"Through The Looking Glass"

DECEMBER 8, 2010

FOCUS: JACK
EPISODE: 3.22
AIRED: MAY 23, 2007

"Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit...." - BC, May 23, 2007

After spending most of "Through The Looking Glass" trying to figure out where the "flashbacks" fit into Jack's narrative (and why John Terry wasn't around), it finally dawned on me when I saw the maps in Jack's apartment - this was a flash forward! Jack got off the island! And grew a Tom-esque fake beard!!!

One thing that's always bugged me about Stephen King's writing is that he's constantly "spoiling" things, ending chapters with things like "it would be the last time he had a soda, because he would die that day", several chapters before he actually died. But this potentially crippling revelation actually invigorated the show - we knew by this point that it would run for 3 more seasons, so obviously it wouldn't be as easy as getting on a helicopter and returning home. At the same time, knowing that at least two people made it (the other being Kate) bought them some goodwill - at least we knew there was some semblance of a happy rescue at some point.

Also, knowing it was a glimpse into Jack's future made it more intriguing. We knew he had problems in the past, but he never seemed suicidal, nor was he hooked on pills or driving around listening to lesser Nirvana tracks. I may have issues with Lindelof and Cuse's writing at times, but I got to hand it to them - I can't think of any other form of entertainment where telling you the 'end' halfway through actually made it more interesting.

And it's a good "present day" episode too! I never really believed Jin and the others were dead, but they did a good job of keeping us in suspense about it. Hurley's day-saving was incredible, and while I may not have liked to see Tom bite it so soon, Sawyer's "That's for taking the kid off the raft." is a pretty badass moment (and a totally justified one, if you consider the chain of events that followed).

Actually a lot of folks get some great kick-ass moments; Jack beating the shit out of Ben, Locke stabbing Naomi, Charlie saving Desmond, Sayid breaking that dude's neck... hell even Bernard gets to take out a few others (and Rose telling Jack she'll hit him if he says "Live Together, Die Alone" is friggin hilarious). I also love that Mikhail seemingly gets sick of people failing to kill him and just does the job himself.

Only drawback is that it really kicks off Lost's annoying habit of having its characters stay vague or refuse to answer simple questions in order to make the plot work. Why can't Ben just tell Jack about Widmore? Why can't Walt tell Locke what's going on? It even extends to the flash-forwards - why doesn't that other doctor ever point out to Jack that his father is dead? It would just get worse from here (that the temple, easily the worst concept in the show's run, gets its first mention here is quite fitting).

I also wish they could have structured Charlie's death better, since he very easily could have survived. Even if the water was already rushing in, his act (locking the door and thus keeping Desmond safe) still would have been a bit foolish, but doing it beforehand is just idiotic. Especially in hindsight, since Desmond's vision never came true anyway. Poor Charlie. Died for nothing and never got beyond first base with Claire. Also, lost his ring.

Well that wraps up Season 3. It had a few weak spots but overall I think it was an improvement on S2, mainly based on these last few episodes and a couple knockouts like "Flashes Before Your Eyes". It also wraps up the show's impressive use of its ensemble; from here on out, characters would be wasted, couples would be split apart more or less forever, and with a few exceptions ("The Constant" for one example), the writers would really lose sight of the emotional connections these folks had to one another (and the audience) in favor of excess mythology and sci-fi mumbo jumbo. On the other hand, we get Myles and Lapidus.

Where are we?

PLEASE, GO ON...

"Greatest Hits"

DECEMBER 7, 2010

FOCUS: CHARLIE
EPISODE: 3.21
AIRED: MAY 16, 2007

Pretty much every problem I had with Season 3 was eradicated by "Greatest Hits" and the following episode, since they brought in full force everything I loved about Lost, and delivered what may be the most satisfying cap of any season of the show (yes, even Season 1). I don't want to get too far ahead of myself, but by killing off a major character that we've been with since the very first episode, it truly showed us how no one was safe, and that final scene pretty much broke every conventional rule of serialized dramas. Well played!

But that's "Looking Glass", let's talk "Greatest Hits". Frankly, if you don't tear up at least once during this episode, you pretty much have no soul. I'd argue that Charlie's reflections leading up to his death are sadder than his actual death, since we had been told so many times he would die over the course of the season, it was sort of anticlimactic. But reflecting on the best moments of his life prior to that? Oh man, I lost my shit the first time I saw it and still get teared up at parts, particularly Liam telling Charlie that he's the one that will grow up, get married and have a baby (oops), and of course declaring the moment he met Claire as the best in his life.

The real nose-blower, however, is his goodbye to Hurley. It's sad in so many ways - that he has to insult him to save his life, that Hurley doesn't realize he's never going to see what is essentially his best friend again, and their very bro-mantic "I love yous"... again, if you're not at least misty eyed here, you're some sort of goddamn robot.

Hell, the episode is so good I can even ignore two rather clunky bits of writing: 1. Charlie actually starts writing the list before Desmond tells him that this is it for him, and 2. Why does he write one at a time? Since he's going backwards, he obviously knows what #1 is, why does he delay? I think it would have made more sense if he had written it out at some previous time (especially when he actually stops rowing the boat in order to write down #1 - Desmond should have been like "You gonna help, brother?") and then they used the camera to REVEAL one at a time throughout the episode.

I also love how their usual multi-group plan for the end of a season worked together for a change. Instead of having folks off doing one thing and others doing something mostly unrelated, it was sort of like a three part attack, with Charlie and Desmond going off to shut off the signal so that Jack and the others could send a message from the radio tower area, where they would all be because Sayid, Jin, and Bernard (oh yeah, Bernard and Rose show up for the first time all season, and Vincent pops up too!) were waiting to ambush the Others. For the first time all season, everyone appears and has something to do. Well, Locke's in a ditch somewhere, but everyone ELSE has a goal and if they fail none of the other parts will work or will be in vain.

I also love when Carl tries to "out" Juliet by revealing she's a spy to the other survivors. "They know, but, thanks!" I love her. She'd get to be a lot funnier next season ("It's stressful being an Other, Jack."), and I truly think part of why S6 felt so underwhelming is due to her absence - she may have come on board late but she quickly became one of my favorite characters, and her stuff with Sawyer stood up with the best of the show's "couples".

Onward to the season finale!

Where are we?

PLEASE, GO ON...

"The Man Behind The Curtain"

DECEMBER 7, 2010

FOCUS: BEN
EPISODE: 3.20
AIRED: MAY 9, 2007

We waited all season, perhaps even further back (into Season 2), for Lost to give us a Ben-centric episode, and “The Man Behind The Curtain” finally delivered. And while not without some minor issues, it was worth the wait, providing several answers big and small, opening up a huge new aspect of the mythology, and ending on the best shock since Michael shot Ana Lucia and Libby.

Let’s get the minor stuff out of the way. Since Ben is still our main villain, it’s kind of disappointing that a big part of his demeanor is due to the old “he wasn’t held enough as a child” excuse. I was hoping Lost’s writers could come up with something a little less clichéd, though I admit it’s nice to have that sort of “bond” between him and Locke, whose mother didn’t die, but still abandoned him (and, I never noticed, both of their mothers are named Emily) and his father was a royal pain in the ass. They were also both born premature, another thing I never really picked up on before.

