tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82495362024-02-18T23:08:50.749-08:00Stuff and Nonsense: Tuppence a Blog"We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true."
-- Robert WilenskySagacious Penguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02300030494408133540noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8249536.post-31428671639013508392011-05-28T19:21:00.000-07:002011-05-29T11:15:36.855-07:00LOST – One Year Later<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfnFCBtFe5KJf2UxVuYHSOoc4llKnv0aIk496X3PW22C4g4xk53wBWuWa9nTu4ZBJhkn60jWsUyYgULjbE2u5RqYdfW2SUsg1RyslK4nSlwh9NeYDLtQMdxV_2qW8vx4bglFeQng/s1600/1yr_elephant.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPPEYd8TdkAM2NyVW1qXvvsqcRnyPXgJnZB_hTvzV61yEFp4xyJ5SxWF9-rkxyCSXPwC0tlfqauS7aFJOnW_fCvlpUbqcG12BMNdmjyhrXreFdJJJE-_Sw7pqMV-GmJpEdSumI_A/s400/1yr_mybad.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 279px; height: 156px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611957902085998818" /><b>Oh, My Bad:</b><br />Needless to say, I apparently lied a year ago when I said I’d be back for more analysis. Although, come to think of it, I’m back now and I never specifically said WHEN I’d be back, so that makes me not so much a liar as it does a very, very bad person. My primary excuse is that I was life-changingly busy this past year finishing up the post-production on a <a href="http://sagaciouspenguin.blogspot.com/2011/04/where-have-i-been-this-is-where.html">feature length special effects extravaganza of a film</a> that two of my buddies and I made in our garage. Hopefully you’ll hear a lot more about it soon – and hopefully from someone other than me!<br /><br />But busy though I may have been, I was reminded recently while commemorating LOST at <a href="http://nikkistafford.blogspot.com/2011/05/remembering-lost.html">Nikki Stafford’s phenomenal blog</a> that if you truly want to do something, then you somehow find the time. And so I guess I must admit to myself that my desire to write about the show was indeed somewhat diminished after it ended. Part of this I’m sure had to do with the freshness of theorizing having worn off, and part of it had to do with the surprisingly vitriolic atmosphere of fandom immediately after the conclusion of the show. For months I kept finding that every time I started to talk LOST, I found myself on the defensive explaining why I didn’t think the finale “sucked hard” or why I didn’t think that the entire show was a “train wreck.” It was wearying, and I didn’t like having to take the role of an apologist for a show I felt needed no apology. I certainly thought a few stumbles were made through the run of the series -- particularly in that final season -- but I genuinely enjoyed the finale and still truly LOVE the show as a whole.<br /><br />But now that a year has passed, and some of that poisonous atmosphere has thinned, my inner English-major has kicked in, and it’s becoming more and more fun to think about LOST analytically as a literary work and as one whole piece of storytelling – something we were entirely unable to do while it was still an ongoing experience. So while I might not be able to commit to regular posts at the moment, I was truly moved by reading Ms. Stafford’s blog to throw my hat back in the ring at least one more time and journey back to that crazy whacked-out wonderful Island with you.<div><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSB-yT6C3O-PlRa9bzHoZUcBdevoclFkVSbhs5mqBK5ze5fSdYZyeupVytfeHeeYh1GT0fbqEIdzpMhBPYfqLhyphenhyphenjW2X2Lrngd_uuLN44yMNSXDPLLpMJYis6GQ5YAMN-lDVGKsDw/s400/1yr_postlostworld.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 279px; height: 156px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611958341594671538" /><b>Living In A Post-LOST World:</b><br />This makes me sound like a bad fan, but I actually haven’t sat and watched an entire episode of the show since a repeat viewing of “The End” last May. That said, I’ve watched a good amount of special features on my mega-awesome complete blu-ray collection, listened to many of the episode commentaries, and spent an absolute countless amount of hours listening to maestro Giacchino’s opus of a score from that final season – generously released on four CDs last Fall. I think if any creative force behind the show stuck the landing 100% or beyond, it was him. Those soundtracks are fabulous.<br /><br />I can guarantee I’ll watch the show many more times in the future, but I think the biggest compliment I can pay it currently is just how much I have missed it. No show has taken its place. Heck, no storytelling property has taken its place. I watch The Clone Wars (getting better every season), The Office (getting worse every season), and Parks & Recreation (favorite show on TV) – but I have yet to find anything that could remotely fill the void LOST has left in my entertainment life. Good thing I’ve been too damn busy to mourn it much!<br /><br /><b><br /></b><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQD2BKWhnLJQp56DnrZA9c5ghYeOrQLlals_r8Wncj2FQEeES8HnLmO6kxQPUA43NTpLddblp9JadAeVwOXrat_6oB__M9u0PWg_rIbkEqTrw6OaFWZ6QEB-EaP8axziIuQTaiEA/s400/1yr_whatweknow.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611958651759988706" style="float: right; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 279px; height: 156px; " /></span>What We Know</b><br />At the end of <a href="http://sagaciouspenguin.blogspot.com/2010/05/lost-where-are-we-617-end.html">my last LOST post</a>, I offered that despite many accusations to the contrary, the show has given us all the most important answers already, despite having been stingy with the details. You can hop back to that post if you wish to read precisely what I said then, but in summary: We know what the Island is. It’s a physical place filled with so much electromagnetic energy that it has all kinds of powers and is the heart of existence as we know it. We know who Jacob was. He was the most recent in a line of Island protectors dating back before anyone can remember, and he wanted a replacement. We know what the Smoke Monster was. It was a man who was merged irrevocably with the Island and its powers, and he wanted to mess with Jacob and leave. We know who the Others were. They were Jacob’s followers, who arrived piecemeal through the years starting with Richard. We know what the Dharma Initiative was. A community of scientists, it was the most recent of mankind’s attempts to conquer the Island’s power.<br /><br />And the rest is history: The Incident was the result of Dharma trying too hard. The Purge was the Others’ ultimate reply to them. Flight 815 crashed because A) Jacob willed it, and B) Desmond forgot to press the button in the Swan hatch (Dharma’s attempt to put a band-aid over the wound they gave the Island). Let’s not forget that even though Jacob and the Island seem to will things to happen, there are generally always real-world, character-motivated reasons these things happen as well. And that, I believe, is at the center of the entire show and its story: faith and reason, co-existing in equal measure.<br /><br /><b>Stingy With The Details</b><br />Also in my previous post, I suggested that while there are indeed all sorts of nagging questions, quibbles, gripes, and dangling plot points that remain to haunt us, most of these things can be grouped under four major categories of missing details that make it a lot easier for us to deal with them. The categories I offered were: The Others, The Dharma Initiative, Special People, and the Island’s Vast Array of Powers. While asking everyone to stay tuned an entire year for an exploration of these categories is indeed preposterous, I offer in apology the following analysis of each of those categories as well as a Unifying Theory of LOST that brings them together in support of a “simple as possible” summation of the meaning of the show. Let’s do this:<br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; font-weight: normal; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoEvNe-ClQ5elyAe1swv6D8dxY1daKXF31J5DQF2XN5aOyOEchGPSOgn7MA4DpAO0fV0wo0LQ-AhpRKJM0H4a7zC4rQMsJGATMTmNO_MJU65-RlSGF2vR5kXSo-rayN6bhd5rHjQ/s400/1yr_island.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611958914479421794" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 279px; height: 156px; " /></span>The Island’s Vast Array of Powers:</b><br />The Island is far from simple, but six seasons of evidence can at least give us a good idea of what the place can do. And each ability revealed is one more piece of evidence in determining exactly what it is. I offer the word “evidence” here as a blanket term to cover all the show’s details that otherwise seem disjointed or marooned by the larger story strands. With rare exception, no detail is entirely orphaned, each providing insight, context, and information about the show’s settings and characters. For the Island, it all boils down to electromagnetism.<br /><ul><li><b>Electromagnetism</b>: Everything important and odd about the Island comes down to the massive amounts of electromagnetism contained in pockets all over it, and most grandly at its core. The most simple answer to “What is the Island” is that it’s exactly what it seems: it’s a damn island. It just so happens to be the source of all the world’s electromagnetism. Which on another show might not have been anything particularly special, but in the world of LOST, electromagnetism is the stuff of life and death, space and time. It represents that blurry line between science and magic, here being science we don’t understand. Now, I’m sure a real scientist could explain what exactly electromagnetism is and what it can and cannot do far better than I ever could – but the writers of LOST were counting on the fact that most television viewers hadn’t already determined their own acceptable limits of what electromagnetism can and cannot be responsible for in a science fiction show. And depending on who you talk to, said writers either pulled it off, jumped the electromagnetic shark, or perhaps just took a leap of electromagnetic faith. But as far as the show is concerned, electromagnetism is the source of everything in the LOST universe, and can be manipulated in all kinds of cool sci-fi ways if harnessed via the Island it all comes from.</li></ul><ul><li><b>Physical/Temporal Location</b>: So all this electromagnetic build-up has made the Island a real chore to find. It can move through space; it can move its occupants through time and space (i.e. not only all of Season 5, but also the aftermath of the hatch implosion and the crash of Flight 815), and it can only be found through very specific bearings obtained through very complicated scientific calculations. This movement likewise makes the Island very difficult to leave, creating the snowglobe energy effect that kept Desmond sailing repeatedly back to it, and brought a time-skipping sickness to any who passed through the surrounding energy unsuccessfully. The nature of the Island’s enigmatic location caused Ben to speculate that God can’t see it, and meant that Penny had to wait for Desmond to blow the hatch in order for her team to pick up his current whereabouts. This separation of the Island from the natural flow of time and space for the rest of the world led to much speculation that it was, in fact, a realm beyond life and existence as we know it. But the ability of characters to come and go from the place (even with difficulty) proved that the Island was a real location, even if it houses the energy that makes up life beyond existence as we know it. Further exploration of that avenue would be relegated to Season Six’s controversial “Sideways World.”</li></ul><ul><li><b>Visions</b>: Those on the Island were subject to seeing all kinds of crazy things. Sometimes these took the form of dreams. Sometimes animals. Sometimes the visions were experienced only by one person, sometimes jointly. Frequently, as with the rationale for Flight 815’s crash, we’re left with dual explanations for these visions. For instance, was Charlie’s vision of Aaron in danger from 2.12 [Fire+Water] the result of his lingering heroin addiction, or was it Island-sent? Was Locke really communicating with the Island in his smoky tent in 3.03 [Further Instructions] or was it all just his wacky paste doing its thing? Did the Island show Kate and Sawyer a black horse in 2.09 [What Kate Did] or was that just a lingering resident of Dharma’s zoological Hydra Station? Most visions could have simpler explanations than “the Island willed it” – but you and I both know (because we watched the damn show) that the Island was certainly capable of messing with people. And if not the Island itself, then frequently the dead people whispering in its wind were responsible. After all, electromagnetism is the stuff of life and death in this world.</li></ul><ul><li><b>Healing/Destruction</b>: Like any power worth pursuing, the Island’s energy can be used for both good and ill, healing and hurting. The healing powers of the island are blatant – from Locke’s legs to Rose’s cancer – but its destructive powers are what make it worth protecting. Even when bottled, the Island’s energy causes sudden storms and induces pregnancy troubles in those too close to it. Once unleashed, the electromagnetic energy brings down planes, causes earthquakes, and if left uncorked will allegedly destroy all of existence. Judging by the evidence provided by the show, I don’t see a reason to doubt that claim. But if you do doubt that the entire world was threatened by the Man In Black’s actions in “The End,” then I suppose this would render Jack’s sacrifice somewhat moot and leave the narrative of the show rather piss poor. So we might as well believe Widmore when he tells Desmond how vital it is that the Man In Black be stopped. As far as the show is concerned, the destructive power of the Island is very real, and (once again) tied directly to its role as the source of the energy that makes up life and death.</li></ul><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; font-weight: normal; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCeAfJbpSZMfrkBfKJ5DopDYAyO_UPZQld_7M3ylBFVQN4GJyK5nHqjDBRYED1KZLFNd444J-f6a97PvIUZLQ5TO6RMfNKsp1_1OYIikYNWZto_6qJnSI9yAUdkgQAP3oPt0QAIg/s400/1yr_special.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611959608977754626" style="float: right; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 279px; height: 156px; " /></span>Special People:</b><br />Much like the LOST universe takes for granted the power and capabilities of electromagnetic energy, it also assumes that there are some people out there in the world who are naturally more tuned-in to this energy than other people. Folks like Isaac of Uluru from 2.29 [S.O.S] come to mind. He was able to harness the energy of a location in Australia to cure some diseases and ailments, and told Rose that his spot wasn’t the location for her. But there are people the show specifically referred to as “special” that were far more important to the narrative than Isaac. And each of these people were equipped with powers in sync with what we’ve already discussed the Island could do. Their abilities are just the Island’s on a smaller scale.<br /><ul><li><b>Jacob</b>: The Island’s chief protector appeared to have mastery over just about everything the Island is capable of: Jacob could move through time and space, appearing off-Island to Locke, Sayid, and Hurley. Jacob could induce visions, showing a young version of himself to the Man In Black and perhaps being responsible for any number of the other character’s visions throughout the series. Jacob could heal, dealing with Juliet’s sister’s cancer, Dogen’s son’s injuries, and Richard’s immortality. The powers of the Island equaled the powers of Jacob. And it seems that certain places he touched took on the Island’s erratic spatial/temporal qualities as well: the cabin and the lighthouse come to mind as places only visible when entered from certain directions, and (in the case of the cabin) can move about the Island in the same way the Island can move about the earth.</li></ul><ul><li><b>The Man In Black</b>: Where Jacob’s special nature seems to have been given to him by the Island’s previous protector – passed on by her will -- the Man In Black was said to be special of his own accord. Even before his transmogrification into the Smoke Monster, he was able to see his dead mother and harness the temporal/spatial power of the Island to create the frozen donkey wheel mechanism. As the Smoke Monster, he became a physical embodiment of the Island energy’s destructive capability, could move around in spatially surprising ways, and could induce visions on a massive scale. To his regret, his new form left him permanently tethered to the Island, and also left him subject to a number of Jacob’s restrictions for which he had to find loopholes.</li></ul><ul><li><b>Desmond</b>: Beyond Jacob and the Man In Black, the other tapped “special people” had a more limited spectrum of Island abilities. Whether inherent at birth or Island-given during the hatch implosion, Desmond developed an immunity to the destructive powers of the electromagnetism, and exhibited an unmatched mastery over the Island’s temporal fluctuations, whether witnessing flashes of the future or mentally travelling into the past. There’s a chance Eloise Hawking had some similar shade of his future-telling ability (combined with Daniel’s journal from his trip to the past).</li></ul><ul><li><b>Hurley & Miles</b>: Both could interact with the dead in different ways.</li></ul><ul><li><b>Locke & Ben</b>: Both seemed particularly susceptible to the Island’s energy, whether it was Ben seeing his dead mother, or Locke regaining his ability to walk. It’s possible both were just being played by Jacob and/or the Man In Black, but their mutual empathy for the Island’s powers led to their cutthroat competition with each other and convinced the Others of their potential candidacy for leadership.</li></ul><ul><li><b>Walt</b>: Perhaps the biggest plot thread left to dangle, Walt was early evidence of both the existence of these special people, as well as the Others’ interest in such people. Walt seemed to have a bit of Desmond’s psychic powers as well as Jacob’s ability to be seen where he isn’t or cannot go. Unfortunately for Walt, he didn’t seem to have any control over his powers whatsoever. And unfortunately for fans of narrative continuity, working a child actor into the show’s overarching strategy proved to be too problematic for the LOST show runners. Unfortunate.</li></ul><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; font-weight: normal; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL38APb-xMDL1e2Egu1s2_RznvbGSQVks6rICE-81mIw0kObSMEEp7a2fZNr-boUxCRxd7aM0NWUfSbo-zptqPWDYd80YrbdIkhyphenhyphenmeLzCIjCWKgfH2_MmuPXD2Pr2WTMIlZZ0YZQ/s400/1yr_others.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611960128585274802" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 279px; height: 156px; " /></span>The Others:</b><br />Jacob’s followers were a diverse lot who arrived at the island at different times and in different ways. Many were offered deals for their service (Richard, Juliet, Dogen), others seemed meek enough to follow what seemed to be “the way of things” on the island (Cindy, Abducted Children), and other were power-hungry enough to want in automatically (Ben, Locke). Just as Jacob appeared to gain his mastery of Island powers from his predecessor, the Others appear to have been granted certain powers on a need-to-have basis via Jacob – but, again, they’re all dialed down versions of the same powers the Island inherently has, and the “special” people have freedom to tap. They’re granted immunity to the time-skipping electromagnetic waves, they seem to be able to hop spatially, appearing and disappearing at a supernatural speed, and some even have the ability to appear (or flash-travel) off-Island. In 4.08 [Meet Kevin Johnson], Tom even hinted at the exclusivity of being granted this ability when he visited Michael. But just as Jacob was able to put rules and restrictions on the Man In Black, so too he put them on his followers. Juliet was de-Othered via branding for killing one of their own and subsequently wasn’t tethered to the Island like the rest of the Others when Season 5’s time-skipping began. Ben and Widmore apparently couldn’t kill each other while Jacob was alive. Being an Other brought its perks and its restrictions, but for the most part, Jacob just let them handle things their own way – hence the sheer number of motivations and strategies they employed throughout the show’s seasons:<br /><ul><li><b>Season 1</b>: The Others’ interest in pregnancy problems, children, and special people lead them to kidnap Claire and Walt. Ethan’s attachment to Claire causes him to go a bit berserk when she escapes.</li><li><b>Season 2</b>: It’s revealed that the Others also took a great many “worthy applicants” from the Tail Section of Flight 815, while primarily trying to keep the less tame-able Fuselage survivors on the other side of the Island via theatrics and scare tactics that ultimately don’t work. Walt’s powers prove too much for them to handle, so when the opportunity arises, they exchange his freedom for Ben’s. Ben’s need for spinal surgery leads to the kidnap of Sawyer, Kate and Jack.</li><li><b>Season 3</b>: Ben’s Machiavellian tactics successfully get him the surgery he needs, but Locke’s arrival on the scene threatens his grasp of leadership over his people. Ben’s obsession with the pregnancy problems cause him to go a bit too far in his fight with the Flight 815 survivors and get a load of his people killed and himself captured. He is unable to stop the summoning of Widmore’s freighter. The bulk of the Others retreat to the Temple.</li><li><b>Season 4</b>: Ben survives the freighter assault with the help of the 815ers. He and the Others let a few of them leave the Island via helicopter in exchange for their aid. Ben banishes himself via the Donkey Wheel in order to save the Island and leaves Locke in charge of the Others.</li><li><b>Season 5</b>: The Donkey Wheel being left off-kilter allows the Man In Black to intervene in Island affairs and take his position in Locke’s body, tricking the Others into leading him to Jacob, and tricking Ben into killing Jacob.</li><li><b>Season 6</b>: The Others are massacred by the Man In Black at the Temple. Further Others are taken out by Widmore’s bombs. Any that remain will have to be rounded up by Hurley and Ben once the MIB is defeated and the last 815ers depart the Island.</li></ul>So the Others’ story during the run of the show is really the story of their un-doing. They protected the island in cruel and authoritarian ways, much a reflection of Jacob’s apparent uncertainty toward the merits of mankind. And their in-fighting, distrust of outsiders, and over-trust of Jacob in many ways led to their downfall. Illana and her ilk were just another offshoot of the Others, followers of Jacob who dutifully played out their roles off-Island to gather the Candidates, and were dismissed without a second thought when their duties were fulfilled.<br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; font-weight: normal; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH3UrEppb8BPS-L8jd1MQdmBpfXV2JvIkplu-aTqpAm37OeFNkGyQs37N7HxtQyWOeFmjNNwrDw0VEsjB7knA2Fl0RlZ26R1EhepyG7iAGbqbnOrnlKU4ZZ15My5Ljh1x8pnTtXQ/s400/1yr_dharma.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611960524814569026" style="float: right; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 279px; height: 156px; " /></span>The Dharma Initiative:</b><br />The reason the Island needs protection – the reason that Jacob and the Others and the Island’s previous protectors existed – is because mankind is curious, power-hungry, and seeks advancement. For mankind, the Island and its electromagnetic energy represent the ultimate “MacGuffin.” A MacGuffin is a screenwriter’s term for an object of immense value sought by all parties in a story, such as The One Ring, The Lost Ark, The Holy Grail, The Maltese Falcon, The Dead Man’s Chest, The Fountain of Youth, The Rabbit’s Foot, The Death Star Plans, Et Cetera. The Island is like all of those things rolled into one huge temptation: it contains the ultimate power capable of being wielded for good or evil and offers mankind an unprecedented opportunity to study the unknown - to figure out all that is mysterious in our world. While some viewers may have been disappointed that 6.15 [Across The Sea] didn’t offer a more conclusive origin story for The Island, its Protectors, and its Invaders, that episode instead showed us just how long this cycle has been going. Just as Mother sought to protect the Island from those ancient visitors who manufactured the Donkey Wheel to harness its energy, protectors have been defending the Island from such entrepreneurs for as far back as anyone can remember, hence the ancient Egyptian artifacts and multiple sites of ancient ruins. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Dharma Initiative was simply mankind’s most recent and most advanced attempt to harvest the Island’s power, just as Jacob and the Others were the most recent organization to take up the Island’s protection. But while the last days of The Others were played out before our eyes over the course of the series, the downfall of the Dharma Initiative had already taken place before the show began. They moved in en force; they spotted the Island with their various stations; and they dug too deep, injuring the Island and incurring the Others’ wrath. The story of Dharma was over before the story of Flight 815 began, even if time-skipping allowed the 815ers to play a surprising role in Dharma history. The importance of Dharma was the legacy of technology they left behind and the warning their story represents.<br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; font-weight: normal; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2BULU3jSNG0750x5WQ1ogqdsLhWdZQ9I8VO52S2rnE-aBGL0r9FRXkNGhL3nkV-S69kequhREjkHKlPfgl9A7yhLPHUMU3MBJ9ZD1Yw8DIg7-1FfN9QAT3uxKZvUoeeXtE4QyYA/s400/1yr_theory.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611960687541137714" style="float: right; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 279px; height: 156px; " /></span>My Unifying Theory of LOST:</b><br />So what does this all add up to? Only the formula for the entire show: <i>The existence of a location that houses the ultimate source of power/life/death leads to an exploration of the duality of Faith and Reason, represented in-show by a series of dualities held in precarious balance</i>:<br /><ul><li><b>The Others and Dharma / Protectors and Conquerors</b>: Do you loose yourself and your scruples doing whatever it takes to protect the power, or do you throw caution to the wind and explore all the potential uses that power could have?</li><li><b>Magic and Science</b>: Is the power light that can do anything at the will of a magician, or electromagnetism which has a limited number of uses that can be harnessed via machinery and manmade devices built by scientists?</li><li><b>Locke and Jack / The Inexplicable and the Explicable</b>: Do you believe in the power of this place even if you don’t understand it, or do you refuse to believe unless you can find a rational explanation?</li><li><b>Jacob and the Man In Black</b>: Do you blindly accept your role as protector even if you’re not that best man for the job, or do you do everything in your power to fight your fate?</li><li><b>Destiny versus Free Will</b>: Is the power of the Island controlling your decisions and making your actions inevitable, or are your decisions leading to your actions and allowing the power to survive?</li><li><b>Faith and Reason</b>: When it comes down to it, do you really have to choose one or the other – or is finding balance possible?</li></ul><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3r_oz08Gz5qJfRAZZqFf85Ee7Qh5Dj8869G2p7c_7QWlbTESdTuoRgVvXOQ9ytMQvRNoF7JGFXgjrc0rlRwiYJhb7_WkM8MPwkmbGCTlbRCU_BO3p7riJVyBuE_DO2U9OTQBQdw/s400/1yr_jack.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611961603453969762" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 279px; height: 156px; " />The Others and Dharma offered extreme examples of protective zealots and intrepid invaders. The hubris of each led to its own destruction. The same is true of Jacob and the Man In Black. We may not know how the Faith/Reason duality will continue under Hurley’s reign as Island protector, but we have reason to be hopeful that he’ll find a better balance. And that reason is that throughout all the grand plays for power, throughout all the chess moves and incidents, throughout all the deception and manipulation, the fate of the Island was NOT decided by The Others, or Dharma, or Jacob, or the Man In Black, or really any of the major power players. The fate of the Island was ultimately decided by a doctor with daddy issues, an ex-con full of self-loathing, a murderer turned mother, a torturer turned protector, an average joe with a heart of gold, and a cripple who just wanted to be great. No matter how much observation and influence Jacob placed upon the 815ers, their decisions were ultimately the results of their individual character stories. We know this. We watched them unfold for six seasons.</div><div><br />The ins and outs of the Island’s powers and the details of Dharma and the Others, could have filled six more seasons of episodes. Maybe they should have. But the show we got offered those details to us as evidence in uncovering the meaning behind the world into which our heroes found themselves unexpectedly thrust. LOST took a story of organizations and “gods” fighting for power, and followed it from the perspective of a ragtag group of bystanders interjected into the midst of the conflict via a plane crash. Bystanders who, through their unique set of circumstances and individual stories, came to accept the grey area that exists between the duality of faith and reason, put an end to the current Island fight cycle, protected the energy of life and death, and saved the world. It didn’t take gods; it just took ordinary people. But those people had to have a little faith!<br /><br /><b><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfnFCBtFe5KJf2UxVuYHSOoc4llKnv0aIk496X3PW22C4g4xk53wBWuWa9nTu4ZBJhkn60jWsUyYgULjbE2u5RqYdfW2SUsg1RyslK4nSlwh9NeYDLtQMdxV_2qW8vx4bglFeQng/s400/1yr_elephant.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611961916124338258" style="float: right; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 279px; height: 156px; color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; font-weight: normal; " />A Final Thought On The Elephant In The Room:</b><br />Yeah, I didn’t talk about The Sideways World much, did I? I’ll admit that’s because I find it the least well-executed aspect of the show’s plot – primarily BECAUSE it can be so easily excised from a discussion of everything else that happened in the show (you know, in the REAL world portion of the show). I think the controversial nature of LOST’s finale mainly came to pass because of just how the resolution of the Sideways World plot was handled. It was clunky, and fought against details and plot points that were already held close to our hearts such as the effect of Juliet detonating the Jughead h-bomb and the reason the Island was at the bottom of the Sea when Sideways Flight-815 passed over it. We were very ready for there to be a clearer connection between the real world and the Sideways world, and so when it was revealed to be a realm outside time and space where our characters reunited post-death… well that just didn’t seem simpatico with the rest of the show’s careful juggling of faith and reason, and reeked just a bit too much of a “gotcha!”-style twist. But it’s something that fits better with contemplation when the trickery of its reveal is removed from the equation. After all, the energy of the Island is the stuff that makes up life and death, so it’s not outside the context of the show to speculate on existence beyond life. Exploring the Sideways World allowed us to appreciate what the 815ers were fighting to protect: their right to not just life itself, but things beyond. All while allowing the individual character archs to play-out full circle and give our favorite heroes a few more moments of on-screen happiness amidst all the sorrow and sacrifice they endured to save the rest of us. Not that bad a way to go out :)<br /><br /><b><i>Stay LOST, my friends!</i></b><br /></div></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div>PS: A hearty thank you to <a href="http://lost-media.com/">lost-media.com</a> for maintaining such a great <a href="http://gallery.lost-media.com/">gallery of screen captures</a>! </div>Sagacious Penguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02300030494408133540noreply@blogger.com35tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8249536.post-4478617172807502842011-04-30T22:52:00.000-07:002011-04-30T23:00:33.869-07:00Where Have I Been? THIS Is Where!Not that anyone's reading anymore since I've been AWOL for nearly a year, but if anyone is still curious what happened to me... this is it:<div><br /><br /></div><div><iframe width="425" height="265" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-6oBF_sHb94" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div><br /><br />I'm the guy in the red suit all through the trailer, and one of the "three guys working from their garage" who put this movie together :)<br /><br />For more info, visit <a href="http://www.flashbackmovie.com">flashbackmovie.com</a>.<br /><br />Enjoy!<br /><br />Now to get back to talking LOST and reviewing TV shows... just... need... free... time!Sagacious Penguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02300030494408133540noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8249536.post-69979570288397226942010-05-24T20:57:00.000-07:002010-05-27T08:18:33.888-07:00LOST - Where Are We? - 6.17 - The End<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-wHbhIzyCH8M-RSgymucCL3PK7UR6inQYCs8MtEGxKK5JeLAiIsCA4S13oTSbjJZ8Mybt0mdP6rc_RWc3PDuYvjo-8yidxB9VFwMuQPBg4Y2c4xqglEj4y9ut8ds_B-8fHOMt6A/s1600/lost617_01.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475052094070339410" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 279px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 156px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-wHbhIzyCH8M-RSgymucCL3PK7UR6inQYCs8MtEGxKK5JeLAiIsCA4S13oTSbjJZ8Mybt0mdP6rc_RWc3PDuYvjo-8yidxB9VFwMuQPBg4Y2c4xqglEj4y9ut8ds_B-8fHOMt6A/s400/lost617_01.jpg" border="0" /></a>I considered titling the column "Where Were We?" this week, considering the show has now ended, but something tells me that the real analysis of LOST is only just beginning. As with 6.15 (Across The Sea), the knee-jerk fan reaction to the finale seems pretty split down the middle, with many heaping praise at the beautifully elegiac nature of the characters' various send-offs, and many offering only scorn at the myriad of unanswered details the show has left in its wake. Still others just wish they knew how to easily classify what exactly the Altered Universe turned out to be in the episode's final minutes.