Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Lost: Season 1, Episode 6: House of the Rising Sun Review

House of the Rising Sun
Original Airdate: October 27, 2004
Writer: Javier Grillo-Marxuach
Director: Michael Zinberg

As the stay becomes longer and longer, the group starts to shift from hoping for rescue to preparing for survival. Are these people ready to settle for long-term residence in a place better suited for them, or will they still cling to the hope of being rescued by the less hospitable shoreline? On top of this, they have to figure out how to function in their new society. Many of them are strangers, but what about those who knew each other before the crash? We have brother/sister, father/son and husband/wife. This episode covers the last dynamic as we see Sun's history with Jin. Initially, Sun and Jin are some of the more mysterious members of the castaways because of the language barrier. This is a helpful function of the flashbacks, because there isn't much way for us to learn about these characters besides their minimal interactions with other castaways.

An interesting, albeit risky, choice for Lost is the plotline heavy with subtitles. It’s rare on American TV to have a show with more than a few lines of dialogue, much less an entire subplot in a foreign language. They didn’t have a choice in the matter; all we knew was that neither of them spoke English, and to have them suddenly speaking it would’ve been confusing. Thankfully the critical and commercial success of Lost allowed them to do this.

One important part of Jin and Sun’s back story is the class struggle. Jin is lower class and Sun isn’t (originally I thought Sun was royalty). However, as love is, money doesn’t matter to them. All Jin needed to impress Sun was a flower. Later, although Jin can shower Sun with gifts, it comes at a price, and that is Sun's happiness in the relationship. Unfortunately, Sun’s social stature was made with blood money, and Jin becomes entwined in that world. Sun’s father is a shady businessman and Jin is out doing his dirty work, which we presume is awfully dark if it involves him washing blood off his suit! This brutal side corrodes their relationship to where it is now, but it is that brief moment with the flower that convinces her that there is a trace of the old Jin left in him, a fateful convincing.

This episode also shatters the illusion that Sun is a submissive housewife, which makes the episode’s title all the more fitting. Some did theorize that one or both of the Korean couple knew English this episode confirms to us that Sun does. Sun learning English without her husband’s knowledge helps add to the schism between the two.

We also see that Jin isn't just a domineering abusive husband. He has been a jerk to Sun and the rest of the castaways for most of the season to date, but he was also tender to Sun when they were courting. The only thing that kept Sun from going through on her plan to run was the brief glimpse of what she fell for; a sweet man who only needed to give her a flower. However, since then she has faced these unpleasant reminders of Jin since the crash, as Jin bashes a fish's skull in, followed by pummeling Michael on the shore, almost drowning him if it wasn't for Sawyer and Sayid. It is also worth noting that Daniel Dae Kim didn't know much Korean before taking the role, but his portrayal is so good that you wouldn't know it.

Michael’s confrontation gives way to his first substantial lesson for Walt. Unfortunately, Michael lets the heat of the scuffle get the best of him and his prejudices come out. He also learns that Walt knows nothing about him. Michael is definitely far from father of the year. While he appears to be trying there is a troubling underlying anger.

Which leads us to his haranguing of Jin before cutting him loose. There probably isn't a better place for him to unleash his frustration about his parenting skills and being stuck on this island. On a character heavy show like Lost, it is interesting to see this early part of Jin and Michael's relationship to where we are now, just finishing season two.

As we have seen before, there were several, easily negligible hints to why Jin attacked Michael. Sun tries to tell the other castaways his motive by pointing to her wrist, but Sayid dismissed it as a plea to let Jin out of the cuffs. Then in one scene we cut to the flashback where Sun is wearing the watch in question. Also, Michael didn’t have on a watch in the last episode.

There was some connection between Sun and Michael. The writers dropped hints of a potential romantic storyline early in the season. Therefore, it would make sense that she would intervene and confide in him her secret that she knows English. It is also telling of her beliefs of a long-term stay, which is nicely connected when she and Jin go to the caves to live. Although it will make sense for her to inform others of her bilingual capabilities so she can be a part of the group (and help Jin along too).

Onto the other plots, Locke’s moment with “the monster” was crucial to play out early in the season, as it gives him a reason to exist: to teach the other castaways what he supposedly gained from this encounter. The first person he decides to share this information with is Charlie. Locke makes an observation, while underplayed, becomes vital to the relationship he has with Charlie. Unlike anyone else, Locke actually knows who Charlie is and is a fan of his work. This helps Locke earn Charlie’s trust, since Charlie keeps dropping that he was in a band to people who don't care. For that reason, he's able to seize on the opportunity to help Charlie, who found himself on top of a beehive getting a fix.

The island mythology is delved into a little deeper with the discovery of “Adam and Eve”, the two corpses in the caves. With the French woman’s transmission and monster, they knew that there was more to this island, but with this, they are realizing that this island has a long history of weird events. Considering all the religious and spiritual symbols, calling them “Adam and Eve” is fitting, and could be interesting to see if anything develops from it. Also, what is with the black and white stones in the pouch?

