Wednesday, November 23, 2005

S2Ep8: Collision (Ana Lucia's flashback) - 11/23/05

Hello everyone -

There was something I wanted to say in last week's write-up but I forgot, so I'll say it now... someone on the boards pointed out how there was only a one week span of time between Boone dying and the present episode, which really put it all in perspective. A heck of a lot has happened in the past week on the island!

Now, on to Collision.

While I thought this was a great episode, there wasn't really a lot of new"theory fodder" in it, so that, combined with the fact that I think I have the bird flu, will make this write-up a short one. You can blame any incoherent ramblings on the Sudafed Severe Cold.

ANA LUCIA
Our hunch was right, she was a cop and also was pregnant, explaining her weird reaction to the question about kids in the last episode. And her mom was her boss. I don't think anyone is sure if she and "Danny" were married or not, however.

And we still don't know why she was in Australia, or how much time passed between this flashback and the flight, thus guaranteeing another AL flashback at some point. I'm not sure if I'm happy about that. I would guess that she did end up losing her badge because she said to Sayid, "I am a cop. I WAS a cop."

While she's not annoying me quite as much anymore, she's clearly still unstable. I was happy that Bernard and Libby finally stood up to her and left. I am actually surprised that Bernard waited that long?!!? It will be interesting to see the other Lostaways' reactions to AL once they are all at camp together and find out exactly what happened. I thought the interaction
with Sayid was extremely interesting - they actually do have a lot in common. They both feel that they are "already dead" and "better off alone." I don't think we've seen the last of their conflict.

Some people noticed that the guy that shot AL was picked up in "Echo Park," and wondered if that was meant to be a connection to Eko. Not sure about that one.

Everyone thought the final scene with Jack and Ana Lucia standing at opposite ends of the screen from each other was cool.

But I don't care, I just do NOT see any "connection" (to use a term from The Bachelor) between Jack and Ana Lucia developing - it seems like that would be really forced. Even when they had their little flirting scene in the airport prior to the flight, I thought it seemed fake. Time will tell.

WILL SAYID TELL MICHAEL ABOUT THE CreepyDrownedWalt SIGHTING?
SAYID: Who is that woman?
MICHAEL: Her name is Ana-Lucia. She was on the plane -- tail section -- they all were. We were bringing them back.
SAYID: Where is Walt?
MICHAEL: They took him -- the others.
SAYID: What do you mean they took him?
MICHAEL: From the raft -- the night we left.

So why didn't Sayid say that he *just* saw Walt a few seconds ago? Probably because he was still doubting what he had seen, or he knew that Michael would go berzerker. I think it was a smart move. It will be interesting if he tells him later, after everyone calms down, or if Walt ever appears again in that way.

EKO THINKS: WHY DIDN'T *I* CRASH ON THIS SIDE OF THE ISLAND?
So we all know what a rough 48 days Eko has had on the island, and now he is carrying Sawyer through the jungle on his back, after another member of his group was just taken by the Others and then another member of his group killed an innocent person. And who does he stumble upon in the jungle? Oh, that would be Jack and Kate, playing GOLF. Classic.

LOCKE'S CROSSWORD PUZZLE
Right before Jack, Kate and Eko enter the hatch with Sawyer, Locke is shown completing a crossword puzzle. According to the transcripts, here's what was important to notice: [Locke in the hatch doing a crossword puzzle. The clue he's looking at is 42 down: Enkidu's friend. Locke fills in Gilgamesh. Jack and Kate enter.]

Ah, the Epic of Gilgamesh, supposedly "the oldest story." It brings me back to the University of Michigan circa 1992, freshman year, chillin' in the MLB (Modern Languages Building) for my "Great Books" class. Do I remember the book? Uh, I can barely remember yesterday. But after reading a quick recap, it came back to me. If you are interested, read the Cliff Notes version here:
http://myths.allinfoabout.com/feature7.html

And on that note, some people feel that the writers of Lost are throwing in all of these literary references (there have been at least 6 throughout the series so far) for no other reason than their own personal quest to make America more well-read. Bravo, I say!

LOCKE, MEET EKO. EKO, MEET LOCKE
Drumroll, please...
LOCKE: Hello.
EKO: Hello.
Hurray! I was screaming out loud, I loved that scene. So simple and yet so powerful because they both rock the house. I cannot wait for them to talk further - but already it seems that they are on the same page.

BRING ON THE TEARS
Imagine this scene: I stand in the kitchen of my childhood home in Michigan, peeling apples for the only thing I know how to cook - apple crisp. It is Thanksgiving morning. I did not get to watch Lost the night before, we arrived back in Michigan too late. I slowly peel the apples while watching Lost across the room. My mom makes small talk behind me and my dad continues to ask me questions now and then until finally I break and half-shout 'PLEASE! This is my favorite show!!!!! I just want to watch it!!!!!' They know about my little write-up hobby and distribution list, so they comply. And then, the 'reunion scene' starts rolling. I slowly put down the apple, the tears start streaming. I put down the knife, and walk away from the kitchen after grabbing several kleenex and then settle into the couch in the family room. I SOB and I sob and I sob. My parents come in and out of the room and they realize the extent of my addiction. They are scared for me.

