Alcatraz
Episode 106
“Paxton Petty”
I am fairly desensitized to violence on television and in movies and video games but I really found myself feeling uncomfortable at the idea of innocents being blown up by landmines. Its just so overly the top vicious and depraved, I dunno, I thought I should share that. To no surprise, I found Paton Petty the least sympathetic 63 to return and the only one I have really truly and fully disliked since sniper, Ernest Cobb.
On to the mystery of Paxton Petty.
1960.
Young Hauser is tossing his cookies overboard (this was before he was an Alcatraz guard) while Mr. Paxton Petty gets offloaded to the Rock with Warden James and Dr. Lucy As Dr.Samgupta there to greet him. Dr. Lucy As Dr.Samgupta and Young Hauser make eyes at each other and share nausea mints. Muy Romantic!
Not wasting anytime on figuring out where Petty’s final bomb is, Dr. Beauregard and Warden James are overseeing an early version of prisoner water boarding. Dr. Lucy As Dr.Samgupta harps from the back of the room that this is barbaric and eventually convinces the Warden to let her try to talk to him.
The Dr. Lucy As Dr.Samgupta /Petty Interrogation. A little drugged tea and we’re off to the races. Dr. Lucy As Dr.Samgupta walks Petty through his time in Korea and his being pissed off at not getting a Silver Star when everyone else in his squadron got one. As she speaks to him in a smooth, soft voice, she is strapping him down to a chair and putting some 1960′s era electro shock therapy gear on him and gives him a little voltage. Which prompts him to start singing in Korean. I make you a bet no one had that in the office interrogation pool.
Cut to Dr. Lucy As Dr.Samgupta talking with Tommy M who is listening to a recording of the Korean singing. She asks Tommy M to confirm that he was in Korea too and he wants to make a deal. He’ll spill all he knows about the song if she finds out why they are keeping him in the infirmary, drawing his blood, instead of having him on work detail (which is interesting because I got the impression he knew the why). Deal! Tommy M explains that the song is a Korean lullaby used by the Korean forces to secretly communicate the location of landmines in the field so that they didn’t blow up their own people. Tommy M says we used the same methods with Crosby and Sinatra songs. Which? Sure, okay. Makes sense.
Later, Dr. Lucy As Dr.Samgupta is deciphering the landmine locations by scanning and marking up the written Petty Lullabye lyrics when the Warden comes in to get the scoop. Dr. Lucy As Dr.Samgupta reveals there is a fourth bombs involving “twin trees” that she has kicked over to SF PD for investigation. When Warden James brings Dr. B. in to make him congratulate Dr. Lucy As Dr.Samgupta, she takes the opportunity to ask why he is treating Tommy M and taking so much blood? As you can imagine given his starting point disposition to Dr. Lucy As Dr.Samgupta, he cautions her to not overstep. Thanks for the non-answer, good chat!
The 1960 Wrap Ups. Dr. Lucy As Dr.Samgupta comes to check in with Young Hauser (while he is sitting at his SF PD desk, playing old timey music), on (a) whether he has found the “twin trees” reference and (b) asking him to dinner.
Present Day.
Hauser is watching over Dr. Lucy, still in a coma, while playing the old timey music from when she asked him out to dinner the first time. Her doctor comes in and tells Hauser that she’s had no change and by the way, did she have a DNR (do not resuscitate)? Elsewhere, some landmines explode in a park killing and wounding a bunch. I am wondering if the good people of San Francisco have noticed an uptick in the random and violent crimes taking place as of late in their city (e.g., sniper shootings, bank robberies, fucking LANDMINES IN THE PARK!) because I have to imagine this is going to be PR problem for someone at some point, no?
The Alcatraz Three arrive at the crime scene where Petty is conspicuously hanging out in the crowd (and who Madsen totally makes eye contact with), watching the fallout from his handiwork. Petty was an explosives engineer in Korea and went to military prison for 5 years for killing a bunch of civilians via landmines. while he was waiting his courtmartial, he served graveyard detail at the Presidio. When got out of military prison, he marked his return to private life by exploding three landmines across San Francisco … which is what got him to Alcatraz. The Alcatraz three split up the workload, Hauser will work on the location of the next landmines and Dr. Diego and Madsen are charged with finding Petty. A plan! Go team! When Madsen see Petty’s photo, she recognizes him from the crowd and a chase ensues. You know where I would not want to chase someone on foot? San Francisco. Chase, chase, chase and then Petty just stops and turns. And then he rolls a landmine at Madsen, as you do to escape custody, which is concussive enough to stun her but she is able to avoid any shrapnel.
