LOST Season 4 - Season Finale, Parts 1, 2 & 3

Obviously, there's no recap from part one of the season finale. Reason being: we were flying to Canada when it aired, and were only able to watch it via spotty download from a friendly fan's Torrent. So I really wanted to wait 'til last night to get it in its full HD glory, back to back with the finale it was meant to precede.

And now that that's happened, I'm here to tell you that I won't be posting a synopsis for a few days. This was a FULLY loaded episode, and there is just wayyyyy too much to cover all at once. So I'll probably take it hour by hour over the next couple of weeks. That will also give everyone who actually cares about LOST and what I have to say about it plenty of time to catch up and watch it all before I start posting spoilers about it ("Frozen Donkey Wheel", anyone???) And it's not like we'll have another episode again for a while--Season 5 doesn't kick off until Feb. 2009, barring anymore strikes.

So sit back, relax, allow it all to sink in, and I'll let you know my thoughts (if anyone cares :) soon.

I will say this, though: Holy crap! They finally give us a BOATLOAD of answers, and throw in almost as many questions. But that's LOST for ya. Hopefully the SERIES finale (in 2010) won't be so cryptic.

LOST Epi. 10 - "Cabin Fever" Part 2

Okay, so a few more things, now that the TV is off and I'm less distracted.

Abbaddon showed up tonight, which makes for an interesting twist. Seems everyone knew there was something special about Locke--just had to convince him of it. So now I'm really curious--what is Abbaddon's role in LOST? When we first met him, he was talking to Hurley, post Oceanic 6, and asking, "Are they alive?" or something along that line. We assumed, based on the little we knew about him, that he was on the "wrong" side. After all, he hired Naomi, Daniel, Charlotte, and Frank... I think we can be pretty sure that they really mean no harm. They may have some idea that Keamy and his guys (hired by Widmore) do but to what extent eludes them. I think that Abbaddon is on the same team as Richard Alpert (nice to see him again after such a long time... sorry about your other show not working out and all,) and both are ultimately on "Team Island". Widmore is the "bad guy" and while Ben is no angel, I don't think he poses any further threat to the island itself. Maybe Locke steps into his role, as he was meant to all along... Ben just got there first, but now takes orders from Locke. After all, Locke is turning into a Ben-like person (the whole manipulatory scene with Hurley, anyone?)

I wonder if Ben's "grandmother" was lying when she said she'd never seen "that man" before and didn't know who he was (referring to Richard Alpert.) I wonder if Alpert had anything to do with Emily's "accident". And was he "the father?" I don't know if we'll ever learn the answers to any of those questions... They don't really seem that important in the grand scheme of things, but it is kinda curious to know.

Oh yeah, and I don't understand why Sayid thinks the only way "to keep our people safe is to get them off that island," when Keamy alludes to the fact that he's going to kill each and every one of them... Unless Sayid plans to dispatch Keamy himself.

Also, I'm disappointed in Captain Gault. He was such a hardnose earlier this season. Remember the whole, "Don't trust the captain," and him beating the heck out of that guy who wanted to go for a joy ride? Should have pulled the trigger, dude... Now you're dead. Oh well. Not everyone can be a hero. Let's hope Frank shows some more guts when it matters most.

How are they going to move the island??? The joke on the message boards have been, "via fleet of dolphins..." Riiiiiight. :) Amusing, nonetheless. I'm sure we'll find out next week.

And that concludes the last regular season episode of Season 4! Next week is finale, Part 1, with Parts 2 & 3 on May 29th. Should be good! We'll be in the air when next week's episode airs, but I plan on watching it first thing Friday morning, online! Should be good!

LOST Epi. 10 - "Cabin Fever"

Wow. The beginning of the end begins!

Couple of things:

Been thinking about the smoke monster, and why he didn't "kill" Keamy and his guys. I think he was pissed that he was bothered. Think about it--Ben runs down and calls him out of his "slumber", saying, "Hey! There are guys trying to kill us! Come help!" Begrudgingly, he agrees, but he's not all too happy about it. I mean, look at it, he was zipping through there, all fast and crazy like. Usually, when we see the smoke monster, he creeps in and sneaks up on ya. Not this time. That's why he didn't kill the whole crew (we learned tonight that one did die, but he was alive when they left.) He just flipped them around a bit. At least, that's my idea.

Also, revisiting the whole "Claire" thing. Tonight, we saw her with her father in Jacob's cabin. Uhh.... first of all, Claire, your "Dad" is dead... and you're hanging out with him in a creepy house, waiting for John Locke? Yeah... I think this confirms that there's "something" up with Claire. My guess, as some other have hypothesized---she's dead. Sounded kinda crazy last week, but this week it seems far more than plausible. How else could a mother give up her child to the care of "Sawyer"?? She's not human! :) "He's exactly where he should be." <~ Christian Shepherd. Well, if the psychic was so adament about Claire raising him, and Hurley says that Charlie says, "You're not supposed to raise him," then what the heck is going on??? Why is he with Kate? Is that "exactly where he's supposed to be??" Hmm...

