Lost: Season Finale Early Review
Wow. I don't even know where to begin. First I've never written a teaser for a review before, but this episode clearly deserves one, and it'll probably be a while before my review for the final two parts goes live.
Although the season may have ended officially May 22nd, it didn't really end until the two part finale of the best season of "Lost" yet aired. "There's No Place Like Home Parts 2 & 3" had just about everything you could ask for. Some great action sequences (Sayid and Keamy's epic fight), long awaited answers (Locke is the man in the coffin after all), added bodies (RIP Keamy, Michael, Jin (?) and Locke (who may be pulling a Christian)), romance (Desmond & Penny at last!) and the mystery that "Lost" expertly pulls off. There were so many cheers, gasps and one major tearjerker. By the end I was exhausted in the best way possible. This is the early leader of my favorite episode for 2008 (Ball's in your court "Battlestar Galactica").
It'll probably be a while before the review goes online, since this episode demands several rewatchings and will likely be longer than any review previously, dethroning my review of last season's finale, the current title holder. But this has priority over my retro reviews I promise at least that.
For a TV season that was filled with several lows, mainly the writer's strike cutting down many shows' orders and benching several favorites ("24") or several favorites underperforming ("The Wire", "The Office" & "Heroes"), this season stood out even more. The shortened season, added to the knowledge of the show's end date, made the writing tighter with fewer "filler" moments. This episode is a perfect example of that: luckily there were commercials to catch my breath and scoot back from the edge of my seat.
If my initial judgment stands, this season will end with an average of 8.57, a tremendous achievement that few shows will likely touch. Put that in perspective, the other show I reviewed this season, "Heroes", ended its mediocre second season just above dead average at 7.09. Not to mention 3 episodes got the coveted "Perfect 10" score. This episode cemented this season as the best yet and one of the best seasons of television in recent memory.
Preliminary score: 10/10
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Digg thisLive From New Hampshire, It's Matt's SNL Season One Review (2/2)
Obviously with a show known to be a launching pad for a lot of talent, the old episodes are a time capsule of great talents just as they were starting. In this first season we have the main cast, most of whom had some success after they left the show. Comedic guest talent included Billy Crystal (who went by Bill Crystal in the episode) & Al Franken, who mainly wrote in the first five years, later appearing on camera after Lorne Michaels resumed producer duties in 1985. In addition, there is the in house band lead by Howard Shore, who would go on to work with Peter Jackson, Cronenberg and Scorsese among others. Paul Shaffer, a few years away from Letterman's debut, also worked on the show's first season.
One of the more absurd newcomers of the first season was Andy Kaufman, a few years before he starred in Taxi. Even casual viewers of his work (or if you just saw Man in the Moon) know his trademark absurdist humor. The concept of his sketches was simple: lip synching to old children songs. However, the presentation is hilarious, from having several volunteers from the audience lip synch to "Old McDonald" to him awkwardly awaiting the phrase "Here I come to save the day" in the clas sic "Mighty Mouse" bit. I'm not sure SNL today would be as daring to allow someone like this on now, but back when they had nothing to lose, you see a lot more experimentation.
Video: Andy Kaufman's "Mighty Mouse" routine http://youtube.com/watch?v=AHG9jp6s1OI
Much like today, short films are a big part of the show. The early episodes featured shorts directed by then unknown Albert Brooks, who left the series to pursue Hollywood filmmaking (Taxi Driver, which he co-starred in, premiered a month after his last short aired). The rest of the season Gary Weis took over, and the films turned to documentaries of unusual people. While I only found Brooks' films moderately amusing and Weis' dull, the concepts were unusual, which I can respect. Today the digital shorts are the big reason why people are saying SNL is funny again. If they replaced "Lazy Sunday", "D*** In a Box" and "Iran (So Far Away)" with these shorts, I doubt people would take notice or watch it millions of times on YouTube.
Early in the season they announced a "contest", where viewers could send in their own short films with the possibility of them being aired. Such a concept couldn't be done today with SNL's institutional status on TV, but since they were just getting media attention, that was OK. The biggest contribution of these shorts was one, made for around $20, featuring a clay man named Mr. Bill. I never knew he was brought on the show as a part of a "contest", but that is another joy of seeing these old episodes: you see the origins of the sketches that have become pop culture staples.
Video: Mr. Bill http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/index.shtml#mea=32837
One recurring segment involved a more adult version of Jim Henson's Muppets. These stand out as possibly the worst recurring segment of the first season. Every time Don Pardo mentioned them I rolled my eyes a little bit. It just doesn't fit the rest of the show. Who exactly were these sketches made for? While drug humor was a big part of the early episodes, I'd expect someone to be ridiculously high to chuckle during one of these. The Land of Gorch set was destroyed mid-season, as if that wasn't a strong enough indicator of where they were going. Luckily, the following TV season they got their act together for The Muppet Show, one of my favorites growing up.
Topical humor is ubiquitous today, from The Daily Show & The Colbert Report to The Onion, that it's easy to forget that it wasn't always this way. The 60s started that as The Smothers Brothers referenced Vietnam and Laugh In featured then candidate Richard Nixon (SNL would have Gerald Ford deliver the "Live from New York" line, ironically on pretape, when Ron Nessen hosted). SNL, whose cast grew up during that turbulent time, features political humor a lot, especially in the long running "Weekend Update" sketch, and the first season is no exception. It's interesting to watch historically (especially when they talk about future presidents Carter, Reagan and Bush 41, then the head of the CIA), but as someone who wasn't around for week-by-week coverage of the news then, only the big names resonate, making some of the material dated, or at least hard to understand out of context.
One of Chase's first big recurring character was of then President Ford, using a lot of physical comedy to mock Ford's clumsiness. This impersonation is noteworthy for one big reason: it wasn't an impersonation at all. Chevy Chase didn't wear any special make up or speak as Ford did. They made no attempt to make the audience believe he was Ford. If anyone tried that today they'd be accused of being lazy. Aykroyd's impersonation of Nixon in the memorable "Last Days of Nixon" sketch as well as Jimmy Carter showed an increased effort in impersonation.
Video: Chevy's first Ford sketch http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/index.shtml#mea=29150
In addition to politics, drug culture influenced SNL. Considering everyone back stage was smoking pot, it had to have been the subject for sketches. Two highlights involved Chevy Chase. The first had him trying to inject a joint into his arm like a syringe and the other was him as President Ford trying to roll a joint and failing miserably. The first one is more goofy humor, but both bear a subtext of the older generation's lack of understanding for how drugs worked.
As mentioned regarding Garrett Morris, race issues weren't covered as much as other topics. However, when Richard Pryor hosted things were different. Race plays a vital part in one of the first season's most memorable sketches. In it, an interviewer (Chase) plays word association with Pryor, eventually degenerating in Chase and Pryor exchanging increasingly offensive ethnic slurs at each other. Pryor's punch line is absolutely hilarious.
Video: Word Association Sketch (NSFW) http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/index.shtml#mea=29157
An unusual recurring segment involved on set plugs for Polaroid cameras. This is something that was common on TV in the fifties, but I'm not sure how often they did this in the mid-70s. It comes in contrast to the iconoclastic attitude of the cast, but somehow they made it work, even when their input was minimal (like when John Belushi and Jane Curtain switched names).
Pop culture played a big part in the early episodes as it does now. Of those sketches, "Land shark" stands out. Spoofing the success of Jaws, which had just come out the previous summer, the sketches have a shark devouring women by knocking on their apartment door, pretending to be delivering a candygram. If it needs to be repeated, they were smoking a lot of pot around that time.