I also still don’t get why Ben lied about being born on the island. Was it just to provide a beginning of the episode twist? It seems like one of those things that they actually changed and thus it became a useless lie (like Sun never cheating on Jin) more than something that was planned. “He’s gonna say he was born there, but he really wasn’t! You know, so... he uh... um... Yeah.”

Otherwise, it’s great stuff. I love how something that was the source of a very fun and lighthearted episode (“Tricia Tanaka Is Dead”) had very grim origins. Not that I actually felt bad for Roger “Workman”, but it kind of takes the fun out of the earlier episode knowing that the skeleton was a guy who got gassed by his own kid when he was trying, for once, to be a father to the guy. Poor sod. And I don’t know, if my kid’s birth killed my wife I’d probably be a bit resentful too, so maybe some sympathy IS in order. He’s nice enough to Kate in Season 5.

The few scenes at the beach are also top notch, with a lot of tension and power struggles, plus the welcome revelation that Juliet doesn’t really plan to sell them out to her former neighbors. Ben’s plan seems a bit over the top ridiculous at this stage (again, why all the “bad guy” stuff? Why not just ask them if they want medical treatment if they’re pregnant, explaining that the Island will definitely kill them if not?), but I like the “triple agent” twist all the same.

It’s not hard to see why people hate Jack though, considering his attitude here. Even I, a big Jack supporter, want to smack him when he’s like “I hadn’t decided what to do about it yet.” Never quite decided if it was writer sloppiness or a character flaw, but sometimes Jack acts like a president, and other times a dictator. And I wish they could have spent a little more time on the folks who were potentially caught in the middle; Hurley is close to all three potential leaders (Sawyer, Sayid, and Jack) – who does HE side with in all of this? Or Charlie? And do folks like Desmond even care?

Tomorrow (or today!) – "Greatest Hits"! Good. I could use a good cry.

Where are we?

PLEASE, GO ON...

"The Brig"

DECEMBER 6, 2010

FOCUS: LOCKE
EPISODE: 3.19
AIRED: MAY 2, 2007

As much as I love Lost, I never really got into the message board culture of the show, reading theories and what not. If I had, the big revelation in "The Brig" would have been "spoiled" long before, because apparently it was a pretty popular theory amongst fans. Even with the constant "Hey look, these folks all ran into one another before they even got on the plane!" stuff, I never made the connection that Locke's con man father could be the same con man that led to Sawyer's parents death. I think I figured it out when Richard told Locke to "keep reading", which is like what, 4 minutes before its revealed on the show? Nice detective work, BC.

Great episode. I usually enjoy Locke episodes, and this one's above average (somewhat due to the fact that since his flashbacks are all on-island, we are spared his goofy wig), as it encapsulates everything that makes him a fascinating character - he's special, but he's also weak. And it's great fun to see him caught in the middle of a very underplayed power struggle between Richard and Ben - not too many shows would reduce one of their main characters to a pawn in a war we don't yet understand (and in some ways never do).

I also like the scene at the end between Locke and Sawyer, where Sawyer asks him about his disability being real. At times, you can tell Sawyer really respects Locke, and here he seems like he's looking for a way to bond with him, realizing that both of their lives have been fucked up because of the same guy. But Locke is too busy on his "destiny" to take the opportunity, which is kind of a bummer.

And really, Cooper is one of the most detestable human beings I've ever seen in a show. The guy just doesn't have a single shred of humanity in him. You'd think being captured and brought somewhere would humble him enough to at least ACT civil toward his son, but no, he mocks and taunts Locke as if he's not currently tied up, and then does the same to Sawyer even when facing certain death. But Kevin Tighe is such a good actor, he never becomes cartoonish - I truly believe this guy is a real person, and a total asshole.

Also, these scenes take place on the Black Rock, which is home to my favorite Rousseau moment of all time. Locke is sitting outside while Sawyer beats on Cooper, and then Rousseau just strolls in looking for dynamite. It's funny enough, but the fact that she doesn't seem to care about the obvious violence occurring a few feet away makes it even funnier, almost like we're watching a crossover scene from an all Rousseau episode. Another funny bit is Cooper's theory that they are in hell, which even with my message board abstinence I knew was a popular theory. Sawyer's reaction pretty much works as a meta-response to the theory - no way (not til Season 6!).

Another funny moment occurs when Sayid and Hurley are playing with the satellite phone, where Hurley asks about the fact that 815 has been found with everyone dead, and Sayid replies "One thing at a time." I love that! Sayid doesn't have time for nonsense, he just tries to solve matters at hand. And his little power play concerning no one telling Jack about Naomi ("Good.") is also quite well played. In fact, I wish they had gone further with the idea of Sayid being a leader of the Survivors - it would have created an interesting dynamic and given Naveen Andrews more to do. Especially in retrospect; if there was any character completely ruined by the show's 6th season, it was him. At least if they had developed him as a leader in seasons 3 and 4, it wouldn't have been so bad.

Tomorrow - Ben flashbacks!

Where are we?

PLEASE, GO ON...

"D.O.C."

DECEMBER 5, 2010

FOCUS: SUN
EPISODE: 3.18
AIRED: APRIL 25, 2007

Why are all of the Sun and Jin flashbacks really just Sun flashbacks? Was S1's "In Translation" the only one that was truly Jin-centric? “D.O.C.” is no different; Jin is only in like 2 of the flashbacks, and it’s a sort of romantic comedy version of the guy, where he’s the perfect husband and tells her how beautiful she is pretty much every time he speaks. Meanwhile, Sun’s off playing hardball with her dad, getting icy with ex-hooker mothers, and enjoying tea with Jin’s dad (who is easily the most understanding and forgiving man in the world – “your son told me you were dead.” “I don’t blame him. Tea?”).

Anyway, it’s one of their better episodes, thanks to one of the first signs of post-Island Sun, who was angry and defiant all the time. I love when she talks to her dad, and the threat to the blackmailing mom is pretty scary. Hell, she’s even like that ON the island for once, charging at Juliet and such. Go Sun! Apparently Yun Jin Kim is a huge star in Korea; this is one of the episodes where it’s easy to see why.

Also, it’s the 2nd episode this month to have a female driven island plot, with Sun and Juliet going off to the Dharma station with all the medical equipment so they could give Sun an ultrasound and determine the date of conception. It’s a bit of a stretch – we know she was screwing around with that bald dude, but he died, was buried, etc – even if that was the same WEEK as their plane crash, wouldn’t she have noticed she was pregnant long before she did? There’s about 40 days’ difference between the time the baby was conceived from the last time she hooked up with Lee (again, assuming that their affair/his death occurred the week of the Oceanic plane crash, which seems rather unlikely), if he was the father then she’d be in her second trimester by now.

Meanwhile, Desmond and the others are trying to deal with Naomi (aka Not Penny), who has a branch in her lung. Luckily Mikhail runs in from somewhere and saves her. And it’s here that Desmond says “you’ve killed more of them than they have of you”, which is a line I remembered vaguely but couldn’t recall if I had missed it. I certainly didn’t remember that it was Desmond who said it – which now sort of confuses me: how did HE know that? He wasn’t around for S1 or most of S2 – did someone fill him in with all the details of their conflict with the Others? I can just picture Hurley and Desmond eating mangos with Hurley bringing him up to speed. “So Ethan killed Scott (or Steve), but then Charlie killed Ethan, so we were even. But Sawyer and Kate shot a couple of them on our way to get kidnapped, and Sun killed Colleen, so we’re ahead now.”

