Episode Title: The Looking Glass Air Date: 5/23/07
There's just so much to talk about.
"Lost's" third season finale was an absolute stunner. Everything is different after last night. And now we're supposed to wait nine months until we get a new episode? It's just not fair.
So, the most important thing we learned last night? They get off the bloody island. At least Jack and Kate do, and probably Claire and her baby, if Desmond’s vision was accurate (as Charlie’s death would imply.) And we learn all this through an all new “Lost” storytelling device. In what has been described as a "game changer" by the producers, last night's Jack flashbacks were not flashbacks at all...they were flashFORWARDS.
Our first clue of this is when we see a depressed, suicidal, alcoholic, pharmaceutical addicted Jack with a very fake beard flying on an Oceanic Airlines flight, then stumbling around LA, a lost soul with nobody to turn to. He reads a newspaper clipping about a dead man and breaks down in tears, leaves a distressed voicemail, then steps to the edge of a bridge, ready to kill himself. Until a car crashes behind him, and Jack has to go back into hero mode, saving a woman and her eight year old child from the burning wreckage.
Immediately, this doesn’t seem like the Jack Shepherd we’re used to. Jack’s an alcoholic? Just when in his past did he become like his dead (or is he?) father? But the writers don’t let us in on their storytelling trick just yet.
Jack also attends the funeral of…someone. He is the only mourner who shows up, and doesn’t ask to view the body. So who is the deceased? We’ll get to that in the end…sort of.
On the island, in the “present” (or past now?) the showdown with The Others is imminent. Sayid, Jin, and Bernard (of all people) stay behind to blow the tents when Ben’s goons show up as the rest of the survivors head off to the radio tower to shut off Rousseau’s distress call, while Charlie is being held prisoner by some a couple hot Lesbian Others in the underwater hatch.
So yeah, a lot is going on.
When The Others show up, the plan almost works perfectly…almost. Sayid and Bernard hit their targets and blow two of the tents. But Jin misses, tries to run to closer to get a better shot, and is captured. Sayid and Bernard try to run and fight, but both end up surrendering.
The big survivor party sees that only two of the planned three explosions went off, and Kate wants to go back to the beach to help their captured friends, while Jack insists on pushing forward.
In the underwater hatch, Charlie tells his captors that the survivors are heading to the radio tower and that he is there to turn off their jamming signal. They radio Ben, who is surprised to hear them “break radio silence.” Apparently, the rest of The Others believed the two women were no longer on the island and that the underwater hatch was flooded and inoperable. Ben sends the eye-patch sporting Russian to the hatch to investigate, and decides to go to the survivors and “talk them out of” turning Rousseau’s distress call, and allows Alex, his daughter, to join him.
A shaken Sawyer, who is still upset after the events that went down in “The Brig” a few weeks ago, decides to go back to help Sayid, Bernard, and Jin, even though he is unarmed. Kate wants to go too, but he doesn’t want to bring her. Jack is worried about allowing him to go unarmed, but Juliet volunteers to join him and tells them that there is a hidden cache of guns that they can arm themselves with before they head back to the survivors’ camp…after Juliet kisses Jack passionately, raising more than a few eyebrows.
A distressed Kate doesn’t understand why Sawyer wouldn’t let her come and Jack explains that, duh, it’s because he’s trying to protect her. When Kate asks why Jack is sticking up for Sawyer, Jack tells her “because I love you,” in a matter of fact admission that Kate had to have known all along.
Poor Hurley, feeling left out and unsure of himself, asks if he can come along with Sawyer and Juliet. Sawyer tells him he’d be useless and get them killed, in an honest moment that cuts Hurley deeply but had to be said anyway. And oh yeah, Juliet admits that there is no gun cache…she only told Jack there was so he would let them go help their friends.
So the stage is set for three epic showdowns, none of which disappoint.
Ben meets up with Jack and the two of them have a little chat. Ben tells Jack that if he uses the Satellite Phone, the people he summons to the island will kill everyone. He tells him Naomi works for a group of people who have been trying to find the island, who will ruin it. Jack (with reason) thinks he’s bluffing, so Ben radios in to Tom, who is holding the three survivors at the beach hostage, and tells him to kill them if Jack doesn’t relent. Jack won’t budge and hears three gunshots, thinking that he’s doomed his friends to three bullets through their heads.
Meanwhile, Desmond wakes up in the boat above the underwater hatch, with a whopping headache and Charlie’s goodbye note to Claire in his pocket. Before he has time to think what to do next, Eye Patched Russian guy starts shooting at him, so he dives down and enter the underwater hatch. Charlie tells him to hide before his captors catch wind that he’s there, but then Eye-Patch shows up. Charlie informs him that Ben’s been jamming any radio signals to the mainland through the hatch, and Eye Patch decides to radio his boss to decide how to deal with it. Ben convinces him that he’s doing the right thing, and tells him to kill Charlie- and the two unsuspecting female Others.