Admittedly, I skipped over about half of the musical guests performances, consisting of forgettable one hit wonders. However, there are some great musical performances. In addition to Paul Simon and Belushi's Joe Cocker impression, we also had the second episode, which was in a way a mini Simon & Garfunkel reunion, with them playing favorites "The Boxer" and "Scarborough Fair". Loudon Wainright III appeared early in the season, offering some oddly amusing songs satirizing the country's bicentennial. In a later episode, reggae legend Jimmy Cliff performed the clas sic "The Harder They Come", one of the songs credited for ushering in reggae music to the main stream.
Two of my favorites come from opposite sides of the spectrum. Desi Arnaz, who seems like the unlikeliest of hosts during this first season, performed (with son Desi Jr.) with the passion he had back when I Love Lucy was still on the air. He played two songs, "Cuban Pete" and his trademark "Babalu". The cast and crew did a conga line through the studio to close the episode. His enthusiasm made that episode really fun to watch, and I can imagine the party must've continued well after that curtain call.
My favorite musical guest came when President Ford's press secretary Ron Nessen hosted. The musical guest: Patti Smith. While she is deservedly a legend and trendsetter, this performance came shortly after her debut "Horses" was released. This was one of the first tastes mainstream America had of punk (a week after this episode, The Ramones debut album would be released). In the episode she performs her interpretation of "Gloria" and her cover of "My Generation". While not as revelatory as The Beatles on Ed Sullivan, it's another great historical moment in music.
Music also became the foundation for several sketches. One of Belushi's memorable first season sketches was a recurring bit involving Beethoven, in a fit of writer's block, churning out Motown and R&B singles. In addition, song lyrics would be dropped into the dialogue, or it would turn into a musical segment, such as the one where a PI (John Belushi) and his client (Madeline Kahn) begin incorporating "I Will Follow Him" into the conversation. Another sketch, involving Kahn, was a cover of "I Feel Pretty" (from West Side Story), sung by the Bride of Frankenstein (Kahn, in her Young Frankenstein wig). When Kahn passed away in 1999, SNL used this segment as an obituary for her.
The biggest music moment was the one that never happened. One week after Patti Smith, Lorne Michaels appeared on air asking The Beatles to reunite on the show. Due to budgetary constraints, as Michaels explains, NBC can only offer the Fab Four $3000, which I believe is still the standard fee for musical guests thirty-two years later. "If you want to give Ringo less, that's up to you." Lennon and McCartney were close enough to the studio on the night it aired to get there and perform before the show ended. Sadly, it's one of the great musical "What ifs". There's something about the impossible task of reuniting the biggest musical act of all time with the rag tag budget of a late night comedy show, with a child like belief that it's possible, that serves as a microcosm for the era.
While the first season of SNL wasn't the knock out I expected, it's still a worth it to see it as a piece of pop culture history. It's great to see a time when SNL wasn't the institution it is today, as it offers some perspective as to where the series would go in over three decades and 600 episodes. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing the other episodes from this first era, as many clas sic moments are to come: The Coneheads & Blues Brothers hadn't been introduced; Jane Curtin wasn't an ignorant s*** yet; Elvis Costello hasn't appeared and ignored the producers' song choice; and Bill Murray and SNL Host MVP Steve Martin have come on board either. I've always heard about how the cast developed over the first four years, eventually I want to see where they go from this first season foundation.
Posted by ticktock24, 01/26/2008 9:06am 0 Comments
Live From New Hampshire, It's Matt's SNL Season One Review (1/2)
When news broke that the first season of Saturday Night Live would be released on DVD, I was really excited. I've been a fan of SNL for a long time (even sitting through some of the bad eras), but wasn't even born when it premiered, much less seen those early episodes. I'd always heard good things about the early seasons of SNL ("when it was funny" to those who remember seeing them when they first aired). Unfortunately repeats on Comedy Central, where they ran until 2003, rarely showed anything before the mid-80s and I doubt E! has even shown anything before 2000 lately. DVD releases were limited to nothing but "Best of" compilations. At last SNL fans that've never seen the complete episodes could.
I got the set for Christmas 2006. Unfortunately the first two episodes didn't blow me away, and I left the set unwatched for almost a year. With the writers' strike in its third month, prime time offerings have become increasingly scarce, so like many viewers, I've turned back to DVDs. While it wasn't as funny as I was hoping, it still offers an interesting glimpse into a TV institution as it was just getting started.
I won't bore you with excessive background and history, instead I recommend you check out "Live From New York", a retrospective featuring every living participant on SNL (with the notable exception being Eddie Murphy) through the early 2000s. They do a better job than I could. However, I will bring up pieces that show just how much SNL has changed since 1975.
On the most superficial level, we can start by the title. Instead of Saturday Night Live or SNL, the show was called NBC's Saturday Night, so as not to interfere with a similarly named show Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell (which starred future SNL cast member Bill Murray). That SNL didn't last a season, but NBC's Saturday Night couldn't use the title until the second season.
Filming the show in New York City was also a risk at the time. While NYC has become tourist friendly, in the 70s the city was known for urban decay and corruption. Surprisingly the state of New York isn't mentioned often in the first season outside of current events on Weekend Update. Two days before the season wrapped, David Berkowitz (Son of Sam) murdered his first victim. A year later New York was plunged in a devastating blackout. The state of the city played center stage when Dick Cavett hosted. Using the Thorton Wilder play "Our Town" as a template, Cavett spoke about the degenerating conditions of the city. While not particularly funny, the satirical edge still carries potency.
While the quality of SNL can be hit or miss, their structure for episodes has remained untouched for decades. This is what makes the first two episodes interesting to watch. The episodes involved little of the "Not Ready for Prime Time" players, but rather emphasized the guest host. Sketches involving the cast seem like they were thrown in as an afterthought. You could call these episodes "The (Guest Host) Show" and it would've been the same. George Carlin did nothing but his stand up routines, not even appearing in one sketch. Paul Simon did slightly more, appearing with the bees at the end, but overall he just performed his music.
It isn't until the third episode, hosted by Rob Reiner, where the series formula begins to take shape. Since he was best known for playing Meathead on "All in the Family" when this aired, he didn't have much in the way of special segments for him besides the monologue, so he had to perform in sketches.
The cast was also starting to step up. Musical guest Joe Cocker didn't show for some reason (or maybe they never booked him in the first place), so John Belushi, who impersonated Cocker in his act, filled in his place. The resulting performance of Cocker's version of The Beatles' "With a Little Help From My Friends" is an almost perfect impersonation, down to Cocker's singing and bizarre mannerisms.
Video: John Belushi's performance "With A Little Help From My Friends" http://www.heavy.com/video/4821
No discussion of the first season would be complete without discussing its breakout star, Chevy Chase. Without knowing any background information or context, it wouldn't be an off to assume that this show was meant as a star vehicle for him. He appeared in most sketches, or played the lead more often. He delivered the opening line "Live from New York" in all but two of these episodes. The cold opens, instead of being sketches, were mainly an excuse for Chevy to get in one of his trademark falls before saying the introduction. To tailor the cold opens exclusively to one performer would never happen today.
The character Chevy is a self-absorbed jerk whose trademark line during Weekend Update was "I'm Chevy Chase and you're not". Unfortunately it seems like his personality wasn't far from his character. His bad behavior through the years, including the infamous and insensitive comments he made to Terry Sweeney that got him banned from hosting for over a decade, has had a huge impact on how these episodes are seen now. Back in the 70s, it could be assumed that he was playing a character. Now it seems as if that was really just playing himself.