Another nitpicky thing I never really thought about – how does Naomi have that particular photo of Desmond and Penny? It was taken by a guy on the street and given to Desmond, who has seemingly held onto it through thick and thin. How’d they get a copy? And why THAT picture? This is the drawback of having a well written cast of characters – mishaps stick out a lot more. Mistakes like this on something like 24 I wouldn’t even notice, let alone care about.

According to the Lostpedia, this is the last traditional episode of Lost in terms of flashbacks, as the rest of them would include flashbacks to things that happened on the Island (or flash forwards, or flashes to the most complicated and rule-heavy afterlife of all time). I will miss them! Sometimes the flashbacks were more interesting than the island adventures (I could always use a few more stories of Jack and Christian butting heads), and more often than not it kept an episode from being a total waste (i.e. “The Long Con” – terrible island story, but a decent Sawyer flashback). Adieu.

Where are we?

PLEASE, GO ON...

"Catch-22"

DECEMBER 4, 2010

FOCUS: DESMOND
EPISODE: 3.17
AIRED: APRIL 18, 2007

I stand corrected. Yesterday I made reference to "Catch-22" being a lesser Desmond episode, but I forgot that it was the one with the "camping trip", which is a hilarious and sweet little subplot featuring some top-notch male bonding. Jin telling the scary story is one of his all-time best moments, and I also love Charlie and Hurley debating Flash vs. Superman. So it's still a pretty great episode.

I think it just pales (slightly) to his others because it's more traditional - no time travel, no Island stuff... it's a very Lost-like "here's something that happened in their past" tale. But it does yield two surprises. One is that his frequent use of calling people "brother" is actually not a random affection for the word - the dude was a monk! It's the rare case of Lost explaining something we didn't really need an explanation for without annoying us, if anything it's kind of endearing.

The other surprise is that it seems like a possible sequel to the previous episode, where he broke up with Penny. It would make sense that he was so distraught he joined a monastery, being aimless and seeking a purpose and all that. But as we learn about halfway through, it's actually another girl he was running from, and that this is actually the oldest of his flashbacks. It allows for a wonderful coda, where he actually meets Penny for the first time (something that would have been an even nicer surprise if they hadn't spoiled Sonya Walger's appearance in the opening credits - grrr).

I'm also impressed with the hair/makeup folks on this show. While Locke's never really had a convincing wig in his flashbacks, I never can figure out how they do beardless Desmond in the past with bearded Desmond on the island. Either the beard is fake (lot better than Tom Friendly's!) or Henry Ian Cusick has Joe Lynch-ian abilities to just sprout a beard more or less on command. Some characters they don't really bother changing the appearance at all (Jack being the main offender) but Desmond, Sayid, and Hurley in particular really DO look a lot younger in their respective flashbacks.

And it's been a while, but this episode has a maddening unanswered question! For no reason whatsoever, there's a closeup of a photo on the main monk's desk with him and Ms. Hawking. Is he also her son and thus Daniel's brother? It's also a really shitty Photoshop job, which somehow makes it even more annoying - they tasked some graphics guy with the show to make this photo and never bothered doing anything with it.

Which got me thinking, since they were such "Dark Tower" fans, I wonder if they would ever consider "revising" the show for a future DVD release, where they can remove pointless things like this, fix minor inconsistencies (Charlie saying he was on the swim team in one episode, saying he can't swim in another), etc. That's what King did with the first "Dark Tower" book once he was done (or close to done) with the rest of the series, he went back and fixed some stuff that was ultimately "wrong". I'd buy it, anyway.

Final note - Hurley's "Thanks for the heads up about bringing an umbrella, dude." is possibly one of his best lines of all time.

Where are we?

PLEASE, GO ON...

"One Of Us"

DECEMBER 3, 2010

FOCUS: JULIET
EPISODE: 3.16
AIRED: APRIL 11, 2007

In a rare case of an episode being about Claire when it’s not her flashback, “One Of Us” finds Jack and the rest returning to camp (thus retiring Kate’s “I OWE him that!” clip in the ‘previously’ once and for all, I think) just as Claire gets sick, and only Juliet can help. Hilariously, poor Emilie de Ravin spends most of the episode asleep, so she still doesn’t really DO anything. No, this is pretty much 100% Juliet’s show, with lots of her background filled in and a few clues about her current plans.

It’s also the rare case of a flashback being a direct “sequel” to the one before it. At the end of her last episode (“Not In Portland”), she was being swayed into joining up with Richard, and this one starts with her about to check in for her first day. Some folks, Jack and Kate for example, their flashbacks jump around all over the place and you really have to pay attention and do some brain work to figure out their overall place in the timeline, so it’s nice to have strong continuity for once.

And it’s really flashback heavy; it seems like the present day stuff barely makes up half the episode. As a result, some stuff seems glossed over – I would have liked more time spent with folks discussing what to do with Juliet (especially the unseen chain of events that led to them having Hurley, of all people, keep an eye on her), and Claire’s illness seems to have little effect on Charlie. Usually he gets all worked up and annoying whenever Claire is in any danger, but he’s basically just sort of puzzled by it for the most part.

For fans of Juliet and Sawyer’s relationship, there’s another great “from the beginning” moment here, when him and Sayid follow her out to where the medicine has been stashed. After confronting her about her and her people being murderers (speaking of which, when is the episode where someone points out that the survivors have killed more Others than the other way around? Or did I miss that line in one I already watched?), she pulls rank and asks Sayid about his days as a torturer (well known), but then turns to Sawyer and reveals that she knows about the guy he killed in Sydney. Now, I’m not sure how the hell they know that (if it happened the day before he got on the plane, how would they have gathered that intelligence? Who would have had known?), but it’s such an awesome, defiant moment for Juliet. I hate to use gamer speak, but there’s nothing better that applies: she totally pwns him.

Since I don’t have much else to say about this episode, I guess I’ll talk about this, which is something that never really occurred to me until I was rewatching this season in particular with all the answers (well, all the ones we got) in mind: why the hell didn’t Ben and the other Others just welcome the survivors and tell them who they were right from the start? Why terrorize them, when they ultimately really didn’t want to cause them any harm? Like, “Hey, you guys OK? Sorry you crashed on our home. So listen, we’ve got a fully functional town just over the hill here, so we can treat the injured. By the way, do you have any pregnant women in your number? We’re trying to solve a medical mystery and we could use one. Want some chicken?” It’s really one of those things that makes you wonder how much of the show they really did have planned out. I really suspect more than ever that when they said they knew how the show would end, they meant they specifically knew it would end with Jack laying down in the jungle, dying, and closing his eyes. Not like, that Locke would be a smoke monster or that Ben and Hurley would team up to watch the island together.

Anyway, tomorrow’s a Desmond episode. Not one of his best, but any Desmond episode is better than average.

Where are we?

PLEASE, GO ON...

"Left Behind"

DECEMBER 2, 2010

FOCUS: KATE
EPISODE: 3.15
AIRED: APRIL 4, 2007

I can only assume the Lost producers were specifically seeking to rectify my recent disapproval with a few episodes of the show by writing “Left Behind”, in which half the episode finds Kate and Juliet handcuffed together and occasionally mud wrestling, and the other half finds Kate teaming up with Cassidy, whom I’m also smitten with. Add in some wonderful comedy with Sawyer and Hurley and you got a pretty great episode.

