Kafelnikov

This episode starts at night and the gang is at Anthony's. Dan is at the bar with a very good-looking woman, and he is yammering away in that tone of voice that instantly lets you know he is attempting to pick up a woman. It's the tone of voice all men adopt when we start talking about ourselves, that tone of voice that conveys a slight touch of bashfulness, almost as if talking about ourselves embarrasses us, but at the same time, we're proud of what we do and love life and are not afraid of a little introspection or self-analysis and are not afraid to seem just a little, yes, vulnerable sometimes. And, hey, sure Dan Rydell may seem like a completely self-assured big kahuna on Sports Night, but as he faux-reluctantly reveals to this woman, he had an unhappy childhood and didn't get the things he needed as a kid and what happens is "you come to rely on the love of three or four million strangers," and he looks soulfully at the woman at this last bit, and I have to say Dan is pretty good at this shtick, even nailing the recommended eye contact. I'm very impressed he didn't tack on something cheesy like "...or maybe all I need is the love of one beautiful stranger," but he probably realized that this woman looks too smart for that. "What happens when they go away?" she asks. Dan pauses, looks away, and says, "Well, you try to avoid that," and takes a sip of his drink. The woman looks over her shoulder and sees this creepy-looking extra standing there staring at them, not saying or doing anything. The woman says she has to go, because "the guy I came with looks like he's ready to go," like maybe Creepy Extra sent out some sort of vibe or something, making her look. Dan says, "I'm Dan Rydell," so I guess he didn't explain who he is or what he does after all, which would only make that "love of three or four million strangers" line seem pretty skanky to potential pickups. Luckily, the woman knows who he is and Dan says, "Thank you," but then admits he assumed she knew who he is. Uh oh! Careful, Dan! Your Vulnerable Sensitive Man is in danger of morphing into Drunken Braggart! Quick! Mention your love of Yeats! How much you love cooking! How your volunteerism at the Y is "all about the kids"! Hurry! Anything! Whew, not necessary. The woman says, "Abby Jacobs," and gives Dan her card and tells him he should call her, and she leaves, and Dan puts the card in his pocket and looks back over his shoulder at the departed Abby, clearly thinking, "Sweeeet."

At a table, Dana is working on a crossword puzzle, and she asks Casey's help on every single clue, and then he gives her the answer and she writes it down. "So what about this?" says Casey. "What?" says Dana. "Right here, right now?" says Casey. Jesus Jones! I love that song! If he name-checks the Soup Dragons too, I'm going to be freaked out. Dana has no idea what he's talking about. "Wouldn't this be considered a date?" says Casey. And, of course, she says no, and she explains The Dating Plan for him again and for any viewer who maybe had never watched an episode of Sports Night before. Judging by its ratings, I guess that's pretty much everyone in the world. Casey says his point is that if an outside observer, some "loner," were to see them in this bar, that observer would assume they were on a date. "He'd be wrong," says Dana. Casey says, "The loner's a fairly bright guy, he's known for his smarts." If that's the case, this loner would notice the woman doing a crossword puzzle, not the hallmark of a great date. Dana says, "The longer you wait, the longer you wait," which Casey interprets as meaning that he should get on with dating other women. HOW MANY TIMES can we watch this scene, which we have already seen about 100 million times as it consists of Casey arguing against the Dating Plan, Dana sticking to her guns, and Casey smiling and agreeing to it because it's what Dana wants? I swear, whenever the Dating Plan came up on this damn show, it was the only time I was glad the show was just half an hour long.