Like Chase, it's hard to see these performers without thinking about where they went afterward. As hard as it is to believe, there was a time when Dan Aykroyd was one of the coolest guys around. While his hipster cred expired some time ago, on the show, he's really good. His forte on the show was playing the spokesperson for questionable products, notably the Super Bass-O-Matic 76, which was really just a blender used to puree fish into a liquid.Video: Super Bass O Matic 76 http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/index.shtml#mea=2348
Larraine Newman was possibly the most featured of the female cast in this season, as she had a knack for voices. She often played the serious correspondent in Weekend Update and sold it with that serious tone. On the opposite side, she spoke like a valley girl years before everyone else was. In a bizarre piece, Newman, as Shirley Temple, brought piece to a warring African nation with the help of a tap dance routine. While she never became a big star, likely due to behind the scenes troubles she faced early on SNL, she eventually became a prolific voice actress.
Judging by the Live From New York book, Jane Curtin was the most grounded of the original cast, preferring to go home to her husband rather than the after party when the show wrapped. This is where her typical character, a modest woman caught in ridiculous circumstances, is drawn from. Perhaps this is why she doesn't stand out as much as she will later on during the Weekend Update debates with Dan Aykroyd in season two. Whether this is a result of Chase's exit I have yet to see.
The first "the black guy on SNL" was Garrett Morris. His sense of humor tended to sway more towards Redd Fox than Richard Pryor, at least in the way he carried himself. This leads to the discussion of race on SNL. Rarely is there more than one black cast member, and they can get lost in the shuffle. Race tends not to be covered as often as sex or drugs on SNL, leaving other sketch comedy shows like In Living Color or Chappelle's Show to pick up the slack. That seems to have died down, especially in future cycles when Eddie Murphy carried the show on his back and today with Maya Rudolph one of the most featured players several seasons in. Ultimately Morris didn't have many instances to shine.
His stand out bit, a piece that would be considered too un-PC today, was the "President of the New York School for the Hard of Hearing" (a common practice in sketches was to use the performer's real name). Appearing at the end of Weekend Update, he provided a "public service" by shouting the top stories over Chevy Chase. This wasn't mean spirited, but it did get old after a few episodes ("News for the…" variations were featured later).
Seeing things differently in historical perspective applies primarily to the two who have passed away, John Belushi and Gilda Radner. I'm more familiar with the career of serious Belushi-phile Chris Farley, who was one of the break out stars of SNL in the early 90s. Both he and Belushi had similar career trajectories: success as physical comedians on SNL, a few movies and premature death. It's really sad that both these performers died just at the beginning of what could've been fruitful careers, a cautionary tale of the horrors of drug addiction.
Belushi doesn't get as much screen time as Chase or even Aykroyd in this season, but the hints of his comedy persona are there. His dedication to the physical performance as Joe Cocker, The Godfather in therapy or his samurai character, who did pedestrian occupations like sandwich maker, tailor or general practitioner as a samurai would, is very funny. From what I've heard, Chase's exit gives Belushi the space he needed to grow as a performer, but I'll save that for the day I do a season two review, whenever that'll be.
Video: Godfather therapy http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/index.shtml#mea=29150
Video: Samurai Delicatessen http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/index.shtml#mea=2361
Gilda comes off as the sweetest person you could hope to meet. One would expect whenever disagreements erupted backstage, Gilda played peace maker. It seems like just about everyone was having a blast on this show, but she was probably the happiest on stage. It's hard to write this without sounding like a eulogizer (Gilda Radner died of ovarian cancer in 1989), and it, like Belushi's overdose, has affected my perception of these episodes now as opposed to seeing them when they aired more than the other cast members' post-SNL career.
She also had two of the first season's most memorable characters; Baba Wawa and Emily Litella. Wawa is an impersonation of Barbara Walters, spoofing her manner of speech. Emily Litella featured on Weekend Update, delivering passionate rebuttals to arguments she misheard ("Eagle rights amendment", "Deaf penalty" etc.). Like "News for the Hard of Hearing", it doesn't seem likely they would have these characters on today considering the hypersensitivity of the politically correct. Despite that, these characters never mean spiritedly mock people for having speech impediments or difficulty hearing.
Video: Emily Littela Editorial http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/index.shtml#mea=2354
Posted by ticktock24, 01/22/2008 10:40pm 0 Comments
Status Report - 11/18/07 - Writer's Strike Thoughts
Without a doubt you've heard about the WGA strike (now ending week two). Things have been tough for TV lately, as our late night favorites went into immediate hiatus and most scripted shows found themselves with only a handful of unaired shows. For a full explanation, check out this video made by the WGA, which explains why they're striking and what they want from it.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=oJ55Ir2jCxk
None of the WGA demands sound unreasonable:
A measly eight cents per DVD sold, whether it is a percentage of the total price or a flat rate I don't know. It is double their current rate, but still 60% of their old rate they agreed to cut to keep the video market alive in its early days with the promise of having it restored when it became viable. Since DVD is a multi-billion dollar business, including a huge market for complete seasons of hit shows, this self-imposed cut is no longer necessary. The fact that they aren't going for the full 20 cents shows a degree of compromise.
Royalties for each download/stream a show gets. Whether a viewer pays to download a series off iTunes or Unbox or watches it for free on a network site with commercials put in, the network is making money off this venture, especially since it cuts the costs of manufacturing and shipping, all they need is to maintain server space. The fact that none of it goes towards those who made it is just awful. Saying these are "promotional use only", justifying the lack of payment, doesn't make any sense and makes the studios look greedy, finding whatever loophole they can to keep as much as possible. Considering the growing importance of internet use in television, giving the writers a cut seems like the right move to keep their livelihoods intact.
This one has garnered some controversy. In some instances, executives touted the new technology as new sources of revenue. NBC, in the stupidest non-strike related action of the season, pulled out of iTunes because in part they wanted a bigger share of the profits they were getting, even going so far as to ask for a cut in iPod sales. However, when it comes to paying the writers, the networks act as if they're old people and don't know anything about some dang ol' picture radio internets tubes. This is likely saber rattling from the writers, much like the networks threatening to sue showrunners who are picketing. It's unlikely that this would spiral out of control into the executives being investigated for misleading investors.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=RjGbHHtbZP0
While it's easy to support the writer's now, it's going to be a lot harder should this strike go on for more than a few weeks. If this is the case, then most series will prematurely end their seasons. "The Office" just aired its last produced episode, with teases that the episode they were about to shoot being the funniest of the season. This could be a disaster for serialized series like "24", which has been postponed indefinitely until it can air all its episodes without a break, and "Lost", which finds its recent 3 seasons of 16 episodes each plan in serious danger of collapsing altogether. "Heroes" is trying to accommodate the strike by recrafting their strike finale as a season finale should the second half of the season never come to fruition in time for the end of the 07-08 season.
Regardless, most shows only have a dozen episodes in the can, leaving most series over before they go on Christmas hiatus. The midseason replacements aren't going to save the season either, with "24's" hiatus and other shows having produced less than what those on the air have. So the big holes in the spring schedule will be filled with reality shows. Of course for every "Amazing Race", we're going to have 10 "Bachelors". "American Idol" will likely keep Fox afloat, and they are the most shameless of the networks, ahead of NBC, regarding reality show programming ("COPS" was the produce of the last strike).
It also spells doom for the pilot season in the spring. With no scripts being written, there will be no pilots to make. This, coupled with the inevitable cancellations and series endings from the spring, means even more holes in the schedule. Not only could this strike ruin this season, but possibly ruin next season before even a second of footage is shot. It may give on the bubble new shows a reprieve should the networks need slots.