Eye patch shoots the chicks, but before he turns the gun on Charlie, Desmond pops out and shoots him with a harpoon gun. One of the dying Others tells Charlie the code to stop the jamming signal- the Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations” tapped into the keyboard (it was programmed by a musician, she says with her last breath.) So Charlie gets to have his big moment and turn off the jamming signal, which will finally get the survivors home. He taps the Beach Boys classic in the keyboard, the yellow light turns off, and a signal comes through…from Penny. An excited Charlie asks Penny about Naomi and the boat off the island, but she tells him that she doesn’t know anything about a boat…Naomi and her crew were not hired by Penny. Before Desmond can talk to his lost love, Charlie sees a terrible sight through a porthole…Eye Patch survived the harpoon through the stomach and is holding a grenade up to the hatch window.
Charlie locks himself in before Desmond can enter, the porthole blows, and water begins to rush in. Thinking quickly, Charlie scrawls a message on his hand and puts it up to the window, telling Desmond that it’s “not Penny’s boat.” Then he dies.
This is a “Lost” first…an original character and fan favorite is killed off. Yeah, they killed Shannon and Boone off…but nobody liked those characters anyway. Charlie’s death is hard to take, and Dominic Monaghan’s performance last night was the best he’s given in the series’ three year run. Charlie Pace, you will be missed.
Back on the beach, Sawyer and Juliet are trying to figure out how they’re going to take out the Others who have their friends at gunpoint…until Hurley zooms in, driving the Dharma VW bus into the action. Hurley! He hits one of the Others with the car, while Sawyer sneaks around and knocks one of them out with a branch. In the scramble, Sayid kills one of them with his legs, Jack Bauer style, and Sawyer takes Tom’s gun. When Tom surrenders, Sawyer still kills him, telling him “that’s for taking the kid.”
Hurley radios in and tells the survivors that they saved their friends and loved ones, a relief to Jack who believes he allowed them to die. At the same time, the jamming signal is off, and Jack and crew turn off Rousseau’s distress call.
We have cell phone reception, people. As Naomi tries to make the call with the satellite phone, she suddenly falls down dead.
Guess who? It’s none other than Mr. John Locke, who was summoned out of what would have been his grave by none other than Walt, or a figment of his imagination in the form of Walt, or the smoke monster in the form of Walt, who tells him “you’ve got work to do, John.”
Jack picks up the phone, and Locke points a gun at him, telling him he’s not supposed to make the call. Jack stands strong, telling him that “I’m done letting you keep us on this island.” Locke relents, unable to shoot Jack, and a desperate Ben yells out “you don’t know what you’re doing!” But the call is complete, and the man on the other end of the line tells him they are coming. And soon.
Cut to the last scene of the “flashforwards.” Jack meets up with someone at the airport…it’s Kate. A distressed Jack tells her that he’s been flying all the time with his “gold pass” that Oceanic gave him, hoping that the plane would crash and take him back to the island. He tells her that “we weren’t supposed to leave,” and that “we have to go back.” Kate leaves, saying she has to go back to “him” (Sawyer?) and leaves Jack to his misery.
WOAH.
So at least Jack and Kate got off the island, and presumably a lot of the survivors have. Charlie’s sacrifice has made it possible for the survivors to be rescued…but the people it’s not clear if the people on Naomi’s boat are the ones who will be doing the rescuing. And a haunted Jack clearly has decided that coming back to the real world was the wrong move…that Locke, and maybe even Ben, were right the whole time.
Mindblowing. The finale implied that “Lost” may be done with the flashbacks, and the “flashforwards” might just be the new way the show will tell its labyrinthine story. Which sounds amazing to me. I can’t wait to see where this baby goes next.
As always, the episode has raised a whole lot of new questions. Who was in the casket at the funeral that Jack attended? He said he was neither family nor friend of the deceased, and nobody else showed up. When he asked Kate why she didn’t come, all she said was “why would I?” So who was it? My money’s on Michael. He betrayed the survivors and murdered two of them, so why would they go to his funeral? But it always could be Ben, or even Locke. His bizarre behavior would imply that not many people like him much anymore. And if he had to leave the island, he might be inclined to kill himself. This would also explain Jack’s guilt and remorse for leaving the island.
And what about Jack talking about his father as if he’s alive in the future? Christian Shepherd is dead. How can Jack tell the hospital’s new chief of surgery to bring his father down and see if he’s drunker if he’s dead? And how can Jack try and get prescriptions for drugs from his father if he’s dead? Did Jack come home to another timeline where his father never died? Is he just delusional at the point that he asks about him?
What are they going to do about Ben? What is Locke going to do? And who the hell did Jack talk to on the phone…are they coming to rescue the survivors…or slaughter them?
Anyone who doubted the show, anyone who turned away from it, gave up on it…it’s time to come back. The show is better than it’s ever been on every level, and it’s time for you to come back to “Lost.” If you thought the show had lost it’s way, you’re wrong. Just get over your fanboy pride and get back on the “Lost” train.
Season 3 ended with a note perfect episode. It was exciting, funny, emotional, and satisfying on every level. Almost every story beat planted earlier in the season has paid off, including the seemingly stupid VW bus episode. The only thing that didn’t pay off was the “Jack’s Tattoo” episode…everything was working in their favor last night to the point that I thought it was going to be the key to killing the smoke monster. The confidence in the storytelling on the show at this point is astounding, and I can’t wait to see how they bring the show to a close over the next three seasons. I know I shouldn’t get my hopes up, but I really think they’re going to pull the whole thing off and actually have satisfying ending for loyal fans. If they can equal what they achieved last night, then “Lost” is going to go down as one of the all time great shows.
