Operation Humanize the Others begins, as Juliet drags Jack in to save the woman Sun shot, but he can't, so her husband goes berserk and beats the crap out of Sawyer for having a Sun Number of 1. Kate says she loves Sawyer to get him to stop, but later goes back on it - the Sawyer/Kate dance is getting a little ridiculous at this point, isn't it? Just get them together already. Pretending Jack is part of the love triangle isn't fooling anyone.
Jack seems eager enough to play doctor, perhaps just hoping for a return to a sort of normalcy. Then he displays his awesome doctor powers by diagnosing Benry Gale from a single set of X-rays (next week: special guest star Bill Frist!). Benry Gale has a spinal tumor, and Jack is a spinal surgeon, hmm hmm hmm hmm. The question is why they're jerking him around so much first. Wouldn't you want to placate the guy a little bit before you let him operate on your leader? (For the record, that Benry Gale was X-ray tumor guy was only confirmed in next week's teaser, but Drew correctly guessed it before that anyway.)
The Others con Sawyer into thinking they've put a pacemaker in his heart that will kill him if he gets too worked up. Of course they haven't - look at the hack job they did on Colleen, for crying out loud - but Sawyer isn't as aware of their non-medical skills as Jack ends up being. Benry Gale calls Sawyer out on being hot for Kate - ah-durr - and then reveals that they're not even on the same island anymore, but rather the next one over. Which they got to how, exactly? Whatever. Hot-air balloon.
Meanwhile, in the three-scene Desmond plot, he apparently foresees a rainstorm. So did he gain the ability to see the future, or just Doppler radar? He puts up a golf club as a lightning rod. Why? I'm guessing because he can, since no other reason is evident. I'm sure this will pay off somewhere way, way down the road, perhaps when Penny rides in to save everyone in, you know, Season Nine.
I do have to say that Sawyer episodes tend to be among the very best - both of his first season episodes were stellar, in particular, and last season's "The Long Con" was pretty good although its setup was questionable. This one was kind of more of the same - you think Flashback Sawyer is doing one thing but really he's doing another - except that Sawyer does display a little genuine human emotion in setting up a bank account for his apparent daughter. (By the way, is it at all funny that the woman who got conned called the police when she had originally requested that Sawyer teach her how to con? Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.) And the scene with Sawyer and Benry looking out at the island was strong.
One other interesting thing: the Others refer to "the sky turning purple," suggesting that they don't know that much about the island themselves - the Dharma people knew about the electromagnetism, after all. But if this is much of a clue, I doubt it will get play again for months.
Next week: Locke and Eko may not be getting along. Some dude with an eyepatch is in one of the hatches observed on Pearl TV. Jack tells Benry he knows about the spinal tumor (this has to be what they're going to be willing to release him for, right? Though knowing Jack, he'll try to haggle them up for more releases). And while it's at best vaguely alluded to, could we finally see a return of the security system? Do you realize we haven't seen it since, unless I'm mistaken, the tenth episode of last season? A little too long, especially considering how much it showed up in the first season.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Thursday, October 19, 2006
s3e03: Further Instructions
I guess this episode wasn't bad, but it had a few negative things going for it:
1. Our third crappy backstory in a row. I suppose it's interesting to find out exactly what the characters did before they were here, but is it too much to ask that those things not be totally disposable? Jack's and Sun's both told us nothing about the characters we didn't already know (and did so in pretty on-the-nose fashion, too), and Locke's barely even makes sense, except that it shows - again - that he's long been searching for meaning in life and keeps having a hard time finding it. Is there a more pathetic character in TV history than Backstory Locke? I say no.
2. A return to my least favorite of the abandoned plot strands, Charlie and Claire. In the first season, these small interpersonal conflicts on the beach were all well and good, but with the scope of the series having expanded dramatically, they just seem trivial and a waste of time now. Plus, Charlie and Claire continue to duke it out for the title of Most Annoying Character, particularly with Michael having sailed off (yes, I know his boat did not have a sail).
3. A totally cheesy plot device: the return of Boone in a hallucinogen-induced dream sequence of Locke's. Barely rates above Jamie Kennedy's cameo in Scream 3 on the list of "Most Forced Guest Appearances Ever." Why did Boone need to show Locke every single other person of concern? We already know he's not going to be able to do anything for most of them. Seemed like a lot of foot-dragging, which has defined the better part of the first three shows of this season, dare I say.