If any good is to come out of the strike's effects, one would hope it would be the end of the standard September-May model, which is painfully outdated. The pressure of serialized shows to fit their episodes into the schedule as if it was a normal season is unreasonable. This isn't an ordinary season. Besides, fans of "24" and "Lost" would stick with the show if it were to go into June or later.
As this goes online, news has broke about a sit down between the writers and producers on Monday November 26th. This is encouraging news, as many have cited the last strike, which lasted five months, as a possible example of how this strike will play out. Relations between the writers and producers have been at best tense. The writers want us to believe that the producers are being greedy and the producers want us to think that all writers are super rich and only want another golden bathtub filled with Cristal and they don't care about the crew that's out of work (the execs tend to ignore that many of those people support the strike). With something like that, it makes sense that neither would be willing to give in to the others' demands without a fight.
While the media has painted the writers as pampered rich people who are just striking to be jerks, that isn't the case. For every writer who will never have to worry about work, there are dozens that are just trying to get their screenplay picked up or a job writing on television. It can be easy for us to say that since their job is fun they should just shut up and take whatever the studios give them. I'd agree that screenwriting is far more fun than a typical blue collar job, but it's still a job. It's their livelihood. If it takes them years before getting another piece of their work published, why not give them a fair shake of residuals so they can live comfortably in between jobs? Every time a "Harry Potter" novel is sold, JK Rowling gets a cut. Bob Dylan gets paid anytime a song he wrote is played on the radio or used elsewhere. Why can't the writers get a fair piece for the work they helped create when it's used in any format?
Posted by ticktock24, 11/17/2007 10:18pm 1 Comments
Status report - 6/8/07 - We decapitate and we do business with whatever's left.
Hey everyone!
It's been a while since the last status update, so hopefully no one missed these too much. Well another season's in the books and it was another good one. While some shows under performed, like 24 sadly, many shows picked up their game like "Lost" or made great first impressions like "Heroes" and "Friday Night Lights".
One such show would be "Jericho". One of the biggest news stories this week was CBS's decision to renew Jericho after initially canceling it, following intense campaigning by fans. As for fan campaigns, I'm not a particularly big fan of them. People can certainly spend as much time as they want getting X show back on the air, but the sad reality is that when a show gets canceled, it generally stays that way. "Jericho", similar to "Farscape" and "Firefly", are exceptions rather than the rule. I wouldn't expect last minute reprieves of other shows like "Veronica Mars".
Well, mini-rant aside, here's my spring 2007 status:
What I watched:
24 – Sadly its worst season, but I will always be loyal to the show, even if Jack was fighting monkeys with a toothbrush (maybe that would be the key to rejuvenating the show!) I have faith that they realized they screwed up.
Heroes – Anticlimactic finale aside (the glowing fists in "Five Years Gone" was more exciting than what we got), Heroes was still one of the most consistently entertaining shows on TV this season, especially in the episodes leading up to the finale.
The Shield – While some of the storyline was hard to follow in parts and the finale more stopped than ended, this penultimate season set the stage for some major fireworks in the last season. Walton Goggins has been nothing short of Emmy-worthy.
The Sopranos – I'm going to miss this one. Some really great drama as everything in Tony's world is falling apart.
Friday Night Lights – I caught up with this one on NBC's website, although I'm still two episodes behind. I slowly was won over to this show. Extremely real and not patronizing to small town people like some shows.
The Office - I did prefer the second season, but the third season wrapped up really well, with some great laughs, a little hope for Jim and Pam and "You and I are done". Can't wait until next year.
Lost – Wow. Many complained about the show's mini-season, but, Jack's tattoo episode aside, the spring season was chock full of great episodes, with several knocking it out of the park. The game changing twist at the end of the season is just begging to be dissected, and I promise the reviews for season three will be up during the summer.
Other shows: South Park, Stewart/Colbert, Real Time With Bill Maher, Studio 60 burnoff, My Name Is Earl, Prison Break.
On DVD: I watched S1 & S2 of Veronica Mars, which was a great treat, plus Kristen Bell is very cute. I watched S5 of The Shield before the new season premiered, which was the series' best.
Music: Been listening to Amy Winehouse, Fratellis, The Decemberists and Wolfmother heavily the last few months. All of these are really good, but I think Wolfmother is the best of this bunch.
Well this is a long status update for me. Thanks to everyone who has read my reviews, and I promise more during the summer. I can't give a schedule yet, but until I can, the remote is yours.
Matty
My Recent Reviews
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Buffy the Vampire Slayer Lover's Walk Avg Score: 9.20 Total Ratings: 470 Total Reviews: 28 |
It's apparent in Spike's return, echoing his arrival in "School Hard", that he is a different vampire. Smashing through the "Welcome to Sunnydale" sign now doesn't mean that he's a bad boy, but that he was too drunk to drive. Fans may have had cause for concern, as they wouldn't want to see Spike moping the entire episode. However, they mine great comedy out of this, like him sobbing over a park bench where they killed a homeless man. It also serves as a contrast to Angel and Buffy's relationship: they want him to get over his heartbreak, but they're oblivious to their own problems with love. All three have a big moment of realization during this: Spike realizing he's "gone soft" and needs to be tough to get Drusilla back and Angel and Buffy realize they're fooling themselves.
Of course his initial target is Angel. Through the second part of last season Angelus continually teased the physically impotent Spike while charming Drusilla. It ultimately created the chain of events that caused him to side with Buffy which destroyed his relationship with Drusilla. Until he gets to the magic shop, he seems more like the guy who gets wasted, talks big about revenge and ultimately does nothing. However, it's Spike's desire to curse Angel with leprosy that leads him on a collision course with Willow, where he becomes the catalyst for the breakdowns of three major relationships.
Meanwhile, Xander and Willow's stolen moments have become increasingly obvious. It couldn't keep it going much longer without everyone else coming off as superbly ignorant. Willow tries to fight those hormones by attempting a "de-lusting" spell. While Xander's tried it before (nice callback), this episode is the first time Willow's used magic to simplify her life, a theme that will be explored heavily in future seasons. However, the spells in this episode are merely a device to get Spike involved in the main story and place Xander and Willow in a high peril situation where they express themselves and are discovered in the worst manner possible.
This happens as Cordelia and Oz's gestures show commitment to their relationships. Cordelia has to deal with the pressures of high school politics, where she's gotten plenty of flack from her friends for dating a "loser" like Xander. Displaying photos of them in her locker shows that her feelings for Xander have overcome peer pressure. Oz on the other hand, is known for being so relaxed and nonchalant that putting his feelings out there is noteworthy. Because he's so protective of his emotions, Oz is likely the more hurt of the two.
However, the key development is Buffy and Angel realizing that they don't have a future together. It starts with Buffy's SATs. Despite being expelled, suspended and reprimanded for violent behavior, Buffy's high score offers enormous promise of life outside Sunnydale. For the first time Buffy has the opportunity to live a normal life of "keg parties and boys", what she's always wanted. Faith, albeit a ticking time bomb, can substitute for Buffy at the Hellmouth while she studies. Buffy simply isn't used to thinking about having a future; she slays and that calling carries a short life expectancy. It's like the cliché of the small town person who thinks they'll never leave it, but is given a huge opportunity. Blowing it off is fitting for her character, as if she's expecting the rug to be pulled out, and considering there are a little more than 100 episodes left in the series, it's warranted.