When we return, Madsen is getting checked out for things like a concussion and finds a buddy on the bomb squad who she calls Psycho (charming) but who’s real name is Tanner. Just sayin’, don’t get too attached to Tanner. he explains that the bombs have some kind of metal shrapnel in them which, yeouch! At the morgue, Madsen and Dr. Diego show up to photograph some of the shrapnel pieces and Dr. Diego flirts with the Sandman t-shirt wearing morgue lady. At the Lair, Hauser goes through Petty’s file (focusing on the Dr. Lucy As Dr.Samgupta hand-marked lyrics).
At an Army Surplus Store, Dr. Diego and Madsen learn that Petty is loading his bombs with Silver Stars. Creative. The helpful Surplus Clerk gives them some useful knowledge that there is no market for buying Silver Stars, they either go to the family or the solider is buried with them. Which leads them to go the Presidio National Cemetery and its 30,000 bodies. You’ll remember from 5 seconds ago that Petty had detail here from 1952-1954 and so its a natural place for him to come grave robbing for his medals. Which, speak of the devil, Petty is in the process of grave robbing when an unfortunate security guard interrupts him and gets killed for his efforts. Oops.
Always a minute too late, Madsen and Dr. Diego searcch the graveyard and discuss where Petty might have hid his stash of bombs (seems that the cops believed Petty’s stash came from a robbery at the Presidio but no one could ever find them).
Back to the Lair, Hauser is still working through the three circled words he located earlier (snow, beard, grace). After some high tech Googling, hes hits on the lyrics to a song called, Little Brook in the Woods (which I could not find or prove existed). The orignal bombs Petty planted corresponded to the circled words in the first verse of the song and based on the location of the landmine which was just detonated (“Pine” Street), it seems that Petty is using the second verse for his command performance. A Breakthrough!
At a mausoleum in the cemetery, Madsen and Dr. Diego find that a lock across the crypt’s door shows evidence of beung broken out of, not in which leads Dr. Diego to hypothesize (correctly) that this is where Petty came back to. Down in the crypt, Madsen, using some wet paint as a clue, finds the correct vault door which has the bomb making stash behind it while Dr Diego muses about what the 63s are thinking about when they come to 50 years later? Stay focused Dr. Diego! The paint that Petty’s using matches the paint used in every school playground in San Francisco. Wait, how’d Madsen know that? Is that general knowledge? Is that paint exclusive to school playgrounds? Does she know that for a fact? So many questions on her weird Jeopardy-like knowledge?!?
Tanner (the bomb squad guy you shouldn’t get attached to, remember?) is filling Madsen and Dr. Diego in on the ransom demand that the city received (did the city collectively receive the demand or someone specifically? I thought that was a weird word choice). Petty will tell them where the bombs are in exchange for $651,000 and change. Madsen calls in this new information to Hauser and he tells her, cryptically (because he has no other way and there is NO TIME!) to cross reference sandstone paint and turf with the word “Windward” while he checks out the word “Sunset.” He yells Windward a couple of more times and hangs up. Madsen says “asshole” a bunch and gets to it. Okay, she really doesn’t do that. At the Windward Elementary School Playground, Madsen, Dr. Diego and the bomb squad come up with nothing. At Sunset Beach, Hauser calls Madsen and tells her to not leave the playground until she hears from him again … and then goes to confront Petty who is currently burying landmines on the beach (no worry that high tide will take them away?). For what its worth, I get Hauser likes to be all cryptic that its his thing as the spooky boss but he should really have told Madsen where he was and what he was about to do, that’s just bad fieldcraft. Anyway, back to the action.
Hauser gets the momentary drop on Petty, who is genuinely surprised to be found out (“You know me?” “A friend of mine did.”) but then Hauser is caught standing on a mine. Advantage: Petty! He takes Hauser’s gun and phone. Later that night, Madsen gets the drop on Petty when he shows up at the schoolyard to plant some landmines; again he is surprised at being interrupted (“Are you with the guy in the suit?”). She gets him handcuffed but then discovers that Petty has Hauser’s phone … which can’t bold well for Hauser, right? “Where is he?” Petty: “Tick tick tick.” Well sir. that’s just not helpful.