That's all for now. We're keeping an eye on a tornado watch just south of us... If nothing else, we're getting lots of rain right now! My plants will be happy! Hmmm... what's going to happen to my flowers while we're out of town... Guess they're going to Grandma's, too! :)

LOST Season 4, Epi 10 - Something Nice Back Home

Well, I had a lot more to say about this last week. Then the busy weekend came, then I read all of the different analyzes and comments, and the only thing I really have to say about the whole episode is this:

What the heck was up with Kate's voice in the "shower" scene?!

Okay, I know they were trying to trick everyone, and wanted to surprise us with the fact that it was Kate, and not Juliet (or some other random person...) But c'mon... Jack says good morning, and we get a creepy, "good morning yourself" as a response. Maybe it's just me, but she just sounded weird and man-ish... Not sexy and seductive, that's for sure (unless Jack's into men, which has been discussed and debated many times on the message boards.)

At least we know what sets off "Hillbilly beard Jack" from the Season 3 finale. How he got from the courthouse ("Eggtown" epi) to Kate's house, we don't know. But we do know he's following right in his father's footsteps--things don't go smoothly, hit the bottle!

Speaking of Christian Shepherd, dude gets around, huh? He's haunting Jack, cuddling his grandson (before convincing his daughter to leave him on a palm leaf before gallivanting off into the jungle...) And what's going on with Claire? Baby Aaron gets kidnapped almost as often as the smoke monster makes an appearance, and she decides he can hang out on a palm leaf by himself? There are many opinions on what is going on with Claire. Some people thing she didn't survive the explosion at all, that the Claire walking around now is actually an illusion, or the smoke monster (or something else) in Claire form (which would also explain Miles' sudden interest in her and Aaron...) But, I don't think that's the case... I think she just got hit on the head a little too hard. Guess we'll have to wait and see!

Back to Jack. Did anyone else want to slap him silly when he insisted on being awake for his surgery??? Talk about control issues... I'm glad Juliet took control and made Bernard knock him out. But how/why did he get sick in the first place, as Rose pointed out? Well, "Darlton" (Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse) did explain this, briefly, in an interview--basically, the more in tune you are with the island, the less sick you get. Fall out of that communion with the island, and things happen (Ben's tumor, Jack's appendix, etc...) So then I gotta wonder: Why the heck are Keamy and his "boyz" still alive?? Did the smoke monster not feel like going on Mr. Eko on them??? Did he not feel threatened by them as he did by the pilot (from the pilot episode... poor guy lasted 5 minutes awake on the island.) If that's the case, then maybe Smokey would rather they did their job, and get Ben off the island? I don't know, but all I know is I'm disappointed to still see them alive. I hope Keamy gets an awesome death, a la Ben (or Sayid... dude knows how to kill, that's for sure.)

And that's all I've really got for this epi. Not being a guy, I didn't think it was that great (geez, Kate, put some clothes on already... she had one scene, post-island, where she was fully clothed... The other 4 or 5, panty shots all around (or less!) Whatever.) This weeks episode looks like it'll be awesome! Locke centric, going all the way back to his birth, I hear. And, someone we haven't seen in a while will make an appearance (in Locke's past, no less!) Plus, we're headed to the cabin! How can awesomeness not ensue???

Next week: Part 1 of the Season 4 finale! It's a three parter, with parts 2 and 3 taking place May 29th. So two more episodes, one week off, and two-hours to finish off our Losties adventures on the Island, at least for 6 of them. It will be interesting to see what they do next season with the Oceanic 6 off the island, struggling to return, and everyone else still on the island. Good stuff!

LOST Epi. 9 - "The Shape of Things to Come"

Well, we got what we were promised--a whole lot for a whole little. Seriously, was it just me, or were there more commercials than show??? It's supposed to be 41/19, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was more like 33/27... They're milking it for all it's worth.

That being said, great episode! Lots of action, lots of different sides of Ben, lots of questions answered/created... My absolute favorite part was definitely when Smokey showed up (seriously, who didn't love that...) I mean, you knew Ben had "a see-cwet weap-en!" when he told Keamy, "How 'bout you turn around, go back to your helicopter and never come back here again." I don't think he had actually planned on using it until "........he changed the rules..." But man... that was awesome. I'm gonna have to watch that again a few times. :) You don't mess with Ben.

I was a bit disappointed with that whole encounter with Alex, though... We weren't sure if he really cared for Alex as much as we now know he did until this episode. Who knew that he really did love her so much... more than anyone was willing to give him credit for. That's why I was so disappointed with the whole encounter. I expected them to bring her out and for him to say, calmly, "That's not my daughter." But his emotions got the better of him, and by the time he actually started trying to play that card, it was too late, Keamy saw right through it. Did Ben really think he would care that she wasn't actually his birth daughter? The whole point of having a hostage is to play on the emotions of the person you're trying to manipulate. Oh well. Ben's human, we have proof now.

Another "bumming" fact is that we'll never find out (or least, it's unlikely) about the $3.2 million that Miles wanted. Gee, ya think they know he's alive now?? We wanted to know WHY it was $3.2 vs. $3 or $3.5 or $4 million... Kinda a cheap way of getting out of that one, writers.

