Oh, jeez, this one's late. But it's the last one about a (new) episode I'll be doing till, oh, February so you can forgive me for dragging this one out.
Upon second viewing I'm almost willing to proclaim this episode one of the show's best ever. Like Sixth Sense, they had to be sure the episode could withstand repeated viewings and it does remarkbly well. There were moments when they were trying not to date themselves (like Jack constantly referring to his father and the use of Nirvana's "Scentless Apprentice" from the early nineties) and moments when they were almost trying to give it away (Jack using a RAZR-type cell). There was always enough to think maybe this wasn't a flash forward and just barely enough to hint that it may. I thought it might be when we saw Sarah very pregnant -- I wasn't sure how long it was between Jack and Sarah's separation and the crash but I was sure it wasn't anywhere near long enough for her to get that pregnant. The RAZR was a giveaway but I wasn't sure if it was just a continuity/prop error. I couldn't figure out what the use of a flash-forward might be -- until the final scenes both on the Island and off.
For the mainstream media the biggest question about LOST may be if the Losties will ever get rescued. But for me it was always more character based: Will the Losties ever discover the Island's purgatory-esque properties and use them to their advantange? Jack himself was the first to reailze the Island granted everyone tabula rasa. Yet he never quite took that to the next level: if the Island grants a clean slate, does one actually learn from what was erased to form a new, better identity?
The final two scenes of "Looking Glass" proved that Jack had learned nothing. He repeated the same mistake he had always made, trying to be the hero at all costs, and by doing so earned himself a future where he was just like his dad -- drunk, alone and in search of closure a world away. Now instead of being a show about getting rescued off an island, Gilligan's Island in the Twilight Zone, we have, finally, a show more focussed on what makes that Island so special and what it does for those who find it. We've been given the impression that the Island was indeed worth staying on and fighting for, but it's never been clear if we were to just take that on faith. Now we've got proof, in the plaintive cry of Jack, "We have to go back!"
It was a shocking twist that rebooted the show and set a new course.
Now the big question: Will Season 4 be set off-Island? Will each episode reveal what the Losties are up to post-rescue and flashback to the Island and the events of the rescue itself? I think so: some of the last flashbacks of Season 3 scraped the bottom of the barrel and there wasn't much left about these characters to go back to. The show needed another layer of history to peel back and got it by leaping ahead into the future. Are we going to see the other Losties in similar dire straits as Jack? Will each be consumed by the past they were running from? Will Sawyer fully turn to the dark side and become as ruthless as the man he killed? Will Jin and Sun's marriage fall apart again? Will Claire fail as a mother? As was strongly hinted in "Looking Glass", will Kate stop running only to be tied down by a man, probably Sawyer? Will they learn from their parents mistakes or just repeat them?
*Notice that Kate was all done-up, living in LA and driving a fancy car -- What the hell happened to Kate Austen? I'm willing to bet post-rescue she quickly became the most "marketable" of the Losties and got swept up in a whirlwind of instant fame and fortune. And that may have nabbed her an awkward but quickie "feel good" pardon.
*What was Ben thinking? Did he really expect to stop all the Losties by himself? If this was Ben's ultimate test as master manipulator, he failed miserably. His biggest mistake, one repeated over and over again by every character, is he believed too much in himself at the expense of others. He always walked that thin line between supporting the existence of free will and then subverting it with hs machinations. The two ceased to coexist when it ran up against Jack who was in no mood to negotiate.
*Save the Junkie, Save the World: Oddly enough, I was OK with Charlie dying. Just as Charlie resigned himself to his fate so I was prepared to let him go. Now I see that the unfulfilled promise of "Greatest Hits" was really just to set-up the payoff an episode later. While we spent all of "Hits" expecting Charlie to get whacked (or at least drown), him surviving felt like a cop-out not just to the viewers but Charlie himself. By "Looking Glass", Charlie just wanted to get it over with and have his lasting heroic moment.
RIP Charlie Pace. You all... everybody.
*Here's a Fuselage post about who was in the coffin and what was written in the obit. I'm pretty sure who died isn't important. It's that Jack failed the Losties by getting them rescued off the Island and this person's death, whoever it was, was just another nail in his own coffin.
*And I'm almost completely certain Christian Shephard is dead as disco. His son's rantings about him being alive were drug and alcohol induced. Actually, it might just be that Jack's totally lost his mind: he did say he flew over the Pacific every weekend hoping his plane would crash on the Island.
*OKAY: So Season 3's over. What next? Well, I'll be guiding the LOST Rewind, a "viewing club" rewatching the entire series from the beginning and focussing on all the plot and thematic elements that have been illuminated after three season worth of show. It'll be housed at the Fuselage though I hope it grows to something every LOST fan can take part in. Details and schedule to come shortly.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Monday, May 21, 2007
LOST / 3x21, "Greatest Hits"
OK... I'm going to cheat here. A poster at the Fuselage named Todell (who happens to also write a LOST blog for the Houston Chronicle) posted this which I'm copying and pastung in lieu of any actual recap from me. I really had nothing to say about this episode so I was surprised to see someone draw so much meaning out of it, and especially using the Hero's Journey which was my virtual college thesis.
Charlie's list? His greatest hits? They're the steps of the mono-myth:
1. a call to adventure, which the hero has to accept or decline
2. a road of trials, regarding which the hero succeeds or fails
3. achieving the goal or "boon," which often results in important self-knowledge
4. a return to the ordinary world, again as to which the hero can succeed or fail
5. application of the boon in which what the hero has gained can be used to improve the world
1. A call to adventure = #5 Charlie hears his Driveshaft song on the radio for the first time, and realizes he will be a "bloody rock god" = Charlie learns that Claire can be rescued.
Charlie has lost hope with the band and is ready to quit when the group hears You All Everybody on the radio, and hope is reborn! Charlie will be a rock star after all! On the island, this scene is shown shortly before Desmond tells Charlie that Claire and Aaron will be rescued via the helicopter. Hope is reborn!
2. A road of travails = #4 Charlie's father teaches him to swim = Charlie learns he will drown to death.
As a child, Charlie is frightened to learn how to swim, but after some encouragement from his father, Charlie overcomes his fear and dives in. On the island, this scene takes place just before Charlie learns that to be the hero, it requires that he drown to death. Which, of course, is a nice bookend to the flashback -- Charlie must learn to swim, only so that he can drown.
3. Achieving the goal or "boon," self-knowledge = #3 Liam gives Charlie the family ring = Charlie telling young Aaron that he loves him.
Liam gives Charlie the family ring, the symbol of their lineage. The ring is the symbolic "boon:" it represents Charlie's specialness, is bestowed upon him because he's the "different" one, the one that will have a family. And he does have a family: Claire and Aaron. To whom he bestows the family "boon."
4. A return to the ordinary world = #2 Charlie saves the woman from the mugger = Charlie accepts the mission and says his goodbyes.
Charlie saves Nadia after Driveshaft has broken up, and he has returned to the ordinary world where he is no longer a "rock god." And he passes the test. On the island, Charlie has to say goodbye to his family and friends, the members of his ordinary world, before he can complete the mission.
5. Application of the boon = #1 Charlie meets Claire = Charlie goes on his mission to the Looking Glass.
Charlie has finally found his great purpose in life: loving and saving Claire, and he accepts it. The child in Claire's womb will be the inheritor of Charlie's boon, but for the child to carry on Charlie's inheritance, Charlie must commit an act of sacrifice and heroism.
There are plenty of heroic characters on the show whose stories also follow the mono-myth pattern, but the difference here is that the writers are literally drawing the comparison out for us on that list that Charlie creates.
***
The thing that really bugged me about this episode was that it felt REALLY manipulative, that exactly all the right buttons were pushed to get the audience to react a certain way. And these weren't subtle moments either. Then again it was called "Greatest Hits" and any band's greatest hits are never their most subtle works. But, yeah, it worked: there were moments I was on the verge of tears and there was that bit at the end when I thought Charlie was done for and had comitted the noble sacrifice.
BUT... as I wrote that monring only three things were going to happen: 1) Charlie was going to die; 2) Desmond was going to sacrifice himself to save Charlie once and for all (very nearly done); 3) Deus Ex Machina.
And of course... we got #3.
The episode served as a bridge to the end game. The problem here was that the previous run of six of seven episodes have been so good that this one felt like it pulled the breaks and served as a breather before the whole thing got going again. Now all the pieces are in motion and we'll finally get that epic confrontation between the Others and the Losties that's been building since the coming of Ethan.
Easter Eggs:
*Yup, that was Nadia.
*The Bunny Rabbit Hatch
*And the mysterious sticker on Charlie's guitar: "I was here moments ago." WHAT.
NEXT: This is it! LOST's Season Finale, the Jack-centric "Through the Looking Glass". And be sure to tape it... supposedly the epsiode will require immediate rewatching, especially the final five minutes...
ETA: At my personal blog, a commenter was intrigued by my thinking that Ben was more a monster now for being amoral, than being immoral. Really I shouldn't have used the word monster. Here's my response:
Oops... I actually don't mean monster in a "bad" way, but that Ben was no longer operating by the traditional rules of good or evil, so instead of being "human" he was now something else entirely. That kind of philosphy can lead to benevolent or harmful acts depending on where it's newly rooted. In Ben's case it's not really rooted at all, just where it needs to be so he feels right. He's never a liar, until he is and then he's not again. He's not a killer, until he is, but then he's not really. He's a good person, but the person handing out the "good" label is himself.
Charlie's list? His greatest hits? They're the steps of the mono-myth:
1. a call to adventure, which the hero has to accept or decline
2. a road of trials, regarding which the hero succeeds or fails
3. achieving the goal or "boon," which often results in important self-knowledge
4. a return to the ordinary world, again as to which the hero can succeed or fail
5. application of the boon in which what the hero has gained can be used to improve the world
1. A call to adventure = #5 Charlie hears his Driveshaft song on the radio for the first time, and realizes he will be a "bloody rock god" = Charlie learns that Claire can be rescued.
Charlie has lost hope with the band and is ready to quit when the group hears You All Everybody on the radio, and hope is reborn! Charlie will be a rock star after all! On the island, this scene is shown shortly before Desmond tells Charlie that Claire and Aaron will be rescued via the helicopter. Hope is reborn!
2. A road of travails = #4 Charlie's father teaches him to swim = Charlie learns he will drown to death.
As a child, Charlie is frightened to learn how to swim, but after some encouragement from his father, Charlie overcomes his fear and dives in. On the island, this scene takes place just before Charlie learns that to be the hero, it requires that he drown to death. Which, of course, is a nice bookend to the flashback -- Charlie must learn to swim, only so that he can drown.
3. Achieving the goal or "boon," self-knowledge = #3 Liam gives Charlie the family ring = Charlie telling young Aaron that he loves him.
Liam gives Charlie the family ring, the symbol of their lineage. The ring is the symbolic "boon:" it represents Charlie's specialness, is bestowed upon him because he's the "different" one, the one that will have a family. And he does have a family: Claire and Aaron. To whom he bestows the family "boon."
4. A return to the ordinary world = #2 Charlie saves the woman from the mugger = Charlie accepts the mission and says his goodbyes.
Charlie saves Nadia after Driveshaft has broken up, and he has returned to the ordinary world where he is no longer a "rock god." And he passes the test. On the island, Charlie has to say goodbye to his family and friends, the members of his ordinary world, before he can complete the mission.
5. Application of the boon = #1 Charlie meets Claire = Charlie goes on his mission to the Looking Glass.
Charlie has finally found his great purpose in life: loving and saving Claire, and he accepts it. The child in Claire's womb will be the inheritor of Charlie's boon, but for the child to carry on Charlie's inheritance, Charlie must commit an act of sacrifice and heroism.
There are plenty of heroic characters on the show whose stories also follow the mono-myth pattern, but the difference here is that the writers are literally drawing the comparison out for us on that list that Charlie creates.
***
The thing that really bugged me about this episode was that it felt REALLY manipulative, that exactly all the right buttons were pushed to get the audience to react a certain way. And these weren't subtle moments either. Then again it was called "Greatest Hits" and any band's greatest hits are never their most subtle works. But, yeah, it worked: there were moments I was on the verge of tears and there was that bit at the end when I thought Charlie was done for and had comitted the noble sacrifice.