Oh, wait, the other time was when Jeremy goes into his Dorky Proclamation mode, as he is about to in this scene. Jeremy and Natalie walk up to the table and Jeremy says, "I am victorious," and Natalie confirms it. "Jeremy fixed the K-Y thing," says Natalie, and Jeremy hastily corrects her and says, "The Y2K thing," and cheap laughs aside, Sorkin, I do not buy Natalie making that mistake. Anyway, Dana tries to explain that they're bringing in a professional to look after that problem, which Jeremy says is not necessary, and Dana is of course really worried because "our entire organization runs on computers," and Jeremy says "yes" and giggles in that way that only computer geeks do, when someone mixes up "internet" and "ethernet" or some such egregious error. "What have you done?" says Dana. "I've done nothing less than face down the millennium and show it who's in charge," says Jeremy, and such annoying non-answers don't win him any points in my book. Dana asks him if he at least used a manual, and Jeremy makes this "Come on!" face and says, "Dana, this is my area!" and Natalie once again agrees. Dana says, "Listen, just because you're a nerd..." which was pretty funny, but J+N cut her off and explain that tomorrow they're running a test. "What kind of test?" says Dana. "A K-Y test," says Natalie, in a joke-rehashing that I DIDN'T BUY THE FIRST TIME you used it, Sorkin, seemingly hours ago. Jeremy corrects her again and explains to Dana that tomorrow he'll recalibrate the computers to believe it's January 1, 2000. You'd think a computer geek like Jeremy would know that computers don't believe anything, but I'll let that one slide. Jeremy says the test will prove the station is Y2K compatible and while we're on the subject, how annoying is it to be recapping this episode while we are STILL hearing references to "the new millennium" in conjunction with completely unrelated concepts, as though "the first Stanley Cup champs of the new millennium" or whatever are somehow even more special than any team that's won it in the past. And we're not through yet, because in a few months all the math geeks will remind us yet again that the new millennium doesn't actually start until 2001, as if it matters since the only reason we're hearing about it at all is because of society's tendency to arbitrarily attach significance to large round numbers, ESPECIALLY since it has only been 2,000 years since the estimated birth of a guy not everyone believes in anyway, like maybe I should have asked my Jewish friends their thoughts on this.

Anyway, Jeremy says, "You'll see I am facing the new millennium as the servant of no master. And you'll take back that 'nerd' thing." As if this doesn't completely reinforce the whole "nerd" thing. After much consideration, Dana agrees. Jeremy stands up and says, "Natalie? Shot and a beer," and she says, "Okay." "Or if they have Mountain Dew," says Jeremy, as his Inner Wuss returns. Natalie takes him by the hand and they walk off. Why is he giving her his drink order if they're going together anyway? And do they have to hold hands everywhere? Dana: "Give the slip, five letters." Casey: "Elude." Dana, without a trace of irony: "I finished the crossword!"

Back from commercials, Jeremy is walking through the newsroom yelling at all the extras that they're more than welcome to watch the test, as if any of these extras are welcome anywhere the regular cast is, or perhaps that should be "regular caste." Of course, everybody ignores him, and he tells them to wish him luck, and again he gets nothing in response, since that would require giving one of the unclean extras a line.

At the desk, Dan is talking about Abby. Casey, who hasn't exactly been sweating up the sheets with the object of his desire, is being a wet blanket. "I talked to her all night," says Danny. "You talked to her for twenty minutes," says Casey. Kim struts by and tells them to sit down so they can get started with the test. Casey sits down, and we hear a wheeze of air as Casey's chair breaks and he slowly descends until only his head is visible over the desk. Danny giggles. "This Y2K thing is serious, man," says Casey.

In the control room, Dana wants to know what the thing to Danny is. "It's the top of Casey's head," says Natalie. Dana starts to laugh and walks out on the set and says, "Can we get him a new chair, please?" like good thing she said that, I doubt anyone else could have figured that out. The TCs start going through their lingo, making Dana jumpy. "There's no way we're actually broadcasting this preposterous exercise," she says and everyone reassures her. "We're just simulating this preposterous exercise," says Elliot. "Let's do it, baby!" yells Jeremy, clapping his hands and receiving a stare from Dana. "You weren't just talking to me, right?" says Dana. Jeremy, cowed, says he was just saying it in general. The show goes "live." The fake stories they go with: "Luciano Pavarotti shocks the track world by running the 100 metres in six seconds. [Dan's[ mom hits for the cycle. And Martini Hingis sings selections from No, No, Nanette." And I see this getting really old really fast. They go to commercial. "So far, so good," says Natalie. "I'd say a little better than good," says Jeremy, as he smugly and annoyingly lists everything that's working. Dana grows visibly weary of this. "Sandbags on the levee, some plywood on the windows, a little thing called human endeavour," says Jeremy. "Are you almost finished?" sighs Dana. "I'm just saying we have nothing to fear," says Jeremy. You know, testosterone displays by small-dicked men are bad enough, but when the supposed proof of manhood is the correction of a computer bug, I'll side with the Porsche drivers, thank you. Dana says, "And I'm just saying you must have been beat up a lot in high school." "Yeah," says Jeremy, as his smile disappears and the scene ends on an awkward image of Jeremy being pummelled.

