a bit of minor research to obtain the complete answer. The murders ranged from a classic locked-room puzzle to death by strangulation. The book also gives homage to several classic works of mystery and suspense. As the book is a contest, liberties are taken with proper police investigation of the crimes, which would have resulted in an immediate solution. For example, when one family member is shot to death in a darkened room, nobody thinks to check for gunshot residue. In addition, while some murders have fit very neatly with the facts on a theoretical basis, the method of implementation has questionable realism. ===== Earthworm Jim is hit by a flying cow that sends him into a coma. Jim awakens within his own subconscious and discovers he has gone insane. His past villains have entered his subconscious and if something doesn't happen soon, Jim will be in the coma forever. His super ego has been unleashed within his subconscious to stop the madness. To restore his sanity he must find the Golden Udders of lucidity. When Jim enters his subconscious, he finds out that his four mind chambers have been taken over by his worst fears. He must collect Golden Udders to unlock the other three chambers and Green Marbles to unlock the levels within the chamber. Jim defeats four villains who took over his mind chambers, and finally faces the personification of his trauma: Earthworm Kim. ===== The Cherokee Kid (Sinbad), a notorious gunslinger, faces off in a showdown against The Undertaker (Hines) in Larabee, Texas. A few unheard words are exchanged and they take their places. They both draw and the Cherokee Kid falls, much to the delight of land-grabber Bloomington (Coburn). Bloomington is more than willing to give the Undertaker more than the stipulated reward, yet the Undertaker insists on allowing the Cherokee Kid to receive a proper eulogy, which will be done the next day at noon. Several people attend the funeral, including Reverend Peel and his wife, who adopted and raised him, Nat Love and his gang, and several others. It is then that Juan Nepomuceno Cortina (Martinez) begins the eulogy (through which we see the Cherokee Kid's journey). The Cherokee Kid was born Isaiah Turner, he and his family lived in the Oklahoma territory. Many families in the area were being forced to sell their property for next to nothing so that the railroad could be built. When Isaiah's half-Cherokee father opposed them, he was murdered. Isaiah then followed his older brother Jedediah into the camp where the railroad men were and shot the man responsible for their father's death. When they returned home and told their mother what they did, she instantly scolded them, telling them not to mistake stupidity for courage. Their mother knew that the railroad men would come for Jedediah, and in a moment of final family bonding, she gave to the boys their father's favorite hat adorned with a distinct Cherokee feather. It was Isaiah who claimed the hat as he was placed in a woodbox while a plan to allow Jedediah to escape was put in motion in which their mother pretended to shoot him at a distance. Their mother held off the men as best as she could, until a younger Bloomington came in from the back door and shot her twice, though not before grazing his forehead with a bullet and leaving a scar. His assistant Bonner was tasked with finding Jedediah (which he never does), and fires in the air claiming he did so. Isaiah then ran aimlessly not knowing where to go, until he wandered into the home of Reverend Peel and his wife, who decided to adopt him as they had no children. Fourteen years later, he grew into a tall, strong, yet clumsy and naïve young man who still clung to his desire for revenge. One day Isaiah saw a poster advertising Bloomington's arrival at Pinedale, where he would speak to the people as he was now running for governor. Isaiah decided to go and take revenge for the death of his family. After saying goodbye to his foster parents, and being told which way Pinedale was (Isaiah's lack of a sense of direction a running joke throughout), he sets out. Hiding out in a cabin, Isaiah gets into a comical scuffle with a man named Jake Carver in which he ends up using a turkey to accidentally kill him and inadvertently saves a prostitute from being raped. She then cooks the turkey for him out of gratitude, yet disappears the next day with all the leftovers. That day he is found by Jake Carver's gang, and after unsuccessfully passing himself off as him he then passes himself off as a childhood friend of his and claims that he had planned for them to rob a bank in Pinedale (thus tricking them into taking him there). Arriving at Pinedale, Isaiah walks into a bank. After making small talk with one of the tellers in which he is told of the gifts given to clients depending on how much is deposited, he then loudly announces that the gang is there to ro the bank. The tellers instantly draw guns on them, with the teller explaining to Isaiah that the gun is the last gift given for the highest amount deposited. After coming across Bonner, and comically shooting him in the buttocks, Isaiah runs off into the crowd gathered to hear Bloomington and disrupts the speech after bringing up the night in which he killed his mother and was scarred. Trying unsuccessfully to shoot him, Isaiah runs off and hides in the wagon of Otter Bob (Reynolds), a lonely man of the mountains. That night, a friendship began when Isaiah reveals that he knows how to read, and Isaiah at first barters transportation to El Paso for teaching Otter Bob to read, but then also adds that Otter Bob also teach him how to be a mountain man. For 3 months they traveled together, and Isaiah eventually learned all of Otter Bob's tricks and methods. Bonner and his men were on Isaiah's trail, and eventually caught up to Otter Bob, who ended up sacrificing himself to save Isaiah's life. Isaiah escaped with a fatally wounded Otter Bob, leaving Bonner caught in a bear trap. Isaiah then holds Otter Bob as he gives his last words, then buries him before continuing alone. Along the way, he comes across Cortina who is buried up to his neck in the sand and saves him. That night, Cortina vows to follow Isaiah (who introduces himself as Bob) until he can repay his debt by saving Isaiah's life. Reaching El Paso, Isaiah and Cortina stop at a saloon where Cortina sits at a table to play cards and Isaiah goes to the bar for a drink. Bonner who is already there and sees Isaiah from the upstairs balcony of the saloon, sets a trap for him and pays a prostitute to distract him while he and several men surround and arrest him. Isaiah is led out as Cortina watches from a distance. In jail, Isaiah is placed in the same cell as Nat Love (Hudson), a famous gunslinger, and leader of a gang. Isaiah quickly expresses his awe and admiration, saying he would love to receive whatever tutelage he could from him. Nat simply tells him to enjoy the day as Nat is scheduled to be hung the next day. Bloomington arrives to gloat at Isaiah's capture, and Isaiah vows to come back from the grave for revenge if need be. When Isaiah mentions Jedediah's name, Nat instantly tells Isaiah that he was alive, grew up to be a good man and a gunslinger in his own right, but lost a duel to the Undertaker. Isaiah then vows to also kill the Undertaker as well. That night, Cortina arrives and breaks Isaiah out of jail, with Nat also escaping. When they're about to part ways, Isaiah shoots a man that had shot and missed Cortina, thus saving his life once more. Nat steals Isaiah's horse, with Isaiah having to ride with Cortina yet constantly falling off his horse as they followed Nat back to his hideout where he's met with open arms by his gang. Isaiah then manages to convince Nat to allow them to stay for a few days, and shortly after meets the rest of his gang: Stagecoach Mary, and a group of nuns who also serve as accomplices. During their time there, Isaiah is constantly mocked and disrespected by Nat's gang as he comically and dangerously tries to practice gunslinging. Nat Love takes matters into his own hands and forces Isaiah to shoot a can off his hand at gunpoint, telling Isaiah that he would kill him if he hit him. Isaiah then makes his first successful shot and is told by Nat to plan on dying whenever he shoots as someone. Isaiah then learns to ride a horse after Nat compares riding a horse to being with a woman, and Stagecoach Mary takes his virginity to give him a basis after some mockery from the men. Isaiah continues to work on his skills and excels quickly, much to Nat's wonder and admiration. One night Nat calls for a meeting in which he declares that Isaiah needs a gunslinger name. After some mockery from some of the gang members, Nat asks Isaiah what it is that he's proud of, as a man must have a name that he can be proud of. Isaiah instantly names his half-Cherokee father, who died fighting for his convictions. It is then that he is given the name "The Cherokee Kid". The next day after a change in wardrobe, the Cherokee Kid and Cortina follow Nat and his gang as they go to rob a bank, this being Isaiah's final lesson. During the robbery, Nat tells Isaiah to pay attention to how it's done, and Isaiah learns quickly as he shoots his way out flawlessly during the getaway. Nat returns to his hideout as Isaiah and Cortina part ways with them, with the promise that they would meet again in the future. The Cherokee Kid then sets out to rob Bloomington's banks in an effort to become his leading priority, and to humiliate him. Bloomington desperately calls for as many mercenaries and bounty hunters as he can find, including the Undertaker. Bloomington offers a bag of gold coins to whoever can kill the Cherokee Kid, and the Undertaker quickly announces that the Cherokee Kid is his, disabling one of the men who challenges him. Arriving in Larabee, Isaiah and Cortina are graciously welcomed by the Holsopple family as they arrive at their farm looking to buy fresh horses. They are asked to stay for dinner, much to the chagrin and disgrace of Abby, the farmer's daughter. During dinner, Abby knocks out Isaiah and Cortina with a frying pan, with the intention of turning them in and collecting the reward money to use to keep their land. Abby remains untrusting of the Cherokee Kid, naively believing that they're there to rob them. After escaping their restraints, Isaiah and Cortina tell Abby they'll come back, and after Isaiah remarks that Abby may like him, she gets her rifle and shoots at them in anger, missing all four shots and claiming that it's too dark to see. The next day, a gunslinger unsuccessfully attempts to kill the Cherokee Kid after telling him that the Undertaker is looking for him. The Cherokee Kid then tells the gunslinger to tell the Undertaker that he wants to meet him the next day on the main street. Later that day Isaiah goes to see Abby once more, and after some banter, her attraction to him becomes slightly apparent. It is here that Cortina ends his eulogy as Bonner enters with some men demanding that the Cherokee Kid be put underground per Bloomington's orders. Everyone at the funeral keeps them at bay, claiming they will carry the casket themselves, to which Bonner relents. Outside, the Undertaker gives his recount of the duel. It is through this recount that it is revealed that the Undertaker is in fact, Jedediah Turner, Isaiah's brother. The Undertaker recognizing The Cherokee Kid as Isaiah due to their father's Cherokee feather on his hat, and The Cherokee Kid recognizing The Undertaker as Jedediah due to his quoting of their mother. The duel takes place, and Isaiah falls. The Undertaker then opens the casket to reveal a still alive Isaiah who then opens fire on Bloomington, and thus keeping his promise to "come back from the grave". A major gunfight erupts with the Cherokee Kid, Cortina, Undertaker, Abby, Nat Love and his gang against Bloomington's men as Bloomington looks for a way to escape. In the gunfight Nat is killed, and Cortina is wounded. Isaiah and Jedediah re-affirm their brotherhood, claiming that to be the best day of their lives regardless of the outcome before taking out what's left of Bloomington's men together. In the aftermath, Isaiah then looks for Bloomington, cornering him in a barn. Bloomington goes as far as to offer him a partnership in an effort to save himself. Isaiah, disgusted, turns his back to him. Bloomington then tries to shoot him but is quickly shot by Isaiah who then stands over a wounded Bloomington and executes him in the same way his mother was killed. Isaiah turns around to see Bonner aiming at him, but is shot from behind by Jedediah. Nat Love is buried and his gang (now fully respecting Isaiah) part ways. Isaiah and Jedediah engage in some banter as they plan to go west to get to know each other better and right more wrongs, to Abby's disapproval. Abby claims that since he has already reached all his goals being the Cherokee Kid is no longer necessary, but Isaiah claims he likes being a gunslinger. Cortina attempts to go his own way, but Isaiah reminds him that he has once again saved his life and Cortina somewhat reluctantly agrees to stay. As they turn to leave, they're shot at by Abby, who insists on going with them, and they ride off. ===== Steve Everett, an Oakland journalist recovering from alcoholism, is assigned to cover the execution of convicted murderer Frank Beechum following the death of Everett's colleague, Michelle Ziegler, who had originally been assigned to the story. Everett investigates the background to the case and comes to suspect that Beechum has been wrongly convicted of murdering Amy Wilson. He gets permission from his editor's boss to investigate, and is told that the top editor would call the Governor, and that would do the job, if Everett gets hard proof. He thus has a little over 12 hours to confirm his hunch and save Beechum. Everett interviews a prosecution witness, Dale Porterhouse, who saw Beechum at the store with a gun. Everett questions Porterhouse's account, saying that, because of the layout of the store, he could not have seen a gun in Beechum's hand. Everett confronts D.A. Cecelia Nussbaum, who reveals that, a young man, Warren, was interviewed and claimed he had stopped at the store to buy a soda and saw nothing. Everett decides that Warren, never called as a witness, is probably the real killer. He breaks into the deceased reporter's house, suspecting that she had been onto something and finds her file on Warren. Meanwhile, Warden Luther Plunkett also starts to have doubts about Beechum's guilt. Everett falls out with his bosses and is fired on the spot, but he points out that his contract entitles him to adequate notice. They ask him how much notice he requires, and, looking at his watch, he says 6 hours and 7 minutes. He tracks down Angela Russel, Warren's grandmother. She tells him that her grandson could not have been the murderer, and berates him for the lack of interest from the press when Warren himself was killed in a mugging two years after Amy's murder. The prison chaplain misrepresents an exchange with Beechum as a confession to the crime. Everett hears about this on the radio and loses heart; on top of this, his wife Barbara has found out about his affair with his editor's wife and has turned him out of the house. He is about to start drinking again when he sees a piece on TV that shows a photograph of Amy wearing a locket, a locket he realizes he has seen before, being worn by Angela Russel. Everett drives back to Angela's house. When he tells her about the locket she realizes the truth: her grandson was the killer. Everett now has to get Angela to the Governor's house in order to persuade him to order a stay of execution. As they approach the Governor's mansion, the first of three drugs used in the execution has already been injected into Frank's bloodstream and he has lost consciousness. The Governor calls, and the doctors try to revive him, while his wife Bonnie bangs on the window calling out for him to wake up. Six months later, a week before Christmas, Everett is out buying a stuffed hippo for his daughter, and the store's proprietor mentions that he is famous and may even win a Pulitzer. He catches sight of Frank and his family doing their Christmas shopping. Steve and Frank acknowledge each other, but Frank's daughter shouts for him to "come on," which Frank does. ===== The movie opens with a small Italian village being stormed by a band of Hungarian pillagers. When the murders and rapes are over, a German knight arrives and bravely kills the bandits. However, as he is healing his wounds he is attacked by two of the surviving villagers and one of the thieves. They throw the wounded knight into a river. The attackers try to sell the knight's armor and weapons to a miserly Jewish merchant who finds among his belongings a letter of donation by the Holy Roman Emperor, granting the knight the fief of Aurocastro, an Apulian town. The parchment is torn at the lower end, which refers to a condition the knight must fulfill to enjoy the donation. The Hungarian bandit comes up with the idea to propose a partnership to a cadet nobleman, so the group can take possession of the aforementioned fief and enjoy its riches. The knight they find is the poor and incompetent, yet well- meaning, Brancaleone da Norcia and they tell him that a noble knight handed them the parchment before dying. Brancaleone initially refuses the plan but after a farcical defeat at a jousting tournament that promised the hand of an overlord's daughter and a wealthy fief, he is too eager to take command of this "army" (L'Armata) of underdogs and lead it towards "fortune" and "glory", in what he sees as an epic journey. As they set up towards the fief, Brancaleone lives several grotesque adventures, inspired by the confused and cosmopolitan world of Italy during Middle Ages; each one of them more hilarious than the last. These include: * A Byzantine knight, Teofilatto dei Leonzi (Gian Maria Volonté), who proposes to fake his capture by the band so they can demand and share a ransom from his father. * An entire city seemingly