I think I cried hardest at the Michael and Vincent reunion, even above Sun/Jin and Bernard/Rose. That's because I'm a sucker for dogs, as you already know. But I thought the scene was incredible, and they always play just the right music. Speaking of which, I am currently sitting here watching old episodes that I'm taping off of Tivo (yeah, you owe me JC) and I still can't get over how incredible the music on this show is. I was going to add the soundtrack to my Christmas List, but guess what, it doesn't appear that they have one?!?!?! Hello, missed marketing opportunity!!! Good lord, they're selling everything else imaginable related to the show, and they don't have a soundtrack??? If someone finds out differently, please let me know.

BEST LINES OF THE EPISODE
I repeat:
LOCKE: Hello.
EKO: Hello.

After Kate succeeds in getting Sawyer to swallow the pill:
JACK: Nice job. I never learned the whole whisper-in-the-ear thing in med school.

JACK: Shannon's dead! I'm not... [to Eko] You're going to take me back out there, right now.
LOCKE: This man isn't the problem. He brought Sawyer back.
JACK: Half-dead with a bullet hole in his shoulder, John. [to Eko] Are you going to talk to me or are you just going to sit there?
EKO: Anything I say will only make you angry. So, yes, I will sit here.

UPCOMING EPISODES
Brace yourselves. I have not one, but TWO upsetting things to report, are you ready?
1) The next episode is Kate-centric yet again. Entitled "What Kate Did," which should be self-explanatory. I must admit that I don't have nearly the intensity of Kate Hate that I had last season, and I am really curious to know why the Marshal was following her all those years and why her mom was so terrified of her, etc., etc. It better not be something lame, so help me God!!!!! Keep your eyes peeled during the episode. That's a hint.

Here's something else wacky - the Canucks got a DIFFERENT preview than we did! This often is the case, actually, but this time they got a much better preview. While ours was filled with Kate, the Canadian preview for this week's episode showed Locke and Eko watching the Orientation tape and the infamous doomsday counter hitting zero...!!!
2) Here's the most disturbing information I have for you. After this week's episode, Lost is ON HIATUS again until mid-January?!?! Are they trying to KILL ME? I already get depressed enough as it is in the winter. It's just rude. The episode that they will return with in January is being closely guarded. Even though I'm avoiding spoilers, I unfortunately read about two different things it could be about, both of which I think are plausible. It will be interesting to see if they give us previews for it or not. That episode will air January 11th. Sigh.

STALKERS: APPLY HERE
A big, belated thanks to MB for trying to stalk the cast of Lost for me while she was recently home in Hawaii. She even carried around her "Free Walt" t-shirt from my premiere party for someone to sign, but alas, the cast was elusive. Maybe next time, right?

LOST IN LOVE
Shout-out to newlyweds KA and BR. They met at the University of Michigan (participants in the Dharma Initiative, no doubt), and my sources tell me that Lost was even mentioned during Maid of Honor EA's toast! Here's to a long and happy marriage, filled with many more seasons of Lost! Congrats!

Until next time,
- e

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

S2Ep7: The Other 48 Days - 11/16/05

Hello my dear friends -

Oh, Mommy!
The Tailaways' story was filled with many clues for us to contemplate. I have limited time and the Thanksgiving drive home is a-callin', so I will get going, but I will forewarn you that this will not be well-written!

THE TAILAWAYS
Many people made comments on the opening scene of the beach with the airplane parts crashing into the ocean, my favorite being: "When last night's episode began I thought I was watching a dumb Corona Extra Beer commercial, but then the tail flew out of the air so silently. Man, I almost fell off the couch."

It is now obvious that different parts of the island are encountering different freaky things... the original Lostaways had the polar bear and the monster... and while they also had Ethan, they have never encountered an entire GROUP of The Others. Nor did The Others cold bust into their camp and just take people. And we're still not even sure what Ethan's deal was anyway. The Tailaways didn't seem to have any strange animals or the monster at all, but were obviously targeted by The Others from the very beginning.

MORE ON THE OTHERS
First and most importantly, what's up with the cut-off khakis and bare feet? Shout-out to CWM who commented to me that they looked like evil Hobbits. My first thought was that they were rejects from old Gap commercials gone awry. But then they couldn't have been from the Gap, because Ana Lucia later mentioned that none of their clothing had any labels. Why did The Others have so much interaction with this side of the island? As Anna Lucia pointed out to The Others' mole, Goodwin: he emerged from the island shortly after the crash - so either 1) he was very close by already, 2) he KNEW the crash was going to happen, or 3) he can run or teleport around really quickly. Since he was not in the typical "Others outfit" as discussed above, and was obviously trying to look like he was blending in, it leads me to believe he knew the crash was going to happen... Apparently The Others made a list of the people to kidnap, and Goodwin
alluded to the fact that the list contained the names of the "good people," and that the kids taken were safe and were "better off now." The question here is - did they have the list BEFORE the plane crash, or did they make the list based on Goodwin's observations, or were they given the list by someone else who they take orders from?