The whole hatch thing strikes me as a little implausible (all the metal sucks in on itself, but the survivors are blown outwards?), and it sure looked like they left a continuity goof in there (what kitchen is Hurley going to get bandages from if the hatch went reverse Big Bang on us?), but I guess I can live with that for now. Desmond potentially seeing future events, however, seems like it has potential to either get unlikely in a hurry or just offer tons of openings for future deus ex machinae.
I suppose it seems like I'm complaining a lot, and I suppose I am. I still like the show - there is, overall, none more compelling on television week to week - but I'm starting to get a little more frustrated with its pacing and general tendency to pad out its episodes with a ton of needless filler when it could be giving out actual info.
Next week: Kate, do you like Sawyer? Check yes or no. The Others clearly either like over-the-top psych testing or they're just a bunch of sadists. Or maybe both.
1. Our third crappy backstory in a row. I suppose it's interesting to find out exactly what the characters did before they were here, but is it too much to ask that those things not be totally disposable? Jack's and Sun's both told us nothing about the characters we didn't already know (and did so in pretty on-the-nose fashion, too), and Locke's barely even makes sense, except that it shows - again - that he's long been searching for meaning in life and keeps having a hard time finding it. Is there a more pathetic character in TV history than Backstory Locke? I say no.
2. A return to my least favorite of the abandoned plot strands, Charlie and Claire. In the first season, these small interpersonal conflicts on the beach were all well and good, but with the scope of the series having expanded dramatically, they just seem trivial and a waste of time now. Plus, Charlie and Claire continue to duke it out for the title of Most Annoying Character, particularly with Michael having sailed off (yes, I know his boat did not have a sail).
3. A totally cheesy plot device: the return of Boone in a hallucinogen-induced dream sequence of Locke's. Barely rates above Jamie Kennedy's cameo in Scream 3 on the list of "Most Forced Guest Appearances Ever." Why did Boone need to show Locke every single other person of concern? We already know he's not going to be able to do anything for most of them. Seemed like a lot of foot-dragging, which has defined the better part of the first three shows of this season, dare I say.
The whole hatch thing strikes me as a little implausible (all the metal sucks in on itself, but the survivors are blown outwards?), and it sure looked like they left a continuity goof in there (what kitchen is Hurley going to get bandages from if the hatch went reverse Big Bang on us?), but I guess I can live with that for now. Desmond potentially seeing future events, however, seems like it has potential to either get unlikely in a hurry or just offer tons of openings for future deus ex machinae.
I suppose it seems like I'm complaining a lot, and I suppose I am. I still like the show - there is, overall, none more compelling on television week to week - but I'm starting to get a little more frustrated with its pacing and general tendency to pad out its episodes with a ton of needless filler when it could be giving out actual info.
Next week: Kate, do you like Sawyer? Check yes or no. The Others clearly either like over-the-top psych testing or they're just a bunch of sadists. Or maybe both.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Thursday, October 12, 2006
s3e02: The Glass Ballerina
AKA "Sun is a big fat liar." In part two of the three-part series "Let's find out what happened to everyone after the finale as slowly as possible," Sayid thinks he's luring the Others into a trap, but they sneak around him and take the sailboat, which Sun manages to get off of after killing an Other who was only introduced in this episode. No fish biscuits for you, Sun! We see in flashbacks that there's a lot of stuff she doesn't tell Jin - such as sleeping with Baldy, who might be the father of her baby as I speculated a few months ago - which is paralleled in the present-day plot, where she helps Sayid keep Jin in the dark about his true motives. Except not really, because he's gaining a better understanding of English. So, having accomplished nothing and helped the Others get another boat, the three head back to base camp.
Back at Others HQ, Sawyer makes out with Kate, though it seems like he does it mostly to see how the Others will react and how tough they are. Stone-cold bitch Juliet gets him in line by threatening to shoot Kate. Sawyer explains his whole plan to Kate, not thinking that he might be under surveillance. But guess what?
Finally, Benry Gale goes into Jack's cell and tells him that he can go home if he cooperates with the Others, using footage of the Red Sox's World Series win to prove that the Others have contact with the outside world. (He also answers the question of why they'd still be on the island if they were able to get off when he says that he's lived on the island his whole life. 40 years or so? That predates Dharma, unless he's a lot younger than he looks.) The question is, what will Jack have to do?
