Category: TV Dramas (Page 141 of 235)

If there’s one thing “Lost” has always been good for, it’s an explosive season finale, but while tonight’s two-hour cliffhanger was definitely explosive, it was for completely different reasons. Don’t get me wrong, the finale had me salivating over the possibilities of the show’s future, but it just wasn’t as spectacular as past years.

For starters, let’s address that silly spy report I linked to at the end of my last post. I had a feeling that Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof would film some decoy endings to keep people guessing, and my suspicions were confirmed on three separate occasions. The first occurred during Jack and Locke’s discussion about the island’s potential powers. As soon as Locke made a point of asking Jack to stay, it was pretty clear that the reason Jack is so upset over the death of Jeremy Bentham in the future is because he considered him his best chance to get back to the island. The second clue happened right after, during Walt’s visit to Hurley in the mental institution, when Walt mentioned that Bentham was the only person to visit him in New York. Finally, the third is probably the most obvious (ABC’s commercial about the alternate endings on tomorrow’s episode of “Good Morning America”), but if you hadn’t already figured out that Bentham was Locke by then, well, you’re just not paying close enough attention.

Now, we don’t know why Locke changed his name or how he got off the island, but we do know that in order for Jack to return, he needs every member of the Oceanic Six (including Locke’s dead body, and possibly even Ben) to do so. We also know that some very bad stuff went down following their departure and, along with Jack’s crusade to get back to the island, this will likely play a major role in the final two seasons. Unfortunately, that won’t include the rescue of Michael and Jin, who both perished on the freighter ship (along with several other background survivors) when it was blown up as part of Keamy’s “life insurance.” The good news in all of this, however, is that Desmond isn’t dead. In fact, it was Penny’s boat that eventually rescued him (along with Frank and the Oceanic Six) when their helicopter crash-landed into the ocean. I’m not sure if this means Desmond will no longer be a part of the story when the show returns in 2009, but with Charlie and Jin now gone, I don’t know if I could accept another great character to disappear for no reason.

And in case anyone was wondering, here’s a quick rundown of who’s doing what as of the end of this season:

Jack – desperate to return to the island
Kate – doesn’t want to go back, haunted by visions of Claire
Sayid – still working for Ben
Hurley –still seeing ghosts, but no longer at the asylum
Sun – making a deal with Widmore involving the island
Ben – helping Jack get back to the island
Locke – the new leader of the Others (dead in the future)
Claire – still roaming around with Christian
Sawyer – back on the island after jumping out of the helicopter
Juliet – never boarded the freighter
Desmond – on Penny’s boat
Frank – on Penny’s boat
Bernard & Rose – never boarded the freighter
Miles & Charlotte – never boarded the freighter
Daniel – deserted in the middle of the ocean

Anyone that’s been watching “Lost” consistently for the past four seasons knows that no matter how bad the actual season may be, the season finales (and the episodes leading up to them) are always money. Though the pre-finale episodes tend to be more set-up than actual progression, I was surprised to discover that tonight’s episode (the first of a three-part season finale) also filled in a lot of gaps via a flash-forward that documented the Oceanic Six’s rescue and the beginning of their post-island lives.

The night opened with the Oceanic Six on a plane back to Hawaii. After Jack coaches the group on their “story,” they arrive to discover an Oceanic Airlines-moderated press conference set up to allow reporters to ask the survivors questions. Among the topics covered included the fate of Jin (Sun says he died when the plane crashed), the birth of Aaron (he’s being played off as Kate’s biological child), and confirmation that no other people could have possibly survived. But that wasn’t the juicy part.

Following their re-entry into society, Sayid is reunited with Nadia (no, not that Nadia, but his ex-flame), Sun uses her settlement money to purchase a controlling share in her father’s company, and Hurley receives a classic car as a birthday present. Unfortunately, the dreaded “numbers” just happen to be the reading on the speedometer, and he isn’t at all entertained. Finally, there’s Jack. After delivering a eulogy at his father’s funeral, Jack is approached by Claire’s mother, who informs him about Christian’s secret daughter, and the fact that she too was aboard Flight 815. Hmm. Maybe now we have a better understanding as to a) why Jack wants to take care of Aaron, and b) why he’s so depressed in the future.

Meanwhile, on the island, all of the major players are being positioned for the season’s final masterstroke. Jack and Sawyer have control of the helicopter (only to discover that Hurley’s in trouble), Sun, Jin and Aaron are on the freighter (thanks to Faraday, who has volunteered to begin ferrying people off the island), Sayid and Kate have been captured by Richard Alpert, and Locke and Hurley have just witnessed Ben’s surrender to Keamy at the Orchid station – the proposed location of the “secondary protocol” (i.e. Operation Blow Up the Island). It’ll be interesting to see how the Oceanic Six, who are seemingly in four different places, will manage reunite and get off the island.

We’ll find out in two weeks, along with why they’re the only survivors who escaped, what happened to Lapidus after he rescued them, as well as who was in that coffin at the end of season three. For those that simply can’t wait to find out the latter, feel free to check out this spy report here, where the deceased character has supposedly been outed by a spoiler-happy fan.