A little TV Talk

Spoiler Alert for shows Prison Break and LOST

Let's start off with the question from Mike Z. since he is the only one apparently asking questions consistently. We thank you Mike and congratulations on your excellent law school performance. Keep it up.

Where would you rank this season of Prison Break among the all time biggest disappointments in television history? Or, how would you would you rank it on a disappointment scale?

Let's name off some TV disappointments in history.
1. I heard the show Dallas is probably number one although I never watched an episode. They basically made an entire season and the erased it by saying it was a dream the next year.

2. 24 last season--I thought it was the worst season and I really just hope Jack Bauer jumped off that cliff.

3. The Practice--how it ended? I loved this show and it just kind of drained off and ended. They had Lindsey kill William Hinks (Michael Emerson aka Ben in LOST). William Hinks was the first time I saw Emerson as the creepiest character in history. He portrayed a guy that killed numerous women, but pleaded insanity. He played off the entire thing to a jury that let him off on insanity and in a chilling episode, he reveals that he played all the lawyers and that he is actually nowhere near insane. Then he becomes a threat and one of the lawyers kills him to which she gets off on a technicality or something. Then they kind of had a divorce and the show which was really just excellent just sort of fell of the face of the Earth.

4. The OC--this show lost Mischa Barton to a car crash I think? She was the staple of the show and they just kind of let her go. I didn't watch the third season at all, but I did watch the first 2 and I really don't know why. I seriously wasted that time in my life and apologize to the world for not doing something during the time I watched the OC.

5. Entourage--I still love this show, but didn't we all just want Medellin to be the best movie ever and everyone to be happy. (I looked for 2 minutes to find the correct spelling of Medellin)

I rank Prison Break as an absolute colossal (that word is tough to spell). Speaking of spelling, let's review the 4 years I participated in the Garfield Elementary spelling bee.

Grade 3: I steamrolled the competition knocking off every 8-9 year old in the city. Skull was the winning word and I remember scoffing at the competition as I confidently took it down and shattered the dreams of everyone.

Grade 4: Expected a repeat performance, I went deep this year. Down to the final 5, they threw me a piece of cake word rabbit. I mean seriously, how much easier can it really. I stepped up to the microphone and said as fast as possible "rabbit r-a-b-i....." and I paused as I knew my doom was near. I knew the rule was once you began you couldn't stop. It was a choke. I knew the word. I knew exactly how to spell it. I used to read every damn book out there about animals. I had a fact file on every animal. I finished off the fake spelling throwing a t out there knowing my fate had been sealed.

Grade 5: I believe I got one word right in this spelling bee. In round two, they threw me to the wolves. They asked me to spell oppose. To this day, I swear the teacher pronounced it "A-pose." If I wasn't sweating my brains out to try and redeem myself, I might have asked for a definition or sentence or anything, but I just said "a p p o s e " XXXXXXX

Grade 6: Round 1. Atmosphere. I knew how to spell it again. I knew exactly how to do this. To be honest, I think I threw this one because it wasn't cool to win the spelling bee in sixth. And no one wanted to face that phenom from Hopkins, an unnamed spelling artist that chewed opponents up and could spell better than Webster. I threw an L in there somewhere after the t for no reason. I hate myself to this day for my lack of performance.

Back to Prison Break...

This show went from one of the most promising shows in existence with a great framework for season 3. Everything was in place. We saw the bald guy that never talked to anyone say "we have Scofield where we want him." This alone made the show genius. The first two seasons and everything that happened was some bigger plot that somehow hinted towards Scofield being a superpower specimen of the "Company." His love for Sara T. was something that gave the show a softer side and balanced out the action, killing, and constant terrible moral decisions. Sara was one of the best actresses on the show. Then, we find out her head is chopped off or something by one of the worst characters in the history of television that annoying Gretchen. The new prison is just a strange society and the prison is impossible to get out of. We haven't been given a single piece of information relating the bald guy. We have been given a piece of information related to anything. It has just been a strangely awkward season and the writers obviously have no direction for the show. What I thought was genius about the show, probably never even existed except in my own imagination. This show is toast and one of the most giant disappointments ever. It beats anything on my list above because of the potential. This show won't gain anymore viewers and I hardly expect it to be continued when the Writer's strike resumes.


LOST (spoiler alert) Episode 2 Season 4

Well, I was write about what "Confirmed Dead" meant and I still think I'm right about the boat being DHARMA related. It would make sense since every one of the new characters appears to have some area of scientific or supernatural specialization that relates to what DHARMA was studying. I think this season has a ton of potential and since I hear the writer's strike is over, I'm really hoping we get to see the full season.

The key questions for me are:

1. If Ben knows everything about the boat, who is the mole and how did they communicate with Ben? Wasn't everything being jammed from the island?

2. What is the purpose of the talking to the dead guy? Is he there to communicate with the island's dead and what does Abbadon know about this? Abbadon appears to be what a lot of people predicted to be a big overarching conspiracy?

3. I'm still wondering where Penny fits into all of this. How did Naomi and their team know to use the rescue Desmond idea? How do they relate to Penny's search team? Desmond wasn't on the plane remember, so how did they even know he was on the island? Something tells me that they are somehow related to Penny's dad who we have seen in the past.

I don't really think there are many other important things. This episode was good but wasn't great. It seemed necessary to introduce the plot for this upcoming season and open up myriads of questions.


I had a very disappointing exit from the HORSE tournament tonight. I consider myself a very good player in all the games played here. I know I'm not perfect because there are so many different situations, but I really don't make too many mistakes. One Stud Hi/Lo hand that really cost me the tournament, I'll describe below.