BUT... as I wrote that monring only three things were going to happen: 1) Charlie was going to die; 2) Desmond was going to sacrifice himself to save Charlie once and for all (very nearly done); 3) Deus Ex Machina.
And of course... we got #3.
The episode served as a bridge to the end game. The problem here was that the previous run of six of seven episodes have been so good that this one felt like it pulled the breaks and served as a breather before the whole thing got going again. Now all the pieces are in motion and we'll finally get that epic confrontation between the Others and the Losties that's been building since the coming of Ethan.
Easter Eggs:
*Yup, that was Nadia.
*The Bunny Rabbit Hatch
*And the mysterious sticker on Charlie's guitar: "I was here moments ago." WHAT.
NEXT: This is it! LOST's Season Finale, the Jack-centric "Through the Looking Glass". And be sure to tape it... supposedly the epsiode will require immediate rewatching, especially the final five minutes...
ETA: At my personal blog, a commenter was intrigued by my thinking that Ben was more a monster now for being amoral, than being immoral. Really I shouldn't have used the word monster. Here's my response:
Oops... I actually don't mean monster in a "bad" way, but that Ben was no longer operating by the traditional rules of good or evil, so instead of being "human" he was now something else entirely. That kind of philosphy can lead to benevolent or harmful acts depending on where it's newly rooted. In Ben's case it's not really rooted at all, just where it needs to be so he feels right. He's never a liar, until he is and then he's not again. He's not a killer, until he is, but then he's not really. He's a good person, but the person handing out the "good" label is himself.
LOST / 3x20, "The Man Behind the Curtain"
"Helllllp... Me...."
And so goes our first meeting with Jacob (aka "HIM"). In case you didn't see him, it wasn't a Psycho-esque delusion of Ben, Jacob was most definitely there.
Now who could he be? At first glance, the forehead looks distinctly like Terry O'Quinn's except according to Lostpedia, he was being played here by one of the show's prop masters. I am willing to go out on a very, very long limb and say that they deliberately picked a dude to play Jacob who looked like O'Quinn, just so they could eventually reveal that Jacob is indeed Locke.
How can that be? Well, if all the theorizing about lost time is correct, then perhaps Locke is somehow caught in time, and everyone is going through a time loop, but only Locke is standing still in that particular place for some reason. Notice in the above pictures Jacob's hair is as long and his clothes as tattered as Richard Alpert's when we meet him in Ben's flashback. Richard doesn't look like he's aged a bit. Perhaps this similarity is not coincidental and there's a hint here that what seems to have caused Alpert's agelessness is also affecting Jacob.
Or... Richard Alpert is Jacob. (cough.) But that would just be lame, yes?
*While the episode was full of little bits of show mythology, the one that stood out for me was the subtle way they explained why Ben (and thus the Others) are so obsessed with kidnapping pregnant women. If I'm reading the episode correctly, Ben believes he may have brought a curse to the Island that causes all pregnant women to die at around seven months, just as his own mother did. This was in no small part because his father kept blaming him for his mother's death and their misery ever since. Ben told the Others he was born on the Island to deflect any hint he brought this "curse" with him, while also making him look special as supposedly the last on-Island birth.
Meanwhile, the girl who grew close to him seems to have disappeared from his life later, the crude doll she made for him the only reminder of her presence in young Ben's life. What happened to her? Did she perhaps die in childbirth, too? Was this what finally snapped Ben and turned him into a mass murderer?
This is just another case of the writers taking a seemingly bizarre mystery and resolving it not just by answering a question, but illuminating a character's dark past. Really, instead of sympathizing with Ben, it made him seem even more like a monster, not because he's evil, but because he's beyond notions of good and evil. He acts purely out of self-preseveration, with lies being the truth if it suits that purpose.
His special relationship with Jacob was all he had left to hold onto. And with the coming of Locke, with Locke hearing what even Ben couldn't hear, that relationship was threatened, and so, too, Ben's place within the Others and more importantly his view of himself.
*Smokey = Whispers? It sounded like whispering around Ben as he approached the sonic fence and spoke to his mother. It's now widely assumed that Ben's mom was the Monster. Is Smokey also the cause of the whispers then, too? Indeed the Monster may be the closest thing to a grand unifying theory of Lost, explaining everything from Dave to Christian Shepherd to the Whispers.
*Actually, there's also a theory out there that Jacob is the Monster and that the circle of ash or gunpowder is the smoke we see when it is out and about. So when it reenters that zone the ash just falls away and rejoins the circle while he retakes his seat. Or... not.
*Did someone say "Volcano"? Well... you know they never bring anything up without it coming back later. Island go boom?
And so goes our first meeting with Jacob (aka "HIM"). In case you didn't see him, it wasn't a Psycho-esque delusion of Ben, Jacob was most definitely there.
Now who could he be? At first glance, the forehead looks distinctly like Terry O'Quinn's except according to Lostpedia, he was being played here by one of the show's prop masters. I am willing to go out on a very, very long limb and say that they deliberately picked a dude to play Jacob who looked like O'Quinn, just so they could eventually reveal that Jacob is indeed Locke.
How can that be? Well, if all the theorizing about lost time is correct, then perhaps Locke is somehow caught in time, and everyone is going through a time loop, but only Locke is standing still in that particular place for some reason. Notice in the above pictures Jacob's hair is as long and his clothes as tattered as Richard Alpert's when we meet him in Ben's flashback. Richard doesn't look like he's aged a bit. Perhaps this similarity is not coincidental and there's a hint here that what seems to have caused Alpert's agelessness is also affecting Jacob.
Or... Richard Alpert is Jacob. (cough.) But that would just be lame, yes?
*While the episode was full of little bits of show mythology, the one that stood out for me was the subtle way they explained why Ben (and thus the Others) are so obsessed with kidnapping pregnant women. If I'm reading the episode correctly, Ben believes he may have brought a curse to the Island that causes all pregnant women to die at around seven months, just as his own mother did. This was in no small part because his father kept blaming him for his mother's death and their misery ever since. Ben told the Others he was born on the Island to deflect any hint he brought this "curse" with him, while also making him look special as supposedly the last on-Island birth.
Meanwhile, the girl who grew close to him seems to have disappeared from his life later, the crude doll she made for him the only reminder of her presence in young Ben's life. What happened to her? Did she perhaps die in childbirth, too? Was this what finally snapped Ben and turned him into a mass murderer?
This is just another case of the writers taking a seemingly bizarre mystery and resolving it not just by answering a question, but illuminating a character's dark past. Really, instead of sympathizing with Ben, it made him seem even more like a monster, not because he's evil, but because he's beyond notions of good and evil. He acts purely out of self-preseveration, with lies being the truth if it suits that purpose.
His special relationship with Jacob was all he had left to hold onto. And with the coming of Locke, with Locke hearing what even Ben couldn't hear, that relationship was threatened, and so, too, Ben's place within the Others and more importantly his view of himself.
*Smokey = Whispers? It sounded like whispering around Ben as he approached the sonic fence and spoke to his mother. It's now widely assumed that Ben's mom was the Monster. Is Smokey also the cause of the whispers then, too? Indeed the Monster may be the closest thing to a grand unifying theory of Lost, explaining everything from Dave to Christian Shepherd to the Whispers.
*Actually, there's also a theory out there that Jacob is the Monster and that the circle of ash or gunpowder is the smoke we see when it is out and about. So when it reenters that zone the ash just falls away and rejoins the circle while he retakes his seat. Or... not.
*Did someone say "Volcano"? Well... you know they never bring anything up without it coming back later. Island go boom?
Sunday, May 13, 2007
3x19, "The Brig"
Was this the beginning of the end for John Locke? Even though he'd get shot and apparently killed the following episode, "The Brig" really was part 1 of a two-parter. Across the two Locke finally let go of the all-consuming anger toward his father and thus left his past before The Island behind him. John Locke is a new man. And you know what that means:
Purgatory Rule -- everytime a character resolves his pre-crash issues he or she gets whacked. Usually this is within that character's respective episode, but I think we can treat "The Brig" and "Man Behind The Curtain" as one whole.
Actually, we got a two-for-one in this episode with Sawyer resolving his own father issues. But while the original Sawyer is dead, the scars te left on his namesake are still evident. Somehow this is not a rebirth for James Ford... there's more yet to resolve as his puking and misery afterwards attests to. What does Sawyer become now that the object of his vengeance has been destroyed? Does he move on to resolve the damage he himself left behind, starting with his daughter Clementine?
Resolving both these issues within the same episode points to the spirtual brotherhood Sawyer and Locke share. Really this was the only way Locke could get past his anger, knowing that someone else shared his pain, perhaps even felt it worse than he did. Live Together, Die Alone...
This was a masterpiece of an episode, with everything from the writing, to the directing to the acting, editing and lighting clicking together to create a thrilling and even moving hour. One of the best episodes ever.
*The Master Manipulator: Nearly everything Ben said to Locke was a lie, intended to manipulate him into a humilating situation. Locke posed the greatest threat to Ben's hold on the Others. Ben would do everything he could to keep it, even if it meant kidnapping Cooper from Florida and putting John in a position to kill him, which Ben knew would never happen. Meanwhile, he created false expectations among the Others and looked stronger for it when Locke failed to live up to them.
*"A little hot for Heaven": So it's not purgratory... IT'S HELL! Cooper's little "theory" added an extra special kick to all the other ones out there that the Island was purgatory. Instead of thinking about it in literal terms though I think this episode shifted a lot of fans' minds toward thinking about it metaphorically.
Bits & Pieces:
*Naomi Dorrit: A reference to the Charles Dickens novel, Little Dorrit. According to Lostpedia the book "is a work of satire on the shortcomings of the government and society of the period."
*"An Old Pace": The ancient-looking column Anthony Cooper gets tied-up to seems to be from the same civilization that built the Four-Toed statue. Who were these people and where did they go? Were they the ancestors of the Hostiles?
*Why is Cindy there? Me'thinks there's a flashback in Cindy's future. There's definitely a lot more to learn about how she went from Taillie to Other.
Locke's healing transferrable? So how did Ben heal so quickly once John was with him? Does Locke's "specialness" extend beyond himself? If so how has that been affecting the Losties all this time? Did Ben actually try to keep Locke with him primarily to heal himself?
*Free Will: Ben brings up free will again as a major component of the Others' beliefs. He even says one needs a "full commitment" to it to be a true citizen of the Island. Problem with that is we see so little of it in practice. Every decision Ben claims could be made by free will (going all the way back to earlier this season with Kate falling for Sawyer because of the conditions of their captivity) has been manipulated by him.
*Everyone Loves Sayid: This run of episodes strongly casts Sayid as the Wise Man of the Losties. Everyone trusts him, everyone believes him, and everyone looks to him to solve their problems. And... these are all reasons why I think we may be seeing the last of him. A guy like that can not be allowed to survive on this particular Island.
*Interesting that Sayid has never seen anything as sophistocated as Naomi's satellite phone. Is this another hint that time on the Island and time in the outside world are operating differently? Perhaps in the outside world it is actually 2007 (or maybe 2010 when the show ends).
*Significance of Sawyer walking barefoot? Maybe it's nothing, but you'd think Sawyer would at least have gone back to his tent and grabbed some foot gear. I think this was a subtle way to hint Sawyer was going on a spritual journey of sorts.
*The faked crash: I think it's safe to assume Ben had a crash faked so the search for Oceanic 815 would end. The Hostiles and Ben are definitely being backed by someone or something and I think it has nothing to do with the Hanso Foundation. Maybe Mitellos Bioscience is not a front for DHARMA but really a new entrant into the show's mythology.
*Guest Starring: Rousseau: Hilarious little cameo by everyone's favorite Frenchwoman with an eastern European accent. I think running into Locke and grabbing the dynamite is going to come up again during her long promised flashback, now looking likely for Season 4.
Purgatory Rule -- everytime a character resolves his pre-crash issues he or she gets whacked. Usually this is within that character's respective episode, but I think we can treat "The Brig" and "Man Behind The Curtain" as one whole.
