previously on the dead zone.
Sarah, there's something I need to talk to you about.
That you knew walt was goingto die that day?
And when I asked you if you'd seen anything,
you lied to me?
All I wanted was to protect you.
I don't think that there'sa future here after all.
Watch out!
Gotcha.
Nice catch.
The sox could use you in center.
I can't hit a curve ball.
Say, you wanna get your hands off my girl?
Hey, buddy.
Hi, boys.
Maria's beautiful, man.
Yeah, you got that right.
Go get him, drift!
What kinda nameis that for a horse?
Uh, actuallyit's splendid drift.
Drift for short.
The way I heard it, she had a nasty habit
of drifting in and out.
Drove jocks nuts. Nobody'd go near her.
Maria got her to runin a straight line.
Two years later,
drift had a chanceto make a lot of money.
No, this match raceI read about.
Yeah, battleof the sexes.
Splendid driftversus jitterbug's boy.
Colt versus filly. 500 grand. Winner take all.
I mean, I think the colt wouldhave a big advantage, no?
You never seenher run, my man.
Life is good.
Practice is boominG.I met the girl of my dreams.
Heck, the only thing missingaround here is you.
how do you thinkdrift will do?
No worse than second.
how's frankie?
Oh, he'll be ready to go.
Frankie?
Ah, yeah. That's how I met her.
There's drift's main man.
Frankie!
Hey, I hearda lot about you
from bruce duringour rehab sessions.
Nice to meet you.
So you see me winningon drift?
It doesn't work that way.
Nah, if it did, I'd be a billionaire.
How come you're not out thereworking on your horse?
Bruce here has me re-habbin'my knee around the clock.
Besides, my daughter,
she likes to ride the horseduring the morning.
Lets her know how it's doing.
Oh, maria's your daughter. - Mm-hmm. Excuse me.
Daughter-trainer. Father-jockey.
Rags to riches. Press eats it up.
hi, sweetheart.
How's the knee, dad?
Oh, I'm still standing, huh?
Whoa.
Wild, huh?
Is it something I said?
Uh, she's a little shyaround new people.
There's an easy cure for that.
A couple of these sugar cubes, and you oughta be best friends.
grab her.
Looks like the two of you gotoff on the wrong foot.
That's one way of puttin' it.
Someone'sgonna kidnap drift?
That's whatit looked like.
And you're sure that it'sdrift's stall that you saw?
Pretty sure. Why?
Match raceis tomorrow.
Maria's shipping her offto the farm
for a three-month restright after.
Meaning it happens tonight.
What happens tonight?
Planning something funwithout me, huh?
We're just gonna catch up
while you geta good night's sleep.
Uh-huh.
You gota big day tomorrow.
Oh, I can't waittill it's over.
The media's driving me nuts.
In fact, I have a pressconference in a few minutes.
Ya wanna come?
I would love to.
Great. I'd love the support.
See ya in a few?
Yeah.
You didn't want her to know?
I don't wanna worry herif it's nothing.
Although with you
usually nothing is something.
Let's hope not.
Are we moving again?
Well, you knew this was justa temporary situation.
Is it because you and johnnyaren't getting along?
Who said we weren'tgetting along?
I got it.
Something wrongwith the space shuttle again?
Well, that'd be newsto me.
As far as I know, we got nothin' up there.
Mr. Vice president.
Sarah.
Uh, johnny's not here.
Uh, actually I dropped byto see jj.
me?
Yeah, you know, I've been on vacationfor the last two weeks.
And now I need to fly outto detroit,
and I was wondering
if you'd like to take that tripon air force two
like I promised?
You are invited as well, of course. - Yes!Yeah, yeah!
Today?
But you've got that bigtree planting project tomorrow.
But mom, it's air force two!
I know, honey, but you're already so far behind in school.
I'm afraidthat you'll just-
I'm sorry.
It's just that jj's missedso much school already
with everything that's happened.
We've just finally gotteninto a schedule again.
Sarah, I understand.
