Sunday, May 23, 2010

Lost: Season 6, Episode 15 Review: Across the Sea


Across the Sea
Original Airdate: May 11, 2010
Writer: Carlton Cuse & Damon Lindelof
Director: Tucker Gates

Midway through The Shield’s second season they spent a whole episode, “Co-Pilot”, going back to the first day of The Barn, the nickname of the station in Farmington.  It showed how many of the cast members spent their first day and is basically the closest the show had to an origin story episode.  It’s also a very controversial one as it has little to do with that season’s arc and completely breaks up the story’s momentum.  “Across the Sea” is Lost’s “Co-Pilot”.  Right after the end game started and a third of the cast got killed, the show goes way back and focuses on the supporting cast (save for Johnny, only in Titus Welliver form) and one new person for a whole episode.  The only glimpse we get of the main cast is in stock footage from the first season.  While it makes sense to help explain why Johnny is who he is, it breaks off the momentum pretty dramatically.

It starts millennia ago, when the presumed sole inhabitant of the island, who we’ll call Mother because these reviews should sound like they’re being written by Norman Bates, welcomes a shipwrecked woman of presumed Ancient Roman origin.  When the woman, Claudia, gives birth to twins, Mother realizes something is up and murders Claudia.  She later explains she wanted to keep them unspoiled, but perhaps like Jacob she had a list of candidates and Jacob and an unnamed person were on that list.

OK, they’ve been teasing the fact that Johnny’s name since his formal introduction hasn’t been mentioned, but the birth scene is the cruelest of cruel teases.  “I only picked one name”?  Really?  Even if they somehow muted the line it would’ve been better than this.  Why not just say “I don’t have a name” from the start?  Bringing the Buffy comparison back, The First didn’t have a name, and they didn’t tease giving it one as I remember.  Obviously there are going to be things about Lost we’ll be debating forever, but what’s the fun in guessing his name?

Mother raises the twins in isolation from the other survivors of Claudia’s shipwreck because she wants to keep them “good”, even using her magic powers to keep them from killing each other.  Interestingly, Johnny’s philosophy on humanity came from a woman he called insane and justifiably blamed for his problems, even quoting her the day Richard’s boat arrived centuries later.  Despite living with her longer, Jacob advocates free will and develops some hope for humanity.

She raises Johnny with the belief that he’ll take up the title of protector of the island, which creates some tension even decades later when Mother settles on making Jacob that person.  However, like their relationship with their mother, this one is complicated.  They both lash out in the heat of the moment and as soon as the blade is in or the body sucked in to the source, they regret it.  Who knows what would have happened if Johnny had not been beaten unconscious and Jacob forgave him.

After finding out the truth about his real mother, Johnny decides to live with the Shipwreck people, and confirms the suspicions Mother put in his head.  However, his manipulative streak begins as he sees them as a “means to an end”.  They are the people responsible for the Frozen Donkey Wheel, presumably not this one, and have tunneled into the earth to figure out what’s causing metal to behave mysteriously (Shaggy 2 Dope must’ve been a member of this tribe), but Johnny sees it as a route to The Source.  The explanation for the didn’t quite work, and perhaps should’ve been left a mystery: as if there’s some explanation for a device going into a section of energy and being used to get off the island.

That seems to be a theme of the episode: people trying to explain things long before the age of modern science.  The Source is clearly electromagnetism, but they don’t know what that is, so they go with light because it is bright.  One explanation they never give is what would happen if Johnny were to leave.  Of course, his Smokey form could cause a lot of damage in the real world, but Jacob was dealing with a big unknown.  It’s possible that nothing would happen, although considering him killing those people in “The Candidate”, we believe that the worst case scenario is right.

While the last episode set up Johnny as the big bad of the series, this episode makes us sympathize with him.  His whole life he was misled and lied to.  He spent the first 13 years of his life in the company of only his brother and adoptive mother, who tricked them into thinking she was their biological mother.  He was told he could never leave the island, but never given a straight answer as to why.  When he tried as an adult, his path was blocked and the people helping him killed.  He doesn’t even get a name in all the years he’s spent on the island.

This episode also gives us a new perspective on Jacob and it is not flattering.  He’s a bit of a brat and despite being in his early 40s, acts like a child.  However, his actions and making Johnny the man he is today was a sobering event where he knew he had to grow up.  He saw what it was like to be forced to accept a title he didn’t want and how his problems ruined his brother and took away his choice as well, something that collected with his “good” nature made him advocate for choice, even if the execution of these ideas was flawed.

There’s been a good amount of debate brewing over if Johnny’s consciousness became the Smoke Monster, or if the Smoke Monster was some piece of the island that was released and took Johnny consciousness with it.  I’m inclined to think the latter, as his leaving the island would mean the “light” goes out everywhere.  Although how they can kill him without putting out this light isn’t clear assuming that’s right.

Although this episode reveals the birth of Smokey as we know him, there are suggestions that some other version existed before.  Claudia’s light around her may be related to the light in those electromagnetic pockets all over the island.  Or this could be the same thing Young Ben saw when he was in Dharmaville and saw his dead mother.  Then there is Mother’s massacre of the shipwreck society Johnny co-opted, as well as filling up the well with dirt, something that seems unbelievable for one person to do alone.

Ending the episode, it’s revealed that Mother and Johnny’s human form were the Adam & Eve skeletons Jack & Kate found in the caves back in season one.  Despite being a small piece of the mythology, these two skeletons received a lot of speculation over the years and thanks to the introduction of time travel the idea that it could be characters in the present became an inviting possibility.  Fans drew to Carlton Cuse’s claim that those skeletons were proof that there was a plan all along.  This outcome probably wasn’t what they were expecting: a character that’s never been mentioned before and a person’s human form who we didn’t actually meet until the last season’s finale.  I’m not sure that’s something I would point to aside from Locke calling them “Adam & Eve” and them being the source so to speak of the Losties’ problems on the island.

