Illinois: Season Premiere

Tied to Blago, Rezko, and The Mob. Looks like Illinois Democrats have found themselves a new Senator.

In the season opener of Illinois Over By Dere on ABC last night, two timelines emerged after the 'incident.' On one path, the Democrats pretended that nothing had ever happened. They went about their merry way and landed in O'Hare airport, like they were 'supposed' to. Quinn was the party's choice for Gov, but Todd Stroger was found flailing around in the airplane toilet... choking on what was either a small bag of heroin or his own arrogance. Unfortunately, he might be back in future episodes. Other characters, thought dead were back - like Boone, Claire and Toni Preckwinkle. We started off last night's episode by seeing that Desmond was on the plane, and the Island was under water. That's probably significant. Maybe the underwater thing represents the 80 million dollars of unfunded pension liabilities that no one wants to talk about?

Meanwhile, Gov. Pat Quinn declared himself the winner, even though Comptroller Dan Hynes had not conceded defeat. Hynes trailed by fewer than 6,000 votes as results trickled in. That ought to be a good second episode.

In the alternate timeline, the one we're more familiar with, Mark Kirk won the Republican spot to run for Obama's old Senate seat, and it seems that after the trip to the temple to find out that the Others are actually the Black Rock pirates, the entire gang will be headed to a unity breakfast. With the Smokemonster loose, and their governor nominee still in doubt, it's a dangerous time for these guys. State Sens. Bill Brady of Bloomington and Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale were within 1,500 votes of each other with 99 percent of the unofficial vote counted this morning, and there was a lot of explaining to do. Each had 20 percent of the tally in a six-way contest.

The possibility of lengthy and expensive recounts looms, along with a very evil Smokey which will put pressure on elections officials who aren't even done counting the ballots and certifying the election results. The black circle of protection might help, but questions and danger loom. It wasn't enough to protect Dennis Hastert's son who was killed in his contest.

Another note was that Judy Barr Topenka emerged from the rubble.

It will be interesting when the two timelines converge and fight over fate, vs free will (watch the video). As you can see below, the fight has already started... and it seems that the Democrat's choice for Senate will have quite a fight on his hands - which is bound to upset President Obama.



Meanwhile, Da Mayor's ethics's aide has resigned after he bungled a sexual harassment claim... I can't believe that this job even existed. While Ald. Isaac "Ike" Carothers quietly pleaded guilty in federal court to bribery and tax charges, bringing to 29 the number of aldermen — his father included — to be convicted over the last four decades.

The felony conviction capped a stunning fall for Carothers, who admitted his guilt in exchange for a 28-month prison term. Carothers, in a bid for a lighter sentence, wore a wire for a year. That's going to make some characters awfully nervous for the rest of this season.

The question we should all be asking is, When does it end? Or more specifically, what's going to be done to stop it?

Stay tuned.