The caves and Jack's insistence of it being a good shelter splits the group in two; those remaining on the beach for rescue and those seeking shelter in the caves. This is the biggest indicator of how people feel on the island. They must decide, after a week of waiting, whether to stay hopeful and wait for anyone to come by or to go to the best place they have for a sustainable shelter. Of course, we know that they’ll be there for a long time, but it offers some interesting character moments to see who decides to stay and who decides to go.

Kate's choice doesn't ring true for me. It feels like this is more to drive a wedge between her and Jack as well as increasing her time with Sawyer and Sayid (although the Sayid thing would be scrapped shortly). Things between Jack and Kate have gotten awfully close, but that means they had to jam the works, but couldn't it be better explained? What does Kate have to look forward to when they are rescued? She would have to answer for her crimes and be arrested again. Best case scenario is she lies and goes on the run when the rescue team hits a mainland. Perhaps she is only doing this to give the impression that she doesn't have this sinister past.

Sayid makes a great point, saying that this contradicts with Jack’s “live together, die alone” speech. While splitting the survivors into two groups goes against that, it is a definitive decision, which is a nice piece of continuity from last week, where Jack was struggling with decision making.

It would’ve been nice to see the reasons why Claire, Shannon and Boone decided to stay on the beach. Shannon staying makes sense, but perhaps Boone would’ve wanted to move to the caves in hopes that the long term stay would allow him to prove himself. Claire’s health scare would also be important to address. Even if she wanted to wait for rescue, her priority should be the kid growing in her and being near Jack would allow that.

Overall, this episode is almost as good as most of the episodes before it, but there are some things that hamper it, like that prolonged montage at the end, which felt like killing time (did we really need to see 2 minutes of it?) and Kate's weird out of character moment, that made more sense for the story than the character. However, giving the spotlight to characters who on nearly every other show would be prime fodder to be killed off or forgotten is welcome, especially this early in the season.

Score: 7/10

Monday, May 15, 2006

The Office Makes Its Case That Summer 2006 Will Be Really Long

May sweeps brings a lot of cliffhangers, while we still have to wait for Prison Break (only a few hours), 24, Lost and The Sopranos, an unexpected cliffhanger from NBC's The Office may prove to be one of the most satisfying.

Before we get to the juicy ending, let's talk about some of the highlights from the supersized finale. It starts with Michael Scott (Steve Carrell, who wrote this episode) getting the office members to the warehouse for Casino night. From there, we learned of Creed's kleptomania and apathy towards discretion, shown as the chips fell out of his sleeve when he went to claim his prize refrigerator. Kevin's band, Scrantonicity, got a great little character moment, especially when he found out he may play Pam's wedding (assuming it even occurs now). Phyllis cheering to getting all "clovers" while playing poker, Kelly wanting to give money to Kobe Bryant's charity because he's "so hot", Jan confused by her attraction to the wrong man, Angela slapping Dwight after kissing her, but secretly enjoying the moment before she remembers the camera, it was chock full of great moments.

The season concluded with the moment fans have been waiting for: Jim confessing he was in love with Pam. John Krasinski and the adorable Jenna Fischer were perfect in their performances, stuck in a heartbreaking situation that prevents them from being with the one they truly love. I'm always for the sarcastic guy with heart, and when Jim lays all of his feelings out for her, he provided a great example. I'll admit I got a bit misty during that scene. If you didn't get the gut punch, you have no soul. Sorry, but someone has to tell you.

But it wasn't over yet. A confused Pam seeks advice from her mother, during which she says "Yeah, I think I am." Everyone's hoping the question her mother asked was "Are you in love with him too?" Before we can find out, Jim wanders back in the office, took Pam in his arms and kissed her. Wow. This is only the first case that summer 2006 is going to be one of the longest on record.

Monday, May 08, 2006

24: Season 5, Episode 19: Day 5: 1:00 AM - 2:00 AM Review

Day 5: 1:00 AM – 2:00 AM
Original Airdate: April 25, 2006
Writers: Craig Van Sickle and Steve Mitchell
Director: Dwight Little

The final fourth of the season starts with an effective display of the deeper runs of the conspiracy, which helps set the stage for what should be the final stage of the season. It helps with some victories for the good guys, but there are some devastating set backs to keep the story going along.

The previews certainly proved that Heller was doomed, becoming the sixth recurring character to die this season. It's a huge price for Heller to pay for not listening to Jack and planning something with him. It also refreshes the personal nature of this season's threat while still making sense, unlike Tony's unfortunate demise. This establishes the mood for the episode as Jack and Audrey face their desire for revenge against needing Henderson to bring down the conspiracy.