abandoned, which they begin to pillage, until they find out that it was depopulated by plague. * A fanatical mad monk, Zenone (Enrico Maria Salerno), who promises that those who join his army of Crusaders will be "healed" from all ills, having the band follow him to a crusade in the Holy Land. When trying to convince his followers to cross a precarious bridge by leaping upon it (crying out loud that the Lord would protect them), the monk falls down into a deep gorge - this releases the band to follow their previous quest. * The rescue of a bride named Matelda (Catherine Spaak), who falls in love with Brancaleone, but is rejected by him due to his oath to take her to her groom; to Brancaleone's misfortune, she avenges herself by losing her virginity to the Byzantine knight (by then a member of the gang); later, while the 'army' is relaxing at her nuptial feast her husband finds out about her state and she accuses Brancaleone of deflowering her. * giving in to Teofilatto's plan, the army arrives at his father's castle to demand a ransom. His father refuses to pay, revealing that Teofilatto is his illegitimate child. Meanwhile, a confused Brancaleone has to fend off the sadomasochistically-fueled passion of Teofilatto's aunt, just one example of the inbred Byzantine household. When finally the band reaches the fief, they discover that the missing part of their parchment mentioned that condition for the granting of the fief was that its new ruler should have provided adequate defences against the "black scourge coming from the sea", frequent raids by Saracen corsairs. Brancaleone designs a cartoonish Rube Goldberesque trap to defeat the Saracens, but instead the band ends up trapped within. As the band is about to be executed by impalement, it is saved by the knight of the opening scenes, the rightful owner of the fief, thirsty for vengeance against his attackers. Brancaleone (who did not know about the attack on the knight) and his army are about to be burned alive when the mad monk arrives out of the blue and saves them from the knight, "so they can fulfill their duty to go onto the Holy Land". Being deprived of his dreams of richness, Brancaleone-Gassman and his band agree to go along with the monk and his followers, saving themselves. Albeit sad, when he finds his untrustworthy horse, Brancaleone mounts and regains his confidence, taking the lead from the monk. The story is continued in a follow- up film, Brancaleone alle Crociate (1970). ===== Frosty the Snowman travels to the town of Evergreen, which is seemingly idyllic but full of unhappy children who must follow harsh rules. Frosty tries to play with the mayor's son Tommy Tinkerton, but he is afraid of displeasing his upbeat father, who keeps the family and the town on a strict schedule and favors Tommy's obedient older brother Charlie. Seeing he cannot reach Tommy yet, Frosty finds Tommy's best friend and neighbor, a nervous boy named Walter Wader, and convinces him to play in the snow with him one night. Walter has so much fun that he walks into school confidently the next day. Word spreads about Walter breaking curfew and having fun, prompting Principal Pankley to complain to Mr. Tinkerton. Walter gets into a food fight with Charlie at lunch, prompting Pankley to place the two in detention. Tinkerton takes a pin marked "#1" from Charlie and interrogates Walter, who replies that he was "playing with a magical snowman", causing Tinkerton to react nervously. Pankley assures Tinkerton that Walter's story is untrue, secretly desiring to take Tinkerton's job as mayor. As school ends, Charlie mocks Walter for believing in Frosty, but Frosty arrives outside the school and the two join him. Tommy leaves to follow Sara Simple, a schoolmate he has a crush on, but instead Frosty's hat leads him to the library, where he discovers a comic book about Frosty. The comic tells of a boy whose father is a stage magician (Professor Hinkle from the original 1969 special) who denounces magic, yet the boy brings Frosty to life using his father's hat. Tommy reads that the boy spends the rest of winter looking for Frosty, but the rest of the comic's pages are blank. An increasingly disturbed Tinkerton finds Tommy and gives him the "#1" pin, confessing that Charlie and the other children have told him the same story about a magic snowman and wanting Tommy to tell him if anything else strange happens. Tommy wears the pin to school but is shunned for being Tinkerton's new favorite. Tommy discovers his mother scrapbooking old photos of his father, revealing that the boy in the comic is Tinkerton. Frosty continues to play with the children, including Sara, until they begin disobeying rules, appalling their parents and causing Tinkerton to break down. Pankley convinces Tinkerton to make him mayor at the next town meeting, promising to restore order. He also notices Walter feeling left out of playing with Frosty and tricks him into helping him lay a trap for Frosty. Walter goes ice skating with Frosty on a frozen pond until Frosty falls through the ice and liquifies, allowing Pankley to steal the hat. While Tommy is trying to read the comic, the blank pages restore themselves. Pankley is revealed to have stolen the hat and locked it away the same winter Tinkerton was looking for Frosty, warning that Pankley will take over Evergreen completely if he is allowed to succeed. Tommy regains the trust of his friends when he shows them the complete comic, and they successfully retrieve the hat from the school and revive Frosty. The adults notice their children's absences and head into the woods to find them dancing with Frosty despite Pankley's attempts to stop them. Tommy returns the "#1" pin to Tinkerton, apologizing for disobeying him, but Tinkerton assures his son he did the right thing and happily recognizes Frosty and his father's hat. Realizing Pankley's treachery, Tinkerton takes his position as mayor back and Walter hits him with a snowball, leading Frosty to involve the other adults in a snowball fight. The adults reconcile with the children and Tinkerton comes to believe in magic again, not wanting his sons to grow up without magic as he did. The film's narrator is revealed to be an elderly Tommy who now lives together with Sara, hearing her call him home from the cold. ===== The crew of Deep Space Nine are on the USS Defiant, returning from Cardassian space with the Bajoran Orb of Time. They pick up a hitchhiker, a human called Barry Waddle. Suddenly the ship finds itself more than one hundred years in the past and approximately 200 light years away from its previous location, near Deep Space Station K7 and the USS Enterprise. They discover that the hitchhiker was Arne Darvin, a Klingon agent disguised as a human who was caught by Captain James T. Kirk on K7 after poisoning a shipment of grain. Fearing that Darvin may be attempting to alter the past to prevent his capture, the crew dress in period uniforms and investigate the Enterprise and K7. The ship and station are infested with tribbles, small furry creatures that reproduce rapidly. They attempt to interact with history as little as possible while investigating Darvin, but Dr. Bashir, Chief O'Brien, Worf and Odo get involved in a bar brawl between the Enterprise crew and a number of Klingons on shore leave. During the brawl, Worf and Odo spot Darvin and bring him back to the Defiant. There, Darvin gloats that he has planted a bomb in a tribble to kill Kirk. Captain Sisko and Lieutenant Commander Dax infiltrate the Enterprise bridge to scan for the bomb, and confirm it is not on the Enterprise. The rapid breeding of the tribbles makes searching for the bomb on K7 impractical, so they opt to shadow Kirk. They overhear him discussing the tribble infestation, and deduce that the bomb is in the grain storage compartments. They enter the compartments and begin scanning the tribbles, which are dead from eating the poisoned grain. Captain Kirk opens the compartment and is covered in falling tribbles. Dax and Sisko find the bomb among the tribbles still in the compartment and the Defiant transports it into space, where it explodes. The crew of the Defiant use the Bajoran Orb to travel back to the present time. Later, agents from the Department of Temporal Investigations arrive at Deep Space Nine to question Sisko about the incident. After interviewing Sisko, the agents leave, expressing optimism that the crew's actions have not seriously altered history. Once they are gone, Odo summons Sisko to the promenade, which is now covered in tribbles. ===== As Lynette cleans up her house one afternoon, she receives a phone call from the twins' school asking her to come in to talk to the teacher. When she arrives at the school, she is told by Porter and Preston's teacher that they painted a girl blue during art class. The teacher tells Lynette that this isn't the first time that the twins have misbehaved and that the school may no longer be able to accommodate them, if they continue to act this way. The teacher recommends that the twins be put on Ritalin since they show signs of ADD. Lynette objects to this and ask that the twins be separated. This fails and Lynette may have to think of an alternative. She tries to give the boys their medication but when she then thinks they might not be the same (since they also have good qualities), she decides not to give the twins their Ritalin and she watches them playing while having a glass of wine ("her own medicine"). When Susan sees that Edie is trying to flirt with Mike by washing her car, she decides to interrupt it by bringing Mike a piece of junk mail that Julie had saved in case of such an "emergency". Edie becomes angered and goes back into Mrs. Huber's kitchen, where she tells Martha how angered she is that she is competing with Susan over Mike Delfino. Mrs. Huber decides to use this to her advantage, since she is broke, knowing that Susan was involved in Edie's house fire. Shortly after, Mrs. Huber visits Susan, offers her a piece of mincemeat pie, and warns her that she knows what happened and that she won't say anything, if Susan agrees to help her. The next day at the supermarket, Mrs. Huber casually puts her items next to Susan and tells her to be nice since her secret is no easy burden to carry. That evening, Mrs. Huber leaves a message on her answering machine stating she needs plumbing done at her home but can't afford it. Susan then wakes up Julie and tells her that she thinks she is being blackmailed. They both quickly decide what to do before Mrs. Huber goes to the police or, worse, tells Edie. The following afternoon while Mrs. Huber is away, Julie and Susan play frisbee; it flies into Martha's yard. Julie puts gloves on, slips through the doggy door, and grabs the measuring cup. As this is happening, Susan is being the lookout. Mike comes over, and invited her to see a show with him. Edie pulls up, causing Susan to panic. She stalls them by suggesting that Mike take Edie to the show since she is busy. Edie happily agrees and at that moment Julie walks up behind, causing Susan to regret what she just said. Since Rex and Bree separated, the children have become even more curious about his whereabouts, since Bree has not told them about the separation. Bree is finding it increasingly difficult to relate to her son Andrew since he is angry over the fact that "she has sent his father away". When Andrew goes out again and decides not to tell Bree, she forces Danielle to call him. Bree searches through Andrew's room for anything suspicious. In a wooden box, she finds a matchbook which has the address and number of a local strip club. As Andrew and his two friends become aroused by the strippers, they become terrified when they realize that Bree is standing behind them as she catches a piece of lingerie. The two friends are embarrassed and quickly leave, leaving Andrew to deal with his mother. She tells him that she will be cleaning his room tomorrow and that he is being irresponsible. Bree ruins the expectations of the other men present by giving Andrew a long lecture on how strippers are people as well. Bree and Andrew then leave. The next morning, Bree cleans Andrew's room which leads him to ask when he will be getting his door back. Gabrielle has a relaxing bath with John but must end it when the cable guy arrives. This causes John to hurry and he leaves a piece of evidence, his gym socks, underneath the bed. Later, as the cable guy finishes his work, he slips on soap suds in the bathroom and is rushed to an ambulance. Carlos becomes suspicious about why the cable guy had been there so late. After finding the socks, he asks Gabrielle where they came from and she manages to lie by telling him they belong to Yao Lin, the maid. To make sure Gabrielle isn't lying, he asks John, who tells him that the cable guy came at his assigned time and that he doesn't want to get in the middle. Carlos then visits the cable guy, Jonathan, at his house, and begins to beat him, yelling "Do you think you can sleep with anyone you want?" Carlos then discovers that Jonathan is gay. Jonathan than asks if this is why he beat him. Carlos says "yes" and quickly leaves. Later, as Carlos and Gabrielle sit in the tub, they watch a news report about Jonathan's beating which shows a police sketch of the suspect. Gabrielle looks back at Carlos who says nothing. As all of this is going on, the wives manage to give Mary Alice's blackmail note to Paul, in the hopes that it will help find her blackmailer. Paul cries and later makes up an excuse to Lynette and Gabrielle that Mary Alice was mentally ill and got worse as the years went on, claiming that she was the author of her own blackmail note. Gabrielle and Lynette don't believe it and think something else was going on. Paul then gives the note to a local hitman/private eye, Jerry Shaw, who says that he may be able to help him. ===== Shortly after Mama's car accident (due to Andrew's drunk driving), Bree Van de Kamp tries to find a solution in order to save her son from life in prison and Mama is left in a coma. Gabrielle Solis confesses to the priest and he tells her that she should regret what she had done, but she says she doesn’t because all she wants is to be happy. The priest tells her that, that is a selfish answer. She says that she already knows that and she leaves. As a small act of contrition, Gabrielle Solis quietly helps Carlos give Mama a sponge bath. Lynette tries to get her sleep cycle back on track with some acupuncture, but to no avail. When she has to help her sons' boy scout troupe right as she is falling asleep, she starts to lose it. Lynette dreams of killing herself with the help of Mary Alice and her gun. Mr. Shaw decides to execute Paul's wishes, but when he finds out from Edie that the stationary was not hers but Mrs. Huber's, the story changes completely. Paul asks Mrs. Huber for an explanation of the blackmail note she wrote. She says that she needed money and she had thought of getting it from a bad person, Mary Alice, and she sometimes prays for her. Paul asks her if she regrets it, because it caused Mary Alice to commit suicide. She says that Mary Alice Young was a bad person and says that a terrible thing happened because of what she did to that kid. A furious Paul kills her. Meanwhile, Susan and Mike make peace by having sex for the first time. ===== Maisy Gibbons, first met as the perfectionist dictator running the school play in the episode Running to Stand Still, is receiving gentlemen callers for money. Having felt snubbed by Bree a few years earlier when her husband had lost his job and they could no longer afford the country club, she gloats that one of her customers is Bree's husband Rex. While performing as a dominatrix for Rex he admits to her that he still loves Bree and she advises him to just tell Bree what he needs which he says he won't do because she would refuse. Minutes later he has a heart attack at the peak of his excitement. When Bree is called to the hospital she sees that Maisy signed the admission form and goes to confront her. Maisy tells Bree that Rex still loves her and that he has sexual needs that he is afraid to discuss with her. Maisy silently gloats when Bree asks her if she fulfilled those needs for him, echoing Bree's earlier perceived snub in regard to Maisy's reduced circumstances. Bree is not to be outdone, however, and leaves Maisy with the knowledge that Bree still thinks Maisy is someone to be pitied, not reviled. When Rex wakes following his operation, Bree is waiting with concern. He apologizes and she tells him she knows he still loves her, that Maisy told her, and she is glad that he didn't die, because she wants him to know that she is going to find the most vindictive lawyer she can and eviscerate him, taking his money, his family, and his dignity. She leaves hurt and gloating and files for divorce. Unless his passport, which Gabrielle cannot find, is turned in, Carlos is refused bail for importing goods made by slave labor. Gabrielle's car is impounded and she learns that the government is about to seize all of her personal property which it believes Carlos acquired by illegal means. She imposes on Bree and hides her stuff in Bree's garage. Bree promptly starts snooping through it. In prison, Carlos tells Gabrielle that his passport is in a secret wall compartment along with some papers, he tells her to bring him the passport and burn the papers. Gabrielle, no longer trusting him, reads the papers, and then instead keeps them and tosses the passport into the fire. Julie interferes with her mom's plan for a romantic weekend with Mike while continuing to harbor Zach. Susan and Mike are repeatedly thwarted in their heated attempts to consummate their passion. Susan hits Mike on the head with a thighmaster when she is freaked-out by the noises Zach makes sneaking around the house. Zach shows himself and is returned to his father by Mike who tells him to call him if he ever needs anything. Susan is mad at Julie for lying but Julie is even more furious with her mother for betraying Zach, and also for leaning too heavily on her. Zach's father tells him