Tag: Lost season six (Page 3 of 4)

Lost 6.9 – Ab Aeterno

March 23, 2010 /

Is it just me, or was tonight’s episode completely underwhelming? The mystery behind Richard Alpert has been built up so much over the course of the last few seasons that I can’t help but feel like we were all expecting something more. It’s not that the episode was bad (Nestor Campbell delivered one helluva performance, and Titus Welliver was brilliant yet again as the Man in Black), but rather that when it ended, I didn’t have very much to say. And considering that we’re already midway through the final season, shouldn’t every episode be somewhat memorable?

It may have ended well – and really, that’s all anyone is going to remember when people gather around the water cooler to discuss the episode tomorrow – but the first half was dreadfully boring. Granted, we now know approximately how old Richard is, as well as where he comes from, but did they really need to spend so much time on the death of his wife, his inadvertent murder of the local doctor, and his eventual incarceration? Just get him to the damned island already, because while it may seem important that he got there by way of the Black Rock (and as a slave no less), none of it really matters once he meets Jacob and the Man in Black.

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Their feuding relationship is far more interesting than anything in Richard’s history, namely because the writers still haven’t given us a reason to believe that one is good and the other is evil. Obviously, the Man in Black is being set up to be the villain of the pair, but for someone who so desperately wants to get off the island, he sure has the patience of a saint. Okay, so maybe he doesn’t always tell the truth (I don’t believe for a second that Jacob is the Devil), but why didn’t he kill Richard along with the rest of the Black Rock survivors? It can’t be because Richard is a candidate, or Jacob wouldn’t have to worry about finding a successor. And if all the Man in Black wanted was someone to kill Jacob for him, couldn’t he have picked someone that was more likely to do the deed? (Like, say, that crazy officer who started stabbing all the slaves.)

Then again, maybe he just needs to prove to Jacob that Richard is capable of killing again. That’s certainly Jacob’s theory, who tells Richard that he brings people to the island to challenge the idea that it’s human nature to sin. But how does that make him any better than the Man in Black? He may not be asking anyone to kill for him, but he’s still interfering with their lives by dragging them to the island. The island, of course, isn’t Hell like Richard thinks. Instead, Jacob likens it to a cork on a wine bottle that acts as a barrier to Hell. So essentially, it’s like a Hellmouth, only instead of Sunnydale, it’s located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

All kidding aside, I think the island is like some sort of Purgatory. Not in the religious sense (that theory was debunked as far back as Season Two), but rather as a gateway between the two realities I’ve come to call Earth-1 and Earth-2. Prove yourself worthy of atonement and you’ll be rewarded by being sent to the reality where Oceanic Flight 815 doesn’t crash. Fail to repent for your sins, however, and you’ll be stuck on the island for eternity; or at least, until you can find a loophole of your own. I know it’s not a perfect theory, but it’s the best I’ve got.

External TV, Lost, TV, TV Dramas, TV Sci-Fi

Lost 6.8 – Recon

March 17, 2010 /

Howdilly ho, Losterinos! Jae-Z is still in Austin for South by Southwest, so I am guest blogging this week. And don’t worry, I’m not going to come up with a bunch of wacky nicknames for everyone, or end the blog with a music video.

It’s tough to decide which version of Earth was more interesting tonight…oh, who am I kidding, the Earth-1 story was definitely better. Crazy Claire tried to kill Kate, while Sayid looked on impotently. He’s clearly reeling from the guilt of knowing that he allowed Evil Locke/Smokey to enter the temple and lay waste to the righteous who refused to go with him. I’m sure he’s also depressed over the “knowledge” that he’s infected, whatever that means. Me, I’m not so convinced that anyone is infected. Yes, Rashomon (damn it, I swore I wouldn’t hand out nicknames) said he was infected, but while we watched the similarly infected Claire put an axe in a guy’s stomach, Evil Locke explained tonight just what it was that fed that insanity, and it wasn’t sickness or disease – it was the need for an enemy, much like Guy Pearce’s character in “Memento.” It drove her, but once she had no need for it and discovered that Kate was not her enemy, Claire turned out to be a reasonable and normal, if mournful, person. Does this mean that there is indeed nothing wrong with Sayid? Or does this mean that we haven’t yet seen exactly what is wrong with either of them?