It’s funny how a throwaway subplot about Sawyer not being able to use nicknames was consistently referred to several times over the next few episodes – it’s actually one of the best reminders of how little time passes between episodes that we’ve ever gotten. And it’s always funny to see how hard it is for him, I think he actually forgot Aaron’s name at one point. I also love “You sir, are rotund.” I say again – one of the dumbest moves on this show was splitting these two up for such an extended period. Maybe even more so than keeping Jin and Sun apart. One line sticks out though – Hurley’s claim that Claire is influential on the group. Really? Why? We never see her interacting with anyone besides Charlie and Sun.

Anyway, it’s a nice little subplot, and the epilogue, with everyone enjoying boar and warm Dharma beer (why not keep it in the ocean in one of Jin’s nets?), reminded me of some of the first season’s final scenes, when they’d always play a song from Hurley’s iPod and such. I also like that Dharma has their own A1 sauce.

Then in the main plot we have Kate and Juliet sort of bonding but mostly fighting and running around soaking wet and/or covered in mud. This, of course, is awesome for several reasons, but it doesn’t appeal solely to my prurient interests – there’s actually some great dialogue exchanges and even the odd nugget of info here and there. I love the scene where Juliet tells Kate why Jack didn’t want her to come back, and it’s pretty awesome to see the smoke monster stopped in its tracks by the sonic fence. And anyone who has suffered through Via Domus should appreciate the scene where they hide in the Banyan tree, albeit without a Native American-sounding Locke guiding them (nor do they lose their bearings going in and out and get killed 5 seconds later, as you would in the game).

The flashback story is also pretty good; I like the idea of Kate being the one to convince Cassidy to turn in Sawyer, and the scene they meet is cool, because we see Cassidy trying to pull a con that doesn’t work, which is how she was introduced (with Sawyer trying to con her). A nice little full circle moment, eh? Some of the plot doesn’t make any sense (they grilled Cassidy for hours but never noticed her crappy wig? Why didn’t Kate’s mom recognize Cassidy? And how did Kate get into the restaurant if the place was being watched?), but as I’ve mentioned before, this show favors the male characters, so any time they have two of the females teaming up (both in the flashbacks and on the island!), it sticks out and feels fresh enough to forgive some of its logic issues.

I won’t, however, forgive yet another odd detail about Kate and Edward’s relationship, with Cassidy being sort of stunned at how badly the guy wanted her. What the hell’s the deal with these two?!?!? I think I’ll just go find some fan-fic and accept it as canon just to ease my mind.

Tomorrow’s isn’t as fun. But after that is another Desmond episode, so it’s all good.

Where are we?

PLEASE, GO ON...

"Exposé"

DECEMBER 1, 2010

FOCUS: NIKKI AND GODDAMN PAULO
EPISODE: 3.14
AIRED: MARCH 28, 2007

Until I read the Lostpedia article on the episode, I never knew that anyone hated “Exposé”. According to Darlton, it was as polarizing as “Across The Sea”, but with that one I can see why (being one that hated it myself). But “Exposé”? It kills Nikki and Goddamn Paulo in one fell swoop, in a macabre Tales From The Crypt-y way to boot! Plus it’s damn hilarious and features a lot of Hurley/Sawyer interplay – I’d say it was actually one of the best episodes of the season.

It’s even better on a second (or I think fourth, now) viewing, because once you know the real story, it makes Sawyer and Hurley’s “detective” work and random theories (the monster, someone poisoning them, etc) all the more hilarious, almost like a Coen Bros. version of a Lost episode (Burn After Reading/Big Lebowski style Coens, not Fargo/No Country Coens). And I always like when they go back and show things from another perspective – the crash scene in particular, with Boone running around asking for pens, is quite enjoyable.

There’s also a lot of meta-humor, which I guess is why people hate on it. Some of it is pretty obvious, like anything related to the TV show Exposé, which has big secrets and frequently kills its guest stars. But there are some funny, more subtle lines, like when Nikki says “This isn’t Jurassic Park” (the Jurassic Park films were shot in part in Hawaii, where Lost is filmed). And, not AS subtle, but “I hope we don’t end up like them” is wonderfully ironic, but also sort of meta, as they DID end up like Boone and Shannon – annoying characters killed before they got even further on our nerves, and in Shannon’s case, also once we finally learned a bit about their past. Everyone else who died had a flashback episode prior to the one that accompanied their death, but this was (thankfully) the first Nikki and Paulo flashback, most of which occurred on the island anyway.

Another thing that surprises me about folks hating it – it has two interesting reveals! One is Juliet and Ben setting their plans for Jack (and Kate and Sawyer) in action, which is pretty awesome. The other is Charlie confessing to Sun that he and Sawyer were the ones responsible for her “kidnapping”, which is pretty huge. As we know, Charlie’s not long for this world, and it could have very well been something that Sun never knew about, so I like that they tied up this minor loose end, giving him a bit of redemption in the process. And you have to love her response to Sawyer asking if she was going to tell Jin – “No, because then we’d have to dig another grave.” It’s rare to see Sawyer looking ashamed, so this is a pretty big moment, I think.

And come on – how do you NOT love the ending, when you discover that they weren’t dead (well, Nikki wasn’t, at least – we never saw Paulo open his eyes, and he would have woken up earlier than her, before they were buried, no?). It’s such a wonderfully morbid twist, but also hilarious because, well, it’s Nikki and Goddamn Paulo. Also, as much as I hate these two, I DO sort of feel bad for the guy, who was basically killed because he was afraid she was going to leave him once she got the diamonds back. It’s like, maybe if they had given these two some goddamn depth earlier on, we wouldn’t have hated them as much and they wouldn’t have had to kill them off long before they supposedly planned to. Way to save their one redeeming moment for the final scene in their last episode (unlike other dead folks, they were never brought back for flashbacks – nor were they granted admission to Lost Heaven).

Oh well, they’re gone, and now we can get back to normal. And tomorrow – Kate and Juliet mud wrestling! Well, sort of. I’ll take what I can get.

Where are we?

PLEASE, GO ON...

"The Man From Tallahassee"

NOVEMBER 30, 2010

FOCUS: LOCKE
EPISODE: 3.13
AIRED: MARCH 21, 2007

I notice now that a lot of late Season 3 episodes of Lost were tying up loose ends about the characters’ back-stories, since their method of doing flashbacks was about to be dramatically overhauled (i.e. flash-forwards, time travel, etc). They were also having less to do with character themes and more with trying to connect them to an actual plot point. So you get episodes like “The Man From Tallahassee”, in which we get another tale of Locke getting fucked over by his dad (and how!), and it’s not until the final scene, where the show’s title comes into play, that we understand why we’re seeing this particular story (same goes for the previous episode – had almost nothing to do with Claire’s state of mind on the island, it just served as a vessel for telling us that Christian was her dad).

It’s also a damn fine episode, with a lot of adventure elements, some great Jack/Kate stuff, and a top notch performance by Michael Emerson, who starts to really display his dry sense of humor in this one (as well as his incredible chemistry with Terry O’Quinn). I love how instantly he comes up with “we have two giant hamsters in a secret underground lair...” (and O’Quinn’s annoyed reaction is just as priceless), and I laugh my ass off every time when Locke asks him if he was speaking in code. But he also shows some of his true colors, when he tells Locke his dilemma about Jack (and, unsaid, but Juliet as well) and how he made it so simple for him. Up until this point he’s been a complete enigma, but here we start to see the kind of guy he is. And it also starts the (rather long) process of making him an ally instead of an enemy.