Nine months is a long time.
Showing posts with label Hatch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hatch. Show all posts
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Lost Update: Y'All Everybody
Episode Title: Greatest Hits Air Date: 5/17/07
With next week’s final approaching quickly, there are lots of balls of story being juggled by the “Lost” writers right now, and it’s nice to see everything really clicking for the show again. “Lost” stumbled a bit early this season and some viewers walked away from the show, but hopefully they’ll come back to it when the DVDs come out this summer, because it’s been as good as (or better than) the first season for the last four or five weeks.
Last night’s Charlie-centric episode was no exception. Charlie has been kind of worthless for, oh, two season now, but last night reminded me of why I found the character likeable and appealing…and it was in no small part due to the resurrection of that stupid song from his former band, Drive Shaft. It’s so ridiculous, but I love “Y’All Everybody.” I want to see Oasis cover it for real at a show sometime…that would be boss.
With The Other approaching and the survivors preparing for their arrival, Juliet tells the group that Ben is jamming all communications from the island in an underwater hatch and someone must swim into a supposedly flooded room and turn it off.
Desmond has one of his flashes and tells Charlie that it’s time…he has to die if he want to help Claire and her baby get rescued. A stoic Charlie agrees to sacrifice himself for the good of the group. It’s all very “Poseidon Adventure” or “Armegeddon.” The flashbacks were actually effective and poignant last night, because they scenes of Charlie remembering the best moments of his life before he knowingly goes into a situation he won’t walk away from. It was a nice change of pace from repetitive character beats in the flashbacks, and served more of an emotional purpose than a storytelling one.
Meanwhile, Jack has a plan for The Others. He tells everyone that Juliet has been instructed to mark the tents with the pregnant women with white at night so The Other know which tents to invade. Jack plans on filling the marked tents with dynamite and then “blowing them all to hell” (his delivery of the final part of the plan was classic Matthew Fox over-dramatic acting. He could teach a master class.)
The group realizes they must also head into the woods and turn off Russoau’s distress signal, which might also interfere with communications from the outside world, and that turning off her signal, flipping off Bens’ jamming signal, and the “blowing them all to hell” must happen all at once. It’s like a video game challenge for the survivors.
When Alex’s traumatized boyfriend shows up at the beach to tell the survivors that The Others are coming sooner than they feared, the group realizes they don’t have enough materials to wire the dynamite. So Sayid has another plan (he always does.) Three people will hide in the woods and shoot the dynamite when The Others’ enter the tents. Like in the end of “Jaws.”
Bernard shows up after an unexplained thirty episode absence and volunteers to be one of the shooters, demonstrating his expert marksmanship that was never alluded to in a previous episode. Whatever, it’s nice to have he and the always hilarious Rose back. Where have they been for so long?
The episode ends with Charlie and Desmond taking the boat out to the underwater hatch. Demond offers to take Charlie’s place, but Charlie knocks him out to ensure that he does it himself. What did I say? Just like “Armageddon.” You know, JJ Abrams was one of the 500 writers on that movie, so it’s not a shock. Just sayin’.
Ready to die, Charlie takes the plunge and swims to the bottom, entering the hatch…and surfaces inside a decidedly non flooded room. An ecstatic Charlie celebrates not being dead- until two bad ass chicks run out brandishing guns. Uh-oh.
So we’ve got Charlie being held prisoner in an underwater hatch, Jack and co hiking out to turn off the distress signal, and Sayid, Bernard, and Jin waiting in the shadows for The Others to attack, all of it culminating in next week’s episode. Oh yeah, and we still don't know the fate of poor, shot in the back John Locke.
Anybody think the Jack's plan is going to go perfectly in next week's finale? If you said yes, I’ve got a mystery island in an unknown region of the world to sell to you.
With next week’s final approaching quickly, there are lots of balls of story being juggled by the “Lost” writers right now, and it’s nice to see everything really clicking for the show again. “Lost” stumbled a bit early this season and some viewers walked away from the show, but hopefully they’ll come back to it when the DVDs come out this summer, because it’s been as good as (or better than) the first season for the last four or five weeks.
Last night’s Charlie-centric episode was no exception. Charlie has been kind of worthless for, oh, two season now, but last night reminded me of why I found the character likeable and appealing…and it was in no small part due to the resurrection of that stupid song from his former band, Drive Shaft. It’s so ridiculous, but I love “Y’All Everybody.” I want to see Oasis cover it for real at a show sometime…that would be boss.
With The Other approaching and the survivors preparing for their arrival, Juliet tells the group that Ben is jamming all communications from the island in an underwater hatch and someone must swim into a supposedly flooded room and turn it off.
Desmond has one of his flashes and tells Charlie that it’s time…he has to die if he want to help Claire and her baby get rescued. A stoic Charlie agrees to sacrifice himself for the good of the group. It’s all very “Poseidon Adventure” or “Armegeddon.” The flashbacks were actually effective and poignant last night, because they scenes of Charlie remembering the best moments of his life before he knowingly goes into a situation he won’t walk away from. It was a nice change of pace from repetitive character beats in the flashbacks, and served more of an emotional purpose than a storytelling one.