Actually, we got a two-for-one in this episode with Sawyer resolving his own father issues. But while the original Sawyer is dead, the scars te left on his namesake are still evident. Somehow this is not a rebirth for James Ford... there's more yet to resolve as his puking and misery afterwards attests to. What does Sawyer become now that the object of his vengeance has been destroyed? Does he move on to resolve the damage he himself left behind, starting with his daughter Clementine?
Resolving both these issues within the same episode points to the spirtual brotherhood Sawyer and Locke share. Really this was the only way Locke could get past his anger, knowing that someone else shared his pain, perhaps even felt it worse than he did. Live Together, Die Alone...
This was a masterpiece of an episode, with everything from the writing, to the directing to the acting, editing and lighting clicking together to create a thrilling and even moving hour. One of the best episodes ever.
*The Master Manipulator: Nearly everything Ben said to Locke was a lie, intended to manipulate him into a humilating situation. Locke posed the greatest threat to Ben's hold on the Others. Ben would do everything he could to keep it, even if it meant kidnapping Cooper from Florida and putting John in a position to kill him, which Ben knew would never happen. Meanwhile, he created false expectations among the Others and looked stronger for it when Locke failed to live up to them.
*"A little hot for Heaven": So it's not purgratory... IT'S HELL! Cooper's little "theory" added an extra special kick to all the other ones out there that the Island was purgatory. Instead of thinking about it in literal terms though I think this episode shifted a lot of fans' minds toward thinking about it metaphorically.
Bits & Pieces:
*Naomi Dorrit: A reference to the Charles Dickens novel, Little Dorrit. According to Lostpedia the book "is a work of satire on the shortcomings of the government and society of the period."
*"An Old Pace": The ancient-looking column Anthony Cooper gets tied-up to seems to be from the same civilization that built the Four-Toed statue. Who were these people and where did they go? Were they the ancestors of the Hostiles?
*Why is Cindy there? Me'thinks there's a flashback in Cindy's future. There's definitely a lot more to learn about how she went from Taillie to Other.
Locke's healing transferrable? So how did Ben heal so quickly once John was with him? Does Locke's "specialness" extend beyond himself? If so how has that been affecting the Losties all this time? Did Ben actually try to keep Locke with him primarily to heal himself?
*Free Will: Ben brings up free will again as a major component of the Others' beliefs. He even says one needs a "full commitment" to it to be a true citizen of the Island. Problem with that is we see so little of it in practice. Every decision Ben claims could be made by free will (going all the way back to earlier this season with Kate falling for Sawyer because of the conditions of their captivity) has been manipulated by him.
*Everyone Loves Sayid: This run of episodes strongly casts Sayid as the Wise Man of the Losties. Everyone trusts him, everyone believes him, and everyone looks to him to solve their problems. And... these are all reasons why I think we may be seeing the last of him. A guy like that can not be allowed to survive on this particular Island.
*Interesting that Sayid has never seen anything as sophistocated as Naomi's satellite phone. Is this another hint that time on the Island and time in the outside world are operating differently? Perhaps in the outside world it is actually 2007 (or maybe 2010 when the show ends).
*Significance of Sawyer walking barefoot? Maybe it's nothing, but you'd think Sawyer would at least have gone back to his tent and grabbed some foot gear. I think this was a subtle way to hint Sawyer was going on a spritual journey of sorts.
*The faked crash: I think it's safe to assume Ben had a crash faked so the search for Oceanic 815 would end. The Hostiles and Ben are definitely being backed by someone or something and I think it has nothing to do with the Hanso Foundation. Maybe Mitellos Bioscience is not a front for DHARMA but really a new entrant into the show's mythology.
*Guest Starring: Rousseau: Hilarious little cameo by everyone's favorite Frenchwoman with an eastern European accent. I think running into Locke and grabbing the dynamite is going to come up again during her long promised flashback, now looking likely for Season 4.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
3x18, "D.O.C."
Rewatching the episode after seeing the last two draws out all the interwoven subtleties of the show's plot overall: without rewatching I'd still be obsessed over what Juliet is up to and what the hell Naomi meant when she said "there were no survivors".
Juliet's storyline, with the tape recorder as the connecting thread, portrayed her first as a mole, then a reluctant mole and now, perhaps, a double agent. Her fate has swung with each passing episode, depending on who had the recorder at the time.
Naomi's bizarre news also set-up "The Brig" perfectly. Without the entire world believing that the passengers of Flight 815 were dead, Anthony Cooper wouldn't have thought he was in hell, something that allowed him to finally be himself, as well as give the "It's Purgatory" theories an extra special twist.
*"It is he who will bear this debt." What may be lost with all the analysis of those two issues, is just how well the episode filled out Sun and Jin's backstory. Now we know Mr. Paik didn't make Jin his goon out of spite but because he felt Jin owed him for helping out Sun.
Another dimension's also added to Sun's compulsory lying. She tells her father that she covered for him all his life, and that she would continue to do so as long as he covered her this one time. It's a wonderful twist that shows Sun's lying in a different light: she does it so easily not because she's a weak, craven character but because she had to do so for herself and her family's welfare. This ironically carries on elsewhere as she lies to Jin about wanting to have a fancier honeymoon and living arrangements. While Sun thinks she's protecting him, she's instead giving him the impression she's materialistic, which we saw during Sun's first flashback in Season 1. Turns out she's not that way at all but continued the ruse to cover her first lie to Jin.
*Mikhail and the Island's healing properties: I crapped my pants when Mikhail emerged our of the jungle. Sure, it's a bit of a cop-out to say the Island just healed him (and they referred to that a bit in "The Man Behind the Curtain") but again, it subtly sets up how even the most deadly looking injuries can still be cured. Are they setting up the return of Locke?
*The episode also quietly laid the groundwork for Kate being pregant: Juliet informed Sun all men were five times more fertile the average man. Considering how much nookie Kate and Sawyer have been having lately (and seriously... I think it's safe to assume Sawyer's sex drive is in a bit more hyperdrive than the normal male) there's a very good chance Kate's with child. BUT... how's this for a possible twist: what if the Others used the captivity on the Hydra to impregnate Kate... with JACK's sperm. It could all come out in the raid when the Others take the pregant women.
*Jin, LOST Action Hero: Daniel Dae-Kim is a black belt in Tai Kwon Do and choreographed the fight with Mikhail with the director.
*"Thank you... She said 'Thank You'": Umm, check that Mikhail. The parachutist actually told you, "I am not alone." Sneaky Others....
BUT... if she's not alone... who else is with her? Penny? Maybe even -- GASP! -- Walt?
*More father issues: So... Jin's father doesn't even know if he's Jin's real biological father. Nearly every character on the show appears to have father issues. In this particular case, is it just a recurring theme or something pointing to a larger connection among the Losties?
Juliet's storyline, with the tape recorder as the connecting thread, portrayed her first as a mole, then a reluctant mole and now, perhaps, a double agent. Her fate has swung with each passing episode, depending on who had the recorder at the time.
Naomi's bizarre news also set-up "The Brig" perfectly. Without the entire world believing that the passengers of Flight 815 were dead, Anthony Cooper wouldn't have thought he was in hell, something that allowed him to finally be himself, as well as give the "It's Purgatory" theories an extra special twist.
*"It is he who will bear this debt." What may be lost with all the analysis of those two issues, is just how well the episode filled out Sun and Jin's backstory. Now we know Mr. Paik didn't make Jin his goon out of spite but because he felt Jin owed him for helping out Sun.
Another dimension's also added to Sun's compulsory lying. She tells her father that she covered for him all his life, and that she would continue to do so as long as he covered her this one time. It's a wonderful twist that shows Sun's lying in a different light: she does it so easily not because she's a weak, craven character but because she had to do so for herself and her family's welfare. This ironically carries on elsewhere as she lies to Jin about wanting to have a fancier honeymoon and living arrangements. While Sun thinks she's protecting him, she's instead giving him the impression she's materialistic, which we saw during Sun's first flashback in Season 1. Turns out she's not that way at all but continued the ruse to cover her first lie to Jin.
*Mikhail and the Island's healing properties: I crapped my pants when Mikhail emerged our of the jungle. Sure, it's a bit of a cop-out to say the Island just healed him (and they referred to that a bit in "The Man Behind the Curtain") but again, it subtly sets up how even the most deadly looking injuries can still be cured. Are they setting up the return of Locke?
*The episode also quietly laid the groundwork for Kate being pregant: Juliet informed Sun all men were five times more fertile the average man. Considering how much nookie Kate and Sawyer have been having lately (and seriously... I think it's safe to assume Sawyer's sex drive is in a bit more hyperdrive than the normal male) there's a very good chance Kate's with child. BUT... how's this for a possible twist: what if the Others used the captivity on the Hydra to impregnate Kate... with JACK's sperm. It could all come out in the raid when the Others take the pregant women.
*Jin, LOST Action Hero: Daniel Dae-Kim is a black belt in Tai Kwon Do and choreographed the fight with Mikhail with the director.
*"Thank you... She said 'Thank You'": Umm, check that Mikhail. The parachutist actually told you, "I am not alone." Sneaky Others....
BUT... if she's not alone... who else is with her? Penny? Maybe even -- GASP! -- Walt?
*More father issues: So... Jin's father doesn't even know if he's Jin's real biological father. Nearly every character on the show appears to have father issues. In this particular case, is it just a recurring theme or something pointing to a larger connection among the Losties?
Saturday, May 5, 2007
LOST / News and a Proposal
*Rumor has it ABC will announce LOST's end date at this coming week's upfronts. Further rumors speculate LOST will get two more seasons, though late breaking reports modified that to mean the second one may not be a full 22 episode one. That fits in with Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse's long stated desire to end the series after 100 episodes, possibly meaning the show could terminate as early as the November 2008 sweeps.
*Rumors also speculate LOST Season 4 will begin in January 2008 and run non-stop from there ala 24.
*To make the long hiatus between season go down easier I'm going to propose a LOST watching club: The LOST Rewind. Each week beginning the one after the season finale, the "club" will rewatch three episodes, beginning with "Pilot" and going from there. At that pace every episode of LOST will have been rewatched by the time Season 4 rolls around. Discussions will focus on what we may have missed the first time around, what storylines and clues have been paid off and how character arcs have evolved. I'm also hoping the show's complexities will be easier understand when ingested in such a dense schedule.
I'm going to propose it to Karri and Artz at the Fuselage so it could have an official home. Who's with me?
*Rumors also speculate LOST Season 4 will begin in January 2008 and run non-stop from there ala 24.
*To make the long hiatus between season go down easier I'm going to propose a LOST watching club: The LOST Rewind. Each week beginning the one after the season finale, the "club" will rewatch three episodes, beginning with "Pilot" and going from there. At that pace every episode of LOST will have been rewatched by the time Season 4 rolls around. Discussions will focus on what we may have missed the first time around, what storylines and clues have been paid off and how character arcs have evolved. I'm also hoping the show's complexities will be easier understand when ingested in such a dense schedule.
I'm going to propose it to Karri and Artz at the Fuselage so it could have an official home. Who's with me?
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
LOST / Quick and Dirty
"Written by Damon Lindelof
& Carlton Cuse"
-- has to be my favorite phrase.
Just absolutely awesome.
& Carlton Cuse"
-- has to be my favorite phrase.
Just absolutely awesome.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
3x17, "Catch-22"
This is one of those flashbacks that I'm sure many fans saw as "more filler." Instead I was struck with how they managed to seamlessly blend biblical references (Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac), literary references (Catch-22) and comic book references (Superman vs Flash) into a rumination on faith and love.
The show's unique internal logic made Desmond's catch-22 possible:
*On any other show, Desmond's choice should've been really simple: he'd save Charlie just as he's saved him several times before.
*BUT... LOST's internal logic means that Desmond's unique archetype ("the coward"), his power to see the future, his basic goodness needing to save Charlie and his love of Penny all clashed together making that decision anything but simple. It's bizarre if you think about it: he believed the love of his life would be delivered to him if he led Charlie to his death. Delivered by whom? God? The Island? And where does this surety come from? "Flashes" before his eyes? On paper that's a recipe for some maddeningly bad writing, but somehow it all clicked and clicked wonderfully. It's as good as magical realism can get on TV without getting too esoteric.