Frequent director Jack Bender is also in fine form here, particularly in the flashbacks. It’s terrifying when Cooper knocks Locke out of the window, and the scene where Locke gets put into his wheelchair for the first time is truly horrifying – Bender does an amazing job of making it seem like the absolute worst thing in the world, as well as depicting Locke’s terrified state. Nice work, guy who directed Child’s Play 3.

Jack/Kate fans also get one of the best “let’s use this clip in a Youtube montage set to a Lifehouse song” moments too, when he tells her “I wish you hadn’t come back for me” and then, after a pause, whispers “But I will come back here for you.” Awww! (cue “Breathing”*). I also like that Jack plays his own theme music on the piano. What a self-absorbed ass.

Jack also seems a bit too trusting of Ben when he tells him that he will let Kate and Sayid go. Didn’t Kate just escape from him like 2 days ago? Granted, it seems the only reason he wanted her in the first place is to play her and Sawyer’s relationship against Jack to get him to do the surgery, but Jack doesn’t know that. I hate when things make sense to us (the audience) but wouldn’t make sense to the characters.

It’s also pretty much the last straw for Locke and Jack being “friends”. They’d spend the rest of their scenes together more or less in anger, and it wouldn’t be until after Locke died that Jack would say anything nice about the guy again (which is kind of sad, because Locke starts off the episode defending him). Yet they’d both more or less be friends with Ben near the end. Who would have seen that coming?

Tomorrow – Nikki and Goddamn Paulo die!

Where are we?

*Heh, when I was Youtube searching for a clip to put below (which I ended up just 'cheating' and using the video for "Please Come To Boston", which if you listen to the song you'd know why it came to mind), I tried “Lifehouse Lost” (no quotes) just to see if anyone had done such a thing – no luck with “Breathing”, but there were clips that used “Broken” and “Take Me Away”. And yes, I like Lifehouse.

PLEASE, GO ON...

"Par Avion"

NOVEMBER 29, 2010

FOCUS: CLAIRE
EPISODE: 3.12
AIRED: MARCH 14, 2007

In my recap for “Tricia Tanaka”, I bemoaned the fact that Lost’s credits would often spoil a surprise, and there’s no better example of that than “Par Avion”, which promises John Terry (aka Jack’s dad) even though it’s a Claire episode. Hmm... we know he has a daughter in Australia, so – “OH SHIT! Claire and Jack are half-siblings!”... is something anyone who was reading the credits (and had average deduction skills) would realize, about a half hour before it was actually revealed in the storyline. I forget when I finally learned to not read them anymore, but it wouldn’t be the last time they spoiled something just by naming a guest star who you wouldn’t expect to see in the episode.

It also wouldn’t be the only thing to annoy me about the episode, which was co-written by someone named Jordan Rosenberg, who never had another writing credit on the show before or since. Claire’s sudden plan to put a message in a bird’s foot is possibly the most ridiculous thing on the show (including smoke monsters and time travel), and the fact that some of the other folks seem to think it’s a good idea is even worse. Somehow, Bernard’s giant SOS sign on the beach is a complete waste of time, but capturing a bird, writing a message, and sticking it between its claw and tag (migratory birds, Claire tells us, are tagged – and the way that we learn how SHE knew this is clunkier than anything else on the show) is a very good idea. OK, survivors.

Even more frustrating is Desmond and Charlie’s vague warnings and attempts to prevent Charlie from dying again. Wouldn’t just telling Charlie to sit still be enough? No, it somehow has to involve pretending to hunt a boar and trying to talk Claire out of it and following her around and all this other nonsense. The one saving grace is that Claire is told about Desmond’s visions by the end of the episode; it would not be un-Lost like to drag this sort of thing out for ages, as throughout the show the plot only really advanced due to the characters’ refusal to be straight with one another. So kudos, Rosenberg (and Christina Kim) for at least wrapping up Claire’s obliviousness before it got too annoying.

The rest of the episode shows Locke and co. as they keep heading toward Other-town, with Mikhail still in tow. He drops some vague stuff about “the list” and also hints that he knew Locke from before, which would be explained in Season 5 I believe. Then Locke tosses him through the microwave fence and lets him seemingly die (but Mikhail is seemingly indestructible, so that doesn’t work). We also learn Locke has some explosives, which is a subplot I forgot about, and can’t quite remember if it pays off (is that what he uses to blow up the submarine?).

Also, they get to the “town” at the end of this episode, another thing I thought would take longer when I first watched it. It’s a great, intriguing little moment, with Jack seemingly running away only for them/us to discover he’s enjoying a game of catch with Tom. Is Jack an Other? (No.) I love the edit too, with the slam cut to LOST after Jack spikes the ball – it’s the rare “fun” final shot in the series; usually even the more uplifting or breezy episodes end on some sort of downer or dramatic cliffhanger.

Otherwise, this one dips dangerously close to “Stranger In A Strange Land” levels of uselessness; the sort of wheel-spinning nonsense that came as a result of the writers not knowing how long they had to drag the show out. Luckily it would be one of the last such episodes, as ABC made the “3 more years” decision around this time. Interestingly, it’s actually the exact halfway mark of the entire show, as it’s the 61st of 121 episodes. Which means there’s no way in hell I’m going to finish by January 8th, which was the original plan (to finish in a Lost-centric 108 days, but I also realize now the date would be 1-08!), as I’d have to do 2-3 a day from now til then (and there’s another break coming up due to my holiday travel). Hopefully I’ll finish by the end of January though, by doing occasional doubles. But still, woo! I’m at the halfway mark!

Where are we?

PLEASE, GO ON...

"Enter 77"

NOVEMBER 28, 2010

FOCUS: SAYID
EPISODE: 3.11
AIRED: MARCH 7, 2007

After yesterday’s largely “light” episode, “Enter 77” goes back to typical Lost territory, with an Island adventure mixed with a tragic backstory for the A story, and a throwaway “fun” B story. And since it’s a Sayid episode, that means the flashbacks are all about him being a torturer, so overall it’s a rather generic hour, but it’s got some merit sprinkled throughout, including the strongest evidence yet that Locke may in fact just be a goddamned moron.

I mean, look how much this guy has fucked up so far – he got Boone killed, he let the hatch implode, he let Ana Lucia get attacked by Ben which set off that whole chain of events... now he literally blows their best chance yet of being saved, after getting so focused on a computer chess game that he didn’t notice Mikhail somehow getting out of being tied up (he also couldn’t be bothered to look under the rug for a secret room – you’d think a HATCH would be his first thing to look for and thus do a good job inspecting the floor). I like Locke, but geesh, what a goon he is.

I also love when Rousseau decides not to bother joining them as they investigate Mikhail’s cabin, pointing out that she has been able to survive for 16 years due to not doing things like this. It’s a funny thing to think about, but really – if the survivors just sat on their beach and made like Tom Hanks, they probably would never have any problems. They really do bring a lot of this stuff on themselves. It’s a sentiment that would later be echoed by Rose and Bernard (to a far more hilarious effect, not to mention adding in the weight of all the harm they’ve brought upon themselves since this particular episode).

