Category: Lost (Page 24 of 29)

What is up with this guy? And more importantly, why is anybody even listening to him? Do they really have to do things his way or not at all? Um… no. Michael has absolutely no power among the survivors. He’s not the strongest of the group, or the most intelligent. In fact, beside his construction expertise when building the boat (that was blown up, by the way), this guy is a complete waste of space. Jack is a doctor. Jin can fish. Sun gardens. Charlie sings. Hurley is great company. Locke can track. Sayid can torture prisoners and build radios. Eko can beat the shit out of, well, anybody. Claire can procreate. Kate’s just nice eye-candy, but she can shoot a gun as well. Hell, even Vincent the Dog can fetch and bark at intruders.

Michael, however, does nothing. He can’t even lie well, or Sayid wouldn’t have been able to pick up on the fact that he had been compromised during his trip to the Others camp. He’s told Jack about it, and now all they have to do is figure out a way to tip the scales in their favor. Here’s an idea: why don’t Sayid, Jin, Eko and Charlie nab a few guns and follow the first group to the camp? That obviously makes too much sense, especially since there’s a rogue sailboat stealing everyone’s attention. Hello! There’s nobody in there! Can we forget about the stupid boat and get back to more pressing matters? Like, gee, I dunno, beat the shit out of Michael for murdering Ana-Lucia and Libby? It’d be a good start anyway…

Tonight’s episode was called “?”, and there really couldn’t be a better title. I mean, why exactly did last week’s teaser point to Michael as becoming such an important figure on the island when he was barely in the episode? All he did was cower in a corner hoping Libby wouldn’t awaken and finger him for the murders. And speaking of Hurley’s love monkey, why is it that when people die in they can never utter more than their murderer’s name? “Michael… SHOT ME!” That wasn’t so hard, was it?

Frankly, this second season has been a complete disappointment, and if it weren’t for Mr. Eko and Locke finding the second hatch (covered underneath the drug plane), I’d seriously considering skipping the last few episodes. Thankfully, however, we got a little excitement when the duo entered to discover a live broadcast of the old hatch and yet another shoddy Dharma orientation tape. This one’s a little different, though, and explains the purpose of the new hatch: to act as surveillance on an experiment. Duh, like we didn’t know that was coming.

As Locke said: “we’re just a bunch of mice in a maze, with no cheese at the end.” Huh. That sounds a little familiar, like, say, the audience of this show? Could this just be one giant experiment being funded by Disney bigwig Mr. Eisner? Maybe he’s still mad about the cancellation of “Dharma & Greg”? Could that explain the real Initiative? Probably not, but it’s just as good a guess as any.

…Or you may end up with a gun shot wound to the stomach as a parting gift from the producers of “Lost.” Is this the message ABC is sending Michelle Rodriquez and Cynthia Watros for the negative press the network received on behalf of the girl’s bad behavior? If not, that’s some pretty ironic shit, especially considering this week’s Ana Lucia flashback episode dealt with the relationship between her and Jack’s alcoholic father.

And before I get off track, let us not forget that it was Michael (back from his reconnaissance mission to the Others camp) who did the shooting, also turning the gun on himself right in front of Creepy Balloon Guy. Now, I highly doubt that Michael is one of Them, but does it seem foolish to think that he’s made a deal with the Others guaranteeing the safe return of Walt? Personally, I think the series has gotten way out of hand. These pointless double-crosses seem tailor-made for Sweeps Month, or why else would Michael (who we know darn well was on that plane) be working for the bad guys?

Then again, are They really all that bad? Locke doesn’t seem to think so, especially after hearing about Creepy Balloon Guy’s mission to bring him (“one of the good ones”) back to the Others’ camp. With only a couple weeks left before the season finale, it’ll be interesting to see how the survivors react to the loss of two more castaways, as well as how Michael’s role on the island changes.

This year, the fun doesn’t end when the credits roll on the season finale episode of “Lost.” Fans won’t have to spend the entire summer waiting for new episodes and scrutinizing the old ones for clues they may have missed the first time around–though many viewers will undoubtedly do just that.

Instead, ABC offers a whole new outlet for the legion of conspiracy theorists: a multimedia treasure hunt that “makes use of e-mail messages, phone calls, commercials, billboards and fake Web sites that are made to seem real.” Dubbed “The Lost Experience,” the alternate-reality game will introduce new characters and add a new layer of depth to the show’s already hatch-deep mythology.

Although alternate-reality gaming (ARG) has often been used by marketers to introduce new products (such as the much-heralded “I Love Bees” launch for Halo 2), ABC emphasizes that “The Lost Experience” was created by the show’s writers, including the highly talented Damon Lindelof, not by soulless marketers, and is therefore designed to enhance viewers’ relationship with the show rather than to shill product.

Of course, that said, the article closes by indicating that the game begins May 3, and viewers should TiVo it “but don’t skip the commercials.” Thus, the gaming experience will not be entirely shill-free — and you can bet the episode’s advertisers are paying a premium for the privilege.