It also leads to one of the more bizarre questions in the show's history: Was it originally Penny in the flight suit -- and if so, did Desmond change that by saving Charlie?
And just who is this new woman? According to the latest podcast she spoke Portuguese, the same language the two arctic station dwellers spoke at the end of Season 2. Has Penny hired an entire crew of Portuguese to find Desmond?
*Just how awesome were the two major teases of the show? First, by bringing up the story of Abraham and Isaac, we're led to think Desmond's going to sacrifice Charlie, his love for Penny overruling all. Eh-eh. Turns out he's still too good even under these circumstances to let that happen... (Makes you wonder what he would do if he weren't caught in such a catch-22.) Does that make Desmond a current for not going through with the sacrifice? Or does it prove Desmond anything but a coward because he was so willing to go against his flashes and write a new destiny for himself (and Charlie).
Also, by dragging out Sonja Wagner's appearance as much as possible, we were left thinking that, yeah, her first appearance might very well be in the flight suit. Showing up at the end of the flashback instead of in the Island story suddenly gave the flashback potent meaning -- it was the story of their first meeting, set-up by his random meeting of the monk on the street. Notice, too, that the picture on the head monk's desk includes Mrs. Hawking, the woman who "course corrected" Desmond in "Flashes Before Your Eyes." The monk and Hawking have thus been instrumental in guiding Desmond toward Penny and then away from her -- a path that led relentlessly to the Island, the Button and saving the world. To Desmond that path is confused, nonsensical. But taken as a whole it makes perfect sense.
*Brian Vaughan was most definitely in the house. It's hard to place but the pacing, the cute dialogue and some random character moments were definitely BKV touches. The Superman/Flash references were possibly a nod toward his comics background though some on the Fuselage have speculated that Flash's ability to vibrate may somehow tie into what the Island is. Is it any coincidence that the comic book from Season 1 also included The Flash?
NEXT: The Jin and Sun-centric "D.O.C" (for "Date of Conception")
The show's unique internal logic made Desmond's catch-22 possible:
*On any other show, Desmond's choice should've been really simple: he'd save Charlie just as he's saved him several times before.
*BUT... LOST's internal logic means that Desmond's unique archetype ("the coward"), his power to see the future, his basic goodness needing to save Charlie and his love of Penny all clashed together making that decision anything but simple. It's bizarre if you think about it: he believed the love of his life would be delivered to him if he led Charlie to his death. Delivered by whom? God? The Island? And where does this surety come from? "Flashes" before his eyes? On paper that's a recipe for some maddeningly bad writing, but somehow it all clicked and clicked wonderfully. It's as good as magical realism can get on TV without getting too esoteric.
It also leads to one of the more bizarre questions in the show's history: Was it originally Penny in the flight suit -- and if so, did Desmond change that by saving Charlie?
And just who is this new woman? According to the latest podcast she spoke Portuguese, the same language the two arctic station dwellers spoke at the end of Season 2. Has Penny hired an entire crew of Portuguese to find Desmond?
*Just how awesome were the two major teases of the show? First, by bringing up the story of Abraham and Isaac, we're led to think Desmond's going to sacrifice Charlie, his love for Penny overruling all. Eh-eh. Turns out he's still too good even under these circumstances to let that happen... (Makes you wonder what he would do if he weren't caught in such a catch-22.) Does that make Desmond a current for not going through with the sacrifice? Or does it prove Desmond anything but a coward because he was so willing to go against his flashes and write a new destiny for himself (and Charlie).
Also, by dragging out Sonja Wagner's appearance as much as possible, we were left thinking that, yeah, her first appearance might very well be in the flight suit. Showing up at the end of the flashback instead of in the Island story suddenly gave the flashback potent meaning -- it was the story of their first meeting, set-up by his random meeting of the monk on the street. Notice, too, that the picture on the head monk's desk includes Mrs. Hawking, the woman who "course corrected" Desmond in "Flashes Before Your Eyes." The monk and Hawking have thus been instrumental in guiding Desmond toward Penny and then away from her -- a path that led relentlessly to the Island, the Button and saving the world. To Desmond that path is confused, nonsensical. But taken as a whole it makes perfect sense.
*Brian Vaughan was most definitely in the house. It's hard to place but the pacing, the cute dialogue and some random character moments were definitely BKV touches. The Superman/Flash references were possibly a nod toward his comics background though some on the Fuselage have speculated that Flash's ability to vibrate may somehow tie into what the Island is. Is it any coincidence that the comic book from Season 1 also included The Flash?
NEXT: The Jin and Sun-centric "D.O.C" (for "Date of Conception")
Thursday, April 12, 2007
3x15, "Left Behind" & 3x16, "One of Us"
I'm gonna bang these out for reasons I'll get to in a bit. Unfortunately I'm a bit too hazy on "Left Behind" to give a full accounting of it, but I'll do my best.
3x15, Left Behind
While officially this was a Kate episode, it was really all about Sawyer: on the Beach, Hurley conned him into softening up, while in the flashback we saw one woman he already left behind and another he would eventually leave behind come together.
The connection among the three is deceptively rich. Ignore the linear order of events and look toward the meaning the future can give the past. In a roundabout way, Kate not getting over her mother issue redeemed Sawyer's leaving Cassidy. Not able to get the apology she needed from her mother, Kate told Cassidy she'd never forgive her for turning her in. That gave Cassidy solace that even if Sawyer would never forgive her she could still live with it, the way Kate's mother does. But by doing so, Cassidy placed Sawyer in the position he would eventually use to win the reward he would leave for her child. So while in Island time, Kate and Sawyer were on the outs, she unknowingly ended up helping him in the past. It's one of the finest examples of a "LOST Connection" -- one that has more to do with the meaning of live together, die alone than any conspiracy theory.
*The Monster: Have we finally seen how the monster can be beat? Might someone activate the sonic fence just as the Monster crosses it, disrupting it into pieces? Notice also three separate strands of smoke came together to form Smokey this time around, further backing up the theory that the Cerberus mentioned on the Blast Door Map is indeed the name of the Monster since in Greek mythology Cerberus has three heads.
And I'm finally all caught up....
3x16, One of Us
*I usually hate the episodes dedicated toward giving answers, but this one was great:
-How do they know so much about the Losties?
They watch TV (and probably use The Google.)
-How did Juliet or anyone for that matter get to the Island?
The sub.
-Why do they kidnap the children?
They can't have any of their own.
-Why did they kidnap Claire?
To continue Juliet's experiments.
-Is Juliet a spy for The Others?
Yes... but she probably has her own agenda and will end up betraying both Ben and Jack to get off the Island.
*The story itself was also pretty straight-forward but elevated by Michael Emmerson and Elizabeth Mitchell's superb acting -- restrained when it needed to be, just about to boil when it was appropriate. I really hope Mitchell's character doesn't die anytime soon.
We got to see the tipping point in Ben and Juliet's relationship when she finally had enough of him after he tantalized her with footage of her sister and nephew, only to take it away and force her to continue the experiments. A great moment, just like the three minutes Michael has with Walt, that communicates exactly what's at stake for Juliet -- and prepares us that she'll do anything to get it.
*"I'm not a liar!" Ah, so we've finally found Ben's weakness: call him a liar and he'll do everything he can to prove you wrong. I wonder if his "archetype" is the liar and he'll only resolve his own issues once he truly realizes what a monster he is.
Next week: I HAVE NO IDEA! (I'm on a spoiler fast.) I'll be out of the country starting Friday night and not coming back till the following Saturday morning so I will be totally missing out on next week's episode. Brian K. Vaugahn's is either the next one or the one after that. Go Team Comix!
3x15, Left Behind
While officially this was a Kate episode, it was really all about Sawyer: on the Beach, Hurley conned him into softening up, while in the flashback we saw one woman he already left behind and another he would eventually leave behind come together.
The connection among the three is deceptively rich. Ignore the linear order of events and look toward the meaning the future can give the past. In a roundabout way, Kate not getting over her mother issue redeemed Sawyer's leaving Cassidy. Not able to get the apology she needed from her mother, Kate told Cassidy she'd never forgive her for turning her in. That gave Cassidy solace that even if Sawyer would never forgive her she could still live with it, the way Kate's mother does. But by doing so, Cassidy placed Sawyer in the position he would eventually use to win the reward he would leave for her child. So while in Island time, Kate and Sawyer were on the outs, she unknowingly ended up helping him in the past. It's one of the finest examples of a "LOST Connection" -- one that has more to do with the meaning of live together, die alone than any conspiracy theory.
*The Monster: Have we finally seen how the monster can be beat? Might someone activate the sonic fence just as the Monster crosses it, disrupting it into pieces? Notice also three separate strands of smoke came together to form Smokey this time around, further backing up the theory that the Cerberus mentioned on the Blast Door Map is indeed the name of the Monster since in Greek mythology Cerberus has three heads.
And I'm finally all caught up....
3x16, One of Us
*I usually hate the episodes dedicated toward giving answers, but this one was great:
-How do they know so much about the Losties?
They watch TV (and probably use The Google.)
-How did Juliet or anyone for that matter get to the Island?
The sub.
-Why do they kidnap the children?
They can't have any of their own.
-Why did they kidnap Claire?
To continue Juliet's experiments.
-Is Juliet a spy for The Others?
Yes... but she probably has her own agenda and will end up betraying both Ben and Jack to get off the Island.
*The story itself was also pretty straight-forward but elevated by Michael Emmerson and Elizabeth Mitchell's superb acting -- restrained when it needed to be, just about to boil when it was appropriate. I really hope Mitchell's character doesn't die anytime soon.
We got to see the tipping point in Ben and Juliet's relationship when she finally had enough of him after he tantalized her with footage of her sister and nephew, only to take it away and force her to continue the experiments. A great moment, just like the three minutes Michael has with Walt, that communicates exactly what's at stake for Juliet -- and prepares us that she'll do anything to get it.
*"I'm not a liar!" Ah, so we've finally found Ben's weakness: call him a liar and he'll do everything he can to prove you wrong. I wonder if his "archetype" is the liar and he'll only resolve his own issues once he truly realizes what a monster he is.
Next week: I HAVE NO IDEA! (I'm on a spoiler fast.) I'll be out of the country starting Friday night and not coming back till the following Saturday morning so I will be totally missing out on next week's episode. Brian K. Vaugahn's is either the next one or the one after that. Go Team Comix!
Monday, April 9, 2007
3x14, "Exposé"
OK... I reacted too harshly to "Exposé" the first time around. After watching it again, I realized what I'd missed. The first time I was mostly disappointed because Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse had led me to believe Nikki and Paulo's awkward insertion into the storyline would lead to something important. They even used "iconic" to describe how we would view the pair afterwards.
Well, I think their deaths were certainly iconic, as I will never be able to forget that.
But was it worth it solely for an ending -- albeit a spectacular one -- to just one episode? Damon and Carlton had been saying they wanted to do a "redshirts" story, showing what the other background characters were up to while the leads went off on their wacky adventures. Supposedly, they thought an episode about random characters we'd never met before would be too jarring so we needed to be introduced to them somehow. I disagree with that. If this had been our first real introduction to Nikki and Paolo, the episode may have actually worked better within the context of the show.
It's the running gag in all genre shows that redshirts are disposable and always manage to get themselves killed. This episode definitely played into that. But really, by bringing them forward from the background, Damon and Carlton made them more than redshirts, only to dispose of them as if they still were just that. For whatever reason, Dr. Artz's sudden appearance and death made more sense -- probably because he actually contribued something useful to the overall story, while Nikki and Paolo at first appeared to be there as just set dressing. Introducing them so awkwardly though made Nikki and Paolo seem like intruders. Lindelof said as much in a short post-mortem interview with TV Guide, saying he realized fans perceived the two as "crashing the party."
Maybe the best redshirts episode I've ever seen was, appropriately enough, one on Star Trek: Next Gen. It ignored all the other stars and just focussed on five lower tier officers. We'd never met them before but each was a subordinate of one of the leads. It showed all facets of how these background characters lived, better still it compared their lives to the more exciting ones of their superiors. They were less important, knew it and struggled with it and against it. One of them died when she was given the opportunity to actually do something meaningful. That ending was inevitable, but somehow made every redshirt death on the show a little more poignant.