And then there’s the ping pong match between Hurley and Sawyer, which once again relies on Sawyer having some random object that no one would have had on the plane (and furthermore, he’d have no reason to think to put it in his stash), but otherwise is a fun diversion for the episode. I just wish we saw more of the game - we really only see one play, which is a bummer. However, Sawyer asking Nikki “Who the hell are you?” more than makes up for it. It seems more like something Hurley (our surrogate) should have asked (especially when she greeted him with a hug at the end of “Stranger In A Strange Land”), but Holloway’s delivery is perfect, so I’ll let it slide.

As for the Sayid stuff – eh. As I’ve said before, I didn’t care for how many of his flashbacks were about him torturing people, and this one’s basically a “mystery” over whether or not he tortured a particular woman. He admits to doing so, but whether he’s just saying it or really did I never quite fully understood – he doesn’t seem to be taken aback when he sees her at the restaurant. And either way – we know he’s tortured a whole bunch of folks, and regrets it, so why does this particular case matter? Her story about the cat is interesting, but the fact that Mikhail also has a cat just to tie the two stories together just seems stupid to me.

Far more interesting are the scenes between him and Mikhail, with the two of them putting on their best poker face and trying to get the upper hand. I love how civil Mikhail is when they finally start to fight – “Why are we continuing to play this little game when we all know it has moved to the next stage?” Great line, and Andrew Divoff plays it perfectly. He’s so good at pretending to be a lonely, innocent guy, I was actually kind of disappointed that he wasn’t. Especially since he’s played so many villains over the years, would have been cool to see him as a Rousseau-esque ally for a while. Oh well.

Tomorrow – one of the stupidest episodes ever! Featuring migratory birds!!!

Where are we?

PLEASE, GO ON...

"Trisha Tanaka Is Dead"

NOVEMBER 27, 2010

FOCUS: HURLEY
EPISODE: 3.10
AIRED: FEBRUARY 28, 2007

Unlike in Season 2, when the worst episode was followed by one that wasn't really that much better, Lost rebounded quite awesomely from "Stranger In A Strange Land" with "Trisha Tanaka Is Dead", a crowd-pleasing yarn that actually tosses in a lot of hints about future revelations while basically making the audience happy and forgetting all about Jack's goddamn tattoos.

In fact, Jack's not even in the episode at all. In fact he's the only one of the original Islanders that doesn't appear; everyone else appears and has dialogue and everything (though Claire only 'talks' in the background while music plays), for I think the first time all season. And he's mentioned, as Kate makes her "I OWE him that!" speech that will be replayed in the "previously" montage at the beginning of seemingly every single episode for the rest of the season, then goes off to get help in finding him, tailed by Locke and Sayid.

Her target, naturally, is Rousseau, whose daughter was the one that helped Kate get away in the first place. Not that it was the biggest surprise, but anyone who read the credits would have known that Mira Furlan was going to appear, and since it wasn't until the last 30 seconds of the episode that she did, I consider the credits sort of a "spoiler". And it wouldn't be the first time; several 'surprise' appearances would be ruined in the opening moments of the show. It's something that annoyed me for a long time until I finally learned not to read them (it's something I can't help - partially because doing credits is my job), but I wish they could have just used better judgment in doing their opening titles and saved 'surprise' actors for the end credits, like a lot of other shows do.

Side note about this subplot - Sayid's explanation of how they got a compass bearing is so damn funny. The look on Naveed Andrews' face is hilarious. He's pretty much the most "serious" character on the show, so the rare moments where he's actually smiling (almost laughing) are a delight.

Anyway, the main focus of the episode, and thus what makes it so good, details Hurley's discovery of a Dharma van and his attempts to get it running. Not only does he team up with the three folks he has the best chemistry with (Jin, Charlie, and Sawyer), but he actually does something for the good of everyone (and it would have a great payoff in the season finale). Like he says, the survivors could use both some hope and fun, and it seems the golf course is closed. It might even be one of the last "fun" A-plots left in the show - as the mythology got more complex and the danger levels got higher, there simply wasn't an opportunity for the writers to devote an entire episode to a few of our guys trying to fix a van so they could drive around.

Plus it's literally packed with funny character moments - Sawyer teaching Jin the most important things he needs to tell a woman, Hurley not knowing what a "work man" is, Roger's poor head, etc. Even the potentially angry moments are dismissed quickly; Sawyer comes looking for Hurley to confront him about his missing stash, and it quickly turns into a rather touching reunion, complete with a man-hug and Sawyer's oddly affectionate nickname of "Snuffy". Speaking of the nicknames, possibly the funniest moment in the episode is Hurley's terrible attempt at one ("Red...neck... Man!") and Sawyer's hilariously impressed reaction.

And I don't care, I cry happy tears at the end when they get the thing started and just start driving around in circles. Everyone's laughing and happy for once (plus Vincent's there!), Giacchino's score is wonderful... it's just an awesome moment. As I'm sure I've mentioned, I never cared as much about the Others and mythology stuff as I did seeing these people grow and form bonds (probably why the actual ending didn't piss me off as much as a lot of other folks), and when you consider the point of "Lost Heaven", it's moments like this that sort of justify it. And even though it's slightly marred by Sawyer's sadness about Kate, the montage at the end, with Jin giving Sun a flower (by the way - what the hell does Sun use in her hair? Look how long it's gotten since last season!) and Charlie regaling Claire with the story of their adventure, is a pretty sweet epilogue to the proceedings. It's one of the "warmest" episodes ever.

Hurley's flashback is also pretty fun, since it has some stuff about his curse but for the most part just tells a nice story about him and his dad (welcome to the "daddy issues" club, Hugo!). I kind of like that we actually got a "reveal" about how he got so husky (again though - they answer THIS?), and the stuff with his mom's "needs" is pretty hilarious. But it also adds dimension to his character - he's still the comic relief, but he's got a lot of baggage too - you really feel for the guy, which isn't something you can say about most comic relief types on big ensemble shows. I don't know if Jorge Garcia has much of an acting range (I've never seen him in anything else), but he definitely gives one of the most underrated performances on the show. His opening bit, talking to Libby, is pretty sad stuff, and Garcia nails it.

Only thing I don't like is the title event. I know he's cursed and all, but a meteor just seems too far-fetched, even for this show. They also throw in some dialogue about entering the building before the ribbon was cut, which doesn't jive with the curse idea anyway. And why did he agree to do the show anyway, when he clearly wasn't interested in it? A more "normal" disaster would have been a much better kickoff, I think.

If memory serves, tomorrow's episode has some fun stuff too (I think it's the ping pong one?), which makes me wonder if they KNEW "Stranger" was a dud even in the writing stage and were like "OK guys, we're going to need to earn a lot of goodwill back after this thing! Bring the fun and funny!"

Where are we?

PLEASE, GO ON...

"Stranger In A Strange Land"

NOVEMBER 26, 2010

FOCUS: JACK('S TATTOOS)
EPISODE: 3.9
AIRED: FEBRUARY 21, 2007

The date that "Stranger In A Strange Land" aired, I was celebrating my 5 year anniversary to my wife (not of being married - of dating). Excellent juxtaposition, then, since while we were celebrating ongoing love and all that good stuff, Lost was airing the episode that threatened to end my (and many others') affection for the series once and for all (luckily, the next episode turned out to be one of my all-time favorites, making everything OK - not sure about everyone else). It's also kind of funny that I already planned to skip watching an episode on Thanksgiving (not a horror movie though!), because I knew I'd be getting backed up on reviews and folks are barely reading this site anyway, so they sure as hell wouldn't be looking on a holiday. And thus I was even happier with this decision when I realized what episode was next - I'd have hated to spend part of my holiday suffering through this shit.