Now we know why Sayid is working WITH Ben, vs. for him... He practically begged Ben to let him kill a few more for him. And I'm glad to see that Ben has some cred outside of the Island. It would have been kinda dumb for him to be this big baddy on the island, and just some schmuck off. "I'm pretty good with a bo staff" is what I was thinkin' when he was taking those guys down in the desert. Awesome. Ya have to wonder, though... Ben didn't think twice about using that thing (whatever it's called... collapsible club or something? Whatever.) Yet he likes to keep referring to himself as "one of the good guys". So either Widmore is, like, the Lex Luthor of the LOST world, or they're BOTH Lex Luthor's and it's a race to the kryptonite (the Island) FTW! I'm very curious as to why he can't 'kill' Widmore... What are these unspoken rules that they have... And who set them?? Jacob?? I bet Richard Alpert knows!

And finally, can I just say, dang, Baby Aaron, you sure do cry a lot! Seems like that kid is never happy... You'd think he'd be used to all the chaos as someone who "was born on this island." And I'm sorry, Clair should be dead. I mean, her house was shot with a rocket launcher, and she's just "a bit wobbly"??? I guess Jacob/The Island really likes her and doesn't want Mama to kick the bucket yet. (Was kinda funny that the stupid 'red shirts' kept coming out of the house, and getting shot... That had to have been frustrating for Sawyer to watch.)

That is all. Time to read what the 'pros' have to say. :)

Oh no, wait! I forgot. My subconscious decided to continue the episode in my dreams with what it thinks would happen next after Ben, Locke & Hurley go looking for Jacob. Ahem: So they're walking in the woods, and they come upon this control panel of sorts. It has all these different hieroglyphics on each button and of course, they light up... Ben pushes one, and a bright light emerges from the ground, revealing a platform that rises up. On it are two women who look... well... dead... Actually, they kinda look like they belong in "Little Monsters". Have you ever seen that movie?? I have, unfortunately. Anyways, they're pretty messed up looking, kinda like the corpse bride (Tim Burton's, not that I've ever seen that one...) Apparently, one of them was Ben's wife, and the other one? I dunno, her sister, maybe? Yeah, I guess Ben "imprisoned" them because they have greater control over the island. But, they don't appear to know that he was responsible for that, since they're so happy to see him.

And that's all I remember for now. Ben's got an undead wife who lives underground... Yeah, I don't know where these things come from... :)

Yay!

LOST is back! WOO HOO! And at its new time, 10 p.m. Booo... Oh well. I'll take it, since The Office is on at 9. Speaking of, I need to make sure the DVR is programmed... We just lost power for a couple of seconds, so it's resetting itself right now... Hopefully it'll be done before I need to make dinner.

In baby news, baby's been moving around a lot lately! It took a little longer than with Jeremiah, but that's okay! Better late than never. It sure is fun to feel her moving around, though not so much when she decides to kick my bladder... That's NEVER fun (though Jeremy thinks it's funny...)

Next week is a HUGE consignment sale down the street. Like, 100,000's of items... Crazy. I tried volunteering, but the spots I wanted filled up... I was just going to buck up and pay the $5 to shop that weekend, but after talking with my neighbor, I think I may consign a few things. She does it every year and you only need 10 items to consign. They deduct $5 from your total (and keep 50%) but you get to shop a day earlier. I plan on selling all my old maternity clothes that don't fit anymore. They're still in good shape, and I've got a bunch that I'll probably never get to wear again. It's just taking up space in my parents' and my basements, so might as well get rid of it. If I make some money, that's a plus! :) So we'll see how well that works out.

Okay, time to cook.

LOST Epi. 7 - Meet Kevin Johnson

And that's all, folks! See you in April!

Booo... boo for breaks... boo for cliffhangers. The producers were right--last weeks episode would have been a much better ending point before the break. Stupid ABC and their, "Oh we want all of our shows to come back together. So, and it still needs to end during May Sweeps, otherwise we can't charge advertisers as much money as we'd like." STUPID ABC!!!

While this episode answered many questions, especially about Michael and where he's been all this time (Mr. Friendly returns! And guess what--he really IS gay! Wasn't just bein' sweet when he told Kate she wasn't his type last season.) But of course, we're left with a bunch more questions (aren't we always...)

First question is "WHY, SAYID?! WHY DID YOU TURN MICHAEL OVER?!" If only you knew what your future looked like. I half expected the captain to say, "I know." when Sayid spilled the beans. Maybe he still will. Or maybe he doesn't believe Sayid, like, maybe someone "confessed" to doing all that sabotage work after going coo-coo... It's possible. Or maybe the captain's just not surprised. Or something. I'm sure we'll find out after the break.

Second question would be "Who was shooting at Danielle, Alex, and Karl?" At first I thought it was Ben's people, his way of getting rid of those Alex might chose over himself. But I don't think that's the case. I think it's Mr. Frank Lapidus, or at least those he brought to the island for a "quick errand." I don't think that Frank himself, or Daniel for that matter, would actually kill anyone. But Omar was looking pretty gun happy "shooting stuff" in Michael's flashback...