I didn't really get that so much in "Exposé". Instead a lot of their crossover appearances in the show's past seemed forced and contrived. Meanwhile, I was waiting for appearances that would have made more sense and shed some light on things still in the dark -- like how Scott (or Steve) died.
But by itself Exposé was quite a piece of work, which is why it should've been treated like a stand alone episode, with little build-up.
It's no coincidence the diamonds were hidden within a matryoshka doll. "Exposé" was a show, within a show, within a show. It deftly mocked network TV's over abundance of crime procedurals (CSI: The Island!) by turning LOST into one. A few posters at The Fuselage even made comparisons to Hitchcock. While I think that's going too far, Exposé definitely headed in that direction with its pulpy tone and film noir inspired structure. And, bless 'em, they followed that forumla all the way to its logical conclusion with a macabre ending perfectly suited to such an episode. If LOST really is a stew of all genres of storytelling, this will go down as one of the prime examples of it.
This was all set-up beautifully by the opening segment, establishing Exposé as a show mocking Baywatch (or maybe Baywatch Nights). So even for those who'd never seen anything like it, they now had a baseline to come at the rest of the episode.
*Now, there's a couple really interesting Exposé related nuggets to keep in mind for the future:
-Locke was actually watching Exposé in "The Man from Tallahassee"
-Hurley's comment about waiting four seasons to find out who The Cobra is could be a hint we'll have to wait till Season 4 to find out who Him/Jacob is or was.
-And keep in mind that The Cobra was apparently one of the lead good guys of Exposé... could the real "Cobra" be hiding in the midst of the Losties on the beach?
*One last thing that Dean pointed out: it's again no conincidence they replayed Jack's pivotal "Live Together, Die Alone" speech. Nikki and Paolo behavior contradicted that entirely from the very moment they crashed: Nikki wanted the diamonds, Paolo wanted Nikki and each cared for little else. Paolo could've saved a lot of people by sharing what he overheard about Ben's plan.
The "Box" that gives you everything you want continues to work in mysterious ways. While the Losties will never know, Nikki and Paolo both ironically got what they most wanted: Paolo will never be separated from Nikki, while she will never be parted from the diamonds.
Well, I think their deaths were certainly iconic, as I will never be able to forget that.
But was it worth it solely for an ending -- albeit a spectacular one -- to just one episode? Damon and Carlton had been saying they wanted to do a "redshirts" story, showing what the other background characters were up to while the leads went off on their wacky adventures. Supposedly, they thought an episode about random characters we'd never met before would be too jarring so we needed to be introduced to them somehow. I disagree with that. If this had been our first real introduction to Nikki and Paolo, the episode may have actually worked better within the context of the show.
It's the running gag in all genre shows that redshirts are disposable and always manage to get themselves killed. This episode definitely played into that. But really, by bringing them forward from the background, Damon and Carlton made them more than redshirts, only to dispose of them as if they still were just that. For whatever reason, Dr. Artz's sudden appearance and death made more sense -- probably because he actually contribued something useful to the overall story, while Nikki and Paolo at first appeared to be there as just set dressing. Introducing them so awkwardly though made Nikki and Paolo seem like intruders. Lindelof said as much in a short post-mortem interview with TV Guide, saying he realized fans perceived the two as "crashing the party."
Maybe the best redshirts episode I've ever seen was, appropriately enough, one on Star Trek: Next Gen. It ignored all the other stars and just focussed on five lower tier officers. We'd never met them before but each was a subordinate of one of the leads. It showed all facets of how these background characters lived, better still it compared their lives to the more exciting ones of their superiors. They were less important, knew it and struggled with it and against it. One of them died when she was given the opportunity to actually do something meaningful. That ending was inevitable, but somehow made every redshirt death on the show a little more poignant.
I didn't really get that so much in "Exposé". Instead a lot of their crossover appearances in the show's past seemed forced and contrived. Meanwhile, I was waiting for appearances that would have made more sense and shed some light on things still in the dark -- like how Scott (or Steve) died.
But by itself Exposé was quite a piece of work, which is why it should've been treated like a stand alone episode, with little build-up.
It's no coincidence the diamonds were hidden within a matryoshka doll. "Exposé" was a show, within a show, within a show. It deftly mocked network TV's over abundance of crime procedurals (CSI: The Island!) by turning LOST into one. A few posters at The Fuselage even made comparisons to Hitchcock. While I think that's going too far, Exposé definitely headed in that direction with its pulpy tone and film noir inspired structure. And, bless 'em, they followed that forumla all the way to its logical conclusion with a macabre ending perfectly suited to such an episode. If LOST really is a stew of all genres of storytelling, this will go down as one of the prime examples of it.
This was all set-up beautifully by the opening segment, establishing Exposé as a show mocking Baywatch (or maybe Baywatch Nights). So even for those who'd never seen anything like it, they now had a baseline to come at the rest of the episode.
*Now, there's a couple really interesting Exposé related nuggets to keep in mind for the future:
-Locke was actually watching Exposé in "The Man from Tallahassee"
-Hurley's comment about waiting four seasons to find out who The Cobra is could be a hint we'll have to wait till Season 4 to find out who Him/Jacob is or was.
-And keep in mind that The Cobra was apparently one of the lead good guys of Exposé... could the real "Cobra" be hiding in the midst of the Losties on the beach?
*One last thing that Dean pointed out: it's again no conincidence they replayed Jack's pivotal "Live Together, Die Alone" speech. Nikki and Paolo behavior contradicted that entirely from the very moment they crashed: Nikki wanted the diamonds, Paolo wanted Nikki and each cared for little else. Paolo could've saved a lot of people by sharing what he overheard about Ben's plan.
The "Box" that gives you everything you want continues to work in mysterious ways. While the Losties will never know, Nikki and Paolo both ironically got what they most wanted: Paolo will never be separated from Nikki, while she will never be parted from the diamonds.
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
3x13, "The Man from Tallahasee"
Had to rewatch the episode to jog my memory... glad I did as it's one of the most rewarding ones of the entire series. The talk around the office the day after its airing was it's potential place among the Top 5 all time. I'm not going to go that far, but I think a strong case is being made that Locke episodes are generally the best "centrics".
This was a perfect example why: Locke's character arc has itself been the arc of the series. He served as the gateway into the spiritual side of the Island in Season 1, giving the show's mysteries added philosophical weight -- serving as LOST's anchor and assuring us that, yes, it all means something.
Locke's struggles with himself over the Button in Season 2, reflected the audience's own doubt that the series was going anywhere and if any of it would prove worth the effort. But in that moment when Locke confesses to Eko that he was "wrong" -- all doubt is shed and the Man of Faith is reborn, stronger than ever.
It all pays off this episode as Locke reanchors the series' spirtual roots, pointing out the hypocrisy of retaining the amenities of modern living while trying to enjoy the benefits of the Island. Clearly, this is not what It wants. And if there was any doubt, as Locke and finally Ben point out, all you had to do was see who was in the wheelchair -- and who wasn't.
*I have never hated a fictional character more than I hate Anthony Cooper. OK... that may be an exaggeration. But over the two and half seasons I've had to put up with the guy he only seems to get worse and worse. If he was just a con man, like Sawyer, I could maybe find something in him not to hate. But this episode he proved himself more -- he's a craven. Wild guess of where this is going: Locke resolves his father issue as the Island's reward for putting up with The Button, and he paves the way for the same happenning to Jack and everyone else in Season 4.
*The Box: as I'd complained about in an earlier post, the most intense discussion about this eppy at the Fuselage centered on whether Ben's "box" was real, metphorical or something else. Carlton put that to rest in the most recent podcast (dated 3/30) saying it was metaphorical. But what exactly is the metaphor then? Is it for the Island? Is the secret of the Island and thus the show as simple as it gives you what you most want? That obviously can't be true as no one on the Island gets everything that they want. Instead, as the Stones would say it, "You get whacha need."
*On Jack Bender: other than JJ, Bender is the show's best director. The script's subtle complexities were brought out, the acting was pitch-perfect and the shots complimented the story. A key moment was the dueling POV shots of Locke being placed in the wheelchair: you could just see a million emotions play out on Terry O'Quinn's face as he was brought to it, seemingly as if he were about to be thrown into a bottomless pit. It was ultimate despair, the moment he thought he'd lost himself for good, contrasting so starkly with his finding himself on The Island.
This was a perfect example why: Locke's character arc has itself been the arc of the series. He served as the gateway into the spiritual side of the Island in Season 1, giving the show's mysteries added philosophical weight -- serving as LOST's anchor and assuring us that, yes, it all means something.
Locke's struggles with himself over the Button in Season 2, reflected the audience's own doubt that the series was going anywhere and if any of it would prove worth the effort. But in that moment when Locke confesses to Eko that he was "wrong" -- all doubt is shed and the Man of Faith is reborn, stronger than ever.
It all pays off this episode as Locke reanchors the series' spirtual roots, pointing out the hypocrisy of retaining the amenities of modern living while trying to enjoy the benefits of the Island. Clearly, this is not what It wants. And if there was any doubt, as Locke and finally Ben point out, all you had to do was see who was in the wheelchair -- and who wasn't.
*I have never hated a fictional character more than I hate Anthony Cooper. OK... that may be an exaggeration. But over the two and half seasons I've had to put up with the guy he only seems to get worse and worse. If he was just a con man, like Sawyer, I could maybe find something in him not to hate. But this episode he proved himself more -- he's a craven. Wild guess of where this is going: Locke resolves his father issue as the Island's reward for putting up with The Button, and he paves the way for the same happenning to Jack and everyone else in Season 4.
*The Box: as I'd complained about in an earlier post, the most intense discussion about this eppy at the Fuselage centered on whether Ben's "box" was real, metphorical or something else. Carlton put that to rest in the most recent podcast (dated 3/30) saying it was metaphorical. But what exactly is the metaphor then? Is it for the Island? Is the secret of the Island and thus the show as simple as it gives you what you most want? That obviously can't be true as no one on the Island gets everything that they want. Instead, as the Stones would say it, "You get whacha need."
*On Jack Bender: other than JJ, Bender is the show's best director. The script's subtle complexities were brought out, the acting was pitch-perfect and the shots complimented the story. A key moment was the dueling POV shots of Locke being placed in the wheelchair: you could just see a million emotions play out on Terry O'Quinn's face as he was brought to it, seemingly as if he were about to be thrown into a bottomless pit. It was ultimate despair, the moment he thought he'd lost himself for good, contrasting so starkly with his finding himself on The Island.
Monday, March 12, 2007
3x11, "Enter 77"
*So did Sayid really torture the woman? I think it's one of the typical Lost mysteries that is open to interpretation and won't ever have a definitive answer. I'm going to go with no. The telling sign was Sayid saying, "I see your face every day." That's also what her husband told Sayid she experiences herself, that she sees HIS face every day since she left Iraq, which is why she was certain of his identity. Sayid was so moved by her story that, thinking he was a dead man anyway, the least he could do was give her some closure. More than that she needed someone to tell her that her pain and suffering was actually shared by the person who caused it, otherwise she'd be just another victim, another notch on that torturer's belt. Sayid restored her self-worth and dignity and in the process his own life. This does fit into The Watchmen Approach, where I wrote that each character has his or her own (often self-declared) archetype or role to play. Sayid has said many times in the past now that he's a "torturer." Ironically, declaring it again here, even if it was a lie, actually makes him more noble.
*The Man of Too Much Faith? Yes, Locke acted like a dumbass the entire episode. While, I've seen a lot of crticism about this, it's all been perfectly set-up by the events of Season 2. After his expierences with The Button, losing faith in and then getting it back, Locke more than ever is a devoited to the Island and whatever tasks it lays before him. Oddly enough that still comes in the form of orientation video from Dr. Candle. If he happens upon another video with Candle telling him to save the world by sucking on his big toe for twenty-three straight minutes every forty-hours, I'm sure he would do it. He lost his faith once, and he may never lose it again. This looks ridiculous, but it's actually been properly set-up by LOST's unique narrative logic.