And if The Others DID know that the crash was going to happen and had the
list beforehand, were the people seated on the plane according to some
"plan" ... to put the majority of the "good people" in the back of the
plane? Is that why The Others have concentrated on the Tailaways rather
than the original group? Or did they just focus on that group randomly
because they were logistically/physically closer to them and from there
tried to kidnap the "good people."

And if people WERE somehow seated on the plane according to some "plan," then does that mean that everyone in the original group was "bad"? We know they ALL have issues! Technically Bernard should have been in the original group but got up to go to the bathroom. Charlie wasn't where he was supposed to be, either. Was Walt the only "good person" and that's why he was taken? Did Ethan/The Others originally want Claire's baby because they assumed a child would be "good," but then let her go because they did some sort of tests on it and found out it was going to be the Antichrist and therefore didn't fit their profile?

And if people WERE seated on the plane in a certain way, then was the crash itself somehow orchestrated? Or do crashes always happen (planes, boats, ships, etc.) over the course of time because of the island's magnetic field, and The Others have developed a plan of how to react and kidnap the people they want as soon as the crash occurs?

On to Goodwin himself - Goodwin had mentioned that he was in the Peace Corps, and was surprised that Ana knew what that was. Was that just a cover-up story, or at some point was he really in the Peace Corps? I doubt he learned his neck-snapping skills from the Peace Corps... And by the way, we know that Goodwin remains dead, as his was the body that Jin and Eko ran into in the jungle in "...And Found." Some people in Season One always wondered if perhaps Ethan wasn't really dead or would reappear. It appears Goodwin won't.

The knife they found on The Other Girl Ana killed with a stone was a very old U.S. Army knife. Was this all a secret government operation gone wrong? And that girl died pretty quickly, considering the seemingly super-human-strength of all of the other Others we've seen so far, it seemed.

And finally, when they thought Nathan was the mole, and he mentioned he was from Canada, I immediately thought of the connection to Ethan (even similarly named) who also claimed to be from Canada. Some people wonder if Goodwin passed on Nathan's information to Ethan so that Ethan would have a back story if he was ever asked. So many questions.

HATCH LITE
So we got a little bit more information about Hatch #2. We now know that this hatch door also said Quarantine on the inside. But unlike Desmond, whoever used to inhabit this hatch was long gone. The Dharma symbol had an arrow pointing up (not a cross like I thought before). There was a random chest left in the hatch, in which they found: a Bible, blankets, a glass eye (WTF???), and a radio. I don't even know what to say about the glass eye, except that it freaks me out. Ideas?

MR. EKO - EX-MUTE DUDE
I do not consider this a spoiler, so I hope no one gets mad at me for saying this, but the writers have stated that the crazy stick thing that Mr. Eko was carving is a "big clue." I have watched and watched and rewatched the clip of him carving it and carving something into it, but I can't figure it out. At first I thought he was carving in a notch for each day on the island, and that we would realize from that that they are in a time warp or something. But it didn't look to me like he was creating notches, so if anyone can think of anything, please let me know.

At first I just assumed that Mr. Eko was on the list of "good people" and that the Others were trying to abduct him, but now I am not really sure. If he was on the list, then he mostly likely killed the two Others who were trying to kidnap him. But perhaps he was not on the list, and saw the Others trying to take different people and killed them for that reason. I didn't think it was totally clear, although Goodwin did casually mention to Anna that Eko was one of the people that they tried to take because they were taking the "strong, athletic, threats." But at the point when he said that, she hadn't blown his cover yet... so I think the "good people" reason is the real one. As in, they're taking "good people," not necessarily who is a physical threat.

So now ponder THIS... If Eko WAS on the "good person" list, but now he has killed two Others, is he still considered a good person? A few write-ups ago I asked everyone if anyone had an idea as to what Mr. Eko could have meant when Jin asked him if he was married, and he replied, "Worse." The prevailing theory on the boards is that he had several wives, a common practice in many countries in Africa. But no one is sure. Finally, Eko chose to stop speaking for 40 days after the Others attacked. Beforehand he made comments about praying, and he seemed interested in the Bible found in the hatch. He is definitely a religious person, and the "40 days" has too many biblical allusions to cover here. Needless to say, I hope he has a flashback some time soon!

NOT REALLY MUTE CHICK (aka Cindy)
We've seen her before - in the pilot episode of the entire series - she was the stewardess who served Jack a drink. That explains why she knew that they were 1,000 miles off course. I'm mad that we didn't see how she was taken in the jungle!

ANA LUCIA - PARTIALLY REDEEMED
I must confess I don't hate her as much now. She stepped up as a leader of the group and had everyone reason to be suspicious. Plus, she saved them from Goodwin and also saved Bernard from the tree. Most people think that she probably does/did have kids based on her weird reaction to Goodwin's question about it.

Most people also suspect that she has a military or police background from her observation skills and other general tactics she uses. Some are wondering if the girl Other that Ana killed was Alex, Danielle's daughter. I highly doubt it. If Alex is still alive, they would build some storyline there.