One guess: harm/kill one of his people. Bear in mind Jack has known these guys just over two months; could the prospect of getting off the island prove too tempting to resist? (Probably not, if we know Jack, but who ever knows anything with this show?)
I should note that if I had a nickel for every time the show had an episode that treaded water for 58 minutes and then suddenly got interesting in the last two, I'd probably be working on a buck and a half. It's one of the few things that really drives me up a wall about Lost; the tendency of most episodes is to spin the wheels all show and then grab us back with a tantalizing ending. In some respects that's how the seasons have started to go, too - how much did we learn in the entire second season, and then they gave us a whole bunch in the finale? It's a little bit cheap and I wish they could offer more on an individual episode basis.
Next week: Fooled you, Flanders! Made you think Locke, Eko, and Desmond were dead! They're not, though. But you thought they were! But they're not.
Back at Others HQ, Sawyer makes out with Kate, though it seems like he does it mostly to see how the Others will react and how tough they are. Stone-cold bitch Juliet gets him in line by threatening to shoot Kate. Sawyer explains his whole plan to Kate, not thinking that he might be under surveillance. But guess what?
Finally, Benry Gale goes into Jack's cell and tells him that he can go home if he cooperates with the Others, using footage of the Red Sox's World Series win to prove that the Others have contact with the outside world. (He also answers the question of why they'd still be on the island if they were able to get off when he says that he's lived on the island his whole life. 40 years or so? That predates Dharma, unless he's a lot younger than he looks.) The question is, what will Jack have to do?
One guess: harm/kill one of his people. Bear in mind Jack has known these guys just over two months; could the prospect of getting off the island prove too tempting to resist? (Probably not, if we know Jack, but who ever knows anything with this show?)
I should note that if I had a nickel for every time the show had an episode that treaded water for 58 minutes and then suddenly got interesting in the last two, I'd probably be working on a buck and a half. It's one of the few things that really drives me up a wall about Lost; the tendency of most episodes is to spin the wheels all show and then grab us back with a tantalizing ending. In some respects that's how the seasons have started to go, too - how much did we learn in the entire second season, and then they gave us a whole bunch in the finale? It's a little bit cheap and I wish they could offer more on an individual episode basis.
Next week: Fooled you, Flanders! Made you think Locke, Eko, and Desmond were dead! They're not, though. But you thought they were! But they're not.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
s3e01: A Tale of Two Cities
It's hard to believe that it's been four and a half months since the Season 2 finale, doesn't it? It's also hard to believe that after all the punches in that episode, the premiere would be such a letdown, but that was my first impression.
The pre-title sequence was pretty cool - at least, the last minute of it was, while the rest was mostly misdirecting filler. But after that, things kind of go downhill. Far too much of what's becoming a Lost staple, where one character asks a question that the audience wants to know the answer to, and the character of whom the question is being asked says nothing and sometimes just walks away. After a while that stops being mysterious and just gets irritating. The flashback scenes were, as far as I'm concerned, among the most useless in the show's run. (And, again in somewhat typical fashion, a character doesn't just say one sentence that could clear up a misunderstanding. Why didn't Jack's dad just say, "Dude, I didn't sleep with your wife?" Getting flustered and rambling about "letting it go" only makes things worse, guy!)
Still no explanation of what the Others want with Jack, Kate, and Sawyer, of course; some experiments are apparently going to be conducted (maybe?), or at least something that will make Kate's next two weeks unpleasant, but naturally there's pretty much no hint of what that is. Also, the Others somehow have all this information - and apparently it's ridiculously detailed, right down to the emotional state of Jack's ex-wife - yet when do they ever get off the island? And it's in neat little binders and everything so it's not like they have it e-mailed in. Once more, typical Lost - the more things are revealed, the less sense they tend to make. It's a good thing (or maybe a bad thing, depending on how you want to look at it) that I started with last year's premiere and not this year's, because I doubt it would have hooked me at all. But it's too late now.
Next week: Sayid, Jin and Sun attempt a daring sailboat rescue that probably fails. Benry Gale wants the boat (maybe because he gave his to Michael). Probably more happenings in Dharmaville, too, although I don't know that any made the teaser.