At Alcatraz, Madsen throws Petty in an old jail cell. But, he’s got questions. He wants to know what happened to him. He tells Madsen and Dr. Diego that a week ago he went to sleep a stones throw from where he is now and then he woke up in a tomb in a cemetery in 2012. He goes that if she can tell him how that’s possible, he’ll tell her anything she wants to know (but probably not where the landmines are because he’s a royal douchebag). She leaves Dr Diego to talk over one of his 50 theories with Petty while she investigates where Hauser might be.
On top of discovering that Hauser was Petty’s arresting officer, she also works out the location riddle that Hauser cracked (and helpfully, didn’t clue her in on before getting himself stuck on a mine). Back over in the cells, Dr. Diego has guessed the ransom amount was what Petty figures he is owed for 50 years of back pay and retirement. He also reveals that (for some reason we don’t learn) he never wrote about Petty which is all a setup for Petty to be offended and name drop that he was a rock star, so much so that Warden James and “his lady headshrinkers met him at the boat. Being the Alcatraz expert that he is,Dr. Diego is all, there were no female doctors on the Rock. Madsen interrupts their conversation to get them moving to Sunset Beach to find (what’s left of) Hauser before Petty can say anymore about Dr. Lucy As Dr.Samgupta.
Sunset Beach (which no one apparently visits). Madsen walks Petty down to Hauser while she has Dr. Diego call Tanner and the bomb squad. She is the only one of the three on the beach that thinks Hauser is getting out alive. When we return from commercials, the bomb squad is working through dismantling the Hauser landmine while Hauser and Madsen make some small talk. Totally normal day at the office for the Alcatraz Three. Madsen, probably maybe thinking Hauser is about to be exploded, apologizes for doubting him … but, just this time. She also learns that he has been looking for the “twin trees” clue the last 50 years because “he made a promise to a friend.” Back at the truck, Tanner and Petty have pissing contest while measuring the size of their fuses. Tanner walks away and due to Petty’s punkness, feels he’s got this in the bag. Back on the beach, his plan involves Hauser stepping off the mine on the count of three and hauling ass. There seems to be some holes in that plan but we’re getting to the end of the episode so let’s get on with it. 1 … 2 … 3… Of course, Hauser and Madsen hobble away to safety but Tanner is viciously killed right after he thinks he dismantled the landmine safely. I told you to not get attached to him, didn’t I? Petty:9, Alcatraz Three: -11.
Wrap Ups. Freed from his landmine captivity, Hauser shoots Petty in the leg for 2 reasons, the first being that he killed Tanner and he was a good man (Hauser, I told you not to get attached, dammit, why doesn’t anyone listen to me — I’ve seen the episode, I know what I am talking about here people!) and two, you gave Hauser a mighty cramp in his leg. Those are as good a reason as any I guess, which is saying something for Hauser. He mind fucks with Petty a bit getting him to reveal where the last mine from the 1950s was located (the “twin trees” reference) and then gets to rub salt in the leg wounds by revealing that the 4th landmine never hurt anyone as it was converted to government wildlife land years ago. He walks away leaving Petty shrieking in pain. Petty: LOSER, Alcatraz Three: The WINNERS!
Hauser is telling Dr. Lucy that he found the last bomb, lamenting so much death from such little packages. And then, he unplugs her wires and removes her body. from the hospital. And carries her all the way to the Ewok Prison. He dumps her limp form on Dr. B’s table and tells him, “You know her methods? Fix her.” Bad Robot!
Wow, okay, so what is the deal with the ageless Dr. Lucy and her methods? Is she the mastermind behind the perfect preservation of the prisoners? If Dr. Lucy is so important, why was she in a second fiddle role to Hauser or was that just a cover? Also, its interesting that Petty had no obvious tie to the undercurrent plot of gathering keys at the orders of “them” that the other returned prisoners have had. He was just a pissed off psychopath that liked to blow innocents up for shits and giggle. So, was the disappearance of the 63s an all or nothing proposition? They had to disappear everyone, even if they wouldn’t be helping in the nefarious plot or is every purpose just not clear yet. And last, again we have the intersection of Tommy M and a returned 63. Is that the reason for his selection? The 302 prisoners and guards had particular connection to Tommy M whi9ch required their tagging along? So many questions!
Until next week friends! in the meantime, I advse you stay out of San Francisco, some bad shit is going down there.
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