Meanwhile, Jack has a plan for The Others. He tells everyone that Juliet has been instructed to mark the tents with the pregnant women with white at night so The Other know which tents to invade. Jack plans on filling the marked tents with dynamite and then “blowing them all to hell” (his delivery of the final part of the plan was classic Matthew Fox over-dramatic acting. He could teach a master class.)
The group realizes they must also head into the woods and turn off Russoau’s distress signal, which might also interfere with communications from the outside world, and that turning off her signal, flipping off Bens’ jamming signal, and the “blowing them all to hell” must happen all at once. It’s like a video game challenge for the survivors.
When Alex’s traumatized boyfriend shows up at the beach to tell the survivors that The Others are coming sooner than they feared, the group realizes they don’t have enough materials to wire the dynamite. So Sayid has another plan (he always does.) Three people will hide in the woods and shoot the dynamite when The Others’ enter the tents. Like in the end of “Jaws.”
Bernard shows up after an unexplained thirty episode absence and volunteers to be one of the shooters, demonstrating his expert marksmanship that was never alluded to in a previous episode. Whatever, it’s nice to have he and the always hilarious Rose back. Where have they been for so long?
The episode ends with Charlie and Desmond taking the boat out to the underwater hatch. Demond offers to take Charlie’s place, but Charlie knocks him out to ensure that he does it himself. What did I say? Just like “Armageddon.” You know, JJ Abrams was one of the 500 writers on that movie, so it’s not a shock. Just sayin’.
Ready to die, Charlie takes the plunge and swims to the bottom, entering the hatch…and surfaces inside a decidedly non flooded room. An ecstatic Charlie celebrates not being dead- until two bad ass chicks run out brandishing guns. Uh-oh.
So we’ve got Charlie being held prisoner in an underwater hatch, Jack and co hiking out to turn off the distress signal, and Sayid, Bernard, and Jin waiting in the shadows for The Others to attack, all of it culminating in next week’s episode. Oh yeah, and we still don't know the fate of poor, shot in the back John Locke.
Anybody think the Jack's plan is going to go perfectly in next week's finale? If you said yes, I’ve got a mystery island in an unknown region of the world to sell to you.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Lost Watch: Were They Dead Before The Plane Even Crashed?
Episode Title: D.O.C. Air Date: 4/25/07
Now that’s what I’m talking about.
“Lost” delivered an episode so full of information, intrigue, and even a bit of action that it boggles the mind why there were so many weeks this season where it felt like there was absolutely no progress in the storyline.
And oh yeah, they realized they could focus on two different storylines in one episode. Instead of leaving us with blue balls after last week's episode in which Demond and co. found the parachuting woman in the trees by dedicating the whole hour to Sun, the episode was about both her story and the crew dealing with the newcomer to the island. Imagine that. Editing.
Last night was a Sun-centric episode, and in an early flashback a woman tells her that Jin’s mother (who he thought was dead) was a prostitute and demands $100,000 to keep the shame of knowing the truth from him. Sun finds Jin’s father, a sweet old fisherman, and he implores her not to let him know the truth about his mother, to let him think she died when he was a baby. So Sun goes to her rich and powerful crime lord father to get the hush money. The money leaves an unknowing Jin forever in his debt, which leads to him being turned into the angry and violent muscle-man who can’t get his wife pregnant.
Which is why there was such a mystery about who Sun’s babydaddy is in the first place. She was sleeping with another man before they crashed on the island, and a doctor told her that Jin was impotent. Though Juliet tells her that the island somehow makes people more fertile, she also finds out that every woman who becomes pregnant on the island died. Juliet takes her to the “fertility hatch” to find out when the Date of Conception was.
If the baby was conceived pre-island, it’s not her husbands. If it was conceived on island, Sun will most likely die. As she says to Juliet, “either way, I lose.”
In the end, it turns out that the baby was conceived on-island. Sun is happy- because it is her husband’s child, and even though the news is essentially a death sentence, she is at peace(and when Juliet tells her she has two months, we know that this thread will probably not resolved until the end of next season.)
Meanwhile, across the island, Sun’s husband is with Desmond, Hurley, and Charlie as they continue their “camping trip” from last week’s episode. They crew is caring for the woman they found hanging from the tree, who is bleeding to death with a branch stuck in her side. Too far away from camp to get Jack, the four of them are desperate to help her…until the previously presumed dead Eye-Patch-Sporting-Russian-Other (hereafter referred to as E.P.S.R.O.) shows up. After a foot chase in which he attempts to escape, Jin chases him down and kicks his ass, karate style. The Russian says he can help the dying woman- but only if they agree to let her go once she is safe.
He patches her up and, despite Charlie’s protests, Desmond lets him go- but not before E.P.S.R.O. attempts to steal the satellite phone the woman had with her. Jin catches him, and all he can say in his defense is “you would not have respected me had I not tried.”
Fair enough.
The best scenes of the fast paced and story packed episode came at the end. After Juliet finishes helping Sun, she goes to the back of the fertility hatch and picks up a tape recorder. She records a message for Ben, telling him that Sun is pregnant and that he will have samples from the other females soon. “Other samples?”