to suppress his troubling memories and re-imposes his enigmatic domination. Mike tells Susan she can lean on him from now on. Lynette, worried about leaving her kids with the new nanny, Claire, is inspired by Bree to install a nanny cam. Lynette finds nothing to worry about while spying on her new nanny, except perhaps that Claire is better than she is at mothering, and she begins to feel threatened and jealous. Edie, still looking for Mrs. Huber, thinks about breaking into her house. Edie asks Lynette if she has a key to Mrs. Huber's house, saying that she left her laptop there with personal information she doesn't want others to see. Lynette doesn't help her. Commenting on Lynette's new nanny, Edie says she herself had a nanny when she was young, a social worker while her mother was in jail for shoplifting. She was glad when she got her mom, the lesser of two evils, back. Edie gets the police to look for Mrs. Huber. ===== Mrs. Huber’s sister, Felicia Tilman, arrives, psychically sure her sister is dead and none too unhappy about it either.Season 1, Move On, 1:54 Edie soon finds that the two sisters bear a striking character trait in common, the ability to say the nastiest things about other people with a cheerful smile.Season 1, Move On, 3:24 Tom accidentally catches Claire running through the house butt naked late at night after putting all her clothes in the washing machine, and begins to become distracted by her charms.Season 1, Move On, 11:50 After a talk with Lynette,Season 1, Move On, 26:32 he fires Claire and Lynette begins a search for a new, unattractive nanny. Mike tells Susan that he loves her but they are interrupted by Susan’s ex-husband, Karl, whose girlfriend Brandi has left him.Season 1, Move On, 9:21 Karl gets invited to Julie’s birthday party by Susan.Season 1, Move On, 10:12 He brings Edie as a dateSeason 1, Move On, 27:04 and Susan finds out that he had also cheated on her with Edie while they were married and causes a scene.Season 1, Move On, 33:59 Karl apologises later and tries to win Susan back.Season 1, Move On, 38:59 Susan is delighted that she feels nothing for Karl and runs to tell Mike that she loves him. Bree is “emotionally blackmailed” by her son to take Rex in while he recovers from the heart attack he suffered in the previous episode, "Come Back to Me."Season 1, Move On, 6:46 While picking up Rex’s medicine, she asks the pharmacist, George Williams, out on a date and he accepts.Season 1, Move On, 19:11 Sitting beside Rex on the couch waiting for Bree, Rex continually ridicules Bree and even refers to her as his wife.Season 1, Move On, 24:36 When her son Andrew finds out he is furious with herSeason 1, Move On, 29:48 but when he later realizes his father cheated on her first he urges her to kick him out.Season 1, Move On, 36:45 Bree refuses and defends Rex, showing a lot of emotion, which Rex overhears.Season 1, Move On, 37:30 Gabrielle finds that she has no more money and turns to her old career, modeling, but she cannot command as high a price as she used to.Season 1, Move On, 7:29 She is informed by Carlos’ lawyer that the government will probably release, for living expenses, some of the money it seized if Carlos presents his passport and pays bail.Season 1, Move On, 8:52 At her job at the mall modeling a car, Gaby reluctantly runs into Tom and Lynette and tries to avoid mention that it is her job for fear of embarrassment.Season 1, Move On, 22:10 When her electricity is shut off, she “finds” the somewhat charred passport she'd thrown on the fire in the last episode. With the police and neighbors searching for Mrs. Huber, Paul decides to frame another, in order to cast suspicion away from himself.Season 1, Move On, 19:56 He chooses Mike Delfino, whom he believes is the most vulnerable as he is the newest neighbor on Wisteria Lane. He digs Mrs. Huber up, removes some jewelry from her person,Season 1, Move On, 34:53 reburies her and plants the jewelry in Mike’s house.Season 1, Move On, 36:27 The police are questioning Mike when Susan rings his doorbell to tell him she loves him, although Mike does not seem upset by their presence and they wait patiently and politely for Susan to finish kissing Mike, the viewer is left wondering why they are there. In the final scene, a jogger finds Mrs. Huber’s body when his dog starts digging her up. ===== The people of Wisteria Lane find out the fate of Mrs. Huber. Lynette tries to get into a yoga class by claiming that her son, Parker, has cancer. Edie plans a funeral for Martha and she and Susan are the only mourners. When Susan learns from Felicia that Martha kept a diary, she is forced to tell Edie the truth about the house fire. Bree gets closer to George but decides to call it off after she sends him to the hospital by accidentally shooting him in the middle toe. Carlos arrives home on house arrest which is something Gabrielle had not expected causing a few marriage strains. ===== Lynette reluctantly cares for Mrs. McCluskey after she collapses in front of her after taking too much medication. Karen then thanks her for what she did and begins to start intruding on her life and tells her not to help if it's only because she feels obligated since they're not friends. Lynette sternly tells her life is obligation, and she'll be over in the morning to take her to the pharmacy so she can replace her child-proof bottles. Susan's mother begins to set up double dates with Susan which she objects to. Bree is so upset over Andrew's revelation that he might be gay, she ambushes him with a visit from a reverend who specializes in converting gay teenagers. Andrew blithely says he's comfortable with who he is, and not the least bit confused. Rex finally speaks up and says that if Andrew is happy as he is, it's their job to support him. Bree retaliates by announcing that Rex is into S&M; and it is "no wonder" that Andrew is "perverted." When Bree tells Andrew she's worried he won't go to heaven now, he agrees to see Reverend Sykes. But he tells the reverend that although he "likes vanilla and chocolate," admitting he was gay was just a ploy to get his parents to take him out of the camp and that he doesn't even believe in God. He outlines his plan to get revenge on his mother, pretend to be the perfect son, then one day do something "so awful it will destroy her. When that day comes, I'll know paradise," he tells the shocked clergyman. Gabrielle and Carlos are still fighting over the post-nup, and the violent way he forced her to sign it. She won't let him sleep in their bed until he tears it up, so he cancels her credit cards. She threatens to kill him if he ever hurts her again; he threatens to kill her if she ever sleeps with another man. With her cards cut off, Gabrielle accepts John's student credit card, but since his parents are cosigners, it quickly gets canceled. That leaves her stranded in a restaurant with a bill she can't pay. Eyeing a handsome stranger, she easily talks him into picking up her tab. This gives her the confidence to go home and show off her new shoes to Carlos. "I'm a pretty girl, and pretty girls are never lonely," she reminds him. Carlos finally relents and rips up the post-nup, and Gabrielle lets him back into bed. ===== Santa Claus wakes up with a cold sometime before Christmas. His doctor, who thinks nobody cares about him anymore, advises him to make some changes to his routine, so Santa decides to take a holiday instead of delivering gifts. Mrs. Claus unsuccessfully tries to convince him otherwise, so she enlists two elves named Jingle and Jangle to find proof that people still believe in Santa. Jingle and Jangle set out with Santa's youngest reindeer Vixen, but are shot down by crossfire between the conflicting Miser Brothers: Snow Miser, who controls the world's cold weather, and Heat Miser, who controls warm weather. Jingle, Jangle, and Vixen come upon Southtown, a small town in the southern United States. They ask a group of children, including a boy named Iggy, if they believe in Santa, but they are skeptical. To make matters worse, Vixen is ticketed by a policeman and later sent to the local dog pound after Jingle and Jangle disguise her as an "instant Rover". The policeman refers them to the town's mayor, who laughs at their story but agrees to free Vixen if they can prove they are elves by making it snow in Southtown on Christmas. Jingle and Jangle call Mrs. Claus to pick them up. As she leaves, Santa discovers Vixen is missing and travels to Southtown himself to retrieve her while disguised as a civilian named "Claus". While there, he meets Iggy and his family. Iggy asks him if he believes in Santa, and he replies that he believes "like I believe in love". Iggy's father reveals that Santa personally visited him one Christmas, and he still believes. When "Claus" leaves to retrieve Vixen, Iggy realizes his true identity and resolves to help Jingle and Jangle. Iggy joins Mrs. Claus when she arrives to pick up Jingle and Jangle, and together they visit the Miser Brothers. They ask Snow Miser to send snow to Southtown for a day but he cannot, as it is part of Heat Miser's territory. They ask Heat Miser, but he will only comply if Snow Miser gives him the North Pole for a day in exchange, and begins bickering with Snow Miser. Mrs. Claus goes to see their mother, Mother Nature, who convinces her sons to compromise. As Christmas approaches, the world's children send their own presents to Santa, setting off international headlines. However, one girl misses Santa and writes him that she will have a "Blue Christmas". Touched by the outpouring of generosity and appreciation, Santa decides to make his journey after all. On Christmas Eve, he makes a public stop in Southtown during a snowfall. The next day, the children, including Iggy, are delighted to receive their presents. As the special ends, Mrs. Claus narrates that somehow, "yearly, newly, faithfully and truly", Santa always comes. Santa is shown getting out of bed to prepare himself, his reindeer, and his gift-loaded sleigh, remarking he could never imagine "a year without a Santa Claus". ===== Gabrielle throws a farewell party for Carlos who is off to prison for eight months. At the party, she finds out she is pregnant and that her birth control pills have been tampered with. Furious, she accuses Carlos in front of all the party guests. Bree and Rex unexpectedly run into George at the park and Rex advises George to beat it. Bree tries to make amends by visiting George in the pharmacy. He lies and tells her that he has found a girlfriend, Ginger who stacks the shelves. Bree feels happy for George and invites him to come to Carlos's farewell party. When Rex sees George at the party, he asks him why he is there and proceeds to push both Bree and George into the pool. Zach continues to stalk Julie who is not interested in being his girlfriend anymore. Paul asks Edie why she broke into his house and Edie informs Paul it was Susan's idea. Paul meets Susan and manages to lie once more about the Mary Alice/Dana mystery. When Susan's kitchen catches on fire, she blames Paul Young as the arson and goes to Mr. Shaw for background information on Mary Alice and Paul. Tom's ex-girlfriend, Annabel Foster, resurfaces at the firm which causes Lynette to become jealous when she fears her marriage is in jeopardy. ===== As Rex's health continues to deteriorate, George Williams continues to move his way into Bree's life. During a dinner at a fancy restaurant, Bree tells George about her adventures to Europe especially Italy. George asks if one day she would like to go but Bree quickly shakes it off since she is still married to Rex. As Bree spoon feeds George, Edie Britt watches from another table causing awkwardness for all involved. Bree later talks to Edie who tells her that she can have anyone and that she chooses the town's pharmacist and even if it is not cheating, she is still somewhat unfaithful. Gabrielle blames Carlos for her pregnancy when she sees her birth control has been tampered with. Carlos quickly tells her that it was Mama Solis which causes Gabrielle to go and throw up at her gravesite. Later, Gabrielle tells John that she is pregnant and that he may be the father. John is shocked and states that he intends to tell Carlos about their affair. Only when Gabrielle throws salsa in his eyes does he back off. Carlos, oblivious to their encounter, invites John back to be their gardener. Meanwhile, Lynette is upset over the fact that she and Tom have not had sex in over 10 days. When Tom tells Lynette that they need to spice up their sex life, Lynette goes out and buys a French maids outfit. Her attempt fails but Tom manages to surprise Lynette by wearing a thong. Paul drugs Zach and tells him that they are moving. Felicia finds Zach is unresponsive and brings him to her house. When Paul comes to pick him up, Felicia warns him to leave since she knows that he killed Martha. Felicia advises Paul to not put Zach through being a fugitive and that he is better off. Susan learns from Mr. Shaw that what Paul said was "true" and that Dana "died" and Mary Alice changed her name due to a fight with her Aunt Angela. Susan's mom is proposed to by Morty which means that Sophie will be packing her bags—much to Susan's delight. Susan then asks Shaw to look into Mike's background to see if he is really as the police portrayed him. She then visits Kendra and Noah and Kendra secretly tells Susan that his cop killing was in self-defense and that Mike is innocent. When she arrives home, she runs into Mike's arms and kisses him. ===== When Susan and Mike announce that they are going to move in together, Edie tries to stop it by having an intervention with the other wives. Susan gets suspicious and decides to follow Mike with Julie as her accomplice. She is surprised to see that she followed the wrong person. Felicia hands Zach a care package from Paul which contains a note which Felicia takes out. When Mike comes to visit Felicia she tells him that Paul Young will be at the park on Thursday evening if he wants to make a move. Mike does so and manages to capture Paul and drag him into his car. George continues to poison Rex by putting potassium pills in his prescription capsules. At the supermarket, George warns Bree that Rex has been bragging about how he likes hardcore sex (which is in fact, a lie). When Bree confronts Rex about it, he denies it but then has a heart attack on top of it all. Bree procrastinates to get help but when Danielle tells Bree that Rex is in pain she drives him to the hospital. Gabrielle gets the cold shoulder from Justin who tells her that she should have come clean since it could be John's child. She tells him that the situation is a delicate one and then proceeds to slap him. Carlos sees this and gets suspicious. When Gabrielle plans to leave, Carlos tries to stop her which leads to Gabrielle saying "Who ever said you were the father". Carlos then breaks his house arrest by stealing Edie's car and following Gabrielle to John and Justin's apartment. When Gabrielle leaves and hugs Justin, Carlos runs to the apartment and proceeds to beat Justin badly. The police receive the signal and arrive shortly after to arrest Carlos. When Justin tells Carlos that he is gay it changes everything and Carlos is in trouble—once again. Lynette tries to make sure that Annabel does not come between her and Tom. Finally, new neighbors Betty Applewhite and her son Matthew quietly move in during the night and unpack. ===== Susan's mom, Sophie Bremmer comes to visit Susan when her boyfriend Morty allegedly shoved her. Susan fears that if she does not bring the two back together, she will end up living with her mom—forever. When she visits Morty, he tells her that Sophie made the first shot and that is why he threw a book at her. When Susan tells Morty to reconcile with her, their meeting turns into a violent one. When Bree watches Lynette's children, she spanks Porter when he misbehaves, Lynette takes the news badly since never hits her kids and Bree responds by saying everyone knows the Scavo kids are out of control. Lynette tells Bree she has no business criticizing her parenting since Andrew is now at a camp for juvenile delinquents. But then when the boys keep acting up, Lynette snaps. She threatens them with a spanking—from Mrs. Van De Kamp. The boys immediately start behaving. Bree and Rex visit Andrew at Camp Hennessy where Andrew refuses to talk to Bree. Bree marches in the room just as Andrew announces to his dad that he might be gay. Gabrielle tells Carlos she is grateful for him staying with her even though she doesn't want to have children. Carlos says she is worth the sacrifice, but in reality he has been tampering with her birth control pills for months. The next day, the lawyer from the hospital shows up at the Solises with the settlement check for the negligence case over Mama Solis' death. Carlos is furious that Gabrielle didn't tell him about the money sooner so he could have used it to fight having to go to jail. She tells him he deserves to go to jail and that at least this way, they'll have money when he gets out. He threatens to divorce her and cut her out of the settlement unless she signs a post-nuptial that will alter the terms of their pre-nup. She counters by saying she knows about his bank account in the Cayman Islands, proof of his illegal profits. But then he moves the money so she can't blackmail him anymore and physically forces her to sign the post-nup. To get revenge, she reignites her affair with John. Meanwhile, Felicia tells Zach a little secret about his past. ===== Mama Solis awakes from her coma and runs to call Carlos. However, she slips on the freshly washed hospital floor and falls down the stairs. A nurse finds her and before she dies Juanita tells her to tell her son that his wife is cheating on him, but the nurse cannot hear what she is saying. Carlos takes the news of his mother's death hard since she died so suddenly. Gabrielle quietly celebrates Mama's death since she can no longer tell Carlos about her affair with John. At the funeral (which all of the housewives attend), Gabrielle is shocked