<br /><div></div><br />And this viewer? I wouldn't call the finale perfect, but I also unabashedly loved it -- and I also have a feeling it's going to age VERY well on series re-watches through the decades. The emotion and character beats were highly wrought and exquisitely pitched. The on-Island events were appropriately epic, and brought a true ring of finality to the story of the Flight 815 Survivors and their role in the Island's search for a new protector. The Altered Universe events were captivating throughout, and concluded on a staggeringly spiritual (and admittedly heavy-handed) beat that pulled the rug out from beneath viewers' perceptions and left them thinking long into the night, and will quite likely haunt them for some time beyond.<br /><div></div><br />And all those questions? Well, to be honest, I'm a bit tired of hearing people say that the show never gave us "answers." Simply put, it gave us PLENTY of answers -- it just didn't provide them in fully fleshed-out, detail. Would I have liked more detail? Sure! As much as the next fan - probably more so than many, as I'm clearly into this whole LOST thing. But we certainly got all the answers we needed to complete the story, and more than enough to clearly make out the puzzle -- even if there are still many pieces mising (of varying degrees of importance). Let's take a look at what pieces we DID get...<br /><div></div><br /><strong>The Island Unleashed:</strong><br />So if Desmond was Jacob's failsafe, Jacob must have had a hunch that un-corking the Island might be the only way to stop the Man In Black once and for all. The Man In Black, having failed to prevent the Candidate-process, chose the exact same failsafe, hoping to bring the Island down with Jack on it - all while escaping aboard the good ol' Elizabeth. So while detail-seekers might be frustrated that we don't know every last ramification of uncorking the Island (or who built the cork, or whose skeletons those were down there, et cetera), they ought to take a bit of solace in the fact that this was the whole point: neither did Jack, the Man In Black, or even Desmond. Each expected and hoped for different results in pulling the plug, and thus LOST cements itself as a story of mankind struggling to deal with the unknown. At least this wasn't the first time we've seen an Island drain -- Ben's method of "summoning" smokey was eerily similar in nature. So, as with most mysteries on the show, things don't become clear with explanation, but they at least become clearER with repetition: if this spot was the birthplace of Smokey, it makes sense he might be connected to similar spots around the Island.<br /><div></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidx5LA5naLqUFocUM5m-DQVGhyphenhyphenHI8LS7Fhs7L8XIzSikR6Mq8jO-3mcprEu3vW28Zq1ohxgjeZNiF-IZoumyPaEjhOv2KHjRvMPlTxEYseRBDfWqscKqHCXKiUVrKDAZAEH1aJgA/s1600/lost617_02.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475052289175224514" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 279px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 156px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidx5LA5naLqUFocUM5m-DQVGhyphenhyphenHI8LS7Fhs7L8XIzSikR6Mq8jO-3mcprEu3vW28Zq1ohxgjeZNiF-IZoumyPaEjhOv2KHjRvMPlTxEYseRBDfWqscKqHCXKiUVrKDAZAEH1aJgA/s400/lost617_02.jpg" border="0" /></a>But, again, like most aspects of LOST, what's of key importance here is not the what or the how, but the who and the why. If Jack, the ultimate man of science, can take this kind of leap of faith, and just TRUST that this is what he's supposed to do, even if he doesn't understand all of it, then so must the viewers: that's just the nature of the story being told. Desmond, on the other hand -- who we thought was the man with the plan -- turns out to have it all wrong. And here the Altered Universe makes its single major impact on the events of the Original Timeline. For Desmond is confident that when he reaches the source of the Island's energy, he's going to be transported to the AU (Just as he was when Widmore blasted him with electromagnetic energy), and now we know why he was suddenly okay with Widmore asking him to get blasted again: he thought (like much of the audience, this viewer included) that the AU was meant to be his "happily ever after" -- and by making his sacrifice, he'd be headed to a place where he could be happy. He descends with the confidence of a man who knows what he has to do ONLY because the AU's existence convinced him to do it. But this time -- instead of the light surging his consciousness into another place -- the light fizzles out, and the Island begins to sink into the sea, as the Man In Black predicted.<br /><div></div><br />However, it doesn't take Jack long to figure out that his own instinct was also right: with the Island's energy gone, the Man In Black is rendered mortal. And after a pretty spectacular brawl, he's soon rendered dead. But while the antagonist has been defeated, it took risking the very thing it has ALL been about protecting: the Island itself. And if everything we've been told about the Island is true -- that it's the source of the electromagnetically-charged energy that fuels all life and death -- then Jack's final foray down the waterfall is for the sake of all existence as we know it: just like Widmore said; just like Richard said. And that's what it has ALWAYS been about. We knew this, even back in Season 2 when all it took was entering a code and pushing a button every 108 minutes. We just didn't have the context yet to see Dharma's Swan hatch as a microcosm of what Jacob and the Others had going on with the whole Island. So to an extent, they certainly were "the good guys," just as they always told us. They were just a bunch of total douchebags as well, limited in their methods by the limitations of a leader who couldn't bring himself to personally impact the goings-on beyond getting things started by bringing people to the Island.<br /><div></div><br />But now, with Jacob dead and his followers reduced to a handful of wishy-washy turncoats who have scattered into the jungle, it falls onto Jack to tell Desmond he's done enough, and fix the Island himself. And with the job done, he's transported/zapped out via the light (just as he was during the crash of Oceanic 815, off of Ajira 316, and out of the Incident, and just like what happened to the folks in the Swan hatch when it imploded, and to anyone who turned the Frozen Wheel [see, clearER with repetition!]) and Jack wakes up right by the same spot Jacob found the Man In Black's discarded body all those centuries ago -- presumably removed from the heart of the Island before the energy was strong enough to fry him or disembody him smokey-style. And so, Jack Shephard stumbles back to the spot where his time on the Island began, and -- succumbing to the knife wound in his chest -- ends it with the same golden retriever by his side.<br /><div></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKPq9ZY6CDwpRBH5rZhLH0FexIMjz6SG6DF_WDux-nEdqg_YMcJwE-67CFEzjlkcFZ4lEzUHUAoxAdhqP_zuXoJNsXK4RMtWkqY-khWdl2Tkyr_01UWRkRHWzzw4Rsytn70Y31CA/s1600/lost617_03.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475052496094824594" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 279px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 156px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKPq9ZY6CDwpRBH5rZhLH0FexIMjz6SG6DF_WDux-nEdqg_YMcJwE-67CFEzjlkcFZ4lEzUHUAoxAdhqP_zuXoJNsXK4RMtWkqY-khWdl2Tkyr_01UWRkRHWzzw4Rsytn70Y31CA/s400/lost617_03.jpg" border="0" /></a><strong>The Ajira 6:</strong><br />While one does have to wonder what the heck Kate, Sawyer, Claire, Miles, Richard, and Lapidus are going to tell the press, there's much less mysterious to talk about with their part of the story, other than a thrilling escape and Frank and Richard agreeing to not battle over who got the most ignoble death. Also, Richard's grey hair did put a grin on my face. And I'm very glad Kate will be able to reunite Claire with Aaron. From a survival point-of-view, rather than a protecting-the-Island-and-through-it-all-of-mankind point-of-view, this reunion alone really justifies the Oceanic 6's entire return.<br /><div></div><br /><strong>And The Meek Shall Inherit:</strong><br />Hurley really is the best leader the Island could ask for. I thought the exchange of Island leadership from Jack to Hurley was a perfect endgame to the mythology half of LOST's story, and I should have seen it coming, but didn't. Of note is the fact that no specific, cup, water, or incantation was required for Jack to transfer his power. I found this a nice way of saying that the Island's power is more about commitment and a person's decision than about magic words sprinkled over magic elixer (as many feared after Mother's ritual in 6.15 [Across The Sea]. The only thing missing from Hurley's assumption of leadership was an ending montage shot of him and Ben gathering Rose, Bernard, Cindi, the Kids, and any other scattered Others. Could have been a cool last image for him. But I DO get why they dialed everything out to focus on Jack in the final minutes -- that is, after all, where we began. At least we got to hear that he and Ben had a good run of it in the Altered Universe. Oh and speaking of --<br /><div></div><br /><strong>The Altered Universe:</strong><br />If you're reading this, then you probably already know that the endgame of the AU is what's going to cause the greatest contention among fans when discussing the finale (and perhaps LOST in general) for the rest of eternity. The decision to yank our happy altered reality (with all of our "woken up" characters) away from us, and replace it with an acceptance of death, was a bold and somewhat cruel one. Though it's probably worth noting that many of the viewers who complain that the AU having lead to death was a cop out, might very well be similarly crying foul had the AU turned out to be the "happily ever after" that many fans (and Desmond) preditected. The "happily ever after" AU would have, after all, rendered all of the tragedy and sacrifice that happened on-Island over the course of the series somewhat moot. And even as the AU character awakenings over the course of the finale were reaching a fever pitch of awesome, I couldn't help but feel that a successful jumping-over of all our characters from one timeline to the other would really undermine the drama of what was happening on-Island. And it actually somewhat did! I wasn't nearly as into Jack's final sacrifice until it was suddenly revealed what the AU really was, and once that reveal arrived, I was too reeling at having our charcters' chance for a happy reality shut down to savour the tragic impact of Jack's death. While this is, indeed, a stumbling block of the finale's, I didn't find it to be a deal-breaker, and on re-watch (KNOWING the genuine stakes of Jack's sacrifice and the true nature of the AU), it actually plays extremely well and brought me to tears.<br /><div></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh02dgEQCD_KepFkqmV29-MAJOx-9hXWXuagH9PcNHtgNoXl9uOL0A23rEWSWYxNKxdEXGSGUUHPG_fwMJGIKFAltNNgugXRVvUNCSRg8NkdeIATE93flSKAUnx09ueNdEKL32rJg/s1600/lost617_04.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475052641021528370" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 279px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 156px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh02dgEQCD_KepFkqmV29-MAJOx-9hXWXuagH9PcNHtgNoXl9uOL0A23rEWSWYxNKxdEXGSGUUHPG_fwMJGIKFAltNNgugXRVvUNCSRg8NkdeIATE93flSKAUnx09ueNdEKL32rJg/s400/lost617_04.jpg" border="0" /></a>So, what the hell IS the true nature of the Altered Universe, you ask? I've heard the words purgatory and bardo bandied about the web, as well as afterlife, pre-afterlife, and next-afterlife -- but personally, I'd rather just take the explanation the show gave us all along: It was, indeed, an altered timeline -- the result of our survivors detonating a hydrogen bomb in the middle of one of the Island's richest energy pockets ("a place [they] all made together"). Rather than change time by letting the Island be damged in 1977, fate course-corrected (as it always does in the world of LOST) and in this case, it shunted the results of Jughead's detonation into an Altered reality that existed outside of time, wherein the Island sank long before Oceanic 815 flew over it. Nothing new here; we figured this from the beginning of Season 6. What we didn't know (even though AU Charlie and Faraday TOLD us in 6.11 [Happily Ever After]) was that this place wasn't the truth: this place wasn't supposed to be. And so, as one-by-one our characters awoke to remember their true lives -- ALL of their true lives through to death -- the AU was revealed to ultimately exist for the purpose of letting the characters find themselves and find each other beyond the events of the Original (real) Timeline. But not so that they can live forever together in bliss, but rather so they can "remember," "let go," and "move on" together. Mystical? Yes. Sad? Yes. Beautiful? A fair bit. Heavy-handed? Also a fair bit. Appropriate? That's your call. I thought it was; you may not.<br /><div></div><br />But while calling the AU purgatory or bardo or whatever you like is fine by me, I think it important not to discard everything we've known about the AU in light of the finale's final revelation. I've read many comments that say things like "so it wasn't the result of Jughead afterall" or "so it didn't matter the Island was at the bottom of the sea," et cetera. In fact, it's tempting to say that NONE of what happened in the AU over the course of the season mattered at all. But, do remember, that the signifigance of the AU lies EXACTLY in the details that differed from the OT, and that it ALL mattered to our characters. They were the same characters in the AU as in the OT, even as their experiences differed. And everything they learned about themselves during their experiences in the AU are things they're now able to take to their ultimate rest, and for some (perhaps all, but particularly Jack and Sayid come to mind) these were experiences key to their finding peace in whatever lies beyond. Jack needed to experience David before he could truly "Let Go." Sayid needed Hurley to tell him to stop letting other people label him as a killer. With Shannon as one last example, Hurley showed Sayid that at heart he was a protector. And these examples exist for all the characters, informing both us and them about who they are in important ways.<br /><div></div><br />For some, such as Ben, there was still more he needed to learn, more he needed to find out about himself before "letting go" and "moving on" -- hopefully Danielle and Alex will help him find it out. Faraday and Charlotte were another fascinating exception to the AU's mechanics: He couldn't even wake her up. Was their Island connection not as deep as he had hoped? At least Eloise will be happy about his remaining with her, granting her the life with him that the Original Timeline so harshly denied. (And for the record, I'm still betting she knows all she knows because she obtained Faraday's OT journal in 1977 in both timelines). But while the Altered Universe may still carry on for those left behind, things clearly turn all supernatural for those ready to move on. As Jack slowly and somewhat stubbornly comes 'round, bit by bit, David seems to disappear from both the narrative, and very likely the world itself ("You don't have a son, Jack."), and finally, after the truth dawns, Christian Shephard makes his one final appearance. For the sake of those fearing that the Island itself was a purgatory-like place, he clarifies for us that everything that ever happened to Jack was real, and then everyone gathers for one heartfelt farewell reunion. What's next? None of them know. Neither do we. A story of mankind struggling to deal with the unknown, remember?<br /><div></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0071KjoN7vWbfQPtc90KVgyuh7ARbGhPYSrP5D5emLMRokDLqaxQZrqtZBjkKJudUVnHZChe6D6OiL4mJUH_VTFZCpCNYBzp10fOzOjO2BMrXL6Kz2AUjJvRmfjXB7B7IKiwJtQ/s1600/lost617_05.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475052815386112690" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 279px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 156px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0071KjoN7vWbfQPtc90KVgyuh7ARbGhPYSrP5D5emLMRokDLqaxQZrqtZBjkKJudUVnHZChe6D6OiL4mJUH_VTFZCpCNYBzp10fOzOjO2BMrXL6Kz2AUjJvRmfjXB7B7IKiwJtQ/s400/lost617_05.jpg" border="0" /></a>Now we as viewers can speculate for the rest of our lives if Season Six could have told the EXACT same story just as well without the Altered Universe, but it's hard to imagine a more emotionally satisfying end to all the character's story-archs amidst the harsh happenings and epic sacrifices of the Original Timeline's on-Island story. And it's equally hard to shake the feeling that a "happily-ever-after" in the AU would have been a kind of cop out. So we're left with the AU being an affirmation of the characters' lives and an ease through to their deaths. There's something deeply moving in knowing a character to their core and seeing them lifted up and appreciated by each other. And in The End, this is what the detonation of Jughead and the purpose of Desmond's mission in the AU all boiled down to. It's the same endgame as Sun and Jin's narrative in the Original Timeline: the characters fighting for the right to die together. And depending on your point of view, this is either VERY profound or VERY dumb. You already know I'm in the former camp ;)<br /><div></div><br /><strong>About Those End Credits Images:</strong><br />I didn't for a moment think that showing images of the Oceanic 815 crash site over the end credits of the finale meant anything other than a "hey, remember where it all began?" call-back. I've read of people founding theories on the placement of these images, but I personally refuse to. The show ended with the slamming of the "LOST" title, and that's where I end my analysis.<br /><div></div><br /><strong>The Answers:</strong><br />As discussed earlier, I feel the show has given us almost all the important answers even though it's been stingy with the details. <strong>What's the Island?</strong> It's a hub protecting the electromagnetic energy that makes up life and death. It's a hard place to find, capable of moving through time and space thanks to the power/effects of its energy stores. Since before anyone can remember, man has encountered the energy, some choosing to protect it, others choosing to try and wield it for power/science/etc. <strong>Who are Jacob and the Man In Black?</strong> Jacob (representing faith in the Island) was the most recent Island protector, could wield the Island's powers in many ways. The Man In Black, his brother (representing science and/or man's need to understand), was cursed to remain tethered to the Island as a mysterious living embodiment of the Island's energy. Jacob brings people to the Island to try and see if humankind is good or bad (a question put into his mind by his Mother who was deadset against humanity). <strong>Who are The Others?</strong> When Richard arrives and takes a job as Jacob's intermediary, "The Others" as we knew them were formed -- a collective of people who arrived a the Island in different ways over the years and were herded together as "the good ones" to follow Jacob and protect the place as they saw fit. <strong>What was the Dharma Initiative?</strong> The Dharma Initiative was the latest and most modern of mankinds attempts to mine the Island's energy (electromagnetic properties) for science, and the Others made a mediocre attempt to coexist with them, but Dharma drilled too deep ("The Incident"), damaged the Island, and eventually were wiped out by the Others, leaving only the Swan hatch to plug the hole they created. The Swan hatch and the energy it covered, led to the crash of Oceanic 815. The rest is the Survivors' story.<br /><div></div><br /><strong>Details, Details, Details:</strong><br />And what details are we missing? The vast majority fall under four major categories: The Others, The Dharma Initiative, Special People, and the Island's Vast Array of Powers. And, I've got a LOT to say about all of these, so we'll have to save it for another time. "The End" may have come and gone, but stay tuned for a thorough analysis of LOST's mysteries, how they impacted the characters, and how they were essential to the overall narrative.<br /><div></div><br />"It only ends once. All the rest is progress."<br /><div></div><br /><strong><em>And that's where we are!</em></strong><br /><div></div><br /><div></div>Sagacious Penguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02300030494408133540noreply@blogger.com30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8249536.post-33075352402995515342010-05-19T15:59:00.000-07:002010-05-20T05:58:40.223-07:00LOST - Where Are We? - 6.16 - What They Died For<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLMX9eSRmL0MYVK_3PE5VikFgxlyy1dKz60F1UhfVHglx6SzI4wveK6u-kJpF2yGMmWwE28IeMBl2XnIZorY5wXdVR7RUu_Q1RBpE0U8mDN_UXB-61F766wEK8pgPx-vTbbtxE6A/s1600/lost616.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 279px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 156px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473120413276742114" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLMX9eSRmL0MYVK_3PE5VikFgxlyy1dKz60F1UhfVHglx6SzI4wveK6u-kJpF2yGMmWwE28IeMBl2XnIZorY5wXdVR7RUu_Q1RBpE0U8mDN_UXB-61F766wEK8pgPx-vTbbtxE6A/s400/lost616.jpg" /></a>More than just a perfect setup for what will hopefully be a stellar series finale, "What They Died For" featured a couple major developments I thought for sure would be saved until "The End."<br /><br /><strong>The Altered Universe:</strong><br />Not too much to say here beyond the fact that everything is coming together in spades. Desmond continues to work his magic on Ben, Locke, Kate, and Sayid. Hurley's Island memories have fleshed out to the point where he remembers Anna Lucia fondly. Lots of people are going to a concert. And Jack's neck injury, previously glimpsed in 6.01 (LA X, Part I), is bleeding again. Whether the AU itself will live or die is perhaps the biggest mystery of the show, but one thing's practically guaranteed: our characters are all going to receive their island memories as they converge at that concert, and on-Island Jack's going to receive some sort of neck injury. AU Eloise Widmore is going to be PISSED.<br /><br /><strong>Jacob & His Agenda:</strong><br />Well, Jacob has chosen his successor -- or rather, a potential successor has chosen to take the job. This may seem like a small distinction, but it apparently means everything to Jacob. Having found himself thrust into the job of Island protector having never experienced the outside world, nor anything beyond his apparent Mother, Jacob took up the mantle having no idea what sort of sacrifice he was making. Being told of the Island and its powers was zero preparation for a man who knew nothing beyond his sheltered existence and his love for his Mother. So, with 2000 years of experience now under his belt, Jacob sought to find a replacement: like-minded in broken humility, and incapable of wanting the job for selfish reasons. He followed the lives of people he felt were kindred spirits, people he thought needed the Island as much as it needed them, and forced them to find their own way on the Island amidst all hardship and without single helping hand or explanation until the eleventh hour. Chances are he thought this the only way to lead someone to take the job with pure motivations: knowledge of the Island, and the truth about its powers and importance might only attract those with sinister intentions, or twist the intentions of those more properly inclined.<br /><br />So now, having let his Candidates endure the confusion of facing his followers (The Others), coping with tragedy after tragedy, and figuring out the importance of the Island (mostly) on their own, Jacob finally popped the question. Maybe they didn't have much of a choice if they believed how important it was for someone to fill Jacob's shoes, but he did give them the choice not to believe, and Jack made it clear that he was certain becoming Island protector was what he wanted. And after a brief makeshift ceremony that mirrored Mother's actions in last week's episode, Jack has been given Jacob's job. And just how many of Jacob's crazy powers come with the title? We'll have one last chance to find out, but if I could only see one, I'd like to see Jack project himself off-Island to have a little chat with Eloise Hawking. And, of course, at first he'd appear to her talking backward (a la Walt) until he got the hang of the ability. A fan can dream ;)<br /><br /><strong>On Widmore & Ben:</strong><br />Jacob and The Man In Black may have thought their personal feud was more important than that of Widmore and Ben, but apparently no one informed Ben of the fact. It's fitting that Widmore was welcomed back to the Island as a method for Jacob to receive Desmond there. While this essentially aligned Widmore with Team Jacob (Team Not-Causing-The-Destruction-Of-Existence-As-We-Know-It), judging from just how (in)sincere Widmore sounded when he referenced learning the error of his ways, I certainly doubt Widmore was fulfilling Jacob's requests for any reasons beyond self-preservation and self-gain. He certainly turned squealer easily enough. But Ben lashing out and murdering his longtime rival served two goals: not only was it the delicious revenge he'd wanted for a very long time, it also shut Widmore up from blabbing anything further to the Man In Black.<br /><br />I don't buy Ben's "Yeah, I'll murder anyone" attitude for a moment. He's out to ingratiate himself to the Man In Black until he can figure out how best to help the Island from this point on. Getting to take his personal revenge as a way of proving his mettle was just icing. Ben Linus is capable of quite a bit of evil to get what he wants, but he's not going to ultimately betray the Island he's given his life (and his daughter) to protect. The Man In Black manipulated Ben into murdering Jacob; now it's Ben's turn to repay the favor.<br /><br />And Widmore's legacy on the show? Having completed his function as one of the principal villains, Widmore has left us with whatever that equipment in his canoe was. They made a very deliberate effort to linger the camera on the metal cases in that canoe, so I'm guessing we haven't seen the last of that stuff. Maybe Miles can find it. It's not like the poor guy's been given ANYTHING else of value to do beyond running around the jungle in terror with a walkie-talkie.<br /><br /><strong>The Man In Black and His Agenda:</strong><br />At the start of "What They Died For," I'm fairly certain the Man In Black's motivations were as simple as finding a way to bump off the remaining Candidates, and finding Ben at the abandoned Dharma Barracks presented a possible avenue for getting these murders accomplished. He offered Ben Island leadership if Ben helps him leave without saying anything about all of existence collapsing in on itself if he were to accomplish his goal (as Widmore and Richard's deceased Isabella have previously foretold). Chances are, the Man In Black doesn't believe any of this rot about the universe ending or perhaps he wouldn't be so anxious to cause it. But whatever his thoughts here, his goals clearly change (or at least are amended) by the end of the episode -- possibly because of what Widmore whispered to him about Desmond, possibly because he can sense that Jacob has been replaced and his efforts to prevent this from happening have failed. So it would seem the Man In Black's offer to Ben of Island leadership is now out of the equation, since once he's armed with Desmond, he intends to use the man labeled Jacob's "failsafe," to destroy the Island. MIB may think this is the only way to free himself, or he may be after revenge for not being allowed to leave, but if Jacob's even the slightest bit right about the importance of the Island and its energy, then it's paramount that someone stops him.<br /><br /><strong>MIA - Missing In Action:</strong><br />Richard joins Lapidus in the "Ignoble Death or Being Saved For A Surprise Reappearance" category. Since neither character has been given even a moment to be mourned on the show, I'm rooting for the latter.<br /><br /><em><strong>And that's where we are!</strong></em>Sagacious Penguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02300030494408133540noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8249536.post-34389845963575906372010-05-14T14:38:00.001-07:002010-05-14T14:41:54.820-07:00LOST: Show of Science, Show of FaithLOST has always been a balancing act between science-fiction reality and science-fantasy. There was a time when fans seeking to understand the show frequently quoted something the writers implied and/or misstated back in Season 1: that all the mysteries on the show could be explained by science. The show runners have long since rebuffed that notion, and to anyone paying attention to the visions, smoke monsters, and psychic powers of Season 1, this wasn't a bit surprising. The show may have launched itself out of our reality early on, but even as its mythology has expanded, I would argue that it has NEVER launched itself out of the reality it has created. And in that sense, everything that's happened can still be explained by the science of the show. <br /><br />What separates science-fiction from science-fantasy? Nothing more than the size of the leap it takes to get from our reality to the reality presented in the fictional work -- and just how much that work bothers to try and connect the dots between our reality and its own. For something like, say "Jurassic Park," there was a small leap: Dinosaur DNA was preserved in a mosquito. The rest of the story fits pretty darn well with how real science actually works. So there's a small leap there. And what does a large leap look like? Let's say "Star Wars." Sure the spaceships and weapons look technically possible, but when you throw the Force into the equation, you've got something that is pure fantasy. It doesn't make apologies for itself, it doesn't attempt to resemble anything in our reality: it is what it is. And fans love it for that. In fact, when Episode I of the Prequel Trilogy attempted to add even a smidgeon of science to the Force with the concept of midichlorians, fans rejected it flat out. They wanted their Force to remain as mystical as it had always been. <br /><br />LOST falls rather firmly between the two poles of science-fiction and science-fantasy. In fact, a major premise of the show has long been the battle between the characters' oscillating beliefs in science and faith. Most of the show's more vocal naysayers these days sound very much like Jack's 'Man of Science,' wanting everything they see to make a practical sense, labeling anything without a pat explanation as "nonsense." But many of us viewers who were hanging on Locke's every word as the "Man of Faith" in those early episodes were always hoping there would be something more than science -- we wanted to believe that everyone was brought to the Island for a profound reason -- that the destiny Locke was so convinced of wasn't just an illusion. And the show has always walked this line, sometimes peeling back the seemingly mystical and revealing science, other times peeling back the scientific and showcasing the mystical. But what's always separated LOST from works of true science-fantasy like "Star Wars" is that it has consistently (Yes, even now after 6.15 "Across The Sea") attempted to connect its dots back to reality -- firmly planting itself in the world of science but dabbling in the deeper mysteries of life itself. <br /><br />Far from struggling with this dichotomy, the show celebrates it -- boldly and purposely flip-flopping back and forth to showcase its science, and then its supernatural, and then its science again, ad infinitum. In Season 1, there were monsters in the jungle, whispers in the air, others in the trees, and a miracle in Locke's spine. Season 2, did its best to swing all of this toward the Dharma Initiative: hatches and science experiments, vaccinations and fake beards. The polar bears weren't mysterious anymore, they were brought to the Island for study. The start of Season 3 continued this trend, but for every 3.01 "A Tale of Two Cities" which debunked the Others and made them seemingly normal people, there was a 3.20 "The Man Behind The Curtain" which brought us ageless Richard Alpert and finally gave "Jacob" a (disembodied) voice. Season 4 brought Jack and Locke's views on destiny to a head and tested the limits of what kinds of science-fiction fans would accept by blooping the Island through time and space at its close. Season 5 was the most unabashedly sci-fi set of episodes yet, wielding time travel with aplomb, but always - ALWAYS - attempting to ground its use in rules that seemed real enough in the world of the show (whatever happened happened, the Universe course corrects to avoid paradox, etc). And now we're nearly done with Season 6, wherein once again reality and fantasy continue to unfold simultaneously, each holding the other carefully in check to avoid the show losing the dual identity its writers and (many of) its fans have always cherished. <br /><br />What's become more real? Well, the story's ultimate puppet-masters, Jacob and the Smoke Monster have been thoroughly humanized and stripped of the deity-like statuses that their previous appearances and mentions through the years have always seemed to connote. Just like Desmond, they're both ordinary men who became extraordinary because of the Island. Even the Mother character introduced as the Island guru prior to Jacob is said to have arrived to the Island by accident - she was once a normal person too.<br /><br />What's become more fantastic? The Island itself. As the show has continued to unfold its tangled web of mysteries -- visions and whispers, faith healings and psychic abilities, ghosts and monsters, destiny and time travel -- the Island has become the scapegoat for ALL that is fantastic. As the show's myriad of confusing plot threads all lead back to the Island and its powers, the broader mystery of the show narrows its focus and as ALL ELSE becomes more real, the Island itself becomes more mythic.<br /><br />And where's the science in all this? The science is the glue that binds the mythic to the real. The unexplained, after all, is very much real even in our world. Where'd the universe come from? Who built those crazy statues on Easter Island? Which came first, the chicken or the egg? It's not that the unknowable isn't out there -- It's how humanity has RESPONDED to the unknowable that turns it either mythic or scientific. To the Mother character, who clearly has a grudge against humanity, the Island's energy is light that most be protected from humanity's darkness. To Richard, who was deeply religious when he arrived on-Island, the energy was explained as evil that must not be let out into the world. But to the Dharma Initiative, Widmore, and the Man in Black (pre-Smokey), the source of Island's mysterious properties is simply electromagnetic energy -- to be studied, harnessed, and utilized for their respective goals of bettering mankind, taking power, or escaping the Island. It's the studies of the Dharma Initiative, the objectives of Widmore's science team, and even the (inexplicable to us) Donkey Wheel of the Man In Black that represent mankind's very real attempts to know the unknowable, and ground the show in its own science-fiction reality.