After clicking the recorder off, she says one last thing she can’t let him hear but clearly wants to say to Ben: “I hate you.” Our poor Juliet is conflicted about where her loyalties lie. By the end of the season, something’s gonna have to give with her.
The shocker moment came last night when Hurley was talking to the still confused and groggy tree woman. She looks around and asks where she is. Hurley tells her they are on an island, and they are the survivors of Oceanic Airlines flight 815 out of Sydney. The woman looks confused and tells him that it’s impossible that they were on that flight- because “they found the airplane and there were no survivors.”
Did you hear that? That’s the sound of thousands of “Lost” fans who all believe the popular theory that all the survivors are dead and the island is actually a purgatory high fiveing. The appearance of E.P.S.R.O., who tells Desmond “I already died last week,” would seem to confirm the theory further. But not so fast everyone! I think the “recovered plane with no survivors” information is a clever ruse by the writers to lead us back down that path again. Last season’s Hurley-centric episode “Dave,” in which a friend from the big guy’s past (the bald guy who played either Ricky or Ronnie on Aaron Sorkin’s not quite but soon to be cancelled “Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip,”) tries to convince him to jump off a cliff because they are already dead anyway, was a direct denial of the island as purgatory theory. My theory about last night’s last scene revelation is that there was some sort of cover up about the crashed plane back in the real world, maybe by Dharma, so that everyone who had family members in the crash would stop looking for them.
Which means the survivors are more screwed than they thought they had been for the first two seasons- not only are they on an island far off course from where everyone would be looking for them, it turns out nobody is even looking for them in the first place.
If the crazy, internet born theory about everyone being dead is untrue, it still leaves a whole raft of questions to be answered? Why is E.P.S.R.O. still alive? What does that fence actually do to people? Why is the smoke monster scared of it? What’s going to happen to Sun? What kinds of “samples” is Juliet trying to collect from the lovely ladies of “Lost?” Where the hell did the woman in the tree come from, and how did she know Desmond?
Tune in next week for some answers and, most likely, even more questions.
Now that’s what I’m talking about.
“Lost” delivered an episode so full of information, intrigue, and even a bit of action that it boggles the mind why there were so many weeks this season where it felt like there was absolutely no progress in the storyline.
And oh yeah, they realized they could focus on two different storylines in one episode. Instead of leaving us with blue balls after last week's episode in which Demond and co. found the parachuting woman in the trees by dedicating the whole hour to Sun, the episode was about both her story and the crew dealing with the newcomer to the island. Imagine that. Editing.
Last night was a Sun-centric episode, and in an early flashback a woman tells her that Jin’s mother (who he thought was dead) was a prostitute and demands $100,000 to keep the shame of knowing the truth from him. Sun finds Jin’s father, a sweet old fisherman, and he implores her not to let him know the truth about his mother, to let him think she died when he was a baby. So Sun goes to her rich and powerful crime lord father to get the hush money. The money leaves an unknowing Jin forever in his debt, which leads to him being turned into the angry and violent muscle-man who can’t get his wife pregnant.
Which is why there was such a mystery about who Sun’s babydaddy is in the first place. She was sleeping with another man before they crashed on the island, and a doctor told her that Jin was impotent. Though Juliet tells her that the island somehow makes people more fertile, she also finds out that every woman who becomes pregnant on the island died. Juliet takes her to the “fertility hatch” to find out when the Date of Conception was.
If the baby was conceived pre-island, it’s not her husbands. If it was conceived on island, Sun will most likely die. As she says to Juliet, “either way, I lose.”
In the end, it turns out that the baby was conceived on-island. Sun is happy- because it is her husband’s child, and even though the news is essentially a death sentence, she is at peace(and when Juliet tells her she has two months, we know that this thread will probably not resolved until the end of next season.)
Meanwhile, across the island, Sun’s husband is with Desmond, Hurley, and Charlie as they continue their “camping trip” from last week’s episode. They crew is caring for the woman they found hanging from the tree, who is bleeding to death with a branch stuck in her side. Too far away from camp to get Jack, the four of them are desperate to help her…until the previously presumed dead Eye-Patch-Sporting-Russian-Other (hereafter referred to as E.P.S.R.O.) shows up. After a foot chase in which he attempts to escape, Jin chases him down and kicks his ass, karate style. The Russian says he can help the dying woman- but only if they agree to let her go once she is safe.
He patches her up and, despite Charlie’s protests, Desmond lets him go- but not before E.P.S.R.O. attempts to steal the satellite phone the woman had with her. Jin catches him, and all he can say in his defense is “you would not have respected me had I not tried.”
Fair enough.
The best scenes of the fast paced and story packed episode came at the end. After Juliet finishes helping Sun, she goes to the back of the fertility hatch and picks up a tape recorder. She records a message for Ben, telling him that Sun is pregnant and that he will have samples from the other females soon. “Other samples?”
After clicking the recorder off, she says one last thing she can’t let him hear but clearly wants to say to Ben: “I hate you.” Our poor Juliet is conflicted about where her loyalties lie. By the end of the season, something’s gonna have to give with her.
The shocker moment came last night when Hurley was talking to the still confused and groggy tree woman. She looks around and asks where she is. Hurley tells her they are on an island, and they are the survivors of Oceanic Airlines flight 815 out of Sydney. The woman looks confused and tells him that it’s impossible that they were on that flight- because “they found the airplane and there were no survivors.”