Stupid “Lost.” Eight episodes left, and they’re still providing more questions than answers.

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Sawyer’s flash-sideways is Hugo-ian in that he’s the opposite of his Earth-1 counterpart. Jack’s still a doctor and Kate’s still a fugitive, but here, Sawyer’s a cop, and he uses his fake Dharma last name as a safe word when his mark pulls back the hammer to shoot him. I just love that he’s able to nail the wife of his intended target before dropping the bomb on her when she won’t play ball. Who wouldn’t sign up for undercover work if they knew it would get them so much sex?

And that wasn’t the only sex Detective James Ford would have this week, as he later bedded a Kidman-esque redhead archaeologist named Charlotte, but completely blew it (her words, later) when he flipped his lid after walking in on her looking at the folder dedicated to the man who led Ford’s father to kill his mother, then himself. The scene was actually one of the clumsiest in the entire history of “Lost,” as Charlotte went plowing through his stuff like she was a con herself…and who knows, maybe she is. (The truth: probably not, since they’re running out of time, but she sure as hell acted like one.) The bigger question, though, is: who leaves a folder that important, that potentially incriminating, in their top drawer? The whole thing was just, to quote my wife, ridiculous.

The big takeaway from the flash-sideways was that the individual stories finally appear to be coming together, as John/Sawyer confesses to his partner Miles about his extracurricular attempts to hunt down the man who destroyed his family, only to be slammed into by a runaway Kate, whom he later runs down in an alley. Up to this point, the Earth-2 story lines have been largely independent of the others, but now it looks as though everyone is going to start getting tied together. Whether they become aware of their other selves, though, is still up in the air. Truth be told, I’m not sure how I feel about that. God knows, I wouldn’t want to talk to another version of me. One’s enough.

Which brings us to the main story line, where Evil Locke asks Sawyer to travel to Hydra Island (where he finds the dress Kate wore when they first hooked up) to confirm Evil Locke’s suspicions that there are people there who mean him harm. Of course, there are, and they’re well armed (Charles Widmore doesn’t do cheap), and Sawyer does what he does best: he lies, which is precisely why Locke sent him there in the first place. Of course, Evil Locke doesn’t know that Sawyer intends to doublecross both Widmore and Locke…or maybe he does. It could be yet another test. Either way, Widmore’s posse is building a Smokey-proof fence, so this could make for a fun battle royale.

God love Jin. The love he has for his wife is so sweet. Which of course makes me think that they won’t meet until the series finale…and will die before they get to embrace one last time. Come on, this is “Lost” we’re talking about. They’re not going to give us some ribbon-bowed, flowery happy ending. People are gonna die. Jin and Sun have spent almost two years in TV time apart. You better believe that their reunion will come with a catch.

Well, that’s it for me this week. Wow, that was so much fun! Thanks for playing with me today. Heeeeere we go: Yooooooooo gabba gabbaaaaaaaa! (*packs up boom box, exits stage left*)

Actors, Actresses, External TV, Lost, TV, TV Action, TV Sci-Fi

Lost 6.7 – Dr. Linus

March 10, 2010 /

I’d like to start tonight’s blog by channeling my inner Nikki Finke with a big ‘ol “Toldja!” While many believed that Jacob lied to Jack a few weeks back about the incoming visitor as a way to get him to the lighthouse, I suggested that there really was someone coming, and it would most likely be Desmond or Charles Widmore. As we now know, it’s the latter, who has traveled to the island by way of submarine. (You have to give it to him – the dude rolls in style.) I’m not really sure why he’s finally decided to come himself, but with all the candidates dropping like flies, someone is going to need to stick around and protect the island, and it might as well be him.