THE THINGS WE ALL KNEW WOULD HAPPEN YET WERE STILL COOL TO SEE
- The Boone/Bernard brief radio conversation ("We're the survivors of Flight 815!" "No... WE'RE the survivors of Flight 815!)
- The teddy bear's original owner
- Goodwin's death (since we saw him in "...And Found" and all assumed The Others killed him).

TONIGHT'S EPISODE: COLLISION
Reunited, and it feels so gooood! I can't wait. But if AL hurts Sayid, she's back on my sh!t list. Guess whose flashback it is?

IN THE SPIRIT OF THE SEASON
I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday... I am definitely thankful to have you all as an audience for my ramblings! Be safe in your travels and have some mashed potatoes and gravy for me at your respective feasts.

And of course, enjoy the show whenever you watch it tonight or on tape/Tivo later... you know I will still be watching tonight!

- e

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

S2Ep6: Abandoned (Shannon's flashback) - 11/9/05

Hello my dear friends –

I begin writing this message from my second home - the floor outside gate D4 in LaGuardia airport. It is yet another week of being beat down by The Man, and so I fear that this write-up will not be too good because I got about 4 hours of sleep last night and now only have my flight duration to crank this out - so set expectations LOW.

On a side note, last night I was walking through Times Square after watching a random Garth Brooks performance (for the CMA awards) in the middle of the street, and I noticed this huge video billboard for Lost above the ABC studios. It didn't play the preview for this week's episode but rather it was just an overall commercial to "Watch Lost on Wednesdays" and it had a whole bunch of clips from the season, so it was very cool for me to see it beaming down upon the Square in all its glory. Just imagine a several-stories-high Sawyer walking in slow motion, slipping to a several-stories-high Jack creeping through the hatch, etc., etc., and you can imagine my excitement.

Now, on to Abandoned. Everyone on the boards seemed to really love this episode. I thought it was just OK. I think unfortunately I had been inadvertently spoiled and figured it would be Shannon who bit the bullet, so it was anti-climatic for me. Why? Oh, perhaps it was my Us Weekly cover a few weeks ago with a "WHO WILL DIE?" caption in the upper right-hand orner
over Shannon’s picture. Or perhaps it was the fact that LAST SEASON there were already unavoidable rumors circulating that a character would die in the fall and it would be a woman. Then I somehow read accidentally that the character would die at the hands of another. So… seeing as how basically no other women besides the Tailaways were shown this episode, and I knew they weren’t going to kill them off yet, I put all this info together and figured it would definitely be Shannon. For one brief moment at 8:53 PM I thought, "Mon Dieu! Have they actually thrown us off the scent and will kill Sawyer???!?!?!" But no, thankfully they were not that stupid. I still think they were stupid, but I will cover that in just a second. Here are
observations from this episode:

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
There was No Kate this episode. Just wanted to make sure you all realized that. Someone out there’s listening…

INTERTWINED LIVES YET AGAIN
I had mentioned in the season 2 premiere write-up that the patient who died when Jack chose to save Sarah (his future wife) was most likely Shannon’s father, as they shared the same last name (Rutherford). That was confirmed this episode as we saw Jack/Party of Five’s Charlie scurry by when Shannon and her stepmother were given the bad news at St. Sebastian’s hospital. The Major Reason why they were stupid and shortsighted to kill off Shannon is that I feel they could have had a very powerful storyline if Jack had actually learned how his choices ended up affecting Shannon’s life. He consciously chose to save Sarah (the driver of the SUV who crashed into Shannon’s father) over Shannon’s father. Shannon in turn goes from a pampered lifestyle to losing out on the prestigious internship she earned to scamming boyfriends across the world, including Boone, for cash. Perhaps it would’ve taken Jack’s God Complex down a notch to learn this. Alas, we will never know now.

Shout-out to JB for doing a mini-research project on St. Sebastian (of St. Sebastian’s hospital, where Jack worked and Shannon’s father died), who was apparently the Saint associated with helping cure people with bizarre diseases including the plague. This information of course brings to mind "the sickness" and makes me wonder if somehow Jack will be involved in finding the cure to that on the island. Another shout-out to CM who is on the plane (we’re now in flight) a few rows behind me…, just for enduring the same crazy schedule that I have this week.

HORROR MOVIE RULE #1 APPARENTLY ALSO APPLIES TO TV DRAMAS ABOUT FREAKY ISLANDS
The first character to "do the deed" must die. Shannon and Sayid, I hope your Tent Love was worth it…

THE TAILIES/TAILAWAYS
I was glad that Michael finally demanded some answers from the Tailies as to why they are so freaky and paranoid (although I actually don’t understand why the original Lostaways aren’t the same way… I think enough crap has happened to them, as well…). They are definitely setting up Ana Lucia to be more sympathetic between her speech in the jungle, comments like "They took a lot of things" in reference to The Others, and what will undoubtedly be an intense episode tonight. However, the whole killing Shannon thing probably isn’t going to help… But for now we do know that the Tailies have had much more "interaction" with The Others than the original Lostaways have, and for the most part seemed to have had an exponentially worse plight in the past 48 days.