At the desk, Dan and Casey are sneaking out from behind the set piece they were behind, and the break was two minutes so draw your own conclusions. "She has a name," says Dan. "The girl at the bar?" says Casey. "The girl at the bar has a name," says Dan. You get the idea. I'm going to go into the other room and watch paint dry for a couple of hours to get myself a little more revved up for this scene. For some reason, Dan is mad that Casey keeps calling her "the girl in the bar" because, as Danny says, "She's not this girl who hangs out at bars," as if there's anything wrong with that. "I like girls who hang out at bars," says Casey. "Me too," admits Dan. Dan keeps going on and on about Abby right up until they come back from their break. We hear Dave say, "In three, two..." and Casey gets ready to speak, but some anonymous extra walks right in front of the camera, startling him. I'm assuming it was a scripted bit, but they pulled it off like it was a genuine blunder and it was pretty funny and you hear the crew laughing in the control room. Casey teases some more made-up stories, but they're getting annoying so I won't bother with them this time.

In the control room, Annoying Jeremy is striding about like Caesar going to war. "Graphics are up, my good friends," he says. "As sure as the sun sets in the west [helpfully pointing west[, as sure as there will always be an England, the graphics are up!" Dana makes a lame joke about too much sugar.

At the desk, the knobs go to commercial. Dan whips out Abby's business card and shows it to Casey, who looks at it and says, "So, she's a shrink." Dan didn't realize that, although on her card it says, "Psy. D." Dan takes the card back and inspects it. "A doctor!" he says, impressed, like maybe Danny is following The Rules and finally snagged himself a sugar momma. "In the area of mental health," says Casey gravely. And the bit is pretty funny, as Casey bugs Danny and wants to know if Danny has called her to make an appointment yet. "I called her to make a date," says Dan, in a "ha ha, very funny" voice. "You sure?" says Casey. "Yes," says Dan. Casey grins, and this scene may be the least annoying I've ever seen him in. "If you're sure, I'm sure," says Casey. Danny looks exasperated, and now he's quite content to let Abby be just "a girl in a bar" again.

They come back from break. Casey says something about "Dan and Casey's Dance Fever," a concept which caused my optic nerves to spontaneously detach from my eyeballs to prevent me from actually seeing such a thing. They go to break. Dan continues to protest (too much, methinks): "It's a date, Casey. Not an appointment." Casey wants to know where it is. "Her office," says Dan. Casey smiles and says, "Okay." Dan says he's sure she understood he was going to pick her up there. "I'm sure," fake-agrees Casey, who then asks what time Dan's picking her up. "Sevenfifty," says Dan, which makes Casey actually laugh out loud. "Seven-fifty?" he says. Dan says it's after her last appointment. "Sounds to me like she might have one more on her schedule," says Casey. Then Casey says Dan has to work at 7:50 because "I have to work at 7:50." "That's why I don't have to," counters Dan, and explains he's only going to be gone for an hour. "Oh, I understand," says Casey. "You do not understand," says Dan. And Casey nods and makes this phony "I understand" face that cracked me up maybe more than Casey ever has before.

Back in the control room, broadcast lingo. Jeremy wants to push the button, and since he outranks the TCs he gets to. If I were a TC, I would have only allowed him to do it if he agreed not to make a speech like the following: "At the press of this button, the Y2K problem will officially cry 'uncle' and I'll say, 'Yeah? Who's your daddy?'" That's it, I can't transcribe another word. In a fine display of ensemble acting, the rest of the cast convincingly pretends to be amused by Jeremy, while he is to my eye-rolling reflex what Japanese cartoons are to epileptics. Anyway, they come back from commercial. Dave does the countdown, Jeremy pushes the button, and in the most unexpected turn of events ever dramatized on television, all the monitors go blank. Stunned silence from everybody. Jeremy, mouth agape, hand running through his hair, says, "Huh." Dana checks with all of the TCs, none of whom has any working equipment. Well, Kim's equipment is as ship-shape as always. Dana says, "I'm just going to run to the ATM, pick up some bottled water and canned goods and I'll be right back." Jeremy assures her that he just has to access the mainframe and reboot the system, like what a genius idea that is. I'm not the most computer-literate person in the world, and even my surefire cure-all when I have a problem is to reboot the computer. Dana reminds Jeremy that "in real life" they're doing a show at 11. "That's in four and a half hours, I'll be done in five minutes," he promises. Dana tells everybody to take five. Everybody leaves, while suspenseful music plays. Jeremy types frantically at his keyboard and says, "Come on, I'm your daddy." Cut to a shot of a spooky red light and we hear this creepy computer voice say, "What are you doing, Jeremy? I can't allow you to do that." Commercials.