Sometimes I likesomebody saying no.
Normally I'm surroundedby "yes" men and women.
You all right?
I've had better weeks.
Uh...
well, if you ever want to talk,
always got time for friends,
and you and yours are friends.
I better go.
I'll let myself out.
Please, let jj knowthat I will make it up to him.
I'm bill stark, jitterbug boy's owner.
Welcome to the 127th running
of the new england down'sbattle of the sexes.
And now a word from drift'sowners, the rasmussens.
We're thrilled to be here.
Drift's a special filly.
Dad forgot to mentionthat, uh, she's gonna win.
sorry about that, jitterbug.
Father-son owners?
And a father-daughterjockey-trainer?
Press loves it.
We're here to win too,
so someone's going home empty-handed.
How good is jitterbug's boy?
Damn fine. Comes from the clouds.
But if driftcan manage her speed,
she'll pop the gateand never look back.
You've been spending waytoo much time around here.
okay, everyone.
We're gonna open it up to photos and interviews now.
Ready to go. Ready to win.
Phew. Well, thank god that's over.
Now I can get backto worrying about the horse.
Grab her!
Boring stuff, huh?
No, I wouldn't say that, no.
the horses are comingonto the track
for the first race.
The first of the daily double.
One swipe and I'm done?
Pretty nifty.
Especially sinceyou're footing the bill.
Much simpler with my visa card.
I get too many hits off of money.
Should we call the cops?
Ah, nah, man.
Let's say we goto the cops,
and tell 'em that a horseis gonna get kidnapped
on the word of a psychic,
they'll thinkthat it's somehow tied
into a wayto fix the nightcap.
Who do ya like?
Who do you like, man?
I'm sorry. I don't know you.
Doesn't mean youcan't give me a winner.
So who do ya like?
I got the five horse.
That's 15 to 1.Are you sure? - Yep.
All right, listen, great. I got one for you.
Jitterbug's boy tomorrow.
I heard action's being bought upall over town, huh?
Oh, a tipon a two-horse race?
Doesn't seem like a fair trade.
Thanks, buddy. - Yeah.
So you really likethe five horse?
Maybe we should bet it.
You don't wantto do that.
Oh...
you were just tryin'to get rid of the-
maybe it's today
for acceleration because hereshe comes between horses!
Amazing run in the final quarterto win!
Wow, she looked hopelesslybeaten at the quarter pole,
and down by a length...
I could have paid my mortgagefor a year
with a horse like that.
attention, please.
The stewards have postedan inquiry
into the runningof the first race.
Never should have doubted you, bro.
Any suggestionson drift?
You still don't wanna tell your gal?
Wow, you really don't want mariato know, do you?
She's just gonna worry herselfto death.
Well, that soundsvaguely familiar.
All right, look, this is nothing like walt.
We know when and wherethis is gonna happen.
We just gottabe ready.
Hey, they dq'd the nag.
Now, you owe me100 bucks.
You didn't have to beton that horse.
I didn't haveto bet on that horse?
You gave me a tip! - Go bug somebody else, man.
So, uh, you upfor midnight watch duty?
Yeah.
That guy stole my wallet.
He took everythingbut my credit card.
Good thing for you they've got plenty
of thosemachines around here.
You know I always sleepin the stables
the nightbefore a big race.
It'll be your faultif drift loses.
Superstitious brat.
Overprotective man.
Don't get himin any trouble.
Yeah, likethat would ever happen.
are you gonna make her an honest woman?
Uh, man.
I've been carrying this thingaround with me for a week.
I'm worried she's gonna see it.
Hmm. Nice.
So what are you waitin' for?
The match race. I'm giving it to her afterwards.
If drift wins, she'll say yes.
If she loses, maybe it'll make her more happy than sad.
That's really cool, man.
It just seems wrong, me being so happy,
and you being miserable.
Yeah, it's my own doing.
All I've ever doneis cause sarah heartache.
You know that, though, right?
Next thing you'll be sayingis you shouldn't have come out
of that coma six years ago.