MORE RELIGIOUS UNDERTONES
While "swaddling" babies has become a pretty mainstream technique (if I know about it and I don’t have any kids, then trust me, it’s mainstream) – many people on the boards interpreted Locke "swaddling" baby Aaron as a subtle reference to baby Jesus, often associated with the phrase "Mary wrapped him in swaddling clothes." Additionally, there has always been a prominent theory about Aaron being some sort of Messiah or the opposite, an Anti-Christ.

Then of course we’ve got the good ol’ Virgin Mary Statue O’ Drugs being referenced again. I was hoping that Locke would completely call Charlie out during their discussion, but I actually like the way he approached it better:
CHARLIE: She's got a bit to learn about being a mum -- responsibility and all.
LOCKE: Hmmm, now that's an interesting thing to say -- for a hero!n addict.
CHARLIE: Recovering addict.
LOCKE, with a skeptical, knowing look: Recovering.

MUTE CHICK SPEAKS! BUT THEN DISAPPEARS.
So "Cindy" had a line this episode, so I don’t need to feel bad about making fun of her if she actually couldn’t talk. However, then she vanished. I read on the boards something about Libby taking a bag of Cindy’s BEFORE she disappeared, thus leading to tons of speculation about if Libby is an "Ethan-like" plant in the Tailaway group. Unfortunately I have not been home since the episode last week so I have not been able to analyze this via Tivo, so I cannot take a position one way or the other. I think that if we see Libby in tonight’s episode, then she’s most likely not a plant. Additionally, she urgently asked, "Did you see the kids???" to Mr. Eko when he returned to the group and stated that he had seen The Others, leading me to believe she truly is concerned. Finally, since Mr. Eko was definitely in the previews for tonight’s episode, he most likely was also on the plane. But I guess we shall soon see. I just hope they don’t forget about the fact that Cindy just disappeared into thin air.

THE WHISPERS
In this episode, two sets of people heard the whispers – both the Tailaways/Three Amigos and Sayid and Shannon. Since we now know that they were in the same vicinity as each other, there are a few theories: 1) they were hearing the same thing, and it was signaling the approach of The Others, 2) certain areas of the jungle seems to be more whisper-prone than others (perhaps another experiment station is nearby), or 3) the whispers are actually other nearby voices being scrambled. So what the Tailies were hearing was actually Sayid and Shannon’s conversation, and vice versa. This could be explained once again by something having to do with the experiment.

THE RETURN OF CreepyDrownedWalt
D@mmit, he’s back, and I’m still disturbed. People made obvious note of the fact that he once again appeared to be either dripping wet with water coming out of his mouth when he spoke, or he was covered in some sort of nasty mucus-type stuff. As I mentioned when he appeared in a previous episode, there are all sorts of theories about if he is actually already dead/drowned, if he is actually on the island, if The Others still have him or if he escaped, if he is doing astral projection/teleporting, or something else. But two things were made clear this episode:
1) It was NOT in Shannon’s head, and it was not only Shannon who had some sort of "powers" to be able to see him. There had been a theory that Shannon had a special power so that she was the only one who could see Walt, but now Sayid clearly saw him as well (although there is the theory that Sayid saw something/someone ELSE and was just too stunned to clarify to Shannon what/who he was seeing. Shannon only said "Do you see HIM?" She didn’t specifically say "Walt" until she was already up and running). People are rooting for a replay of those last few minutes from Sayid’s point of view so we can see what he saw.
2) Even if Walt has mastered astral projection, he has not mastered talking/communication during it, as he was still speaking backwards. This time he said, "They’re coming and they’re close." No, I do not have the ability to play the show backwards, nor does Tivo (to my knowledge), but other nerds on the boards do and they had posted the "translation" nearly immediately after it aired.

R.I.P. SHANNON RUTHERFORD
Ah, Shannon. How little we truly knew thee. You brought us lots of skin and snotty expressions; you came up with the infamous "Craphole Island" and "R@pe Caves" monikers; you helped translate the French transmission as well as Danielle’s maps, you were entrusted to watch poor Vincent after the raft set sail, and you gave ever-tortured Sayid a brief respite from his heartache over Nadia. But it was not meant to be for you of the teeny bikinis and pseudo-inc#stual-relationships. Mere seconds after you were "redeemed" by Sayid professing his love for you, BOOM! You took one in the gut thanks to trigger-happy Ana Lucia. Now may you rest in peace next to Brother Boone of the Bushy Eyebrows and Eyeliner.

But Shannon, before you go, know this: you left us with something for which we thank you deeply. Something that may actually make up for the writers’ shortsightedness and anxiousness to keep killing off characters for no apparent reason. You left us with MajorlyP!ssedSayid, whose murderous look after you died in his arms will surely grant him an Emmy nod, if not a win.
MajorlyP!ssedSayid has awoken and is rising up, and he will avenge you. Oh yes, he will avenge you. And we will delight in watching it.


BEST LINES OF THE EPISODE:
SAWYER: She's lost.
ANA: I'm not lost.
SAWYER: Then tell me, Ponce de Leon, which way are we supposed to go?