The pre-title sequence was pretty cool - at least, the last minute of it was, while the rest was mostly misdirecting filler. But after that, things kind of go downhill. Far too much of what's becoming a Lost staple, where one character asks a question that the audience wants to know the answer to, and the character of whom the question is being asked says nothing and sometimes just walks away. After a while that stops being mysterious and just gets irritating. The flashback scenes were, as far as I'm concerned, among the most useless in the show's run. (And, again in somewhat typical fashion, a character doesn't just say one sentence that could clear up a misunderstanding. Why didn't Jack's dad just say, "Dude, I didn't sleep with your wife?" Getting flustered and rambling about "letting it go" only makes things worse, guy!)
Still no explanation of what the Others want with Jack, Kate, and Sawyer, of course; some experiments are apparently going to be conducted (maybe?), or at least something that will make Kate's next two weeks unpleasant, but naturally there's pretty much no hint of what that is. Also, the Others somehow have all this information - and apparently it's ridiculously detailed, right down to the emotional state of Jack's ex-wife - yet when do they ever get off the island? And it's in neat little binders and everything so it's not like they have it e-mailed in. Once more, typical Lost - the more things are revealed, the less sense they tend to make. It's a good thing (or maybe a bad thing, depending on how you want to look at it) that I started with last year's premiere and not this year's, because I doubt it would have hooked me at all. But it's too late now.
Next week: Sayid, Jin and Sun attempt a daring sailboat rescue that probably fails. Benry Gale wants the boat (maybe because he gave his to Michael). Probably more happenings in Dharmaville, too, although I don't know that any made the teaser.
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
s2e23: Live Together, Die Alone
Ohhh, I've wasted my life.
I suppose we shouldn't really be surprised that after all the posturing, all the promises, ultimately what we got in the season finale was a whole bunch more questions - and, by my count, one answer. There were more sightings of the ABC7 severe weather bulletin than loose ends tied up. (Incidentally, that bulletin makes me want to put my foot through the TV screen. Hey, WLS - if I were curious as to what the weather were doing, I would flip over to the Weather Channel. I'm trying to watch the fucking finale of Lost, and now I can't see Charlie's head because you need to show me a thunderstorm watch six counties away.)
I guess that we learned more than we did last season. Last season the Others shot Sawyer and took Walt and blew up the boat, leaving Michael and Sawyer stranded and Jin missing. And Jack and Locke blew up the hatch door, revealing... a tunnel descending into the ground. And that was all we really got.
By those standards, finding out that the electromagnetism brought the plane down at least qualifies as an answer - though again, it was pretty much the only one. (Yes, there's "also, it's not just an experiment," but those are kind of the same answer if you think about it.)
Otherwise, we get plot points that leave questions: Jack, Kate, and Sawyer being taken away (why on earth those three?), Michael sailing away (would it be wrong of me to hope that's the last time we see him on this show?), Locke and Eko MIA (if we're assuming Desmond died, could they possibly have escaped unaffected?), Charlie and Claire all lovey-dovey ("I love you, guy who kidnapped my baby, like, a week ago!" - seriously, who gives a crap at this point), and Desmond's girlfriend apparently using her immense wealth to pay two guys in the Antarctic to monitor electromagnetic anomalies, because for some reason she knows that those are connected with Desmond. (Or maybe she doesn't and she's watching them for some other reason, so there can be some emotional reunion late in Season Three. But I bet it's the first one.)
More things left hanging:
* Sayid, Jin and Sun?
* That statue? Four toes??
* Are we ever going to see the "security system" again, and are we ever going to find out what the hell it is?
* Are the Others Dharma or aren't they?
* Why are everyone's lives so interconnected?
* Is the rest of the blast door map ever going to be used?
* If Inman is a big tough army guy, how come he went down like such a sack of dirt?
A whole season and we learned so little. Lost can probably parcel itself out for seven or eight years at the current rate. Also, J.J. Abrams? Never tell me what is the coolest ending ever again. You've lost your L.A. privileges. And yet I'm totally going to wait four months (also, buy the DVDs the day they release) and then let myself get pulled along again. And if you're still reading this... I'm guessing so will you.
