mc 4.8.27 and shell problems

[Joseph Reagle <joseph 2011 reagle org>]

4.8.27 kind of "fixed" 4.8.26 for those of us running zshell by removing the wait for commands to time out.

Occasionally I would not be able to execute a command: "Error: The shell is already running a command." And exiting mc 
in this state also throws: "Warning. The shell is still active. Quit anyway?"

Now, this problem happens frequently. I know I'm in trouble because when starting mc because the prompt line (second 
from the bottom, above the Function keys) shows a "^[" at its start.

The only way I've found to restore command functionality is to quit iterm2 itself (not just a given tab), but 
then the problem soon recurs.

Help!?

—Joseph