It is further reinforced when Jack has to track the person who was handed the recording, while leaving Audrey with Henderson until Curtis and his team arrives. Much like Tony did, Audrey has plenty of reason and opportunity to exact revenge, revealing a dark side we haven't seen from her before, but she can't do it. Fortunately for Audrey, her instance doesn't involve her getting killed by Henderson in some slasher flick manner. Obviously, Henderson and his men would kill her, but thankfully Curtis comes out from hiding to save the day (Hurray for Curtis' return).

Henderson knows how to manipulate people. His monologue to Audrey made me believe that Heller possibly could still be alive and his detailing of her father drowning horribly only makes it worse. Of the deaths this season, Heller's is the most likely to be faked. I'm not expecting him to come back since he didn't within this hour, but that seed will be with the fans until the end of the season when it's beyond clear he is gone.

Henderson is obviously a very smart villain, so he's aware that this recording serves to keep him alive. It is now revealed that Walt's suicide wasn't filled with continuity errors (hand-cuffs, secret security detail allowing enough time for him to die of suffocation), but a planned murder. I don't buy that Logan was directly involved, but rather tipped Graham and his men and let them do the rest, or that secret service were involved, and managed to get the noble Aaron away for them to do it.

Thankfully, they decided to add a new element to the conspiracy, since there isn't enough between Logan and Henderson to last for the rest of the season. Their motivations aren't as clear as the "patriots'", embarking on this conspiracy for their country. Graham and his men may be most likely out for the oil profits, much like Kingsley and crew in season 2.

Both sides certainly manipulate Logan to the fullest extent possible. The writers have to be careful how to deal with Logan's turn, and so far they have done well. Logan has been spineless since we met him, so it would make sense that once he started down the road of compromising himself in the hopes of improving his status that those whose morals were clearly questionable would be able to control him.

Graham certainly is aware of Logan's uncertainty. Since the time they started planning this coincides with season four and Logan's ascension, perhaps they even had something to do with the attack on Keeler that got Logan where they needed him. It probably won't be explored, but considering what they have done, it wouldn't be out of place for them.

The harder Logan and his cronies try to cover up their plan, the bigger the mess is. Besides the unwise decision of getting Jack involved on a deeply personal level, the body count they are responsible for is too much for even those in the 24 world to shake off as another bad day. A beloved former president, the president's chief of staff and the secretary of defense have all died in the last twenty, all the while the president tries to make us belief that things are solving themselves.

The part that most worries fans is the fate of our favorite secret service agent, Aaron Pierce. No one buys that Aaron was suddenly transferred to Washington in the middle of this crisis considering what he knows and leaving his cell phone where he was supposed to meet Martha. However, the dialogue between Graham and Logan imply that he hasn't been "taken care of". Hopefully this is a good sign.

Of course, this leads to Martha's scene, where Logan finally reveals the truth, further reinforces why we love her while reinforcing the tragedy of Charles Logan. While Martha is a godsend for Logan, he treats her like a nuisance. So it is fitting that she asserts herself, but puts Logan in his place. Although they claim their marriage is now for show, Martha would wisely break up with him by the end of the season. Like she said, Logan deserves to suffer for what he's done.

Karen gets some high marks for CTU directors. She has been wary about Logan's choices, and now she has enough reason to believe that Jack might be right after all. Many previous directors would conveniently throw out this logic, which was a bit annoying. It is much more logical for Karen to do something now that the conspiracy is in focus. Warning Chloe about CTU eminent arrival at CTU: Bill's House is definitely a risky move, but it is makes her sympathetic. I wonder if she considered getting Miles involved in helping her, or perhaps she thought he was too much of a stickler to support even her protocol breaking actions. Considering the sheer amount of deaths this season, we may see more of her in season six.

Entil pointed this out in his review, but Karen is also in an interesting position at CTU. She'll have two major pieces of the conspiracy in her office (the wormholes CTU travel through will certainly deliver Curtis and his men to CTU early in the next episode). Although Bierko is the mastermind behind the Russian side, Erwich was the one who brokered the deal with the Russians. How much he knows is up for discussion, but he survived the gas plant explosion for a reason.

As for CTU: Bill's House, Buchanan and Chloe's interactions, complete with Chloe's awkward observations that he wasn't her boss anymore, were really great. Of course, they were more useful for the investigation than the actual CTU, who didn't seem to do much aside from chase them down. They get Jack to another airport I'll never visit where Jack can slip in, complete in his Unabomber hood onto a diplomatic flight. It'll be interesting to see how they play this out, perhaps a Chinese diplomat is on the flight who would be very interested in Jack hijacking the plane.

The core group of writers must be working hard on the final five, since this episode was written by and directed to people new to 24. Despite the pratfalls of new writers, this episode is surprisingly good since they stuck with the lead they were given. The personal nature gets to stew as they confront Henderson, who simultaneously adds to the body count. The stage is set for the final act, and it is looking good.

Score: 8/10