John from Cincinnati

Episode Overview: John sends the message "Shaun will soon be gone" out into the world via e-mails and dreams, and everyone is terrified by its possible meaning.  Bill, Freddie and Cass all question him, but none get very far.  For the third episode in a row, Mitch Yost is wholly absent.


Cryptic John from Cincinnati is back, telling Cass they made a tape.  She  asks if it was a sex tape, he confirms it, but then she acknowledges that he just repeats words and doesn't understand what he says or what he does.  He then lets out three nuggets of wisdom.  "I will be murdered twice. ... Shaun will soon be gone. ... We do not remember my Father's words."  I can think of several characters on this show willing to help with the first one.  He takes her to a tower, they look out at the water, the moon and a helicopter.  She smiles.  Yes, it's that surreal.  Cass gets home and stares bewildered at some video on her computer.  It appears to have that shape John has been drawing with his foot since episode one.

Cissy tears apart Mitch's meditation bungalow, where we see an idol similar to one at the tower John and Cass were just at.  She wants a divorce, so she packs his stuff and drags it over to the motel.  I'm not sure why she bothers, since we haven't seen him in the last two episodes anyway.

Linc and Shaun's porn star mom Tina are having coffee at the diner where webmaster Dwayne frequents.  They talk about their potential future, then Tina sees Shaun while driving away and offers to give him a ride.  When they don't find Cisy at her home, they go to Sea World.  Dwayne gets an e-mail that scares him.  Dwayne and Attorney Dickstein's fiancee head to the motel to tell Cissy about the e-mail, a video message with John saying "Shaun will soon be gone" while sitting next to a drawing of that shape: a stick figure with no arms, but with uconnected lines.  It's a circle with a line below it, then two leg-like lines at the bottom.

Barry and Ramon visit a run-down bar, and the crazy lottery winner has a vision of turning into a theater, a "temple of art."  When Ramon leaves, Barry talks to his stuffed bear, then hears some messed up voice calling him bad names.  Then he sees Shaun at the bar (a spirit?) who says he'll be gone soon, then they enjoy a couple of non-alcoholic drinks.

Attorney Dickstein gets a call from the hospital lawyer who provides information that would make it easier to sue Dr. Smith in a civil action.  Dickstein isn't all hat receptive.

Hoodlums Freddie and Palaka hook up with ex-cop Bill because Freddie has a bad feeling, of course connected to this Shaun omen sweeping the town.  John shows up at the motel, and once everyone gets all hot under the collar, Bill steps up and takes him into a room for an interrogation.  Great, a demented old guy and a cryptic messiah trying to have an intelligible conversation.

Bill doesn't want any parrot talk, but that's what he gets.  He slaps John around, and gets few answers.  John takes out a knife and stabs himself repeatedly.  Bill cleans the blade and, after inspection, discovers no wounds.  This freaks him out, and Bill leaves in a daze, tagging in Freddie, who also gets no information.  Those two end up in the bar, bonding over their mutual hatred of John.

John gets back to his room with Cass, and she explodes on him, furious that she doesn't remember helping him make the video tape.  John simply reassures her that his father has more "big and huge" for him, but she still doesn't get it.  Is it really that hard for these people to figure it out?

In the end, Tina says she wants to move back to Imperial Beach for Shaun, while Cissy and Shaun sign a deal with Linc.  Kai quits working for the Yosts, then we get a shot of Shaun juggling.  Who knows what the spiritual and thematic implications of that will be.


-John Kubicek, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image courtesy of HBO)