to see the tribute Carlos has put together for his mother which includes a horse-drawn carriage carrying her remains and an expensive crypt. Gabrielle tells Carlos that they cannot afford the funeral he arranged and that "at least Mama will have a roof over her head". She demands he take the plea bargain he's being offered; it means eight months in jail, but it also means they can keep their house. He agrees to take the plea bargain, but makes her promise to be faithful while he's gone.Then the hospital administrator tells her about the lapse in care that resulted in Juanita's death, and they're willing to make a monetary settlement. Gabby checks with her lawyer: the government can't claim any of the money if it's awarded after Carlos goes to jail. So she says nothing to Carlos, for now. Mike leaves Susan a note explaining about his past, but she's afraid to open it. Then her car gets a flat tire and she figures out where the nail came from, Edie's construction site. When Edie's handsome contractor, Bill, asks her out, she decides to ask Edie's permission first, since Edie said they were dating. Edie tells her no, even though she's not all that interested in Bill herself. But when he comes over to fix her tire, she agrees to go out with him and then spends the whole date talking about Mike. Then Edie shows up and tells Susan she'll "hate her forever," and also fires Bill. As Susan drives them home, Bill tries to convince her to tell Edie she threw herself at him so he can get his job back. As they argue, Susan loses control of the car, the tire's gone flat again. "I was meaning to take it in," she says as they wait for a tow truck. Lynette makes a new friend, Alisa, the deaf mother of one of her boys' classmates and invites her and her husband over to dinner. But she's horrified when the husband starts criticizing Alisa right at the dinner table. "It's not like she can hear me," he says. She tells Tom that she has to say something about it, but Tom tells her not to. When they all play tennis together, the husband continues to be rude, so Lynette tells him to stop saying such awful things about his wife. The next day, an enraged Alisa comes in and yells at her, her husband has left her and it's all Lynette's fault. Later, Tom reassures her that her urge to help people is one of the reasons he loves her. Meanwhile, Bree and Rex find out that Andrew was caught taking drugs again and that he ran over the school's parking attendant when he refused to cooperate, and Andrew was expelled from school. Bree decides that a punishment is in order and plans to send him to a deprogramming camp. In the middle of the night, Bree and Rex wake up Andrew and inform him that he is being sent away. He ignores their statement and puts his head back on his pillow. Rex then says "we're ready", and two men enter Andrew's room. Andrew quickly looks at them and tries to make a run for it. The two men grab and restrain him, while Rex says that these men will help Andrew get dressed then drive him to camp. Andrew then spits in Bree's face, but she still tells him that no matter what he does she will always love him. ===== Susan decides to take action after learning that Mike may have had something to do with Mrs. Huber's murder. At the urging of her friends, she reluctantly phones a tip in to the police that Mike may be responsible. That afternoon Mike is arrested as Susan arrives home from grocery shopping. Mike is quickly let off the hook when Susan provides an alibi after realizing she was with him the night of the murder and that it was their "first time". Later, Susan is asked to be interrogated at the police station by Detective Copeland who asks her if she knows about Mike's past. According to Mike's police record, for drug trafficking and manslaughter, and served jail time for 5½ years. In another room where other detectives watch they come to the conclusion that Susan is "not lying but is just a sucker". Susan goes home to find Mike waiting for her which causes Susan to unleash her anger. Susan tells him that he cannot be "anywhere near her heart" due to her emotional state and that they needs time apart—for now. Bree finds a condom in the hamper and believes that Rex is still cheating; when he reminds her that there is another man in the house, however, she worries Andrew is having sex. Over dinner, Rex and Bree hesitate to confront Andrew, who is completely oblivious to why his parents did what they did. Bree then says that if he impregnates his girlfriend Lisa, he must marry her. Andrew reassures his mother that nothing physical is going on between him and Lisa. Andrew then denies that the condom is his and points the finger at his younger sister, Danielle. When Bree quietly asks Danielle why she has a condom over breakfast the following morning, Danielle tells Bree that she was planning to give up her virginity to John Rowland, which is part of the reason why they broke up. Bree then visits John at his apartment, where she asks him not to accept Danielle's future offer. John understands, seeing as he already has another "friend" he is seeing on occasion. Bree advises John to let her down hard so that she will never talk to him again. Tom becomes angered when his boss passes on a promotion which was intended for him. At a company softball game, Tom's rival, Tim Douggan, collapses and must undergo triple bypass surgery, which takes him out of the running for the job; Tom then receives the promotion. Lynette is happy about Tom's accomplishment, but when she learns that the job involves more traveling than his current position, she begs him to reconsider. This leads Lynette to be less than enthusiastic about the promotion when she runs into the boss's wife and relate typical family concerns about how Tom will be missing so much of his children's lives when the boss's wife asks "Aren't you happy?" The wife takes pity on Lynette, and the following day, Tom tells Lynette that the boss reconsidered. Meanwhile, Gabrielle gets a visit from John's friend Justin and he asks if she would like to have a gardener again. Gabrielle informs Justin that she and Carlos cannot afford a gardener due to their financial status. Justin says that he will do her grass for free but adds on his offer to do everything John did. Gabrielle takes this the wrong way and tells Justin that she does not need a gardener at this time and if "a bush needs trimming, [her] husband takes care of it". The following day, Gabrielle is surprised to find her lawn being freshly cut by a shirtless Justin. Carlos then tells Gabrielle that they will have a new gardener who will work for free. After Carlos leaves for a lawyer's meeting, Justin surprises Gabrielle by walking into her bedroom. This startles Gabrielle who continues to stand her ground. Justin then threatens to tell Carlos about her affair with John. Gabrielle visits Justin at his apartment, where Justin says that he thinks he may be gay. This leads the two to talking about why he asked her and not a girl from his school. Justin tells her that it is easier sleeping with an adult since teenage girls talk. Gabrielle then asks if he has been acting on his feelings. Justin answers that he has a friend who he "fools around with". As Gabrielle gets up to leave, Justin tells her that he would never tell Carlos about her affair. Gabrielle then runs over to Justin and French kisses him. After they kiss, Gabrielle asks if he felt anything. Justin has no arousal which brings Gabrielle to the conclusion that Justin is gay. Carlos and Gabrielle reluctantly realize they're so broke they may have to sell their house and move away from Wisteria Lane. Zach Young decides to hold a pool party for his friends, but plans it more as a way to rekindle his relationship with Julie. Susan forbids Julie from attending the party but she goes anyway when Susan is asked to report to the police station. At the party, Andrew brings some of his friends, and angers Zach with his boorish behavior. Zach imitates a gun with his fingers and tells Julie he knows where his mom kept her gun. Julie tells Zach that is not funny, and finally convinced that there is something wrong with him she leaves. When Susan cannot find Julie, she automatically assumes she is at the party, and runs in. She spots two people making out in the pool who she believes are Julie and Zach; she soon discovers that the couple is in fact Andrew and Justin. "I'm not gay!" Andrew insists, even though neither boy is wearing his swim trunks. Susan apologizes for the mistake and quickly makes a run for it. ===== It's Valentine's Day on Wisteria Lane and all the husbands and boyfriends are planning something special for their other halves. Susan shares what she's found out about Zach with her friends, that he killed his baby sister, Dana, as a child. When Lynette receives a heartfelt gift, a flower pot, from her kids she finds out it was stolen from her arch rival, Mrs. McCluskey. When the boys go over to apologize, they realize that she isn't that bad, and she is still grieving over the death of her son who died at a young age. Gabrielle fires Yao-Lin after an argument, and gets a job as a model at a mattress depot. After she is fired from that job, she takes a part-time job at a cosmetic store where one of her customers is Yao-Lin. Rex tries to convince Bree to have S&M; style sex which Bree scoffs at. She finally agrees, but before she handcuffs Rex to the bed, she asks if she can run the handcuffs through the dishwasher first. Susan plans a romantic evening with Mike who is still recovering from a gunshot wound from the afternoon prior, after breaking into a house while continuing his investigation. At the restaurant, since he doesn't want to tell Susan what's happened, he tries to go through with their dinner date. Just as she's starting to ask whether he wants children, he realizes he's bleeding badly and excuses himself. She thinks he's breaking up with her, but then he collapses, revealing his bloodstained shirt. At the hospital, he tells her he accidentally shot himself while cleaning his gun and was too embarrassed to tell her. And then he tells her that he'd rather have her than be a dad. Susan doesn't know what to think when two policemen arrive just as she's leaving. ===== Gabrielle decides to run a fashion show showcasing the women of Wisteria Lane for charity. Edie is worried about Mrs. Huber when she fails to show up for the dress fitting. Paul buries Mrs. Huber, whom he murdered in the previous episode, along with the blender which she had stolen from his family in the first episode, it was the murder weapon he used to hit her and strangle her with. Lynette decides to poach a nanny when she feels that the work is too much for her. Bree catches Andrew smoking marijuana and when Rex refuses to side with her, she anonymously reports Andrew to the school and thereby gets his locker searched. Andrew is punished by being thrown off the swim team which was Bree's actual intent. Susan catches Gabrielle rubbing her foot up against John's crotch and finds out that Gabrielle is sleeping with John the next day. After Helen, John's mother, overhears John tell a friend about his affair with a married woman and then sees Susan talking with John, she believes that Susan is sleeping with John. Susan is then humiliated by Helen at the fashion show where she destroys her dress and creates a scene. Susan warns Gabrielle to come clean about her affair to Helen. When Gabrielle does, Helen threatens her. Police investigate a trunk found in Rockwater Lake with a woman's cut up body inside. Susan's daughter, Julie, is confronted by Zach's father, Paul, after Zach runs away from Silvercrest and Julie's correspondence to Zach is found. Julie lies to Paul, and her mother Susan, and says she doesn't know where Zach is although she has been harboring him, resulting in a new teen romance. Gabrielle decides that she'd better tell Carlos of her affair with John before Helen does but cannot bring herself to do it. When the police arrive at Gabrielle's door she believes they are there to arrest her for the illegal affair, but they arrest Carlos instead, who says "Tanaka set me up". ===== Lynette continues to use the twins' ADD medication to prepare a dinner party for Tom's colleagues. After Andrew gets in trouble at school, Bree and Rex add to the mix by announcing that they will divorce. Susan and Mike's first date is interrupted by Mike's friend Kendra who asks him how he is doing with his mission. Susan becomes very suspicious and is surprised when the relationship turns out to be platonic. Gabrielle tries to break up Danielle and John when she becomes very selfish. Gabrielle tries to get Danielle out of the way by sponsoring her for model school but Bree refuses. Gabrielle invites John over, while Juanita and Carlos are away, for break-up sex. When Rex begins to shower them with gifts, Bree decides to make Andrew and Danielle refuse their gifts or they will not be allowed back home. Danielle gives in but Andrew drives away in his car. After getting rejected by his father, Andrew returns home drunk and accidentally runs over Juanita Solis, who had just caught Gabrielle and John in bed, having visited the Alpine Garden Society. ===== Lynette meets a new rival, Maisy Gibbons, while pitching in to help with a theater rendition of Little Red Riding Hood at the twins' new school. Lynette soon discovers that Maisy Gibbons runs the play committee to her own liking, including neutralizing the ending of the play and shooting down Lynette's suggestion to keep the true ending, as Lynette is not assuming any "heavy lifting". Lynette decides to take on the task of making costumes for the play in order to have the right to comment on the play's new politically correct ending. The other mothers timidly agree; however, now Lynette is swamped by Maisy Gibbons demanding expectations for the costumes. If she does not want her boys to be taken out of the play, the costumes have to be perfect. Lynette soon converses with another hard-working mom about taking her child's ADD medicine, which gives her all the energy she needs, and succeeds in finishing in time, as well as putting Maisy Gibbons in her place on opening night. During group therapy with Dr. Goldfine, Rex recommends that he and Bree seek the advice of a sex surrogate in order to keep their relationship alive. Bree is horrified at this request and talks privately about it with Dr. Goldfine unexpectedly at a restaurant, embarrassing him with her sensual description of what she likes about sex. Shortly after, Bree surprises Rex at his hotel room where she arrives in a fur coat with only a bra and lingerie underneath. As Bree and Rex kiss, Bree stumbles upon a burrito on the edge of the night stand. Bree asks Rex to stop for a moment but he tells her to leave it alone. Bree then abruptly stops and pushes the burrito aside which annoys Rex who asks her to leave. Gabrielle begins to tire of Mama Solis as she continues to follow her around. After Juanita cleans the girls out while playing poker, Carlos reveals that his mother has a gambling addiction, and Gabrielle slyly uses it so she can secretly see John at a motel who is losing interest in her. Meanwhile, Juanita has maxed out the $15,000 limit by gambling with Carlos' credit card. Gabrielle turns this to her advantage, offering to cover the loss. Juanita changes her suspicions of Gabrielle's infidelity after her sudden friendship and kindness to her mother-in-law. Carlos then tells her that he revealed to Gabrielle that Juanita had a gambling addiction. As Gabrielle leaves the house, she does not associate with John Rowland signaling to Juanita that he may be the person sleeping with Gabrielle. Susan learns more about the mystery surrounding the Young family, when she and Julie discover Zach at a mental institution. Julie and Zach then begin to discuss his purpose for being there and about what happened to "Dana". Julie later tells her mother about their conversation and begins to search around for clues about Dana. Susan finds no trace of Dana in any school yearbook or documents and is curious to learn what really happened since Mary Alice was such a warm and kind friend to her. Little does Susan know that an item she had purchased at Paul Young's garage sale was wrapped in a baby blanket with the name "DANA" embroidered on the sides. ===== Set 800 years after a catastrophic event called the "Great Fear", the stories feature Lone Sloane, who is caught by an entity called He Who Seeks, after his space ship is destroyed. He is thrown into a different dimension, where he becomes a space rogue and freebooter with strange powers. He finds himself caught in an inter-galactic struggle between space pirates, gigantic robots, dark gods and other- dimensional entities. Very similar to Silver Surfer and Galactus, or Ulysses and the Greek Gods, he is compelled to wander in a universe that is alien to him. It is also known for the quasi-Baroque style of Druillet's artwork, which features H.P. Lovecraft's space nightmares mixed with M.C. Escher's influences. ===== The Federation starship Enterprise arrives at a subspace communications relay station near the Klingon border on a resupply mission. However, when an away team boards the relay there is no sign of the two officers assigned there. Lieutenant Aquiel Uhnari, Lieutenant Rocha, and the station's shuttlecraft are missing. While searching the station, the away team finds the dog that belongs to Lieutenant Uhnari. The away team also finds a substance on the floor, which Enterprise Chief Medical Officer Dr. Crusher determines is a type of cellular residue. The crew uncover evidence that a Klingon had been on the station leading Crusher and First Officer Riker to suspect that Uhnari and Rocha may have been the victims of a Klingon attack. Commander La Forge backs up this theory when he examines Uhnari's personal logs. He finds an entry in which Aquiel relays her fears to her sister Shianna about a Klingon named Morag. Captain Picard contacts the local Klingon governor, Torak, and learns that Morag is commander of one of the Klingon