I suppose we shouldn't really be surprised that after all the posturing, all the promises, ultimately what we got in the season finale was a whole bunch more questions - and, by my count, one answer. There were more sightings of the ABC7 severe weather bulletin than loose ends tied up. (Incidentally, that bulletin makes me want to put my foot through the TV screen. Hey, WLS - if I were curious as to what the weather were doing, I would flip over to the Weather Channel. I'm trying to watch the fucking finale of Lost, and now I can't see Charlie's head because you need to show me a thunderstorm watch six counties away.)
I guess that we learned more than we did last season. Last season the Others shot Sawyer and took Walt and blew up the boat, leaving Michael and Sawyer stranded and Jin missing. And Jack and Locke blew up the hatch door, revealing... a tunnel descending into the ground. And that was all we really got.
By those standards, finding out that the electromagnetism brought the plane down at least qualifies as an answer - though again, it was pretty much the only one. (Yes, there's "also, it's not just an experiment," but those are kind of the same answer if you think about it.)
Otherwise, we get plot points that leave questions: Jack, Kate, and Sawyer being taken away (why on earth those three?), Michael sailing away (would it be wrong of me to hope that's the last time we see him on this show?), Locke and Eko MIA (if we're assuming Desmond died, could they possibly have escaped unaffected?), Charlie and Claire all lovey-dovey ("I love you, guy who kidnapped my baby, like, a week ago!" - seriously, who gives a crap at this point), and Desmond's girlfriend apparently using her immense wealth to pay two guys in the Antarctic to monitor electromagnetic anomalies, because for some reason she knows that those are connected with Desmond. (Or maybe she doesn't and she's watching them for some other reason, so there can be some emotional reunion late in Season Three. But I bet it's the first one.)
More things left hanging:
* Sayid, Jin and Sun?
* That statue? Four toes??
* Are we ever going to see the "security system" again, and are we ever going to find out what the hell it is?
* Are the Others Dharma or aren't they?
* Why are everyone's lives so interconnected?
* Is the rest of the blast door map ever going to be used?
* If Inman is a big tough army guy, how come he went down like such a sack of dirt?
A whole season and we learned so little. Lost can probably parcel itself out for seven or eight years at the current rate. Also, J.J. Abrams? Never tell me what is the coolest ending ever again. You've lost your L.A. privileges. And yet I'm totally going to wait four months (also, buy the DVDs the day they release) and then let myself get pulled along again. And if you're still reading this... I'm guessing so will you.
Thursday, May 18, 2006
s2e22: Three Minutes
Were the episodes before the two-hour finale this space-filling last season? We got virtually nothing new out of "Three Minutes," if you ask me - we learned for sure what Michael's up to, but it only tells us about 10% we didn't already know. The Eko plot was largely undeveloped. The only thing we really learned about the Others was that, oddly enough, Michael's description of them was largely accurate in terms of what he actually knew. "Three Minutes" is apparently the amount of worthwhile time Michael spent with the Others. Two whole weeks and he was just tied up the whole time? Awesome.
There were a couple nice character moments - Charlie pitching the statues and Locke seeing him do it, and Sawyer telling Jack he's the closest thing Sawyer has to a friend - which, interestingly, were pretty much back-to-back. Also, Sayid is really gunning to take over the #1 spot on the Most Bad-Ass Person on the Island list; Eko's slipping fast and Locke's diminishing faith is turning him back into kind of a wimpy jerk. Oh yeah, and then an obviously not seaworthy boat rolls up.
Next week: a two-hour season finale! Desmond reappears, as does the security system (I'm guessing from the clips). At least some people get onto the boat (was anyone manning it?). The pneumatic tube doesn't go anywhere except to a big pile in the middle of the jungle, so The Pearl is obviously just another hoaxy experiment. The blast doors close again; Locke tries to smash the computer. And according to the voiceover, a number of questions will be answered, including what really happened to the plane. Drew declared that it looked too good to be true, but I'm hopeful. Here's to a few nice answers and a sweet cliffhanger.
There were a couple nice character moments - Charlie pitching the statues and Locke seeing him do it, and Sawyer telling Jack he's the closest thing Sawyer has to a friend - which, interestingly, were pretty much back-to-back. Also, Sayid is really gunning to take over the #1 spot on the Most Bad-Ass Person on the Island list; Eko's slipping fast and Locke's diminishing faith is turning him back into kind of a wimpy jerk. Oh yeah, and then an obviously not seaworthy boat rolls up.