Did you hear that? That’s the sound of thousands of “Lost” fans who all believe the popular theory that all the survivors are dead and the island is actually a purgatory high fiveing. The appearance of E.P.S.R.O., who tells Desmond “I already died last week,” would seem to confirm the theory further. But not so fast everyone! I think the “recovered plane with no survivors” information is a clever ruse by the writers to lead us back down that path again. Last season’s Hurley-centric episode “Dave,” in which a friend from the big guy’s past (the bald guy who played either Ricky or Ronnie on Aaron Sorkin’s not quite but soon to be cancelled “Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip,”) tries to convince him to jump off a cliff because they are already dead anyway, was a direct denial of the island as purgatory theory. My theory about last night’s last scene revelation is that there was some sort of cover up about the crashed plane back in the real world, maybe by Dharma, so that everyone who had family members in the crash would stop looking for them.
Which means the survivors are more screwed than they thought they had been for the first two seasons- not only are they on an island far off course from where everyone would be looking for them, it turns out nobody is even looking for them in the first place.
If the crazy, internet born theory about everyone being dead is untrue, it still leaves a whole raft of questions to be answered? Why is E.P.S.R.O. still alive? What does that fence actually do to people? Why is the smoke monster scared of it? What’s going to happen to Sun? What kinds of “samples” is Juliet trying to collect from the lovely ladies of “Lost?” Where the hell did the woman in the tree come from, and how did she know Desmond?
Tune in next week for some answers and, most likely, even more questions.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Lost Watch: Lost Forever?
It's been a long time since I've discussed "Lost." In fact, my previous post on the show was back in the middle of the six episode "mini season." There were three more episodes before a long break, and then the show returned, with ads promising that this season would deliver like no other show.
So far, this promise has not been kept.
The latest episode, "Enter 77" was a mild improvement after two episodes that can only be described as utter trash. To recap- Sayid and Locke join Kate on her quest to save Jack from the Others. In last week's episode, they recruit the crazy loner Rousseau for their mission. On their way, they find another Hatch station, where a Russian man with an eye patch is apparently living alone. The man tells them that he is "the last living member of the Dharma Initiative" and that the station he lives in, "The Flame," is meant to communicate with the outside world- though his sattelite is inoperable. He also tells them that The Others (or as he calls them, "The Hostiles,") killed the rest of the Dharma Scientists during a "purge," and that he was left alone because he agreed to stay at The Flame and not encroach upon any other part of the island. Sayid and Kate can tell the Russian lying and realize he is one of The Others and call him out on it- leading to a struggle in which he is tied up as a prisoner. Sayid discovers a hidden doorway to the basement of the building, and Locke is left to guard the Russian while Kate and Sayid explore the basement- where Sayid finds a map of the island that shows them the location of the other hatches. As they head back up, they are attacked by and then subdue a female Other who was hiding from them- and who was on the docks when Kate, Jack, and Sawyer were kidnapped at the end of Season 2.
While Kate and Sayid explore the basement, Locke becomes distracted by the Russian's computer chess game and wins a match against the computer- which triggers a message from the creepy Dharma guy we saw a lot of last season. Before Locke can follow the instructions on the computer, the Russian, who has escaped his bindings, takes Locke hostage.
Kate and Sayid emerge from the basement to find a standoff- the Russian promises to kill Locke if they do not release the woman they have taken prisoner. The two others then shout at eachother in Russian- and the Russian shoots the female Other, then tries to take his own life- before Sayid knocks the gun out of his hand and subdues him.
Rousseau, who conveniently leaves for the whole episode ("I have survived this long on the island by avoiding this type of confrontation,") comes back and demands to know why Sayid will not kill the Russian. Which is where this episode’s edition of "repetitive flashback weekly" comes in. Sayid's flashback is to a time when he was living in France as a chef, when he is kidnapped by a man who claims Sayid tortured his wife when he was in the Iraqi Republican guard. The man beats Sayid severely, but he will not admit that he "interrogated" her. Finally, the woman comes to Sayid and he admits that he did torture her, and he apologizes deeply. He forgives her and releases him, saying she does not want to become a monster who would torture or kill, despite her justified anger. And the woman’s words explain why Sayid can't kill their prisoner.
Or whatever.
Oh yeah, and Locke exits The Flame last, saying played another chess game- and admitting he entered "77" into the keyboard when the creepy Dharma guy instructed him to do so if "the hostiles" had encroached upon the building. And then The Flame blows up. So much for that hatch, and so much for “communicating with the outside world.” This is the second Hatch that Locke has caused the destruction of after displaying some questionable decision making.
And that is what brings us directly to what is currently wrong with "Lost." After three weeks of episodes that took us completely off the main storyline, right as things are getting interesting (something the Lost writers did a lot in Season 2, which frustrated me to no end,) we finally get back to our heroes trying to figure out what is going on with The Others. But at the same time, we still get flashbacks that regurgitate plot points and character development we already understand. I don't need another episode about how Sayid is haunted by his past as a torturer anymore than I need another episode about Hurley thinking he is cursed. And, at this point, I certainly don't care what Jack's tattoos mean (in an episode which will go down as the worst in the show’s history, despite the hilarious fact that the woman Jack was sleeping with was a former Power Ranger.) These are all things that I understood by the end of the first season, or that should have been answered then- and are not relevant at all at this point. The flashback structure, though very clever in the first year of "Lost," has really proven to be redundant at this point. The only flashback story I really enjoyed this season was about a new character. Juliette's episode was fascinating because it showed more of how she was recruited by Dharma- or maybe by The Others. But more on that later.