Although she has every reason to go, she's still divided with Angel. It's very much allegorical for teens' indecisiveness over their post-high school plans because of a boyfriend or girlfriend and how siding with the boyfriend or girlfriend is usually regrettable. Angel wisely advises her not to decide because of him. Obviously the set up for Angel's departure into his series starts on this arc on the doomed relationship.
Before they realize their relationship has no future, they spend most of the episode continuing to believe they can be friends after all. With the exception of the intervention, Buffy's friends are content to have her believe it as well, but Spike sees otherwise. He's right to recall the last time he saw them, as it seems they forgot that they were fighting to the death with the world as the prize. After all that has happened, how can they go back to being friends? Simple answer is that they can't, and Spike is the only one who can tell them that.
In the heat of all that happened in "Becoming", it'd be easy to forget that Buffy willingly invited Spike into her home and so far this season, failed to rescind that or reinvite Angel after his soul was restored. The way they dealt with that conundrum is the funniest moment of the episode, where Spike taunts the "bad man" Angel while mockingly posing as if to bite her outside her eyesight. Despite this, they never do get around to rescinding that invite.
The Spike and Joyce friendship really could've been forced and absurd, but it somehow works: the suburban single mom and the European mass murderer commiserating over hot chocolate with marshmallows. Joyce has to be the mother to the heartsick Spike, and he, despite his nature to kill humans, is happy to have to someone to talk to.
Spike's return gets on the Mayor's radar and what he's planning is too important for Spike to mess up, despite him enjoying (and the deputy dreading) Spike's exploits last season. This short scene, in addition to adding the conflict where Spike, Angel and Buffy fight Spike's former flunkies (now the Mayor's), offers some insight into how the Mayor perceives outside demons and vampires. So, if he was aware of Spike, what else did he know and did he attempt to intervene off camera?
The only part of this episode that doesn't work is Cordelia's impalement. When it first aired, it might've provided a brief shock when they cut to the funeral, then Willow & Buffy, who just happen to be walking past it, explaining that Cordelia's OK. Now, it comes off as a cheap way to get a rise out of the audience. Everything up to it does help make the situation where Xander and Willow are exposed more uncomfortable.
This episode is the best so far this season. It's essentially the second part of the end of the introductory phase and it ends messily. Faith became jaded by the group and Angel's return raised tensions last episode, and now all the romantic relationships are in ruins. Spike's return could've been just a bone thrown to the fans, but it provides valuable character development on top of being really entertaining.
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Buffy the Vampire Slayer Revelations Avg Score: 8.72 Total Ratings: 412 Total Reviews: 19 |
Following Faith's first Watcher's grisly murder by Kakistos, it seemed like the council was content with having Giles perform double duty training the slayers. This episode at first appeared to answer what the process is for getting a new Watcher to a slayer, but that wasn't the case with the twist. They would deal with that, but later in the season.
There is a critical story flaw: wouldn't Giles' have known Gwendolyn was no longer a part of the Watcher's Council if she was fired a few years ago? It is pre Google, Facebook and Wikipedia, but why didn't he contact the Council (or vice versa) to make sure everything was proper? It should've been more appropriate to have her still be a Council member, but hiding a secret agenda in obtaining the glove.
Faith's estrangement from the group becomes more tangible in this episode. As it's been hinted, she didn't have support before she became a slayer, so making friends with Buffy made up for that. However, Gwendolyn plants doubt about her position in the gang. Not including her in the intervention, while it might've been appropriate since she wasn't around, sends a message that could be read that the gang doesn't accept her as one of them. The problem is that this trust between Gwendolyn and Faith isn't earned enough to make this move as profound as it needs to be. Gwendolyn doesn't have time to take Faith under her wing, nor does she have a similar personality which would win Faith over.
The biggest sign of Faith's lack of empathy occurs en route to killing Angel with Xander. While Xander is motivated by his jealousy (and maybe a little interested in Faith), he backs up when he finds Giles seriously hurt and holds back to get him an ambulance. However Faith doesn't think twice about leaving him to die, using slayer duties as an excuse. Buffy wouldn't make the choice to sacrifice someone like that for the sake of the kill, another representation of Faith as the Slayer Buffy wouldn't allow herself to be. Faith isn't completely lost though, as she seemed to reach out to Buffy, albeit very briefly in the end, but clearly there are dark times ahead for her until she can reach out to others.
Besides her relationship with Faith, Gwendolyn's motivations about getting the glove (besides wanting to blow stuff up with lightning) are never fully explained. Unfortunately the Lagos demon is wasted as well, barely a blip before Buffy dispatches him. Another episode could've fleshed this out more.
Short term, Gwendolyn does very well in challenging the Giles and Buffy relationship. Obviously they have grown close like a father and daughter, but Giles' job is to train her to kill demons and vampires. While there have been some minor tensions since Buffy came back, he doesn't start to question her judgment until this episode. Once Angel's return comes out in the least comfortable manner possible, Gwendolyn's criticism gains considerable weight.
The intervention is how the catharsis in "Dead Man's Party" should've played out. Each of the characters' reactions reflect who they are, instead of them acting inconsiderately to create a scene with awkward fighting. Giles is betrayed that she would place above him the man who murdered his love and then tortured him for kicks. People will assume Xander's motivations will always been driven by his jealousy rather than what's right. Having the characters bring that out in the open made for great drama. It's also good to show that they haven't forgotten what Jenny's death did to the group and Giles in particular. It's surprising no one considered maybe Buffy lied about sending Angel to hell since they don't know how he returned. Of course, Willow's going to be sympathetic towards Buffy's predicament as she's in a similar jam. With Buffy in the dog house, she's not likely to come clean about it anytime soon. It's a shame it gets resolved by the end of the episode.
There are some problems that hinder the episode's climax. The Faith and Buffy fight had too many shots where it was clear the stunt people were on camera rather than the actresses. Obviously the stunt people do the more dangerous moves, but they've done better at hiding that. This fight is a key moment: the first between Buffy & Faith, but the impact is diminished because of poor editing.
Then there's the end, where Buffy slices off Gwendolyn's arm, causing the heavens to vaporize her. It's more the method than the amputation itself that's awkward. Is it possible for even a sharp shard of glass to slice off someone's arm that way? Cutting through the flesh would work, but I think that it'd have to be faster than anything Buffy could throw would cut bone clean off. If only Lagos' axe was still handy.
This may be one of the few instances where Buffy shows bruising after a fight. Considering the routine beatings, it's shocking that that didn't happen more often, but with the story, perhaps keeping it was meant to be metaphorical for the pain Faith is in being unable to trust anyone.
Overall this episode needed some expansion to make some of the moments too rushed to be really effective. Unfortunately they had a bigger idea for what device they would use for the other key turning points at this point in the season. Regardless, what follows this episode and where the characters go in the rest of the season make up for the faults in the road getting there.
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Buffy the Vampire Slayer Band Candy Avg Score: 8.93 Total Ratings: 467 Total Reviews: 29 |
Buffy, like any teenager, desires freedom and greater independence from her parents or parental figures in the case of Giles. However, she has to face the consequences of running away, which means being kept on a tight leash by both Giles and Joyce. The close watch is intensified by the increased difficulty in keeping Angel's return a secret. Deceiving her loved ones could be interpreted as her heading down another slippery slope toward bad things. Although Buffy would win their favor by stopping Lurconis, she still has to deal with Angel, who can't stay hidden forever.
Of course Buffy's return wouldn't ease tensions between her and her mom. Buffy running away negated any signs of responsibility she showed in front of her mother before. They tried to explore this tension in "Dead Man's Party", but it failed in its forced delivery. This episode, along with its supernatural allegory, works far better to illustrate that generation gap. Joyce's teenage persona explains why she is so concerned about her daughter: she was just like pre-Chosen Buffy, and it's common for parents to want their children to be better and not repeat their mistakes. However, seeing Buffy take charge of the situation while her grown up counterparts do little besides tag along makes it clear that Buffy is far more mature than Joyce gave her credit for.