*I've got your stinkin' answers! Another of the biggest criticisms lobbed at LOST is a supposed lack of "answers". I don't know if that's a legitimate criticsm as most of the mysteries on LOST are essentially MacGuffins meant to generate plot. Case in point: the cable on the beach. Everytime I'd read a post or article talking about dropped storylines or forgotten plot points, one of the favorite examples was the cable. Now we know it was a power or data cable for a sonar beacon off-shore. That's definitely the sort of thing that deserved the low impact reveal it got on this episode. But for those waiting since the middle of Season 1 for a spectacular reveal to be associated with it, they were sorely dissappointed. They got an answer, it just happened to be a dull one. Maybe it's just that Damon and Carlton were too good with their MacGuffins in Season 1, but it's become an all comnsuming thing with the show's detractors that the MacGuffin's are more mportant than the plot, the characters and the themes -- and that's a huge problem that may now never be fixed.
*Whither "Jumbotron"? Oh, ho! This is gonna be good. In story time, Sawyer's week long fast from nicknames may last the rest of the season or at least a very hefty chunk of episodes. His names have acted as double edged sword, keeping the Losties at a distance and acting as a way to get over an inferiority complex by putting himself over everyone else. Will this be a unique moment where Sawyer actually has to connect with the group, on a level he never has before? or will he act out even more harshly to make up for his lack of "arms."
*Next up: The Claire-centric, "Par Avion"
*The Man of Too Much Faith? Yes, Locke acted like a dumbass the entire episode. While, I've seen a lot of crticism about this, it's all been perfectly set-up by the events of Season 2. After his expierences with The Button, losing faith in and then getting it back, Locke more than ever is a devoited to the Island and whatever tasks it lays before him. Oddly enough that still comes in the form of orientation video from Dr. Candle. If he happens upon another video with Candle telling him to save the world by sucking on his big toe for twenty-three straight minutes every forty-hours, I'm sure he would do it. He lost his faith once, and he may never lose it again. This looks ridiculous, but it's actually been properly set-up by LOST's unique narrative logic.
*I've got your stinkin' answers! Another of the biggest criticisms lobbed at LOST is a supposed lack of "answers". I don't know if that's a legitimate criticsm as most of the mysteries on LOST are essentially MacGuffins meant to generate plot. Case in point: the cable on the beach. Everytime I'd read a post or article talking about dropped storylines or forgotten plot points, one of the favorite examples was the cable. Now we know it was a power or data cable for a sonar beacon off-shore. That's definitely the sort of thing that deserved the low impact reveal it got on this episode. But for those waiting since the middle of Season 1 for a spectacular reveal to be associated with it, they were sorely dissappointed. They got an answer, it just happened to be a dull one. Maybe it's just that Damon and Carlton were too good with their MacGuffins in Season 1, but it's become an all comnsuming thing with the show's detractors that the MacGuffin's are more mportant than the plot, the characters and the themes -- and that's a huge problem that may now never be fixed.
*Whither "Jumbotron"? Oh, ho! This is gonna be good. In story time, Sawyer's week long fast from nicknames may last the rest of the season or at least a very hefty chunk of episodes. His names have acted as double edged sword, keeping the Losties at a distance and acting as a way to get over an inferiority complex by putting himself over everyone else. Will this be a unique moment where Sawyer actually has to connect with the group, on a level he never has before? or will he act out even more harshly to make up for his lack of "arms."
*Next up: The Claire-centric, "Par Avion"
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Alan Moore and Time
Some great quotes from Bill Baker's recently pubslihed book length interview wth Alan Moore, titled Alan Moore's Exit Interview.
I think what Moore says here has a lot of relevance to what happened in "Flashes Before Your Eyes".
Time, if I understand correctly isn't actually passing except in our perception of it. In fact, as far as a I understand it, every moment in the universe, fromt it's most remote past to the most distant future is all happening at once in some permanent, eternal kind of globe of space time in which the beginning and end of the universe are both there at the same time, along with every tiny moment in between...
This kind of leads me to the idea of life as an endless recurrence that, if those moments of our lives are unchanging forever, then one of the things that was conspicuous about them was that we were alive and thinking during them.
If the past hasn't got anywhere to go, it's still there isn't it? And it must just be our consciousness moving through the solid of space time that gives us the illusion of passing time. It strikes me that there really isn't any need for life after death, because life before death is very probably, eternal...
I think what Moore says here has a lot of relevance to what happened in "Flashes Before Your Eyes".
This kind of leads me to the idea of life as an endless recurrence that, if those moments of our lives are unchanging forever, then one of the things that was conspicuous about them was that we were alive and thinking during them.
If the past hasn't got anywhere to go, it's still there isn't it? And it must just be our consciousness moving through the solid of space time that gives us the illusion of passing time. It strikes me that there really isn't any need for life after death, because life before death is very probably, eternal...
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
3x10, "Tricia Tanaka is Dead"
And thus a new entrant into the Top Ten (well, almost).
Yes, the title was a spoiler.
Hope -- it's funny how much I missed it. LOST's first season in many ways was about hope. Each episode someone seemed to find some sort of resolution or at least a direction of growth that pointed to a resolution. Season 2 had the meta-storyline of The Button which shifted the hope conversation into one about faith: how does one maintain hope in the face of contrary evidence? While I've enjoyed Season 3, it has been a relentless psychological mindfuck. (And should we expect anything less from The Others?) We needed some sunshine, and this eppy was it.
From the first scene, we knew what would really be weighing Hurley down: the memory of Libby. Everything that came after that was just a stand-in for that loss. Worse was the seeming inevitability of everyone around him dying. Charlie telling him Desmond's prophecy didn't surprise him, just further confirmed for him what he come to accept his own fate to be.
*Fate, free will, destiny, faith -- a lot of the major themes were played around with in very subtle ways. We've been set-up to believe the NUMBERS are cursed and there's nothing that can be done about them. Father issues tend to be major factors in each character's backstories, usually resolving with the father or father figure abandoning his son or daughter. Here both LOST "traditions" were teased and subverted. Even Charlie staring death in the face as the DHARMA Bug plunged down the hillside ended up being a life affirming moment rather than just another case of fate and destiny having its way. Is that all we need to really change our bad fate: to stare it in the face and dare it to bring it's worst?
*The bug was everyone's escape: Sawyer getting away from Kate, Jin getting away from Sun's pressure to learn English, Hurley getting away from the memory of Libby and Charlie avoiding his fate. Brilliantly executed. Bringing everyone back to camp, newly restored, just emphasized that. Everyone, except of course for for Sawyer.
*Kate/Sawyer -- another brilliantly executed bit. Right when you think they'll make up they don't... they're just not like that.
*It's interesting that Hurley's bad luck didn't hold. In the Lost Experience online game from the summer of '06, it was made clear the NUMBERS are universal constants factoring into The Valenzetti Equation, a formula that predicted the exact time the world would end. Basically: yeah, dude, the NUMBERS are cursed. So, Sawyer, you are wrong: hope lives on this Island. Indeed, was the Island selected by Alvar Hanso, The DeGroots and The DHARMA Intiative because it is the ONLY place on earth hope definitely lives, the last chance to change the Equation and save mankind?
*Time: oddly enough the weird Time stuff going on may be reflected in the DHARMA beer still being drinkable after all these years. Either that or Sawyer has a senseless tongue and iron stomach.
*Was it just me, or did the Push the DHARMA Bug scene remind anyone of Little Miss Sunshine?
*Poor, Roger. I kept thinking this was a reference to the Amazing Screw-On Head. I wouldn't be surprised if in the future we see Roger's backstory crossed with someone else's only to know he would go to The Island and die while transporting recylcing.
*I need to compile a Top Ten of the eppy's best lines... but there were so damned MANY of them.
NEXT WEEK: The Sayid-centric "Enter 77"
Yes, the title was a spoiler.
Hope -- it's funny how much I missed it. LOST's first season in many ways was about hope. Each episode someone seemed to find some sort of resolution or at least a direction of growth that pointed to a resolution. Season 2 had the meta-storyline of The Button which shifted the hope conversation into one about faith: how does one maintain hope in the face of contrary evidence? While I've enjoyed Season 3, it has been a relentless psychological mindfuck. (And should we expect anything less from The Others?) We needed some sunshine, and this eppy was it.
From the first scene, we knew what would really be weighing Hurley down: the memory of Libby. Everything that came after that was just a stand-in for that loss. Worse was the seeming inevitability of everyone around him dying. Charlie telling him Desmond's prophecy didn't surprise him, just further confirmed for him what he come to accept his own fate to be.
*Fate, free will, destiny, faith -- a lot of the major themes were played around with in very subtle ways. We've been set-up to believe the NUMBERS are cursed and there's nothing that can be done about them. Father issues tend to be major factors in each character's backstories, usually resolving with the father or father figure abandoning his son or daughter. Here both LOST "traditions" were teased and subverted. Even Charlie staring death in the face as the DHARMA Bug plunged down the hillside ended up being a life affirming moment rather than just another case of fate and destiny having its way. Is that all we need to really change our bad fate: to stare it in the face and dare it to bring it's worst?
*The bug was everyone's escape: Sawyer getting away from Kate, Jin getting away from Sun's pressure to learn English, Hurley getting away from the memory of Libby and Charlie avoiding his fate. Brilliantly executed. Bringing everyone back to camp, newly restored, just emphasized that. Everyone, except of course for for Sawyer.
*Kate/Sawyer -- another brilliantly executed bit. Right when you think they'll make up they don't... they're just not like that.
*It's interesting that Hurley's bad luck didn't hold. In the Lost Experience online game from the summer of '06, it was made clear the NUMBERS are universal constants factoring into The Valenzetti Equation, a formula that predicted the exact time the world would end. Basically: yeah, dude, the NUMBERS are cursed. So, Sawyer, you are wrong: hope lives on this Island. Indeed, was the Island selected by Alvar Hanso, The DeGroots and The DHARMA Intiative because it is the ONLY place on earth hope definitely lives, the last chance to change the Equation and save mankind?
*Time: oddly enough the weird Time stuff going on may be reflected in the DHARMA beer still being drinkable after all these years. Either that or Sawyer has a senseless tongue and iron stomach.
*Was it just me, or did the Push the DHARMA Bug scene remind anyone of Little Miss Sunshine?
*Poor, Roger. I kept thinking this was a reference to the Amazing Screw-On Head. I wouldn't be surprised if in the future we see Roger's backstory crossed with someone else's only to know he would go to The Island and die while transporting recylcing.
*I need to compile a Top Ten of the eppy's best lines... but there were so damned MANY of them.
NEXT WEEK: The Sayid-centric "Enter 77"
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
3x09, "Stranger in a Strange Land"
It's Creative Writing 101: Show. Don't tell. And unfortunately this episode was more about telling us what a hero Jack is rather than showing it.
The flashback lacked a narrative arc. It felt almost like the first two segments were for the sole purpose of showing off Bai Ling. The revelation that she's a tatoo artist instead of a prostitute isn't much of a payoff for the flashback... really it didn't pay off much of anything. And what she sees in Jack: that's pretty much what everyone's already gotten from just watching the show for two and half seasons. Yes, Jack is a Leader. Yes, he is a hero. If that indeed means, "He walks among us, but he walks alone," then SHOW it in scene. Getting beat up on a Thailand beach doesn't count. Really, the arc would've worked better if he was rejected by people who should've welcomed him, like family or other doctors back home or the Losties back at the beach. Instead the tension between the loneliness of being a hero and strength that drives one to charting his own course was merely brought up in the last bit of dialogue exchanged between Jack and "The Sheriff".
It's funny though that this came up... several months ago I was talking with JBS about LOST and we got to Jack and she pointed out that Kate can not possibly choose he because as the hero he must walk alone. Now that's been steadily established through the course of the series. This could've been the capstone for it, but instead it felt like a wasted opportunity.
Overall, the most disappointed and outright bored I've ever been watching an episode. Shame, too, especially after last week's, one of my very favorite of the entire series.