Back from commercials, Jeremy has fixed the problem, Dan has gone on his date (turns out Abby wanted him real bad) and Dana has foregone the dating plan in order to jump Casey. Or not.

Actually, Dan and Casey, walking to their office, are still trying to figure out whether Dan has an appointment or a date, which I think, considering Dan's perpetually tenuous mental and emotional faculties, is one of the best plots I've ever seen on this show. "I don't need therapy," says Dan, which is highly debatable anyway, but he's specifically referring to Abby's interest. Actually, it appears that Casey is just trying to agree with Dan in order to shut him up, like that ever works. Dan asks Casey if he thinks Abby thinks Dan needs therapy (bear with me) and Casey says "no" and Dan says, "Don't you think she's wrong if she thinks that?" They're in their office now. Casey says, "Listen, McMurphy, if it were up to me, I'd let you and the big Indian out of the hospital," in a nice reference to one of my all-time favourite books/plays/movies/smash-hit musicals by Stephen Sondheim. Dan admits, "I may not be a framed picture of mental health, but Doctor Girl has another thing coming if she thinks I'm going to lie on her couch and, you know, talk to her." Casey says okay. "She hangs out in bars, Casey. Like I'm going to take advice from a gin-soaked floozy." Since my love life is a comprehensive history of gin-soaked floozies, I say nothing. ["Good move, since your boss is also a gin-soaked floozy." -- Sars] Natalie walks in. Dan says, "Natalie, I'm not crazy." Natalie says, "Yeah, right." Not sarcastically, but in an agreeable way, because she's too busy to argue or even ask what the hell Dan is on about. She tells Casey, "You need to cut 20 seconds from the PAC-10," which Casey says is "no problem," and Natalie says Sam Donovan called to say last night was a good show, and Casey says "great," and Dan says, "He's telling Casey it was a good show?" "He's telling all of us it was a good show," says Natalie, and Dan says she was telling Casey and Natalie disputes that and blah blah blah. This is supposed to be evidence of Dan's insecurity, but I'm on his side -- it definitely appeared that the message was for Casey. "This isn't going to make you any crazier, is it?" says Casey, like that's even possible. Natalie moves on. "Jeremy's got it just about fixed, so it'll just be..." and she even slows down her delivery of the line to coincide with the power suddenly going out. Nobody says anything, until Dan finally speaks. "I'm not crazy, right? The lights did just go out?" Casey confirms it, although this would have been a golden opportunity to mess with Dan's head.

In the control room, Jeremy is frantically flipping through some sort of manual with a flashlight, surrounded by many candles, looking like that old Police video. Dana comes in. Jeremy, sounding very frazzled, says everything's going to be okay. "Is all the power out?" says Dana. "No, of course not," says Jeremy. Dana wants to know what they lost. "We lost the control room." "Yes." "And the studio." "Okay." "The newsroom and the offices, editing, graphics, engineering, sound." Dana deduces that nothing is working. "I thought you said we didn't lose all power," she says. "I thought you meant the whole city." Dana is starting to get nervous. "You have to end this test now." Uh, Dana? I think the test is over. Jeremy failed. Dana says he can try again another time. She tells him he has to tell the computers that it's not January first. Jeremy says he can't get the computers back (astonishingly enough, I guess, what with THE POWER BEING OUT and everything). Dana asks him why he can't get the computers back. Jeremy says, "You see anything that runs on electricity working right now?" "You really think this is the best time to get snippy with me?" says Dana. Maybe not, but it was a stupid question, Dana. I mean, fuck. Jeremy says he's going to Physical Resource and he'll be back in a few minutes. "Fine," says Dana. Jeremy walks off camera. We hear a thud, followed by Jeremy saying, "I've walked into a door," and Dana says "fine" and if this turns into Fawlty Towers or something, I'm out of here.

Dana walks into the newsroom and yells, "Natalie?" and Natalie says, "I'm right here," popping out at her like Jason, and Dan shrieks accordingly. "Isn't this cool?" says Natalie, like the last time I remember a power outage being "cool" was maybe Grade 4. Dana says it isn't cool. They walk through the newsroom, managing to avoid tripping or hitting anything. Dana tells Natalie to prep Studio B, which Natalie calls a hole. Dana agrees that their studio is much nicer, but the problem is they can't see it. Natalie sees the wisdom in that and heads upstairs. Dana deigns to address the newsroom, calling out to the darkness, "Did everybody hear that, we're doing the show upstairs tonight." Silence. "Is there even anybody here in this room right now?" A bunch of people, obviously unused to exercising their vocal cords, say "yes." And the sadistic treatment of the extras continues, as the only time they're allowed to speak is when they're all in darkness and you can't see them. Dana walks out.