Through their teenage selves, we see some interesting and humorous character development. Snyder was the kid who never read between the lines in social situations and when he eventually did, solidified for his sour demeanor now. As mentioned, Joyce was similar to pre-Chosen Buffy. However, it is Giles, who reverts to his Ripper persona under the candy that is the most interesting. This is probably the closest insight into who that was the series will get, which is a little disappointing, especially with the Ripper spin-off in perpetual limbo.
It's worth noting that, since those intoxicated were either school staff or parents who bought all (or half for Joyce and Giles) the bars, the teenage personas represented reflect only the culture from the late 60s and early 70s. It may be an excessive criticism, but it would've been cool to have adults of various ages behaving as they would if they came of age before or after the Vietnam era. As a side note, thankfully Giles' played a song that isn't in every cliché depiction of the 60s.
Joyce and Giles's adventures touch upon their attraction towards each other, which has been alluded to in a few episodes, but kept brief. With their teenage inhibitions, they can't keep their hands off each other. It's implied (later confirmed) that they had sex as well. Once they sobered up, they can't look each other in the eye the morning after. Their feelings toward each other were never as obvious as in this episode, probably so it wouldn't cheapen what Giles had with Jenny, but perhaps they never tried a real relationship out of fear of what it would do to Buffy, as well as Giles' role as her watcher. It's certainly adds a lot of subtext, especially down the road.
This is the first episode to offer some insight into the Mayor's motivations. He made "campaign promises" to several powerful demons to get in office (and to have somehow a vampire cease fire the night of the mass intoxication). While Mr. Trick noted he should be relieved not to pay Lurconis tribute, The Mayor's request that Trick be cautious about which "favors" he does for him hints that there is something in progress that requires these powerful entities to be alive. Regardless, this tribute is really a MacGuffin to the episode's story. It doesn't matter what the adults weren't paying attention to, it could've been anything.
Although Slayerfest failed miserably, Trick tries again outsourcing mayhem by having Ethan supply it. It makes sense to have Ethan return as the origin of this threat. Back when we last saw him, he served as a counter to Giles for maturity: not moving past the dark magic he got into as a teenager. In a way, he's bringing everyone to his level.
While she took responsibility as the adults became immature, Buffy's still can't see clearly with her relationship with Angel. Buffy lying to Angel about her break up with Scott continues the theme that Buffy and Angel aren't going to get back together. Letting him know that there is one less hurtle would just make things more uncomfortable. They're trying to get into the "friend zone", but that is impossible since they clearly want to be more than that and too many lines have been crossed.
Similarly, Willow and Xander are trying to go back to the friend zone, but after that kiss, they're no facing the "more than friends" feelings that have always been there. Their gestures toward each other are far more pronounced. While not enough to get the attention of the rest of the gang, the guy plucking the acoustic guitar could almost be a character.
Probably the most noteworthy element of this episode is it is the first from Jane Espenson, who would be one of the series' most prolific writers (second only to Whedon) and who currently works on the Battlestar Galactica update. It's one of the last elements that solidified the Buffy brand into the thing people love and it's been interesting to see how that happened.
"Band Candy" succeeds far better than "The Dark Age" at showing tight leashed adults that they were once young and irresponsible too and that their children are more grown up than they give them credit. Perhaps this is because it's done it in a light hearted manner, with the adults' new found immaturity played for laughs. This episode is another piece addressing unresolved threads about the aftermath of the second season, and is one of the better examples than the ones that started this season.
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Lost There's No Place Like Home (3) Avg Score: 9.63 Total Ratings: 741 Total Reviews: 42 |
Keamy succumbs to the fatal wounds Ben gave him, setting up the explosion. It's unfortunate that Keamy is gone from the present narrative since he helped make that threat Ben and Locke were warning Jack about very real, but he served his purpose. It might've been cool to have his arm cut off, activating the trigger, but that'd be hard to pull off on a regular basis if he survived. The dead man's trigger, along with the correct assumption that the freighter was going to explode, marked his curtain call. One question brought up by his death was why didn't Locke attempt to put on the dead man's trigger? It's possible that once it went off, it was off and even a second away from a pulse would trigger it.
As it turns out, Sun's fault of deceiving others didn't result in her being separated from Jin, but the overall panic on the freighter as people tried to get off before the bomb went off did. It's obviously a better choice, as my theorized method would be hard to pull off without making Sun really unsympathetic, plus the chaos works better dramatically (the direction in this scene was reminiscent of "24", which I miss so much).
Despite being on the freighter when the bomb went off, I am 100% convinced Jin is still alive. It would be hard for them to pull off such a twist without it cheating the life or death stakes they want to portray on the island, but as mentioned in previous reviews, Sun believing Jin's dead is probably the only way it could work, and Yunjin Kim really sells the devastation of losing Jin. Her screams are chilling.
As for where he is, a good theory would be Faraday's boat picks up Jin among the wreckage. However, upon further thought, he may be on the island. Remember back in season two when he somehow wound up back on the island several hours ahead of Michael and Sawyer? Well he may have done so the same way the doctor's body washed up a day and a half before he died. He could have easily returned to the island a day before the move in an uninhabited area.
For all the promotion surrounding Michael's return, it didn't yield much this season. They emphasized he would be a lead character, but was only featured in a few episodes. Many prominent characters didn't even know he was back. He ultimately failed in his redemptive mission: Keamy's men got to the island and killed half a dozen people, not to mention the bomb that killed everyone on the freighter (except Jin. I'm not giving up.) It lacks the heroism Charlie's actions turning off the Looking Glass' signal had. Perhaps Christian's "You can go now", a rather dismissive phrase, was meant to be taken as the island punishing Michael for his failure. That may be why it wasn't Walt who showed up to let his dad off the hook.
The biggest problem is that there was no closure regarding his relationship with Walt, which is ironic considering how father-child relationships are major pieces for most of the characters. There is always the chance he may appear to Walt and that story may be resolved that way, but Walt's story is more connected to his ambiguous ability.
Ben's fork in the microwave blows apart the chamber, revealing something far older, similar to the special room in his secret closet in the Barracks, particularly with the hieroglyphics with a huge wheel covered in ice. However, the wheel itself, as well as the unusual cold, reminds me more of something Northern European. Dharma may have been aware of this wheel and had the polar bear Charlotte found be the test subject, and they sealed it up to keep the room from being easily accessed.
Some things on the island I'm willing to accept as they are without some explanation. Why is the Frozen Donkey Wheel room unusually colder than everywhere else on the island? How does turning a wheel cause the island to move or send its turner to Northern Africa? I'm not going to try to figure out, although it adds credence to the theory that the island is manufactured.
Ben's moving of the island precedes his flash forward. From his clothes, the sudden temperature change and the cut on his arm (why include it otherwise). So technically, Ben's flash forward would be first since only a few days passed for him. It is interesting to note how quickly Ben's resignation changes once he finds himself in Tunisia.
Ben believes he's being punished for failing the island last season. It's apparent during his emotionally charged push of the wheel. Before, he mentions that whoever moves the island can't return, the ultimate punishment for him. This is another ambiguous quote. Is it an agreed rule among island faithful? If not, one theory suggests Ben was charged by whatever was mentioned in The Orchid video and that will keep him from reentering that barrier. Whatever it is, there has to be a loophole since I can't see the island saga ending without Ben on it.