I never knew that this was the episode that prompted ABC to finally set an end date for the show (I just read it now on the Lostpedia entry), so I guess it's got some value after all. Also, if you hate Jack, he gets one of the most savage beatings of the show's history at the end, so that was probably enjoyable on some level. Otherwise though - Jesus Christ. Jack's fucking tattoos. I mean, seriously, who gave a shit to begin with? With all the half-assed and throwaway explanations we got for things that actually mattered, did we really need an entire episode about Jack getting his tattoos? Especially one that skips over the most baffling part of the whole episode - why the hell was he in Thailand to begin with? It's not even entirely clear where this part of his history took place in the timeline - it's post-divorce, apparently, but when did he have the time to up and go to Thailand for a while? Seems like he was always tailing Sarah and butting heads with his dad.

The present day stuff isn't that much better, especially in retrospect. There's some nonsense about Juliet getting "marked" and thus more stuff that makes the Others look like some sort of cult, neither of which are ever explained in any satisfactory way. Plus, they build up the character of Isabel like she's someone important... and then we never see her again. I don't even recall if she's ever mentioned in future episodes.

Really, the only part of this entire "A story" that I like is when Tom brings Jack a sandwich and Jack gets all annoyed that it's not grilled. Tom's odd fondness (attraction?) for Jack is one of those rare things that never really goes anywhere but I like anyway - the scene of them playing football in an upcoming episode is hilarious. It almost seems born more out of Matthew Fox and M.C. Gainey being pals and throwing in some extra business in their scenes together. But I mean, as much as I love the combination of humor and sandwiches, one good scene does not make an episode worth my while.

The Kate and Sawyer story is SLIGHTLY better, because Sawyer gets to make a Jaws reference and he has a nice "father/son" chat with poor Carl, who misses Alex because they used to name stars together. Sawyer's clearly not really doing it because he's a hopeless romantic, but it's an amusing subplot all the same, mainly because Carl is just so damn goofy. But even this stuff is problematic - why do him and Kate bicker so much, a day or two after they made love (and even spooned!)? It just seems kind of out of nowhere.

Perhaps not too unsurprisingly, the writers for this episode are Christina M. Kim and Elizabeth Sarnoff, who also wrote "The Hunting Party" and "The Whole Truth", episodes which were also filled with go-nowhere subplots and stuff that sticks out as "wrong", such as Sun telling Jin she never had an affair in "The Whole Truth" when we find out like 8 episodes later that she did. But at least those episodes (and most of their others) are actually GOOD, overall. This is just a waste of 42 minutes. It was, however, the only episode ever directed by Paris Barclay, so at least there were SOME consequences from this drivel.

And again, fan reaction was apparently so bad that it prompted ABC to decide to schedule an end date, so that Damon/Carlton/etc could make sure that they got to tell their story in its entirety and guaranteeing fans a real ending (as opposed to an abrupt one caused by sudden low ratings), while also inspiring them to get focused knowing exactly how many hours they had left to tell their story, and hopefully not waste time on shit that didn't matter like this. As we all know, it wasn't an entirely successful plan, though as much as I was disappointed by 5 and 6, I never completely lost interest the way I did for say, The X-Files, which ran about 3-4 seasons too long and eventually became something I watched in the background. I always paid attention to you, Lost!

Where are we?

PLEASE, GO ON...

"Flashes Before Your Eyes"

NOVEMBER 24, 2010

FOCUS: DESMOND
EPISODE: 3.8
AIRED: FEBRUARY 14, 2007

It's sort of fitting that we got our first real introduction to Penny and Desmond's relationship on Valentine's Day, when "Flashes Before Your Eyes" originally aired, because their episode "The Constant" would be pretty much the most moving and romantic episode of the series. Also, this episode is, like love, completely friggin baffling the first time around.

The first time, I thought it was all just a dream/hallucination; that he was subconsciously reflecting on these past events (moving in/breaking up with Penny, asking for her hand in marriage, etc) and inserting his present day memories into them. It's only now, knowing (more or less) how the time travel element on this show worked that this episode really makes total sense to me. If I'm understanding correctly, it's not Desmond's body but more his conscious/brain that does (due to his radiation exposure or whatever)? So he goes back and forth through time, but not in a physical sense - he looks the age he should in that time period, but has the memories from the other. But he's also an alcoholic, so he gets a bit hazy on details. Right?

Well either way, it's an intriguing episode, and any time they give an episode over entirely to Desmond (it's even the rare episode without Jack and/or Kate), I'm happy. And I love the framing device, with Charlie and Hurley getting him drunk and then telling his tale. It takes longer than usual to get to the first flashback, but once it starts, we don't return to the island until the end of the episode, which is also pretty rare. It's one of those things that you might not even realize at first - "Hey, when are they going to cut back to the Island?" - because Desmond's story is more intriguing than most of our characters anyway, but he's also got a lot of catching up to do since he wasn't around for the first two seasons.

One minor thing bugs me about the setup though - Locke calls Charlie and Hurley back into the jungle to tell them that Eko is dead and that the rest of the folks will be looking to "them" to keep morale high and all that. Hurley I get, but who the hell (besides Claire) looks to Charlie for anything like that? Two weeks ago the guy was trying to drown babies! These people have no recollective memory whatsoever. It's just a contrivance to get him away from the beach so that Desmond could do his thing, but I think it would have worked even if he was still on the beach - he could have been distracted with Sawyer's stash or something and thus not have gone after Claire right away, thus giving time for Desmond to run back and dive in and add Henry Ian Cusick to the collection of Lost actors who take the time to take off their shirt when they dive into the water.

Anyway, back to Desmond, was anyone else kind of sad to discover that the photo of him and Penny was a mock background? Especially since they break up right after - you always think that it was taken on some sort of wonderful trip, but it was actually in front of some cheap grade school backdrop, moments before they broke up. The scene with Widmore is also heartbreaking - Desmond's all happy and enjoying the story about the whiskey, only to discover that the jerk is using it to contrast how little he thinks of him. Dick. It's also interesting how similar it is to the scene where Jin applied for a job, with the guy asking him about some vague things on the resume and our hero being forced to admit his shortcomings.

Of course, at the time we did not yet know that time travel would become such a big element on the show, and/or that it would spread beyond Desmond. I can't say for sure if it was the best idea; sure there were some great little moments that came out of it (Hurley's idea to "write" Empire Strikes Back is possibly the funniest "plot thread" in the show's history), but it just seemed primarily designed to fix a bunch of plot holes (not to mention cause a massive "I give up" movement amongst fans). Plus it continued keeping our characters separate, which was a big blunder no matter how you slice it. The fact that Hurley and Sawyer, whose friendship during S3 and S4 made for one of the most enjoyable pairings ("If you hurt one hair on his curly head..."), only had like two or three scenes together over the course of the final two seasons is just insane. And don't get me started on keeping Jin and Sun apart for so long. So while this may be a pretty good episode, it's also the beginning of the end, sort of - I liked the rest of 3 and most of 4, but 5 and 6... they just, er, lost me for the most part. Nice work, Desmond.