Obviously, Ben would have been the preferred choice, but it looks like even he doesn’t want anything to do with the island anymore. In fact, while this week’s episode had some good moments between Jack and Richard (more on that later), for the first time this season, the flash-sideways portion was much more enjoyable. Ben’s Earth-1 story just felt a little flat to me, but then again, his character hasn’t been quite the same ever since he killed Jacob. Ilana didn’t take the news too well, either, claiming that Jacob was like a father to her. We still don’t know much about Ilana other than that she’s one of Jacob’s bodyguards, so I’m really hoping we get a little back story in the coming weeks. After all, while her decision to kill Ben (and make him dig his grave first) certainly made sense in light of her comment about Jacob, it doesn’t carry the same emotional weight when we don’t know why she views him in that way. Nevertheless, even when Ben was freed by Smokey and given the chance to reclaim his spot at the top of the island food chain, he turned him down, instead choosing to stick with Ilana, whose compassion he earned after explaining his reasons for killing Jacob.

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You see, Ben really isn’t that bad after all. And to prove it, his Earth-2 storyline focused on a man who not only cared so much about the students at his school that he was willing to blackmail the principal and take over, but actually forfeited that power when given the opportunity to prove it. The fact that the student in question turned out to be Alex Rousseau was a nice little nod to their father-daughter relationship on Earth-1, and I really loved the way that Ben was ultimately able to make up for his sacrifice of Alex’s life in that reality by unselfishly helping her in another. But what I found particularly interesting in the story was the reveal that Ben’s father still went to the island to work for Dharma. What made them come back? And did it have anything to do with the island sinking?

As for Jack and Hurley’s run-in with Richard Alpert, well, that was more of a tease of the upcoming Richard-centric episode than anything else, but we did learn a few important things that are going to play a big part in the rest of the season. For starters, Richard’s ability to stay forever young is a product of having been touched by Jacob. We know a few other people that have been touched by Jacob as well, but they’ve clearly aged over the years, so it’s a gift that must only work when you’re on the island. It also appears that anyone who’s been given that magic touch can’t kill themselves or be killed by Smokey (as he was reminded of in the season premiere), but they’re not exactly invincible either. So what does that make them? Who the hell knows, but feel free to take your guess below, and if you’re right, you can have your very own “Toldja” moment as well.

Lost, TV, TV Dramas, TV Sci-Fi

Lost 6.6 – Sundown

March 3, 2010 /

As a fan of Sayid who was disappointed by how small of a part he played in last season’s events, it’s nice to see him actually factoring in to this year’s main storyline. Every member of Team Smokey is there for a reason, but while it may look like Sayid has gone over to the dark side, I’m not entirely convinced that he’s given up on being good. That would be just like Sayid to sacrifice the lives of Dogen and Lennon in order to ensure his cover isn’t blown, but then again, that evil smirk on his face seems to indicate otherwise. Whatever the case may be, you can’t say that Dogen didn’t have it coming. After trying to kill Sayid twice (first with the poison pill and then with his bare hands), Dogen decides it’s better to just let Smokey do it himself. What Dogen wasn’t expecting, however, was for Smokey to give Sayid an offer he couldn’t refuse.

The allure of bringing back Nadia was always going to win Sayid over, but who would have thought that he still wouldn’t get the girl in his mirror reality? Sayid claims that it’s because he isn’t good enough for her, but I found it a bit weird that he allowed his brother to start a family with her instead. There’s obviously still a spark between him and Nadia, and after his brother was put in the hospital by some loan sharks that he owed money to, I was secretly hoping they would just run away together. Unfortunately, there’s no such thing as a happy ending in “Lost,” so instead, Sayid went after the men responsible for the attack. It was nice to see Keamy back doing his usual sleazeball shtick, but I’m more interested in how Jin ended up trapped in his walk-in fridge. The last time we saw Jin, he was taken by customs for failing to report that giant wad of money in his luggage, so is Keamy involved somehow?

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It’s going to be awfully hard to find out now that Keamy’s dead, but at least we got to see Sayid kick a little ass. It was a nice parallel to the events on Earth-1, as Sayid has become a cold-hearted killer, seemingly because of the “darkness” inside him. I still don’t buy it one bit, but regardless of what may or may not be true, Sayid is working for Smokey now. And his first order of business is to deliver a message to the Others that Jacob is dead. They can leave the island if they want, but if they decide to stay, the outlook isn’t going to be very sunny. In fact, the moment Sayid drowns Dogen in the rejuvenation pool, whatever barrier that was keeping Smokey from entering the Temple is lifted, allowing him to wreak havoc throughout the entire camp. Amazingly, Miles manages to stay alive thanks to the well-timed arrival of Ilana and Co., but Kate is left behind when she tries to rescue Claire.