I love the main cast of "Lost," and the character development on the show has always been strong overall. But at this point, I don't need to have things I fully understand about these people hammered home to me again. I get who these people are, now lets get on with the show. And another thing- with all this character work that the show emphasizes, it's annoying how inconsistent the behavior of the main cast can be. I mean, Locke just stopped paying attention to a dangerous prisoner so he could play a game of video chess? I know he was obsessed with punching in the numbers in the first Hatch, but you'd think he'd learn. I just don't believe he'd let his guard down that overtly to play a game- even if he did believe it would unlock some secrets. I thought we had badass tracker John Locke back from Season 1, not fate obsessed loser John Locke from Season 2- but I guess we'll just have to keep hoping for that. But just wait a few weeks- we’re going to find out how he lost the use of his legs before he got to the island and was magically cured- another thing that could have been cool to learn two years ago but seems irrelevant at this point.
It's become very clear that there is a lot of stalling going on in the storytelling of "Lost," and it’s made the show kind of boring to watch. It's become less mysterious and more tedious as the third season has dragged on. I mean, a whole episode was devoted to Hurley getting a VW Bus to work- I already saw "Little Miss Sunshine," and I didn't like it then. But I have faith in the writers of the show- these people are clever, and I believe they have an idea of where they are going with this behemoth of a story, they are just having a bit of trouble getting there. But the recent news that the producers of "Lost" have talked to ABC about creating an endpoint for the show, deciding that it will go five or six seasons and then be finished, is great news. Now they don't have to string us along. Now they can decide when exactly things can happen, and not be afraid of hiding their cards for fear of blowing their load too early. Hopefully, it means they can get season 3 back on track, but it should at least mean that Season 4 will rock. I just don't want to wait too long for the show to compelling again.
So after all those complaints, there were a few cool things to be pulled out of "Enter 77." I was glad to see more Sayid, even if his flashbacks were repetitive. He has become the most underutilized member of the very large "Lost" ensemble, and it was nice to see him back- and know he'll be around to kick ass as the hunting party gets closer to the compound of The Others. Some of the information The Russian gave to Kate and Sayid was interesting, despite the fact that he was lying through a lot of it. Did he basically tell them that The Others are definitely not Dharma? The Creepy Dharma guy seemed to reiterate the fact when they talked about "The Hostiles" encroaching upon The Flame. But what about Juliette being recruited to work for the Project- was she being recruited by The Others instead? Or are they one and the same after all, and they just want the Oceanic Flight Survivors to think otherwise? If they are not Dharma, who are they and why are they living on the island? Once again, it was an episode that raised more questions without answering many- but at least they were intriguing questions.
So here we are, deep into Season 3. Kate, Sayid, Locke, and Rousseau are getting closer to the compound of the Others, where hopefully some real questions will be answered. It really is time for the writers get on with it, because they are testing the patience of a lot of their audience- ratings are down, fans are complaining vocally, and critics are questioning the direction of the show. It's time to get on with the storytelling, or they are going to lose their audience forever.
Sayid by Jeaux from "All My Heroes Have Day Jobs."
So far, this promise has not been kept.
The latest episode, "Enter 77" was a mild improvement after two episodes that can only be described as utter trash. To recap- Sayid and Locke join Kate on her quest to save Jack from the Others. In last week's episode, they recruit the crazy loner Rousseau for their mission. On their way, they find another Hatch station, where a Russian man with an eye patch is apparently living alone. The man tells them that he is "the last living member of the Dharma Initiative" and that the station he lives in, "The Flame," is meant to communicate with the outside world- though his sattelite is inoperable. He also tells them that The Others (or as he calls them, "The Hostiles,") killed the rest of the Dharma Scientists during a "purge," and that he was left alone because he agreed to stay at The Flame and not encroach upon any other part of the island. Sayid and Kate can tell the Russian lying and realize he is one of The Others and call him out on it- leading to a struggle in which he is tied up as a prisoner. Sayid discovers a hidden doorway to the basement of the building, and Locke is left to guard the Russian while Kate and Sayid explore the basement- where Sayid finds a map of the island that shows them the location of the other hatches. As they head back up, they are attacked by and then subdue a female Other who was hiding from them- and who was on the docks when Kate, Jack, and Sawyer were kidnapped at the end of Season 2.
While Kate and Sayid explore the basement, Locke becomes distracted by the Russian's computer chess game and wins a match against the computer- which triggers a message from the creepy Dharma guy we saw a lot of last season. Before Locke can follow the instructions on the computer, the Russian, who has escaped his bindings, takes Locke hostage.
Kate and Sayid emerge from the basement to find a standoff- the Russian promises to kill Locke if they do not release the woman they have taken prisoner. The two others then shout at eachother in Russian- and the Russian shoots the female Other, then tries to take his own life- before Sayid knocks the gun out of his hand and subdues him.