<br /><br />Everything that's unfolding in Season 6 has been a natural progression of the show's usual modus operandi. The Smoke Monster appeared in the pilot as nothing more than noises; It revealed its flag-flyingly supernatural form in Season 2. It became a character with motivations in Season 3 when it was linked to the appearance Eko's dead brother Yemi (and by extension, Jack's dead father Christian). And now, it not only has motivations, it has humanity. We've been given one long progression from monster to man. The Island's powers have been referenced ever since Locke could walk again. As early as the Season 2 finale, when Desmond turned the failsafe key, these powers have been connected to electromagnetism and blinding bright lights doing fantastic things. This continued with the Donkey Wheel; this continued with Season 5's time travel and Dharma's experiments; this continued with Widmore doing experiments on Desmond in Season 6 while seeking out the Island's electromagnetic pockets; this has now culminated with the reveal of the Island's heart: a cave full of the same blinding electromagnetic light we've encountered over and over again through the series.<br /><br />LOST has created a mythical Island full of electromagnetic energy. Beyond this one large fantastic element (which has been obvious for quite a while now), the show steers clear of the realm of science-fantasy by following its own rules, and always presenting a realistic vision of mankind's response to the fantastic -- whether the characters seek to understand it through myth or through science. The show even goes so far as to try and debunk some of reality's own unexplained phenomena (there ARE people who believe in ghosts, faith healing, and psychic powers, you know!) by attributing them to the energy that fills the Island and, according to the Mother character, is in each of us. All the supernatural happenings on this show? Sure there are all kinds of layers and character motivations, rules and rituals -- but the answer IS the Island -- a power source fully capable of being interpreted through whatever science, religion, or believers in magic would like to bring to the table. If that isn't enough of an answer for you, I recommend you start talking smack about the universe for not adequately explaining where it came from. (Kidding).<br /><br />But just like the universe, where LOST gets its true value are the people in it. This isn't an editorial about the characters of LOST, so I'm not going to broach the topic in depth, but I do feel it would be a disservice to the show to analyze its operating methods in such detail without stating that the primary reason the show works as well as it does -- and stays grounded in reality despite its huge fantastic Island caveat -- is that the characters are so well fleshed-out and generally sympathetic. The humanizing of the Smoke Monster is just the most recent in the show's long line of sympathetic evil-doers: Ben Linus? Juliet? Sawyer? Jin? All were jack-asses when we first met them. Heck, sometimes they still are! Ben even murdered one of the show's most beloved characters last season in cold blood! But we GET them. We understand them. We sympathize even if we disapprove. For a show that loves its black and white symbology, I know few shows as dedicated to debunking the black and white mindset of good and evil. All characters on LOST are shades of grey, and when characters like these are placed on a magic Island and allowed to react to it in all ways human, be they faith-based, science-based, emotion-based, greed-based, et cetera, they fully legitimize and filter the science-fiction backdrop they've been placed in.<br /><br />Every season of LOST, the show reinvents itself -- simultaneously gaining and losing a legion of followers who respectively like or dislike what it's currently doing -- but its nothing if not consistant in its insistance on permutations and never resting on its laurels. But no matter how it has changed, nor how much it changes in its final 3.5 show hours, LOST will NEVER fully lose either its mythic side or its science side. For every polar bear, there is a cage. For every cave of light, there is an electromagnetic pocket. Behind every monster, there is a man. And for every altered timeline, there is a course correction...Sagacious Penguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02300030494408133540noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8249536.post-65223496239331656742010-05-12T16:42:00.000-07:002010-05-12T16:49:31.201-07:00LOST - Where Are We? - 6.15 - Across The Sea<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXohtbsENwZqFlDl1sDLBgui2L1tNBQqOwTfpV8wn7AaQSteCecUfqEe62NpK_djrILkTsd4r1hwlhTWLMDnRfQOTRu-xjeVm_B6k1abIuFdRPPF6-c_uQ9BuVAEZ4K3VfSeKm6A/s1600/lost615.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 279px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 156px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470533903968601202" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXohtbsENwZqFlDl1sDLBgui2L1tNBQqOwTfpV8wn7AaQSteCecUfqEe62NpK_djrILkTsd4r1hwlhTWLMDnRfQOTRu-xjeVm_B6k1abIuFdRPPF6-c_uQ9BuVAEZ4K3VfSeKm6A/s400/lost615.jpg" /></a>With "Across the Sea," the humanization of Jacob and the Man In Black is now complete. Some viewers might prefer them to have been demigods with all the answers, but this viewer is very happy that LOST will ultimately remain a tale of human beings and their interactions with a mysterious Island's supernatural properties.<br /><br /><strong>The Island:</strong><br />We've known for quite a while that the Island has some incredible powers (healing, the inducing of visions, travel through time and space, the retention of ghosts, the granting of special powers, etc.). For almost as long, we've known that the show's representatives of modern science (Dharma, Widmore) have found that these supernatural properties emanate from Electromagnetic energy pockets deep within the Island. So it wasn't too surprising to find that the mother of all energy pockets is located at the "heart" of the Island, and is at the very core of the Island's need for protection. Human beings have apparently been drawn to the Island since before Jacob, and probably even since before the Mother character. We don't know who the first person to encounter the Island and channel its properties was, but like most mysteries of the universe, this is not likely something we will ever know. But we did learn a little bit more about the energy stored beneath the Island: there's a little in every person. I've previously stated that electromagnetic energy (or the Island's comparable variety) functions as a blanket source for all things supernatural on this show, we've seen the supernatural found off-Island in places such as the faith-healing grounds of Uluru (2.19 [S.O.S.]) and we've seen it in people such as Walt. So these revelations on the nature of the Island's energy aren't so much revelations as they are confirmations, further information, and further ways of looking at the Island's powers (since, obviously Mother isn't going to pull out modern technobabble to describe it).<br /><br /><strong>Special People:</strong><br />So if there's a bit of the Island's energy in each person, it stands to reason there may be more in some than others. After all, Walt isn't the only character to be considered Special on the show. Desmond has been describes as such; Hurley and Miles have been imbued with significant abilities from their time on the Island; and this week Mother refered to the Boy In Black as Special. What this boils down to is that certain people are able to tap into the Island's powers more than others. The possibility that Walt may have had this power ably explains the Others' interest in him. For the Man In Black, it meant seeing his dead (real) mother, possessing an intuitive knowledge of the Island's properties, and harnessing that knowledge to control the Island's powers: his creation of the donkey wheel device is a clear precursor to the Dharma Initiative's attempts to manipulate the Island's powers with more modern technology. But the most Special person of all in this story is clearly Mother herself -- able to set The Rules in motion by preventing Jacob and MIB from killing each other, able to destroy an entire village and fill up the well on her own in a matter of hours, and (most significantly) able to pass on her powers on to Jacob, even after he was shown to be the less-special son. When Jacob became "one" with Mother, he inherited the "most Special character" title, and had been making The Rules ever since. But we now know him to be just a man -- a man entrusted with both incredible powers and incredible responsibility.<br /><br /><strong>The Man In Black and His Agenda:</strong><br />Though while I feel for Jacob and his naive acceptance of an undesirable job, I feel even worse for the Man In Black. In 6.02 (LA X, Part II), he told us what he wanted more than anything was to go home. Now we know that home is a place he's never been. He may have been the more likely candidate for Island protector, based on his Special nature, but his mind has always been across the sea, trying to get away, trying to find out where he came from. We don't yet know why Mother restrained him -- was it simply a demented way of protecting him from the "evils" that lie out in the world beyond? (I suspect so). Or was there a more direct consequence of his leaving the Island even before his transformation? (possibly). Either way, his efforts to leave got him a rum deal: his life's work destroyed, his companions obliterated, and (after some heated revenge) his own life snuffed away as his soul endures something "worse than death." It's interesting that his body was left behind after he was dropped into the mother of all Island electromagnetic energy pockets and turned into the Smoke Monster we all know and love, but more interesting are the ramifications that he is a creation of the Island's heart: most likely a PART of the Island itself, intrinsic to the Island, and necessary to the Island. In a rather epic instance of poetic irony, the man who wanted nothing more than to leave the Island has become the Island's linchpin: the Island can't function without him, and if he leaves, all electromagnetic hell will break loose. At least now we know why seeing visions of kid Jacob pisses him off so much.<br /><br />So in true LOST tradition, we can now sympathize with a character who hurt us possibly more than any other character by essentially murdering three of our favorite heroes just last episode (6.14 [The Candidate]). To anyone wondering why the writers chose now to reveal this back story, THAT's the reason. It's the narrative moment wherein understanding what past torments the Man In Black has suffered contributes most powerfully to the present day story. The writers love revealing a "big bad" character and then making us feel for them by revealing their prior woes -- and I love it every time. So we may despise the Man In Black still, and of course we want him to fail in his objectives, but now we can truly pity him. And the endgame of the show will be all the more powerful for it.<br /><br /><strong>Jacob & His Agenda:</strong><br />I hold by my previous assertion: Jacob brings people to the Island because he wants humanity to prove that humanity is worth protecting the Island for. It might not make logical sense to allow folks like Dharma to run around when your mission is to make sure no one screws with the Island's electromagnetic heart -- but it makes PERFECT sense to do so, if you were never certain that your mission was valuable to begin with. We have to wonder why Mother bothered to protect all of existence if she hated other people so much; and I believe Jacob wondered this as well, and conducted his experiments on humanity in an effort to figure it all out. He'd been told they were corrupt, but he never wanted to believe that -- not as long as it was his long life's purpose to protect them. So he continued his mission to protect the Island, but tolerated so many people putting it at risk upon his "summons" in order to see if they deserved protection. And now that he's dead and it's up to his Candidates to finish the job, he's primarily sitting back to watch and see who will step forward for the sake of humanity and existence as we know it.<br /><br /><strong>On the Anatomy of Disappointment:</strong><br />As a side note, a lot of fans seem down on this episode -- and it's certainly their prerogative to like it as much as they please -- but having been thrilled by it myself, I'm really not satisfied by that most common of internet-propagated explanations: that "it sucked." It really didn't. I tend not to get excited by things that suck. So where was the disconnect here between fans and writers? Certainly the usual complaint that few clear answers were given applies here once again, but perhaps it hits harder for people due to the unique nature of the episode -- I think many viewers really wanted Jacob and the Man In Black to KNOW everything about the Island and to be able to provide us with a checklist of explanations. Instead, we were here shown that they were once just as clueless as the survivors of Oceanic 815. And we were shown how they were led and/or duped into their current roles as Island protector and energy embodiment by someone else once drawn to the Island. What this episode did was to completely and thoroughly humanize the two characters, flaws and all. Letting their story unfold over the course of the episode allows us a level of understanding of their mindsets that will service us well going into the Series Finale. The "answers" everyone wants will be elaborated on further in what's to come, but now we'll understand on a psychological level where Jacob and the Man in Black are coming from. And personally, I'm very glad they took the time to allow us that level of depth.<br /><br /><strong>And that's where we are!</strong>Sagacious Penguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02300030494408133540noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8249536.post-2053854624240269132010-05-06T14:23:00.001-07:002010-05-06T14:28:57.237-07:00LOST - Where Are We? - 6.14 – The Candidate<img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 279px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 156px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468270979447403474" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeHDkgGAQj1Q5qt1zYXnmilZf0QkRVZ1fKCQLZfzmOwdgp_qDGvvsgVn3Ze4s5KjWe6hKD22RfESpy9ivj7q6xYlQ1Nb3UaTnMDEtnUhZLY3bvXTfMEbitStUPOWPbGzBy0L-Eqw/s400/lost614.jpg" />Um... Wow?<br /><div></div><br />Well, we've already reached season finale levels of epic tension and occurrences, so I can barely fathom the level of intensity that awaits us in the actual season/series finale. I'll address this week's tragedies in the CharacterWatch segments below, but first let's tackle the usual batch of mysteries and see what's been cleared up this week...<br /><div></div><br /><strong>The Altered Universe:</strong><br />AU Locke's refusal to undergo Jack's surgery seemed curiously at odds with the trends of the Altered Universe in general. While many AU characters are actively seeking happier endings than their Original Timeline counterparts, Locke obstinately refuses to progress toward his, preferring to hold himself back from potentially walking again. Even as the AU characters' consciousnesses seem to bleed back and forth between universes, it's still hard to predict what the precise one-to-one correlation will be between he worlds -- but perhaps the MIB holding the OT Locke's likeness prisoner is somehow keeping AU Locke from releasing himself from his own sins. (Primarily being responsible for the permanent catatonic state of his father, who incidentally I still expect to be the same con-artist sleezebag as the OT Anthony Cooper but now rendered incapable of showing his true colors). Bernard seems to know more than he's letting on; Jack and Claire share a mirror moment; and Locke mumbles classic OT dialogue in his sleep. But ultimately the major step forward here was Jack finally putting together that not only is he finding odd connections between the people he's meeting, but that all these people have one major thing in common: their presence aboard Oceanic Flight 815. As AU Jack slowly figures all this out and AU Locke starts having his OT memories triggered, the Altered Universe remains the show's biggest wild card. Sure the on-Island happenings seem to be leading up to some kind of big showdown between Jack and the Man In Black, but fitting the AU into the puzzle can and will change the puzzle completely, whether it's a timeline that must be preserved so our characters can live happily ever after, or a future that must be sacrificed for the good of the Original Timeline and the "proper" course of things.<br /><div></div><br /><strong>The Man In Black and His Agenda:</strong><br />Well if one thing was made crystal clear this week, it was the Man in Black's objective. Sure we may not know the details of how he came to be nor the precise implications of what will happen if he's free, but we know how he needs to do it: he needs Jacob's Candidates dead, and he can't kill them himself. All season long, he's been working to create a circumstance wherein they'll all in-avoidably kill each other and it'll all happen at once. Tricking them into setting off a bomb on a submarine must have seemed like a good bet, but it's doubtful he predicted Jack's intuition in figuring out what was going on (The Candidate, indeed!). He also seemed to know instinctively that his plan failed, indicating that he would physically be able to tell if there were no longer anyone left alive that could keep him enslaved to the Island. His frustration at this failure was palpable, and I have a feeling he wouldn't be keeping Claire around any longer if he didn't think she might be useful in getting rid of whichever Candidates might still be alive...<br /><div></div><br /><strong>Widmore's Mission:</strong><br />Widmore's roll in all this subterfuge is a bit more unclear. His original mysterious intentions of seeking Island energy pocketts with Jin and Desmond might currently be scuttled, but did he really do as the MIB suggested and move the sonic fence pylons so that the MIB would attempt to escape with the Candidates on the Ajira plane? I kinda doubt it. Widmore clearly has a list of the remaining Candidates (information not even Richard was privy to), and if Widmore knew enough to name the Candidates, wouldn't he know that the MIB also wants them dead? If the MIB is truly his enemy (which their showdown on the beach in 6.12 [Everybody Loves Hugo] sure appeared to indicate), then Widmore's putting the Candidates in a cage behind the reset pylons would be a true attempt to protect them, just as he said. But then who exactly DID rig the Ajira plane with explosives? <br /><div></div><br /><strong>Richard's Mission:</strong><br />Well we DO know that when last we saw Richard (6.12 [Everybody Loves Hugo), he was setting out with Ben and Miles to do precisely that: blow up the Ajira plane with explosives... so where the heck were they this week? Perhaps the trio started the job but then got interrupted and/or captured by Widmore's team before they could finish it. This doesn't explain why Widmore moved his pylons, but it at least might explain how the explosives got put into place -- and maybe even why ghost-Michael was so insistent that Hurley not allow dynamite to be brought to Hydra Island. Either the Ajira plane is important and needs to be intact to avoid further death, or else Michael somehow knew that an attempt to destroy the plane would result in death. Which -- if indeed Team Richard was responsible for planting the C-4 -- it now has. Either way, hopefully Richard, Miles, and Ben will turn up soon and clear some of this up.<br /><div></div><br /><strong>The Rules:</strong><br />The Man in Black can't kill Candidates. A Candidate can't kill him/herself. But Candidates CAN kill other Candidates. And now Sawyer (unwittingly) has potentially killed two of them: Jarrah and a Kwon. Unless, of course, Sayid had already lost Candidate status upon dying in 6.02 (LA X, Part II) and Ji Yeon is the actual Kwon Candidate. In which case, the Man In Back is REALLY screwed. But, taking things at Agatha Christie style face value: "and then there were three..."<br /><div></div><br /><strong>CharacterWatch - Sayid:</strong><br />So while there still may be a gazillion questions surrounding The Sickness (Where does it come from? Can it really bring people back to life? What are the actual symptoms?) we now have rather definitive proof that it can indeed be at least temporarily overcome. The capable, heroic Sayid we all know and love made one final appearance just before dying (again): he explained how to (in theory) disarm the bomb, explained where to find Desmond, told Jack "It's going to be you," and sacrificed himself to buy his fellow survivors a chance to live. He may have been a person all too ready and all too capable of committing heinous acts of violence, but Sayid was also always a person who looked out for those important to him: the ultimate protector. In his final moments, he was finally able to protect not by harming others, but by harming himself -- perhaps this was the only way to break the cycle of violence he was inexhaustibly caught up in. As for The Sickness, we'll have to hope that the rest of Claire's story can provide us answers to that...<br /><div></div><br /><strong>CharacterWatch - Sun and Jin:</strong><br />And because killing one major character isn't shocking enough, Sun and Jin's Original Timeline story also ended in this episode. On-Island, before the Oceanic 6 escaped, Sun and Jin constantly struggled to forgive each other's past sins and overcome their differences. They rarely let themselves get entangled in the more supernatural goings on of the Island and fought primarily for nothing more than the right to be together. Just when they began to finally obtain solace in their expecting of Ji Yeon and potential rescue from the Island, they were torn apart for years. Their struggle to once again be together was drawn out perhaps too long and thus lost a fair bit of its dramatic impact along the way, but now that we know that they were fighting for nothing more than the right to die together... their struggles over the past two seasons get put in an entirely different light. Some might argue that their demise cheapens and/or nullifies their efforts (including Sun's entire return to the Island), but to my way of thinking, watching Jin commit to and honor the value of their mutual struggle -- even upon knowing that the result would be nothing more than death together -- added a level of profundity to their story which had been lacking for quite some time. And Ji Yeon? I do wish they'd brought her up in their final moments together rather than just in the cage earlier in the episode... but at least she's got very wealthy grandparents. <br /><div></div><br /><strong>Jacob and His Agenda:</strong><br />Jack. Sawyer. Hurley. Even though the Man In Black was finally proven to be the jackass we all knew he was this week, I doubt Jacob's intentions towards his remaining Candidates is much more noble. He clearly doesn't care about their happiness. He clearly has no intention of offering them help beyond a teensy shove here and there. If THIS is the process Jacob has chosen to select a successor, a part of me would definitely love to see him find none. Last week Jack was "The Last Recruit" without really adhering to the Man In Black's Agenda, this week I kinda hope he's "The Candidate" without any intention of really adhering to Jacob's Agenda. But then, as I've said before, perhaps that's exactly what Jacob needs, even though it might hurt him to get Jack there. For now, we've just got three really guilty men and one injured woman. Jack spear-headed the Jughead mission that killed Juliet. Sawyer triggered the C-4 bomb that killed Sayid, Sun, and Jin. And Hurley led his friends right into the hands of the Man In Black (on a seemingly a self-concocted whim) to make this possible. These guys are hurting for a variety of reason. And Kate's also hurting because she got shot. Sucks to be them.<br /><div></div><br /><strong>And Lapidus?</strong><br />He's currently battling Ilana for the lamest main character death on the show. Let's hope he somehow floats out that open hatch and washes up on shore to save the day with a carefully placed one-liner.<br /><div></div><br /><strong><em>And that's where we are!</em></strong><br /><div></div><br /><div></div>Sagacious Penguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02300030494408133540noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8249536.post-70666342179377142192010-05-03T18:24:00.000-07:002010-05-04T05:24:15.174-07:00Star Wars: The Clone Wars - 2.20-22 - 'The Boba Fett Trilogy'<img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 279px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 156px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467221018524841986" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif2Osf6ze9YESTeTivU4lmlUJ7xtOJnwSlaRwhThqy64l3EjeJOtFKcu0f9MQmr9lplw_eubhIxYeHeofOkZDAat4-_ZoBBMlf0ZBAgYcR89GXFN8dgZ0BjsbRsgbc0VPIhDEw6w/s400/cw221.jpg" /><em>Boba Fett teams up with Bounty Hunters to seek revenge on Mace Windu.</em><br /><div></div><br /><strong>What worked?</strong> Bringing Boba Fett into The Clone Wars to close out Season 2 was a great idea. His mere presence in the mix was enough to bring an air of much needed over-arching story continuity to the show, and his revenge motivation gave some of the proceedings a very welcome level of dark gravitas. Additionally, the episodes provided us with a good tapestry of character-use, bringing various protagonists and antagonists into the limelight at different times and using them all well. <strong>What didn't work?</strong> While the fluctuation of tone from episode to episode was a bit of a distraction when viewing all three in succession, the only true disappointment here was that the character depth seemingly promised by the first episode (2.20 [Death Trap]) wasn't followed through to any satisfying moment of dramatic climax in the last (2.22 [Lethal Trackdown]). Also, what was up with Bossk speaking English (basic)? Blehk! I want my Bossk subtitled, thank you very much!<br /><div></div><br />The story itself was thin, but sufficient enough to connect the various action sequences and intrigue. The slow, suspenseful pacing of 2.20 (Death Trap) was particularly well executed and had the secret of Boba's identity been better kept, his reveal as one of the clone cadets would have been even more fun. Still, including him as a spy amidst the cadets was clever and paid off nicely with his having to betray his "brothers." While Boba's plan to blow up Mace was rather quickly thwarted, watching the bounty-hunter-to-be take more and more desperate (and destructive) actions to achieve his ends was impactful and appropriately disturbing. Seeing cadet training in action was equally cool, as was viewing the Jedi and the older clones from the awe-inspired cadet point of view. It was a bit surprising to see Aurra Sing let the other cadets (with whom Boba escaped) go so easily, but I suppose blowing up an escape pod full of children would be just a bit too dark for this show. Still, perhaps a failed attempt at sending them spinning off into uncharted space would have been a nice way to keep the character threatening without visualizing murders.<br /><div></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD2txw1-ZgfWzCxtpWnPgoKr-K560hROx0O-4vFfoultTybyLZmxo0Q599VkcGZi2OFm3qWI9DnhApH39D3_k-a5cKbD-1XZ8kPmEWZBPJpGM3gb5shwhkPEkHQVhLN85k7vf-9A/s1600/cw220.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 279px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 156px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467221335814845618" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD2txw1-ZgfWzCxtpWnPgoKr-K560hROx0O-4vFfoultTybyLZmxo0Q599VkcGZi2OFm3qWI9DnhApH39D3_k-a5cKbD-1XZ8kPmEWZBPJpGM3gb5shwhkPEkHQVhLN85k7vf-9A/s400/cw220.jpg" /></a>We as viewers of course already know Boba's motivations, but watching Mace put two-and-two together upon seeing Jango's helmet was an effective sequence and the best part of the next episode, 2.21 (R2 Come Home). The later scene where he recounts what happened in Attack of the Clones to Anakin was a telling bit of characterwork for Mace, but would have been far more effective had Mace continued to offer his view on the necessity of his actions rather than simply review known events in a somewhat regretful manner. The second best parts of the episode offered us a look at the curious relationship between Boba and Aurra Sing. Watching Aurra lead Boba down a dark path, and watching Boba take the first uneasy steps toward following her down that path, made for some compelling internal struggle from Boba, but these scenes, too, may have been better served had they offered us more a glimpse into Aurra's views and her rationale for taking on Boba as a team-member (as well as Boba's need to be accepted by here). As is often the case with this show, the surface relationship is there -- and it's a clear, interesting one -- but the depths of what makes these people tick are only ever hinted at, rather than explored to a satisfying extent. But the bulk of episode 2.21 was devoted to R2-D2 hijinx and heroics -- a not unwelcome, but oddly placed, bit of subject matter. The R2 story here (wherein the little droid proves his Anakin-encouraged/allowed personality to be a benefit) could have made for a great, fun standalone episode. But sandwiched between two far more dramatic episodes, the comic relief primarily served to undercut the impact of Boba's overall storyline, taking the focus away from his character to a hurtful degree. To reiterate, I have no issue with any of R2's story in the episode, and actually enjoyed much of it (particularly his protecting of Mace and Anakin from the Bounty Hunters by sending debris tumbling their way), but as presented, the material diluted 2.20's careful build-up of tension (perhaps intentionally for the kiddies watching) at the unfortunate muddling of the central Boba Fett story-arch's cohesion and clear narrative through-line.<br /><div></div><br />2.22 (Lethal Trackdown) does a good bit of work refocusing the narrative back to Boba, but ultimately unravels after a great start. What should have been a progression to the climactic dissolution of Boba and Aurra's relationship is here reduced to one solid moment and the sudden run away by Aurra. Rather than have circumstance simply force Aurra to show her true colors and abandon Boba -- it would have been far more dramatically satisfying to watch the characters come to the conclusion that they were incompatible. I'm not saying Boba needed to be a hero at all -- but choosing to distance himself from Sing, or watching Aurra choose to ditch Fett (of her own free will and not because of a Jedi attack) would have been the climactic character pay-off this trilogy of episodes deserved. The good news here is that the other stories this episode wove together in place of a solid Boba/Aurra character pay-off were damn good, even if they were culpable for over-stuffing the narrative. Bringing Hondo back once more was a nice touch, and seeing him walk the line between good and evil was a welcome change of pace, giving his character a lot of potential in the future for roles on both sides of the conflict. Knowing he had a history with Jango, also makes him a potential player in future Boba story-archs as well. Equally compelling was Ahsoka and Plo Koon's journey into the Coruscant depths and eventual run-in with Aurra. Both Jedi's characteristics were well-mined for good character moments, and I hope we see more of them working together soon. The Coruscant depths, meanwhile, were an area I'd never thought we'd see visualized. I'd figured the seedy bars of Attack of the Clones and a few of this season's earlier episodes were the closest we'd come to seeing the underworld described so effectively in Timothy Zahn's (and many others') Expanded Universe novels. But here, the visuals were journeying down into Coruscant were some of the most effective in these episodes, and I hope further trips to these places in future episodes yield even more dangerous results than the scum-filled (and surprisingly colorful) nightclub we were presented with here.<br /><div></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjcoV5vxeM-ZLd8HNxr4HGpydIo-1ZwG_wN7x5Nyjlj3M4CacHnMYf05mBM9k4ztlbTkTOkeN1JbQ7XOshBASeIp_-zVhf8y_JnjNr32eA2yNrCIWcHR702gPLrmpqc7Jf8u1z-A/s1600/cw222.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 279px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 156px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467221740867644690" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjcoV5vxeM-ZLd8HNxr4HGpydIo-1ZwG_wN7x5Nyjlj3M4CacHnMYf05mBM9k4ztlbTkTOkeN1JbQ7XOshBASeIp_-zVhf8y_JnjNr32eA2yNrCIWcHR702gPLrmpqc7Jf8u1z-A/s400/cw222.jpg" /></a>As a final note, the action at the end of 2.22 was superb, exciting, and cleverly choreographed - helping to fill the gaping void of an emotional climax with a stirring visual one. But the great action comes amidst a rushed third act. The last moment between Boba and Mace was particularly laughable due to how rushed it was. When a character spouts out in anger that he knows he's done wrong... well those two things just don't fit well, do they? A more distrubed, bitter, SLOWER, line delivery from Boba could have been chilling here, and could have served to unsettle Mace Windu in a way not witnessed in the show's slapdash treatment of the scene. Had this moment been handled better and/or more powerfully, it could have raised the entire trilogy of episodes up a level and left viewers on a far more memorable note to close the season. Sadly, the story runs away as quickly as Aurra did minutes earlier. Yes, Boba is captured (for now) --- but I wish they'd given us some kind of more impactful character conclusion to the arch, be it Mace second-guessing his usual confidence or Boba deciding he works solo from now on. Ultimately, these were a fairly solid set of episodes with a great variety of good ideas, but some frustratingly poor choices in character development and story-arch execution keep them from becoming series classics. This show is making all the right moves and telling all the right stories -- it just needs to tell them a bit more carefully...<br /><div></div><br /><strong>2.20 Death Trap: <em>4 stars</em><br />2.21 R2 Come Home:<em> 3.5 stars</em><br />2.22 Lethal Trackdown: <em>3.5 stars</em></strong><br /><div></div><br />Stay tuned for a Season 2 round-up and overall score!