ships that patrols that section of the Klingon Empire's border. At this point, Torak refuses to cooperate further. Picard threatens to take his case to Chancellor Gowron, a threat scoffed at by Torak until Picard casually mentions that he served as Gowron's Arbiter of Succession.See the episodes "Reunion" and "Redemption". Knowing Gowron would be in Picard's debt and how the former might frown upon the disrespect shown to the latter, a nervous Torak agrees to cooperate fully. The senior staff meets with Torak, and he produces Aquiel alive. She explains that Rocha attacked her and that her last memory was escaping from him. She doesn't remember precisely what happened. To help clarify what really occurred, Picard requests to speak with Commander Morag, the Klingon who was allegedly harassing the station. Attracted to her, La Forge befriends Aquiel, and takes her to the Ten-Forward lounge. He reveals to her that he surveyed her logs and personal correspondence as part of their investigation. Aquiel says she didn't like Rocha but did not wish to hurt him. She realizes she is a suspect in his death. Meanwhile, Dr. Crusher continues to examine the cellular residue found on the deckplate. Riker and Lt. Worf, who are examining the shuttlecraft, come across a phaser set to kill. La Forge gives moral support to Aquiel as she is questioned again. Commander Morag then arrives aboard the Enterprise and meets with the senior staff. He admits that he was present on the station, and that he took priority Starfleet messages from its computer. La Forge returns to the station and discovers that Rocha's personal log has been tampered with. He confronts Aquiel who admits deleting messages from Rocha's log, because Rocha, as the senior officer, was going to declare her insubordinate and belligerent to Starfleet. Scared that this new evidence will condemn her as Rocha's killer, she agrees to stay aboard the Enterprise because La Forge has faith in her. He and Aquiel use an ancient method of her people to bond and share their thoughts. While Dr. Crusher examines the DNA found on the deck plate yet again, the material moves and touches her hand. It then withdraws and forms a perfect replica of her hand. Due to this, she suspects that the real Rocha may have been killed by this strange coalescent organism, and a replica of him may have attacked Aquiel in search of a new body. Believing that the organism now has Aquiel's body, Riker and Worf race to Aquiel's quarters and stop the ritual she is conducting with La Forge, believing she was about to attack him. Morag is also arrested, as it is just as likely he is the organism. With Aquiel and Morag in the brig, the Enterprise proceeds to the nearest starbase as the crew keep a close watch on them both - the organism may need a new body soon. La Forge is in his quarters along with Aquiel's dog reminiscing about her. The dog transforms and attacks him, but he is able to kill it. Later, he explains to Aquiel, who has been released, that Rocha was replaced by the organism. When it attacked her, it began the takeover process (hence her lapse in memory); however, she managed to get away in time. The creature then turned to the only other life form on the station, her dog. The episode ends with Aquiel and La Forge in Ten- Forward, where she turns down his offer to help her join the Enterprise crew. She tells him she wants to earn her way there on her own merits. ===== The film is about the Esquilache Riots. ===== This film is set in Goa between 1986 and 1994. Nikhil Kapoor (Sanjay Suri) is the state all round swimming champion. His father Navin Kapoor (Victor Banerjee) has raised his son to be a sports man, a dream that he never achieved for himself. His elder sister Anamika (Juhi Chawla) teaches in a primary school and loves him dearly. His mother Anita Rosario Kapoor (Lillete Dubey) adores him and from her he inherited his artistic side to his personality. After Nikhil is diagnosed with HIV his life falls apart. He is removed from the swimming team and his parents throw him out of their house. One day he is arrested because he is HIV positive. He is kept in forced isolation by law as the Goa Public Health Act allowed the government to isolate HIV positive people. His parents desert him and his friends move away. The only two people who stand by him are his sister Anamika, her boyfriend Sam (Gautam Kapoor) and his boyfriend Nigel (Purab Kohli). Despite facing threats from the community, Anamika and Nigel are able to secure his release with the help of a lawyer. Nikhil is unable to find a job at first, but then becomes a music teacher. Anamika and Nigel start an AIDS assistance organization called People Positive. As Nikhil develops AIDS he is reconciled with his mother and finally his father. After Nikhil's death, his parents begin to treat Nigel like a son. ===== Krusty gives a free trampoline to Homer, who places it in the Simpsons' back yard. Bart and Lisa are thrilled, but Marge frets it may be dangerous. Homer ignores her fretting and charges neighbors a fee to use it. When scores of people are injured, Homer heeds Marge's advice to get rid of the trampoline. After several failed attempts to dispose of it, Bart suggests chaining it to a pole to tempt thieves with the challenge of stealing it. Soon Snake breaks the chain and takes it. Although he agrees Marge was right about the trampoline, Homer argues that he is at least willing to go out and try new things while she is considered a bore who nags too much. When Bart and Lisa agree with Homer's assessment, Marge is more angry and visits Patty and Selma. They show her an infomercial featuring self-help guru Brad Goodman to help conquer her chronic nagging. After Marge and Homer watch a Brad Goodman video, they learn to express their frustrations with each other using self-help language and get along better. The Simpsons attend a Brad Goodman lecture, hoping they will learn how to curb Bart's unruly behavior. When Bart interrupts the lecture, Brad Goodman praises him as an example of a well-adjusted person and encourages the town to adopt Bart's irreverent and carefree attitude. Soon the whole town begins to act like Bart, doing whatever they please while ignoring the consequences. However, Bart becomes downhearted when he feels as if his reputation as a troublemaker has been usurped. To celebrate their new-found attitude, the town holds a "Do What You Feel Festival". It goes awry because maintenance workers "didn't feel like" erecting the stage or installing amusement rides properly. A runaway Ferris wheel smashes the gates of a zoo, sending a stampede of wild animals through the streets. Soon a riot starts because everyone has learned to say whatever they are thinking, regardless of its effect on others. Blaming Bart for starting the whole "Do What You Feel" fiasco, a mob chases him. Using a parade float, Homer saves him. The town gives up the chase despite the float's slow speed. The Simpsons return home and conclude that everyone is fine the way they are. ===== Joe E. Lewis (Frank Sinatra), a successful 1920s Chicago night-club entertainer is invited to work for the Mob during the Prohibition era. His eventual decision to work elsewhere results in his face being slashed and his throat cut, preventing him from continuing with his current act as a singer. Lewis soon develops an acerbic and witty sense of humor and is given a break as a stand-up comedian from singer Sophie Tucker (playing herself). Soon, Lewis makes a career for himself, but heavy drinking and a self-destructive streak leads him to question his way of living and what his life has become. ===== Bored on a class trip to a box factory, Bart escapes to the nearby Channel 6 TV studio, where he encounters Krusty the Clown. Bart swipes a Danish intended for Krusty, who fires his assistant over the missing pastry. Bart steals a Danish from Kent Brockman and gives it to Krusty, who is so grateful that he makes Bart his new assistant. The cast members treat Bart badly and he receives no credit for his work. When they use him as a gofer to deliver their lunches, lactose-intolerant Sideshow Mel becomes sick. Bart is given an opportunity to be on the show and replaces Mel in a skit, but accidentally knocks over several stage props. Dumbstruck by the cameras and onlookers, he says, "I didn't do it." The audience erupts with laughter. As Bart and Krusty are leaving the studio they both realize Bart has instantly becomes famous. He is now known as “The I didn’t do it kid”. Krusty claims the rights to Bart and has him appear in more sketches and his catchphrase is used as marketing gimmick and a line of merchandise. Bart at first enjoys the fame but soon he gets tired of being a one trick pony and people asking him to “just say the line”. When he tries to expand his repertoire during an interview on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, the host grows impatient and makes him repeat the catchphrase. Bart wants to quit show business, but Marge persuades him to continue performing because he makes people happy. After Bart delivers his catchphrase in another of Krusty's skits, the audience reacts with boredom, so Krusty ditches him. Marge gives Bart a box of memorabilia to help him remember his brief fame. When Lisa is relieved he is again just her brother instead of a caricature with a silly catchphrase, the Simpson family — joined by Barney, Mr. Burns, Ned, and Nelson — recite their respective catchphrases, prompting an unamused Lisa to go to her room. ===== The film documents the operations of 2nd Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, an element of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division beginning in the late summer of 2003 until the unit was relieved by 3rd Battalion, 153rd Infantry Regiment, of the 39th Brigade Combat Team, an element of the 1st Cavalry Division in April 2004. The soldiers were stationed in the Adhamiyah neighborhood of Baghdad which lies between the Tigris river on the west and Sadr City on the east. The unit's Forward Operating Base was at a former Presidential Palace, known as Adhamiyah Palace. ===== At the Kwik-E-Mart, Apu is selling items to angry customers at outrageous prices, like normal. Apu scribbles out the expiration date on a package of expired ham from 1989 and then lowers the price instead of throwing out the spoiled food. Homer contracts food poisoning after eating the expired ham. When he recovers, Homer complains to Apu, who gives him two five-pound buckets of expired shrimp to placate him. Homer eats the shrimp and becomes ill again. While recovering at home, Homer sees the Channel 6 investigative news program Bite Back with Kent Brockman. Lisa suggests asking the show's producers to investigate the Kwik-E-Mart. Kent gives Homer a giant novelty hat containing a spy camera to expose Apu for selling expired food. Homer panics and discards the hat after Apu mistakes its electronic buzzing sound for a bee, but the camera catches Apu dropping a hot dog on the floor and returning it to the roller grill. Apu is fired by corporate headquarters -- despite complying with their unsanitary food-handling policies -- and is replaced by actor James Woods, who is doing research for a role in an upcoming film. When Apu arrives at the Simpsons' house, Homer thinks he is trying to strangle him, but Apu's posture is merely the traditional form of apology in the Indian village where he was born. Apu hopes to work off his karmic debt for selling Homer expired food by performing work for the Simpsons. At first, Homer is reluctant to accept Apu's help, but soon the family appreciates his dutiful behavior. Apu still misses his job at the Kwik-E-Mart, so Homer accompanies him to the head office in India. There they meet with the head of the Kwik-E-Mart corporation, who grants them only three questions. When Homer wastes the questions on inane banter, the man refuses to help Apu. This time an enraged Apu chokes Homer before they return home disappointed. When Apu returns to the Kwik-E-Mart to "face his demons", a robber bursts into the store with a gun. He shoots at Woods, but Apu saves him by leaping in the bullet's path. At the hospital, Dr. Hibbert says Apu survived because the bullet ricocheted off another bullet lodged in his chest from a previous robbery. Grateful for Apu's heroism, Woods gives him his job back and leaves to "battle aliens on a faraway planet" in his next film. ===== In 2010, social problems have overrun the poorer suburbs of Paris. Especially Banlieue 13, commonly referred to as B13: a ghetto with a population of two million people. Unable to control B13, the authorities surround the entire area with a high wall topped by barbed tape, forcing the inhabitants within to survive without education, proper utilities or police protection. Police checkpoints stop anybody going in or out. Three years later, the district has become overrun with gangs. Leïto (David Belle) is a fighter of such gangs. He disposes of a case of drugs down a drain, then escapes the gang who has come to collect the drugs. The gang's leader, Taha, kidnaps Leïto's sister Lola in retaliation. Leïto is able to rescue her and take Taha to the police station, but the police arrest Leïto and let Taha leave with Lola, stating that they are leaving the district. Six months later, undercover policeman Damien Tomaso completes a successful operation at a casino in Paris. His next assignment: Taha's gang has taken a bomb from a nuclear transport vehicle and accidentally activated it, giving it 24 hours before it wipes out the district. Posing as a prisoner, Damien infiltrates the district to disarm the bomb. Leïto immediately sees through Damien's cover, but the two reluctantly team up to save Leïto's sister as well. The pair surrenders to Taha in order to gain access to his base, where they find the bomb has been set up on a missile launcher aimed at Paris, with Lola handcuffed to it. Taha demands a high ransom to deactivate the bomb; the government refuses. After Damien gives them Taha's bank account codes, they drain his funds. Leïto and Damien escape, and Taha is killed by his own men when they realize he will be unable to pay them. The much more benevolent K2 takes over and allows Leïto and Damien to stop the bomb. After fighting their way to the building, Damien calls his contact to receive the deactivation code. However, after recognizing certain symbols in the code, Leïto deduces that the government has framed them, and the code will actually detonate the bomb instead of deactivating it. After Leïto and Damien fight, Lola is able to restrain Damien long enough for the timer on the bomb to run out. The bomb does not explode, proving Leïto right. The pair return to the government building with the bomb and use it to force the government agent to admit that he had planned to blow up B13 as a means to end its existence, catching it on camera and broadcasting nationally. Soon the rest of the government promises to tear down the containment wall and bring back schools and police to B13. Leïto and Damien depart as friends, and Lola kisses Damien, encouraging him to visit B13. ===== On December 31, 1999, a pizza delivery guy named Philip J. Fry delivers a pizza to "Applied Cryogenics" in New York City only to discover that the order was actually a prank call. Dejected and demoralized, he stops in the deserted lab to eat the pizza while outside the whole world is getting ready to celebrate the beginning of New Year, while sitting on a chair. At midnight, Fry loses his balance on the chair and falls into an open cryonic tube and is frozen as it immediately activates. He is defrosted on Tuesday, December 31, 2999, in what is now New New York City. He is taken to a fate assignment officer named Leela, a purple-haired cyclops. To his misfortune, Fry is assigned the computer-determined permanent career of delivery boy, and flees into the city when Leela tries to implant Fry's career chip designating his job. He dodges an attack from Leela and she falls into the cryonic tube that Fry fell into one thousand years ago. The timer sets itself to one thousand years. Fry reduces the timer to five minutes so that Leela isn't trapped for long, but he still has enough time to desert her. While trying to track down his only living relative, Professor Farnsworth, Fry befriends a suicidal robot named Bender. As they talk at a bar, Fry learns that Bender too has deserted his job of bending girders for use in constructing suicide booths. Together, they evade Leela and hide in the Head Museum, where they encounter the preserved heads of historical figures. Fry and Bender eventually find themselves underground in the ruins of Old New York. Leela finally catches Fry, who has become depressed that everyone that he knew and loved is dead and tells her that he will accept his career as a delivery boy. Leela sympathizes with Fry--she too is alone, and hates her job--so she quits and joins Fry and Bender as job deserters. The three track down Professor Farnsworth, founder of an intergalactic delivery company called Planet Express. With the help of Professor Farnsworth, the three evade the police by launching the Planet Express Ship at the stroke of midnight amid the New Year's fireworks. As the year 3000 begins, Farnsworth hires the three as the crew of his ship. Fry inquires at what his job is, and learns that he will be traveling into space as a delivery boy. Fry, ironically, cheers at his new job. ===== The main story of the novel is the narrative of the adventures of Adam More, a British sailor shipwrecked on a homeward voyage from Tasmania. After passing through a tunnel of volcanic origin, he finds himself in a "lost world" of prehistoric animals, plants and people sustained by volcanic heat despite the long Antarctic night. A secondary plot of four yachtsmen who find the manuscript written by Adam More and sealed in a copper cylinder forms a frame for the central narrative. They comment on More's report, and one identifies the Kosekin language as a Semitic language, possibly derived from Hebrew. In his strange volcanic