New York OR. Mark is saying, "Trumpet. Hammer. Dolphin. Guitar. Tent." He's been asked to list his hobbies? The category is, "Things You'd Like to Cram Down Mark's Gullet So That He'd Never Ever Get a Chance to Speak Ever Ever Again"? Dr. Burke is standing over him, trying to drop a Junior Mint into Mark's skull without anyone's noticing; also, he keeps holding up his index finger, and after each word something beeps faintly. The camera swoops around, and we see that Dr. Malcolm is holding up cards with line drawings of various objects, and Mark is identifying what they are -- so far, correctly, as far as we can tell. She holds up a picture of an elephant, and Mark says, "Pachyderm." Her eyes frown, and she asks, "Another name for this one?" "Stampy? Dumbo? Horton? Elmer?" Mark offers. Just kidding, he slowly pronounces, "E-le-phant." Dr. Burke raises a finger, and everyone nods. Dr. Burke tells Mark that everything's going fine. Dr. Malcolm holds up a drawing I can't immediately identify; oh, it's a "cat-a-pult." I Am Mark's Brain looks very pink and happy on the monitor. Mark continues with his baby flashcards, hesitating on "bulldozer." When they get to a birthday cake, he says nothing; Dr. Malcolm notes his hesitation for Dr. Burke, and then asks Mark to read the card. Everyone hangs. Dr. Hammond leans in and asks how Mark's doing. Mark moves his lips silently for a moment, and then stutters, "My th-th-thumb." Pan to said thumb, which is twitching. A machine starts beeping. Elizabeth says that he's "diaphoretic." Mark murmurs, "I don't...good." That he does not. "Elizaba," he continues. No one seems particularly concerned at the angry sounds of the various machines. Mark starts seizing. Dr. Burke calmly calls for saline.

And then...the Fromage Montage (tm Sars). As Dr. Burke explains to Elizabeth that the electronic stimulation has induced a seizure, and that putting saline on the brain should cool it down and stop the seizure, we see very quick cuts: Creek. Birthday cake. Motorcycle. Mark in a nappy-ass fake beard pretending to be a minister as Gena Rowland and Sean Connery renew their marriage vows, and smooth jazz tootles in the background. Tricycle falling over. Motorcycle again. Jen in a bad wig holding a baby and bitching at Mark. Mark slapping Linda Fiorentino's ass. Elizabeth leans in, urgently saying Mark's name, and then demands that someone give him some ativan. Dr. Hammond is like, "Oh, are you the anaesthesiologist, now? Because I didn't get that memo." He adds that if they sedate Mark, he won't be able to talk, and the procedure would have to stop. Back to Mark's life flashing before his eyes: Holling blows some smoke. Mark's mom lies in a hospital bed. Mark is dressed all in white in this big, antiseptic dome. A merry-go-round. A ferris wheel. The set of a low-budget Key Bank commercial. Someone dies. Mark's own voice breaks the news of someone's dying. Mark, when he still had hair, stands beside a stoned-looking Sean Penn for about three seconds -- hey, I blinked and I almost missed him! The clips start coming too fast for me to really tell what's going on (or care) (well, I never cared, but now I care even less). Dr. Burke calls for propofol. Elizabeth asks what else they can do, and Dr. Burke says that they can't continue until Mark's awake and alert. She leans in and starts bellowing at him to wake up. The seizure rages on. Hey, you know what I didn't see in Mark's life as it flashed before his eyes? Elizabeth. You know what else I didn't see? Top Gun.