<br /><div></div><br /><div></div>Sagacious Penguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02300030494408133540noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8249536.post-52763426076757000632010-04-21T14:36:00.000-07:002010-04-22T07:02:01.222-07:00LOST - Where Are We? - 6.13 – The Last Recruit<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462710620711998402" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 279px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 156px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiA9e6HpAIj8INUKCwfUjykXxaNp76vFIep30nSrFR7HEKEdALb9DIFqkHiBEuk5DJXugPBff43HZBak8Ooxxw8K-JwbQw5-TeoRfKKvYJbnAPtlECLqd854JXOZlhl8_yKm5UJQ/s400/lost613.jpg" border="0" />You can always tell when a LOST season begins to ramp up its story-telling toward its conclusion by the increasingly militaristic nature of Michael Giacchino's always exemplary score music. This usually occurs in the penultimate episode each season, but the end is clearly beginning early this year. This week's shift away from a single character-centric story may remain the show's operating method straight through to the end, and while I often worried that such multi-centric storytelling on LOST detracts from the number of quality character moments per episode, if "The Last Recruit" is any indication, we're in good hands. Since the episode revolved around giving us important vignettes for each character, confirming and furthering their story archs, I'll mix things up a bit this week as well, and focus the majority of my analysis on CharacterWatch items.<br /><div></div><br /><strong>The Altered Universe:</strong><br />Fate definitely seems to be giving AU Desmond a hand on his mission to reunite and "wake" the other AU characters to the truth about their reality. He may have brought Claire to Jack this week, but the universe didn't need any help bringing Kate and Sayid to Sawyer and Miles, and Sun and Jin to the same Hospital as Jack, Locke, and Ben. And even with Claire, Desmond was very lucky that Illana's practice was on floor 15 across the hall from the adoption agency, otherwise I doubt Claire would have gone very far with the stalker-ish Scotsman. As many have observed from the start of the show, there are a lot of universal forces at work bringing everyone together, accounting for character crosses and similarities between the timelines despite their 1977 point of divergence. Desmond has simply started helping them along. As AU Jack is set to "fix" AU Locke, you've got to wonder who Desmond is off to run over next. I'm still on the fence about what Desmond's ultimate goal is with the AU -- In 6.11 (Happily Ever After) Daniel seemed to imply that waking up to reality was important because the AU wasn't how things were supposed to be. And AU Eloise Hawking seemed worried that Desmond's becoming aware could actually damage their reality. If ending/damaging the AU is the ultimate goal -- Desmond's going to have a tough sell even after he wakes everyone up. Life in the OT is much bleaker, after all -- and I can think of at least one person very important to AU Jack who would cease to exist. The storytelling balance currently seems to be tipping in favor of the AU ultimately winning out over the OT, but this is something that could change any moment. Or so AU Eloise Hawking clearly believes.<br /><div></div><br /><strong>The Man In Black and His Agenda:</strong><br />So what exactly ARE the MIB's intentions toward those Candidates!? He wanted them all together, and he's got them. Rather than just leave for the Ajira plane immediately, he waits for Widmore to make the next move and threaten him. If he's confident his group can infiltrate Hydra Island and get to the runway intact, then I wonder what he was waiting for. If he doubts all the Candidates could survive a shoot-out with Widmore's scientists, then maybe he just wanted to give them motivation to blitz the Hydra and get themselves killed. It all boils down to whether he actually wants them gone, or dead. Maybe either is equally satisfactory to his intentions to leave, and his primary concern is keeping them all together so he can guarantee they share the same fate. Which means even after Sawyer's group has abandoned him for Widmore, the MIB values Jack's life more than anyone's since Jack is the only person who might be able to convince the others to do what the MIB needs them to do (whether wittingly or not). As we're running out of episodes fast, I doubt the MIB's intentions toward the Candidates will remain a mystery for very long.<br /><div></div><br /><strong>Visions and the Magic Box:</strong><br />Regarding the MIB telling us that he was Christian Shepard all along, I'll be perfectly okay if Smokey was telling Jack the truth here -- but let's just say it wouldn't shock me in the least if there were a lot more to it, and he were being a bit duplicitous letting Jack (and the audience) fill in the blanks here. As I've discussed previously (in my write-up for 6.09 [Ab Aeterno]), there seem to be two ways Christian Shepard has consistently presented himself on the show, and only one of those two ways (non-suited Christian) fits best with the MIB's operating mode. The other (suited Christian) seems more like an Island Magic Box occurrence, and if the MIB knew Jack had seen his father, maybe this is what gave him the idea to take the Christian Shepard form in the first place. At this point in the series, it's probably easiest to take the simplest explanation - the one the show has just given us. But considering the discrepancies between the two Christians, along with the facts that the MIB is both a known liar and that his telling Jack about an Island-induced Christian wouldn't jive with the MIB's "the Island isn't special" mantra... well, personally I'm not going to drop the mystery completely until the final LOST logo has smashed into the screen :)<br /><div></div><br /><strong>Widmore's Mission:</strong><br />He just wants Desmond back. Whatever his method for saving space-time and taking possession of the Island for himself, the two things Widmore needs are Desmond with is superpowers, and Jin with his energy pocket knowledge. The necessity of the latter's cooperation is the thing most likely to keep Widmore from having his new captives shot outright.<br /><div></div><br /><strong>CharacterWatch - Hurley:</strong><br />Having reunited the original Oceanic Survivors via his dubious impulses, Hurley seems content to once again bow out of his leadership role. He okays Jack's one-on-one with the Man In Black, and then supports Sawyer's plan to defect aboard Desmond's -- and previously Libby's -- old boat (last seen captured by the Others in 3.02 [The Glass Ballerina]). It seems all Hurley needed was to get "the family" back together again. It would have been nice if this concept had played a bit more heavily into his motivations last week, but perhaps this would have compromised his somewhat surprising willingness to leave Claire and Sayid behind this week.<br /><div></div><br /><strong>CharacterWatch - Kate:</strong><br />Fortunately, Kate wasn't as quick to give up on Claire. Her character has been solidly motivated to be Claire's guardian and reunite Aaron with his mother ever since the events of her flashbacks in 5.11 (Whatever Happened, Happened), and it was very rewarding to see these motivations follow through and pay off (at least temporarily) with Claire trusting her enough to turn over her gun and join Sawyer's escape team. I don't believe for a minute Kate would have ever left the Island without Claire, whether Claire had followed them or not. Now that she has Claire, her motivations are just as clear. She's never given a damn about Locke or Jack's protestations that the Island has plans for them, and she's ready to get away from that place once and for all.<br /><div></div><br /><strong>CharacterWatch - Sawyer:</strong><br />Never having left the Island in the first great escape (4.13 [There's No Place Like Home]), Sawyer can't fathom Jack's prediction that he'll one day feel leaving was a mistake. Sawyer has been one of the most ardent supporters of leaving since Day 1, and he blames Juliet's death on his decision to stay with the Dharma Initiative and wait for Locke's return (5.08 [LaFleur]). As far as Sawyer's concerned, nothing good has ever come from sticking around. All season he's been constantly on the lookout for the quickest ticket off the Island, and there's no way in hell he's letting Jack convince himself or any of the others that staying is the right idea. It's interesting that Sawyer jumped the gun on his own plan a bit by approaching Widmore's team before the fighting broke between them and Smokey, but I guess he just trusted Widmore's good will toward him a bit too much.<br /><div></div><br /><strong>CharacterWatch - Sayid:</strong><br />Just as Claire seemed to come back to life a bit in response to Kate's plea for trust, Sayid sure seemed to be affected by Desmond's plea at the well. Chances are Sayid has now made his first lie to the Man In Black -- a big step toward his potential redemption. Here's hoping, even if they're redeemed, we'll at least get some understanding of why these two characters got "infected" and how The Sickness functions as a regular Island threat...<br /><div></div><br /><strong>CharacterWatch - Sun/Jin:</strong><br />After a nearly interminable amount of lag time between the drama of their separation in Season 4 and their reunion now, the Sun/Jin storyline had become rather one-note and lost a lot of steam. While it was nice to see them back together, the moment couldn't help but feel a bit anti-climactic outside of an entire episode devoted to the topic. And at this point, being that there really isn't time for that, I suppose it's fitting that their reunion was relegated to the sidelines of the story just as their separation has been for more than a season now. Hopefully a greater, more dramatic pay-off will come in their bid to get off-Island together to return to Ji Yeon -- and gain them back their strengths as dynamic characters in the process. On a side note, though, I do have to wonder if Sun's short bout of aphasia will amount to anything more than a little plot for her because she needed one. If Lapidus' admittedly corny "Looks like someone got their voice back" is the final word on the matter, it won't be any loss to the show, but it'll render that side-plot about as superfluous as Sawyer's hunt for the noisy tree frog back in 2.14 (One of Them).<br /><div></div><br /><strong>CharacterWatch - Jack:</strong><br />In all likelihood the titular "Last Recruit," Jack completed his transition into a Man of Faith this episode. While still unwilling to align himself with Team Jacob or Team MIB, Jack's refusal to leave the Island and make the same mistake he made in the Season 3 finale (3.22 [Through the Looking Glass]) was a huge step for him in acknowledging that he had returned for a reason, even if that reason wasn't the one he initially thought it was and he STILL doesn't know what that reason is. During his time off-island, Jack was told by Locke that it was imperative he return in order to save those he left behind. When Jack and the others returned and were zapped to 1977 by the Island, he found those he intended to save living comfortably not wanting his assistance. He sought his purpose in aligning with Faraday's plan to detonate Jughead at the Incident and change their futures. Now that (to his knowledge) that too was a failure, he no longer knows what he's supposed to do -- but this time, he's letting go of his need to take charge, no longer thinking for the rest of the survivors, and doing the one thing he feels is right: thwarting the intentions of the Man In Black. He may not know what exactly Smokey wants, but he can very clearly see that Smokey is obsessed with gathering the survivors and getting them off-island. "Maybe he's afraid of what happens if we stay," says Jack -- and just like a few episodes ago on the Black Rock, Jack is willing to test his theory and swim back to shore. While this may make him "The Last Recruit" in the MIB's eyes, we know his purpose in returning was anything but appeasing Smokey.<br /><div></div><br /><strong>CharacterWatch - Frank:</strong><br />He's here for the food.<br /><div></div><br /><strong><em>And that's where we are!</em></strong><br /><div></div><br /><div></div>Sagacious Penguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02300030494408133540noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8249536.post-90247984251847243142010-04-18T17:08:00.001-07:002010-04-19T07:05:56.112-07:00Star Wars: The Clone Wars – 2.18/19 – The Zillo Beast & The Zillo Beast Strikes Back<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjovwq6yclsV4pBdaGQiHrzIxBpHRHGH8BRL60Z6igOW64ilmI67UFXB9P1yQRa91zQ7oNl7X3ZwsZE6mVjyoVMnIupge6jZQ-iVHhv6KOesGOSxbJBxpVHjBuT_dDXtr8MH_vbMQ/s1600/cw219.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461651516724956530" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 279px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 156px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjovwq6yclsV4pBdaGQiHrzIxBpHRHGH8BRL60Z6igOW64ilmI67UFXB9P1yQRa91zQ7oNl7X3ZwsZE6mVjyoVMnIupge6jZQ-iVHhv6KOesGOSxbJBxpVHjBuT_dDXtr8MH_vbMQ/s400/cw219.jpg" border="0" /></a><em>The Republic army accidently wakes a ginormous worm thing from beneath the Malastare ground. It is then brought to Coruscant for research. </em><br /><div></div><br />I waited to review 2.18 (The Zillo Beast) until its follow-up episode had aired because I wasn’t particularly fond of the first episode but was still very much looking forward to its sequel. The Zillo Beast episodes continue this season’s and odd enchantment with re-enacting other famous/classic properties in the Star Wars universe. Large monsters are no strangers to the Galaxy Far Far Away, so a Godzilla homage must have seemed like a natural fit. While I still reiterate my wish for the Clone Wars writers to find their own mythology rather than to continue playing with the ideas of others, the Godzilla element that came off as rather ho-hum in the first half of this duology was pitch perfect in the second half – with a great twist added to the premise.<br /><div></div><br />In the first episode (2.18), the battle that starts the episode is impressive in scope but also very familiar territory. The idea of the Republic testing a new bomb that harms only droids and technology does have potential, however, and I hope this plot thread is developed more in further episodes. It’s a cool parallel/counterpoint to the Separatist weapon displayed in 1.14 (Defenders of Peace) which harmed only biological lifeforms, and I appreciated the attention to detail when Anakin’s robotic arm showed signs of malfunction when the bomb was detonated. This was neat foreshadowing, and it would be great if his arm got him into trouble one day when/if this weapon’s use becomes standard.<br /><div></div><br />Once the Zillo Beast itself appears on the scene, the imagery of it emerging from the ground and the fight that ensues was technically impressive, but felt oddly contemplative in pacing – a rare thing on this show. The arguments with the resident Dugs were all rather routine and uninspired, and the Dugs themselves proved to be uninteresting one-note characters. The episode felt like clear set-up for the much more interesting idea of bringing the stunned Zillo Beast to Coruscant. So at the end of 2.18 I felt unsatisfied, but still looked forward to the story’s continuation.<br /><div></div><br />2.19 (The Zillo Beast Strikes Back) improved on everything the first episode did wrong. This time around the character arguments and debates that surrounded the Beasts assault on Coruscant were charged and hit hard. While we know Palpatine’s motivations toward the Beast were ultimately less than wholesome, both his and Padme’s arguments for and against destroying the Beast were persuasive. It would clearly be inhumane to knowingly wipe out the last of a species, yet it’s equally hard deny that sacrificing it for the betterment of troop armor and the potential saving of thousands of humanoid lives is a reasonable position.<br /><div></div><br />What undermines the value of Palpatine’s argument, of course, is his clear (to the audience) malicious attitude toward the Zillo Beast, and I must say it was a breath of fresh air to see Palpatine FINALLY portrayed as an outright villain on this show, even if it was just to the audience (as it ought to be since his villainy needs to remain a secret to the other characters until the events of Episode III: Revenge of the Sith). Having Palpatine legitimately outed as a villain opens up a lot of storytelling potential on this show and I hope the writers run with this potential. One of the troubles with the Prequel Trilogy’s thinly-veiled hiding of Palpatine’s plotting was that the audience was left without a clear perception of his plans and machinations throughout the three films. The Original Star Wars trilogy had quite an opposite presentation of evil, wherein the villains and their intentions were as front and center as the heroes, and the original trilogy benefited from this entertaining duality immensely. I hope the Clone Wars can benefit from such villainous clarity as well, and watching Palpatine’s secret intentions toward the Zillo Beast unfold was a major step in the right direction.<br /><div></div><br />And while it was cool to see the Beast running amock on Coruscant, and equally cool to see its tragic death unfold (typical ground for cinema’s classic behemoths), what really stood out in the episode was the Beast’s single-minded (and intelligent) pursuit of Palpatine. While there’s no reason to believe the Beast understood the English (Basic) language, it clearly understood Palpatine’s malicious intentions, and perhaps perceived Palpatine’s malicious soul more clearly than the Jedi warriors risking their lives to protect him. It was riveting to see the Star Wars universe’s uber-villain being hunted down so doggedly by the Beast, making the creature very much a hero in its own way. And watching our heroes bring it down to save the man who we know is even now plotting to betray them added an extra – and very welcome – level of poetic irony to the proceedings.<br /><div></div><br />Yes, the Zillo Beast’s death was tragic because it was the last of its species, and it died because of the mistakes of the humanoids, but the tragedy is magnified tenfold because the Beast was one of the first characters in the galaxy to perceive Palpatine as the monster he is and to do its utmost to wipe the Sith lord out. Now THAT’s how you take a classic premise and MAKE it Star Wars. I wish the writers had been able to make the first of the Zillo Beast episodes a bit more valuable beyond its function as an obvious (albeit necessary) bridge to the sequel episode, but the grandeur, fun, and strengths of 2.19 (The Zillo Beast Strikes Back) go a long way in making the first outing forgivable. Here’s hoping they continue to use Palpatine as well as he was used in this story arch. <em><strong>3 stars</strong> </em>and <em><strong>4.5 stars</strong></em>, respectively.<br /><div></div><br /><div></div>Sagacious Penguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02300030494408133540noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8249536.post-42617342436037666572010-04-14T16:41:00.000-07:002010-04-14T16:55:58.313-07:00LOST - Where Are We? - 6.12 – Everybody Loves Hugo<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNJapMH_ch4yEMv0Cs6MToUXnvwvDP7Do3xh2CxtNRGsnuWFljg2nuQtap983dlAUDQVoRaHCo2SifSL_ZzS5EFTqDzvF4sNGlgDU76ort57-fMpGn-5piLPc8Fc1KSz3b7DS5KA/s1600/lost612.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460145561773470466" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 279px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 156px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNJapMH_ch4yEMv0Cs6MToUXnvwvDP7Do3xh2CxtNRGsnuWFljg2nuQtap983dlAUDQVoRaHCo2SifSL_ZzS5EFTqDzvF4sNGlgDU76ort57-fMpGn-5piLPc8Fc1KSz3b7DS5KA/s400/lost612.jpg" border="0" /></a>For this episode, the writers seem to have taken a page from the Hollywood guidebook, and replaced their usual careful plotting and clear characterizations with a pair of explosions. Faster than you can say "ka-boom," Illana is yesterday's news and the union of Hurley, Jack, and Richard is dismissed. Oh, and suddenly our Candidates' best course of action is not to stop the Man In Black from leaving the Island "or we all go to hell," but rather to deliver themselves into the MIB's hands because Hurley thought it might be keen. Um... what?<br /><div></div><br />I'll save my (rare) need to grouse for the end of the analysis, but this episode's bizarre plotting leaps left me colder than I've felt toward an episode of LOST in a long time. In the meantime, there were still plenty of cool happenings to talk about:<br /><div></div><br /><strong>The Altered Universe:</strong><br />We may still not know why Original Timeline Libby was a patient at the Santa Rosa mental hospital, but the reason why Altered Universe Libby checked herself in was great! Like AU Charlie and AU Faraday before her, AU Libby gained an exceptional understanding of the Original Timeline simply by getting one glance at her OT significant other. This continues the trend that characters deceased in the OT have a stronger aptitude toward "waking up" to the notion of the double timelines in the AU. And just as Charlie helped bring about Desmond's epiphany, Libby helps bring about Hurley's realization. We now have at least six characters running around in the AU who know what's what (the five mentioned, plus Eloise), and Desmond's still assumably on a mission to grow this number. Whether running over poor AU John Locke was part of Desmond's mission to raise OT awareness, or whether it was some kind of cross-dimensional attack on the OT Man In Black, Desmond clearly has great insight into what all is going on. If he downed AU Locke to wake him up to the OT, then our Scottish Brotha' has some HARSH methods and hopefully somehow knows that this is they ONLY way Locke can be helped. If instead it's an attack on the MIB of some kind, then one must wonder what the consequences of it could be. If Locke dies in the AU, does OT MIB gain any insight to the AU? Does OT John Locke awaken further inside the MIB? Either way, OT Desmond appeared pretty insistent when he told the MIB that the MIB WAS John Locke. He then seemed pretty nonplussed when the MIB threatened him at the well. Desmond seemed confident through the entire episode, and perhaps the only thing that's changed by its end is that he's confident at the bottom of a well...<br /><div></div><br /><strong>The Shadow of the Statue Folks:<br /></strong>With Illana's abrupt, unmourned, and barely discussed departure, we're going to have to see her as a ghost, AU character, or in someone else's flashback (Jacob's?) if we're ever going to find out who the heck she was, where her little band of "Shadow of the Statue Folks" came from, and why Jacob was "like a father to her." I do hope these blanks are somehow filled in, but even if they do, with her existing on the periphery of every episode she was in (other than 6.07 [Dr. Linus] where she was briefly humanized) it'll be hard not to remember her as a thinly veiled plot device. Though perhaps to Jacob, that's all she ever was. If so, I'd love to feel the tragedy of that rather than just have to guess at it...<br /><div></div><br /><strong>The Whispers:</strong><br />So the Whispers are the voices of dead people "stuck on the Island." But, according to Michael, not everyone who dies on the Island is stuck there -- he says that he specifically is stuck there "because of what I did." So while we at least know that committing double homicide for a reason other than protecting the Island is considered wrong and punishable there, we're again left to wonder who's making the moral judgements on the Island -- Jacob? The Man in Black? The Island itself? Whoever it is, chances are the decision process is connected to the white and black stones that Jacob and the MIB exchange. Somewhere in the MIB's Cave or Jacob's Foot, there's probably a black stone for Michael, and the instant it was laid out, his spirit was doomed to join the collection of souls who walk the Island whispering about redemption boars, backward-speaking apparitions of Walt, warning about appearences of the Others and the Smoke Monster, and visitors' proximity to the Haunted Cabin. One has to wonder what all these dead folks' agenda(s) are. Are they out to help Island visitors? Are they out the help the Others? My guess would be that they're ultimately out to help the Island, that being the only way they can atone for sinning against it. Michael at least sure seems to have gotten it into his head that Hurley shouldn't lead anyone to blow up the Ajira plane or else "people are gonna die." How he knows this and what alternative he's hoping will happen, only the dead can say. ...And maybe the writers ;)<br /><div></div><br /><strong>The Man In Black and His Agenda:</strong><br />Early on in the episode, the MIB confirmed who precisely he was waiting to add to his collection: Jack, Sun, and Hurley. And by the end of the episode, he got all three (plus Lapidus) free of charge. Chances are the MIB's next move will be to retrieve Jin, and then proceed with his plan to either escape the Island with all the Candidates, send all the Candidates packing so that no potential-Jacobs are around on-Island to keep him trapped, or else get all of them killed by someone's hand other than his own -- as I'm still somewhat confident that he personally lacks the ability to harm Candidates. Maybe he'll seek Widmore's aid in this? Offer to return Desmond in exchange? While I'm not sure what the MIB knows about Desmond or his capabilities, it did appear that the MIB was very freaked out by Desmond's lack of fear and insight into the Island's nature to "have it in" for everyone. The MIB seemed to be judging Desmond over the course of their conversations, and if Desmond's alive at the bottom of that well (which he is), then I'm sure the MIB is too smart not to be aware of it. He's currently unsure what Desmond's role will be in all this -- friend or foe -- and will have to figure it out before deciding what to do with our chosen Hero of Time.<br /><div></div><br /><strong>And Now For Those Previously Referenced Plotting Gripes!</strong><br />The sudden full-stop to Illana's story hearlded the sudden full-stop to the coming together of the beach party, a group whose union and purpose we've observed slowly forming over the course of three episodes. We saw Illana forgive and win the allegiance of Ben while Jack convinced Richard to live (6.07 [Dr. Linus]), we saw Hurley help Richard re-find his purpose and motivation to stop the MIB (6.09 [Ab Aeterno]), and we saw the group formulate the plan to destroy the Ajira plane (6.10 [The Package]). And now all this build-up is exploded amidst foggily-motivated bickering: Hurley keeps his reasons for not wanting to blow up the plane (Michael's visit) to himself and then proceeds to MAKE UP a DRASTIC alternative on the spot without explanation. The thought process of "Well, if we can't stop the Smoke Monster from leaving on a plane, then we might as well just hand ourselves over to him" doesn't make a lick of sense. And it's not that characters shouldn't be allowed to do stupid things or make errors in judgement -- of course they should -- but if they're the star of the episode and the primary motivator for the general direction of the show's overall plot, the viewer NEEDS to understand their reasoning.<br /><div></div><br />Yes, the end result of Team Jack meeting up with Team MIB was an anticipated and neccessary step for the show, but having Hurley just pull the idea of joining up out of his hat and call full-stop on everything the last sequence of Team Jack stories had been leading up to smells of plot-patching -- a quick fix to get writers from where they were headed to where they need to be. And I hold these guys to their own higher standards of character insight.<br /><div></div><br />When I voiced my concerns in a recent LOST discussion, it was friendfully suggested that maybe I was letting my own theories of where I personally <em>wanted</em> and/or <em>expected</em> the show to go get in the way of my enjoyment of where the show <em>is</em> going. Such things can indeed happen, but that simply isn't the case here. I don't theorize about where the show <em>ought</em> to go so much as theorize about the meaning and impact of what <em>has</em> happened. The show can go anywhere the writers want -- I'm good with that and on board for the ride. I'm even cool with the notions of Illana dying, the break-up with Richard, and the merging of Jack's and Locke's camps -- BUT there needs to be payoff for plot threads carefully built up to, as well as a followable progression for the character decisions involved in getting us there. Sending Ilana off with zero fanfare and handing Team Jack off from Richard to the MIB based on Michael and Hurley's unexplained whims was poor form. Hurley says he listens to the dead because they're "more reliable than the living," but did he already forget what dead-Isabella told him a few epsiodes back? Yes, maybe Hurley would trustingly follow dead-Michael's advice to not assist in blowing up the Ajira plane, but why completely throw out what dead-Isabella told him about priority-one being to stop the MIB? Why suddenly decide that GOING to the MIB is the best course of action? The idea is as out-of-nowhere as Illana's death, and potentially of much more importance to the the overall story of LOST.<br /><div></div><br />So while I'm certainly hoping that we're given more in-show rationale for both of these sketchy moves, that can't help the experience of this episode on its own. On LOST, at each episode's heart is a tale of discovery about its central character - learning more about that character's past, future, world-view, and rationale. While surprises and mysterious character behavior are routine on the show, if the viewers can't at least ground their empathy in the thinking process of a given episode's central character -- then that episode is a partial failure. See 2.12 (Fire+Water) for another example of this. I still don't know what the hell Charlie's thought process was in that episode!<br /><div></div><br />But, plotting gripes aside: this is LOST. There's still plenty awesome in every hour, and new potential in every twist.<br /><div></div><br /><strong><em>And that's where we are!</em></strong><br /><div></div><br /><div></div>Sagacious Penguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02300030494408133540noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8249536.post-71683511810926507362010-04-09T00:35:00.001-07:002010-04-09T14:22:00.134-07:00LOST Comic - Ben Tells It Like It Is<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO_0TOv7aXq8kQCZ5Vsr9UEP6sb-Tm9q_BvBlrsEC5aouAwdBOpl5T4nAHDqXjKicUibBd2RWGReLxkE9QHsxTmE7upjPRdvJbdGNRZsAUQjnsN5jL0pqBloLnWlfxqRfjd9BJpA/s1600/lostComic_Ben01.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 418px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO_0TOv7aXq8kQCZ5Vsr9UEP6sb-Tm9q_BvBlrsEC5aouAwdBOpl5T4nAHDqXjKicUibBd2RWGReLxkE9QHsxTmE7upjPRdvJbdGNRZsAUQjnsN5jL0pqBloLnWlfxqRfjd9BJpA/s1600/lostComic_Ben01.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458250877625489490" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSFQSCBBSlOLJU0yY3dyeB083E2RW0ODAb9r9RoYeVlTcyDSKsyyeUba1m6ROwyDuPwWU1HXHz9ml3X2WSM7YfNHkL6KRcyY6Ipjh8xU_A2SgwvXYTQ8nakGSOzqY20ChZwq-NlQ/s1600/lostComic_Ben02.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458038448282913858" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 418px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSFQSCBBSlOLJU0yY3dyeB083E2RW0ODAb9r9RoYeVlTcyDSKsyyeUba1m6ROwyDuPwWU1HXHz9ml3X2WSM7YfNHkL6KRcyY6Ipjh8xU_A2SgwvXYTQ8nakGSOzqY20ChZwq-NlQ/s1600/lostComic_Ben02.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj4Uu90MG8MaFn4z0xAzsf-WmQXI9qAgByV1kBrzctgQfbK-H_GP5PzFc55QWSc_e7w-O3xnDhvWrSd44mPG6HL6E2ii35HvPeyiN17TI370WEAVYOoI7E6EfRk022AuT9_t_ovQ/s1600/lostComic_Ben03.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458038564377151154" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 418px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj4Uu90MG8MaFn4z0xAzsf-WmQXI9qAgByV1kBrzctgQfbK-H_GP5PzFc55QWSc_e7w-O3xnDhvWrSd44mPG6HL6E2ii35HvPeyiN17TI370WEAVYOoI7E6EfRk022AuT9_t_ovQ/s1600/lostComic_Ben03.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKGGjQAjh7vwKby6athzb5qczyFOX006QaM1G2tkrjnCNt8i218Xrg0rSg04jSD2HnpDasclhZPuyQMj6o5hdKWT7ZJycd8sZqXOid_aa5p4Pq-vDboGP-ygDseylxpFLz9Nkbvw/s1600/lostComic_Ben04.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458038637330488082" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 418px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKGGjQAjh7vwKby6athzb5qczyFOX006QaM1G2tkrjnCNt8i218Xrg0rSg04jSD2HnpDasclhZPuyQMj6o5hdKWT7ZJycd8sZqXOid_aa5p4Pq-vDboGP-ygDseylxpFLz9Nkbvw/s1600/lostComic_Ben04.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTh5P2G57OEgyv0pfyiKO9OWiA3RYK6SxUzcIirlJEvv8G_l-DijUQBjSDyDbXkrSwJQFXAmKTCEN8wYTMng3s8hxLd2iNZ5hr6PLRSyEfSAkQ8AIfJy1DLNkYVEHdaBW1t6Evcg/s1600/lostComic_Ben05.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458038710155720962" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 418px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTh5P2G57OEgyv0pfyiKO9OWiA3RYK6SxUzcIirlJEvv8G_l-DijUQBjSDyDbXkrSwJQFXAmKTCEN8wYTMng3s8hxLd2iNZ5hr6PLRSyEfSAkQ8AIfJy1DLNkYVEHdaBW1t6Evcg/s1600/lostComic_Ben05.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigpCWkGsF5PHiI93B9kICpayQ-sIJJq3rRIWWIzvwjdGUAvMIO7F4QP0F_W9fPzzsYHDmatHhyWDdr_2wAUHdG-SFZbrHc2m2tOvOmymj2ZmpErPfkwl_J07CCwwZ1bq_8hxbJWQ/s1600/lostComic_Ben06.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458038777425492130" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 418px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigpCWkGsF5PHiI93B9kICpayQ-sIJJq3rRIWWIzvwjdGUAvMIO7F4QP0F_W9fPzzsYHDmatHhyWDdr_2wAUHdG-SFZbrHc2m2tOvOmymj2ZmpErPfkwl_J07CCwwZ1bq_8hxbJWQ/s1600/lostComic_Ben06.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2UnTKbp9Cb7Qgwa0t4XHc_t016-k8Cd0MENxxwK1o1E7H_NmmmhuyT54AV4BCAAdAP1pl8oqsBjF2JCg9fkWKMubtGwjn3bQKblDsTnMrR_gqiu1D9574F1mLHaPBjmuaiBMK-Q/s1600/lostComic_Ben07.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458038859294847954" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 418px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2UnTKbp9Cb7Qgwa0t4XHc_t016-k8Cd0MENxxwK1o1E7H_NmmmhuyT54AV4BCAAdAP1pl8oqsBjF2JCg9fkWKMubtGwjn3bQKblDsTnMrR_gqiu1D9574F1mLHaPBjmuaiBMK-Q/s1600/lostComic_Ben07.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVmRGzPnBXXQ8V5G1HyRZUT8-SP-GkLrhp8IbXb3WD3bs-h9-bM-PWedZYxctpJziGpTt8U3XF56PJnTro0Y9xKsj-afeMRCx8pghd5LSvMWegP_g4lSGJjHEHRBihtZ28MACszA/s1600/lostComic_Ben08.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458038917744864482" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 418px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVmRGzPnBXXQ8V5G1HyRZUT8-SP-GkLrhp8IbXb3WD3bs-h9-bM-PWedZYxctpJziGpTt8U3XF56PJnTro0Y9xKsj-afeMRCx8pghd5LSvMWegP_g4lSGJjHEHRBihtZ28MACszA/s1600/lostComic_Ben08.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcg4oqFB0Sq2tgnSlkNp_OiI5Jty-OwOqx5x-e1P7RlNeu7viKEGX5MWFOBPdpKzq6m3l84Gt4zErfTa2RVxlMYR2R-JAD4p_8LwhFXB3yTSpcQwn5pUoWXFta2fIhXF7LJkoK_w/s1600/lostComic_Ben09.