Come on, johnny.
You and sarahare meant to be together.
It's not like you-
Look, I'll go look around. You go check on drift.
grab her.
johnny?
Johnny!
What?
I got knocked out, man. I didn't see him coming.
Me either.
But she's gone.
They took her!
What?
Drift's right there. What are you talkin' about?
Maria!They took maria.
Come on.
What's this? - Come on.
Call the cops *** the gial dies
call the cops, the girl dies.
Scratch drift from the match race,
the girl dies.
Win the race,
the girl dies.
I got this when I turnedon my phone this morning.
I got mineon my answering machine.
So what the hellare we supposed to do?
I have to ride. Ride and lose for maria.
What, we're just gonna throwit all away?
After getting this close?
I'm sorry you guysare in this position.
We could have used the money.
I've dreamt for years about getting
to a big stage like this.
I guess that's the thing about dreams,
you've got to be preparedfor something
to come alongand shatter them.
Frankie, whateveryou have to do.
There's alwaysanother race, right?
I'm sorry.
Not like this one.
We're gonna head back. See if we hear anything else.
I hate doing this.
Those men have beenreal good to me.
We got the whole dayto figure out where she is.
Come on.
Don't you havea country to run?
Or is this morning drop-ingoing to be a regular thing?
I guess I should trycalling first, huh?
Weren't you supposedto be in michigan?
I came back early. I can do that.
I am the vice president.
Please, come in.
Mr. president. - It's okay. I'll be fine.
So does this mean you guyshave changed your mind
about the plane trip?
Sorry, jj, I can't goagainst your mom on this one.
Why not?You're the vice president.
Your words count, like, I don't know, triple.
So, uh, is there any particular reason
you're dropping by?
I had a good idea to help jj out
with his tree planting project.
What makes you think this pickpocket
is still hanging around?
I only had 60 bucks in my wallet.
The guy's not gonna give upprime hunting ground for that, right?
So this is more thanabout just kicking his ass.
I want to findabout that bet.
He said there wasa lot of money coming down on jitterbug's boy.
He might know something.
Like who's puttin' the fixon the race and took maria.
Hey.
Hey!
Sit down.
You got the wrong guy.
In that coat?I doubt it.
Hey, I don't get it.
I already gave you a tip. What more do you want?
Quit messing aroundwith us!
Who's laying out those bets?
All right, listen.
But all I heard isthat it's an insider thing,
you know, some owner-trainer deal.
Who told you that?
I wish I knew, pal
listen, guys, you know,
I hear a lot of different thingsevery day.
This is what I do. I collect info.
This owner or trainer, is it someone involved
in the match race?
It's inside dope. Didn't I tell ya?
What is it with you?You don't speak english?
So are we done here?
Give me my wallet back.
I tossed it.
What?
I was gonna use itfor fake id's,
but john smith...
Pal, you gotta come upwith something better than that.
Who is itthat owns jitterbug's boy?
Bill stark? - Yeah.
You know where to find him?
For my science project I thought it'd be a good idea
for all of us to plant trees.
It's a way of giving somethingback to the earth,
instead of taking it away.
This tree I planted here,
I planted in honor of my father,
sheriff walt bannerman.
He was a good manwho dedicated his life
to make the worlda safer place.
And tha-that's exactlywhat I want to do.
Well, of course I'm too young to carry
around a badgeand chase after the bad guy.
But then I realized that
a healthier environment is whatmakes the world a safer place.
Then I could bejust like my dad.
And now I have a special guest
who'd just liketo add a few words.
Everyone, give it up
for vice presidentgreg stillson.
Thank you, everyone.
Thank you, jj.
You know, uh, jj is right.
Global warming is increasingat an alarming rate.
So much so that each one of you,
by the time you graduate high school,
which is actually not that far from now,
the damage done to this planetwill have nearly doubled.
Now, as vice presidentI am committed
to getting american companiesto help combat this.
But it begins with the individual.
It starts with each oneof us thinking about others.