The flashback lacked a narrative arc. It felt almost like the first two segments were for the sole purpose of showing off Bai Ling. The revelation that she's a tatoo artist instead of a prostitute isn't much of a payoff for the flashback... really it didn't pay off much of anything. And what she sees in Jack: that's pretty much what everyone's already gotten from just watching the show for two and half seasons. Yes, Jack is a Leader. Yes, he is a hero. If that indeed means, "He walks among us, but he walks alone," then SHOW it in scene. Getting beat up on a Thailand beach doesn't count. Really, the arc would've worked better if he was rejected by people who should've welcomed him, like family or other doctors back home or the Losties back at the beach. Instead the tension between the loneliness of being a hero and strength that drives one to charting his own course was merely brought up in the last bit of dialogue exchanged between Jack and "The Sheriff".
It's funny though that this came up... several months ago I was talking with JBS about LOST and we got to Jack and she pointed out that Kate can not possibly choose he because as the hero he must walk alone. Now that's been steadily established through the course of the series. This could've been the capstone for it, but instead it felt like a wasted opportunity.
Overall, the most disappointed and outright bored I've ever been watching an episode. Shame, too, especially after last week's, one of my very favorite of the entire series.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
3x08, "Flashes Before Your Eyes"
I'm under the weather right now so forgive me if this doesn't make sense. Managed to get myself together enough to post this at the 'Lage.
This isn't time travel.
A number of things could've happened. Among them:
*The flashback and the flashes are all in his mind, a "vision" given to him by the Island to understand the nature of fate.
*He is indeed living his life over and over again in a loop, much like Groundhog Day.
*There is no loop. Turning the failsafe key allowed him to see all time -- past, present and future -- as one ever present moment. Thus there is no past or present or future. But he's not in the proper state of mind to undestand that and perceived events as still occurring in a certain order. But if he were to see events as ocurring all at the same time, much as Billy Pilgrim does in Salguhterhouse-Five and Dr. Manhattan does in The Watchmen, then cause and effect are irrelevant.
I think it's the third option because it also ties in with the references to Buddhism (such as the Bagua, use of the word DHARMA and the "Only Fools Are Enslaved to Time and Space" backwards audio in the Brainwashing video, which is a Buddhist saying). Moreso, I think yesterday's episode was all about "nirvana".
In my amateur studies of Zen Buddhism in high school and university I came to the conclusion that nirvana isn't what most people think it is. It's isn't a state of total bliss or happiness. It is freedom... freedom from an endless cycle of births and deaths caused by our attachment to the things of the world. Once that attachment is dissolved, there is nothing tying onself to the cycle any longer... and the cycle is ended.
This attachment isn't limited to objects... more importantly it is attachment to a mindset that views the world in terms of cause and effect. If one were to live in the present, "Be Here Now", one is not burdened by the past and one does not fear the future. One is set free.
And we've seen this as a fundamental narrative structure of every episode of LOST: people burdened by their pasts, given a clean slate, a tabula rasa, on the Island. This is why the most popular theories about LOST describe the Island as purgatory. In many ways it isn't purgratory, it is nirvana.
What's interesting here is that Desmond, because of what happened to him when he turned the failsafe key, can start seeing this pattern for himself. He is going through exactly what Dr. Manhattan went through in The Watchmen. The difference here is a matter of perspective. Dr. Manhattan wanted to be a watchmaker so he grew up understanding the universe as a well-oiled machine where a number of different parts work together in precisely the right way for the entire machine to work correctly, and in cycles. Desmond doesn't understand that, so the Lady in the Diamond Store needed to tell him that he can't deviate from his course, or else the machine, the universe, wouldn't run correctly.
What's interesting about "Flashes" was it portrays predestination as something to despair. In Watchmen, that is a point of despair, too, until Dr. Manhattan realizes the amount of happy (and unhappy) accidents it took to bring together the parents of Laurie, his love.
So Desmond may not actually be caught in a cycle, it's just one he perceives. How he breaks out of it, ends the flashing, may have everything to do with how Charlie does (or doesn't) die and may finally be his "great man" moment, one even greater than sacrificing himself to push the button continuously for three years to save the world.
Here's another thing: Desmond saw his life flash before his eyes... but I think what we saw was indeed what happened the first time around. But how is that possible if he's referring to events during the flashback that haven't happened to him yet? It is possible if you view past and present as one moment.
Interestingly enough, someone on the episode boards pointed out that "McCutcheon", the name of Widmore's whiskey, is also the name of a folk-singer who wrote a song in 1989 called "Waters from Another Time" Part of the lyrics, perhaps a line that could be apporpriated for The Island: "The past & future are wedded there."
Indeed.
Easter Eggs:
*Charlie's middle name is "Heironymus". Check out this link for Heironymus Machines. Is there a link to The Monster?
*The painting in Widmore's office depicted a polar bear. "Namaste" was written backwards on it.
*There's Apollo bar and Oceanic Airlines ads on the sidelines of the soccer game.
*The book Hurley found in Sawyer's stash was Laughter in the Dark by Vladimir Nabokov.
This isn't time travel.
A number of things could've happened. Among them:
*The flashback and the flashes are all in his mind, a "vision" given to him by the Island to understand the nature of fate.
*He is indeed living his life over and over again in a loop, much like Groundhog Day.
*There is no loop. Turning the failsafe key allowed him to see all time -- past, present and future -- as one ever present moment. Thus there is no past or present or future. But he's not in the proper state of mind to undestand that and perceived events as still occurring in a certain order. But if he were to see events as ocurring all at the same time, much as Billy Pilgrim does in Salguhterhouse-Five and Dr. Manhattan does in The Watchmen, then cause and effect are irrelevant.
I think it's the third option because it also ties in with the references to Buddhism (such as the Bagua, use of the word DHARMA and the "Only Fools Are Enslaved to Time and Space" backwards audio in the Brainwashing video, which is a Buddhist saying). Moreso, I think yesterday's episode was all about "nirvana".
In my amateur studies of Zen Buddhism in high school and university I came to the conclusion that nirvana isn't what most people think it is. It's isn't a state of total bliss or happiness. It is freedom... freedom from an endless cycle of births and deaths caused by our attachment to the things of the world. Once that attachment is dissolved, there is nothing tying onself to the cycle any longer... and the cycle is ended.
This attachment isn't limited to objects... more importantly it is attachment to a mindset that views the world in terms of cause and effect. If one were to live in the present, "Be Here Now", one is not burdened by the past and one does not fear the future. One is set free.
And we've seen this as a fundamental narrative structure of every episode of LOST: people burdened by their pasts, given a clean slate, a tabula rasa, on the Island. This is why the most popular theories about LOST describe the Island as purgatory. In many ways it isn't purgratory, it is nirvana.
What's interesting here is that Desmond, because of what happened to him when he turned the failsafe key, can start seeing this pattern for himself. He is going through exactly what Dr. Manhattan went through in The Watchmen. The difference here is a matter of perspective. Dr. Manhattan wanted to be a watchmaker so he grew up understanding the universe as a well-oiled machine where a number of different parts work together in precisely the right way for the entire machine to work correctly, and in cycles. Desmond doesn't understand that, so the Lady in the Diamond Store needed to tell him that he can't deviate from his course, or else the machine, the universe, wouldn't run correctly.
What's interesting about "Flashes" was it portrays predestination as something to despair. In Watchmen, that is a point of despair, too, until Dr. Manhattan realizes the amount of happy (and unhappy) accidents it took to bring together the parents of Laurie, his love.
So Desmond may not actually be caught in a cycle, it's just one he perceives. How he breaks out of it, ends the flashing, may have everything to do with how Charlie does (or doesn't) die and may finally be his "great man" moment, one even greater than sacrificing himself to push the button continuously for three years to save the world.
Here's another thing: Desmond saw his life flash before his eyes... but I think what we saw was indeed what happened the first time around. But how is that possible if he's referring to events during the flashback that haven't happened to him yet? It is possible if you view past and present as one moment.
Interestingly enough, someone on the episode boards pointed out that "McCutcheon", the name of Widmore's whiskey, is also the name of a folk-singer who wrote a song in 1989 called "Waters from Another Time" Part of the lyrics, perhaps a line that could be apporpriated for The Island: "The past & future are wedded there."
Indeed.
Easter Eggs:
*Charlie's middle name is "Heironymus". Check out this link for Heironymus Machines. Is there a link to The Monster?
*The painting in Widmore's office depicted a polar bear. "Namaste" was written backwards on it.
*There's Apollo bar and Oceanic Airlines ads on the sidelines of the soccer game.
*The book Hurley found in Sawyer's stash was Laughter in the Dark by Vladimir Nabokov.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Friday, February 9, 2007
3x07, "Not in Portland"
Kubrick would be proud.
While it was a great episode, one that probably would've served as a much better ending to the fall mini-season than "I Do", I still can't help but feel this wasn't the showcase for Elizabeth Mitchell it could've been. I don't doubt we may see another Juliet flashback eventually, but this particular one seemed more about advancing the mythology of the show than about Juliet's character development. We were supposed to think of her sister getting pregnant as her "White Rabbit" moment when she finally recognizes her potential as a leader. But it wasn't properly set up enough for me to buy the pay off. I would've wanted to see more failed attempts to get her sister pregnant, more attempts in the face of hopelessness. Parallel to that, we're supposed to compare her repression at the hands of her ex-husband with her treatment from Henry. The problem is we still don't know why she's beholden to Henry in the first place. And while the Bus Gag was surprsing and quite frankly a deserving end to such a miserable man (did you catch him chewing out his mom on the phone?) it meant Juliet acquired her freedom by accident or conspiracy and not through her own strength. Granted, they could be saying she's a weak leader, with a ways still to go till she finally topples Henry, but then there'd be no reason to fear her now. There's definitely a big gaping hole here where she went from timid fertility doctor to the Girl with the Gun who turned Pickett to swiss cheese without hesitation. This episode should've plugged that hole and instead it brought it up and then made it wider.
With that out of the way, I can't say enough about the momentum of the episode... just a relentless torrent of action. The Clockwork Orange-esque brainwashing segment almost felt like a breather. And despite it being predictable, I was still caught off guard by Juliet shooting Pickett. That's all about pitch-perfect editing and directing.
Then cap that off with one of THE emotional high points of the series, Kate recounting the fear story to Jack. I'd initially thought Jack telling her to recall the story was a way to reconnect with her one last time before she'd be out of his life forever. What better sendoff than remembering that beautiful, intimate moment they first met as strangers who just survived a plane crash. In this episode however, the meaning of the story actully gets restored: It served as Jack's lifeline... you could almost see him counting to five again as he worked to save Ben. And that of course made Jack and Kate's parting even more bitter. Awesome, awesome moment.
Next week: Desmond. "3x08: Flashes Before Your Eyes"
YOUR BRAIN WILL BE FRIED. Be prepared.
Easter Eggs (and by gawd there's a ton of them):
*Brainwashing screenshots
*Time stuff: Damon and Carlton have been hinting at a "brain frying moment" and stuff about how time works on the Island. I think the two are connected (and next week we may get some further insight). There were no less than four big clues as to what we may be dealing with.
1) Mittelos: the anagram stands for "lost time". Carlton said in the recent EW.com Q&A that the anagram would be a clue about Adam & Eve, the skeletons found in The Caves.
2) The guard was reading A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking. Someone at the Fuselage claims the very page he's reading is one about wormholes.
3) In the brainwashing video, there's hidden audio that if played backwards actually says, "Only fools are enslaved by time and space", a quote from the Dharmapada. I SHIT YOU NOT.
4) The x-rays the Mittleos recruiter showed to Juliet were of a 26 year-old with a 70 year-old womb. WHAT.
Add that all up and it seems to point to time moving differently on the Island in relation to the rest of the world. The nature of that difference will be a big reveal. Is time moving faster or slower? Is it looping somehow. Is it perhaps not even moving forward at all, but in stasis, in a wormhle or pocket universe where there is no time, period?
*"Not quite in Portland": I'm gonna say that Ethan and the Recruiter arranged the bus accident. It wasn't a coincidence... it was indeed a conspiracy. But does that mean that DHARMA conspired to bring anyone else to the Island? I think that's a no. There's too many variables and it's a hell of a lot easier to just ask someone to come, as they did with Juliet, than arrange for a plane crash... or as some at the 'Lage have speculated, arranged for the plane to land on the Island, only to crash because of Desmond failing to pres The Button.