“Across the Sea” is easily the most controversial Lost episode since “Expose”.  Is it as bad as the detractors say?  No.  It is odd to have a Damon & Carlton penned episode not be well received, though.  It is awkwardly put in at this late point in the game, which feels like they wanted to give the lead cast the week off to prepare for the final episodes.  The kid actors are a little clunky in the way a lot of kid actors are and Allison Janney, while a very talented actress, feels a little too modern to be playing this figure from ancient times (or that could be my associations with West Wing).  After seeing the next episode this episode is a little better, but like many of the disappointing episodes, the scope feels too big for one episode to do it justice, especially now when we’re going full speed to the finale.

Overall Score: 7/10

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Lost: Season 6, Episode 14 Review: The Candidate


The Candidate
Original Airdate: May 4, 2010
Writer: Elizabeth Sarnoff and Jim Galasso
Director: Jack Bender

It just got real.

They had to establish the high stakes for these final episodes, and they do so by wiping out three major characters who have been with the show since the Pilot, leaving only 10 survivors of 815 are still alive or unknown status, and only half will play any significant role in the finale.  If anyone was still in denial over this being the end going in, any trace of that has been sunken faster than that submarine, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

One of the most complicated relationships of the series has been between Jack and Locke.  They butted heads through most of the first four seasons, but after Jack left and Locke died, Jack reevaluated how he felt about John’s beliefs, sending him on he journey that leads him to embrace being a man of faith.  It’s a relationship that has worked far better than the triangle, which the writers seem to have given up on after fans kept saying how little they cared.  So it makes sense for them to share a centric episode as 815 Jack takes up Locke’s mantle while LA X Jack tries to fix Locke.

LA X Jack discovers that Locke’s original injury can possibly be reversed.  He goes to some extreme lengths to find out more, from stopping by Bernard’s dentist office and the rest home Cooper is living in, despite Helen’s wishes to the contrary.  The unstoppable force of Jack collides with the immovable object of Locke, who doesn’t want any operation because he feels guilty over the plane crash that paralyzed him and made his father a vegetable.  This spot on the timeline means that Cooper’s kidney con in the 90s never happened, as well as Locke’s defenestration.  LA X Locke’s desire for punishment mirrors 815 Jack’s various ways of beating himself up over his failures and while Jack is ready to accept many of those, Locke isn’t ready.

LA X Jack takes a step in the right direction by inviting Claire to stay with him.  I can’t imagine that’s an easy thing to do to accept the secret love child of your father into your life like she’s always been family, but seeing what Locke is putting himself through because he can’t let go and his father’s fate are Jack’s cautionary tales.

He also gets a few more “Hey you were on the plane too” from Claire and Bernard.  How is it that all the people who were on 815 remember the flight number a week after the flight?  I’ve only flown a few times and that was over a decade ago, but I don’t think that information would stay with most people beyond the terminal.

815 Jack faces “being with” Johnny as they prepare to take Sawyer and co. from Widmore’s custody, in the polar bear cages that Kate forgot how to escape from.  Although Jack is helping out with the rescue plans of everyone else, he remains adamant about refusing to leave the Island to the point of defiantly saying “John Locke told me I needed to stay” before shoving Johnny in the water.  Considering this episode’s development of Johnny character, he may have used that and waited long enough to draw out Widmore’s goons so they would shoot someone, making Jack betray his wishes to stay on the island for the sake of a friend.

The big part of the 815 timeline story is to reveal Johnny’s motivations and further showcase his ability as a master manipulator.  Finding the C4 on the plane bought him some goodwill, so much so that he tells them what he’s going to do to them and they don’t figure it out until it’s too late.  Obviously he took into account Sawyer’s ability to lie and want to split without him and took that into consideration with the homemade bomb.

Jack’s belief that the bomb wouldn’t kill them was probably right: Johnny couldn’t kill the Candidates directly, but he knew a thing or two about loopholes.  Tampering with the bomb takes it off his hands much like him handing Ben a knife allowed Ben to kill Jacob with it.  Unfortunately Sawyer has come into Jack’s former role, not trusting Jack to let the bomb timer go to zero.

Knowing the bomb would go off, Sayid runs off with the bomb as far as he can before it detonated.  Following “Sundown”, a lot of people thought Johnny “claimed” Sayid and was no longer the character we knew.  He stumbled through the rest of the season, saying he didn’t feel anything.  Then came the moment in “The Last Recruit” where he was tasked with dispatching Desmond, held in that not so deep well.  When it came to pulling the trigger, Desmond asked him if he could look his love in the eye after telling her what he did to bring her back.  Of course, Sayid didn’t pull the trigger (despite that cool, misleading trailer), and that ties into when they were on the Kahana and heard Michael’s similar story about how his deal backfired and cost him everything.  Sparing Desmond and later informing Jack of it before taking the bomb away from them is his redemption.  It wasn’t a grand sacrifice, but perhaps that makes it nobler.

No sooner do we say goodbye to Sayid then we get the heart crushing moment of the episode, the deaths of Sun & Jin.  After being apart for so long, fans wanted these two to have a happy ending (I even said so in a review posted 30 minutes before the episode aired.  Man, I need to be more punctual for the next show I review).  Killing them both makes these stakes real: people we’ve been following for years are gone, and now no one (except Hurley) is safe.

However, I agree with the major qualm with this otherwise heartbreaking scene: Jin not leaving the sub and deciding to die with Sun.  That’s pretty rough to orphan the daughter you have never met knowingly.  They say Ji Yeon is with Sun’s mother, but do we really want Ji Yeon raised in the culture her mobster grandfather lives in?  Not having your parents is tough enough, but that makes it even worse.  Maybe if Ji Yeon were a grown up it would be easier, but she’s still a toddler.  Did they do this confirm Sun was the Kwon candidate since Jin basically killed himself by staying behind?