LIBBY: You want to let me just take a look at your shoulder?
SAWYER: What, are you a doctor?
LIBBY: A clinical psychologist.
SAWYER: You're a shrink? Well, maybe you ought to talk to my shoulder.


SAYID: Why are you doing this, Shannon?
SHANNON: I didn't ask you to follow me.
SAYID: No, you'd rather be out here alone and get lost or hurt.
SHANNON: I don't need your help, Sayid.
SAYID: Walt is not out here. You're following a Labrador, not a Bloodhound.
(I don’t think this was actually meant to be funny, but I laughed)


PREVIEWS
I have been trying to temper my expectations of each episode just so I don’t always end up disappointed. Unfortunately, I cannot temper them for tonight ’s episode. How could they possibly screw up condensing "The Other 48 Days" from the Tailaway camp into one hour? How can it not be action-packed and awesome? I just don’t see how it can’t be anything but spectacular. What will be more interesting is if I will feel any less Ana Lucia Hate after watching it. I am sad because I will have to watch the show late, late tonight (if I can stay awake that long) because I’m watching focus groups until 10 PM. To my peeps, I will be watching it with you all in spirit, wherever you may be.

Do not worry… without giving anything away, next week they WILL return to where we left off last episode in the jungle. And yes, they are having an episode next Wednesday despite the fact I will be driving home to Michigan for Thanksgiving during that time. THE NERVE!

ABC.COM LOST PODCASTS
If you go to abc.com and click into the Lost microsite, you will find these audio "podcasts" they’ve been doing (two to date) that run about 20 minutes each. They have some of the writers and cast members talking about episodes and other various things. I found them to be good and worth the time. There are not really spoilers on there, but they do answer some fan questions that are helpful.

NEW "EXPERIMENT" DOCUMENT LINKS UNEARTHED
On www.thetailsection.com, there are links to two documents found on the Alvar Hanso ("experiment founder/financial backer) web site that appear to be "memos" sent to and from various parties regarding "the experiment." They do not give anything away but allude to a problem with the experiment. However, if you go to this site, you will have to scroll down to get to the documents on the right hand side, and you may have to pass over some spoilers on the way there, so you have been forewarned.

OTHER UPCOMING NERDY EVENTS NOT RELATED TO LOST
Harry Potter 4 premiere – This Friday the 18th – yippee! My prediction: This was my favorite of the 6 books thus far, and the previews look INCREDIBLE. But since I cried for about 2 hours reading the book, I predict I will shed some tears during the movie, as well. Long Live Harry Potter.

Narnia (The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe) premiere – December 9 - Hello, I loved this book back in the day. If you didn’t read it then I’m sorry to inform you that your childhood was not complete. I was so excited when I heard they were making it into a live-action movie (there is a cartoon version already) that several months ago I went to this $6 children’s play version of it across from where I live just to refresh my memory. I was the only adult there (who didn’t have kids with them). It was glorious. The previews look good, and I have high hopes.

King Kong premiere – December 14th - The previews actually have scared me a bit – as in, I’m not sure I will like this movie. It is d@mn long, too – I believe at 3 or over 3 hours. But it is my duty as an LOTR mega-fan to give Peter Jackson the benefit of the doubt. Plus I like Jack Black and Adrien Brody.

Til next week, enjoy tonight,
- e

Thursday, October 20, 2005

I Hate Best Buy - Lost Musings During Hiatus

Forewarning: this message has basically nothing to do with Lost. I'm just giving you something to do while it is on hiatus.

Hello everyone -

Do you ever walk down the street with headphones on and realize that you are actually walking to the beat of the song you have playing, and you feel like a bad-ass and you wish the people who make the iPod commercials could see you because it would make an awesome ad? Well, I actually feel like that every day when I walk to or from work, but tonight really would have been a good one, except I didn't have the right song playing. I wished I had "The Freaks Come Out at Night" on my iPod, because as I made my way from the El to my place, every time I thought I'd seen the most horrendous costume in the world, a few seconds later someone topped it. I live in, oh, let's say an "eclectic, diverse" neighborhood of characters where grown adults seem to enjoy Halloween to an unhealthy extent. Even though I've lived in this same area for the majority of the past ten years, I did not realize until tonight that they block off all these major streets for some huge block party.

Needless to say, I was disturbed by the freaks, was getting drenched in the rain because I forgot an umbrella, and I decided that it was going to be one of those nights where I just don't feel like doing anything productive. As in, the dreary weather combined with my already depressed state because of Lost's hiatus was not necessarily motivating me to unload the dishwasher and then put the stack of dirty dishes in the dishwasher, or clean up the piles of mail and random papers all over my place, or pack for my upcoming trip or even (gasp!) read about Britney's Heartbreak or find out Why Brad's Falling Apart in my newly-arrived In Touch magazine.

No, instead, the only thing I feel like doing right now is writing my favorite people a little message to tide you over for another week before Lost is back with new episodes. I will still send the "...And Found" write-up next week, but for now I decided it would make sense to cover a bunch of random things that are kind of related to the show that I'd been meaning to mention. So feel free to stop reading because I'm not going to cover anything about any show plot points at all...