Dan is in Abby's waiting room, reading magazines. A woman walks out of her office and gets her coat, and Dan says "hi" and of course the woman is all jumpy and says, "Don't talk to me," and this scene was much funnier in Tin Cup, I have to say. Abby walks out and says, "Hey, come on in." Dan walks into her office and closes the door. "Is she okay?" says Dan. "Who?" says the short-attention-span shrink. Dan says the woman seemed a little crazy (and goes on about it a little too long) and Abby assures him that she's fine. "Listen, you want to hear something funny?" says Dan, and he explains that there was some debate over whether he was meeting her for a date or a session. "That is funny," says Abby, without putting Dan's fears to rest, which is clearly what he wants. "Have you ever been in therapy?" asks Abby. Dan says no, he's never felt the need. Abby currently is in therapy. "That's allowed?" says Dan, which I thought was funny. "It's encouraged," says Abby. Dan seems surprised. "I just assumed that someone who needed a therapist would want someone with a full supply of marbles." Uh, if this is a date, I think Dan just ruled out any possibility of a second date. Abby takes a step towards Dan and does that close-talking thing and tells him she has roughly the same number of marbles as everybody else. Dan for some reason says he has an excess of marbles. Abby says she can tell. "You're a nice guy and you're a smart guy," she says, and Dan acknowledges that. "So why doesn't your father like you?" she says. "What?" says Dan. "I believe in cutting through the first six months and getting to the stuff," she says. Dan is all, "Hold up," and says, "Are we on a date right now or having a session?" as if we haven't just had the answer to that. Abby asks him what he wants it to be. Dan says, "A date." Abby says "okay" and gets her handbag.

Back in the control room, apparently the responsibility of fixing the problem has been wrested from Jeremy and entrusted to Chris and Will. I always get Will and Chris mixed up, because my TC Identification Guide only says, "If the TC is not black or tubby or a woman, it's either Chris or Will," and that's as specific as it gets. Jeremy is jabbering on at Will and Chris, offering suggestions and a theory: "Is it possible that a spike in the something-something," and the rest is a bunch of technical mumbo-jumbo that I don't understand and can't even hazard a guess at spelling. The TCs wisely ignore him. Natalie comes in. Jeremy relates his theory to her. Natalie says, "Honey..." and Dave walks in. Manic Jeremy says, "Dave, isn't it possible that a spike in the" whatever, and Dave, obviously wishing he could drive a spike into Jeremy's skull, says "no." Jeremy yells, "Dammit!" about six times and pounds the console. The TCs, startled, stare at him. Natalie says to the TCs, "Can you give us the room for a second?" because it's clear there's a lot more bugging Jeremy than Y2K. The TCs all say, "Sure," and clear out. What? Okay, maybe things are different in television. I've worked in radio and I currently work in newspapers. But let's say one of my reporters somehow wrecked the printing press. And it was about ten minutes to press time. And the pressroom guys were trying to fix it while the reporter was freaking out. And then the reporter's girlfriend asked the pressroom guys to leave so she could talk to her boyfriend. I promise you, that girlfriend would not live to see the dawning of the day, never mind the millennium. And neither would the pressroom guys if they scurried off instead of telling the girlfriend to shove it, as the TCs do here. "It's not a big deal," says Natalie, although it is, and Jeremy doesn't believe her. Natalie says Jeremy wasn't around during the first year and that in terms of screw-ups, knocking out the power during a Y2K test wouldn't have made the top ten, leading me to believe that problems during the first year must have included on-air stabbings or something. Jeremy says this is different because it's a metaphor. Oh, god. Not a metaphor. Anything but a metaphor. "For what?" asks Natalie. For the new millennium, says Jeremy, and he's upset because everybody seems to be looking forward to it but him and he'd like to get on board. "What bad thing do you think's going to happen on January first?" asks Natalie. "Well, first of all, every cheeseball DJ in the world is going to play '1999' by Prince, which is fine, except they're going to follow it up with the highly overrated 'New Year's Day' by U2 or worse yet, that Will Smith song that criminally rips off The Clash, instead of something cool like 'Disco 2000' by Pulp or, better yet, the actual Clash," says Jeremy. Or maybe I said that. Jeremy says, "Well, first of all, the power's going to go out." Fair point (at the time, I mean. It's easy to criticize from the "whoop-de-crap" side of January 1).