Of the many deaths, the door getting revenge on Frank (the cage door he kicked earlier in the episode was this door’s father!) is an even less dignified exit than Ilana.  At least she’s confirmed dead.  Despite being a situation where he’s unlikely to survive, the producers haven’t acknowledged his death as they did Sayid, Sun & Jin’s.  Granted Frank hasn’t been around since the beginning, but could this lack of concern for his fate be symptomatic of how he is one of these characters like Ilana, Miles and I would now count Claire who the writers haven’t utilized well this season.

The four surviving members reach the shore, devastated both emotionally and physically.  It really hits home when Hurley breaks down.  The only one not sobbing is unconscious.  As said at the start, it just got real: some major cards were revealed and several key players didn’t make it to the end, and on top of that, we have Johnny leaving the bewildered and perpetually abandoned Claire to “finish what he started”.  Although the actual finale is 2 ½ hours long, like some people (like Battleship Pretension/Previously On... host David Bax) have said, it feels like it’s already here.

Overall Score: 9/10

Don’t Stop Believin’: Top 12 Favorite Finales of the Past 10 Years

This Sunday and Monday, two shows that have meant a lot to me in the past 10 years will take their final bows, Lost and 24.  Of course, final episodes carry a lot of high expectations, expectations that usually aren’t met.  Sometimes, and I’ve been seeing this in the Lost fandom, people expect it to be disappointing because they’ve been burned so many times before.  It’s not easy to make a satisfying resolution to a series fans have been following for years, but sometimes you get that ending that does everything right, even if it doesn’t get to finish the story they set out to tell.  It may lead to heated debates among the fans for years after it aired, or it may just put a period on the wonderful experience that is good TV, but regardless, they ended on a high note.  While I try to omit discussing elements I consider shocking, there are obvious SPOILERS, so you’ve been warned.



12. Prison Break, “Rate of Exchnage” & “Killing Your Number” (May 15, 2009) – This is a series finale far better than this show ever deserved.  It took its convoluted storyline, which was often so ridiculous it made 24 look like The Wire in terms of realism, and tied up the major loose ends and gave almost every major character closure.  There were two additional episodes that went straight to DVD, but this is more than enough.  It’s nice that even an average show can come up with a satisfying resolution.

11. The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien, (January 22, 2010) – Regardless of how Conan took being ousted in the late night war/NBC PR nightmare in private, he was 100% class on camera.  Instead of lamenting the loss of his job, something he knew no one wanted to hear in this economy, he reflected on a great chapter in his life which was now over and despite its ending was grateful for it.  Also his passionate speech to his young viewers to forsake futile cynicism, saying it’ll get you no where, is something viewers of all ages can learn from.

10. Freaks & Geeks, “Discos and Dragons” (July 8, 2000) – Freaks & Geeks the show was picked around by NBC much like the characters on the show were by bullies.  They threw it on Saturday night, moved it around, pulled episodes at the last minute for Dateline repeats and burnt off three episodes in the summer, leaving three other episodes for syndication.  Luckily, the writers were smart enough to craft this bittersweet finale.  It showed many of the characters growing a little bit, leaving the comfort of their social circles and figuring out who they are.  It left the door open for an interesting direction in the never made season two, but they knew this was it, and plays them out wonderfully to The Grateful Dead’s “Ripple”.

9. The Sopranos, “Made in America” (June 10, 2007) – One of the most controversial finales of all time, many people were ready for blood (or calling the cable company) when The Sopranos cut to black in 2007, but as time has gone on people have warmed up to this final chapter.  The Sopranos wasn’t a show interested in tying up lose ends, with some of the best episodes introducing things that may have only been mentioned in passing afterward, and this ending reflects that.  While many fans wanted to see whether Tony would get whacked or sent to jail, the ending shows that it doesn’t matter.  The series ends on the idea that Tony will always be looking over his shoulder for a police badge or hitman’s gun and never have a moment of peace because of his work and by not getting resolution, we feel it too.

8. Angel, “Not Fade Away” (May 19, 2004) – Another show suddenly canceled, fans tried to keep this show afloat, including trying to get a straight answer as to why the now defunct WB would axe one of its biggest hits.  You can see the writers were touched by this devotion, as Angel’s final (on screen) battle could symbolize the show’s fans refusing to give up.  Some were upset that the show ended without a definitive ending or pay off to the Shanshu mystery (the aftermath has been covered in comic tie ins), but like The Sopranos, this is fitting end for the show.  As touched upon, nothing he does will make up for the lives he took and evil can never be fully defeated.  Angel’s fight never ends, so why should the show portray it any other way.

7. The Wire, “–30–“ (March 9, 2008) – David Simon’s masterpiece didn’t have the final season many wanted, but its finale is so good it pardons Simon’s axe grinding of the Baltimore Sun and the state of modern news.  As the series ends, the circle of life continues in Baltimore, with people assuming the roles vacated by characters we’ve been following the past five seasons.  As Slim put it in an earlier episode, “Game’s same, just got more fierce.”  Some characters get redemption, and they aren’t necessarily the ones who deserve it.  It’s all true to David Simon’s vision.

6.  Carnivale, “New Canaan, CA” (March 27, 2005) – Yeah, Carnivale’s first season is a slog.  It runs at a snail’s pace even compared to other HBO shows, a network not known for break neck pacing.  However its second season makes up for it from the premiere and it doesn’t let down through this killer finale.  Whereas some shows knowing cancelation is eminent will craft a decent finale for the sake of closure, creator Daniel Knauf stuck to his original six season plan: there are some major showdowns, but major pieces are left open (What does Sofie being the Omega mean?)  It’s almost too awesome for its own good.

5. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, “Chosen” (May 20, 2003) – Although many fans argue the show ran two seasons too long, the final showdown between the Potentials, made into full Slayers, and The First’s army of Uber-vamps (you know, vampires that actually kill people) was not only an amazing battle, but it was a great culmination of the shows’ themes of feminism and the turmoil of growing up.  In the end, loses were had, but Buffy emerges victorious, ready to do whatever she wants as a fully realized adult.  The world needs more Buffys and fewer Bellas.