*9/11: According to Lostpedia, the date of "Not in Portland" is December 3, 2004. If you count backwards to find when Juliet got to the Island it's September 5, 2001. Is it a coincidence? Will it be part of the plot (and this is keeping in mind they just brought in Brian K. Vaughan who wrote the 9/11 centered Ex Machina #1)? Or is living in a "Post-Island World" similar to living in a "Post-9/11 World"?
*Is Alex Ben's bilogical daughter?: I think Rousseau didn't give the whole story about her boat crash landing on the Island. It was strange that when she let Ben enter Sayid's custody, she told him he'd lie "a long time". How would she know? Of course it's a lot more logical to assume Alex doesn't even know about Rousseau and has been fed a lie her entire life, raised by Ben as if she were his child.
*Deadwood Trifecta: Juliet's sister was played by Robin Weigert, the third actress from Deadwood to guest. Liz Sarnoff, a prominent producer on the HBO show is now on board with LOST.
*Pregnancy Test: Her test appears to be another Widmore Labs one. Remember, these are the tests previously used by Kate in "I Do" and Sun in "The Whole Truth".
While it was a great episode, one that probably would've served as a much better ending to the fall mini-season than "I Do", I still can't help but feel this wasn't the showcase for Elizabeth Mitchell it could've been. I don't doubt we may see another Juliet flashback eventually, but this particular one seemed more about advancing the mythology of the show than about Juliet's character development. We were supposed to think of her sister getting pregnant as her "White Rabbit" moment when she finally recognizes her potential as a leader. But it wasn't properly set up enough for me to buy the pay off. I would've wanted to see more failed attempts to get her sister pregnant, more attempts in the face of hopelessness. Parallel to that, we're supposed to compare her repression at the hands of her ex-husband with her treatment from Henry. The problem is we still don't know why she's beholden to Henry in the first place. And while the Bus Gag was surprsing and quite frankly a deserving end to such a miserable man (did you catch him chewing out his mom on the phone?) it meant Juliet acquired her freedom by accident or conspiracy and not through her own strength. Granted, they could be saying she's a weak leader, with a ways still to go till she finally topples Henry, but then there'd be no reason to fear her now. There's definitely a big gaping hole here where she went from timid fertility doctor to the Girl with the Gun who turned Pickett to swiss cheese without hesitation. This episode should've plugged that hole and instead it brought it up and then made it wider.
With that out of the way, I can't say enough about the momentum of the episode... just a relentless torrent of action. The Clockwork Orange-esque brainwashing segment almost felt like a breather. And despite it being predictable, I was still caught off guard by Juliet shooting Pickett. That's all about pitch-perfect editing and directing.
Then cap that off with one of THE emotional high points of the series, Kate recounting the fear story to Jack. I'd initially thought Jack telling her to recall the story was a way to reconnect with her one last time before she'd be out of his life forever. What better sendoff than remembering that beautiful, intimate moment they first met as strangers who just survived a plane crash. In this episode however, the meaning of the story actully gets restored: It served as Jack's lifeline... you could almost see him counting to five again as he worked to save Ben. And that of course made Jack and Kate's parting even more bitter. Awesome, awesome moment.
Next week: Desmond. "3x08: Flashes Before Your Eyes"
YOUR BRAIN WILL BE FRIED. Be prepared.
Easter Eggs (and by gawd there's a ton of them):
*Brainwashing screenshots
*Time stuff: Damon and Carlton have been hinting at a "brain frying moment" and stuff about how time works on the Island. I think the two are connected (and next week we may get some further insight). There were no less than four big clues as to what we may be dealing with.
1) Mittelos: the anagram stands for "lost time". Carlton said in the recent EW.com Q&A that the anagram would be a clue about Adam & Eve, the skeletons found in The Caves.
2) The guard was reading A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking. Someone at the Fuselage claims the very page he's reading is one about wormholes.
3) In the brainwashing video, there's hidden audio that if played backwards actually says, "Only fools are enslaved by time and space", a quote from the Dharmapada. I SHIT YOU NOT.
4) The x-rays the Mittleos recruiter showed to Juliet were of a 26 year-old with a 70 year-old womb. WHAT.
Add that all up and it seems to point to time moving differently on the Island in relation to the rest of the world. The nature of that difference will be a big reveal. Is time moving faster or slower? Is it looping somehow. Is it perhaps not even moving forward at all, but in stasis, in a wormhle or pocket universe where there is no time, period?
*"Not quite in Portland": I'm gonna say that Ethan and the Recruiter arranged the bus accident. It wasn't a coincidence... it was indeed a conspiracy. But does that mean that DHARMA conspired to bring anyone else to the Island? I think that's a no. There's too many variables and it's a hell of a lot easier to just ask someone to come, as they did with Juliet, than arrange for a plane crash... or as some at the 'Lage have speculated, arranged for the plane to land on the Island, only to crash because of Desmond failing to pres The Button.
*9/11: According to Lostpedia, the date of "Not in Portland" is December 3, 2004. If you count backwards to find when Juliet got to the Island it's September 5, 2001. Is it a coincidence? Will it be part of the plot (and this is keeping in mind they just brought in Brian K. Vaughan who wrote the 9/11 centered Ex Machina #1)? Or is living in a "Post-Island World" similar to living in a "Post-9/11 World"?
*Is Alex Ben's bilogical daughter?: I think Rousseau didn't give the whole story about her boat crash landing on the Island. It was strange that when she let Ben enter Sayid's custody, she told him he'd lie "a long time". How would she know? Of course it's a lot more logical to assume Alex doesn't even know about Rousseau and has been fed a lie her entire life, raised by Ben as if she were his child.
*Deadwood Trifecta: Juliet's sister was played by Robin Weigert, the third actress from Deadwood to guest. Liz Sarnoff, a prominent producer on the HBO show is now on board with LOST.
*Pregnancy Test: Her test appears to be another Widmore Labs one. Remember, these are the tests previously used by Kate in "I Do" and Sun in "The Whole Truth".
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
On the Lost Connections
I wouldn't have posted till tonight, but in a fascinating Q&A on EW.com, Damon and Carlton say there's an anagram hidden somewhere in tonight's episode that is a clue to who or what Adam and Eve are.
The article also includes this amazing quote where Damon explains the "lost connections" as explicitly as possible:
Did Desmond's failure to press the button REALLY cause the plane to crash — or is there more to this story?
LINDELOF: In terms of the pragmatic reality, Oceanic 815 never would have crashed had Desmond pushed the button. But is there a larger, more faith-based, spiritualized reason that these people happened to be on that plane when he failed to press the button? If Desmond hadn't run into Jack at that stadium, would he have made the same choices that he made in his life? They all impact each other's lives. The fact that that guy is on that plane up there, and Desmond brings that plane down, it speaks to an interrelatedness among characters, why these people, why do they all connect. No amount of mythological answers will ever speak to this. That's the one thing that when the show ends, you won't have a causal explanation for why did all these people interconnect. Why some, why not others? The answer is just that they just do. The show is a massive Rube Goldberg device, in which all the components of the machinery are humans.
The article also includes this amazing quote where Damon explains the "lost connections" as explicitly as possible:
Did Desmond's failure to press the button REALLY cause the plane to crash — or is there more to this story?
LINDELOF: In terms of the pragmatic reality, Oceanic 815 never would have crashed had Desmond pushed the button. But is there a larger, more faith-based, spiritualized reason that these people happened to be on that plane when he failed to press the button? If Desmond hadn't run into Jack at that stadium, would he have made the same choices that he made in his life? They all impact each other's lives. The fact that that guy is on that plane up there, and Desmond brings that plane down, it speaks to an interrelatedness among characters, why these people, why do they all connect. No amount of mythological answers will ever speak to this. That's the one thing that when the show ends, you won't have a causal explanation for why did all these people interconnect. Why some, why not others? The answer is just that they just do. The show is a massive Rube Goldberg device, in which all the components of the machinery are humans.
Monday, January 15, 2007
MORE Than Halfway There?
The creators of Lost want to end the show after 100 episodes, meaning a full fourth season and shortened fifth one:
"From the word go, it always felt to me that [if we ran] somewhere in the neighborhood of between 90 and 100 episodes... we never [would have] to do a bad season," says cocreator Damon Lindelof. "We knew Season 1 was going to be the introduction, Season 2 was going to be into the hatch, Season 3 was going to be the Others...
"I don't want to tell you what Season 4 is gonna be," he continues. "And then there was a shortened wrap-up season that would put you somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 episodes. At the end of season 4, we will have produced 93 hours of the show, and I imagine that would be very close to where it would end ideally."
What the hell could Season 4 be about???
"From the word go, it always felt to me that [if we ran] somewhere in the neighborhood of between 90 and 100 episodes... we never [would have] to do a bad season," says cocreator Damon Lindelof. "We knew Season 1 was going to be the introduction, Season 2 was going to be into the hatch, Season 3 was going to be the Others...
"I don't want to tell you what Season 4 is gonna be," he continues. "And then there was a shortened wrap-up season that would put you somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 episodes. At the end of season 4, we will have produced 93 hours of the show, and I imagine that would be very close to where it would end ideally."
What the hell could Season 4 be about???
Halfway There?
The return of Lost and its run of sixteen non-stop all-new episodes is still a month away, but ABC is already discussing how to schedule Lost next year, as well as when the series will end.
Stephen McPherson, the president of ABC Entertainment, told a meeting of television writers here on Sunday that after the experience of several failed or mediocre new serials this year — including “Day Break,” “The Nine” and “Six Degrees” — the network has fewer of those types of shows in development.
And for “Lost,” the biggest of the ABC serials, the network is now discussing with the producers how and when to end the series, Mr. McPherson said.
Damon Lindelof, one of the executive producers of “Lost,” said that the show’s creators had always viewed it as lasting about 100 episodes, and that he still believes that will be the case. Fifty-three episodes have been broadcast so far, with the show in its third season, meaning that it is likely that the fifth season will be the last.
“We’re no longer going up the hill,” Mr. Lindelof said. “We’re starting to come down now.”
Mr. Lindelof also said that while ABC has the ability to extend the series as long as it wants, with different producers and even different stars, he believes that the network is unlikely to do so.
“We don’t want to produce those episodes of ‘Lost,’ and we are not going to,” Mr. Lindelof said. He cautioned against such a move, pointing out that as series like “The X-Files” and “Alias” extended their runs by making dubious creative decisions, their ratings suffered greatly as fans abandoned the shows in droves.
He said the network and the producers would announce the decision soon after it is made, to make sure that fans understand that the show has a definite endpoint, and that outstanding questions about the mysteries of the island will be answered.
...Mr. McPherson said he believes that the next season will run for 22 consecutive weeks, either in the fall of 2007 or the spring of 2008. Production requirements and scheduling necessities caused ABC to break up the series this season, he said.
Stephen McPherson, the president of ABC Entertainment, told a meeting of television writers here on Sunday that after the experience of several failed or mediocre new serials this year — including “Day Break,” “The Nine” and “Six Degrees” — the network has fewer of those types of shows in development.
And for “Lost,” the biggest of the ABC serials, the network is now discussing with the producers how and when to end the series, Mr. McPherson said.
Damon Lindelof, one of the executive producers of “Lost,” said that the show’s creators had always viewed it as lasting about 100 episodes, and that he still believes that will be the case. Fifty-three episodes have been broadcast so far, with the show in its third season, meaning that it is likely that the fifth season will be the last.
“We’re no longer going up the hill,” Mr. Lindelof said. “We’re starting to come down now.”
Mr. Lindelof also said that while ABC has the ability to extend the series as long as it wants, with different producers and even different stars, he believes that the network is unlikely to do so.
“We don’t want to produce those episodes of ‘Lost,’ and we are not going to,” Mr. Lindelof said. He cautioned against such a move, pointing out that as series like “The X-Files” and “Alias” extended their runs by making dubious creative decisions, their ratings suffered greatly as fans abandoned the shows in droves.
He said the network and the producers would announce the decision soon after it is made, to make sure that fans understand that the show has a definite endpoint, and that outstanding questions about the mysteries of the island will be answered.
...Mr. McPherson said he believes that the next season will run for 22 consecutive weeks, either in the fall of 2007 or the spring of 2008. Production requirements and scheduling necessities caused ABC to break up the series this season, he said.
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