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458039015672000770" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 418px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcg4oqFB0Sq2tgnSlkNp_OiI5Jty-OwOqx5x-e1P7RlNeu7viKEGX5MWFOBPdpKzq6m3l84Gt4zErfTa2RVxlMYR2R-JAD4p_8LwhFXB3yTSpcQwn5pUoWXFta2fIhXF7LJkoK_w/s1600/lostComic_Ben09.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilgPGhSajx58K3SlX2hc2cG6CHpZG9CRoBOj6iHyhxTT7YLKxFeqn1zvC2pZBVGF8dB1-jwr9g8pkNwmn1OPspml2nie5guKlSLcFz14j8ok-O2umGEA-LidAApcHD8Xn-5MMgwA/s1600/lostComic_Ben10.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458039078470889282" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 418px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilgPGhSajx58K3SlX2hc2cG6CHpZG9CRoBOj6iHyhxTT7YLKxFeqn1zvC2pZBVGF8dB1-jwr9g8pkNwmn1OPspml2nie5guKlSLcFz14j8ok-O2umGEA-LidAApcHD8Xn-5MMgwA/s1600/lostComic_Ben10.jpg" border="0" /></a>Sagacious Penguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02300030494408133540noreply@blogger.com43tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8249536.post-20478850585217941902010-04-07T18:29:00.000-07:002010-04-07T18:54:23.498-07:00LOST - Where Are We? - 6.11 – Happily Ever After<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-udpfROhSoM1gA7SPDGaahtXQ4jYCU9V7RujtkCBYLLCWGJVm3Jx6otaM912b0o9FqEdb67U-95OFa-HUYCYq-Sb0GJpJyu6bnizGOqVNvolpm0Qbj9N2IZ-MCtwlqRvEk_cq3Q/s1600/lost611.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457574971780893762" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 279px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 156px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-udpfROhSoM1gA7SPDGaahtXQ4jYCU9V7RujtkCBYLLCWGJVm3Jx6otaM912b0o9FqEdb67U-95OFa-HUYCYq-Sb0GJpJyu6bnizGOqVNvolpm0Qbj9N2IZ-MCtwlqRvEk_cq3Q/s400/lost611.jpg" border="0" /></a>Desmond has a history of mind-bending episodes with unique story-telling structures. In 3.08 (Flashes Before Your Eyes), the burst of electromagnetic energy that destroyed the Swan Hatch flashed Desmond's present consciousness into his past. In 4.05 (The Constant), the Island's time-disconnect barrier flashed his past consciousness into his present. Then, in 5.01 (Because You Left), Daniel Faraday was able to send Desmond a message in the future by speaking to Desmond's past self because the burst of electromagnetic energy that started all this for Desmond, apparently rendered him an exception to the rules of that limit everyone else. Now, in 6.11 (Happily Ever After), Charles Widmore has been made aware of Desmond's exceptional gift and -- having an as-yet-unknown need to send someone into the heart of an electromagnetic burst on the Island -- Widmore runs a test on Desmond to make sure he's truly electromagnetism-proof. Widmore's test is successful, but the test-burst is enough to flash Desmond's consciousness into his Altered Universe self, thus finally and officially closing the gap between this season's AU and Original Timeline story-telling.<div></div><br /><strong>The Altered Universe:</strong><br /><div>No more speculation: The AU characters can officially access their Original Timeline memories. And the link between the two universes seems closely connected with death: Since 6.01 (LA X), fans have speculated that Juliet's consciousness jumped into the AU briefly before dying -- inviting someone (most likely AU Sawyer) to coffee, and leaving Miles with the postmortem message that "It worked." This week, AU Charlie -- choking to death in the Oceanic 815 bathroom -- was given a vision of Claire and felt his OT love for her in full. He then woke AU Desmond up to the OT by granting him an underwater near-death experience that brought OT Penny to AU Desmond's mind. And, one MRI later, AU Desmond had experienced his OT love for Penny in full as well. It's important to note their gut reactions to these hidden memories: AU Charlie instantly determined that his vision was a window into a world more real, true, and important than anything in his current existence. Now this may just be AU Charlie's reaction to glimpsing a life better than his current crappy drug-addicted police-nabbed existence, but it also may be a hint at a "secondary" or "lesser" status being attributed to existence in the AU when compared to that of the OT. On the topic of the AU, Charlie may agree with naysaying fans that "none of this really matters," but if the general direction of this week's episode was any indication, both Charlie and those anti-AU fans are probably very wrong.<br /></div><br /><div>AU Daniel Faraday's OT wake-up call may have broken the "connection with death" chain that Juliet, Charlie, and Desmond forged, but it did share the "love connection" with the other characters' wake-up calls. AU Charlie flashed to Claire. AU Desmond flashed to Penny. OT Juliet may have flashed to AU Sawyer. And for AU Daniel, one look at Charlotte was all his subconscious needed to start whipping out complex physics equations from his subdued OT memories. Exploring the meanings of these equations further -- probably supplemented by further flashes of OT visions and memories -- AU Daniel actually figured out what his OT self had set out to accomplish, and offers at least his personal confirmation that the AU did indeed burst forth from the 1977 detonation of Jughead within the Swan site's electromagnetic center. Desmond listens, wide-eyed and disbelieving, but all it takes is one touch of his Penny's (his Constant's) hand and his mind is shot back into the OT.</div><br /><div>Exactly how much of both universes' experiences the two Desmonds share is a matter for debate, but both seem to have arrived at an enlightened state. OT Desmond isn't frightened of Widmore; He isn't frightened of Sayid; He's seemingly "above all this" and ready to make whatever sacrifice the Island demands. AU Desmond is clearly gripped and thrilled by whatevever knowledge he now possesses of his OT existence, and most importantly: he's ready to spread the joy. He asks Minkowski to fetch him the Flight 815 manifest for the express purpose of "showing" the others what Charlie showed him: the truth. One-by-one, he's going to wake up the other AU characters to the existence of the OT, and the AU will NEVER be the same.</div><br /><div><strong>Eloise Widmore/Hawking:<br /></strong>Of course the biggest jaw dropper in the AU -- even bigger than characters finally recalling their OT memories -- was that good ol' Eloise STILL seemed to know EXACTLY what was going on. Is there any universe where this woman is as confused as the rest of us? This had me totally flummoxed at first, bringing back good memories of her first time-altering appearance in 3.08 (Flashes Before Your Eyes). But after thinking about it, I'm pretty confident that she's getting the majority of her apparent universal omnipotence from the same source now in the AU as she did then in the OT: Daniel's Journal. If you'll recall in Season 5, Daniel had the Journal on him when he travelled back to 1977 and was shot by Eloise on-Island. The Journal contained all manner of notes on the the Dharma Initiative, Daniel's experiences and conclusions (the results of his own dabbling in consciousness time travel), and of course that all-important note: "If anything goes wrong, Desmond Hume will be MY constant." We saw Sayid use the journal after Daniel was killed to help dismantle/prepare Jughead, but after that, chances are that OT Eloise kept the book and used it all through her life in order to manipulate both Daniel and Desmond (and maybe even the Oceanic 6) to allow history to repeat itself and allow Daniel/Jack to go forward with their detonation of Jughead. Perhaps all for the single purpose of giving her son a posthumous chance at changing the future and finding a life for himself in an altered universe...<br /></div><br /><div>So if the two universes ONLY differ at the point when Jughead was detonated, and share a prior "Whatever Happened, Happened" history... then maybe AU Eloise has OT Daniel's Journal. She could have easily had it on her in 1977 when Jughead detonated, and maybe she has kept it ever since. This would make her fully aware of what her son and Jack accomplished with the creation of the AU, and fully ready to keep Desmond Hume away from the one thing that could definitely wake him up to the reality of the AU: his Constant. <br /></div><br /><div><strong>The Importance of the Incident & The Ultimate Course Correction</strong></div><div>So if Faraday was right, then when Jughead detonated, the Altered Universe was born. But if Eloise was right (in 3.08 [Flashes Before Your Eyes]) then fate has a way of course correcting so that no matter how you try and change the past, things work out the same. At the moment we know that this process of course correction is at least somewhat underway: afterall, even though the AU was created, the Original Timeline still exists. So if fate/time is attempting to make the ultimate course correction of Jack and Faraday's explosive causality violation, then perhaps only one of the two universes will be able to survive in the end if time/space is to be prevented from collapsing. And if so, then either one universe is going to have to do the noble thing and sacrifice itself for the sake of time/space, or else then it's every universe for itself. In the latter case, then perhaps the two Eloises are both at odds with each other, each the keeper of her own timeline and willing to do whatever it takes to make sure her timeline is carefully preserved (even if, for OT Eloise, this means sacrificing her son). I suspect this week's episode title, "Happily Ever After," will ultimately prove either prophetic or ironic. If prophetic, then the AU is the future for which our OT heroes will nobley and heroically sacrifice themselves. If ironic, then the seemingly "better lives" that many of our characters are living in the AU are doomed to be obliterated for the preservation of the OT, held aloft on the altar as an example of why the Island and its cork-function are so important to the preservation of life as we know it. Either way, the stakes are clearly bigger than just the agendas of either Jacob or the Man In Black.<br /></div><br /><div><strong><em>And that's where we are!</em></strong></div><br /><div></div>Sagacious Penguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02300030494408133540noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8249536.post-39947172584865585442010-04-06T10:30:00.001-07:002010-04-06T17:01:43.651-07:00Star Wars: The Clone Wars - 2.17 - Bounty Hunters<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQRacMNLhEOdakyh1hKCpKrqMfSrWyKv-b4CHgbyFotZ-grMt6YPTgr74n8hvBK_xNXKvlu_39ZNdgzDuo_hyphenhyphen_KMpEWjeBLoOpsuo9NN7X5NfvJ-HfIP0K0p5TkdjH2Inut5dZLg/s1600/cw217.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457078250931607298" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 279px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 156px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQRacMNLhEOdakyh1hKCpKrqMfSrWyKv-b4CHgbyFotZ-grMt6YPTgr74n8hvBK_xNXKvlu_39ZNdgzDuo_hyphenhyphen_KMpEWjeBLoOpsuo9NN7X5NfvJ-HfIP0K0p5TkdjH2Inut5dZLg/s400/cw217.jpg" border="0" /></a><em>Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka join a group of bounty hunters in defending a group of farmers against a group of pirates.</em><br /><br />Before delving into the episode itself, I'd like to register a quick gripe against whomever is coming up with these titles. "Bounty Hunters"-!? Really? At least with "Senate Murders," as dull as the title was, it was specifically applicable to the episode that followed it. Aside from not being the introduction of bounty hunters to The Clone Wars, nor being the definitive bounty hunters episode, "Bounty Hunters," could have just as aptly been titled "Farmers," or "Pirates" or, "Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka" and had relatively the same impact. Get a bit more creative, titler(s)!<br /><br />Title-gripes aside, this was almost a near-perfect Clone Wars episode. If it weren't for a single bungled story element, I might just be hailing "Bounty Hunters" as the most well-rounded, best-executed Clone Wars episode yet. So what worked? Foremost, the Characters! All three of the featured Jedi were given moments to let their personalities shine both heroically and comediacally, and (even better) worked well together as non-dysfunctional team. This was a breath of fresh air from a group who usually can't seem to stop bickering amongst themselves despite being purported friends - and it went a long way toward rendering the on screen viewing experience as something cheer-worthy. The combination of both "cool" and "likable" is a potent one, and while the former has been an effortless hurdle for Anakin and Obi-Wan over the course of the series, the second has been more of stumbling block. The trick to avoiding it is clearly letting their camaraderie overshadow their frustrations with each other. I'm not saying the writers should ignore the mentor/pupil angst, but letting it punctuate a routinely functional and effective partner/friendship is plenty more dramatic then letting Anakin and Obi-wan devolve into one-note sourpusses, the way they remained for much of Season 1, not to mention the prequel films themselves.<br /><br />The trio's functionality alone would have been a boon to the episode's character score, but we're given two other reasons to cheer: the titular bounty hunters themselves and the return of Jim Cummings' Hondo Ohnaka. The squad of hired-to-do-the-right-thing bounty hunters was a well-oiled machine of interesting character concepts and execution. Their leader, Sugi (clearly from that distant planet "Russia"), embodied well the concept that not all bounty hunters in the Star Wars universe need to be corrupt and dishonorable. She wouldn't allow her team to renege on their deal with the Farmers when offered more money by the Pirates, and she developed enough regard for our Jedi heroes to offer them a ride off Felucia. Seripas (reminiscent of the alien prince from Men In Black) had a nice little story-within-the-story about gaining confidence to be strong despite your size. While short and to-the-point, it was nice to see such economic character story-telling work successfully within the greater scope of the episode's primary conflict. And Embo, the total bad-ass with the deadly hat, was so impressive to look at and so expertly animated in combat, that his moves instantly stood out as some of the coolest this series has seen. On the other side of the conflict, bringing back a previously-established pirate enemy was a great move from the writers. Obi-Wan and Anakin having history with Hondo gave the pirate threat (as well as the episode's stand-offs and conflicts) a welcome higher degree of gravity than the usual villain-of-the-week encounters. While Hondo's previous episodes (1.11 [Dooku Captured) and 1.12 [The Gungan General]) were some of the lowest points of Season 1, his character's concept and execution were sound, and Hondo instantly seemed like he could have been very engaging given better material. This proved to be correct in "Bounty Hunters," and I'm glad that it looks like we'll be seeing him again in the future.<br /><br />The only sour note on the topic of characters this week were the Felucian Farmers themselves. Their design was functional at best, their character development minimal considering how central they were to the conflict, and the one frequently-voiced Felucian character was whiney and obnoxious every time he piped up. Considering how effortlessly the Clone Wars team managed to make Seripas likable and cheer-worthy in only two story beats, you would think these Farmers could have been a bit more memorable/worthwhile even without any more material and/or space to breathe in the already jam-packed episode. Curiously, however, this is almost a non-existent complaint in an episode featuring an otherwise off-the-charts character score.<br /><br />So what else worked? The action. The battle for the farming village, which rounded out the episode's third act, was by far one of the most well-executed land battles this series has seen. Apart from great moments involving the speeder bikes, and Hondo and Anakin's duel, the entire sequence was made up of one cool "bit" after another, yet flowed extremely well from one segment to the next. The trap the farmers set for some of the bike's was reminiscent of the Battle for Endor in Return of the Jedi, but what this battle really emulated from 'Jedi' was the perfect mix of having many things happening at once, but all parts being both easy to follow and equally gripping. We follow Obi-wan and Suji, Ahsoka and Seripas, Anakin duelling Hondo on his own, Embo kicking butt on his own, Hondo's Kowakian Monkey Lizard mannig a tank, and multiple groups of unnamed farmers and pirates, and it all seagues perfectly with one "hell yeah!" moment following the next. This was exquisite action planning, and even better execution. It was expertly cinematic, a ton of fun, and quite possibly the best extended fight sequence I've ever seen in an animated television show. Add in the usually goofy-looking Felucian environment looking beautiful for (in my opinion) the first time, and "Bounty Hunters" was a corker to watch.<br /><br />So, about that bungled story element that keeps this from getting highest marks: The story itself was tight enough, consisting of a fairly good spin on the classic "teaching the helpless natives how to fight" narrative, but there was just a bit too much time waisted on Obi-wan going on about how he and his fellow Jedi didn't have time to stick around and help the farmers. This COULD have been an interesting dilemma, and it was presented as such, but it went nowhere and actually disappeared from the story without so much as a farewell nod. The Jedi were stuck on the planet, and if it was so important that they get off ASAP, you would think there'd be a scene of Obi-wan attempting to lead his compatriots away on foot. Or a scene of Anakin and Ahsoka convincing Obi-wan that staying to fight is their best course of action. Or some sort of point to this line of thinking other than providing an uneccessary dose of the usual stick-in-the-mud Jedi order attitude. The Jedi order's policies causing conflict is a potentially interesting plot device and source for drama and character development, and has been in the past, and hopefully will be again in the future, but here it is just thrown out to make Obi-wan seem stodgy, and to provide a false lead for internal conflict that disappears as quickly as it appears. It doesn't harm any of the other awesomness this episode routinely doled out, but it does serve to add a bit of a head-scratch moment to an otherwise smile-inducing experience.<strong><em> 4.5 stars.<br /></em></strong>Sagacious Penguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02300030494408133540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8249536.post-62024141818443636882010-03-31T15:17:00.000-07:002010-03-31T15:43:43.994-07:00LOST - Where Are We? - 6.10 – The Package<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglw47SHMG8pnDcmFdqX4ee-gDCZ1bqy9mETf7q88nFXKn-T5-xjQSRVGu2XYKyZEkgMQOb_6719AFju3MaT30elIEBp__rRerHdGG40ckFAJDQBv8k87Mv_mf4qnAdv_jMxHhDdw/s1600/lost610.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454929385007774290" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 279px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 156px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglw47SHMG8pnDcmFdqX4ee-gDCZ1bqy9mETf7q88nFXKn-T5-xjQSRVGu2XYKyZEkgMQOb_6719AFju3MaT30elIEBp__rRerHdGG40ckFAJDQBv8k87Mv_mf4qnAdv_jMxHhDdw/s400/lost610.jpg" border="0" /></a>It was great to see an episode firing on as many cylinders as this one. Almost every current plot thread and character arch was touched on as every principal cast member was featured for the first time since the season premiere.<br /><br /><strong>The Altered Universe:<br /></strong>We’re back to business nearly as usual in the AU. Sun and Jin have a similar relationship to their pre-crash Original Timeline relationship with one distinct exception: They’re not yet married. Because of this, their love for one another has not be tied to and weighed down by Jin’s duties to Sun’s father. Yes, Jin still works for Paik, but their love exists unburdened by the job: it has remained free and mischievous. Unfortunately, this also means that Paik doesn’t approve, and so we were treated to a more-than-usually-tension-filled AU story as Jin and Sun fought to escape Paik’s wrath. Yes we had another shot of a character staring into a mirror, and another familiar face show up in the form of Season 3’s Mikhail Bakunin, but of most note were the differences between this Sun/Jin story and all the other AU stories thus far: While Kate, Locke, Jack, Sayid, Ben, and Sawyer were all fighting internal battles to try and overcome personal character flaws, Sun and Jin were battling—literally—only to stay together. This parallels their on-Island story nicely. But of perhaps more consequence, was that their AU tale had no resolution, ending on a cliffhanger. Even Sawyer’s story at least showed us he was willing to share his obsession with Miles, an important first step in overcoming it. Sun and Jin are left entirely in the lurch.<br /><br /><strong>The Island:</strong><br /><div>Last week I was pretty confident that the evil/darkness/malevolence that Jacob told Richard about was, in fact, a analogous stand-in for the electromagnetic energy the Island has bottled away. After all, I don’t think Richard would have thought much in 1867 if Jacob had used the words “electromagnetic energy.” This week, I was happy to see the Island’s energy brought to the forefront again in two places. First, Widmore’s geo-physicist Zoe asks Jin to help them find pockets of electromagnetism on the Island using a gridmap that Jin himself signed during his brief stint with Dharma in the 1970s. Second, Widmore explains the consequences of the Man in Black escaping the island as more than any form of moral corruption that literal evil could wreak, but as actual annihilation. He tells Jin that everyone they know and love will cease to be. To me, this implies something more scientific (The release of the Island’s electromagnetic energy causing time to fold in on itself and implode?) rather than the spiritual language Jacob used to explain things to Richard in 6.09 (Ab Aeterno). Now let’s just hope they explain the difference between what would happen if the MIB left and what happened as a consequence of Desmond turning the failsafe key and “blowing the dam” in the Season 2 Finale, 2.23 (Live Together, Die Alone).<br /><br /><strong>The Man In Black & His Agenda:</strong><br />Whether or not the MIB actually wants to leave the Island (and it sure seems like he does, considering his last scene with Jacob in 6.09 [Ab Aeterno]), we now know that he does indeed intend to gather the Candidates first. As I suggested in my 6.08 (Recon) analysis, this is most likely a con of his to try and trick them into a mass exodus from the Island, since he currently remains unable to kill them outright, thanks to Jacob touching them. Either it’s part of The Rules that he physically cannot leave the Island unless both Jacob and his Candidates are no longer on it, or he’s simply unwilling to chance leaving a Candidate behind who might take Jacob’s place and undo his bid for freedom. And speaking of rules, we got a bit of a lesson in Smokey Physics 101 this week, as he reveals he can’t fly across water while Smoke form. This adds to Season 3 speculation that even though Smokey can float, he can’t just fly anywhere he wants, hence he was unable to go up and over the sonic fence that protected the barracks in 3.15 (Left Behind). One does wonder how far he might be able to reach over those pylons though…<br /><br /><strong>The Sickness:</strong><br />Both purportedly Sick characters were given moments this episode. Sayid tells the MIB that he feels nothing: no anger, no happiness, no pain. This, however, seems VERY different from what Claire is experiencing, who seemed to be a bipolar, emotional wreck in 6.08 (Recon) and continues the trend here. She’s still very concerned about Aaron, very jealous of Kate, and definitely insecure about her importance to the MIB. It’s possible the Sickness makes a person the worst version of themselves. And so Sayid – who has always fought to reconcile his cold-hearted ability to kill easily with his otherwise passionate, life-affirming disposition – finds himself the ultimate killer, sans emotion. And Claire – who always struggled to embrace motherhood – finds herself a child again. Or perhaps the Sickness just works in mysterious ways. I just hope we’re at least told how precisely it is contracted by the show’s end.<br /><br /><strong>Widmore’s Mission:</strong><br />Now that we know he’s clearly not on the MIB’s side, I say that whatever he’s up to, be the consequences good or bad, he’s out for himself. He’s always wanted ownership of the Island, and he’s still out to get it. But clearly, arrival and annihilation of his adversaries isn’t enough. With his sound barrier pylons, his subliminal Room 23, and his geo-physicist, he’s taken over the scientific reins from the Dharma Initiative, and is out to do SOMETHING with the Island’s Electromagnetic Pocket’s and his Electromagnetically-zapped time-hero son-in-law, Desmond. I’m uncertain what his goal is, but I’m guessing it’s to fix some of the consequences of that aforementioned failsafe key turn. If “blowing the dam” reset the Island to the same “leaking” status it was at when the Dharma Initiative’s Incident went down, then it stands to reason Widmore needs to make a few repairs to the Island he wants to claim. So, perhaps he is technically on the side of “good” (A phrase which here means “desiring to prevent the collapse of space-time as we know it”), but if he’s the same Widmore who sent a team of mercenaries to the Island to kidnap Ben and kill everyone on it (and he is) then chances are he’s doing all this to satiate his own lust for power. I guess someone ought to tell him there’s an Infected bad-ass treading water near his dock…<br /><br /><strong>Jacob & His Agenda:</strong><br />Meanwhile at the beach camp, Richard is back from his soul-searching, and has a plan. Jacob told Ilana that Richard would know what to do, and Richard knows that priority one is to keep the MIB from leaving the Island, so their mission is to destroy the Ajira 316 plane. Something tells me Richard isn't going to be happy to find out there's also a submarine, not to mention that his ol' firebrand Otherling Widmore is back. Jack is following Richard, but I'm not so certain he's <em>with</em> Richard. Jack has embraced the notion that he and his fellow survivors were brought to the Island for a reason, but judging from his recent breakdown in the Lighthouse, his willingness to blow himself up to test his theory on the Black Rock, and his promise to Sun that he'll get her and Jin off the Island, I'm not too sure Jack intends to FULFILL his Island purpose yet. He still seems to have a rebellious, anti-Jacob mindset. And Jacob? He's dead and apparently relegated to sit back and every now and then nudge Hurley in the right direction. And what does he want? Well at this point he seems wiling to stay as tight-lipped as he can and hope his Candidates make the right decisions when the time comes. That's almost all he can do, but that's his preferred method of operating anyway. Regardless of his own grey-shaded morality, this makes Jacob at least as "good" as Widmore. (The phrase once again meaning "desiring to prevent the collapse of space-time as we know it"). But, as pondered-over last week, I still think Jacob wants Jack and Co. to prove humanity deserves this preservation.<br /><br /><strong>The Fate Factor:</strong><br />Jack may be convinced that they were brought to the Island for a reason, but now that he knows there was near-human intent in the matter, that might just pull the whole destiny/fate factor out of the scenario for him. (i.e. manipulation by a guy with supernatural powers ain't the same thing as destiny). But regardless of what Jack thinks, Sun isn't taking any of this "Save the World" nonsense. I thought it was great to see her take a stand again (as well as do ANYTHING again for that matter), and her and Jin being the pair of near-Candidates that don't want anything to do with the Island and it's purpose makes sense and is a logical progression of their story arch. Where Jack will always want to fix as many things as he can, Kate will do whatever it takes to help Claire reunite with Aaron, and Sawyer (as we all know) has a heart of gold buried under his every-man-for-himself attitude, Jin and Sun have frequently been closer to everyday people caught up in extraordinary events, avoiding A-team style missions into the jungle, and just trying to remain together -- particularly Sun who even explicitly prevented Jin from joining the fracas in 2.11 (The Hunting Party). This angle is also consistent with their AU story in which they're not overcoming character flaws so much as battling the elements to be a couple. Even in 5.16 (The Incident), when we saw Jacob visit each of the characters at various points in their lives and help augment one of their classic character traits (Kate's criminal tendencies, Sawyer's self-loathing, Jack's daddy/control issues, Hurley's self-doubt), for Jin and Sun, what Jacob affirmed was the importance of their love for each other. Something key coming down the pike is going to hinge on Sun and Jin's love -- and for whatever reason, that's what makes one or both of them Candidates.</div><br /><div><strong><em>And that's where we are!</em></strong></div><div></div>Sagacious Penguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02300030494408133540noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8249536.post-14933822047997864852010-03-30T11:28:00.000-07:002010-03-30T15:07:07.918-07:00Star Wars: The Clone Wars - 2.16 - Cat and Mouse<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwIQ1P6NHsPhojcSim2G6lTo_ZDYr3fgB2HUXY-XhQiO0TvcccaXWnmKyLrx_dzKO7Zijdfw7-IJWoVEG3KWLkIJEWkiwZPFzEoc83KdRioESqMifu1h9wXOngg1Y5GDL5Y1YUjg/s1600/cw216.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454495951244541474" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 279px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 156px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwIQ1P6NHsPhojcSim2G6lTo_ZDYr3fgB2HUXY-XhQiO0TvcccaXWnmKyLrx_dzKO7Zijdfw7-IJWoVEG3KWLkIJEWkiwZPFzEoc83KdRioESqMifu1h9wXOngg1Y5GDL5Y1YUjg/s400/cw216.jpg" border="0" /></a><em>Anakin uses a prototype stealth ship to rout a Separatist blockade above the planet Christophsis.</em><br /><br />This was a tightly-packed and tense episode which gave us the best startship tactics on the show since 1.19 (Storm Over Ryloth). Nothing much occured to advance the overall narrative of the series, particularly considering this was evidently a flashback to events just prior to the Clone Wars theatrical premiere, but it was nice to give Admiral Yularen a bit more of the spotlight than usual, and cool to see him observing Anakin's special brand of bravado for the first time. It's worth noting that this isn't the first time we've flashed back to events just prior to the Clone Wars movie's Battle of Christophsis. This happened previously in 1.16 (The Hidden Enemy) just as inexplicably -- and in that episode there weren't even any character firsts (like Yularen and Anakin's interactions) to justify it being a prequel. I'm fine with the IDEA of revisiting past events and scenarios and adding to them, but if the writers are going to bother, it would be nice to have a little more apparent reason to do so.<br /><br />In addition to Yularen, the character that shined the most thorugh the episode was newcomer Admiral Trench. I've never been a fan of the insert-animal-here-and-turn-it-into-a-humanoid brand of alien design, but the Trantula-inspired Admiral and his clicking noises were very entertaining to watch. It would be a shame if we were never to see him again - particularly considering that none of our characters got a chance to meet him up close and personal -- but considering that the episode began with Yularen and the Republic thinking he'd been killed in a previous altercation, it wouldn't surprise me at all if Trench found a way to survive this one. Maybe the uggly bug can cocoon himself to safety while floating in space or some such creepy thing. It'd be great if he then slammed into the windshield of some Republic cruiser ;)<br /><br />The named Clone troopers of the episode didn't fare as well as Trench. Yes, they survived, but while their story had a beginning (Rookie trooper on first assignment) and an end (Rookie trooper gets a pat on the back), it didn't realy have a middle of any kind at all. The sparse moments these guys had dialogue only served to make me wonder why exactly they were bothered with. Their plot went nowhere and served no purpose. That said, it was also SO minimal that it didn't harm or hinder the otherwise intensely focused narrative of the episode.<br /><br />The show continues to impress visually, and also continues to expand the kinds of stories Star Wars can tell. The classic submarine stealth movie overtones in this episode were overt to the level of sonar-style radar and pinging. It was a fun veneer on a meaty little mission and gave the episode a good deal of atmosphere. But even though this was a far better examle of the Clone Wars borrowing classic narrative trappings from other sources than last week's Agatha Christie-infused misfire, I do hope the creators of the show don't make too much of a habit of apeing other classic styles in lieu of inventing/solidifying their own. As much as I've enjoyed seeing what a Star Wars zombie plot is like, and a Star Wars submarine plot is like, and a Star Wars murder mystery plot is like, they need to make sure the show retains its own core identity admist these fun spins. Though if these fusings always work as well as "Cat and Mouse" did... perhaps my misgivings are unfounded. <strong>4 stars.</strong>Sagacious Penguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02300030494408133540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8249536.post-8623130022886057402010-03-24T18:37:00.000-07:002010-03-24T18:44:06.187-07:00LOST - Where Are We? - 6.09 – Ab Aeterno<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnJ-NZoffrAXaX8NEDpV49coqG7pERvLCR4hID0pkfqSTNcGkAbjMcws1Q4T00UeUH3dtZH4rk_cCsAn4cHdiinVeUCBTtU-oQx8jZiyXkJU7REXtwaFE0PBciBfZmLe7jngdPVQ/s1600/lost609.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452380902371122114" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 279px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 156px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnJ-NZoffrAXaX8NEDpV49coqG7pERvLCR4hID0pkfqSTNcGkAbjMcws1Q4T00UeUH3dtZH4rk_cCsAn4cHdiinVeUCBTtU-oQx8jZiyXkJU7REXtwaFE0PBciBfZmLe7jngdPVQ/s400/lost609.jpg" border="0" /></a>After an episode as rich with both character and mythology as this week’s installment, it’s a bit tough to know where to begin. But my job on this blog has always been to condense and distill the show’s sprawling mysteries into as few talking points as possible in an attempt to show how the ultimate answers are only narrowly out of reach, so it’s a bit reassuring that while there were MANY issues of note in Ab Aeterno, most of them added either further clarification to things we thought we might already know or otherwise connected dots between things we had previously hoped were related and now can rest at ease that they are…<br /><br />What I mean to say is: It’s all comin’ together!