It's what walt bannerman did.
And that's what jjis doing here today
by honoring his father.
Now, what we can do is we canfollow in their footsteps.
And by doing sowe will make this country,
this world,
a much better, much safer place.
Let's hear it for jj.
Stark's horseis one aisle over.
It's pretty close proximityfor the competition, no?
Well, it's not like there'sa lot of secrets around here, johnny.
I mean, run fast and win.
That about covers it.
Anything?Any word?
Well, somebody's bettinga lot of money on jitterbug's boy.
It might be stark.
I don't think so.
He's an honorable man.
Besides, if his horse wins,
he gets 400 grandon the purse alone.
Yeah, but if he knowsit's a lock...
tell me another waysomebody can double their money
in under two minutes.
Well, if that's what he's done, I don't care.
Lord knows I love this filly,
but maria meansthe world to me.
Same here.
I knew it the momentyou two met.
It must have been my secondor third rehab session.
Maria came to pick me up.
These two start talking.
We were an hour late for lunch.
They couldn't get their eyesoff each other.
I just want her alive.
I tried to pull her back, but she wouldn't stop.
Drift. How is drift?
I didn't have the heart to tellhim they put the horse down.
Unless we getthis internal bleeding stopped,
he's gonna be joining her.
I'm sorry, girl.
But if it means throwing the race,
then I throw the race.
So how bad is it gonna be,
what you saw?
Pretty nasty, frankie.
Drift breaks down
when you try to pull her up and throw the race.
Well, at least I know what to expect, huh?
Look, there's still time to go see stark.
The press is gonna wanna knowwhere maria is.
Well, you and the rasmussenshave to fend them off.
We gotta tell themthat she came down
wi the stomach fluor something.
Whatever it takes.
Even if it means drift and isacrificing ourselves.
That is what maria's doing nowfor us.
Maria toro's friend.
Bruce lewis.
My friend johnny smith.
How's maria doing?
Why do you ask?
I meant nothing by it.
Big day. A big race.
Butterflies are natural.
How confident are youin your horse?
Working great.
Worth a bet?
I'm not a gambling man.
Then why bein this business then, huh?
Horse racing'sa passion.
Mr. Smith, one thatmy other businesses allow me to enjoy.
I bred jitter's daddyand grand-daddy.
I'm just a proud parentwhen he gets on the track.
Whoa.
Ladies and gentlemen.
In light of today's events,
we are donatingall the purse money
to the horseman's relief fund
in memory of that great competitor, drift.
And my company will match those donations.
We send our prayers for frankie toro.
mr. Smith, I take it you're not a horse person.
That's a safe bet.
Yeah.
What'd you see?
Stark's not our guy.
If frankieand drift go down,
he donates the purse to charityand then matches it.
Well, you gotta figure a guywho fixes a horse race
isn't just gonna give awaya million dollars.
Yeah, exactly.
Got another idea?
No, but I'm hopingthat drift does.
it's kind of overwhelming.
What's that?The peanut butter?
No.
No, you being herefor jj,
talking to the kids, the shirts.
Happy to do it.
Without a reporteror a photographer in sight.
I'm on vacation. Remember?
What do you say you trade mea couple of those carrots
for my nice, shiny appleright here?
Oh, forget it.
No, I know how that works.
You take the carrots, and trade it in
for a half sandwich,
which in turngets you a cupcake.
Pretty soonwe're all eating apples,
and you're runninga bake sale.
Oh, you got meall figured out, don't ya?
Well, it has workedfor my political career.
And look whereit's gotten you.
I always end upcoming home.
You know.
I thought you werefrom texas.
Mm, way back when.
I was a tadpolewhen my mama died,
and daddy brought usup north.
You were closewith him, right?
That's one wayof puttin' it.
We spent time together.
Yeah, I remember hearingthat he passed away recently.
A heart attack.
I'm sorry.
I don't meanto dredge anything up.
It's all right, really.
I mean, I should feel something for him, but...
I just don'T.
