Lost First off, since all you...

LostFirst off, since all you loyal readers were so helpful last week in trying to figure out what Walt said  either "Don't push the button, the button is bad" or "Push the button, no button is bad"  by listening to it played backward, this week's quest is to try to figure out the name of the company that is on all the logos in the supply room, on Desmond's shirt and, weirdly enough, on that shark. Hmm... something's fishy there. And if anyone has a clue as to what the 237, 236 then 108,000 countdown clock means, I'd also be interested in hearing thoughts on that. Or on what would happen if the numbers weren't entered in time? Oh, and are Apollo candy bars real, or is that another in-joke? Anyway, these were the most coherent questions I had after I finally calmed my heart palpitations and got the Mama Cass song out of my head again. With Sawyer's mid-ocean self-surgery, Michael's near-drowning experience, Sawyer's shark-bait swim with a predator, and finally Jin's terrified scream about "the Others," breathing has become optional during this show.  And the only time I was able to stop my heart from racing, the well-crafted tale turned around and broke my heart. With Michael's intense screaming for the son he already lost once, the flashback when he said goodbye to the tinier Walt  and gave him a polar bear  that can't be a coincidence  and watched him walk away, and then his desperate sunrise sobbing.... Sniff, sniff. His determination to get his kid back is so moving. Especially when juxtaposed with his "It's only a shark? That's supposed to make me feel better?" ranting, which was perfectly executed. Oh, that just brings up more questions, like what does that "execute" button do, and will we ever find out? Do we think those "natives" are restless, or just misunderstood? And just who is the "him" that Desmond was looking for?   Angel Cohn

Veronica Mars
I'm so glad, my very favorite show has returned for a second season, and its return was made even better by the fact that Logan was behind the door. I was totally hoping for that... but was that what Veronica wanted? She had sort of a quizzical tone to her voice when she said Logan's name. Was that just because she was surprised by his condition or, in the shadows of her mind, was she hoping for Duncan? Either way, I was pretty happy that she was briefly with my dreamy Logan, who optimistically proposed Tom Welling as the actor to play him in the TV-movie. That may seem like a long shot, but I think the lovely Jason Dohring isn't too far out of his league. But I do understand (sigh), much as I hate to admit it, why our petite heroine dumped the dude who was doing dastardly deeds to the underprivileged. Something big is going to go down this season, and I've got a feeling it isn't just going to be that bus going off the cliff. The whole Weevil-Logan hatred compiled with the Logan-Duncan tension and social-class issues are going to turn into an all-out war. Please just tell me that Logan isn't responsible for the bus crash. Obviously, it went cliff-diving because it had been tampered with, but I only had the fleeting thought of Logan's involvement when I rewatched and noticed that his last words to Ms. Mars before she headed out for the field trip were "I'm going to miss you." The Logan lover in me says it can't be so, and that he was just being all sentimental and remorseful. But then he immediately headed over to get some fun lovin' from Cordelia, um, Charisma, aka former Laker Girl Kendall Casablancas. Seems sketchy. And it was too convenient that her two stepsons are known as Dick and Beaver, so Logan got to utter the double entendre "Can Dick and Beaver come out to play?" when he arrived for his booty call. Were the writers waiting all summer for that one or what? My other big query: What did Duncan's fortune cookie say? It must have been something pretty special, because I've always considered him pretty dopey. I guess now that they aren't related, it isn't quite so icky. Anyway, I think it's pretty cool that Veronica is back in crime-fighting mode. Last season she figured out who offed her best friend, and now she's got a whole busload  including the ungrateful Meg, Top Model's Naima and a slew of other unidentified Neptunians  of murders to investigate. Plus, you know that Steve Guttenberg is up to something. Sure, he's playing a proud dad taking care of his little lady without the help of two friends. But his mayoral ambitions can't be completely trusted, if I've learned anything from this show. And what is it with politicians owning baseball teams? Either way, Veronica's got a lot on her plate and senior year should be interesting, to say the least.

(If you've got burning questions for Veronica's producers, send them in here.)  AC