Considering what little we know, Locke's tenure as The Others' new leader is likely going to be disaster, but it will be interesting to see what he does. Will he be inclined to "merge the tribes" to borrow a phrase from "Survivor"? That would certainly be uneasy with turncoat Juliet. It'd serve as a fitting contrast to see Locke attempting Jack's "live together, die alone" philosophy.
For The Others, will some of them step in the spot light? It seems like it'd be better to invest more time with Alpert and developing his character, although a few Others will likely rise in prominence since otherwise it's a red shirt brigade. Alternatively, maybe Alpert and Locke will be the last Others standing following the bad things that'll happen on the island.
With the cast going in several directions, there are few key members left on the beach camp. Sawyer and Juliet are the only major leaders left, which should be an interesting power vacuum (and possible romance) to see develop, assuming we'll still see the on island events as we have. With the beach slimmed down, this would've been a better time to introduce a Nikki and/or Paolo into the mix, not that they'll likely try that again.
What happened to Faraday and the raft of red shirts left on the water? Every other person or group is accounted for (with the exception of Jin, who I refuse to believe died). They have set up Faraday's character too much to have him die ingloriously in the middle of nowhere. Because of his status, he may be the only person to inform Widmore of what happened on the island if Frank stays low profile.
Despite moving the island moving, Jack refuses to give Locke any credit (OK, he literally didn't move the island, but he wouldn't know that). This is where Jack's behavior waves a little too far in mid-X-Files Scully territory, but Jack's skepticism has given way to cynicism, which may be the beginnings of his stupor.
It's also worth noting that the moment the island disappears, the people on the island think the Oceanic Six and the others on the freighter are dead and the Oceanic Six have no idea what happened to those left behind. So their reaction to the Six's return will likely be a lot different than we might've expected if we assumed the Six left the rest in a more selfish way. Then of course, Locke finds out they survived as he visits them, but when does that happen?
Desmond's reunion with Penny is as heartfelt and satisfying as anyone could've wished for. As mentioned before, their love story resonates more than all the Jater/Skater/Jurley stuff put together. Despite knowing she would be in the episode, the moment one of the Portuguese men (who apparently was in the artic station when Desmond turned the key) called for Ms. Widmore, many fans and I started freaking out. I haven't gotten this way since Jim & Pam on "The Office" (or their British counterparts).
The only concern with this is that many were expecting to wait another two years for this scene. Now that they are reunited, is this forecasting doom, especially with Penny in Ben's cross hairs? Desmond's promise that he'll never leave her may be tested if he needs to return to the island. Or maybe Widmore stuck her on the island since Ben supposedly can't return there.
As for the two other people with the Six when Penny rescued them, Desmond will obviously stick with Penny, who has the money to keep them under the radar for the rest of their lives, but will they extend that courtesy to Frank? He's the only surviving freight crew not on the island or unaccounted for, and Widmore would likely want to see him to know what happened to his men.
The flash forwards didn't take as much screen time as expected, but the short and sweet segments set up their stories for next season well. Sayid extracting Hurley from Santa Rosa for "somewhere safe" is a big loose end from the episode, setting up their story for the presumed pick up point for the Six, after the death of "Jeremy Bentham". Apparently, that is enough to indicate that things have gone bad that drastic measures are now necessary. Why does Sayid need to take Hurley immediately though? It's likely because of his ability to talk to Jacob. Since Locke is the man in the coffin, Ben would want to get the only other person who can do that on his side to figure out the next phase of their plan.
Hurley is deep in his mental illness, playing chess with Mr. Eko, as that may be the only way he can handle the guilt. His remark about speaking to dead people could've easily set up a "Sixth Sense" twist, revealing one of the people we saw him talking to in the hospital was the man in the coffin, but that wouldn't have had much weight since all four major characters he's talked to in the institution (not including Charlie) interacted with someone else. It could also be the island sending the dead like Charlie.
Kate's dream sequence puzzled some people as they believed what she saw were mixed visions brought by the island. The phone call she gets, when reversed, warns her to return to the island "before it's too late", but then Claire appears telling her not to bring "him" back. However, it seems more like Kate's desires are subconsciously manifested in the island visions. Kate has the least interest in returning to the island because of Aaron and the terms of her probation (for a capital crime she clearly did). For the former, having Claire appear and reinforce her opinion justifies her feelings about the island, but now that resolve is cracking.
Sun's flash forward has a lot of promise. She obviously took reigns at her father's company to get close to Widmore, but is she aligning with him? She mentions they have "common interests", which is likely the island and getting to it. He is the best connection to the island she has, since there's no indication Locke or Ben visited her. The answers to why she reached out to him may be some of the strongest evidence supporting Jin being alive. Why else would she want to get to the island?
Then we have Jack, going through more grunge-era music in his stupor, presumably right after his "we have to go back" moment with Kate. Ben now may have him under his thumb as well, another ironic twist of fate. Although how will Ben clean Jack up so he can get everyone back?
Ben emphasizes that everyone must return with Jack to the island, but does everyone mean only the Oceanic Six? What about Walt, who has been off for more than a month when the Six leave; Ji Yeon, conceived on island, but not born there; Desmond, who wasn't on the plane, but spent three years there; and Frank, who was only on the island in passing, but was there nonetheless. If it includes Desmond, it may be a ruse to get Penny out of hiding so he can exact revenge on Widmore. Considering how scattered they are, getting them together again will likely be a big part of next season.
Ben's ideas for getting those who left to return will likely involve his classic tactic of finding what a person values, then exploiting it. Jack and Hurley will likely be game. Sayid may be as well, assuming he is still working for Ben. The way through Kate has to be through Aaron. Assuming he's still alive, Jin may be motivating Sun's "common interests" with Widmore and Ben can likely exploit that too.
The biggest reveal of the episode was the season ending cliffhanger of Locke being the man in the coffin. Many have suspected it to be him all along. It makes sense considering their contentious relationship regarding the island being special that Jack would regret doubting him since it had tragic consequences. That said, I don't think Locke is necessarily dead the way other people except Christian are. Locke is such a central character to the show's story to now. It'd be a hard sell to have Ben and Jack playing Weekend at Bernie's with him.
There are a lot of questions surrounding Locke's journey back to the main land as Jeremy Bentham. There is no known practical method of getting off the island besides turning the frozen donkey wheel. So some have theorized that Locke will move the island again, expelling himself. Not being able to return, some have theorized, spurred his suicide. However, there is more than enough doubt as to if he really did kill himself.
As for his secret identity, the survivors insisting on calling him Bentham continues their objective to lie about their stay to protect those left behind. Sayid suspected that Locke was murdered and made to look like a suicide, so maybe his paranoia stems from him believing the secret is out and those out to get the left behind are at risk. Locke knows of Widmore, but obviously doesn't have the history Widmore had with Ben.
The narrative structure for next season should be as interesting, if not more, than this one. There are three years to mine for the Oceanic Six as well as the people left behind. Will island action pick up where we left off with jumps in the time line, or will they do a "Three Years Later" jump and have those left behind do flashbacks to explain what bad things happened on the island? It seems likelier that the subplots involving the Six, Ben and maybe Walt will pick up around the time this episode ends. The gap wasn't really supposed to be answered this season, rather it was the set up for next season's story. Three major questions will likely be key story points next season: how do the people who left the island reunite and return, what happened to those who stayed behind and what were the circumstances that lead to Locke's "death".