world, More also finds a well-developed human society which in the tradition of topsy- turvy worlds of folklore and satire (compare Sir Thomas More's Utopia, Erewhon by Samuel Butler, or Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Herland) has reversed the values of 19th century Western society: wealth is scorned and poverty is revered, death and darkness are preferred to life and light. Rather than accumulating wealth, the natives seek to divest themselves of it as quickly as possible. ===== In "The Door", a high school girl named Manatsu feels that her life is boring and meaningless. Her father left, and her mother seemed to care more about school and studying than Manatsu's feelings and needs. While at school, Manatsu meets a bullied girl nicknamed Asparagus who cuts to relieve her pain. With Asparagus, Manatsu develops a friendship and they begin to create a suicide pact. Manatsu enjoys her time with Asparagus and begins to feel alive again, as well as taking an interest in death and the fragility of life. They raise money and order cyanide pills off the internet, but Manatsu starts to feel uncertain about dying. After confronting Asparagus on a rooftop, planning to take the pills, Manatsu accidentally falls and grabs onto a ledge. She begs Asparagus to save her, realizing she does not want to die, but instead Asparagus decides that she will jump. The girls are saved at the last moment by civilians, and Manatsu rekindles her relationship with her mother and begins to see life differently. She later learns that Asparagus committed suicide. At her funeral, the bullies refuse to acknowledge their fault. Manatsu concludes that suicide is not brave or wondrous and realizes the pain it leaves on those alive. ===== A busload of passengers, including off-duty police detective Dave Evans, are gunned down and killed. Evans, on his own time, has been following a man named Gus Niles in search of information linking businessman Henry Camarero to the murder of his wife, Teresa, two years earlier. Evans was the partner of Detective Sergeant Jake Martin, a veteran but cynical member of the Homicide Detail working the bus massacre investigation. Jake originally investigated the Teresa Camarero case and has been obsessed with his failure to "make" Camarero for the murder. Jake returns to it after many dead-end leads (including a disastrous confrontation with a deranged amputee who takes hostages at gunpoint) in the bus investigation. Niles was killed on the bus as well, and it was Niles who provided the alibi that enabled Camarero to cover up his wife's murder. The sullen Jake and enthusiastic but impulsive Inspector Leo Larsen are paired to interview suspects. Jake shuts out Larsen from his deductions, while Larsen, despite a loose-on-the-rules and brutal side, tries to understand and gain the confidence of his new partner. Defying the orders of their police superior Lt. Steiner, they seek, find and then smoke out Camarero, leading to a chase through the streets of San Francisco and a confrontation aboard another bus. ===== Fry has been living in the Planet Express offices, making messes, leaving food out (which attracts owls, the vermin of New New York), wasting water, and generally disrupting business. When it is discovered, however, that Fry has eaten the professor's alien mummy (mistaking it for beef jerky), the professor declares that Fry has to go. Fry then moves in with Bender. Bender lives in a robot apartment, which is little more than a two-cubic meter stall, and it soon becomes clear that Bender's cramped apartment cannot meet Fry's needs. The two begin a search for a living space that will satisfy them both, only to conclude that none of the properties they viewed is remotely livable. Bender and Fry then overhear that one of Professor Farnsworth's colleagues has died, and Fry and Bender are able to lease his spacious, fully furnished apartment. Bender plans to live in the apartment's tiny closet. To the theme of The Odd Couple, Fry and Bender make themselves at home. The two hold a housewarming party, and the guests arrive with various gifts, including a miniature fruit salad tree from Leela. When the group attempts to watch All My Circuits on the apartment's gigantic television, they discover that Bender's antenna interferes with the building's satellite reception. The landlady promptly evicts Bender. Fry decides to stay, so Bender returns to his old apartment alone. He then embarks on a self-destructive sobriety binge, eventually cutting off his own antenna in the hope that he can move back in with Fry. When Fry realizes that a robot's antenna is vital to his self-esteem, he helps Bender locate and reattach it, and then moves back in with Bender. When Fry is concerned that his miniature fruit salad tree will not get enough light in the windowless stall, Bender replies that there is a window in the closet and opens a hidden door, revealing a complete living suite more than spacious enough for Fry. To Bender's confusion, Fry happily moves into the "closet". ===== Antonia Forest set out to write adult fiction, but thought that perhaps a children's book would be an easier way to get published initially.Heazlewood, Anne "The Marlows and Their Maker" Girls Gone By, 2007, p.80 Since there was a trend for school fiction, she chose this genre. However, like all of Forest's books, Autumn Term is quite different from most of this school literature. Her 'heroines', Nicola, Tim and Lawrie are often unsuccessful, sometimes unlikeable and always realistic. Even Forest's anti-heroine, Lois Sanger, is shown to have some redeeming characteristics. ===== While attending a New New York Yankees blernsball game at Madison Cube Garden, Bender is offended that humans will not let robots compete in the game. Hermes calls and tells the crew to report back to the office for a delivery mission. The delivery is to Chapek 9, a planet inhabited by human-hating robot separatists who kill humans on sight, so Bender is assigned to deliver the package. Bender claims that it is a robot holiday, Robanukah, and refuses to work. Hermes, however, insists that Bender must go, on the grounds that Bender has already used up all his time off. Upon arriving at the planet, a resentful Bender is lowered to the surface. Meanwhile, Fry and Leela decide to throw a Robanukah party for Bender to show their appreciation. They receive a rushed message from Bender: the robot separatists found out he worked for humans, and he has been captured. In order to avoid being killed on sight, Fry and Leela disguise themselves as robots and infiltrate the robot society. Fry and Leela discover Bender is alive and playing the robots' prejudice for his own benefit, claiming he has killed billions of humans on Earth. Fry and Leela reunite with Bender in an abandoned robot porn shop, but he refuses to be rescued. Before Fry and Leela can leave, the other robots arrive, and the two are placed on trial for being human. They are immediately found guilty of the charge and are sentenced to a life of tedious robot-type labor. A trapdoor opens and they fall into a room where they meet the five Robot Elders. The Elders reveal that the trial was merely a show trial for the masses, and command Bender to kill Fry and Leela, but Bender refuses, stating that the pair are his friends, and that humans pose no threat to robots. The Robot Elders reveal that despite being aware of this, humans provide them with a useful scapegoat to distract the population from their actual problems: lug nut shortages and an incompetent government of corrupt Robot Elders. The Robot Elders decide the three know too much and must be killed. Fry threatens to breathe fire on the Robot Elders, throwing them into a state of confusion. The crew flees, pursued by a horde of robots. As the crew escapes on the winch, the robots stack on top of each other, keeping pace with the winch. Bender remembers that he never actually delivered the package, and puts it into the hands of the robot on top. The unbalanced tower topples to the ground. The package bursts open, showering the robots in much- needed lug nuts. The robots then renounce their human-hating ways. The crew, headed back to Earth, celebrate Robanukah with Bender, who confesses the holiday is fictitious. ===== Faith healer Jonas Nightengale (Steve Martin) makes a living traveling across America holding tent revival meetings and conducting purported "miracles" while being helped by his friend and manager Jane Larson (Debra Winger), and an entourage of fellow con artists. One of their trucks breaks down in the fictional town of Rustwater, Kansas. Rustwater, with its 27 percent unemployment rate, is in desperate need of rain to save its crops. Learning they will be stuck in Rustwater for four days waiting for replacement parts to come in for one of the many big trucks of their fleet, Jonas decides to hold revival meetings despite the town's small size in an effort to cut some of their losses while the truck is being repaired. Early on, Jonas meets Marva, a waitress in a local café but she rebuffs his persistent advances. Local sheriff Will Braverman (Liam Neeson) is skeptical and tries to prevent his townspeople from being conned out of what little money they do have. First, he engages in some legal harassment, sending all of the city and county inspectors to examine his facilities. After seeing the excessive pageantry of the first show and the counting of money by the team on Jonas' tour bus, Braverman decides to investigate Jonas' past. He learns that Jonas (claiming to have been born in a humble log cabin in the Appalachians) is in fact Jack Newton, a native of New York City who lived a life of crime in his teen years (including petty theft and drug possession). Braverman shares this information with the townspeople who have gathered for another tent revival. Jonas storms off the stage, soon returning to successfully spin Braverman's report, leaving the crowd more energized than ever, much to Braverman's exasperation. Jonas also gives back the collections for the day, saying he could not take their money in good conscience knowing that they doubted him and that if his faith was strong God would send them a sign. He also has his crew secretly plant an additional $80 among the crowd, setting up the believers for a miracle the next day. The next morning, the huge crucifix forming the backdrop of the revival tent with Jesus' eyes normally closed is found to somehow have his eyes opened. A shocked Jonas, in front of all the townspeople and numerous television cameras from the region's network affiliates, proclaims it a miracle which is amplified as townsfolk who had money planted on them reveal their unexplained fortunes. Throughout all of this is a subplot involving Jane and Braverman, who find themselves falling for each other. She becomes enchanted by Braverman's simple farm life and his interest in butterflies. However, after Braverman's disclosure of Jonas' past Jane breaks off their budding relationship. They soon, however, meet again and Jane confesses to Braverman that she is tired of manipulating people. He makes it clear he would like a permanent relationship with her if she will stay. Meanwhile, Jonas can't understand why Marva won't date him. Marva points to her brother Boyd who walks with crutches following an auto accident in which also their parents died. Marva explains that doctors couldn't find anything physically wrong with him, so as a last resort she took him to a faith healer who subsequently blamed it on Boyd's supposed lack of faith. Marva now detests faith healers, having had one blame her brother for his own psychosomatic disability. Boyd comes to believe that Jonas can make him walk again. He goes to the revival and implores Jonas to heal him. Jonas finishes the show while pretending not to notice the boy, but is compelled to return to the stage after the crowd begins to chant "one more." Jonas spins the expected failure to heal Boyd by blaming Braverman, who is present, saying that if a failure occurs, it will be due to Braverman's skepticism. Boyd walks to the open-eyed crucifix and touches the feet of Jesus Christ. He drops his crutches and begins to walk unassisted. The awed crowd sweeps the stage. After the show, an enraged Jonas rails to Jane that he was conned and that Boyd upstaged him. Jane doesn't believe it was a con. The production crew are thrilled with all the money that came in as a result of Boyd being healed and want Boyd to join the show. A clearly annoyed Jonas reluctantly agrees and stalks off the bus. Jane follows him out and they argue. After the revival, Jonas enters the empty, darkened tent and mocks the crucifix and Christianity. Boyd walks in while Jonas is talking. Boyd thanks Jonas for healing him, but Jonas insists angrily that he did nothing. Boyd says it doesn't matter, that the job still got done. Jonas accuses Boyd of being a better con artist than he himself. Boyd wants to join Jonas on the road, telling him a lot of ways he can help out exist and promising to earn his keep. Jonas agrees to meet Boyd the following morning, implying Boyd can come. Then Boyd's sister Marva arrives. She sends him out of the tent saying that people are looking for him. She thanks Jonas, who tells her that he will not be meeting her brother Boyd the next morning. He asks her to tell Boyd that "just because a person didn't show up doesn't mean that the person doesn't care about them." referencing a set up earlier in the movie where Jane defended Jonas by telling Braverman the story of a five-year-old Jonas waiting in vain for four days for his mother to return, for many years while living in an orphanage holding steadfast to the belief that one day she indeed would. (The line is also found in the 1999 film adaptation of Graham Greene's The End of the Affair.) Jonas leaves the tent and sees the crowd that has gathered just outside it, many praying, some sleeping in groups, and others feeding the crowd that has gathered. He begins to understand that Boyd's miracle, and the faith that enabled it, are real after all. He packs a bag and departs alone under the cover of darkness, leaving behind his entire road show and most of all of the rest of everything that he owns - including his silver-sequined jacket and an envelope for Jane containing his ring that she had long coveted - and hitches a ride on the nearby Interstate from which they had come to Rustwater at the start of the story. Braverman and Jane drive to Jonas' motel room and find him gone. Jonas hitches a ride with a truck driver bound for Pensacola, Florida. When asked by the driver if he is in some kind of trouble, Jonas replies "No sir, no sir. Probably for the first time in my life". As they continue to ride along, the drought, threatening the crop harvest that is the centerpiece of the town's economy, comes to a dramatic end in a miraculous downpour. Jonas laughs silently to himself as he realizes the truth, and the film ends as he rides off into the stormy evening, hanging out the truck window loudly thanking Jesus for the rain. ===== The series stars Craig Stevens as Michael Strait, a world-renowned photographer whose assignments lead him into investigating mysterious goings-on amongst the rich and glamorous and intrigue from far- flung place as Iraq, Indo-China, and Algiers. Tracy Reed co-stars in the first season. ===== Taking an early morning walk in a fierce storm, Peter Marlow is deliberately snubbed by one of his teachers from Dartmouth Naval College, Lewis Foley, who is spending the Easter holidays in the fishing village of St- Anne's-Byfleet. Later, he and his sister Nicola, follow an irresistible sign to a place called Mariners. Mariners turns out to be a deserted house complete with its own crow's nest and a sign to Foley's Folly Light. Nicola discovers from one of her fishermen friends, Robert Anquetil, that Lewis had grown up in the village and that Mariners belongs to his family. Anquetil warns her not to go near the house again. However, when she returns to the hotel where the Marlows are staying, she finds that Peter has already told the others and that they are planning a trip that afternoon. Reluctantly, Nicola agrees to go along with them. The children enter the house and go exploring. While Nicola, Peter and Lawrie go down to the cellars, Ginty agrees to keep guard. But when she hears a noise she panics and follows them down the stairs. Peter has found some microfiche which seems to show details of Naval secrets. A man enters the cellars and the girls are afraid, but Peter recognises him as Lewis Foley and starts to tell him about the secrets he has found. Foley produces a gun and forces the children to come with him on his boat, but Lawrie manages to escape. Nicola puts sugar in the boat's engine so that Foley can't take them further out to sea. Instead he lands at the lighthouse and signals to someone to collect him there. He is ordered to dispose of the children but ignores this command. Lawrie gets run over on her way back to the hotel and is knocked unconscious. When she recovers she tells Robert Anquetil, who turns out to be a secret agent, what happened. He is ordered not to look for the children, since capturing the traitor and his allies is more important. Peter and Nicola make a plan to signal from the lighthouse to any passing ships. Nicola and Ginty pretend that Peter has drowned, trying to escape from the lighthouse so that he can hide without Foley coming to look for him. Foley seems genuinely upset about Peter and is kind to the girls. Later that night, they signal SOS, watching the Naval fleet go past without seeing them. However, they persevere and eventually are spotted by Anquetil. Foley comes up the stairs when they are signalling but Ginty throws her lamp at him and he is seriously injured. The next day, a submarine emerges and men come to collect Foley and the children. Peter has taken Foley's revolver and he shoots the Admiral. But before anything else can happen, the Navy appear and the submarine is destroyed. The children are rescued and Nicola fulfils an ambition on the way home, when