4. Arrested Development, “Development Arrested” (February 10, 2006) – Another show that knew it was coming for some time, AD must’ve had this “In case of cancelation” story ready.  It wrapped up most of the major storylines while continuing the great gags, call backs and wordplay.  It doesn’t even need the much discussed (and in all likelihood dead) film, it stands as a near perfect sitcom and a complete masterwork.

3. The Office, “Christmas Special” (December 26 & 27, 2003, UK airdate) – For a show known for being brutally uncomfortable & awkward, who knew they’d make a happy ending this touching?  After the second series kicked many of its leads to the ground, this special brings them up again.  Without resorting to something cheap like David Brent getting his job back or Dawn becoming a famous artist, it shows that finding happiness in everyday life can be as satisfying for the viewer as significant success.

2. Six Feet Under, “Everyone’s Waiting” (August 21, 2005) – It wasn’t always a smooth ride for one of the brightest stars of HBO’s golden age, but the finale made it worth sitting through the weak points (“That’s My Dog” anyone?  Thought not).  The emotional farewell to the Fishers is punctuated by a six minute montage to Sia’s “Breathe Me” as we get a look at the future of our main characters, including their inevitable deaths.  It’s an epilogue that had fans reaching for the tissues and one few will ever forget.  This could’ve easily been my number one.

1. The Shield, “Family Meeting” (November 28, 2008) – All TV series wish they could have a finale as satisfying as the brutal one-two punch of penultimate episode “Possible Kill Screen” & the finale “Family Meeting” of the flagship FX drama.  Like many of this decade’s great TV anti-heroes, fans had been speculating what would come of Detective Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis in the role of his career) and his Strike Team, and I don’t think anyone could’ve predicted this.  His fate, as well as those of the Strike Team & the other cops in the Barn, is appropriate, unexpected and makes for a superb capper to the show.  It’s fitting that the last five minutes are dialogue free, because fans were speechless after this aired.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Lost: Season 6, Episode 13 Review: The Last Recruit


The Last Recruit
Original Airdate: April 20, 2010
Writer: Paul Zbyszewski and Graham Roland
Director: Stephen Semel

In the start of the final third of the final season, this episode is all about setting that massive stage for the conflict that will determine not only the fates of our heroes and their enemies, but possibly of the world and existence in general.  So everything is in a pressure cooker, and while the end game is in effect, the plot is in such a hurry that some things don’t get the time they need and would’ve gotten earlier, which lets down the usually strong elements of the show.

Things are colliding more than ever in the flash sideways.  Desmond’s working his magic on helping Claire, and acting like a creepy stalker in the process.  He brings her to Ilana, a lawyer and not blown up, who in turn hosts the meeting between Claire and Jack, revealing that they are brother and sister.  It’s still awkward in this timeline.  Also awkward, the sudden chumminess between Jack and his formerly estranged son (yeah, they’re never going to tell us who the mother is, she’s worse than Ted Mosby’s future wife).

Elsewhere, in the time it took LA X Sayid to drive home the LAPD were notified of the shooting, identified the victims, found surveillance video of Sayid leaving the crime, identified Sayid, found out who he was staying with and arrived at the house.  That efficiency of time makes Jack Bauer look like a slacker.  Usually on Lost they’ve done a great job keeping the timelines consistent, not easy considering the past couple seasons, but here the chronology is all over the place.  It’s not just Sawyer and Miles using 24’s wormholes: Sun, who was shot the day after 815 landed, made it to the hospital at the same time as Locke, who was hit by Desmond a week afterward.

Regardless of the egregious time discrepancy, LA X Sun can safely be deemed to have timeline bleed over as well, recoiling in horror as she is being wheeled into the hospital along Locke, who may be experiencing something similar as well.  Even if the rest haven’t, the Losties are starting to recognize each other: Jack & Claire finding each other, Kate pointing out she ran into Sawyer at LAX and of course Jack discovering the emergency patient he’s operating on is Locke.  The irony is that such coincidences were often never discussed or noticed in the 815 timeline, but obviously these connections are far more important in this timeline than Easter eggs to attentive fans.

While still not in one place, the LA X Losties are being gathered into 3 places: the hospital, Ilana’s law office and the police station.  We have Desmond, who didn’t get busted for the hit and run, trying to assemble them, presumably in one place.  It’s a lot like the island storyline the past three seasons, as various chunks of the survivors go back and forth in various factions.  It doesn’t explain why Hurley isn’t around any of those places, but perhaps that motive will explain itself soon.

Back to the island and the 815 timeline, Jack has his sit down with Johnny, and sees the man he now believes get torn apart.  Johnny’s summation of Locke’s life, for a Locke fan, really hurt because it’s further insult to injury for a character who has been taken down as far as a character can go.  However, that Johnny would be so hateful seems like telegraphing an eventual redemption for Locke.  It could be through Jack, who is a clear believer now, but it doesn’t satisfy Locke’s character as well.

Johnny also says that he, as Christian, lead Jack to the caves back in the first season.  Despite his shoddy record with telling the truth, a lot of people believe it.  This reveal adds a new layer of debate for the post-mortem appearances of Christian, especially when he shows up in the same scene as Johnny.  It also recalls the final mobisode, where Christian encounters Vincent running around after the crash and tells the dog to find Jack.  With Johnny confirming that he can use the forms of the dead, much like The First on Buffy, he may have taken Vincent’s form assuming he stayed in 1977 and died in the interim 27 years.  Vincent in this scene could’ve been Smokey and in other moments where it appeared that something wasn’t right with that dog.  Regardless, it’s unlikely we’re going to get a definitive answer of which Christian is a ghost, Smokey or “other”, and I’m OK with that being a topic of never ending debate.