GOOD IF YOU ARE BORED
Someone out there had some time on his hands and created this flash movie with a bunch of Lost characters, set to Weird Al Yankovic's version of Bohemian Rhapsody. It is not really that great, but still clever in parts. Whoever it was did a good job of matching some of the lyrics with actual happenings on Lost. If you have 5 minutes to spare and are somewhere where you can play Weird Al Yankovic without getting dirty looks or in trouble, then you may find it a nice break.
http://albinoblacksheep.com/flash/lost



KATE AND CHARLIE SITTIN' IN A TREE
You first heard about their off-set romance here about a year ago, but the latest is that they may soon be getting engaged.

THE GLORY OF SEASON ONE
Remember how I recently achieved my life's goal of watching all three Lord of the Rings extended edition DVDs? Well a few weekends ago I made another momentous achievement when I re-watched nearly all of Lost: Season One (shout-out to TVap, aka Tortellini, without whom this would not have happened). And you know what? D@mmit, my love for this show was reignited. Season One was really incredible, I was moved. I started remembering all of these things that we still don't know the answers to that I'd forgotten about... some little (like when Hurley said he was considered "somewhat of a warrior" back at home and "won 17th place in a tournament" before the crash... what is he referring to?), and some not-so-little (like "who in the heck was Ethan?" and "where is Alex?" and "who did Boone hear over the radio transmission before he fell to his untimely demise?").

Over the last few nights I've been watching the bonus disc - They have the audition tapes of all of the major characters (except Terry O'Quinn/Locke... naturally he was a given because he rocks the house too much). The funny thing is that nearly every male read for the part of Sawyer - the actors who play Jack, Charlie, and even Hurley all initially tried out for Sawyer. I must say they were all horrible for that role, but perhaps I am now biased. The actress playing Sun had first tried out for Kate. It was interesting because they didn't have a set script or a set cast of characters, so they created roles out of thin air for Sayid, Sun, Charlie and Hurley based on the actors' try-outs. Kate was originally supposed to be the "hero" of the show because Jack was supposed to die half-way through the pilot, and Michael Keaton was going to play Jack. Craziness!

SPECIAL GUEST DIRECTOR FOR MAY SWEEPS
No spoilers here, fear not. But it has been widely circulated that Darren Aronofsky, director of cult films like Requiem for a Dream and Pi, will direct an episode of Lost set for May sweeps. I saw Pi and thought it was perhaps one of the worst movies of all time, and I have seen some BAD movies. I have not seen Requiem for a Dream because I generally do not like to watch movies about crazy people bugging out on drugs (except Trainspotting, because I love me some Ewan/Younger Obi-Wan). So am I psyched about this news? Not really. Some people assume because of the drug-related plot of RforaD that his episode will be about "Charlie relapsing in the field o' hero!n," but I guess we'll see. If they get Peter Jackson to be involved in some way, THEN I'll be excited.

PASS IT ON - BOYCOTT BEST BUY
If you or a family member works for Best Buy, you might want to stop reading now...

I have been wanting to mention this since the premiere write-up this season, but I seriously get so worked up every time I think about this that I figure it is not good for my health to re-live the pain, and then I move it to the next write-up. Now it is time for me to just vent about this long and hard and then move on. But I should preface this story with the fact that my entire family has a dubious past with Best Buy. For example, my brother sprawled out across their check-out counter and nearly began staging a protest when they wouldn't let him combine reward certificates, and I had written their VP of Customer Service a few years back complaining about a myriad of issues we had after buying our TV from them. Don't even get me started on their web site. Therefore, I had vowed that I would never shop there again. But alas... temptation struck a few months ago, and they reeled me back in...

On the boards, someone posted a link to a special page on BestBuy.com where you could get an exclusive Lost bonus disc when you purchased the Season One DVD. I caved. I HAD TO HAVE the bonus disc, for the love of God! But I didn't trust them. I actually took a screenshot of the page because I knew somehow they would screw it up. The screenshot is attached for those of you who are extremely bored, don't believe I was nerdy enough to actually take a screenshot, or unusually sympathetic to my plight. I ordered it in mid-August, knowing that it would be shipped during my two-week vacation in early September.

During my vacation, I actually worried about this stupid bonus disc. My sixth sense was kicking in and I KNEW they would somehow mess up the order. So imagine my surprise upon my return to the country - there was a box from Bestbuy.com, sitting gloriously atop my stacks o' mail.

But it was not to be. A few days later I finally opened the box. The Lost: Season One DVD set was in there, but I saw no bonus disc. I checked my screenshot before I tore open the box set... hmmm... no, it looked like the bonus disc would be separate. I rummaged through the rest of the mail. No additional box. I opened the DVD set. No bonus disc.