Third question has to do with Naomi and her group for her mission--Daniel, Frank, Charlotte, and possibly Regina. In her flashback, she was dealing with Abbadon, not Widmore, not the captain. And she was told those three would be her team. I believe that while Abbadon has ties to Widmore, maybe even works for him, I think he answers to someone even higher in the food chain. Perhaps he's linked to the Dharma initiative, though if he were, he'd probably know what's going on a bit better (and would know where to find the island.) So there could be 4(5) different factions at work: Widmore, Abbadon/Dharma, Ben & Others, Losties, and the Island itself. I know, that's five, but I don't think the Losties care that much about the island, and can be lumped in with the Others if we're talking about survival . While Widmore is probably motivated by greed, I believe everyone else has a more "spiritual" desire to see the island unscathed. That's my take right now.

I guess we know why Jack didn't jump now--the island wouldn't let him die. No matter how many pills he takes, or drinks he drinks, he can't die, just like Michael couldn't. And based on the short glimpses from the previews, Claire may not be giving Aaron up willingly, so much as Hurley holding him when the decision came to leave the Island. The 6 end up on the chopper, Hurley holding little Aaron, and looks around and says, "uhh.... I'm no father... who wants him?" Will we know what happens to the other Losties after the 6 leave? Or even before? Or will we only see the 6 leave because they were the ones hanging around when the chopper took off? Don't know! Guess we have to wait 'til April to find out.

BOOOOO!

On a side note, did anyone else cringe and yell, "ewwwww!" when Mr. Friendly was getting "friendly" with his "friend"?? Yeah, could have done without that.

Oh, and can I just say that if I were Jack, I'd take up drinking and painkillers, too, based on what we've seen of the freighter folk so far. Especially if they're holding the Losties prisoner, or something, or possible being executed, one by one... Should have listened to Ben.... then again, Ben kinda screwed himself by not being forthright about what was going on. He did it the "Ben way" which just pisses Jack off. Yup, should have listened to Ben.

And I still think it's Michael in the coffin. Supposedly, we find out this season. But we'll have to wait and see for sure.

LOST Epi. 7 - "Ji Yeon"

While this week's installment of LOST provided more answers than last week's "The Other Woman", it was also incredibly frustrating to watch.

Some things that were promised to us before it aired:

~The identity of the Oceanic 6 would be revealed entirely.

~Someone dies (an original 815-er.)

~Michael returns.

Of those three, only the third one really held true to its statement. And even that is up for debate, depending on who you talk to (which, I have a feeling, will be quaffed next week.) Some fans are theorizing that Michael could be playing a grown up Walt. I personally think that's kinda stupid, though it would be an interesting twist. I'm pretty sure they could find another black actor to play a grown up Walt. And I think that whole idea is a bit of a stretch--It's not like the whole time thing is that off, after all.

As for the first two statements, we really didn't get any answers. Confirmed Oceanic 6-ers include Jack, Kate, Sayid, Hurley, and now Sun. A lot of folks think Aaron is the 6th, and after this episode, that seems right.... but it's not 'confirmed', just as it wasn't confirmed that Kate was one of them until "Eggtown". In the season finale last year, only Jack was mentioned. So I think it's still up in the air.

There have been numerous stories posted on spoiler sites that quote reputable sources as saying that Jin is the last of the Oceanic 6. Small problem with that--the date on his tombstone at the end of "Ji Yeon" shows his date of death as September 22, 2004---the date Oceanic 815 crashed. We know he's not dead, so what's up with that???

Few theories:

1) Jin is dead. He died before the Oceanic 6 make it back to the real world, but the date is wrong on his tombstone. Not that that would be difficult to explain away. You think the Losties are going to tell the authorities (whoever they might be) "Oh, he got killed by the smoke monster." or "shot by an Other. They're really scary people...." Then they'd have to explain everyone else's death! "Nikki and Paulo?? Uhhh, we don't really know how they died, we just found them dead, so we buried them. Paralyzing spiders??? We didn't know about those..... whooops...." Yeah... saying he and everyone else (except those mysterious "two" that didn't survive after the crash,) was dead when the plane went down is much easier.

2) Jin is alive and on the island. Some people theorize that everyone on that supposedly perrished on the plane received a tombstone (after all, their families were told they were dead... time to mourn.) But if that's the case, why isn't Sun's information filled in? (That's the '1980' '3' '20' on the left hand side.) So maybe part of the deal for Sun getting off the island was to swear to everyone that those not part of the Oceanic 6 were dead, including her husband, and that they would never be able to return to the Island--NEVER. That would explain her calling out for him while in labor, and also her tears of grief at the gravesite. Some folks say, "Oh, if she knew he were alive, she would never give up hope, and wouldn't be talking like he was dead." I'm not so sure about that... But it could be.....

3) ....Jin is alive and SUN DOESN'T KNOW! We'll find out later this season how the Oceanic 6 are chosen and what deal they make with the devil to get off. So it's possbile that those included in the Oceanic 6 were, maybe, the first chopper ride off the island, and then BOOM, someone bombs it... or something. I dunno how it happens, but we know Hurley feels really guilty about what happened on the island, and needs to "help them". So it's possible that Sun really does believe Jin is dead and just goes along with the tombstone because that's part of the deal.