Next week: a two-hour season finale! Desmond reappears, as does the security system (I'm guessing from the clips). At least some people get onto the boat (was anyone manning it?). The pneumatic tube doesn't go anywhere except to a big pile in the middle of the jungle, so The Pearl is obviously just another hoaxy experiment. The blast doors close again; Locke tries to smash the computer. And according to the voiceover, a number of questions will be answered, including what really happened to the plane. Drew declared that it looked too good to be true, but I'm hopeful. Here's to a few nice answers and a sweet cliffhanger.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
s2e21: ?
My sentiments exactly. For a late-season episode, this one was surprisingly underwhelming, especially since it spent most of its time doing dramatic reveals on things any smart person should already have been aware of.
I'll ask: is there a person in the world who didn't think the button was an experiment from the very first second? Maybe there is actually more to it and maybe there isn't, but The Pearl was largely a waste; if all we learned was that the button for sure didn't do anything, that hardly seems worth all the question mark trouble.
And if you thought Libby was going to make it... no. She did survive, but not even for as long as the marshal did in Season One, and she got even less information out - the single word "Michael," which naturally was assumed by Jack and Hurley to be an inquiry into Michael's condition and not an accusation.
So that was basically the entire episode. Didn't learn much, did we? I imagine this sets the table to some degree for the next two (incidentally - only 23? Or is the finale two hours?), but still. For a mid-May, late-season episode, this felt dangerously close to filler.
Next week: Sayid is smarter than everyone else, and we appear to get another on-island flashback episode in which we see what Michael was up to for... what was it, a week and a half of island time?
I'll ask: is there a person in the world who didn't think the button was an experiment from the very first second? Maybe there is actually more to it and maybe there isn't, but The Pearl was largely a waste; if all we learned was that the button for sure didn't do anything, that hardly seems worth all the question mark trouble.
And if you thought Libby was going to make it... no. She did survive, but not even for as long as the marshal did in Season One, and she got even less information out - the single word "Michael," which naturally was assumed by Jack and Hurley to be an inquiry into Michael's condition and not an accusation.
So that was basically the entire episode. Didn't learn much, did we? I imagine this sets the table to some degree for the next two (incidentally - only 23? Or is the finale two hours?), but still. For a mid-May, late-season episode, this felt dangerously close to filler.
Next week: Sayid is smarter than everyone else, and we appear to get another on-island flashback episode in which we see what Michael was up to for... what was it, a week and a half of island time?
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Brief speculation
Jack's dad = not dead?
I'm sure I'm not the first person to come up with this theory, but I did arrive at it independently this evening. Consider:
*Jack's dad was directly responsible for Jack and Ana Lucia being in Australia.
*Jack's dad crossed paths with Sawyer in Australia.
*Jack's dad might also be Claire's dad.
That's a lot of connections to various castaways, no? Also consider the fact that we never actually see Jack's dad's body (empty casket, anyone?). Also consider that Jack's dad has shown up on the island - it would seem the island can cause hallucinations, but it's also been hinted that certain things or people may just appear. The horse in "What Kate Did" was certainly flesh and blood as far as could be told.
Also, we know there's a big twist coming at the end of the season. How big would it be if Jack stumbles down some dank corridor buried in the jungle, opens a door, and sees his father standing there in a suit? I can even picture how they'd probably shoot that.
Of course, I hope I'm wrong, because I like to be surprised. But if you could bet this stuff in Vegas, and they had "Jack's Dad is 'Him'" at like 20:1 odds, I might lay down a sawbuck.
I'm sure I'm not the first person to come up with this theory, but I did arrive at it independently this evening. Consider:
*Jack's dad was directly responsible for Jack and Ana Lucia being in Australia.
*Jack's dad crossed paths with Sawyer in Australia.
*Jack's dad might also be Claire's dad.
That's a lot of connections to various castaways, no? Also consider the fact that we never actually see Jack's dad's body (empty casket, anyone?). Also consider that Jack's dad has shown up on the island - it would seem the island can cause hallucinations, but it's also been hinted that certain things or people may just appear. The horse in "What Kate Did" was certainly flesh and blood as far as could be told.