That probably wasn’t a very smart idea on the part of Kate, because not only does Claire seem furious to discover that Aaron was taken off the island and raised by a stranger, but Smokey seems a little perplexed she even stuck around. Is it possible that Kate may still have a part to play in this battle, or will Crazy Claire just slit her throat the first chance she gets? Anyone that knows me well enough already knows how I’d vote, but there’s no way the writers are going to ditch the Jack-Kate-Sawyer love triangle any time soon. Ugh. At least this time around, there’s a good story to balance out the silly romance.

Lost, TV, TV Dramas, TV Sci-Fi

Lost 6.5 – Lighthouse

February 23, 2010 /

I’ve never been a big fan of the Jack Shepherd character (neither as the heroic leader or the depressed drunk), but tonight was probably one of my favorite Jack-centric episodes. Though it might have seemed a bit lame to give him an estranged teenage son, it was a good way of showing just how different Jack is from his own father. Sure, it may have taken him awhile to recognize just what he was doing wrong in the relationship (that kind of ignorance can rub off on somehow who hasn’t exactly had the best parenting experience), but at least he was able to mend the relationship between him and his musical prodigy son before it was too late. With that said, however, I hope we never have to see that moody brat ever again.

Of course, while that subplot took up a majority of the Earth-2 action, there were a few other tidbits that caught my attention as well. First, it’ll be interesting to see how the discovery of Claire’s name in Christian’s will is going to play out further down the road, because I don’t remember that information getting out in the Earth-1 timeline, and I’d be curious to see how Jack’s mom takes the news. I also thought it was pretty sneaky of the writers to slip that small conversation about Jack having his appendix taken out when he was kid, because he clearly doesn’t remember it. Is that scar really from a childhood operation like his mother says, or a remnant of his Earth-1 life? And if it’s the former, then why would she lie?

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As we’ve all come to expect by now, the Earth-1 portion of the episode was infinitely more interesting, with Hurley playing a large part in Jack’s storyline. Let it be said that if you die on “Lost,” you’re never really dead, because even if the writers don’t bring you back in a flashback, a flashsideways, or even as a completely new character (see: Terry O’Quinn), they always have Hurley as back-up. After all, the dude can see ghosts (no wonder he gets along with Miles so well), so it’s as easy as a character visiting him from the afterlife to resurrect them – even if it’s only temporary. Hurley has been seeing quite a lot of Jacob lately (his latest appearance no doubt squashes the rumor that he’s taken over Sayid’s body), and this time around, he wants Hurley to go with Jack to a lighthouse near their old stomping grounds to help a forthcoming visitor find their way to the island.

This mysterious figure (who I’m guessing is either Desmond or Charles Widmore) isn’t going to find it any easier now that Jack has smashed the mirror inside the lighthouse. Okay, so that was probably a bit rash on his part, but seeing as how he could see a reflection of his childhood home in the mirror when the dial was turned to his personal number (yep, the names and numbers are back in play again), it wasn’t exactly out of character. Jack used to be pretty freaked out about the idea that it was destiny that brought him to the island, and now that he’s finally warming up to the possibility that it may be true, he discovers that Jacob has been spying on him all this time. Jacob in turn tells Hurley that he needed Jack to see the reflection in order for him to understand how special he is, but I can’t imagine Jack would ever agree to help Jacob after this debacle. I’m guessing he thinks it’s worth the risk, because he admits to needing Jack and Hurley away from the temple before someone bad arrives.

He’s probably referring to Smokey, but he could just as well be talking about Jungle Claire, who helps Jin out of the bear trap and sews up his leg at her camp. She also brings along the surviving Other that she just shot to interrogate him about the whereabouts of Aaron, who she believes was kidnapped by his people. Jin tries to tell her the truth (that Kate took him off the island three years ago), but she’s so far off the reservation that there doesn’t seem to be any hope of saving her. And I love it. They took the most innocent character on the show and turned her into a squirrely psycho who doesn’t so much as hesitate to swing an axe into her enemy’s torso. That’s what happens when you make friends with Smokey.

External TV, Lost, TV Dramas, TV Sci-Fi

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