The whole Jin Flashbacks mixed with Sun's flashforwards thing really bugged me. I knew that's what they were doing (I was reading a chat about the episode while waiting to watch it with Jeremy, so I kinda knew what was going on,) but that doesn't change the fact that it was annoying. And kinda pointless. I guess it was just to remind us what kind of jerk Jin was before the island, so when he forgave Sun for the affair, it would be fresh in our minds that he kinda had it coming.

But I hope they never do that again.

Also, what's up with the way Hurley said, "Gooooood." *wink wink* when he asked Sun if anyone else was coming, and she said no. For a second there, I thought, "Omigosh! It's Sun & Hurley's baby!??! What the heck!??!" Thankfully, I don't think that was the case. Maybe he just didn't want to see the other Oceanic 4, or... something... I really have no idea why he said it that way.

Oh, and where the heck were Sun's parents??? Weren't they the least bit interested that their grandchild was being born?? Or is her father so pissed off about Jin losing the watch that he won't even acknowledge that he has a grandchild?? Just a thought.

Finally, some people have questioned why no one questioned the whole pregnancy thing with Sun. If Jin died the day the plane crashed, than Sun should be further along than she is. I think this argument is kind of a waste of space. She got pregnant shortly after coming to the island. It's not unusual for babies to be born 3 weeks before or 2 weeks after a due date. That's a 5 week window to be wrong. If she conceived, say, the night before their flight, then her due date would only be off a couple of weeks. Not a stretch. Also, she probably went into labor early. It didn't seem like she was packing her bag for the hospital, but for a weekend trip or something. So she probably wasn't expecting to go into labor when she did--it was just a coincidence. That's what I think, at least.

The questions that remain are:

~Is Jin dead or alive? If dead, how? If alive, is he still on the island?

~What was with Hurley's "gooooood"???

~Who's the last of the Oceanic 6???

~What's up with Michael being on the freighter? Is he Ben's mole???

~And finally, how do they make that dharma food last so long??? There's a lot of people on the beach, yet their pantry still seems well stocked...

I'll leave ya with this thought: There's a plane wreck at the bottom of the ocean, with 324 dead bodies in it. If that's not the wreckage from Oceanic 815, who put it there and WHY??? Well, this is an interesting theory from a LOST commentator about exactly why it may not be a staged plane after all...

Okay, theory time. So I don’t believe Ben staged the plane crash, but then again, I don’t think Widmore did it either. And I’m pretty sure Oceanic Airlines can get no good press out of gruesome footage of a body-filled wreckage. So just who DID stage the crash of flight 815?

Answer: No one. The plane really did crash.

This is hard to grasp at first, but the more LOST plays out the more sense it seems to make. I think most of us agree the plane was brought to the island for its own purposes - whatever they might be. On the island virtually anything goes, which is why so many necessary people survived the crash. This is the magic of LOST.

But back in the real world, if we believe in the path of fate, the plane was supposed to crash. The people on board were supposed to die. That event played out, as a matter of the universe course-correcting itself, with the plane even sinking to the bottom of the ocean in the same three parts it broke into when it was torn apart in the air. In that one split second the plane existed in both universes: both the LOST universe, and the normal one.

On island, everyone is given a tabula rasa, or clean slate. See you in another life – and it truly is another life. The island and its inhabitants have their playlists and go through their motions, with the ‘surviving’ members of flight 815 looking on incredulously and playing their parts. Meanwhile, off-island, certain things that were supposed to happen cannot now happen… because the elements necessary to course correction are no longer in that universe. Let’s take Ms. Hawking’s man with the red shoe, for example. If you pushed him out of the way of his construction death, the universe would find a way to kill him tomorrow as a matter of course correction. But if he were suddenly gone from the universe tomorrow – the way flight 815 vanished – the universe would be screwed out of doing that.

I’m not going to beat the Donnie Darko horse again, but I will give it a quick kick. In that movie the universe got all messed up because a plane’s engine fell through a wormhole and existed in two different timelines simultaneously. I propose that flight 815 has done just that. The wreckage exists in the normal world, but it also exists scattered across the beach on LOST island. There’s no way I believe that anyone - Widmore, Ben, Bill Gates, The Wizard of Oz, or Bob the Builder with a giant Australia-sized crane actually went through the trouble of painstakingly recreating that crash site. That IS the crash site, because the plane actually crashed. And I’ll bet one day we’ll hear the black box recording to prove it.

On a final note, I’ll predict that when Frank Lapidus is looking at the decaying body of the ring-less pilot on the news, he’s really looking at a universally-course corrected version of himself in the cockpit of that plane. Because according to fate, he was supposed to be piloting flight 815. According to fate, he’s already dead. Ohhhh……

LOST Epi. 6 - "The Other Woman"

Well, as many of you have probably noticed, this episode was not as awesome as last weeks, but still quite solid. This felt like a "traditional" LOST epi to me--some interesting flashbacks that reveal more about the characters we love/hate, something 'bad' on the horizon, and our Losties must go stop it. More questions answered/asked... The only thing missing was a witty nickname or two from Sawyer, and Ben avoided getting punched for yet another episode! Oh well, can't have it all.