Also, we know there's a big twist coming at the end of the season. How big would it be if Jack stumbles down some dank corridor buried in the jungle, opens a door, and sees his father standing there in a suit? I can even picture how they'd probably shoot that.
Of course, I hope I'm wrong, because I like to be surprised. But if you could bet this stuff in Vegas, and they had "Jack's Dad is 'Him'" at like 20:1 odds, I might lay down a sawbuck.
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
s2e20: Two for the Road
Bizarre episode. With the exception of "Henry" telling Locke that he came to get him, 95% of it seemed to be distracting filler designed to keep you blissfully unaware of the ending. Do I have to be suspicious of any backstory that doesn't feature Jack or Locke from now on? Because whenever they kill a character, they always make that character the flashback. Because I like my flashbacks to be wholly, 100% pointless.
Of course, Ana Lucia has always been kind of a dead-end character - her presence on the island didn't really give us much. Even when they threw Jack's dad into the mix, it didn't do a whole lot to make her backstory anything other than self-contained - the same of which was pretty true for Shannon and Boone. Characters like that only exist to affect other characters - Boone affected Locke, Shannon affected Sayid. Ana Lucia - I don't even know. Sawyer, now that they got down? Jack, because that's what Jack does? Nobody, because we all hated her?
The Libby thing is even weirder. Is the goal to turn Hurley into a ball of rage? Would that even work? And why bother establishing the beginnings of a backstory for Libby if you're just going to kill her off? It's like they filmed the rest of the episode and then Rodriguez and Watros drove drunk and the producers were like "Quick, just kill 'em both." Except this episode was probably filmed after that happened.
Anyway, I was at least partially right about Michael - he has to be a tool of the Others somehow. He kills "non-good-person" Ana Lucia, then shoots himself superficially, making it look like Henry shot him and escaped - and this also allows him to stay among the castaways in their confidence, the most effective mole yet. As Drew pointed out, his story about two dozen Others living in tents doesn't really jive with the whole "they aren't really jungle people" thing, which we've already seen. So he's clearly just telling the kind of story that will lead everyone else right to the slaughter - or rather, the metaphorical slaughter, since I guess the Others want some of the people for certain reasons.
As silly as some of this stuff is getting - the Ana Lucia/Jack's dad backstory was pretty ridiculous and appears to have been ultimately pointless in the extreme - the show as a whole probably has me about as hooked as it ever has, because I just have to see where this is all going. Eko presumably does not die next week, so what saves him in that fall? Isn't next week the one where we're scheduled to learn about the door, or is that two weeks? Either way.
Of course, Ana Lucia has always been kind of a dead-end character - her presence on the island didn't really give us much. Even when they threw Jack's dad into the mix, it didn't do a whole lot to make her backstory anything other than self-contained - the same of which was pretty true for Shannon and Boone. Characters like that only exist to affect other characters - Boone affected Locke, Shannon affected Sayid. Ana Lucia - I don't even know. Sawyer, now that they got down? Jack, because that's what Jack does? Nobody, because we all hated her?
The Libby thing is even weirder. Is the goal to turn Hurley into a ball of rage? Would that even work? And why bother establishing the beginnings of a backstory for Libby if you're just going to kill her off? It's like they filmed the rest of the episode and then Rodriguez and Watros drove drunk and the producers were like "Quick, just kill 'em both." Except this episode was probably filmed after that happened.
Anyway, I was at least partially right about Michael - he has to be a tool of the Others somehow. He kills "non-good-person" Ana Lucia, then shoots himself superficially, making it look like Henry shot him and escaped - and this also allows him to stay among the castaways in their confidence, the most effective mole yet. As Drew pointed out, his story about two dozen Others living in tents doesn't really jive with the whole "they aren't really jungle people" thing, which we've already seen. So he's clearly just telling the kind of story that will lead everyone else right to the slaughter - or rather, the metaphorical slaughter, since I guess the Others want some of the people for certain reasons.
As silly as some of this stuff is getting - the Ana Lucia/Jack's dad backstory was pretty ridiculous and appears to have been ultimately pointless in the extreme - the show as a whole probably has me about as hooked as it ever has, because I just have to see where this is all going. Eko presumably does not die next week, so what saves him in that fall? Isn't next week the one where we're scheduled to learn about the door, or is that two weeks? Either way.
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