While this finale didn't have the mind bending twist that changed the trajectory of the series like last season, there was enough emotional satisfaction with how events happened to make up for it. Not to mention they couldn't keep topping themselves with crazy twists or next season they'd reveal Christian fathered everyone on the island, including himself. The writing overall was very strong, setting up some interesting paths they can go down next season, but it was the performances in this episode that really resonate. There are so many moving, exciting and intriguing moments in this closing chapter of the best season yet that easily makes up for there not being a major game changer like last year. Some criticized this episode for lacking in major surprises, but it was clear this season, as well as the series itself, is all about the journey.
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Lost There's No Place Like Home (2) Avg Score: 9.66 Total Ratings: 788 Total Reviews: 45 |
In the flash forwards, several of the Oceanic Six (and Walt) are visited by Jeremy Bentham, the man in the coffin. Obviously, he had to be someone we were familiar with since we wouldn't react well if it was only a plot device motivating Jack's break down. Throughout the final two parts none of the Six, Walt or Ben refer to him by his real name, which is odd considering who he is. Perhaps there is more to this than just them wanting to keep it secret until the end of the episode.
With the Oceanic Six lying about their return home, it makes sense to bring back Walt, the original rescued survivor lying about what happened on the island. Among many things, the flash forward device has been the way Malcolm David Kelly could return to the show. Aging a few years while the series only covers a few months is not drastic for the adult actors, but Kelly was hitting puberty just as Walt was taken by The Others. The cameo in "Through the Looking Glass" and the self deprecating jokes referring to it were proof that it was getting impossible to hide his growth without being ridiculous. With events in 2008, he can be his real age or it'll be easier for him to play younger.
One nit pick with Walt is how is he living, figuratively speaking, three years after returning home? He can't go by his real name because Walt "died" in Oceanic 815's crash and it wouldn't be hard to connect the dots for someone to realize the Six's cover story is nonsense (has his grandmother figured it out). Not to mention he has to go to school. It would be easy for Widmore to find him, and if Widmore knows a tenth about Walt that Ben does, he'll be interested in him. Perhaps The Others fudged some paperwork to give Walt a new identity and allow him to stay off the radar.
Unfortunately the story has kept Locke and Jack apart for most of the past two seasons, but that dynamic is revisited in a big way. Once again, Locke tries to convince Jack to have faith in the island only to have Jack refuse. Locke and Jack could easily turn into Mulder and Scully during the middle years of "The X-Files", where Scully remained skeptical despite seeing proof many times. This could be eased if Locke was more forthcoming about the miracles he's experienced or that he was going to move the island, but considering Locke's character, he doesn't want Jack to know, but believe in the island. However, it is an interesting contrast with off island Jack, as he punishes himself when he realizes Locke was right. It's also worth noting that Locke was the one to suggest the idea that Jack lie about their experiences to protect the island.
The Others' reintroduction in the first part indicated a more heroic presence than we've seen before, and this episode lives up to that promise when they ambush Keamy's men, killing all but him. Much like they did for Michael, Sayid and Kate are rewarded freedom for freeing Ben, and the gears are set for the unification of the Oceanic Six. It would've been nice to see more from the mercenaries and their threat, but the story really demanded Ben get to The Orchid and Sayid and Kate to the helicopter.
As a side note, the fight between Sayid and Keamy was epic, major commendations to the fight coordinator. With both men's military training, each side was going to fare well in hand to hand combat, although Keamy would obviously win because Keamy comes off as more hard core than Sayid (at least in the present).
As the helicopter needs its superfluous weight jettisoned (RIP Jack's long time back pack), it turns into the classic situation where someone needs to jump out to get the helicopter to the freighter. It becomes awkward when the camera immediately cuts to a guilty Hurley. However, it sets up Sawyer's selfless act. Sawyer's come far and in a much different path than I expected with the dark route he went late in season three. Originally he was only out for himself, but now he chooses to stay behind so those on the helicopter can be rescued and maybe also to spare Hurley's feelings. Now his turnaround may be a way to pave for his exit, but considering his popularity and his importance on the show, there's no way he'd be gone at this point.
Before Sawyer leaves, he whispers something in Kate's ear, presumably the favor she's doing for him in Jack's last flash forward. Those with audio enhancement technology or just good ears picked up that he wanted Kate to take care of his daughter, presumably Clementine, confirming the theory of what Kate was doing for Sawyer in "Something Nice Back Home".
On the boat, things are grim as the bomb has every possible fail safe to keep the trio in the armory from disarming it. Mythbuster Adam Savage brought up a good point for this plot device, which has been used in many shows and movies, in his blog: no one would set up a bomb with so many fail safes that it couldn't be disarmed safely. I'm willing to suspend disbelief on this one, as well as Keamy's device still working deep underground, since it effectively increases the tension, especially since their only plan is the temporary solution of spraying the battery with liquid nitrogen. What is harder to believe is that they didn't try to get people off the freighter while someone tried disarming it. Are there no other rafts/boats?
The one time in the first part where one of them goes on the deck though inadvertently brings up an old story that should've been resolved. The way Sun told Michael she was pregnant leaned a little too close to "who is Ji Yeon's real father" territory. The scene must've been meant to show Michael's redemption, but considering their flirtation early in the series, it gives the scene subtext that shouldn't be there.
Since the strike cut the season out of two hours, the freighter four had to take a back seat to the more crucial island story related to the Oceanic Six, so it was nice to give them a scene to show the writers didn't forget them. There are some major questions about the four that just couldn't be answered (like why were they sent when Widmore only wanted Ben). This scene sets the foundation for Miles and Charlotte in the long term (Daniel still has the "Desmond Hume will be my constant" element from earlier).
Miles' talent at talking to the dead has been helpful financially for him and slightly on the island, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. The island is a veritable smorgasbord for his gift and he can actually use it for good (or to fill some plot holes). No wonder he'd want to stay.
It also sets up Charlotte's reason. Through Miles' not so subtle questioning of her motivations and her conversation with Daniel, it'd be a safe assumption to believe that Charlotte was born on the island. While it explains her career choice, it opens up a lot of questions, like who were her parents and why did she leave? Some are guessing she's Ben's childhood sweetheart Annie, despite the fact that they are almost two decades apart in age (she could be his biological daughter). Perhaps she's connected to the ruins and the three toed statue, closer to Alpert than Dharma.
The Orchid, much like The Looking Glass and The Swan before, becomes a key part of the finale storyline. We finally see the finished orientation video the previously released bloopers belong to and it continues the theme of time travel present throughout the season. Dharma experimented with time travel and its relation to electromagnetism, which may begin to explain what happened to Desmond. Then there's the rewinding tape, which may be to keep something the station can do secret until later.
But on the subject of orientation films, why is it that some are film strips (The Swan), but others are tape (The Pearl, The Orchid)? That seems really inconsistent, unless there was a big gap between when the stations were made.
Ben fills the "time traveling bunnies" chamber with as much metal as possible while the video advises otherwise. Ben is, essentially, doing the extreme version of a fork in the microwave. Initially it seemed like messing up the chamber was going to be what it'd take to move the island, but Ben's remark that the station and Dharma's purpose were "silly experiments" points to the bigger island picture Dharma barely touched.
There are some comic moments where Ben and Locke's dynamic mirrors a parent and child. From Ben pointing out the secret entrance as if it were obvious, Locke's constant questions annoying Ben and Ben suggesting Locke watch a movie to leave him alone. Then that's turned around when Ben acts like a child, stabbing Keamy, which doomed most of those on the freighter and only justifying it with a dismissive "So?" If anything, these moments point out the obvious flaws in their leadership styles: Locke is naïve and Ben can get childishly reckless when emotions are involved.
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