One thing that bugged me about this episode was the inconsistency of Ben's character. Ben has always been pretty even keeled. You expect him to be smoothe, and sinister at the same time. But in Juliet's flashbacks, he was a very different Ben. For the first time, well, if you don't count his flashbacks to his childhood and his daddy issues, we see a side of Ben that makes him "human"--he's vulnerable to another's feelings for him, which doesn't happen AT ALL the rest of the time. The whole 'puppy dog love' he displays is wayyyyy out of character for him.

Maybe there's more behind it than we were given, like, Jacob told him that he was giving Juliet to him or something. That would make the whole "you're mine" thing a little more convincing, instead of just sounding like a spoiled child (which he still would be, regardless, based on his behavior.) I guess he likened it to being told you were going to get your biggest wish for Christmas, but you couldn't have it until your birthday.... or something.

Now, I'm kinda jumping around a bit, but the comment from Harper--"you look like her," was never answered. However, we know that Ben had a little best friend from childhood that is no longer around (as far as we can tell.) Emily? Was that her name? I don't remember, but she gave Ben the two wooden dolls for his birthday, and it was the only gift he ever got. Sometime before the "surge" (supposedly when Ben used that gas against everyone on the Island, as Charlotte mentioned later in the episode,) Emily must have either left the island, or died. I'm guessing she left, because we've never had clues from Ben that there was a sacred place on the island (other than Jacob's cabin) that he had to visit (assuming he loved her as much as the clues allude, he'd probably visit at least once every now and then.) And, Harper spoke of her in the present tense, though it would be more awkward to say, "you look like she did," or something. It's widely assumed that they grow up to be "lovers", maybe even married at some point, but then she disappear. Hopefully they'll go back to that at some point, and close that chapter in Ben's life, once and for all. [I looked it up... her name was Annie.]

On second thought... Looking back at the screencaps, maybe she's referring to Ben's mother (whose name is Emily, so Ben's friend has another name that currently escapes me.) If that is, indeed, the "she" Harper was referring to, that's pretty sick.

Anyways, on to the rest of the episode. I find it curious that Charlotte and Daniel had such a detailed map of the island to use to find "The Tempest." We now know that Charles Whitmore is the "bad guy" trying to find/exploit the island. If he's still in the "finding" stages, how would he have that map already. We know he has the journal from Hanso, but I doubt there'd be a map in there WITH the Dharma stations (I don't doubt the possibility of a map, just a map with stations on it.) Then again, if Whitmore was the Dharma sponsor (an organization we still know zilch about,) then it would make sense that he'd have a map. But then why abandon the Island for all that time? Why not go back sooner? We know Dharma was in place long before he had that journal... Things that make ya go hmmmm.....

Is anyone still clueless as to who Ben's guy on the freighter is??? I love how ABC makes such a big deal about it, when the whole world actually has a pretty good idea already (and has since the Harold Perrineau confirmed being back this season, and we learn that he has his own episode called, "Meet Kevin Johnson." Gee.... I wonder what all those clues could mean?!

And if you haven't yet, watch the LOST mobisodes on ABC's Lost page--they're short epi clips that were made for Verizon V-Cast users. They have some info that helps fill in a few blanks in the series (blanks from previous season--some as early as season one and as recent as last season. Very interesting stuff.)

That's all I've got for this episode for now. There's a lot more, but it'll have to wait til next time--Jeremiah wants to eat! :)

Lost Epi 5- The Constant

Wow. That about sums up this episode! Much better than last week, though very little actually happened. For once, though, we have some answers! And, the best part of the episode: Desmond speaking with Penelope after all these years! I almost cried... almost!

I went into this episode being only slightly spoiled. I had seen the scene where the chopper first lands on the freighter, but if you see that scene by itself, it doesn't really reveal anything. And I heard the podcast that Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse did for the episode, but they also don't really reveal anything.

So here's what we learned:

~We now have a good idea what this "sickness" is that affects Rousseau's (sp? silly french names...) team, when they all go crazy and die. The "antidote" given to Claire in Season 1 wasn't an antidote at all (same thing with Desmond... though what it was, I dunno... maybe the same thing that Juliet "activated" in Claire so she could look like a hero at the end of Season 3.... )

~We now know how Whitmore acquires the journal of "Captain Hanso of the Black Rock". This was used to give coordinates to the ship in the LOST mini-game thingie, "Find815" (if you haven't checked it out yet, go to find815.com. It's kinda old news now, but some neat things in there.) Whitmore knows A LOT more about what's going on than he's letting on. Heck, the whole Dharma thing, everything that the Island is probably connects back to him. I'm sure we'll see more of this in the future.

~We now know exactly how much of an UBER GEEK Daniel is--seriously, the hair, the crazy twitchiness, the nutty theories (that turn out to be true.) He's beginning to reveal exactly why he belongs on this mission to the Island.

~We find out who Minkowski is! And why "he can't come to the phone right now." See what happens when you don't follow orders. Too bad he died....