Dana walks in, and Natalie tells her to tell Jeremy not to fear the new millennium, as if Dana would even be speaking to Jeremy at this point, but she does it anyway, albeit half-heartedly. "Do it better than that," says Natalie. "There's nothing to fear from the new millennium," says Dana, with not one iota more effort. "You see?" says Natalie. "Though I suspect you'll be spending a good part of it looking for a job," continues Dana, too seriously for it to be a joke, too flippantly for such a serious matter. To my great relief, Casey walks in and asks if they're going upstairs, and Dana says "yes" but Natalie annoyingly wants Casey to reassure Jeremy about the new millennium. Casey, instead of pepping Jeremy up and instead of saying, "Maybe we should do our frigging show," admits that he too is scared of the new millennium. "This century was my home," says Casey. "Exactly!" says Jeremy. Then Casey calls Jeremy and himself "twentieth-century men," and Dana wants everybody to go, but Natalie says, "You really think things are going to be that different in the new millennium?" which is an idiotic question for a couple of reasons. Maybe Natalie would like to compare and contrast the world in the years 1000 and 2000 and then try to figure out if the world will be much different by the year 3000. But it's also idiotic for Jeremy and Casey to worry about it, since it's not like a thousand years' worth of change is going to happen instantaneously. "I think Dana and I still won't have gone on a first date, if that's what you're asking," says Casey. "It was," says Natalie.

Just as everybody's about to go, Isaac hobbles in and says, "The millennium will be spectacular," he says. "I'm managing editor of Sports Night and 100 years ago I wasn't allowed to vote." Man! Isaac's older than I thought! "The future's just fine with me," he says. Everyone reflects while he talks about how amusing it is that a computer that can calculate the quadratic equation in a nanosecond goes screwy when it's asked to count to 2000. He says, "I'll see you upstairs," and hobbles off, and everybody laughs indulgently, the same way you do at a family reunion when Grandpa gets smashed on Drambuie. Jeremy, much calmer, apologizes to everybody.

Dana stops everyone just before they head upstairs and says, "Jeremy, which button did you hit?" "When?" "When the lights went out." "Video release," he says. "You didn't," says Dana. "Yes, I did," says Jeremy. "I was looking right at the button. It said 'video release.' It was video release." "No," says Dana, "and I think this is interesting. This section of the board was rewired this morning." She's only remembering this now? "Why aren't the consoles relabelled?" asks Jeremy. "As far as that's concerned, there's no question there's a way to look at this where it's my fault." "What's another way to look at it?" says Jeremy. "There's no other way to look at it," says Dana. Jeremy wants to know which button he pushed and Dana thinks he'll find it ironic. "I pushed the panic button?" says Jeremy. He spazzes. "Hey!" says Dana. "I said I was sorry, it was heartfelt, I made an apology." "No you didn't," says Casey. "Like I need to apologize with you people," says the ever-petulant executive producer. Jeremy pushes another button, and magically everything comes back on: lights, monitors, et cetera. The TCs, who apparently were right outside the door instead of upstairs, rush in and everybody settles into their usual seats. "My home," says Casey. Dana says to Jeremy, "I'm honestly sorry." Jeremy says, "There's no point in assigning blame," so you know what's coming. Elliot walks in and says, "What happened?" and Jeremy gleefully says, "It was Dana's fault!" I almost wish the power had stayed off, because of course Jeremy has to taunt the computer about how it won the battle but there's still a war to be waged. Natalie asks him if the computer ever talks back to him, and he says "no."

At the desk, Casey is talking to my favourite character, Fluffer Allison, as she does his makeup. "The human mind, Allison, it won't be denied," he says. "Good," says Allison. "It just won't," says Casey. "'Kay," says Allison. "You can try denying it, but it won't work, you know why?" says Casey. "'Cause it's the human mind?" says Allison. "Damn straight," says Casey. "Can I go?" says Allison. "Yes," says Casey. Bye, Allison! I love you! Speaking of the human mind being denied, Dan hasn't said a word. "Sure you don't want to talk about anything?" says Casey. Yes, says Dan. Casey asks if he's going to see Abby again. "Yes," says Dan. "Good," says Casey. "I think I may have some stuff going on," says Dan. "I know," says Casey. "It's going to be okay," says Dan. "I know," says Casey. Man, when these guys open up, there's just no holding back. Casey tells Dan the human mind will not be denied. Then he sits in his chair, which breaks again, denying the human ass.