Full Tilt Poker Game #5166952450: FTOPS Event #3 (35825861), Table 46 - 600/1200 Ante 100 - Limit Stud H/L - 0:57:46 ET - 2008/02/08
Seat 1: pokerbrutas (18,843)
Seat 2: CrystalBalla (37,666)
Seat 3: bigdogpckt5s (6,507)
Seat 5: k0derkid (20,510)
Seat 6: epokerounder (7,844)
Seat 7: BlackJackLeak (20,794)
Seat 8: kice32 (11,824)
pokerbrutas antes 100
CrystalBalla antes 100
bigdogpckt5s antes 100
k0derkid antes 100
epokerounder antes 100
BlackJackLeak antes 100
kice32 antes 100
*** 3RD STREET ***
Dealt to pokerbrutas [7d]
Dealt to CrystalBalla [6c]
Dealt to bigdogpckt5s [Ts]
Dealt to k0derkid [9s]
Dealt to epokerounder [4c]
Dealt to BlackJackLeak [Js]
Dealt to kice32 [Ah Kd] [Kh]
epokerounder is low with [4c]
epokerounder brings in for 200
BlackJackLeak folds
DutchVinny (Observer): nh
kice32 completes it to 600 (I'm not sure I love my raise here, but with a lot of weak high cards showing and 4 6 7 as the low cards, I feel like I should take a shot at taking down the pot here. I don't expect to be playing against another high hand in the pot.)
pokerbrutas calls 600
CrystalBalla raises to 1,200
bigdogpckt5s folds
k0derkid folds
epokerounder folds
kice32 calls 600
pokerbrutas calls 600
*** 4TH STREET ***
Dealt to pokerbrutas [7d] [Td]
Dealt to CrystalBalla [6c] [Kc] (Ok so he raised here with a 6c showing. It's important to note that the 4 of clubs is out as that is a blocker card as is the 7 diamonds. Blocker cards are those that prevent the low from making a straight or flush along with their low which gives a high hand the chance to jam a hand when the other player is still drawing to a low.)
Dealt to kice32 [Ah Kd Kh] [Qs]
kice32 bets 600 ( I bet here because they both pick up a high card here, but it does make them both suited, so I want to get information)
pokerbrutas calls 600
CrystalBalla raises to 1,200
kice32 raises to 1,800 ( I don't really love my 3 bet here, but at the time the K he got doesn't really scare me)
pokerbrutas folds
CrystalBalla raises to 2,400 (when he reraises, I put him on only two hands, a 4 club with 3 low cards or rolled up 6 6 6)
kice32 calls 600
*** 5TH STREET ***
Dealt to CrystalBalla [6c Kc] [4d]
Dealt to kice32 [Ah Kd Kh Qs] [As]
kice32 bets 1,200 ( I pick up two pair here and he picks up a 4 of diamonds. If a club falls for him, I think I just give up the hand completely) At this point though, I still assume that he has a club draw. When he raises, I'm a little concerned now but it could also just be a big draw)
CrystalBalla raises to 2,400
kice32 calls 1,200
*** 6TH STREET ***
Dealt to CrystalBalla [6c Kc 4d] [6s] (a six? Hmmm must not be rolled up sixes because that would be kind of weird now wouldn't it. At this point, I'm thoroughly convinced, I have the best hand and he is drawing. With that being the case, I make a bet here as he is still drawing_
Dealt to kice32 [Ah Kd Kh Qs As] [Qc]
kice32 bets 1,200
CrystalBalla calls 1,200 (He just calls. 100% a draw now and he has a lot of cards to help him here probably. A club wins him the high hand if I don't hit any of the remaining 5 cards that make me a full house. A low card would win him the low and it's possible he has like 7 8 6 of clubs with the 4, so a 5 is straight for the scoop.)
*** 7TH STREET ***
Dealt to kice32 [Ah Kd Kh Qs As Qc] [2d]
kice32 checks ( A check here is the 100% correct play. I'm only getting called by something that's beating me or better yet raised.)
CrystalBalla bets 1,200
kice32 calls 1,200
*** SHOW DOWN ***
CrystalBalla shows [8c 7c 6c Kc 4d 6s 5h] a straight, Eight high, for high and 8,7,6,5,4, for low
kice32 mucks (As expected, I really put him on the exact hand when I playing this. He started with a monster 8 7 6 of clubs. Then he had a flush draw, then he had a low draw. It really is almost a race in stud hi/lo.)
CrystalBalla wins the high pot (9,750) with a straight, Eight high
CrystalBalla wins the low pot (9,750) with 8,7,6,5,4
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 19,500 | Rake 0
Seat 1: pokerbrutas folded on 4th St.
Seat 2: CrystalBalla showed [8c 7c 6c Kc 4d 6s 5h] and won (19,500) with HI: a straight, Eight high; LO: 8,7,6,5,4
Seat 3: bigdogpckt5s folded on 3rd St.
Seat 5: k0derkid folded on 3rd St.
Seat 6: epokerounder folded on 3rd St.
Seat 7: BlackJackLeak folded on 3rd St.
Seat 8: kice32 mucked [Ah Kd Kh Qs As Qc 2d] - HI: two pair, Aces and Kings

I"m not sure if I played this hand properly. I think I should have controlled the pot better with my weak hand. The only problem is that I really was in bad position against a hand that was drawing to a dominating hand. I should have just called the initial bet and hoped to improve and let the action develop. I made the plays I had to make based on my read on the later streets and was unlucky to have the any 5, 6 or club come for the scoop, but that's poker.


This is a cool hand I think and one that I'm going to learn from. When you have a high hand against a low, this is almost always when you get in trouble in Stud Hi/Lo. Getting deep in a tournament, you really only have one big hand that you have to be right on every time in order to do well. At the same time, this was a race situation, but I could have prevented it by being more patient and finding better spots.