The morning after the Losties reunion, Zoe arrives at camp demanding the return of what Johnny took, i.e. Desmond.  Johnny doesn’t budge, not even when the heavy artillery comes knocking (that must’ve been really hard not to flinch, but if anyone could do it, it would be Terry O’Quinn).  As the conflict between Johnny and Widmore has come to a head, Sawyer gets the rest of the 815ers (sorry, Sayid, Cindy, Zack, Emma and briefly Claire) with Frank to take the Elizabeth to Hydra and leave the island via Widmore’s sub.  There’s some turbulence as Claire figures out they’re leaving without her, but Kate proves to be useful asking for forgiveness is what happened and the hope of them getting back together.

A geek sidebar: how is that Sawyer, who has referenced Star Wars on several occasions, wouldn’t get the Anakin reference?  He missed Episode III, which was released eight months after the crash, but all the hype behind the first two prequel movies would’ve gotten to him.  It’s not like Anakin turning evil was supposed to be some big twist.

Much like Kate trying to get Claire back to her son motivates her reaching out to Claire after Sawyer said she wasn’t invited, Jack feels his purpose in returning has not yet been fulfilled and literally jumps ship to return to the main island, despite heading right back to Johnny’s side.  His status as a man of faith has been growing a lot, and now it’s completed.  Listening to his dialogue, it sounds an awful lot like what Locke in the first season would say in this situation.  That said, there’s been discussion about being “with” Johnny and if that makes him “The Last Recruit”.  This episode title is pretty ambiguous regarding who it refers to and for what, but Jack is a likely candidate (little c), but is it really that easy to go on Johnny’s side just by talking to him?

After almost two seasons apart, Jin & Sun finally reunite and unfortunately, the moment falls short.  Besides the fact that a lot of people, including me, thought the fence was still on and their reunion would be undercut by them getting zapped (they do say to turn off the fence followed by the power down sound, but no one was paying attention to that), this is another symptom of the show’s pacing, and that’s a shame.  The reunion of these two should’ve been a bigger, but the story has to keep moving so it’s cut shorter than this moment deserved, not to mention Frank’s cheese ball line.

Despite being one the best episodes of Lost and TV in general, “The Constant” has sparked a conversation that has annoyed me to no end, a grievance I’m well aware is stupid and overblown like many nerd hang ups.  The overuse of the term constant (Kate is Sawyer’s constant, Sawyer is Juliet’s constant, etc.) when there’s no need for it to come up.  The constant idea makes sense in “The Constant” because Desmond finding his ends his suffering and saves his life.  Nobody except for Charlotte and Minkowski has been a situation like that.  However, using the constant argument for Sun & Jin, explaining how Sun’s aphasia going away when they reunite, is one of the few times where the constant element makes sense in the conversation.

The set end date and episodes has been largely good for the quality of the show, but I have to wonder if this season would’ve been better off with a couple more episodes so these problems with continuity and emotional beats wouldn’t be an issue.  Things are heading to its climax much quicker than the show usually travels.  Despite the story rushing at points, this episode does a good job setting up the big conflict.  I just wish it wasn’t at such a rush to get there because this is it.

Overall Score: 8/10

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Lost: Season 6, Episode 12 Review: Everybody Loves Hugo


Everybody Loves Hugo
Original Airdate: April 13, 2010
Writer: Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz
Director: Daniel Attias

Following last week’s game changer, the flash sideways story expands upon the notion of the timelines bleeding over each other.  Clearly that is a huge piece of the series’ end game.  Finally, the producers’ assurance that they were important to the story is coming to fruition, even if it’s unclear where it will go from here.  It also doesn’t hurt to have to focus be on Hurley who like Desmond, Locke & Ben, is pretty dependable to crank out a good episode.

LA X Hurley, never referred to as Hurley as far as I’ve noticed, mentioned in the premiere that he thought he was the luckiest guy on earth.  Chang, alive and with two arms (wonder if he recognized Hurley), introduces why his life is so good: his winning the lottery was the beginning of him becoming a fast food magnate and a philanthropist, establishing museum wings and centers for kids in need (LA X George Costanza is also good person as his “Human Fund” is mentioned).  However, much like LA X Desmond, he doesn’t have someone in his life except for his overbearing mother and like Desmond, an encounter with someone else sets the gears in motion.

The LA X world has a lot of wish fulfillment: Daniel gets to be a musician, Ben gets to see Alex be successful and the picnic Hurley and Libby never got is shared by their LA X counterparts.  Although Hurley and Libby’s relationship was short, when it’s brought up again it still elicits a strong response.  Of course, it helps that it so deeply affected the heart and soul of the show.  Seeing Hurley speaking at Libby’s grave, much like he did in “Tricia Tanaka Is Dead”, breaks our collective heart.  In LA X world, they get their second chance.  Cynthia Watros & Jorge Garcia have terrific chemistry.  Libby’s initial pain that Hurley doesn’t believe her is really well played, and sets up their kiss on the beach, which is disarmingly sweet.

With the emphasis of love last week, it makes sense that LA X Libby’s kiss brought Hurley flashes of their time together in the 815 world.  So extreme emotions, whether it is trauma or love, can bring about the flashes.  Some have also pointed out that those in the LA X world who first discovered it are dead in the 815 world (Charlie, Daniel & now Libby), and that probably is a deliberate choice.  In the master timeline, the closest we’ve come that is Juliet’s remark about “going Dutch” and possibly Sun’s aphasia.

It seems that LA X Desmond is some kind of matchmaker.  However, the rug is quickly pulled out as he stalks and eventually runs over Locke (great job on the stunts here).  This shocking twist has generated one popular and intriguing theory: Desmond wants to get everyone to the hospital.  Jack is there, Sun is heading there and now Locke is as well.  It doesn’t explain why Hurley and Libby don’t wind up there, but that may be explained later.  What Desmond plan is is still unclear: how exactly does someone unite timelines, but this development is a sign that Desmond is going to extremes to make sure his plan works.  The way Locke is splayed on the concrete, looking like 815 Locke in “The Incident” following his fall, had to be deliberate.