she is allowed onto the bridge of the destroyer. Nicola and Peter are a little disappointed that they are forbidden from telling anyone their adventures, but Ginty is glad to forget the whole thing. ===== After having their dreams taken over by an advertisement, the Planet Express crew takes a trip to the local shopping mall. Trying to buy the product he saw in his dreams, Fry realizes he is broke. At the same time, Bender is arrested for shoplifting. As the crew scrounges up bail money, Fry notices that the bank where he used to have an account has remained in business. He still has his ATM card and remembers his PIN code: the price of a cheese pizza and large soda at Panucci's Pizza, where he used to work. The account had contained 93 cents in 1999, but after accruing interest at 2.25% per year for 1,000 years, the balance is now $4.3 billion. Fry goes on a massive spending spree, buying numerous 20th century artifacts, such as Ted Danson's skeleton, an antique robot toy, videotapes of past sitcoms, and the last known tin of anchovies, which were fished to extinction shortly after the Decapodians arrived on Earth in the 23rd century. Professor Farnsworth informs Fry about their extinction after Fry's attempt to order some as a pizza topping causes a robotic waiter to explode due to a circuit overload. However, he finds himself making a rival of Mom, a famous industrialist and owner of Mom's Old-Fashioned Robot Oil. She wants to acquire the anchovies for herself since they represent a potential source of oil that can permanently lubricate robots, thus putting her out of business. Mom's sons Walt, Larry, and Igner conspire with the head of Pamela Anderson to steal Fry's ATM card and PIN. They tranquilize Fry and fool him into believing it is still the year 2000, using a crude mock-up of Panucci's to make him think he fell asleep on the job. Anderson orders a cheese pizza and a large soda, whereupon Fry inadvertently reveals his PIN as he rings up the total, which was $10.77. Walt, Larry, and Igner empty Fry's bank account, and except for the anchovies, all of his 20th century artifacts are repossessed. Mom visits Fry with the intent of buying the anchovies, but relents upon discovering that he plans to eat them. Fry covers a pizza with the anchovies and shares it with the rest of the Planet Express employees while Dr. Zoidberg is out of the room. The others spit out the pizza in disgust as Fry explains that anchovies are an acquired taste. When Zoidberg enters the room, he smells the anchovies and greedily devours all of the remaining pizza. He goes on to demand more, flying into a rage when he learns that there are no more anchovies anywhere, nor will there ever be. ===== Hermes threatens to cut Bender's salary since Bender has no official duties at Planet Express. Inspired by the Neptunian TV chef Elzar, Bender decides to become the ship's cook. Professor Farnsworth then sends the crew, accompanied by Amy and Dr. Zoidberg, on a delivery to the planet Trisol. After the ship lands, Fry is assigned the task of making the delivery across the desert under the heat of the planet's three suns. When he arrives at the Trisolian palace, he finds it empty. After eating a slug and drinking salt water provided by Bender, he becomes thirsty and drinks from a bottle containing a clear liquid that is sitting on the throne. Armed Trisolians, who are revealed to be liquid-based organisms, storm the throne room, revealing that the bottle Fry drank actually contained their emperor. Rather than being punished, Fry is declared the new emperor. The high priest informs Fry that as part of the coronation, Fry will have to recite the royal oath. The oath must be recited from memory, with the threat of death if a mistake is made. During the precoronation party, Leela informs Fry that all previous emperors were assassinated by their successors, and the average reign of a Trisolian emperor is only one week. When Fry takes no notice of her warning, Leela returns to the ship, vowing she will no longer help Fry. A Trisolian then attempts to "drink" Fry, but is unsuccessful, as Fry is solid. At the coronation, Fry recites the oath properly, due to having written it on his arm, and is sworn in as Fry the Solid. As the suns set, the Trisolians begin to glow—including the previous emperor, who is still alive inside Fry's stomach. He demands that Fry be cut open and drained. Fry, Bender, Amy, and Dr. Zoidberg take refuge from the Trisolians in the throne room while they try to find a way to extract the emperor without killing Fry. They decide that crying is the preferable method, but soon realize that Fry is too "macho" to cry properly. Needing help, Bender calls Leela on Fry's behalf, but gets an inconclusive response. Leela ultimately decides to help Fry in spite of her vow, and fights her way past Trisolian forces to reach the palace. Bender notices what is happening and lies to Fry by telling him that Leela is dead. This saddens Fry, and he begins crying. When Leela arrives, she begins beating Fry, causing him to weep in pain, gradually extracting the emperor. Fry takes this as a sign that Leela still cares for him, and thanks her. The crew members take turns beating Fry until the emperor is out, who beats Fry, as well, while thanking him. With the emperor safely outside Fry's body, the crew is allowed to leave, while the emperor beats Fry with a chair. ===== Professor Farnsworth invites the crew of Planet Express to join him at the Academy of Inventors' annual symposium, where inventors display their latest creations. He will be presenting his invention, the Deathclock, which displays the date of a person's death after that person's finger is stuck into the machine. At the symposium, the crew encounter one of Farnsworth's former students, Professor Ogden Wernstrom. When he was still a student, Wernstrom received an A-minus on a pop quiz and vowed revenge, even if it took him 100 years. Just over 99 years have passed, so Farnsworth considers himself to be essentially in the clear. Wernstrom presents his invention, a reverse SCUBA suit that allows fish to breathe water while walking about on land, demonstrated by his fish, named Cinnamon. He then taunts Farnsworth over his invention from the previous year—the Deathclock. Mortified that he had previously presented the device and forgotten about it, Farnsworth hastily begins drawing on a napkin. He presents the drawing, which depicts both a Smelloscope, a device that allows people to smell distant cosmic objects, and a doodle of himself as a cowboy. As the audience laughs, he sweats and wipes the napkin on his head by accident, blurring the picture. Wernstrom announces that the invention deserves "the worst grade imaginable: an A-minus-minus." Back at Planet Express, Farnsworth invites everybody to see the Smelloscope that he had constructed last year and also forgotten about. Fry begins smelling Jupiter, Saturn, and other objects around the solar system and quickly discovers the smelliest object in the universe. After calculating its trajectory, Farnsworth announces that the object will collide with New New York City in 72 hours, reducing it to a "stinky crater" (Bender immediately starts looting at this news). After some research, they find a video that reveals the object to be a giant ball of garbage from Old New York, launched into space from a mob-obtained rocket in 2052. After warning Mayor Poopenmayer, a plan is hatched to destroy the garbage ball. The Planet Express crew (being the only ones who will take on such a suicidal mission) is sent on a mission to plant a bomb on a fault line next to coffee areas and deposits of AOL floppy disks on the ball. Farnsworth also reminds them that if it blew up any time later, the explosion would cause garbage to rain across the entire Earth, killing millions. Then, once set off, the bomb will be set to allow the crew twenty-five minutes to escape. When the crew lands on the ball, Fry is amazed by all of the 20th-century items on the ball. Such as: a Beanie Baby, a Mister Spock collectors plate, and Bart Simpson dolls; but Leela reminds Fry that these things were garbage, which is why they are in the garbage ball in the first place. Unfortunately, after starting the bomb, they find out the Professor put the bomb's countdown display in upside down, and it actually only allows 52 seconds. The crew panics, and Bender throws the bomb into space to save them, where it explodes harmlessly. The crew returns to Earth in shame. The Mayor then sends for Wernstrom for help. Wernstrom demands tenure, a grant, and five research assistants, at least three of whom must be Chinese. When the mayor agrees to his conditions, Wernstrom reveals that he has no plan, declares that he is set for life, and leaves. In a last-ditch effort to redeem himself, Farnsworth comes up with a second plan to save the city: launching a second ball of garbage to bounce against the first one and sending it flying into the sun without smashing to bits. The Mayor exclaims that there has not been garbage in New New York for 500 years, so there is no way to make such a ball. Fry seizes the moment and demonstrates how to make garbage. An announcement is made to tell the city to throw away everything. The city quickly generates a second ball of garbage, which is fired at the first garbage ball. The rocket flies into the air and hits the other garbage ball, which first slingshots around planets, then sending it into the sun, while the new ball flies out of the solar system. For saving the city from the garbage ball, Professor Farnsworth is given the inventor's award, which was confiscated from Wernstrom as punishment for him being a jackass. Wernstrom comments "I will get you for this Farnsworth, even if it takes another 100 years!" The others quickly dismiss Leela's concerns that the new garbage ball will return and destroy a future generation. Professor Farnsworth replies that it will not be for hundreds of years, presumably by the year 4000, prompting Fry to say "That's the 20th Century spirit!" Over the closing credits, the song "We'll Meet Again" plays instead of the standard Futurama theme. ===== After a Beastie Boys concert, Bender attends a party with his old friend, Fender, a giant guitar amp. At the party Bender and the other robots abuse electricity by "jacking on," and Bender develops an addiction. After receiving a near-lethal dose from an electrical storm, Bender realizes he has a problem and searches for help. He joins the Temple of Robotology, accepting the doctrine of eternal damnation in Robot Hell should he sin. After baptizing him in oil, the Reverend Lionel Preacherbot welds the symbol of Robotology to Bender's case. As Bender begins to annoy his co-workers with his new religion, Fry and Leela decide they want the "old Bender" back. They fake a delivery to Atlantic City, New Jersey and tempt Bender with alcohol, prostitutes and easy targets for theft. He eventually succumbs, rips off the Robotology symbol and throws it away, causing it to beep ominously. While seducing three female robots, Bender is interrupted by a knock at his hotel room door. He opens the door and is knocked unconscious. He awakens to see the Robot Devil and finds himself in Robot Hell. The Robot Devil reminds Bender that he agreed to be punished for sinning when he joined Robotology. After discovering Bender is missing, Fry and Leela track him down using Nibbler's sense of smell. They eventually find the entrance to Robot Hell in an abandoned amusement park. A musical number starts as the Robot Devil begins detailing Bender's punishment. As the song ends, Fry and Leela arrive and try to reason with the Robot Devil on Bender's behalf. The Robot Devil tells them that the only way to win back Bender's soul is to beat him in a fiddle-playing contest, as required under the "Fairness in Hell Act of 2275". The Robot Devil goes first, playing Antonio Bazzini's "La Ronde des Lutins". Leela responds, having experience in playing the drums, but after a few notes it is clear Leela's fiddle-playing is pathetic, so she assaults the Robot Devil with the fiddle instead. As Fry, Leela, and Bender flee the Robot Devil's clutches, Bender steals the wings off a flying torture robot, attaches them to his back, and airlifts Fry and Leela to safety. Leela drops the heavy golden fiddle onto the Robot Devil's head, making them light enough to escape. Bender promises to never be too good or too evil, but to remain as he was before joining the Temple of Robotology. Over the closing credits, a remix of the show's theme song plays instead of the original version. ===== Falconer's Lure introduces Patrick Merrick, a key character in most of the ensuing Marlow books. Living on the neighbouring estate he was a childhood friend of Peter Marlow before WWII. He has spent the last two years at home, recovering from serious injuries sustained by falling off a cliff in search of baby falcons. The dangers of falconry, as well as its thrills, its demands and its sorrows are made very evident. The reader, like Nicola Marlow, is entranced by the falcons and Patrick's evident expertise. ===== Fry, Leela, and Bender hand their resignations to Professor Farnsworth after narrowly escaping another delivery with their lives, but reconsider when he announces that the Planet Express team will take a cruise on the maiden voyage of the largest space cruise ship ever built: the Titanic. As they board they are stopped by Zapp Brannigan, the ship's honorary captain. Attempting to avoid Brannigan's advances, Leela claims she is engaged to Fry. Bender meets the robot Countess de la Roca. Brannigan deviates from the ship's course, opting to fly through a swarm of comets. Amy unexpectedly runs into her parents who attempt to set Amy up with a date. To redirect her parents' attention, Amy claims Fry is her boyfriend, making Leela jealous. Bender meets the Countess again and pretends to be rich. At first he is only after her money, but he soon realizes he loves her. She learns Bender is a broke felon when he attempts to steal drinks from the bar. She tells him that she is not interested in his wealth; she loves him for his personality. Hermes is urged to participate in a limbo competition, but declines, as he was still recovering from guilt over an incident that occurred at the 2980 Olympics where a child trying to emulate him fatally broke his spine. Brannigan declares Leela the winner of the competition, despite her not being a contestant. She and Fry are invited to dinner at the captain's table. At dinner, both Brannigan and Amy's parents are present; they demand that Fry kiss his date. Before the fake relationships are exposed, Kif calls Brannigan to the bridge; the new course has endangered the ship. Brannigan attempts to correct the problem by piloting the ship too close to a black hole. Realizing the danger he has put them in, Brannigan promotes Kif to Captain before fleeing the ship. Outside, Fry and Leela nearly kiss before they are interrupted by the ship breaking in half. Bender heads off to save the Countess while the rest of the crew head for the escape pods. An airlock door closes, blocking the crew's escape. Zoidberg holds it open a few inches, but the door release is on the other side. Hermes resurrects his old limbo skills to squeeze under the door. Arriving at the escape pods, they meet Amy's parents, who have found Amy a new boyfriend: "Captain" Kif. After waiting as long as they can for Bender, the crew launches the escape pod. Bender leaps from the Titanic, Countess in tow. He grabs the escape pod, but they are overweight. The Countess sacrifices herself so the others may escape, upsetting Bender. Entering the pod, a heartbroken Bender says he will have her diamond bracelet to remind him of her. Bender then immediately asks Hermes what it's worth, who then examines it and tells Bender that it is not real, causing Bender to break down and cry. ===== Now based in London, Varela's company takes him into unusual and sometimes dangerous situations. Impeccably dressed, cigar smoking and using his wit, ingenuity, and charm, which would often involve a damsel in distress. Assisted by Chin, a resourceful Chinese manservant, and Miss Carter, an ultra-efficient secretary.The ITV Encyclopedia of Adventure Later episodes introduced Bill Randall, a businessman, who became the boyfriend of Miss Carter and then an employee of Varela. ===== Sixth Happiness is about Brit, a boy born with brittle bones who never grows taller than four feet, and his sexual awakening as family life crumbles around him. It is also about the Parsi or Parsees – descendants of the Persian empire who were driven out of Persia by an Islamic invasion more than a thousand years ago and settled in western India. Parsees had a close relationship with the British during the years of the Raj. Brit is named by his mother, both after his brittle bones, and in tribute to his mother's love of Britain. Brit's family is non-stereotypical: his parents are ardent Anglophiles with fond memories of the Raj and World War II. Brit is bright, spiky, opinionated and selfish with a razor-sharp wit, never a martyr or victim. He prefers the Kama Sutra to Shakespeare and does not allow gender or disability to come in the way of his desire for sex and love. ===== Professional racecar driver Frank Capua (Paul Newman) meets divorcee Elora (Newman's real-life wife Joanne Woodward). After a whirlwind romance they are married. Charley (Richard Thomas), Elora's teenage son by her first husband, becomes very close to Frank, and helps him prepare his cars for his races. But Frank is so dedicated to his career that he neglects his wife, who has an affair with Frank's main rival on the race track, Luther Erding (Robert Wagner). Frank finds them in bed together and storms out. The couple separate, but Frank still sees Charley regularly. Frank's bitterness fuels his dedication to his work, and he becomes a much more aggressive driver. At the Indianapolis 500, Elora and Charley watch while Frank drives the race of his life and wins. After winning, Frank attends a victory