Well, you don't haveto explain anything to me.
I'll tell you everything youneed to know about my father.
When I was a kid, maybe six or so,
we wereon the road selling bibles.
And obviously he was using meas a sympathetic shill
to exceed his quota.
I remember we were somewhereoutside of cincy,
and I found this stray dog nextto a diner.
Named him blur. He was-he was so sweet.
I think blur waswith us maybe-
I don't know, maybe a month.
But that was-that wasthe best month ever, I tell ya.
And I made the mistakeof telling my daddy
that I'd rather playwith that dog
than swindle people outof their hard-earned pay.
He dragged meout of there by my ear.
He had me knocking on doorstill my knuckles were raw.
And I never saw blur again.
Then one day I found oneof my daddy's boots.
And it was coveredin fur and blood.
And I knewwhat he'd done.
You stayedwith him all those years.
Well, you live the handyou're dealt.
You know.
Maybe I don't have youso figured out after all.
Oh, that's quiteall right.
I'm still tryingto sort it out myself.
Hmm.
The first vision I got came from feeding sugar cubesto drift.
The second one cameat the press conference
because I realized mariawas holding drift's blanket.
And the next time you gota vision was
after frankie grabbedyour arms.
And then I got one offof jitterbug's boy.
I keep getting itfrom horses.
Be careful, though, drift can bejust as skittish.
Yeah, jitterbug's boy didthe same thing.
It's almost as if they sensesomething different about me.
Be good, girl. It's okay.
Easy, girl.
grab her!
I just saw what drift saw.
Maria was kidnappedby drift's owners,
not jitterbug'S.
The rasmussens?
What kind of person sabotagestheir own horse's chances?
Someone upto their eyes in debt.
Do you remember tommy sayinghe could use the money
when we talkedabout the kidnapping?
I know the kid gambles. I didn't realize how much.
Fixing a two-horse race is agreat way to get out from under.
They could have gone to frankie and maria
and had them throw the race.
Nah, nah, they would never do that.
I wouldn't expectanything less from a girlthat you fell for.
well, tommy's dropping dad off.
Let's split up, I'll stickwith sonny boy, all right?
You go with pops.
All right. Be careful.
You okay?
Maria, it's johnny.
You son of a bitch!
You okay?
How'd you find me?
Drift. She, uh-
oh, my god. - What?
It was tommywho kidnapped me?
And his father. You never knew?
I was blindfoldedthis entire time.
I never saw him.
They were gonna let you go.
Until now.
it's 40 minutes till post time.
Don't give up yet.
Bruce always says if your basement floods at 3:00am,
johnny smith would be the first one over
with a couple buckets,
won't leave until the job's finished.
Lucky for me, bruce doesn't have a basement.
Lucky for himhe has you.
You're just saying that
because tommy's aboutto charge in here.
I don't imaginethis is what you expected
when you left cleaves mills.
You were supposedto talk to bruce about sarah,
not be locked upwith me.
Nah, I'm used to detours.
How are things with her?
How much did bruce tell ya?
That much, huh?
We don't have any secrets.
Yeah, I think I keptone too many.
Bruce blames himself.
What the hell for?
Talking youout of telling sarah the truth.
Nah, he shouldn'T.
I wanted to tell her, maria, I just couldn'T.
Sometimes I regret thatmore than anything.
Have you told her that?
No, I tried to.
You should try again.
It's a little too latefor that.
Funny.
A minute ago youwere telling me not to give up.
Listen, frankie, when you pop the gate-
I know, amigo.
Drift and I, we're goingto be as safe as we can be.
We're going to do it. For maria.
I was gonna ask herto marry me today.
I will be so proud to have you as my son-in-law.
But if you - no,
you are going to ask her to marry you today.
I will not thinkof this any other way.
Hmm?
help! Let me out!
Let me out!
Would you shut up already?
You're wasting your time. No one can hear you.
Let's get out of here.
Best of luck to you, amigo.
You too. - Thanks.