Rousseau, who conveniently leaves for the whole episode ("I have survived this long on the island by avoiding this type of confrontation,") comes back and demands to know why Sayid will not kill the Russian. Which is where this episode’s edition of "repetitive flashback weekly" comes in. Sayid's flashback is to a time when he was living in France as a chef, when he is kidnapped by a man who claims Sayid tortured his wife when he was in the Iraqi Republican guard. The man beats Sayid severely, but he will not admit that he "interrogated" her. Finally, the woman comes to Sayid and he admits that he did torture her, and he apologizes deeply. He forgives her and releases him, saying she does not want to become a monster who would torture or kill, despite her justified anger. And the woman’s words explain why Sayid can't kill their prisoner.
Or whatever.
Oh yeah, and Locke exits The Flame last, saying played another chess game- and admitting he entered "77" into the keyboard when the creepy Dharma guy instructed him to do so if "the hostiles" had encroached upon the building. And then The Flame blows up. So much for that hatch, and so much for “communicating with the outside world.” This is the second Hatch that Locke has caused the destruction of after displaying some questionable decision making.
And that is what brings us directly to what is currently wrong with "Lost." After three weeks of episodes that took us completely off the main storyline, right as things are getting interesting (something the Lost writers did a lot in Season 2, which frustrated me to no end,) we finally get back to our heroes trying to figure out what is going on with The Others. But at the same time, we still get flashbacks that regurgitate plot points and character development we already understand. I don't need another episode about how Sayid is haunted by his past as a torturer anymore than I need another episode about Hurley thinking he is cursed. And, at this point, I certainly don't care what Jack's tattoos mean (in an episode which will go down as the worst in the show’s history, despite the hilarious fact that the woman Jack was sleeping with was a former Power Ranger.) These are all things that I understood by the end of the first season, or that should have been answered then- and are not relevant at all at this point. The flashback structure, though very clever in the first year of "Lost," has really proven to be redundant at this point. The only flashback story I really enjoyed this season was about a new character. Juliette's episode was fascinating because it showed more of how she was recruited by Dharma- or maybe by The Others. But more on that later.
I love the main cast of "Lost," and the character development on the show has always been strong overall. But at this point, I don't need to have things I fully understand about these people hammered home to me again. I get who these people are, now lets get on with the show. And another thing- with all this character work that the show emphasizes, it's annoying how inconsistent the behavior of the main cast can be. I mean, Locke just stopped paying attention to a dangerous prisoner so he could play a game of video chess? I know he was obsessed with punching in the numbers in the first Hatch, but you'd think he'd learn. I just don't believe he'd let his guard down that overtly to play a game- even if he did believe it would unlock some secrets. I thought we had badass tracker John Locke back from Season 1, not fate obsessed loser John Locke from Season 2- but I guess we'll just have to keep hoping for that. But just wait a few weeks- we’re going to find out how he lost the use of his legs before he got to the island and was magically cured- another thing that could have been cool to learn two years ago but seems irrelevant at this point.
It's become very clear that there is a lot of stalling going on in the storytelling of "Lost," and it’s made the show kind of boring to watch. It's become less mysterious and more tedious as the third season has dragged on. I mean, a whole episode was devoted to Hurley getting a VW Bus to work- I already saw "Little Miss Sunshine," and I didn't like it then. But I have faith in the writers of the show- these people are clever, and I believe they have an idea of where they are going with this behemoth of a story, they are just having a bit of trouble getting there. But the recent news that the producers of "Lost" have talked to ABC about creating an endpoint for the show, deciding that it will go five or six seasons and then be finished, is great news. Now they don't have to string us along. Now they can decide when exactly things can happen, and not be afraid of hiding their cards for fear of blowing their load too early. Hopefully, it means they can get season 3 back on track, but it should at least mean that Season 4 will rock. I just don't want to wait too long for the show to compelling again.
So after all those complaints, there were a few cool things to be pulled out of "Enter 77." I was glad to see more Sayid, even if his flashbacks were repetitive. He has become the most underutilized member of the very large "Lost" ensemble, and it was nice to see him back- and know he'll be around to kick ass as the hunting party gets closer to the compound of The Others. Some of the information The Russian gave to Kate and Sayid was interesting, despite the fact that he was lying through a lot of it. Did he basically tell them that The Others are definitely not Dharma? The Creepy Dharma guy seemed to reiterate the fact when they talked about "The Hostiles" encroaching upon The Flame. But what about Juliette being recruited to work for the Project- was she being recruited by The Others instead? Or are they one and the same after all, and they just want the Oceanic Flight Survivors to think otherwise? If they are not Dharma, who are they and why are they living on the island? Once again, it was an episode that raised more questions without answering many- but at least they were intriguing questions.
So here we are, deep into Season 3. Kate, Sayid, Locke, and Rousseau are getting closer to the compound of the Others, where hopefully some real questions will be answered. It really is time for the writers get on with it, because they are testing the patience of a lot of their audience- ratings are down, fans are complaining vocally, and critics are questioning the direction of the show. It's time to get on with the storytelling, or they are going to lose their audience forever.
Sayid by Jeaux from "All My Heroes Have Day Jobs."
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