Where are we?

PLEASE, GO ON...

"Not In Portland"

NOVEMBER 23, 2010

FOCUS: JULIET
EPISODE: 3.7
AIRED: FEBRUARY 7, 2007

It's a good thing I like Elizabeth Mitchell, because otherwise I'd be kind of pissed that Lost came back after a 3 month hiatus with an episode about Juliet instead of Sayid or Hurley or any of the other "classic" characters who had yet to get their own episode this season. But "Not In Portland" is an important episode, because it humanizes an Other for the first time and introduces an important character (Richard!) as well.

Actually two, if you count Tom. I thought we knew his name by now, but either way, his awkward introduction to Jack is awesome. "I'm Tom, by the way", he says, almost like "Hey, we might as well be friends, dude." Jack's reaction is pretty priceless too. Even though he took Walt and delivered the "this is OUR island..." speech, he is (aside from Juliet) clearly the most, ahem, friendly Other so far - he gave Kate some clothes and lotion for her wrists, helps Jack with the surgery (adding another person to the long list of people who make shitty assistants for Jack's medical procedures as well), and I think he's the only one who hasn't taken a whack or a taser shot at Sawyer since they kidnapped him. Shame he didn't last as long as the other Others.

Jack also has some uneasy moments in the episode - I particularly like when he realizes Ben is awake and asks him (tentatively) if he wanted anything for the pain. And his 2nd artery 'nick' truly was an accident, so now he's in the position of trying to save the guy he was trying to kill when he was supposed to be saving from something else. Also, it's a bit underplayed, but I dig how Kate tells him the story now that he's in a position for it to register with him - at that particular moment he needs to follow his own advice. Good stuff.

The Juliet story isn't quite as interesting for the most part - we knew she was a fertility doctor and that she wasn't one of the "original" Others, but it's funny to go back and see Richard before we knew he was an ageless sort of ambassador for the Others, which makes his "recruitment" scene slightly more comical in retrospect - you know he finds his slides showing the group taking group hikes and kayaking trips just as boring as she does. It's also aided in the humor department by Željko Ivanek, playing his usual asshole but a less villainous one than we're accustomed to (he also continues the tradition of Lost folk being from Oz). I particularly love the scene right before he gets hit by a bus, when he's on the phone: "Because you're insufferable and mean... well you asked for the truth Mom...." So delightfully mean-spirited and unnecessary, but totally awesome all the same.

I don't like that they killed Pickett off at the end of the episode though. First of all, if he had to die, it should have been Sawyer who killed him, not Juliet (though at least Sawyer got in that awesome electrocution scene). Second, he made for an intriguing villain at a time when they were softening all of the Others. I like how the Others turned out to be not so bad after all, but it would have been cool to have more personal conflict among them - most of it was based around general "this is OUR island/no it's ours" type issues. These two dudes just wanted to fucking kill each other.

Speaking of Sawyer, he continues displaying his newfound heart when he agrees to help Alex find Carl once he realizes it was the same kid who tried to help him earlier. I really do believe they took the fan outrage over his "tree frog/steal the guns" period from S2 to heart - Christ, later in the season he will challenge Jack to a friendly game of ping pong and help Jin learn important English phrases! Not that I'm opposed to it, but it's just kind of funny when watching them back to back and taking the compressed timeline of the series into consideration - this mean stuff was barely two weeks ago.

Tomorrow: Desmond episode! And the introduction (sort of) of the very thing that would more or less kill the series' greatness: goddamned time travel.

Where are we?

PLEASE, GO ON...

"I Do"

NOVEMBER 22, 2010

FOCUS: KATE
EPISODE: 3.6
AIRED: NOVEMBER 8, 2006

When “I Do” originally aired, it was scheduled as sort of a mini-season finale. The idea for this (and only this) season was to have a 6 episode block airing back to back, then take a long hiatus and come back in February and air new episodes non-stop until the end of the season, which was their way to combat complaints about the frequent 2-4 week gaps that would occur during the usual September to May TV season.

Thus, it seemed like a very real possibility that Sawyer would get killed at the end of the episode, because holy shit! What better sock to the gut and “what will happen next?” moment could there possibly be? Plus he’s in the rain, and Giacchino’s music swells to nearly Thomas Newman-ian heights... all signs point to goner. Well, it was not to be (admittedly, I’m glad), and the cliffhanger was just Jack telling Kate to run, which wasn’t quite the awesome cliffhanger we were expecting. Kate, running? No shit! That’s all she ever does anyway! Might as well have a cliffhanger on whether or not Hurley will eat a sandwich.

Indeed, the flashbacks for the episode remind us, again, that Kate can’t sit still for too long (and if she does, she grows her hair out hideously). And to hammer this point home, they have her even try marriage, to Nathan Fillion no less – one of the greatest men alive, as far as nerd TV watchers are concerned anyway. If she can’t even “settle” for marital bliss with this guy, there truly is no hope for her. So she confesses her secret to him after slipping him some drugged lemonade, cries, apologizes, and takes off. I always wondered why they didn’t even mention him again – I mean, she is technically MARRIED to the guy, right? Did they ever get a divorce? Why wasn’t he at her trial? Etc. Stupid Castle/Drive!

Speaking of things they just dropped the ball on – what the hell is up with her calling Edward? From what little hints they offer, she calls every holy day, which is weird enough – but why is she calling him, PERIOD? Can they just come right out and tell us whether or not these two ever had a fling? It drove me nuts while I was watching the show for the first time, and it drives me nuts now. But I do like how he baits her by telling her he won’t chase her anymore if she promises to stay put, which is pretty much what sets her off (she didn’t seem to have a problem with Taco Night prior to their conversation. Furthermore – I would very much enjoy weekly tacos, preferably with Evangeline Lilly. Or Nathan Fillion, for what matter.)

The big thrust behind the episode is whether or not Jack will perform surgery on Ben, and if so, will he do it right or will he kill him like Juliet asked him to. Or will he just take advantage of the Others’ rather poor lapse in judgment and nick Ben’s artery and threaten to let him die unless they let Kate go. And he does this for her AFTER he watches her nail Sawyer in his cage. Score one for Jack in this episode – that is the highest of high roads.

There’s also the business of burying Eko, but it’s pretty much just two or three scenes’ worth of the episode. I get why they wouldn’t want to bum everyone out with another funeral, but wouldn’t they be MORE suspicious of some of the island’s more mysterious people (Locke, Desmond, Nikki and Goddamn Paulo), plus Sayid the torturer, coming back and saying “Eko is dead, we buried him, let’s move on”? And they could have at least gotten Bernard to join them for their little half-assed ceremony – he was pretty close to the guy, and they were the last of the 23 tail survivors.

Oh, and Jacob is mentioned, though curiously Pickett says Jack “wasn’t on Jacob’s list”. What list? Because if it was the list of potential heirs to his island throne, then that’s way fucking wrong, isn’t it? Maybe it was a list of people who got some on the island.

Anyway, it wasn’t as good as a real season finale, and it’s probably the weakest of this 6 episode “arc”, but since things would drag for a while when it returned, it’s nice to see a sense of urgency – it would be a while before things got real exciting again (besides the Charlie death storyline).

Where are we?

(Yes, this video came up when I searched "I Do" - don't ask me why, just enjoy!)

PLEASE, GO ON...