<br /><br /><strong>The Island:</strong><br />We’ve known the Island was special from day one. Through the years, we’ve learned it stores a crazy amount of electromagnetic energy that can crash planes, heal cancer, and bend time itself. We’ve discovered how hard it is to find the Island since the location of access to it on Earth moves from place to place, and even when you know approximately where it is, a proper compass bearing is required to access it successfully, otherwise your zapped through time in unexpected ways. We’ve seen the Island imbue characters with incredible powers: Desmond could see the future for a while and still remains a man free from the rules of time; Miles was born on the Island right around the time the Dharma Initiative began drilling into the electromagnetic stores, and as a result can read the minds of dead bodies; Hurley, at an unknown point, gained the ability to talk to the dead themselves. We’ve been told, and seen examples, that the Island can pull physical manifestations from its inhabitants minds out of a “magic box,” creating interactive group hallucinations such as Kate’s horse and most recently the bloody-handed Kid in 6.04 (The Substitute). And finally, we’ve encountered sporadically (and now more intimately), the two most powerful men on the Island – Jacob and the Man In Black – who seem to have access to the Island’s powers and the ability to channel them in various ways. But what IS the Island? What is its function?<br /><br />Well, it’s a cork, silly.<br /><br />Jacob’s bottle metaphor might seem brand new and like the biggest revelation of the night, but it’s been a long time coming. What Jacob refers to as evil/darkness/malevolence trapped in the bottle is, in this viewer’s opinion, precisely the Island’s stores of electromagnetism we’ve learned so much about through the series. Referring to it as evil/darkness/malevolence might just be Jacob’s way of explaining it in terms the pious Richard will understand, but if this energy is the source of all supernatural occurrences in the world of the show, then there may be a tinge of moral corruption to it as well. The point is, this isn’t the first time the Island has been indicated to be a preventative force. It isn’t even the first time the Island’s function has been compared to a liquid-stopper. In Desmond’s flashbacks in 2.23 (Live Together, Die Alone), a drunken Kelvin Inman dangled the failsafe key over its slot in the Swan Hatch and asked Desmond if he was man enough to stop holding his finger in the dam and rather just blow the whole dam itself. By the end of that episode’s present-day plotline, Desmond did just that. By ceasing pushing the button he pulled his finger out of the dam and rather than letting the electromagnetic energy bottleneck to a point utter destruction, he turned the key, blew the dam (the Swan hatch), and let that energy free into the world. The immediate results were that both Penny and Charles Widmore were able to spot the Island and locate it for a brief time, the Others lost their ability to communicate off Island via technology, and Desmond (at the focal point of the blast) became the Hero of Time. The long term results? Could it be that the thing Jacob had devoted his life to preventing actually already occurred in the Season 2 finale? More on this in a future topic…<br /><br /><strong>The Island’s Rules:</strong><br />There’s pretty clearly some force governing the actions of both Jacob and the Man In Black, or else the MIB would just kill Jacob himself. Likewise, chances are the MIB would have killed Richard (after Richard had been touched by Jacob) had he been capable of doing so. But the same Rules that I’ve speculated keep the MIB from physically harming the Candidates in the show’s present seem to have been firmly in place even before Jacob developed his band of followers with Richard as his intermediary. These are likely the same kinds of Rules that Jacob and Richard pass down to the Others: don’t kill other Others; don’t leave the Island without permission; (perhaps) don’t help/harm the Candidates, etc. The difference seems to be that the Others ARE capable of breaking these rules (though are subsequently punished) while Jacob and the MIB are bound by whatever Island authority gave them their powers.<br /><br /><strong>Jacob & His Agenda:</strong><br />Jacob’s mission is to protect the Island. To protect the Island he must keep the energy/evil/darkness/malevolence properly corked. The easiest way to keep it corked would SEEM to be to keep people as far AWAY from the Island as possible. But since Jacob has made a habit of subtly manipulating all sorts of people to the Island, either there’s more to his mission than meets the eye, or Jacob is so bored with his job that he frivolously endangers the world to play his game with the MIB… OR (and most likely, in this viewer’s opinion) Jacob’s not so sure humanity deserves his protection, and wants us to prove it.<br /><br />While we as modern television viewers want to automatically group things into categories of good and evil, LOST has gone out of its way again and again to thwart viewer expectations. Seasons 1 and 2 made a habit of turning our expectations for spiteful characters (Sawyer, Jin, Shannon, Anna Lucia, Eko) upside down. Characters whose actions we were initially repulsed by, were very soon drawing tears of sympathy from us. Likewise many of our stalwart heroes (Jack, Kate, Sun, Sayid, Charlie, Hurley, Boone) were revealed to have darker, muddier pasts with each successive flashback. And of course Ben is the coup de grace of the series: the ultimate villain, a man who condones genocide, breathes lies, thrives on the manipulation of others, ordered the death of Charlie, and VERY RECENTLY strangled Locke to the grave in cold blood… and each season we’re given an episode that makes us hope for the best in him. Just like Jacob hoped right before Ben stabbed him in the chest.<br /><br />So on a show that’s practically written the book on shades of grey, it should come as no surprise that the man on the side of White (versus Black), the man who is Protector (versus the Destroyer), the man paced on the side of Good (versus Evil) is, in fact, a man like any other. He may have a noble job, and he may have high hopes for humanity, but that certainly don’t mean he’s going to keep on performing his job without proof we’re worth it. I posit that the only way Jacob’s willing to keep protecting the Island is if the people he “brings” there (as well as any others who find the Island themselves) can prove themselves capable of getting along, taking care of the Island, and choosing what is right. Through Richard, he formed a very narrow line of communication with his people, and they joined him in protecting the Island, but much like their leader, the Others hold a haughty regard to their Island duties, and thus the cycle continues. Exactly how the Others are instructed to treat new arrivals, and what lists Jacob passes down, and what purges he’s ordered remain question marks, but the purpose of the group has never been clearer, and I just might get clearer yet!<br /><br /><strong>The Man In Black & His Agenda:</strong><br />Well, the MIB definitely seems to want to leave that Island. He clearly thinks the whole thing’s a sham: Humanity’s a mess, and there’s nothing his freedom or the Island’s uncorked malevolence can do to mess humanity up any more than it already is. Last week I suspected that the MIB wanted the Island unprotected because he wanted something BAD to happen to the world, but now I suspect he wants it unprotected because he doesn’t think there’s anything BAD enough that could happen that won’t just happen anyway because mankind is (in his view) inherently corrupt. In other words: he doesn’t KNOW the precise effects of unleashing the Island’s power – he just doesn’t give a damn what they are.<br /><br /><strong>The Others:</strong><br />So they were formed as recently as 1867! Now with Richard as his intermediary, Jacob can began recruiting people to his Island-protection cause, making lists, and playing a larger role in the goings on of his little moral battlefield. Previously he seemed willing only to GET people to the Island so that they might play out their true natures in harsh circumstances, but now he’s knocking things up a notch. Since people on the Candidates list don’t appear to have begun their on-Island lives as recruits of the Others, it seems pretty clear that there’s a distinction between the Candidates and the Others. The Others help Jacob perform his tests on the Candidates morality. So actually being on Jacob’s initial lists (such as the one Anna and Eko found when their fellow tale section survivors were being kidnapped in 2.07 [The Other 48 Days], or the one Danny Pickett groused that “Shepard” wasn’t on in 3.06 [I Do]) seems to be a bit of an insult: it means you’re not Candidate material – your simply easily manipulated into helping Jacob find his replacement. And none of you even know what or who the Candidates are. I guess the joke’s on the Others! No wonder they all tend to be either douchebags or mindless followers!<br /><br /><strong>The Shadow of the Statue Folks:</strong><br />I wonder how long this little band of Candidate-knowledgeable Jacob-protectors has been around? We’ll get our answer when we’re granted more info on Illana, hopefully, but for now we know that they already existed around the time Flight 815 crashed (since Bram and Co. tried to dissuade Miles from joining Widmore’s freighter expedition in 4.02 [Confirmed Dead]). And we also know that at some point after there were only Six Candidates left, Jacob visited Illana to upgrade her mission.<br /><br /><strong>Visions: <em>Magic Box, Man In Black, or The Actual Dead</em>?<br /></strong>You could make a pretty good game show out of this mystery. Island visitors have seen a long string of crazy crap on its shores, and it would be the simplest explanation if it all came from the same source, but this is LOST, so of course there are MULTIPLE ways someone can experience the impossible.<br /><br /><strong><em>------The Magic Box:</em></strong> Using the metaphor Ben did in 3.13 (The Man From Tallahassee) there’s a “Magic Box” on the Island and people can subconsciously pull things from their lives out of it (Kate’s Horse, Sawyer’s Boar, Ben’s Mother). These things can usually be interacted with (though they don’t say much), and frequently (though not always) multiple people can see them. This is what I also personally refer to as the Island’s interactive power separate and perhaps above Jacob and the MIB. Other than suspicions and “what feels right,” the only proof I’ve got that this power exists above them is that the MIB experienced The Kid in 6.04 (The Substitute) against his own will and after Jacob (who can now only influence things via conversation with Hurley) was killed.<br /><br /><em>Examples</em> (In My Opinion): Jack’s Suited Dad (in 1.04 [White Rabbit] and 4.10 [Something Nice Back Home]), Sawyer’s Boar (in 1.16 [Outlaws]), Kate’s Horse (in 2.09 [What Kate Did]), Sayid’s Cat (In 3.11 [Enter 77]), Ben’s Mother (In 3.20 [The Man Behind The Curtain]), Possibly Harper (In 4.06 [The Other Woman]), Possibly Antony Cooper (In 3.13 [The Man From Tallahassee] and 3.19 [The Brig], though chances are the Others just kidnapped the poor bastard and dragged him to the Island.<br /><br /><strong><em>------The Man In Black’s Dream/Visions:</em></strong> The MIB can give people visions. We saw pretty clear proof in this week’s episode when Richard lost consciousness, had a vision of Isabella returning to him on board the Black Rock and being swept away by Smokey, and then regained consciousness with the MIB in the room beside him. The MIB then proceeded to use this vision to manipulate Richard into attempting to kill Jacob. So if he can give visions to the people he’s scanned as Smokey, who else has been scanned by Smokey and then had Dream/Visions that influenced their behavior? We at least can give a “hell yeah” to Eko and Locke.<br /><br /><em>Examples</em> (In My Opinion): Locke’s Dreams/VIsions (in 1.19 [Deus Ex Machina], 2.21 [?], 3.03 [Further Instructions], and 4.11 [Cabin Fever]), Eko’s Dreams/VIsions (3.05 [The Cost of Living]), Possibly Charlie’s Dreams/Visions (2.12 [Fire+Water]), Possibly Claire’s Dreams/Visions (unseen, but referred to in 4.10 [Something Nice Back Home])<br /><br /><strong><em>------The Man In Black HIMSELF:</em></strong> Different than a vision, the MIB himself has the ability to actually appear physically in the form of a dead person whose body was left lying about the Island and was then taken by him. When he does this, everyone can see him and he usually makes requests and asks for things: He’s appeared as the non-suited version of Jack’s dad Christian, Eko’s brother Yemi, Locke, and possibly Alex. Of the first three in particular, a big deal was made of the availability of their corpses for his use. Christian’s and Eko’s bodies were dragged away somewhere. Locke’s was used while it was very insistently/purposefully stored in the Ajira 316 cargo hold.<br /><br /><em>Examples</em> (In My Opinion): Jack’s Non-Suited Dad (in 1.04 [White Rabbit] and 4.10 [Something Nice Back Home]), Yemi (in 3.05 [The Cost of Living]), Locke (starting in 4.07 [The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham]), Alex (in 5.12 [Dead Is Dead])<br /><br /><strong><em>------The Actual Dead:</em></strong> Hurley’s power to speak with the dead – both on and off Island – adds a whole new dimension to these visions. They’re easy to spot, though… since no one sees them but Hurley, and only Hurley speaks with them. Confirmation these aren’t MIB manipulations? Jacob himself is one of those speaking to Hurley; The MIB seemed pretty pissed at the result of Isabella’s intervention this week.<br /><br /><em>Examples</em> (In My Opinion): Charlie (in 4.01 [The Beginning of the End]), Eko (in 4.13 [There’s No Place Like Home, Part II]), Anna Lucia (in 5.02 [The Lie]), Jacob (in 6.01 [LA X] and 6.05 [Lighthouse]), Isabella (in 6.09 [Ab Aeterno])<br /><br /><em><strong>------Exceptions</strong>:</em> And of course, there have to be oddball occurrences as well in order to avoid all this getting too simple. The most impactful of these are Desmond’s Flashes of future and past events, which I hold to be actual time travelling of his consciousness and not visions. Also of interest is Dave, Hurley’s imaginary friend from 2.18 (Dave), who could easily have been a “Magic Box” pull-out from Hurley’s subconscious, or even the ghost of Libby’s dead husband (if Hurley’s power was with him even back before the crash of Flight 815), but in all likelihood is just an honest-to-god genuine trauma-induced hallucination.<br /><br /><strong>The Dharma Initiative, The Importance of the Incident,<br />& The Consequence of Blowing The Dam:<br /></strong>Let’s wrap this week up with a big one! I constantly bump into people online worrying if this or that from Seasons 1-5 will ultimately prove to have been an important storyline now that everything is being whittled down to Jacob vs. the Man In Black. One of the story lines is that of the Dharma Initiative – at one time thought to be behind EVERYTHING crazy that happened on the show. As I speculated earlier in my section on “The Island,” when Desmond turned the failsafe key, he may have uncorked the Island’s store of energy/evil/darkness/malevolence way back at the end of Season 2. If this is the case, then responsibility for uncorking the evil actually belongs to the Dharma Initiative itself, which means the Dharma storyline is nothing less than mankind’s final blunder onto the Island, undoing Jacob’s mission, and unleashing the very energy that had been pent up to protect it. Kind of important I’d say. And who led Locke to both the Swan and the Pearl, stations, resulting in the Swan’s destruction? Oh, yeah: the MIB through Dream/Visions!<br /><br />So if the cork is already blown in the present time of the show, maybe the only thing that can be done to help humanity/the world is to keep the Man In Black on the Island as it slowly crumbles in on itself. What happens next we can only speculate.<br /><br />At least, we COULD only speculate, if the show weren’t already (in theory) showing us a timeline in which the Dharma Initiative were unable to finish building the Swan Hatch! So if the Altered Universe is a world in which the Island has long since been uncorked, and at some point ended up on the ocean floor as a result, then maybe all the flash-sideways stories are building to something very cataclysmic. Something that proves once and for all the importance of keeping the Island safe and keeping the MIB on it. And why is such proof necessary beyond providing a cool what-if scenario for us viewers? Ask Jacob. After all, he created it by fetching back the Oceanic Six and sending many of our heroes back to 1977 to add an H-Bomb to the Incident. So, whatever the AU is, perhaps it’s Jacob’s loophole. Even as the MIB commandeered the Oceanic Six’s return to take Locke’s form and murder Jacob, the creation of the AU was already long-since successful, and will somehow prove to be Jacob’s ace-in-the-hole.<br /><br /><strong><em>And that’s where we are!</em></strong> </p>Sagacious Penguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02300030494408133540noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8249536.post-27732914770352934932010-03-22T13:22:00.000-07:002010-03-22T17:50:25.598-07:00Star Wars: The Clone Wars - 2.15 - Senate Murders<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs49LfF_lNzTA7I93fQzTD3PiV0d-LAr_SX3pkxgqA2feHHAVwmwMO-orxGAhKlAos17R95ijSJH2gw0P7u2zrLwFwgw_JQh5s4NZpSmbk8fF287lKhvCvSss6bAfHQbuy4cviag/s1600-h/sw215.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 279px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 156px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451624685435648786" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs49LfF_lNzTA7I93fQzTD3PiV0d-LAr_SX3pkxgqA2feHHAVwmwMO-orxGAhKlAos17R95ijSJH2gw0P7u2zrLwFwgw_JQh5s4NZpSmbk8fF287lKhvCvSss6bAfHQbuy4cviag/s400/sw215.jpg" /></a><i>There are murders... in the senate! (These titles sure play it safe sometimes...)</i><br /><div><div><br /></div><div>As a one-off change of pace this was a fun experiment, though I'm not sure it was a good idea to return from a month-long hiatus with such an oddball entry. I enjoyed the send-up to classic parlor room murder mysteries, but it was all a bit too simplistic to leave a worthy impression, and a bit too far removed from the important goings-on of the galaxy to earn an important niche in the series' canon. It's always refreshing to see throwbacks to earlier plots, and it was nice to bring the Season 1 story-line of the Rodian senator Farr back into the spotlight (from 1.08 [Bombad Jedi]), but I can't see much of anything in this episode causing too much impact on future series events, and this might be the installment's greatest failing. </div><br /><div>Character-wise, it was once again enjoyable to see Padme in a story that strengthens her character and plays her as a potent individual, separate from Anakin and their love story. She was her usual bundle of action and ideals here, and held the hero focus well. The guest cast didn't fair quite as well. Inspector Divo was diverting, but seemed to have been plucked out of some other television show and dropped into the wrong series. His by-the-numbers bumbling detective wasn't particularly original and didn't add much to the classic concept his character homaged -- especially considering that the Columbo-like Jedi Master Sinube from 2.11 (Lightsaber Lost) already tackled similar ground with more success. Bail Organa was a welcome addition of a known character to the Clone Wars, but served here only as a double for Padme's actions and opinions. His points of view and disagreements were very easily and quickly aligned with Padmes, making him a bit of a nonentity in the plot. And murderess Lolo was such a nonentity in the proceedings that the traditional last minute deflection of accusation from the obvious party to the surprise culprit would have worked far better with more possible suspects and motivations. There simply wasn't the depth of cast and character available in this episode to pull off an Agatha Christie style mystery. </div><br /><div>The most interesting notion presented in the episode arrived with its most interesting new character. The concept that Kamino has only been granted a position on the senate (in the form of the Izma-like Senator Burtoni) because of their clone army production is an interesting source for dissent to arise from, and I'd like to see further exploration of this concept. The Kaminoans might easily be seen as war profiteers as a result, and I could see some hate spreading toward them from the other Republic members. But like most of the actual politics presented in Senate Murders, this was only a smokescreen for the more personal (and underdeveloped) motives of the actual killer. </div><br /><div>I enjoyed the episode for its cool setting, brooding atmosphere, focus on Padme, and its attempt at adding a new genre of episode to The Clone Wars. But the mystery formula was only played out to its most basic of depths, and the intriguing politics presented ultimately lacked any over-arching developments or forward momentum. The visuals of the show continue to be strong, and it's noteworthy that even with a minimal amount of action the Clone Wars can still entertain, but if the writers want to continue expanding the kinds of stories they can tell on this show, they'd be better served weave them into the show's pre-existing fabric a little more carefully. Even as a stand-alone, this could have had some great drama and repercussions for the show as a whole, but instead remains one of the lighter weights in the series' rack. Far from a failure, but nothing to sing about. <i><strong>3 stars</strong></i>. </div><br /><div></div></div>Sagacious Penguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02300030494408133540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8249536.post-19597456354289383482010-03-19T19:11:00.000-07:002010-03-19T19:12:39.486-07:00LOST - Where Are We? - 6.08 – Recon<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlVkA-vSCNPpPEIOPCJCnE8S8dQHxgd-gUNl8m6TNRt37Tn-SepOFrROZBq6fbOW-E8uDf_hnZeZ1mRhkn7gaZWrk8bNODDoD5qh_-779L3df3hkUVwakf3hit9Frn-iaML8uCCg/s1600-h/lost608.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450533125727230962" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 279px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 156px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlVkA-vSCNPpPEIOPCJCnE8S8dQHxgd-gUNl8m6TNRt37Tn-SepOFrROZBq6fbOW-E8uDf_hnZeZ1mRhkn7gaZWrk8bNODDoD5qh_-779L3df3hkUVwakf3hit9Frn-iaML8uCCg/s400/lost608.jpg" border="0" /></a> <em>Apologies for the late entry. This is the busiest week of the year for the office where I work, and it’s been a series of long days, later hours, and exhausted nights. But LOST is a sanctuary, and here’s where we are:</em><br /><br />Recon was an episode of intrigue and careful positioning of characters for future developments. Sawyer was quick to make promises of joint escape to fellow Survivors, and quicker to pledge his loyalty to any Island mass-murdering despot who needed placating. Kate got a hard, fast dose of crazy-town reality, in which her one-time allies revealed themselves to be mesmerized unresponsive apathetic shell of a man, a bipolar hand-holding throat-slitting mad-mom, and a walking corpse with mommy issues. Widmore's allegiance may still remain un-illuminated, but at least we're allowed one less group of people to keep tabs on as a very final punctuation mark was put on the short, sad story of the Ajira 316 survivors. And all the while, the battle for the Island continues to take shape…<br /><br /><strong>The Altered Universe:</strong><br />The AU provided us with more of the same this week, shedding further (though not particularly shocking) light on who Sawyer is by way of another "what-if" scenario that promises to ultimately be something more. As usual, the importance of the AU still lingers beyond viewer perception, but the clues continue to arrive via comparisons and character convergences. Sawyer's life is presented as very similar to his Original Timeline existence -- the one key difference being that when deciding what profession would best serve his vengeance-quest, Sawyer chose cop instead of criminal. He may very easily be the exact same self-loathing, charismatic SOB he was when Flight 815 crashed in the OT, but this time his profession has furnished him with a caring partner in Miles. While he still clearly has no particular love for the law (planning murder, letting Kate escape in 6.01 [LA X]), AU Sawyer has what OT Sawyer never did: someone to run his credit reports, arrange blind dates for him, and ultimately keep him in check. And character convergences? Sawyer meets up with not only one (Miles), not only two (Charlotte), not even just three (Charlie’s Brother, Liam), but four (Kate) other characters. The characters are rapidly converging into groups in the AU, leading me to wonder if circumstances will eventually fling them all together again as a group. To what end is the big question, but maybe that’s when Desmond will mysteriously show up again…<br /><br /><strong>The Sickness:</strong><br />Rather than rendering Claire specifically “evil” the way The Others would like to spin it, the sickness seems to have wiped away her rational thought: one minute she’s glaring at Kate, the next minute she’s holding Kate’s hand, the next she’s trying to slit Kate’s throat, and then she’s hugging Kate in a tearful embrace. I can’t agree with Dogen that everything she ever was has been wiped away, but I’ll certainly agree that she’s a raw, un-tethered, almost child-like version of her former self. Sayid, on the other hand, still seems somewhat shell-shocked at what’s befallen him. But neither of these people follow the Man in Black (MIB) completely mindlessly. They’ve got to be baited, appeased, and controlled. And for the time being, it seems the MIB is manipulating Kate into watching/controlling Claire for him.<br /><br /><strong>The Man in Black & His Agenda:</strong><br /><div>So, does he REALLY want to leave the Island? That’s the million dollar question of this mystery. He’s talked big about wanting to “go home,” and promised Sawyer and his new Other followers that they’ll all be leaving together, but all we’ve really seen him do is take steps to eliminate his enemies. He wiped the Temple Others out, and he may very well have destroyed the last of the Ajira 316 survivors. He told Richard in 5.15 (Follow the Leader) that he would “deal with them,” and chances are that he did. He admitted to Sawyer this week that the Others’ primary purpose has been to protect the Island FROM HIM – so either Jacob and the Others have been making a terrible mistake in the importance of their mission (dubious), or the MIB is still in the process of murdering and/or manipulating everyone off what he hopes will soon be HIS Island. So if he is indeed arranging a legitimate mass exodus from the Island, I think it’s all a sham to get the Candidates (that I suspect he can’t kill) to leave the Island of their own accord. At this point in the game, I’m guessing that he himself is going nowhere. Or, if he IS planning to leave, then I suspect he’s certainly not planning to leave the Island intact behind him…<br /><br /><strong>Widmore's Return:</strong><br />As in my analysis last week, I still suspect Widmore might be on the MIB’s side. Sawyer jumped to the conclusion that Widmore was anti-smokey from the new arrivals building of a makeshift sonic fence, but that could easily just be a precaution of Widmore’s to make sure his dark ally doesn’t turn on him quickly. Sawyer threw his bargain at Widmore before Widmore had barely said a thing, and the look on Widmore’s face when Sawyer offered to help him kill Smokey seemed to be one of amusement to me. Personally I think he was pleasantly surprised that Sawyer was jumping to conclusions. I mean if anyone other than Smokey has reason to be pissed at Jacob and the Others, it’s the man they banished from the Island for harboring an off-Island family. Widmore wants to possess the Island, and I’m pretty sure doing so is going to require a little help from his Smokey friend. Sure, Widmore could be his own faction in this, but with the story wrapping up, we need sides to form, not branch out unendingly!<br /><br /><em>And that's where we are!</em> </div>Sagacious Penguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02300030494408133540noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8249536.post-40727724766762886522010-03-11T15:55:00.000-08:002010-03-11T16:01:21.444-08:00LOST - Where Are We? - 6.07 - Dr. Linus<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI7bXB3AV-5saWyorMn_OddAKvH6_ydbDwN_I2I_zWMdnt3kJY1JLpKbXUjlE3MKDR1jeo2PaCFrQgt2hdlZV-SK-ZDdf3J5YnFhQZyXtlxpeJ1D-ITqhuz0bzmJv9Ib1PTNUyDg/s1600-h/lost607.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5447530540622674162" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 279px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 156px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI7bXB3AV-5saWyorMn_OddAKvH6_ydbDwN_I2I_zWMdnt3kJY1JLpKbXUjlE3MKDR1jeo2PaCFrQgt2hdlZV-SK-ZDdf3J5YnFhQZyXtlxpeJ1D-ITqhuz0bzmJv9Ib1PTNUyDg/s400/lost607.jpg" border="0" /></a>The sense of finality is looming larger! While there still may be some important moves for Ben to make in the overall LOST story, this really felt like the completion of his character arch. He was presented with the ostensible opportunity for reclaiming and expanding his on-Island power -- he was given a time and place to be to achieve a goal he's quite literally killed for -- and he gave it all up in a few heartbeats after hearing Illana mutter three short words of acceptance. "I'll have you." She's said what neither Ben's father nor Jacob ever did.<br /><div><br /><strong>The Altered Universe:</strong><br />This was a particularly fun one - I quite enjoyed watching mundane high school politics presented with LOST's unique flair for dramatic tension. Given the show's track record I just kept waiting for someone to pull a gun out, but for once we were watching average people behaving somewhat averagely! Ultimately we were given an AU tale more directly parallel to the Original Timeline (OT) Island tale than any yet. Ben is faced with precisely the same decision in this week's AU story as he was in 4.09 (The Shape of Things to Come): His own power or Alex's life? While placing failure to get into Yale on the same level as getting shot in the head might be a touch dubious (There <em>are</em> other good universities out there, right?), the message was clear, and Ben's AU decision to choose Alex this time was made in complete conjunction with his OT decision to stop chasing power and embrace his own failures. Just like with last week when Sayid simultaneously gave into his darker nature in both the AU and the OT, one is left wondering if character's decisions in one timeline directly change the course of their existence in the other. Or are these similarities simply proof that we're watching the same characters in both stories, even if their circumstances have been altered and their connection to Jacob severed.<br /></div><br /><div>Also of note was Roger Linus referencing the fact that he and Ben left the Dharma Initiative and the Island. This was the first time any of the AU characters have mentioned having been on the Island (even though we've bumped into people like Ben and Ethan who would have been there in 1977 when the Incident occurred). Some fans have interpreted Ben's and Ethan's presences in the AU to be proof that things pre-1977, pre-Incident, are also different in the AU since we've seen the Island on the ocean floor. To me, Roger Linus mentioning his days on the Island is only further proof of what we were lead to believe by Faraday's plan for changing things and Juliet's other-worldly confirmation that "It worked" -- that the AU came into being (diverging from the OT) precisely when Juliet detonated the Jughead H-Bomb in 1977, and that nothing prior to that moment in the AU happened differently from what occurred in the OT. The whole concept of the AU is complicated and "out there" enough -- I don't see why the writers would differ from the bomb-splitting-the-timeline premise they set up. If the Island is on the ocean floor in the AU, and Roger and Ben left the Dharma Initiative sometime after Jughead detonated, then clearly the Island didn't instantly sink upon the detonation. Maybe the absence of the Swan site's electromagnetic energy pocket (which Jughead wiped out) slowly caused the destruction of the land mass beneath the Island. Maybe the lack of a functioning Island is causing unseen problems in the AU. Maybe the whole point of the AU is to show us what disastrous consequences are going to occur on a global scale if our characters don't sacrifice themselves to save the Island in the OT...</div><br /><div><br /><strong>Jacob's Candidates:</strong><br />Richard's crisis of faith in this episode's sub-plot was just as compelling as Ben's plea for understanding. Much like Jack, Locke, and Ben before him, Richard was finally driven off the "it's-all-been-meaningless" deep end by the combined impact of losing Jacob, losing everyone at the Temple, and realizing that he'll never know what his thousands (?) of years of service have been for. He reconfirms that his lack of aging is the result of Jacob's touch (which has never been too big a surprise since Jacob's healing powers have previously helped Locke, Juliet's sister Rachel, Dogen's son, and possibly Rose). But Richard goes on to add to his gift/curse his inability to kill himself. While we never saw Michael Dawson get touched by Jacob, "Dawson" WAS on both the Candidates Cave wall and the Lighthouse wheel, so chances are Michael WAS touched by Jacob at some point, and chances are that his inability to kill himself in 4.08 (Meet Kevin Johnson) was our first look at Richard's current plight. Jack wasn't able to kill himself either in the Flashforward of 3.22 (Through the Looking Glass), and now Jack takes destiny by the reigns once again, executing a science experiment to renew his faith in the powers of the island. He still might not be down with taking any orders from Jacob, but having watched that dynamite fuse fizzle out, he now knows Jacob is protecting him. The Others aren't able to boss around or kill still-valid Candidates, and these Candidates are unable to kill themselves. At least not until their duty or role in the Candidate-Search has been fulfilled, as Ghost-Christian Shepard indicated to Michael on the Freighter just before it exploded in 4.13 (There's No Place Like Home) with the words, "You can go now."