In the main timeline, the plan to destroy the plane and keep Johnny from leaving hits a snag when Michael’s ghost shows up warning Hurley that if they succeed everyone dies.  With the island spirits working to keep Johnny at bay, I wonder why they would send Michael, the man responsible for Libby’s death and Hurley’s broken heart to convince Hurley.  This may tie into an answer to one of the long standing mysteries.

Checking a major mystery off the list, the whispers are explained as the whispers of the dead who haven’t moved on.  For some reason, Hurley’s been able to tune in to this frequency more sharply than the rest.  This is the writers’ way of having their cake and eating it too.  They frequently debunked the idea that the island is purgatory countless times, but it turns out it is for the people who died there, not those alive.

This explanation works for me: Michael’s story didn’t get a good resolution for a character around since the Pilot.  Besides the lack of closure with Walt (something that sadly seems unlikely to be resolved in the series), the redemption he got didn’t seem enough to make up for his crimes.  This answer adds a twist to Christian’s “You can go now” message before the bomb went off on the Kahana.  Now it reads like “Nice try, but you failed.”  Helping Hurley defeat Johnny can be that redemption.

Also, why doesn’t he say anything being about sorry for killing Ana-Lucia?  Did she deserve it?  Her death wasn’t a punitive measure for her crimes, but to facilitate Ben’s escape.  The writers have said killing off Libby was to give Michael’s betrayal more emotional impact since Ana-Lucia didn’t go off well with viewers, but that attitude shouldn’t boil over to the on screen stuff.

Then comes the first explosive (get it?) twist when Ilana goes up.  So what was the purpose of her anyway?  They introduce her early in season five, hint that she is important to the plot, then Arzt her before she does anything significant.  What did she do that couldn’t have been fulfilled by Richard, Ben or another character?  Ilana, like Miles & Frank, was a character the writers didn’t know what to do with this season.  This is sometimes a problem with ensembles as large as Lost’s, and usually they do a better job, but in Ilana’s case, they ran out of time and couldn’t give her character much besides a glorious exit.  Nikki & Paolo had a better arc than this.  This is like an Austin Powers joke: giving a red shirt a background (or the promise of one) and killing them off abruptly.  Once the initial shock wore out, the disappointment set in.

Her death motivates Richard to destroy the plane despite Hurley doing everything, including blow up the Black Rock and its supply of dynamite, to stop him.  In the flaming wreckage, Hurley’s growing position of leadership is put to the test.  Ultimately Hurley betrays his moral compass and refusal to deny a lie by playing the “Jacob only I can see tells me” card.  Richard calls his bluff, and leads to Team Jacob splitting with Richard, Ben & Miles heading to Dharmaville as possible x-factors and Hurley, Jack, Sun and a doubting Frank heading to Johnny’s camp to negotiate.  Here’s another test for Hurley as a leader: having a bad hand and having to play it anyway.

Not doing as much leading is Jack, whose character has improved a lot since the heartsick mopster at the end of season five.  He’s accepted that unfortunately nothing he does can make up for the fact that the Jughead mission got Juliet killed, but is willing to let go of his messiah complex, one thing that’s made liking Jack difficult.  Of course, no one in the 815 timeline save Desmond has a clue of the LA X universe, which may change his attitude when they collide.

At Johnny’s camp, more cracks form in his resolve with the return of the apparitions and Desmond’s arrival.  It’s hard to gauge what Desmond is thinking, but he is unusually calm considering the circumstances.  No doubt the trip to LA X world affected him, but what is his plan besides survive the fall down the well?  Whatever it is, Desmond is a threat to Johnny, presumably because of his second electromagnetic blast, who decides to throw him down the well.  Despite that, he gets three of the candidates in his camp when Hurley’s crew arrives.  Sun’s looking for the absent Jin, Frank is still wondering if he chose the right side and Jack facing the big bad using the disguise of the man he regrets not listening to.

Going into the final third of the season and final 6 hours, things for the big showdown are falling into place.  Unfortunately some things are rushed, but the sweetness of the love story and the escalating flash sideways work.  In the final episodes, there’s a lot of ground to cover and little time for it.  Let’s hope the big things are handled better than dynamite in Ilana’s care.

Overall Score: 8/10

Saturday, May 08, 2010

Lost: Season 6, Episode 11 Review: Happily Ever After

Happily Ever After
Original Airdate: April 6, 2010
Writer: Damon Lindelof & Carlton Cuse
Director: Jack Bender

The season’s most controversial element has been the flash sideways storyline.  As the series heads to its climax, many fans (including myself) who stuck with the show during the slower moments in seasons two and three were scratching our heads wondering what was the point.  Despite the producers’ advising us to take it as seriously as the main timeline, it was hard to as this storyline was completely divorced of the main story and for all intents and purposes, it was another show.  While some of the episodes played out their flash sideways well (The Substitute, Dr. Linus), it didn’t change the idea that it didn’t affect what was happening in the storyline we’ve been following since the beginning.  Then comes this episode, which gives this storyline much needed direction and perspective.

Picking up shortly after the end of “The Package”, Desmond comes out of his drugged out fog to find out he is back on the island, a place he made abundantly clear he never wanted to go to ever again despite Hawking’s warnings.  Needless to say, he does not take it well, and is combative until the moment the energy envelops him.  Henry Ian Cusick, as he does in every centric episode he’s had, shines here.  When he finds out he’s back, his face twitches just so that is really impressive.

Widmore reveals a little about why he brought Desmond back to the Island.  He’s the only person known to survive a cataclysmic electromagnetic event (less can be said about that unfortunate tech caught in the wrong place when the power switch was flipped) and this test is apparently of the utmost importance in bringing down Johnny.  With Widmore’s experiments, I wonder how much of Desmond’s condition Widmore knows about.  Did he expect Desmond to be propelled into the flash sideways world?