I wish I could get my hands onthe bastard making me do this.
Yeah. Me too.
Johnny?
Here. Somebody wants to talk to ya.
Bruce?
Oh, my g-are you okay?
Yes, I'm fine!Johnny made sure of it.
Has the race gone off?
No-no, uh, we're just leavingthe paddock now.
is my dad near you?
Somebody wants to wish you luck.
Maria?
Yes, daddy, it's me!I'm fine.
thank god.
I'm gonna miss the race.
As long as you're okay.
I will be as long as you win.
Johnny says there's nothing stopping you now.
I'll do my best. I love you.
I love you too, daddy. Go get 'em.
Who was that?
That was maria.
Maria?
It's okay!
Just a little disagreement about a horse.
Oh, I guess the sitter's upstairs
putting hope down for a nap.
I can't believe how late it is in the afternoon.
I really oughta get going.
Can I get you somethingfor the road?
A drink?Coffee?
Whatever it is one offers the vice president.
How about a soda?
I can manage that.
So where's johnny?
Honestly, I don't know.
You tell meif I'm poking my nose where it doesn't belong.
I just thoughtyou two were...
that wasa long time ago.
Things have changed so much.
I don't thinkwe could really get back
to the way things once were.
No need to explain.
Actually, there's nothingto hide.
The truth is, I think that hope and jj and i
have overstayed our welcome.
It was always meantto be temporary.
Any ideawhere you're headed?
Well, that's the thing,
I just found out that waltbought a cabin up north.
I think it was meantto be a surprise.
Problem solved, then.
Not really.
Seems to be some question
about how he got the moneyto pay for it.
That ridiculous investigation?Still?
I mean, in my heartof hearts, I know
that walt would neverdo anything illegal.
But what if I'm wrong?
I don't know. I just-
I can't move in therewith a clear conscience.
Walt bannermanwas exactly the man
that you thoughthe was.
No one will convinceme otherwise.
That's nice of youto say.
I just hate itwhen a friend is
on the wrong sideof a raw deal.
Maybe there's somethingI can do
to get to the bottom of this.
Oh, you don't haveto do that.
I want to.
You'd be surprised how oftenI get something when I want it.
Actually, that doesn'tsurprise me at all.
Well, ya see?
I'm not that difficultto figure out after all.
You just wave it over thereader, and it's paid for?
Not you again. This is all I got left.
I thought you tossed it.
I lied.
What?Are you gonna sue me?
60 clams. You gave me my money back.
I made a fortune on drift.
I thought you had a hot tipon jitterbug's boy.
After the one you gave me?Forget about it.
Man, the longer I'm here,
the less this placemakes any sense.
That means you're gettingthe hang of it.
So what's the dealwith the rasmussen boys?
Ah, do not pass go. Go directly to jail.
Of course it didn't stop themfrom paying for this party.
What are you talking about?
Oh, because of the racketeeringand the kidnapping charges,
they had to forfeittheir share of the purse
to the new minority owners.
Minority owners?
Yeah, you're lookingat them.
You never said anythingabout that.
Well, you know, it really wasn'ta whole lot to brag about.
I mean, they each only owna percent of drift.
For two percent they get 400 grand?
Actually 500, 000.
10% goes to the jockeyand trainer.
Since they'reone and the same...
nice wedding present, huh?
No, actuallythe best gift I got
was you bringing mariaback to me safe and sound.
So does this meanI'm off the hook
for my wedding gift now?
Hell no!
By the way, what are yougonna do about you and sarah?
I think I'm gonna takesomeone's advice
and give it another shot...
before it's too late.
Really?Who told you that?
One very lucky gal.
do you have to go?
yeah, I'm afraid so, champ.
Thanks for coming to my school.
The t-shirts, everything.
It was the best day ever.
Well, I had a blast too.
And I promise I'm gonna get youup on that plane.
All right.
Go get ready for bed. I'll be up in a minute.
See ya.
Well.
I'm sorry this day had to end.
Jj and i will never forget it.
Me either.