</div><br /><div><br /><strong>Jacob & His Agenda:</strong><br />But while Jacob seems to be able to protect his Candidates to a certain extent, he certainly doesn't make anything easy for them. In fact, it's almost the exact opposite. One of my favorite revelations of the night was Miles telling Ben that Jacob didn't want to die and was in fact hoping that he was "wrong" about Ben. We all know that Jacob behaved like a mysterious, ungrateful jack-ass to Ben right before Ben knifed him, which leaves us with only one conclusion: Jacob will go to <em>any</em> length, including risking his own life, to force his Candidates to prove their character in the face of unwavering adversity. "Linus" may have been crossed off both the Lighthouse and the Cave wall long ago, but Jacob still wanted to see Ben change, and was willing to give him neither an apology or nor an explanation to ease that transition. Ben's faith had to be proven in the worst possible circumstances. It's reminiscent of God's behavior toward Job in the Old Testament's Book of Job. And if this is the way Jacob feels he needs to treat all his Candidates... perhaps it helps explain just a little bit why the Others haven't been allowed to tell the our heroes ANYTHING about ANYTHING ever. Perhaps if they did, the true test of our heroes' make and mettle would be tainted.</div><br /><div><br /><strong>The Man In Black & His Agenda:</strong><br />The MIB only made a brief appearance to Ben this week, but it spoke volumes. First, he directly contradicted what he said to Sawyer about the Island being a joke that doesn't need protection by telling Ben that he wanted Ben to assume the role of Island leader. Maybe he just needs a sap to take his place as the local "security system," but more obviously: he just tells people whatever they want to hear. If Sawyer wants to hear the Island is a joke and he can leave, that's what Sawyer is told. If Ben wants to hear the Island needs a leader and he can lead, then that's what Ben is told. Claire is told she can have Aaron back. Sayid is told he can have Nadia back. It's just an absolute PARTY at the Man In Black's house tonight! But ultimately, despite their recent crises of faith, Ben and Richard can now form a "We Resisted Temptation" club on the beach. The MIB offered Ben power and Richard answers (much like an ABC promo), but both have walked away from his offers. While the MIB's team grows based on promises, Jacob's team continues to grow based on character...</div><div><br /><strong>Widmore's Return:</strong><br />This plot twist may have been rather clumsily and tangentially tacked on the end of the episode (usually such twists are a bit more carefully segued into), but there's no arguing how good it is for wrapping up this show's mysteries that Widmore has finally made his return to the Island. Questions surround the man like a swarm of gnats, but connecting him into his proper place in the current battle that is being waged will fill in a LOT of blanks from the past seasons. My current hunch is that he's somehow aligned with the MIB, (perhaps having made a pact with Smokey prior to his Ben-influenced banishment from the Island). I say this primarily because he told Locke there was a "war" coming on the Island in 5.07 (The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham), and if he WAS referring to the current coup of the MIB, how would he have known about it back then if he hadn't been in cahoots with Smokey? After all, Richard and the rest of the Other seem to have been caught completely off guard by this "war." Of course there's still a chance he knows nothing of Jacob and the MIB's current conflict and just wants to get revenge on Ben and reclaim The Others as his own... but I doubt it. All points are currently converging. But the biggest question raised by Widmore's reappearance is how did he find the Island? Eloise probably didn't help him, as what with her being the keeper of unsanctioned Island travels she could have easily helped him return at any point over the last 20 years. So either she's had a change of heart on helping Widmore find the place, or maybe he was able to somehow track Ajira 316's trajectory. Now that Widmore's back in the picture, I certainly hope that both Desmond and Eloise will return to action as well. There's much we need to know about their mysterious places in this epic tale.</div><br /><div><br /><strong><em>And that's where we are!</em></strong></div>Sagacious Penguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02300030494408133540noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8249536.post-39393602192420002192010-03-03T16:25:00.000-08:002010-03-03T21:03:33.398-08:00LOST - Where Are We? - 6.06 - Sundown<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifs6_2o6J9r_-e6v5SD2OPEb_uyR8szdUmFJaRMdvn0AJ0vAP9z8cf12h8OhSXrxjPpsITyRbg6x9fiW01L8jzY8V_UkUtz9WOFQl9YrKDaB9g3DU34S588Hqp3WkjWaE5ed575g/s1600-h/lost606.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444568743949506338" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 279px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 156px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifs6_2o6J9r_-e6v5SD2OPEb_uyR8szdUmFJaRMdvn0AJ0vAP9z8cf12h8OhSXrxjPpsITyRbg6x9fiW01L8jzY8V_UkUtz9WOFQl9YrKDaB9g3DU34S588Hqp3WkjWaE5ed575g/s400/lost606.jpg" border="0" /></a>Poor Sayid. He has one of the most consistent -- and consistently tragic -- storylines of any LOST character. Here's a glimpse at his inner monologue over the course of the series:<br /><br /><em>I'm a good kid. Oh, wait, I've killed a chicken to help my brother. I'm a good soldier. Oh, wait, I've been manipulated into being a torturer. I'm a good veteran. Oh, wait, I've crashed on a wacko-crazy magic Island and ended up torturing a redneck con-man. But, I'll atone for my sins. I'm a good lover. Oh, wait, Shannon's been killed and I beat the crap out of Ben Linus and killed a bunch of mercenaries. At least I can get off-Island and start anew with Nadia. I'm a good husband. Oh, wait, Nadia's been killed and I've been manipulated into being a serial killer for Ben Linus. Screw this, I need to join a charity organization to right my wrongs. I'm a good Samaritan. Oh, wait, I've been dragged back to the Island through time and have shot the child Ben Linus. For shame! At least I'll get what I deserve in death. I'm a good corpse. Oh, wait, I've been brought back to life by the Sickness, and am now a darkness-filled disciple of a mass murderer. THERE IS NO WINNING ON THIS SHOW!</em><br /><br />Can Sayid ever find redemption, or is he Evil with a capital E now? It's all in the details...<br /><br /><strong>The Altered Universe:</strong><br />Still as big a mystery as ever, the Altered Universe was treated a bit differently this time around. For starters, Sayid seemed worse off to begin with than when we first met him in the Original Timeline. When OT Sayid first boarded Oceanic 815, he certainly hadn't had it easy, but at least he was on his way to L.A. to seek out Nadia and presumably try to start a life with her. AU Sayid had already written off the possibility of a real relationship with Nadia by the time Flight 815 passed over the sunken Island. Plagued with guilt for sins past, he'd long since come to the conclusion that he didn't deserve her and had encouraged her to marry his brother -- a very different outlook from that of OT Sayid. But, like the Sayid we know and pity, AU Sayid just can't seem to escape his ability and inclination to kill as a means of helping those around. Where Kate, Locke, and Jack were able to find at least temporary freedom from their characteristic shackles in the Altered Universe, AU Sayid both begins and ends a prisoner of his guilt and dark nature. Maybe this isn't the Universe of Happy Endings after all...<br /><br /><strong>The Island & It's "Magic Box" Ability:</strong><br />When the Man in Black (MIB) offered Sayid anything he wants -- anything in the entire world -- my mind was instantly transported back to episode 3.13 (The Man From Tallahassee) when Ben told Locke about the Island's metaphorical Magic Box. Ben, attempting to tantalize Locke with the nature of the Island, said: "Let me put it so you'll understand. Picture a box. You know something about boxes, don't you, John? What if I told you that somewhere on this island, there's a very large box... and whatever you imagined, whatever you wanted to be in it, when you opened that box, there it would be." As always with our big bads, there's a chance both Ben and the MIB were merely telling their victims what they wanted to hear, but I'm inclined to believe the Island really does have a "Magic Box" ability. Yes, Richard and Ben may have just kidnapped Locke's father Anthony Cooper after his car accident in Tallahassee and dragged him to the Island as a test for Locke, but between Kate's Horse, Sawyer's Boar, and Sayid's Cat - we know this Island can manifest things from our heroes' lives. If the MIB is telling the truth and he really can give Sayid a living, breathing Nadia, I'm guessing she'll come out of the same "Magic Box" from which Richard and Ben pulled Locke's father, and from which our various heroes' pulled their respective animals. Jacob and the MIB simply might be the masters at controlling this Island ability.<br /><br /><strong>The Sickness:</strong><br />Well, I got answers to my query last week regarding just how crazy the Sickness makes people. Clearly, being infected allows the MIB to get his hooks completely into a person. While it might not be as pedestrian as mind control (for Sayid and Claire still DO appear to have much of their own, natural inclinations), it clearly overrides a person's moral compass and aligns their wills and needs with those of the MIB. Sayid and Claire still require motivation from the MIB -- Claire is told she'll be reunited with Aaron, Sayid with Nadia -- but they act against the best interests of the majority, and against any conception of what is "right," giving into a degree of selfishness and inhumanity that neither would have previously been capable of. Sure Sayid’s murder of Dogen and Lennon might have been palatable (and given how many times they tried to kill him, perhaps even commendable) with or without any Sickness, but knowingly welcoming the Smoke monster into the temple to commit mass homicide… that’s not quite the Sayid we all remember.<br /><br />The big questions that remain regarding the Sickness are how one initially contracts it, and whether or not can one be cured. If a person has to die to contract the Sickness, does that mean Claire was killed when Widmore's mercenaries blew up her Dharmaville house in 4.09 (The Shape of Things to Come)? Even so, what were the common circumstances that she and Sayid experienced that lead to their infections? Regarding a cure, I've always been inclined to believe that Claire is one of the characters that can and will be saved on this show. Many of our leads are likely candidates for tragic heroes (Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Locke, Sayid), but Claire has always been one of the "ordinaries" to me – one of the characters that the tragic heroes need to make sacrifices for in order to save. Much of Kate’s, Jack’s, and Charlie's redemption arcs revolve around Claire being reunited with Aaron, and if this is ever to come to fruition, then there must be a cure of some degree for the Sickness. For me, the central question is whether Sayid will have the opportunity to snap out of it in time to end his story as a tragic hero rather than a tragic villain.<br /><br /><br /><strong>The Others and Their Obsession with Good and Evil:</strong><br />Dogen referred to the Man in Black as “Evil Incarnate” in this episode. I’ll admit the MIB is clearly one bad dude -- but the “Evil Incarnate” moniker doesn’t hold much weight coming from a key member of a tribe of self-proclaimed “Good Guys” who kidnap, kill, lie, threaten, and torture to get what they want. In fact, if we hadn’t already witnessed the MIB’s own murderous deeds, I’d consider Dogen’s slur a mark in the MIB’s favor.<br /><br />And Dogen’s accusations of “Evility” don’t stop at the MIB. Apparently the torturing device used in 6.03 (What Kate Does) actually assesses where a person falls on the Good-to-Evil scale. But, again, how can you trust a machine built and maintained by folks so utterly obsessed with letting people know they’re the Good Guys? Ethan later insisted to Claire that he and the Others are “good people” in 2.15 (Maternity Leave). Ben then declared “We’re the good guys” to Michael in 2. 23 (Live Together, Die Alone). They might have some good motivations for their behaviors – after all, Dogen was absolutely right that it was in the best interest of a LOT of now-dead people that Sayid be poisoned – but if that’s they’re definition of being “The Good Guys,” then I imagine their classification of the MIB and Sayid as Evil is just as shaded in gray.<br /><br />Remember also that the Others have been rendering their good/bad judgments upon everyone who’s arrived on-Island throughout the course of the series. It all began with Goodwin telling Ana Lucia that he killed her fellow tail-section-survivor Nathan because Nathan “was not a good person” in 2.07 (The Other 48 Days). Ben (as “Henry Gale”) told Locke he’d come to fetch him because Locke was “one of the good ones” in 2.20 (Two For The Road). Locke told Kate he tried to convince the Others she was a “good person” in 3.15 (Left Behind). The Others’ definition of “Good” is clearly just “people we like” and/or “people likely to follow and/or be susceptible to our cause. According to Ben in 4.06 (The Other Woman), Goodwin tried to make a case for Anna Lucia’s entry into Otherdom but she wasn’t deemed worthy. More likely it was determined that she’d never buy the steaming pile of bull crap the Others have fed their ever-dwindling myriad of followers.<br /><br />If this notion of “Good” equaling susceptibility to the Others’ cause reminds of you of “The Sickness” equaling susceptibility to the MIB’s desires… well I’m betting that’s not a coincidence. Whatever the Others did to young Ben in that Temple Spring to make him lose his innocence (Richard’s words in 5.11 [Whatever Happened, Happened]), I’m betting it’s the “pro-Jacob” version of what has now happened to Sayid. Has every one of the Others been dipped in that Spring and revived as a follower of Jacob? If so, I’m betting folks who come to this Island are apparently generally either susceptible to either Jacob’s side or the MIB’s side, and the Others are perhaps in a race to collect the “good” and weed out the “evil” to keep their ranks flowing. And what of those balanced in between? I’m guessing they’re the ones who are still Candidates.<br /><br /><strong>Jacob & His Agenda:</strong><br />Adding more gray to Jacob’s agenda – even as the MIB is declared Evil Incarnate – is Dogen’s back-story. Would the man who supposedly leads the side of “Good” really for all intents and purposes blackmail his key followers into providing their services? Dogen having to remain on-island to save his off-island son is VERY reminiscent of Juliet having to remain on-island to save her off-island sister in 3.16 (One of Us). It was a slimy situation when Ben laid it out for Juliet, and it’s just as slimy a situation now. Jacob seems easy-going enough in his conversations with Hurley, but if he only offers his and the Island’s healing services when it’s to his direct advantage, then he’s not much better than the MIB. And if it was really on his orders that the entire Dharma Initiative was purged… well then he’s just about the same as the MIB, isn’t he? The terms Good and Evil are the Others’ red herrings. What we have here is a feud between two very human entities who have somehow become the protectors of the Island and gained the ability to tap into its powers -- one free (Jacob), one trapped (MIB). Perhaps the goal of protecting the Island IS indeed noble, but Jacob is only as much a “Good Guy” as his followers.<br /><br /><strong>Jacob’s Candidates:</strong><br />Again we get more evidence that the Others aren’t allowed to harm Jacob’s candidates. Dogen wanted Sayid dead VERY badly, but stayed his hand at the drop of the baseball – perhaps a reminder of his deal with Jacob. Even now that Sayid has been claimed by the MIB, Jacob’s no longer around to cross his name out and make him fair game for Dogen’s knife. Similarly, I think the MIB isn’t allowed or perhaps even able to harm the Candidates by the Island’s own Rules. Creepy vision of The Kid in 6.04 (The Substitute) told the MIB “You can’t kill him,” and I’m still holding to the theory that The Kid was referring to Sawyer. Now, at the end of this episode, the MIB looked very disgruntled to see Kate tagging along with his party, and I don’t think there’s anything he can personally do about her presence there. Here’s betting he tries to egg Claire into fulfilling her threat to kill Kate.<br /><br /><strong>The Man In Black & His Agenda:<br /></strong>So if the Man in Black simply wants to leave the Island, how come he needs so many followers? He’s clearly very ready and willing to massacre everyone else, but was this simply revenge for their denying him in the past, or was it all a necessary part of his plan? I don’t think we quite know the extent of his agenda yet. There’s more at work here than simply escape.<br /><p><em>And that's where we are!</em></p><br /><div></div>Sagacious Penguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02300030494408133540noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8249536.post-75377495176931985072010-02-24T19:14:00.000-08:002010-02-24T19:29:13.419-08:00LOST - Where Are We? - 6.05 - Lighthouse<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrSUttCJNzSZmyemqbXIWkRdY2GfY-CdZTLBozNyt9jnMPpjzS9S7hNMGPEzjYul0S3fBPyCcfhllHmIG0Bb9NqlEgzvXmTVoFM0IFIufzVWkR9hHyEmCusj9spi4GuzpI9x8u6Q/s1600-h/lost605.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442017863750388466" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 279px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 156px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrSUttCJNzSZmyemqbXIWkRdY2GfY-CdZTLBozNyt9jnMPpjzS9S7hNMGPEzjYul0S3fBPyCcfhllHmIG0Bb9NqlEgzvXmTVoFM0IFIufzVWkR9hHyEmCusj9spi4GuzpI9x8u6Q/s400/lost605.jpg" border="0" /></a>I didn’t need Hurley’s rather blatant shout-out to recognize the old school vibe of this episode. From location nods, to mystery references, to its character-centered heart, Lighthouse was practically dripping with Season 1 nostalgia, and I dug every minute of it. Thematically, Jack’s story here is the perfect compliment to his story in 1.05 (White Rabbit). Haunted by his father’s ruthless assertion that he “doesn’t have what it takes” to make tough decisions, Season 1 Jack struggled with the mantle of leadership that had been thrust upon him by the other Survivors after the crash of Oceanic 815. Now, five seasons later, on-island Jack lashes out at the expectations put upon him, while his Altered Universe self is meanwhile able to right the wrongs of his father’s mantra.<br /><br />The multiple, diverse, and carefully intertwined connections between this episode's Core Events and its Flashes are as deftly executed as many of Season 1’s best, and it’s a breath of fresh air to see so much strong character and heart injected into the series after the cool but cold intensity that dominated Season 5’s storytelling. It’s a strong sign that the writers have got their heads in the right place as they bring this massive tale to its endgame. Once all is said and done -- after the last answer has been given, and the last theory checked off -- it’s LOST’s inspiring heart and rich depth that will carry its intricately engrossing mystery forward to conquer the test of time.<br /><br />That said, the mysteries do indeed rule the present:<br /><br /><strong>The Altered Universe:<br /></strong>Even as the stories in the AU remain character-centered, hints continue to crop up that suggest what’s to come. That Jack’s appendix was removed at age 8 in the AU tells us that some things are different not because the Island was sunk, but simply because they are. The shape of destiny and the strength of a given character may be constants in the AU, but appendicitis and perhaps even having a son (the creation of life itself!), might as well have resulted from the role of a die. But even more telling is that Jack seems to suddenly have doubts about the origin of his abdominal scar. Does the name Juliet ring a bell to him? How about Bernard? …Is a certain Island calling?<br /><br /><strong>The Island:</strong><br />How the Island is connected to the rest of the globe is of central importance to establishing its identity. We know that physically it’s moving around – or at least the spot where one can access it is mobile – but so far any other connections presented have been of the magical vision-inducing (Jack, Hurley) or suicide-preventing (Jack, Michael) varieties. The abilities of the titular Lighthouse to view candidate-related spots all over the globe are no less magical, but are given mechanical weight through the compass-like distribution of the numbers. If the Island and its powers can be so intimately connected to the rest of the world, this only lends credence to Jacob’s insistence that the Island must be protected. And now we can add to that Jacob's declaration to Hurley that Jack has an important role to play in protecting it. For the sake of the series and its general awesomeness, I hope Jacob is right!<br /><br /><strong>Jacob’s Agenda:<br /></strong>The importance of setting the Lighthouse to 108 in preparation for someone’s impending arrival should play out soon enough, but at least we’re here given great insight into Jacob’s own particular brand of manipulation. That he’s been watching Jack all his life might be creepy, but he clearly knows when a light touch is needed – or “a little push” as he told Jack when they met off-Island in 5.16 (The Incident). Unlike Hurley, Jack is not someone who could simply be told what to do by a stranger in a cab, and it’s been important to Jacob’s plan that Jack make his own decisions, influenced or otherwise. Jacob has finally chosen now -- after Jack has been brow-beaten by life and destiny -- to tip his hand and reveal his presence.<br /><br /><strong>The Numbers:<br /></strong>Jacob’s off-island influence on Hurley, however, might not be as innocent as a single cab conversation. Viewers will recall that the Lighthouse’s wheel isn’t the first time the Numbers have been used to reach out from the Island to the world outside: it was the looped recording of “4 8 15 16 23 42” that functioned as a siren song in bringing Rousseau’s science team to the Island in the 1980s, and ultimately resulted in getting Hurley on board Oceanic 815. I’d love to know when, why, and by whom that looped recording was made, but if Hurley’s ultimate destiny is perchance to take over for Jacob, then it will have been the Numbers that brought him to the Island. And if Hurley’s even partially right that his "bad luck" contributed to Flight 815 flying off course and into Desmond’s System Failure… well then it’s the Numbers – the numbers of Jacob’s favorite Candidates -- that were responsible for bringing the lot of them to the Island. I hope these dots are one day connected in-show.<br /><br /><strong>Jacob's Candidates:</strong><br />The most telling moment of the night may have been Hurley’s refusal to listen to Dogen, and Dogen’s inability to do anything to stop a Candidate. This probably explains why Sayid had to choose to poison himself in 6.03 (What Kate Does), and why these Temple Others hold the free wills of our Survivors in such high esteem. It might even explain everything back to why Ben’s Others needed Michael to bring Jack, Kate, Sawyer, and Hurley to them in 2.23 (Live Togehter, Die Alone). Candidates are given special treatment. (Though I guess no one told Pickett back in Season 3). I suspect Dogen’s AU line is very applicable to his and the Others’ current situation: “It is hard to watch and be unable to help.” There must be some reason these guys have to keep their secrets even from Candidates. Probably the same reason they have to be douchebags even to Candidates...<br /><br /><strong>The Sickness:</strong><br />Now that we’ve had a chance to get to know the new Crazy Jungle Claire, I’m slightly less afraid for Sayid than I previously was. Dogen told Jack that the Sickness grows inside a person until it spreads to his/her heart, and then all that person is will be consumed. While Claire was certainly changed from the sweet character we remember, I can pretty easily imagine a similar Claire emerging from three years of living alone in the wilderness running from and fighting the Others for her life – with or without the help of an alleged Sickness. She’s still something of the same character: She helps Jin, and still values Aaron (though she doesn’t remember the circumstance under which she and Aaron parted ways). That said, perhaps this darkness Dogen refers to comes in the form of a susceptibility to the Man in Black’s (MIB’s) temptations and ways. Claire’s memory of her leaving Aaron in the Jungle is then fuzzy from the direct influence of the MIB (probably in the form of her father, Christian Shepard) who led her away from Sawyer and Miles back in 4.10 (Something Nice Back Home). If this is the case -- if the loss of all that you are primarily results in becoming a pawn of the MIB -- then I’m guessing there’ll be fireworks if/when he and Sayid meet up.<br /><br /><strong>CharacterWatch - Jack:</strong><br />By calling back to Jack’s first solo island adventure, Lighthouse allows viewers to look at his story-arch of beleaguered responsibility through eyes both wizened and jaded by the events of the past five seasons. And Jack himself is the most jaded viewer of all. His season 1 heroics and insistence to take control may have been largely self-inflicted to prove daddy wrong, but their impact had consequences for all involved. In taking responsibility for the Survivors, Jack took on the equal-parts-selfish-and-selfless role of leader. He was mayor of cavetown in Season 1, and led the fight against the Others in Seasons 2 and 3. His needs to control and to rescue morphed into single-minded stubbornness in Season 4 when he ignored every warning that the Freighter and its occupants were trouble and practically demanded that he be allowed to save everyone.<br /><br />But we all know how well that turned out. As Jack tells us in Lighthouse, his days off Island broke him. He failed to get everyone off Island, and those that were lost in the transition weighted on his conscience. He hoped returning to the Island would be an easy fix for his soul, and with no obvious penance in sight, he latched on to Faraday’s plan to fight the future. It remains to be seen whether the Incident was as important or life-defining as Farday insisted it would be, but post-Incident Jack is done with letting his motivations be dependent on the demands of others. He’s had it with trying to impress daddy, he’s through with trying to fulfill destiny, and he most certainly doesn’t want to hear that Jacob has been watching him with the same expectant eye.<br /><br />Altered Universe Jack learns to hold back on forcing such expectations on his son, but Island Jack can’t seem to fight free of them. We’ll have to wait and see whether staring out at the ocean for a while will ready Jack for whatever lies ahead, but hopefully when it comes, he’ll be able to take action on his own terms – not his father’s, not destiny’s, and not Jacob’s. …even if that’s exactly what Jacob wants ;)<br /><br />And that’s where we are!Sagacious Penguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02300030494408133540noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8249536.post-16654647408127367782010-02-17T17:11:00.000-08:002010-02-17T19:30:12.230-08:00LOST - Where Are We? - 6.04 - The Substitute<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBlLlsP6DKlh_Wmx79TVf7gyAzxy_IUcC-iPdQElKTFYsEw4izVzKtwEtcZ70uo9m97rBTLCLnX_znpWiopFXu0Xoz6t7vURqlaVAthYDjh0BzNbFC198PQfOpLF0a-KIWvnff6A/s1600-h/lost603.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439389527977295842" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 279px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 156px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBlLlsP6DKlh_Wmx79TVf7gyAzxy_IUcC-iPdQElKTFYsEw4izVzKtwEtcZ70uo9m97rBTLCLnX_znpWiopFXu0Xoz6t7vURqlaVAthYDjh0BzNbFC198PQfOpLF0a-KIWvnff6A/s400/lost603.jpg" border="0" /></a>Locke has always been a compelling character. He was compelling as a pre-crash, wheelchair-bound desk jockey with delusions of grandeur. He was compelling as a born-again, boar-hunting jungle man on a mission. And now, he's somehow remained compelling as a sandcrab-covered corpse. That Terry O'Quinn has been able to play two all-new, completely different shades of Locke after the character has been dead for half a season is testament to just how weird - and completely awesome - this show is.<br /><br />Locke was tapped very quickly by the island and/or the Man In Black (MIB) as someone "amenable for coercion" (3.03 [Further Instructions]), and ever since, Locke's faith in both the Island and his own greater purpose has led him to deeds equal parts mad and heroic. But Locke's final destiny has been to give the MIB what it saw in Locke from the beginning: a loophole. Traipsing around in Locke's likeness, the MIB's mission is now center-stage, while the real Locke's delusions of grandeur lay buried with his body. But can the John Locke we've known and loved for 5 seasons somehow find and fulfill his life's purpose after death?<br /><br />We'll have to wait and see, of course - but here's what we learned this week:<br /><br /><strong>The Altered Universe:</strong> The jury's still out on what the ultimate purpose of the AU is to the over-all Season 6 story and the Original Timeline (OT). We may have been thrown a major clue in the form of some of the MIB's accusations against Jacob, but more on that below in the "Fate and Free Will Factors" section. For now, let's just note that there were even more OT character appearances in this week's Locke story than there were in last week's Kate story. Helen still somehow found her way to Locke despite he and his Dad being on good terms in this timeline (recall that they met in the OT when Locke attended anger management classes). Randy (Locke's boss) still switched jobs even though that meteorite probably never hit newly-lucky Hurley's initial Chicken Shack (first referenced in 2.01 Man of Science, Man of Faith). We've had indication that Hurley owned Locke's box company ever since 1.18 (Numbers), so not too big a surprise to see him show up. But the wacky fortune-teller that Hurley's dad bribed in 3.10 (Tricia Tanaka Is Dead)? And Rose!? And Ben!?!?! A couple of these are clever cross-overs... More than a couple are contrived (albeit fun) writing... But this many is pretty clearly meant to set off warning bells in our heads. Even with the Island-based hand of fate removed from the equation, these characters certainly seem to congregate...<br /><br /><strong>The Island</strong>: The mother of all LOST mysteries -- "What Is The Island?" -- has been on everyone's mind since Charlie asked this column's titular question in the series' pilot. This week, the MIB tells us something very important: Jacob thinks the Island needs protecting, but he doesn't because it's "just a damn Island." Say it with me together folks: "<em>It's just a damn Island</em>." Yeah. Freaking. Right. And LOST is just a TV show. The source of this information makes me instantly believe that the exact opposite is true. Be it simply the untapped time-bending potential of its electromagnetic stores, or the magic-box manipulations of its oft-implied semi-sentient will, this place is important. Perhaps so important that its protection even warrants all the Others' cold-hearted, un-informative, extremist tactics. Perhaps so important that finding it a new chief-protector warrants multiple lifetimes of searching for candidates and bringing people to its shores...<br /><br /><strong>The Man In Black (MIB):</strong> We’ve watched the monster roam the island for five seasons, sizing up our heroes and sometimes attacking them. We’ve seen it take the form of Eko’s dead brother Yemi; we’ve seen it bounce of the sound barrier “walls” of the Dharma Initiative’s barracks; we’ve seen it respond to Ben’s underground murky-water toilet flush summons. We’ve applied animal instincts to it, and the basic rationale of a simple-minded agenda. When we met the Man In Black and saw him take the form of John Locke, the monster transitioned from an “it” to a him, and became the show’s new “big bad” – a seeming representation of darkness and evil. But this week, the game has completely changed.<br /><br />First, just when I had begun to conclude that the MIB was responsible for all the crazy island visions and dreams our survivors have experienced through the course of the show – HE GOES AND HAS A CRAZY ISLAND VISION OF HIS OWN. I think so much about this show that even when surprising things happen, my mind tends not to be blown. But I’ll admit it: When the MIB – the monster itself - was shocked at seeing that bloody-handed Kid that Richard couldn’t see… my mind was indeed blown.<br /><br />And second, as swiftly as surprise was brought into the monster’s repertoire, so is humanity. And the implications of this, are even greater. Sure he’s still the show’s current “big bad,” but he’s no longer just a floating cloud of “evil for evil’s sake” – he’s a living, breathing, emoting, fearing, plotting <em>man</em>. Just try and watch any Smokey scene from any season past in the same light you did before. This one episode has turned every previous monster encounter on its head. Our attempts to categorize animal-like behaviors over the years can now officially be replaced with honest-to-god character analysis. Let the Lit-majors rejoice: If you prick him, he may not bleed, but Smokey has become a villain with Shakespearian depth.