After the test is done, Widmore says Desmond will have to make a “sacrifice” for the sake of everyone else.  I think we all hope this sacrifice doesn’t mean he will be forever separated from Penny.  With the dark nature this season, fans have assumed the worst despite not knowing what Widmore wants Desmond to do.  With Locke dead, Desmond has assumed the role of the Job figure of Lost.  He’s had so much bad fortune, that another sacrifice is pretty insulting.

The blast sends him to the flash sideways timeline, effectively disproving the theory that the flash sideways are the epilogues for the characters.  This theory never sounded good for a satisfying conclusion; perhaps the episode title is a possible dig at that theory.  Even if the writers still insist on not calling it one, it is an alternate reality.

LA X Desmond, who was on the plane after all, turns to be a successful businessman and right hand man to Charles Widmore, here a good friend despite never meeting Widmore’s wife, son and daughter.  However, as soon pointed out, something is clearly missing: he has never been in love.  Despite 815 Desmond stumbling through his life, his stint in jail (guess we’ll never know how he got there), spending three years in isolation in The Swan and being continually thumbed at by Charles Widmore for being poor, he always had his love for Penny to make everything OK.  So when the timelines begin to bleed over, getting that blast of “spectacular, consciousness-altering love” gives him a mission he probably never felt in this timeline.

Perhaps this is retcon for the sake of correcting a prop error, but LA X Minkowski points out that Desmond doesn’t have a wedding ring on.  Many fans noted he had one on in “LA X” and speculated on who the wife was, whether it was Penny, Ruth or someone else.  It turns out it was just an error and in all likelihood Cusick’s wedding ring.  This is just another humbling moment that some stuff fans speculate on for hours is some mistake.

It’s appropriate that LA X Minkowski, who can get Desmond anything he needs, whether it’s seats at a fancy restaurant, flight manifests or compensated female company, be the one to help Desmond on his journey, as their 815 interactions in “The Constant” were important to Desmond’s quest to find his constant.  It’s also nice to see Academy Award winner Fisher Stevens back on the show.

LA X Widmore puts Desmond on the task of babysitting the strung out Charlie, who wound up in jail for the heroin in “LA X”, a task that seems beneath Desmond’s status if not for the importance of Charlie to Daniel.  Here Charlie’s insights into what happened to him not only set the foundation for Desmond’s story, but illuminate something about the flash sideways and their nature.

As he choked on the bag of heroin, LA X Charlie had a vision, presumably Claire, and realized that he was in love with her, despite having no recollection of her.  To convince Desmond that it is real, he takes the wheel of the car Desmond is driving and plunges it into a nearby harbor.  As Desmond saves Charlie, he sees 815 Charlie’s hand with “Not Penny’s Boat” written on it.  So trauma and heavy magnetism can cause flashes of the 815 world.  This could explain why 815 Sun can’t speak English after hitting her head.  Seeing “Not Penny’s Boat” was the first crack, but when LA X Desmond gets the MRI, with the flashes of his life with Penny and how that love shaped 815 Desmond’s life, the dam is destroyed.  Now he has a quest: find Penny and who she is.

Fortunately for Desmond, his boss’ wife and son shed some light on the situation.  When Desmond overhears Penny’ name on the guest list at the concert Drive Shaft was planning with Daniel, LA X Eloise (Widmore) intervenes.  She claims what Desmond is doing is a “violation”.  LA X Eloise is a special case among the LA X universe since, because Jughead’s detonation split the timelines, she still has the memories leading up to it.  She may be a similar “temporal policeman” that she was in the other reality (I wonder if either Eloise knows which timeline is supposed to be correct), assuming Daniel’s notebook remained after Jack’s plan worked.  Calling it a “violation” is telling.

Although turned away by Eloise, he is stopped by Daniel (thankfully not showing him earlier wasn’t because they couldn’t get Jeremy Davies so they got an extra to wear a wig).  LA X Daniel has lived a life pursuing music as 815 Daniel wanted to had his mother not interfered, but he too is experiencing timeline bleed over, scribbling advanced physics equations only 815 Daniel would understand.  He believes that their timeline may be wrong and that his counterpart did something to change it.

LA X Daniel also points him in the direction of Penny, his half sister.  Making that connection, he returns to the 815 timeline.  Unlike other Desmond episodes where his consciousness jumps around the timeline like “Flashes Before Your Eyes” and “The Constant”, it’s not clear how aware 815 Desmond was of what happened to LA X Desmond since LA X Desmond didn’t react unusually as 815 Desmond did in those episodes, but it’s clear LA X Desmond knows something and wants to show the passengers of 815 something.  What that means is up for debate, but he clearly knows something about the shared fate 815 Desmond had with the rest of the plane.  Of course, that doesn’t mean he’s going to be rounding up Nikki & Paolo, but it is taking the flash sideways to an interesting place.

As 815 Desmond prepares for the next step in Widmore’s mission, Sayid ambushes them, leaves Zoe to tell the tale and takes Desmond to Johnny’s group.  Obviously Johnny has some seriously good senses to realize Desmond is there, and that he is a clear and present danger to him, more important than grabbing back Jin.

This episode was a great, vital turning point in the season.  It took an element that was questionable in its usefulness in a series’ final hours and made it relevant to the story.  While it’s unknown what plans LA X Desmond has and I’m worried about how well this storyline will be pulled off, it’s a step in the right direction.  Despite it rewarding our patience, I still wish this happened earlier.

Overall Score: 9/10

Tuesday, May 04, 2010

Lost: Season 6, Episode 10 Review: The Package

As if I needed another reason to hate V.