~We know that Ben's mole is STILL on the boat. When we first learned Mr. Tied Up was Minkowski, I thought maybe he was the mole, and got caught or something. Nope, he's just crazy. But we know that Michael will be back at some point.... hmmm.....

~It's Christmas Eve 2004! Merry Christmas Losties!

~As if we didn't know already, Sayid is a very handy person to know. He's your one stop torturer/soldier/marksman/communications guy/assassin/interrogator/I-know-more-than-you'll-ever-know-I-know guy... If he can cook, too, wow, what a catch, huh ladies? :)

~We learned that C.S. Lewis is still kinda a... well, you fill in the blank... I don't like her, and I have a feeling we'll learn to like her even less as the season goes on.

For those who cry "PARADOX" at the whole time travel thing that's happened, something the writers said they'd avoid (basically, paradox would be like [for those of you who also watch Heroes] Future Hiro coming back in time to warn Peter to save the cheerleader save the world, to save his world... if he's successful, than there's no future Hiro, and no one to go back in time to warn of the future without the cheerleader, and therefore, the future remains unchanged, which means that future Hiro could then exist and..... *PHEW* see what I mean??? Paradox.)

Well, they kinda built a "Plan B" right into the series back when Desmond first started having his "flashes." Remember the woman he was going to buy Penny's ring from? She then took him outside and observed that, "That man is wearing red shoes." (or whatever color they were, I don't remember.) And then said man died? She told Desmond, and I'm paraphrasing, "It doesn't matter how many times you try to change the past... the world has a way of course correcting itself." That's why no matter how many times Desmond told Charlie he would die, he would see yet another way he would die. Meaning, despite the fact that Desmond was able to spare Charlie once, twice, three times, he was still destined to die, and death was going to find him, some way or another.

There weren't many questions raised by this episode, other than those left over from weeks before: who are the freighties, what aren't Dan & C.S. Lewis telling us, who's the mole, etc. I think we'll learn more about the second question next week, it seems, and look for a mole appearance sometime before the break (Episode 8, so three more!!!)

As I said before, I was very pleased with the episode. I didn't think I was going to like it, especially it mostly took place off the Island--and Locke's name wasn't even mentioned!

Oh, and good call, Dan, getting a haircut. Desmond, can we interest you in a trim???

LOST ep. 4--"Eggtown"

This episode bugged me.

There were so many times when I wanted to yell, "What's wrong with you?!" at Kate. The big over-arching question (which I assume will be addressed by the end of the season) is WHY Kate left the island, knowing that she had a jail sentence waiting for her back home?! Another "WWWY???" question--what are you doing to Sawyer?? Poor guy is trying, in his own macho kind of way, to be romantic (boxed wine? lol) to win you, and you keep pushing him away. Oh but you'll go to see him when you, ahem, want some somethin' somethin', and then you kiss him as you tell him you're leaving? I do agree he deserved that slap, (why did you say her being preggers was the worst thing in the world?? Are you stupid or something? Sheesh,) but, I still think she was kinda harsh on him.

A few more "WWWY??" questions. Why so adament about keeping Aaron out of the court room (besides the fact that he's really young... but she was putting her foot down on that one. If it meant never seeing him again vs. chance at freedom, wouldn't it have been kinda worth it?) Why'd you cut Jack off during his testimony (besides the fact that it was a string of lies...??) Why'd you freak at the mention of 15 years jail (she was going to face 20 on each count before... 15 seems pretty good. Of course, 10 years probabtion is even better.) Why wouldn't you let your Mom see her Grandson in exchange for not testifying (I admit, it's kinda a messed up way how that came about, and I'd be pissed at my Mom, too, for calling the cops on me, and starting this whole mess... But c'mon... How many years have passed. Gal can hold a grudge. Guess she gets it from her Mom.) My final question for Kate is, "Why are you raising Aaron??" Now, I knew that he was the "he" she referred to at the end of last season (though I didn't know then,) but I still don't know why. Oh, and Jeremiah has the same shirt that Aaron was wearing when she woke him up from his nap (only Jeremiah's is long sleeved.)

Anyways, enough about Kate. Anyone else thought it was funny that Ben got to Locke again (and Locke reacts in the exact same way as before--smash food on wall! Smash bowl on floor! Locke smash!) I liked the whole grenade in the mouth thing for Miles. 'Bout time someone shut him up... he's so annoying. And poor Hurley keeps getting played by people. "You totally just scooby-doo'd me there." lol I love Hurley.

Back on the beach, we've got Jin & Sun trying to pick their future home. I don't know why she'd want to go back to Korea. I mean, I know she wanted to leave Jin, and that's the reason for almost moving to the States, but if they haven't yet, Jin & Sun need to have a little heart to heart and come clean about themselves. Sun is responsible for Jin's crappy job because his "mother" threatened to tell the world that Sun married the son of a fisherman and a prostitute. Jin never wanted that life for them, but because Sun needed to pay this woman off, that's the life they had to live. I don't think any of the affairs or anything would have happened if she had not done that. So yeah, they need to get all that stuff on the table and realize that her father is not interested in her happiness--he didn't approve of the marriage to begin with, and I don't think that will be any different when they return. So move to the states, kids! Sheesh.