<br /><br /><strong>The MIB and His Agenda:</strong> So he wants to “go home,” he’s “trapped,” and he wants to be “free.” I think this much of what the MIB tells us, we can believe. I also believe him when he says he suffered betrayal and loss – probably at the hands of Jacob. What’s a little more muddy is what going home and being free actually means. He tells Sawyer that this involves getting off-island, but for all we know this is just a means of getting Sawyer’s assistance. After all, getting off-island wouldn’t necessarily require wanting “everybody dead” as Richard clearly believes to be part of the MIB’s agenda. More likely to my way of thinking is that the MIB wants freedom from whatever boundaries being a magic smoke monster brings. Maybe like Barbossa and the crew of the Black Pearl (In <em>Pirates of the Caribbean</em>), he longs for humanity again - the abilities to eat again, lust again, die again. Whatever he needed done to take Locke’s form, perhaps it’s given him a taste of this humanity (Just look at how joyously he ate that mango in 6.07 The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham), but I’m guessing he’s not all the way there yet. There’s a good chance Jacob himself is responsible for making the MIB what he is now, and for some reason (perhaps Jacob’s death?) he apparently can’t change his face anymore. If Jacob did “trap” the MIB in this way, perhaps he’s still trapping him from beyond the grave…<br /><br /><strong>Jacob and His Agenda:</strong> Since 5.16 (The Incident), we’ve had pretty good indication that Jacob specifically chose many of our heroes and somehow “brought” them to the Island in the same way the MIB accused him of bringing that Piratey Ship that is probably the Black Rock. But now, we (along with Sawyer) have been given physical proof of Jacob’s tactics: He’s been writing names on the wall of that cavern for lifetimes, assigning them numbers for unknown reasons, and crossing them off one by one. The MIB says Jacob was looking for candidates to be his Island-protecting successor, and considering the tone through which the MIB belittles Jacob’s mission, I can’t currently think of a reason he’d lie about it. So here’s a major answer-chunk for you: the crux of Jacob’s Agenda was to protect the Island and find someone to carry on his work. Next we need to find out why someone apparently ageless needs a successor? Was he going somewhere else? Or was ALL of his searching in anticipation of Ben’s stabbing him? Time (and the writers) will tell.<br /><br /><strong>Jacob’s Candidates:</strong> The revelation of the Candidates brings many new questions, but they all still fall neatly under the “Jacob” mystery heading. We first heard the term ‘candidate’ in 5.16 (The Incident) when Illana and Bram speculated that pilot Frank Lapidus might be a “candidate.” Did they mean in the word in the same sense that Jacob and the MIB use it? One name that was crossed off the Candidates Wall was “Goodspeed.” I wonder if this was Horace or Ethan. One name that was very conspicuously absent from the wall was Austin. All the other heroes we saw Jacob touch in 5.16 (The Incident) were listed… why not Kate? And why didn’t Jacob include all his candidates on whatever lists he sent the Others (re: Danny Pickett’s line “Ben just put his life in the hands of one of them! Shepard wasn’t on Jacob’s List!” in 3.06 [I Do] – incidentally, the show’s first time naming “Jacob.”)? Hopefully we’ll also learn all this, along with the significance of the numbers (<em>The</em> Numbers) that Jacob selected for our heroes.<br /><br /><strong>Visions and Whispers – The Kid:</strong> In my master mysteries list (which I’ll get around to publishing on here eventually), I group all Visions and Whispers together as one mystery under the “Wacky Island Happenings” category, even though I freely acknowledge that the various dreams and sightings our heroes have seen may have different sources and/or explanations. As I said earlier, however, I never expected The Monster itself to experience a vision! There’s a chance the Kid was Jacob – but I’m not buying it. Even if the Kid did indeed resemble a young Jacob, I don’t believe that was Jacob himself talking to the MIB. I think the MIB would know if Jacob had just come back to life in front of him, and would have had a much bigger/angrier reaction. Plus, the confidence with which the MIB continued to refer to Jacob in the past tense throughout the episode, as well as his confidence in chucking Jacob’s rock into the sea, lends at least a bit of credence to my theory. So what exactly was the Kid? To my way of thinking, he’s proof there’s more going on here than simply two powerful entities (Jacob and the MIB) duking it out on an electromagnetically charged island – proof that the Island itself is still somehow an entity in play. “You know the Rules,” the Kid tells the MIB. “You can’t kill him.” Whatever’s causing these visions, and whatever its “Rules” are (assumbly the same set, Ben, Widmore and the Others follow) – it’s clearly pissed at the MIB – and he’s clearly not free of it even after Jacob’s death. Why Richard can’t see the Kid, but Sawyer can is a topic for another day - these Visions and Whispers tend to be able to pick who they want to be seen/heard by…<br /><br /><strong>Richard and the Others:</strong> Beneath the MIB and Jacob, Richard’s always seemed like the guy who knew the most about everything, so it’s fascinating to here that Jacob never revealed his Candidate Quest to Richard. What else has Jacob kept from Richard? What has Jacob told Richard that earned (and retains) his loyalty? The MIB, on the other hand, is probably “disappointed” with the Others for the same reason he’s disappointed with Richard. The MIB always wanted Richard to follow him, and Richard has always refused. It’s interesting that Richard was still the MIB’s first choice for a lieutenant, before Sawyer. And it’s equally interesting that he lets Richard live. Clearly Richard still has a part to play in his agenda.<br /><br /><strong>Illana and the Shadow of the Statue Folks:</strong> I can’t wait to find out Illana’s backstory. She seems sadder than anyone that Jacob is dead – and movingly so. She seemingly knows about the Candidate Quest, she knows a good deal about Jin and Sun, and she knows something about the capabilities and limitations of the MIB. Hopefully Ben will quiz her more persistantly on her knowledge base in the near future.<br /><br /><strong>The Fate and Free Will Factors:</strong> If “The Island” is the mystery that holds the spot of honor at the top of my master list, “Fate and Free Will” is the mystery that holds the spot of honor at the bottom. When all is said and done, when all the workings of the Island and the motivations of Jacob have been ticked away one by one, the ultimate theme of the show will lie here: in the shadow of the Fate Vs. Free Will debate.<br /><br />Ever since 5.16 (The Incident), fans have been speculating that Jacob and the MIB have something of a disagreement over whether Fate or Free Will is the more prevalent force. In their beachside conversation, the MIB told Jacob, "They come. They fight. They destroy. They corrupt. It always ends the same." And then this week, he went on to tells Sawyer that Jacob manipulated him, made his choices for him, and pushed him to the Island, denying Sawyer his Free Will. So even if MIB is in favor of Free Will, he certainly doesn't believe in its relevance for our heroes.<br /><br />Jacob, on the other hand, claimed on the beach in 5.16 that "it only ends once" and the rest is progress. For him the behavior of Island visitors is an ongoing, growing effort that has slowly improved over time, and has yet to reach its conclusion. Here Jacob comes off believing in the power of Free Will - the power of our characters to choose to better themselves. Even if Jacob hasn't been quite as manipulative as the MIB claimed to Sawyer, these are odd opinions coming from someone who has clearly exerted some kind of force/influence on our heroes through their lives.<br /><br />This being LOST, we're obviously dealing with a mixture of both Free Will and Fate here -- this show doesn't like dealing in absolutes, and I hope it continues to avoid them. The MIB sees Fate (and Jacob’s hand in it) as a burden that limits and wastes lives and is opposed to Free Will. Perhaps Jacob appreciates a more nuanced merger of the two. Perhaps for him, Fate is made up of the responsibilities people have that they cannot avoid: the character traits that are part of their nature and lead them to value/protect/uphold certain things. Meanwhile, Free Will in this view is comprised of the choices, motivations, and efforts that people make, both <em>because of</em> their Fated inclinations and <em>that have led to</em> their Fated inclinations.<br /><br />It's a chicken/egg scenario. We fight for what we believe in because it's our nature to do so; but our nature is also built on the beliefs we have chosen. Our nature (Fate) guides us, but our decisions and experiences (Free Will) have been largely responsible for its definition.<br /><br />Which brings me to that Alternate Universe clue I promised earlier! It's too early to say how things are going to pan out with the AU, but how they do will be major evidence in the Fate Vs. Free Will debate. The MIB accused Jacob of subverting our heroes’ Free Will, but the Altered Universe is showing us play by play how our characters lives would have turned out <em>without Jacob's influence</em>. Sometimes the changes seem huge, but other times the more things change, the more they seem to remain the same. Locke setting aside his "faith" may be the biggest character difference yet... but even his story might not yet be complete.<br /><br />Maybe when the Altered Universe meets up with the Original Timeline, it will be as the evidence and answer to what was intrinsically part of these people of their own volition (Free Will), and what precisely was Jacob's and/or The Island's doing (Fate)…<br /><br /><strong>CharacterWatch – Locke:<br /></strong>It was very sad, and very final feeling, to see Locke’s overseas-travelling body finally laid to rest on the same beach we’ve seen so many of our characters buried. But as Locke told Nikki before she and Paulo ended up buried alive in that same spot: “Things don’t stay buried on this Island.” His body may be gone, and this may just be wishful thinking, but I haven’t given up entirely on the John Locke we know and love somehow returning to some form of existence, having his revenge on the MIB, and somehow helping the rest of our heroes save the day. If the MIB yelling “Don’t tell me what I can’t do!” is any indication, there’s still a lot of Locke left in that Smokey-fabricated body. Maybe more than memories… Maybe more than the MIB thinks…<br /><br /><strong><em>And that’s where we are!</em></strong><br /><br /><strong><em></em></strong>Sagacious Penguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02300030494408133540noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8249536.post-24510965460894588222010-02-15T20:56:00.000-08:002010-02-15T20:58:17.243-08:00Star Wars: The Clone Wars - 2.14 - The Duchess of Mandalore<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWLrJnn4c8dbDaE9FM2bjv4_LL5DnuIoVDCZuWH5edOxqWSK6ZHIxgVpdgU1xuZ6T5yBHwr_7iOvW47nt-VgTPWqCSnIhAu2D-bgkj6IW6FCShsICzyNOkD1Lav_YxopEm5deB7w/s1600-h/cw214.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438701138277886802" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 279px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 156px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWLrJnn4c8dbDaE9FM2bjv4_LL5DnuIoVDCZuWH5edOxqWSK6ZHIxgVpdgU1xuZ6T5yBHwr_7iOvW47nt-VgTPWqCSnIhAu2D-bgkj6IW6FCShsICzyNOkD1Lav_YxopEm5deB7w/s400/cw214.jpg" border="0" /></a> <em>Duchess Satine pleads Mandalore's case before the Republic Senate as the usual suspects conspire to silence her once and for all.</em><br /><br />While dabbling in deeper political themes on the Clone Wars is always appreciated, I can’t help but feel they ultimately came across as a muddle in this episode. The beat by beat story is clear enough: Duchess Satine wants Mandalore to solve its own problems. The Senate finds convenient evidence that claims Satine’s government would rather the Republic intervene. Satine finds evidence to the contrary, and the Republic stands down. End of story.<br /><br />So where’s the muddle you ask? Notice how I summed up the story without mentioning the pacifism debate. If the central issues are Republic intervention vs. Mandalore silencing DeathWatch on its own, why is the only thing we hear debated over and over again Satine’s pacifist ways versus the Republic’s military violence? No one bothers to mention how Republic intervention might help DeathWatch until the deceased minister Jerec’s second hologram is played at the end of the episode. Both the Senate and the audience are kept at bay from this important central issue by nothing more than smoke and mirrors. And while these might be appropriate tactics coming from Palpatine, Satine herself is the greatest culprit. The more she continues to criticize the Republic’s methods and purport her own pacifism, the less anyone spends thinking about how sending troops to Mandalore might give DeathWatch a boost in the public opinion polls. In this regard, Satine becomes her own worst enemy – but that’s not what the story is about.<br /><br />Oh but isn’t it, you ask? After all, Obi-wan does accurately point out that she’s rushing into the debate in a hysterical state of mind all while pushing her friends away when she needs them most. So perhaps the story IS that Satine’s stance is flawed and that Obi-wan is a voice of reason – but – oh – wait – no - if Obi-wan’s the voice of reason then why is he arguing that she calm down and make the wrong decision by letting the Republic authorities intervene? So ultimately what we have is this: Satine’s arguing the right thing (Mandalore Helps Itself) poorly by using unrelated ideology (Pacifism) as her trump card while Obi-wan is arguing the wrong thing (Republic Intervention) poorly by using unrelated psychology (You’re Cutting Out Your Friends) as his rationale. So regardless of the merits of pacifism, and regardless of whether Satine is pridefully denying assistance, neither of our heroes is ultimately arguing anything relevant to their problem, and both are completely missing the central matter at hand: that Republic troops arriving on Mandalore will give DeathWatch something to rally against.<br /><br />So while there are some nice little character beats here -- such as Satine learning she can trust Obi-wan’s assistance (even if she can’t trust his opinions), and Obi-wan learning to appreciate Satine’s rigid determination (even if it’s motivated by irrelevant ideology) – these beats are ultimately mismatched to a plot which would have run the same course even if Satine had confided in Obi-wan from the beginning or even if Obi-wan had agreed wholeheartedly with Satine’s pacifist ways. Those things have trouble vying for relevance when the day is actually saved by a holo-recording of a dead guy who points out the actual problem that everyone else has somehow avoided putting into words.<br /><br />So now that I’ve stuck it to this episode hard for its hopeless jumble of messages, themes, arguments, and ideological rhetoric – let me say that if you were able to take a knife to that jumble and pare it down into something more manageable and more relevantly inter-related, you’d actually end up with a damn good episode.<br /><br />Having a guest character play the starring role in an episode is a welcome change, and Duchess Satine made for a likeable lead, despite constantly arguing pacifism even at times when simple logic would suffice. Following her as the Republic and its allies failed her at every turn was affectively frustrating, and even if her survival in the Coruscant streets was a bit too luck-and-convenience-based, once Obi-wan arrived as her protector, the tension amped up considerably and there was more then one sniper-aiming shot when I worried her time may have come. That’s a testament to how strong a character they’ve built with Satine. We lose guest characters very often on this show, and it’s nice to get a solid new reoccurring heroine we can look forward to returning again.<br /><br />And speaking of reoccurring characters, the ensemble of appearances this week was another of this episode’s great strengths. Palpatine was appropriately two-faced. Sidious was appropriately creepy. Dooku got to play both pious servant and wisdom-toting master. Mas Ameda was given form for the first time on The Clone Wars, and given a personality for the first time anywhere. Pre Vizsla had far too little to do, but his outburst to Dooku at the end was powerful and bodes well for his future in this series. And, finally, it was great to see Padme play a relevant role and be a character in her own right apart from Anakin.<br /><br />Rounding out the positive side of things, I have to say that I love Coruscant as an environment. Building off of what we saw in 2.11 (Lightsaber Lost), we’re given more of the planet than ever in this episode and the busy streets, eerie courtyards, and regal cityscapes made for a tense, cool, and realistic sci-fi environment. Major kudos to the Clone Wars team for constantly outdoing themselves in the setting and atmosphere departments.<br /><br />If only the DeathWatch themselves had been given such rigorous attention. My final complaint is not one against this episode in particular, but against this first Mandalore trilogy as a whole. By trilogy’s end, I feel like we know as little about DeathWatch (their character, their values, and their motivations) as we did at the end of its first part. It was tantalizing to see Pre Vizsla standing before so large an Army – and I hope the implications of DeathWatch’s size and reach pay off in future episodes – but for now we’re left wondering where exactly a band of honor-based warriors are meant to belong in this conflict.<br /><div></div><br /><div>I wasn’t particularly impressed by how quickly Vizsla gave up against Obi-wan in 2.12 (The Mandalore Plot) and I’m even less impressed by how quickly the DeathWatch assassin ran from his charge of killing Satine in this week’s installment. By running away from his mission as soon as the going got tough, this so-called warrior became single-handedly responsible for spoiling Dooku and Vizsla’s plan. There was more than enough going on in this episode to cover for DeathWatch’s lack of involvement, but in the future I hope these guys are able to truly rise to the occasion as formidable villains – both by the uniqueness of their motivations as well as by the merit of their actions. No more running, please.</div><br /><div><br /><strong>The Rub:</strong> While I appreciate a lot of what was attempted here -- including both the very real-world Republic intervention debate and the very hard-boiled conspiracy cover-up -- it’s an absolute shame that neither of these plots were capable of being carried through to even a logical conclusion since they ultimately slammed into each other and a deus ex machine ending fell out. Lofty ideas, great ensemble character-work, a brilliant environment, and some truly tense action were marred by the incoherent crisscrossing of incongruous thematic material with disparate character points-of-view. Still, it’s nice to see a depth to the proceedings not even attempted in the first season of the show. <strong><em>3.5 stars.</em></strong> </div><br /><div></div>Sagacious Penguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02300030494408133540noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8249536.post-64623817043626478412010-02-10T18:23:00.000-08:002010-02-11T09:04:57.869-08:00LOST - Where Are We? - 6.03 - What Kate Does<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZytbYRRbXy9kfp7TqmWonK1k1wdJ-nUtVpWZm0PA_Q2P4SEv6tQKIs0uzLvZVunwQPUj10ZzwVlY70hLBqQKq8sW6xRvmjIqN3CKvWTKPthFgetdsd2Hr2OnKK03ztwW7y-pI7Q/s1600-h/lost602.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 279px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 156px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436809685197136930" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZytbYRRbXy9kfp7TqmWonK1k1wdJ-nUtVpWZm0PA_Q2P4SEv6tQKIs0uzLvZVunwQPUj10ZzwVlY70hLBqQKq8sW6xRvmjIqN3CKvWTKPthFgetdsd2Hr2OnKK03ztwW7y-pI7Q/s400/lost602.jpg" /></a>A solid episode with more characterwork in it than action or mystery-busting, but fans crying foul on this one would do well to remember there was a time (yes, even last season) when not every episode had to provide major answers as long as it progressed the story. Yes, this is the final season, but if LOST stopped making room for its elaborate character archs, then it would lose it's identity. Episodes like this (and many more character-centred ones before it) will be thought of more kindly in the time-preserved DVD viewing cavalcade than they are now with everyone clamoring for answers. My stance? You can't do anything about it, so just sit back and enjoy what you're given! Personally, I didn't even notice this was a "slower" episode until I went online afterward and viewer comments informed me that it was. (Of course the ABC marketers aren't doing the writers any favors any by promising globe-shattering answers in ever commercial.) <div><div><div><br /><div></div><br /><div>But what <em>did</em> we learn?</div><br /><div></div><br /><div><strong>The Altered Universe:</strong> We still don't have enough info yet to know where the writers are going with this, so all bets are off. But two varieties of clues appeared this episode that might help us start thinking in the right direction. Like Jack looking in the Flight 815 mirror last week, we were given a few more Recognitions - moments where characters seem to identify with people/things they wouldn't normally had it not been for occurences in the Original Timeline. First, while escaping from the airport in the taxi, Kate's focus lingered just a bit too long on Jack standing in line out the window. And, second, I'll be darned if the name "Aaron" didn't ring a dozen bells in Kate's head when Claire first spat it out. Of course Claire was surprised to have pulled the name out of nowhere as well, but she did this previously back in 1.23 (Exodus, Part I) so perhaps that's just something that can be chalked up to fate. Which brings me to the other clue variety: some things just seem to be destined, no matter what timeline we're in. Claire's destined to decide to keep Aaron as much as Kate's destined to set aside her selfish/criminal tendencies for their well-being. The Island might be on the bottom of the ocean in the Altered Universe, but you know what they say about "the more things change."</div><br /><div></div><br /><div><strong>The Others and Who They Protect:</strong> As I mentioned last week, we'll know what these guys are up to when we understand the full agendas of Jacob and the Man in Black (MIB), but we did get a few more clues to cracking the code of their behavior this week. They may want Resurrected Sayid dead, but they seem pretty hell-bent on protecting the rest of our Temple-visiting heroes. Yeah, the Others are notorious liars, but I fully believed Dogen (the Japanese Temple-master) when he said he wanted to keep Sawyer at the Temple to protect him, and look at how quickly he jumped to protect Jack from the effects of that poison pill. Maybe it's just 'cause their names were on Jacob's note (from Hurley's ankh-filled guitar case), or maybe it's just 'cause they don't want them joining up with the MIB, but Jack and co. are clearly on the 'Good' list at the moment, or at least on the 'Keep Safe Until The Moment We Can Best Use Them" list. This was highlit near the end of the episode when overly-helpful Other Justin shouted "He might be one of them!" in protest to douchebag Other Aldo's attempt to shoot Jin. Someone must have neglected to give Aldo the memo. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div><strong>The Others and The Free Will Factor:</strong> The other major answer-chunks we were given on the Others' methodologies were two examples of their needing our heroes to CHOOSE to do something rather then forcing an outcome on them. Dogen sent Kate after Sawyer because he needed Sawyer to choose to return. Likewise he wanted Jack to offer Sayid the "medicine" because Sayid need to choose to take it. Odd behavior from people who don't need to ask permission to torture someone. The survivors were like insects to these people ("shoot them.") until they found Jacob's note and realized they needed something from them. As soon as the Others need something from someone they have to ask. They don't play nice about it mind you - they're willing to set you up, lie, and use duped intermediaries to request something from you, but the Free Will Factor is somehow important. Part of the oft-mentioned "Rules" perhaps? Certain behaviors of theirs from past seasons follows this line of thinking: In 2.22 (Three Minutes) they couldn't just go free Ben from the Hatch -- they needed Michael to want to go free Ben. And they couldn't just kidnap Jack, Kate, Sawyer, and Hurley this time - they needed Michael to convince them to come of their own free will. In 3.06 (I Do), Ben needed Jack to want to save his life (through spinal surgery). And of course, the big one, in 5.06 (316) Ben and his off-island Others needed the Oceanic 6 to choose to board Ajira Flight 316 - though an intermediary (Illana) was once again needed to trick Sayid into allowing it. Determining why and when this free will necessity rears its head in the Others' actions should prove a significant part of solving their (and Jacob's) agenda - and perhaps even the way the Island itself works.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div><strong>The Island and The Fate Factor:</strong> In what may have been the most important moment of the night, Jack asks Temple-master Dogen how he came to be on the Island, Dogen tells us he was "brought here like everyone else". When Jack asks what he means, Dogen says "You know exactly what I mean." Jack does know exactly what Dogen means. So does Michael. When Mr. Friendly told Michael that the Island wouldn't let him commit suicide in 4.08 (Meet Kevin Johnson) it was because the Island wasn't finished with him yet. We can infer from this that the same Island-hold was on Jack when his suicide attempt was serindipitously thrwarted in 3.22 (Through The Looking Glass)'s first flash-forward. Before this, the Island haunted Jack into a broken man through Hurley's comments, visions of his father -- as seen in 4.10 (Something Nice Back Home) -- and Locke's pleas -- as seen in 5.07 (The Life and Death of Jermey Benthem). The Island doesn't let people go easily, but apparently it selects them from the beginning -- much as Locke argued as early as Season 1. Thanks to 5.16 (The Incident) we know that Jacob touched many of our heroes at various points in their lives. We also know that the MIB accused Jacob of having "brought" the distantly seen pirate ship (presumably the Black Rock) to the Island in the opening of the same episode. So whether it's the Island's doing or Jacob's, our heroes have something in common with all the Others (and apparently "everyone else" on the Island) -- they were brought here. No indiginous inhabitence about it. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div><strong>The Sickness:</strong> This one's exciting. Two mysteries I defined last week -- "The MIB and Possession" and "Sayid's Ressurrection" can now be lumped together under the heading of a very old and early mystery: the Sickness, dating back to 1.09 (Solitary) when Sayid first met Danielle Rousseau who claimed to have shot her fellow French scientist because they got sick. We then got to see this first hand through time-travelling Jin in 5.05 (This Place is Death). It seemed directly associated with the Smoke Monster... but perhaps it wasn't. Yes, we still need the answers to what the Sickness is and where it comes from, but at least we're pulling all these loose threads together finally. Dogen's best explanation of it is that Sayid has been "claimed" - I think it's important to note that he did not use the word "possessed" - there is NOT another entity/being inside Sayid's body (in the same way the MIB is dressed up as Locke), but Sayid is losing his self. Is this the same thing that happened when Richard warned Kate and Sawyer that there would be consequences if the Others healed Little Ben in 5.11 (Whatever Happened, Happened)? I think not. The Others seemed to rate Ben's recovery as a success. Sayid's Ressurrection has clearly been viewed as something entirely different. We did end this topic exploration with one last revelation-bomb, however: Dogen tells us that what's happeing to Sayid -- happened to Claire (referred to as Jack's sister). This is frightening news for our favorite Australian mother, though it does throw the "What Happened to Claire?" mystery neatly into the same pile as the others mentioned above. And some people complain things aren't coming together!</div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div><strong>Miles' Power:</strong> Miles has a very different power than Hurley's. Hurley sees visions; Miles reads minds -- dead minds, mosty -- from which he extracts their final thoughts. But Miles has given us reason to believe his ability can also tap into the minds of the living to some extent in 4.08 (Meet Kevin Johnson) when he told Michael on the Freighter that he knew Michael was lying about his name being Kevin, and that "80% of the people on this boat are lying about something." Maybe he doesn't know what precisely, but he's clearly got connections. So when Miles stares intently at Ressurrected Sayid in this episode with a look of worried consternation, you know something's up with Sayid - and it ain't good. And I'm sure it's no coincidence that the last time we caught Miles staring intently at someone like this was in the side-plot of 4.10 (Something Nice Back Home) when he, Sawyer, and Claire were journeying back to the beach from the destroyed Dharma barracks. Sawyer comedically puts a "restraining order" on Miles when he catches Miles staring at Claire. This is shortly before Miles becomes the only person to have witnessed Claire walk off into the jungle with her ghost-dad, Christian Shepard (The MIB?). Some people actually speculated if Claire were already somehow dead at this point. Now we know she had somehow contracted the Sickness. But Miles knew right away that something was up with then, and Sayid now. Watch for Miles to be an important player in figuring the Sickness out. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div><strong>Jacob's Agenda:</strong> This is a vast mystery topic, of course, but I do want to raise attention to a single curiousity. The Others (Jacob's Followers) clearly want Sayid dead now, but it was under Jacob's orders that Hurley brought Sayid to the Temple in the first place. Were the Others simply too late in helping Sayid, or did Jacob predict, expect, and want Sayid to become "claimed" by the Sickness? Hopefully, we'll know soon. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div><em>That's it for mysteries, but here are a couple "CharacterWatch" items in which I'll track the motivations, behavior, and story-archs of the central characters:</em> </div><br /><div><br /><p><strong>CharacterWatch - Jack:<br /></strong>I wanted to cheer for Jack last night: this is the first time he's stood up and said "NO, I WILL NOT PUT UP WITH YOUR BULLS**T, ISLAND" since he's returned. He took a bullet for Sayid here by refusing to accept Dogen's "medicine" pill and risking his own safety to discover the truth -- and that's the Jack I remember and love from Seasons 1 - 3. Season 4 Jack was unable to look reality in the face and doggedly pushed to get off Island no matter what ugly truths came to surface about their would-be-rescuers from the freighter. Season 5 Jack bitterly realized what a blinded jerkface Season 4 Jack had been and after a lot of drinking and pill-popping set off on a "wherever the wind blows me" faith-in-the-island-centered return. Since then he's been apathetic toward everything (including the wellbeing of his fellow survivors) except the Farday-given, destiny-fulfiling mission to blow up the future in 5.16 (The Incident). But something's changed in our doctor: I think Juliet's death has woken old Jack up again. And, no, he won't lose the component of faith he gained, but nor will he remain the wind-blown apathetic jerkface of yester-season. Welcome back, Jack!<br /></p><br /><p><strong>CharacterWatch - Kate:</strong><br />Kate seems to get a lot of flak from LOST fans. This is probably a combination of two things: Her story-arch often seems removed from the mythology elements of the show, and her flip-flopping of feelings between Jack and Sawyer drives anyone who prefers a single one of those pairings mad. And of course those people drive everyone else mad, so everyone else tires of hearing about the "Love Triangle" plot at all even though it only takes up a small amount of actual screen time in the scheme of the show. Yet other fans go on and on ceaselessly about how selfish she is. It's not that the other characters aren't selfish at times, too, mind you, it's just that they're far better at being "Super Cool" while doing it. </p><br /><p>While Kate's far from my favorite character on the show, I DO enjoy her storyline quite a bit, and don't find it to be as much of a muddle as some who claim there's no rhyme or reason to why she'll favor Sawyer or Jack at any given moment. The answer to this is simple: she favors them both. She loves Jack for the ideals and heroism he embodies; She loves Sawyer because she identifies with him. She shies away from Jack at times because his ideals can be oppressive; and she shies away from Sawyer at times because she doesn't LIKE the part of herself he embodies - the selfish, born to run part. This dynamic is set up very clearly in 2.09 (What Kate Did) and she has followed it very consistantly ever since. </p><br /><p>She constantly goes out of her way to "save" both of the men she loves - an action that never seems to be fully appreciated by either, frustrating her and sending her ping-ponging back and forth between them. Once the abandoned Aaron is dropped in her lap, however, she's given new purpose and refocuses her devotions from the guys to Aaron. But the Island beckons, and she soon realizes her motherood is a lie and devotes herself to rescuing Claire as presented in 5.11 (Whatever Happened, Happened). Sure her feelings for both Jack and Sawyer are still in play when she returns to the Island in Season 5 (such things never go away completely), but her ultimate goal has new definition and displays impressive heroism.<br /><br />Which brings us to Season 6. She's the same Kate -- she's still "born to run," she's nice to Jack, and she once again tries to "save" Sawyer -- but she's also still focused on her central goal of rescuing Claire, and this weeks' outing was named "What Kate Does" for a reason. By episode's end, she made a decision -- a difficult one, and what felt like a very final one: she walked away from Sawyer. After a heartfelt cry for Juliet, for Sawyer, and - yes - for herself. There comes a moment in all impossible relationships (or potential relationships) when you realize that it's finally, truly, completely OVER. There can be no going back. The end of an era has arrived and what remains... is emptiness. Kate breaks down under that reality, but after letting it out, she fills up her canteen, puts her torch for Sawyer to rest, and sets out after Claire, accepting that, as Sawyer said at the dock, "Some people are meant to be alone." The rest of the season may prove me wrong, but I think this episode will prove to be a pretty important climax to Kate's "love triangle" and "attachment" character archs. Hopefully she can find redemption in helping Claire somehow.</p></div><br /><div><em>And that's where we are!</em></div><br /><div></div></div></div></div>Sagacious Penguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02300030494408133540noreply@blogger.com4