party. He is uninterested when attractive women throw themselves at him, and he slips away. Luther finds Frank and apologizes to him for the affair, but Frank punches him. Frank visits Elora and tells her he wants to start again. Elora is unsure. The film ends with a freeze-frame as the two look uncertainly at each other. ===== ===== The Marlow sisters, less Karen and Rowan, return for another term at Kingscote School for Girls. As the title suggests, the focus of this book is on the "End of Term" activities, particularly the Christmas Play performed in Wade Minster. Skullduggery over the netball team and a visit from their frightening Grandmother make this a less than enjoyable term for Nicola Marlow. ===== Mrs. Mooney, separated from her husband, a butcher who descended into alcoholism, runs a boarding house for working men. Her daughter Polly entertains the boarders by singing and flirting with them. Mrs. Mooney learns that her daughter is having an affair with Mr. Doran, a man in his mid-thirties who has worked in a Catholic wine- merchant’s office for many years. On Sunday nights, Polly would sing with the various guests in the boarding house. It is noted that she sings "I'm a naughty girl," which Zack Bowen suggests foreshadows her affair with Mr. Doran. Mrs. Mooney bides her time before she intervenes, strongly implying that she is deliberately trying to trap Mr. Doran. After much background, the climax of the story commences on a warm Sunday morning. Mrs. Mooney intends to talk to Mr. Doran and demand that he marry Polly or risk open disclosure. The narration then shifts to Doran’s point-of-view as he nervously contemplates losing his job due to the affair and bemoans the girl’s lower-class background and vulgarities of speech. After Polly enters in an agitated state, we learn through Doran’s memories that she initiated the relationship. After Doran leaves the room, Polly seems content, suggesting that she was putting on a show of anguish for his sake. The story closes with Mrs. Mooney calling Polly down so that Mr. Doran can speak to her. ===== MegaRace takes place in the distant future, where the player is a contestant on a game show, called "MegaRace". MegaRace is on the VWBT (Virtual World Broadcast Television) television channel where contestants compete in a live-or-die race match against Hells Angels-like speed gangs. MegaRace's host is the eccentric Lance Boyle (played by Christian Erickson). He guides the player throughout the game, introducing new levels and enemies, frequently discouraging the player. ===== The novel starts with a phone call, "Mr McCrindle's fence has gone slack", and sees the three main characters duly dispatched to the scene of Tam and Richie's previous job, which they have left in a hurry. The ensuing Kafkaesque incidents set the tone for the rest of the novel, where Tam, Richie, and the narrator find themselves "sent off" to England in work-related "exile". ===== The story alternates between two timelines: the world of Michael Poole in the year 2047, and that of Alia, a posthuman girl who lives approximately half a million years in the future. Engineer Michael Poole is recovering from the death of Morag, his pregnant wife. Poole works as a consultant designing space propulsion systems, and dreams of being able to one day explore the stars. However, there are more pressing matters; humanity faces a serious bottleneck, with the Earth reeling from the effects of anthropogenic climate change and resource depletion; automobile production has all but ceased, except for hydrogen-based mass transit, and air travel is limited to the very rich. Due to climate change, the oceans have become dead zones, with rising sea levels and severe weather displacing millions. While working in Siberia, Michael's son Tom is injured by an explosion of methane gas from previously frozen hydrates, suddenly released from the now-melting tundra. Michael begins to research whether this is an isolated incident or the beginning of something more serious. With the help of an artificial sentience named Gea, he discovers that a potential release of all such frozen greenhouse gasses could destabilise the environment enough to make the Earth untenable for human habitation, in a repeat of the Permian extinction. Michael consults members of the Poole family, who come together to work on the problem. Tom, John, and the elderly George (a principal character of Coalescent) reunite, and a maverick geoengineering company funds the project. Michael designs a subsurface refrigeration system that could stabilise the frozen hydrates. Meanwhile, Michael continues to be haunted by visions of his dead wife, apparitions he has been seeing his entire life, even before he first met her. He becomes obsessed with discovering the origin of this phenomenon, and his quest for answers drives a wedge between him and his family. Aunt Rosa Poole (from Coalescent), a Catholic priest and ex-member of the Order, helps Michael research the problem, drawing on her vast knowledge, stemming in small part from her relationship with the Coalescent hive and its historical archives. The rest of the Poole family joins the investigation when Morag appears during a trial test of the engineering project. This time, everyone sees Morag, even observing drones recording the event. After the project is bombed by a terrorist group, Morag goes from being an apparition to reincarnating in physical reality. This frightens everyone, even Michael. 500,000 years in the future, the Nord, a generation ship, sails through the galaxy carrying Alia, a young girl, and her family. As part of a government program called the "Redemption", Alia is obligated to witness the life of Michael Poole, from start to finish. Pressured by her family to leave the ship, Alia becomes a candidate for the Transcendence, a collective group of immortal posthumans who are attempting to evolve into a form of godhood, in effect leaving their humanity behind. After travelling the galaxy and observing several posthuman life forms, Alia travels to Earth to meet the Transcendence. Alia learns the Transcendence is attempting to redeem the past suffering of all humans, first by witnessing every single one as Alia witnessed, then by living as every single human and experiencing everything that they experienced. However, since observing is not seen as sufficient for redemption, the Transcendence ultimately desires to erase all suffering in the past, thereby ensuring that every human that could have existed does so. Lastly, if that is seen as too great a task, the Transcendence is prepared to reach back in time and stop humans from ever existing, thereby "erasing" the suffering that they intend to redeem. Upset about the goals of the Transcendence, Alia makes her way back to the Nord, only to find that it has been attacked in an attempt to get her to go back and face the Transcendence by a group who believes the Redemption is a mistake. Upon returning to the Transcendence, Alia agrees to find a human who can join the Transcendence long enough to debate the Redemption and help them find the best course of action. To do so, Alia projects herself into the past, to the time of Michael Poole. She appears to him as his dead wife, but changes into her true form, that of a different small, hairy primate, a form evolved for low gravity environments. Alia convinces Michael to face the Transcendence. After an initial period of adjustment Michael makes contact with the Transcendence. Able to see both sides of the argument, Michael forgives the Transcendence for their meddling, but asks that they stop their efforts. Michael is returned to his own time, where he successfully completes the refrigeration project. The Kuiper anomaly, first introduced in Coalescent, disappears, and is revealed to be related to Alia's connection with Michael, having first appeared in the solar system at the time of Michael's birth. In the far future, the Transcendence collapses and the Witnessing program is shut down. ===== As Peter prepares to leave for work, he backs his car out of the driveway, hitting Brian, who needs treatment at a hospital. Upon Brian's return, Peter makes too much of an effort to welcome him back into the family. Meanwhile, Meg makes friends with a girl named Sarah at her school, unaware that she is about to be offered a place in the Lesbian Alliance Club. After speaking with Neil Goldman, she realizes that she is now considered a lesbian by the group and prepares to drop out; however, when she realizes the effect being a member may have on her social status (finding herself more popular as a lesbian), she pretends to be one. Meanwhile, Brian becomes depressed after the accident, but after speaking with Frank Sinatra Jr., he begins to perform with him, changing his outlook on life to that of positivity. After being told of Brian's new lifestyle, the family is impressed and encourage him to continue. However, when he is invited by Sinatra to perform with him again, their duo is interrupted by Stewie, who joins the performance. Meanwhile, Meg tells the family that she is now a lesbian, but is mocked by Lois, knowing that she is not being honest. Even as they do so, Chris and Quagmire exit Meg's closet, having attempted to film some lesbian interaction. Meanwhile, Brian and Stewie continue their performances across Quahog with Sinatra. In a drunken condition following a performance, Brian loses Stewie, which results in Stewie's ear being bitten off by a deer. Peter says that Brian will stop performing with Sinatra immediately and threatens to telephone Sinatra's "mother" Mia Farrow. Angry at Peter's bossiness, Brian bites his arm, which leaves Peter afraid of him; the next day, Brian tries to reconcile with Peter, but Peter, still scared, only pelts him with furniture, dishes and Stewie, angering Brian who storms off in a rage. Brian, regretful of biting Peter, quits performing with Stewie and Sinatra, resorting to drinking wine from a gutter. However, Brian regains his confidence when Stewie finds him, where he tells Brian that there are things in life which are beyond his control, telling him that even though they aren't in his control, they do matter, contrary to Brian's common beliefs. Meanwhile, Meg prepares to tell Sarah that she is not a lesbian and that she only pretended to be in order to make friends; however, Sarah is in her underwear, believing Meg has come to her house to have sex with her. They are both interrupted by Quagmire and his production team filming their antics. The episode ends with Stewie, Brian and Frank Sinatra Jr. singing once more at a club until Mia Farrow (called in by Peter) intervenes, reprimanding Frank for "hanging out 'till all hours with a baby and a dog", and spanks him in front of the audience, much to his chagrin. ===== Pooja Dharamchand (Pooja Bhatt) is the daughter of a rich Bombay shipping tycoon, Seth Dharamchand (Anupam Kher). She is head-over-heels in love with movie star Deepak Kumar (Sameer Chitre), but her father strongly disapproves of their courtship. One night, Pooja escapes from her father's yacht and hops onto a bus to Bangalore to be with Deepak, who is shooting for a film there. Meanwhile, Seth Dharamchand, realizing his daughter has run away, dispatches private detectives to locate her. Aboard the bus, Pooja meets Raghu Jetley (Aamir Khan), a loud-mouth journalist who has just lost his job. He offers to help her in exchange for an exclusive story on her, which would revive his flagging career. Pooja is forced to agree to his demands, as he threatens to let her father know of her whereabouts should she not comply. After both of them happen to miss the bus, Raghu and Pooja go through various adventures together and find themselves falling in love with one another. Raghu desires to marry Pooja, but knows that financially he is in no shape to do so. Pooja also falls for Raghu and she decides to go with him, but a misunderstanding leads her to believe that Raghu was just looking for a story and not her love. She calls it quits, returns home and agrees to marry Deepak. However, her father learns about Raghu when he comes to him to take back his money, spent by Raghu on Pooja on his way to Bangalore. He realises how Raghu has taken care of Pooja during the trip. Pooja misunderstands him and believes that he might have come for the reward announced by her rich father. At last her father tells Pooja that Raghu is the right man for her and that he has not come for the reward. On the wedding day she realises that Raghu really loves her and then runs away from the marriage mandap (hall) to Raghu with her father's support. ===== On board Enterprise, the Universal Translator has resulted in a minor diplomatic incident with the Kreetassans. Later, Ensign Sato analyzes their language and finds that each word can have a dozen meanings depending upon its context. As the Kreetassan vessel departs, a clear, amoeba- like entity crosses to Enterprise, and systems begin to malfunction on a ship- wide basis. Crewmen Rostov and Kelly are both trapped in a cargo-hold by the entity which has now grown tendrils. Captain Archer, Commander Tucker, Lieutenant Reed and another crewman go to investigate and are all caught as well, except Reed who escapes through the cargo-hold-hatch, severing one of the tendrils in the process. Ensign Mayweather suggests tracking the Kreetassans down to ask about the entity, while Doctor Phlox examines the severed tendril. He determines that those entrapped are becoming symbiotically linked together through the entity. Sato wants to communicate with it, but Sub-Commander T'Pol decides to neutralize it instead. Mayweather manages to find the Kreetassans, asking for any information they may have. They agree to share the location of the entity's home world, but only after Mayweather apologizes for the earlier incident. Apparently the "misunderstanding" occurred when the Kreetassans were taken to the mess-hall to find many of the crew eating in public, which they regard as vulgar. T'Pol, Sato, and Reed make their way to the cargo-bay to attempt communication. Reed assembles experimental force-field-emitters, which are able to protect them from the entity's tendrils. Sato uses the Universal-Translator to modulate a frequency that the entity can understand. After several attempts, the entity responds. It gives them new, more precise coordinates on its home-world, and Phlox notices that the bio-signs of the trapped personnel are stabilizing. The entity then releases the personnel, shrinking back to its original size. On the entity's planet, both organisms are released and are quickly re-absorbed into a larger alien body. As the shuttle-pod returns to Enterprise, dawn breaks and the entire area is revealed to be covered with a single huge organism. ===== Enterprise is on a course for Risa to take shore leave when they respond to a distress call from a ship experiencing engine problems. Its leader, Zobral, invites Captain Archer and Commander Tucker to his home planet. Later, Enterprise is hailed from the planet by Chancellor Trellit of the Torothan government, who tells Sub- Commander T'Pol that Zobral and his men are terrorists, and they will probably never see Archer and Trip again. She hails Archer to warn him, and he makes an excuse to leave. Zobral entreats them to stay, so he may explain the real reason for inviting Archer to the planet. In his home he tells Archer that after years of suffering abuse by the oppressive Torothan government, and steadily failing attempts of resistance against it, his people are in dire need, and have been searching for outside help. He then very respectfully begs Archer's assistance and use of Enterprises resources to defeat his people's oppressors. Archer tells Zobral that he doesn't know what he can do, Zobral thinks he is only being humble, and tells Archer he had recently been told by a Suliban transport captain of Archer's outstanding bravery, exceptional abilities, and recent liberation of "thousands" of Suliban prisoners from a detention camp, defeating an entire army in the process (as seen in episode Detained). Before Archer and Trip are able to correct the story Zobral has related to them, the Torothan government begins bombarding the village. Archer and Tucker are reluctantly but quickly led to a shelter, where they remain until the house above them is destroyed. They then exit the shelter, grab survival packs from their shuttlepod and leave on foot, heading east across the desert to escape to another encampment. Eventually they take shelter from the heat in a deserted building, and Archer tends to Tucker, who is now suffering from heatstroke. Meanwhile, on Enterprise, Lieutenant Reed detects weapons fire on the surface, and Ensign Sato can't hail Archer as the region is being jammed. Trellit informs T'Pol that any shuttlepod entering the area will be considered an enemy vessel and fired upon. The Torothans also erect a dispersion field to prevent Enterprise from scanning the surface. Zobral rendezvous with Enterprise and is met by T'Pol and Reed, who inform him that although the account he received from the passing trader of Archer's liberation of the Suliban prisoners was indeed true, it was nonetheless wildly exaggerated, and that Archer was not such an invincible warrior as he was led to believe. Initially angered and disappointed, Zobral turns to leave, but is eventually persuaded to help T'Pol and Reed sneak a shuttlepod past the Torothan defenses in order to locate Archer and Trip. While searching for bio- signs, T'Pol observes a bombardment of the ruined encampment from a distant battery, and orders that a new course be set, believing the Torothans to have located them. After destroying the Torothan mortar, they land and collect the pair. Aboard Enterprise, Zobral prepares to leave, and Archer tells him that becoming involved in planetary conflicts is not the reason why Starfleet is exploring the galaxy. As they walk away, T'Pol tells Archer that he did the right thing, but Archer replies that he has a feeling that Zobral's cause is a cause worth fighting for. =====