BTW, I think it's Sun & Jin who get off as the last two Oceanic 6--I don't think Aaron counts, because he wasn't a ticketed passenger on the flight when it crashed. And I definitely don't think he'd count if the world believes he's Kate's son. Plus, they're the only other two that were on the plane that have featured episodes. Each of the Oceanic 6 we know of so far have had character centric episodes--Jack, end of last season, Hurley, ep 1, Sayid, ep 3, and now Kate, ep 4 (her appearance last year was a cameo, they never came out and said, "Kate is one of the Oceanic 6" until this "Eggtown" episode. So yeah, that's what I think. We'll see, I guess.

Oh, and any guesses on what happens to Sun's baby?? If they get off the island, will she be spared death? I'm thinking something will happen... I don't think it will be a happy ending for ANYONE who gets off the island, Sun & Jin included. So I think something will happen, either the baby will not survive, or she'll miscarry once she's off the island, or something. I guess we'll have to wait and see...

And that's 'bout all I have to say. I don't know what the whole card game with Dan & C.S. Lewis was. I don't know what's going on with the chopper. (I think they might be transported somewhere else, like, I dunno, Tunisia?? :) We'll find out next week!

LOST

Too funny. Make sure to let the whole thing load before watching!

Lost takes a dramatic turn... (Sorry for the auto-play... don't know how to turn that off...)

Okay, I took the player off because the auto-play was driving me crazy. So just click on the link above if you haven't seen it yet.

Sorry 'bout that!

Nothing good can come of this...

...except for filling the networks' pocketbooks.

In an interesting twist in the writer's strike-starved season of new shows, NBC and CBS have decided to take matters north--as in Canada.

That's right folks, both networks will be importing new scripted shows from the land of Cannucks, since all of our writers can't work until a deal is made. (BTW, any rumblings we heard earlier in the week about a possible end doesn't seem to have come to frutition... Oh well.) These shows won't actually hit the air for a while still, probably just in time for fall sweeps.

Considering all we have to look forward to at the moment is more reality tv, I guess this would be a nice change. Even if the writers' strike resolves itself soon, that's only a couple of months for studios to get some scripts written and filmed before a rumored SAG strike (for the same reasons, too...)

At least we've got 7 more episodes of LOST. And then, that's it. (BTW, I thought LOST last night was very interesting... Couple of observations:
~Jack's father, Christian, in Jacob's chair when Hurley looks in the cabin. That eye, though... who knows. Some people thinks that the 'real' Jacob, but is Jacob even real? Or is he just the "physical" manifestation of the island itself. Hmmm...
~I guarantee you that when Naomi said, "Tell my sister I love her," it was some kind of code... Why would she cover for the Losties?? What would she have to gain from that? Though I'm not sure why she felt the need to hide that info in front of Kate...
~What happens in Locke's camp that makes Hurley wish he'd gone with Jack??
~That Matthew Abbadon guy who visits Hurley in the hospital was creeeeeepy.... Is he the smoke monster? I don't think so, I think he's one of the peeps that knows what the island really is. I have a feeling that Hurley and the rest of the Oceanic 6 made some kind of deal to get off the island, and the rest of the Losties are paying the price. And if you want to know who those 6 are, highlight the following: Kate, Jack, Hurley, Jin, Sun, Sayid [and Aaron, but he wasn't officially on the plane when it went down. This is the "he" Kate is referring to when she met up with Jack at the end of season 3.]

That's enough for now. Overall, I'm glad LOST is back, but I don't miss all the questions each episode tends to add every week. Oh well. At least we know in 47 more episodes, we'll have all the answers we want. Though I can't picture what the final ep. would be like. How do you end a series like Lost??? It isn't with everyone getting off the island--sounds like it may be more like thos 6 going back somehow...

Okay, I'm done. More to come down the road...

LOST STARTS AGAIN TONIGHT!!!

So, I really need to put Jeremiah down for his nap, but I wanted to let everyone know, in case you're living in a cave or something (at which point this won't really matter) that LOST is on at 8 pm EST TONIGHT!

It's a special two hour premeire, which is nice, since it's been like, I dunno, years! it seems, since the last season. And then it'll be on Thursday nights at 9 from here on out. Good stuff!

Unfortunately, because of the strike, they've only got 8 episodes (maybe 10... can't remember exactly,) of the 16 episodes for the season filmed and ready to go. If the strike ends tomorrow, as some are speculating, then we'd probably only have to wait maybe a couple of weeks, a month at the most, at the end of what's been filmed for the rest of the season to start up again. But as it stands right now, we're going to be left with a MAJOR cliffhanger in 8 weeks that will probably be worse than those left with the season finale from last year (did ya watch last night's re-run? Had some cute comments at the bottom of the screen... Good stuff, good stuff.)

If you haven't yet, you can also participate in the find815.com viral campaign. It's pretty cool, you're basically helping this guy try to find his girlfriend, who was aboard the flight, and you have to help him find clues along the way. Very interesting stuff.

Okay, time for Jemiah to sleep.