The Package

Original Airdate: March 30, 2010
Writer: Paul Zbyszewski and Graham Roland
Director: Paul Edwards

One of the first interesting choices in the flash sideways was the twist in “Sundown” where Jin is found bound and gagged in the restaurant freezer by Sayid after mowing down a room full of thugs.  It raised speculation like the best past interactions in flashbacks/forwards.  Unfortunately, there wasn’t much in the way of shocking details of how they got there, but it seems like things are heading somewhere beyond whose lives are better and whose are worse with the second half underway.

Among the expected answers, it’s revealed that LA X Sun & Jin aren’t married, but Jin is still working for her father, and that they are carrying their affair in secret.  Sun still plans on running away, only in the LA X world she’s doing it so they can be together in America.  Jin has no such plans, and is worried that someone will spot them together, altering the context behind him being upset over Sun’s undone top button from possessive to paranoid.

Their brief bliss doesn’t last long, as Keamy Walken comes asking for the money customs confiscated.  Since they don’t have it, Jin is taken as collateral while master translator LA X Mikhail (who has two eyes for most of the episode) takes Sun to the bank, only to find Mr. Paik covered his bases by freezing her getaway money.

Like Sawyer’s flash sideways in “Recon”, Sun & Jin’s ends openly where Sun gets shot and reveals she’s pregnant.  While I criticized Sawyer’s story for feeling incomplete, this one doesn’t have the problems of a busy storyline like “Recon”.  It’s simple: wackiness ensues when they don’t have Keamy’s money instead of cramming too many elements of back story into a short segment.

Through the parallel Jin & Sun story, the themes of fate vs. free will are the forefront again.  There is LA X Keamy arguing that LA X Jin & Sun “just aren’t meant to be together”.  However, Jack has the slightly goofy “stubborn tomato” argument.  Ultimately I think the show wants to have the individual triumph with choice rather than submit to the will of the universe because most people want Jin & Sun to have a happy ending.

In the 815 universe, Johnny leaves on an errand, presumably to recruit Sun for his mission, which leaves the remaining followers vulnerable to Widmore’s nerds (they finally acknowledge that Widmore didn’t hire mercenaries, but scientists, for this mission).  Who in turn take Jin, claiming his knowledge of possible locations of electromagnetism could be valuable.  This act is the next step in the escalating war, which Johnny formally declares when he meets with Widmore.

A few more details about Johnny are revealed: while he can travel from Hydra Island to the main island in Locke’s form, he can’t float over in the Smoke Monster form.  This could help to explain the mud sink Ben used to “summon” the Smoke Monster in “The Shape of Things to Come”.  Perhaps that water was blocking Smokey’s route to Dharmaville and they had to wait until Smokey happened to come by.

Johnny’s plan about the candidates also gets out, which doesn’t sit well with his first follower Claire.  Even though he tries to pacify her by washing his hands of anything she may do to Kate once all six candidates are under his command, the cracks are becoming more obvious in his leadership.  Claire also could be shaping up to be a Trashcan Man figure here, a character from the stand who is spurned by their Man in Black.

Sayid reveals a little more to his resurrection, as he no longer feels any emotion.  If Sayid is truly “claimed”, like Dogen said, this condition is different from Claire’s, who Dogen said suffered from the same affliction.  Compared to Sayid, Claire is overrun with emotion where she makes Rousseau look normal.  Johnny suggest that may be good for what’s to come, and sends him on a counter mission in Widmore’s camp.

Elsewhere at the beach camp, a lot of people criticized Sun’s aphasia for being too much like a soap opera or Gilligan’s Island.  Honestly, I would’ve been fine with the idea that “the island” is stopping her from speaking English.  Later episodes hint that there may be something to explain her aphasia, but this device is so overused in soaps that it borders on parody and even though there are some good moments here, they don’t quite sell it enough for this concept to work.

The big emotional moment of the episode was Jin seeing the pictures of Ji Yeon, the first time he’s ever seen her.  I echo the sentiment that Sun & Jin’s separation is stretching a little thin, not having the benefit of being a background element of a long term story.  Sun has been even compared negatively to Michael in season two.  However, this was a satisfying tease.

Widmore’s mission, surprisingly, turns out to be in support of keeping Johnny from leaving the island.  With Widmore seemingly helping Locke get on the path to getting killed and Bram’s warning that Widmore was on the wrong side, that he changed sides is interesting.  It could be a case of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”, and I usually enjoy the dynamic of mortal enemies working together to topple a worse adversary.  It could also be misdirection and he’ll turn evil in the end.

Then there’s the ham fisted reveal that the package is none other than Desmond, last seen in a hospital last season in this time line.  From Sawyer pointing out the locked room in “Recon” to Widmore saying the package was a “who” not a “what” to the desire to learn about the electromagnetic pockets, who else was it going to be besides maybe Walt?  It was so obvious that people in denial insist that there must be another twist in there.  Luckily this mystery didn’t last more than a few episodes, which makes it easy to forgive.

For the inevitable tell all on Lost someone’s going to write either when the money runs out or to cash in on the Lost dollar, certainly something’s going to be written about Henry Ian Cusick.  Despite being a credited lead character, he has been in only a handful of episodes since the first third of season five, and didn’t even play a part in the finale.  It’s hard to see this prolonged absence and not think it has something to do with his legal trouble, much like people who got DUIs and whose characters were killed off shortly afterward.  Why keep on an actor as a lead, where he gets paid regardless of whether he appears, when you can have him be a recurring guest star?  It feels very odd.  I don’t want this to turn too tabloid: I’ve never met either party involved in the legal scuffle and I don’t know whose side is correct, that’s why I haven’t mentioned it until now.  Any future mention of this will only be used in context of a review of an episode.

Overall this episode is an average entry.  It had a few decent elements like Keamy showing up one more time, but there were also awkward moments like the aphasia part, Miles acting as he would’ve when he first got on the island and the unsurprising reveal of how Jin wound up in that freezer.  However, the flash sideways are picking up steam, becoming more than just a sidebar in the season.

Overall Score: 7/10