I AM FUMING. Although I'm sure you've figured out from these write-ups that I'm an excitable person, and I am, I would like to think that it takes A LOT to get me mad enough where I start shouting out every swear word in the book and am so seething that I can barely see or think straight. But the plot thickens... I look at the packing slip. IT IS NOT MY NAME ON THE PACKING SLIP?!?!?!!? Although my name was on the outside of the box, on the inside the packing slip had some dude's name on it who lives a few streets behind me?!?!?!! At this point, I'm delirious with anger. I call their frickin' customer service number and of course the guy said that "this was a very complex situation" and that "he would have to escalate this to the research
team" and that "I would be hearing the resolution from them in a few business days." I'm sure all of you would've loved to have heard my conversation with this poor guy. I was like, "Listen to me. I know this is not your fault. And I KNOW that this may seem ridiculous, but I am a HUGE FAN of this show, and the ONLY REASON I bought this from you guys was for this disc. So they better rummage around and find me that d@mn bonus disc, or it is not going to be acceptable."

I hang up with them, but then get another idea. I look up Mr. Probably Got My Bonus Disc on whitepages.com. And guess what, he is ON there! AND there's a link to some high school reunion site that lists not only where he obviously went to high school (Glenview South), but also his phone number, his email address, and his age (26). So yes... I called him. Later my husband asked me just exactly what I was hoping to accomplish by doing that, but it doesn't matter, because he never answered and he had no voicemail?!?! What I WOULD HAVE said was "Hey, I know where you live, and if you don't give me MY bonus CD then I will stalk you forever and make your life utterly miserable." No, honestly, I was planning to be quite calm if he answered (I realize this was NOT his fault), and try to explain what happened, see if he got my packing slip, if he even had the bonus CD in the first place, and then invite him to my premiere party because obviously he is also a fan. I never called him back though. But I still have the packing slip... Best Buy research did email me within hours:

"Erika,
Thank you for contacting Best Buy about receiving the promotion with your order. I'm Lou- Ann with Customer Care. We can understand your frustration at not receiving the product and promotion as expected. We show that the promotion you were interested in ordering was included in a special promotion, and was available while supplies lasted. We cannot send the promotion as we no longer have inventory of this item. We apologize for the disappointment this has caused you. Please check back in the future to find out if we offer this promotion again.
Best Wishes from Best Buy,
Lou- Ann and the Best Buy Customer Care Team"

This email will remain in my inbox. Some night in the future, I will come home and perhaps have had too much to drink, or will be upset about something else related to Best Buy, or will be mad about something not even related to this at all. But at that time, I will pull up that email from
Lou-Ann, and I will reply and let her have it.

Until then, if you feel any sense of loyalty toward me after I toil over these write-ups week after week after week - you can repay me by avoiding Best Buy from here on out. I hear Circuit City's not too bad.

Until next week,
- e

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

S2Ep5: ...And Found (Jin and Sun's first joint flashback) - 10/19/05

Hello my dearest and most patient friends -

So we have now been made to suffer through what I'm sure is just the first of many multi-week hiatuses (is that a word?) this season, just like last season. But even though I know nothing about sports and could care less, I will forgive The Powers That Be at ABC because even *I* was aware that not only was Chicago in the World Series, they WON the World Series, hence the reason for the break in the schedule (even though the WSeries was on Fox, they thought they would lose viewers to it). And since I live in Chicago (as many of you may not have known, I just realized), I will forgive them. And yes, the World Series was over a while ago, but they had to plan for all 7 games in the TV scheduling, hence the long break. Shout-out to CJ just for being the only long-time Sox fan I know!

On to the episode:
Do you ever get the feeling that perhaps you're on crack and you just don't know it? Because that's how I feel right now... I just remember watching this episode live with my peeps and all of us thinking that it was horrible. In fact, I dare say I thought it was the worst episode in the entire series because literally nothing happened. I was dreading writing this to all of you because I've now somehow started feeling personally guilty for any time the show sucks. But for the past few minutes I've been on the boards collecting the posts for this write-up, and have been blown away by the fact that apparently everyone else LOVED this episode. I am just perplexed, befuddled, confused... you name it. As Whitney Houston so eloquently said, "Crack is wack!"

WHY did these people enjoy watching Jin and Mr. Eko (gotta love that name, though) run through the woods all episode and accomplish nothing? I just don't get it. I did like the Sun/Jin flashbacks, but not enough to make up for the rest of the show. Here is what little I could scrape together on this episode...

THE OTHERS
I think there is only one thing actually is worth noting in this episode, and that is that we supposedly saw a glimpse of The Others traipsing through the jungle. Here is what you should contemplate:
- Mr. Eko made a point of saying:
- They do not leave footprints (remember on the season one finale... there were no footprints around the black smoke column, either, and Sayid and Charlie noticed it)
- They will not be found unless they WANT to be found
- Other Others points:
- They appear to be human, although I still think it's possible that they can shape-shift (X-Files term) into human form
- The last Other was dragging along a teddy bear, leading me to believe that Walt was not the first child taken (that bear was NOT Walt's). Or perhaps The Others ARE children who were raised on the island and developed superpowers?
- Even if they are not human and they do not leave footprints, they still appear to kill people the old-fashioned way judging from the Tailaway guy with the huge cleaver in his chest

MR. EKO
That is a cool-@ss name. Say it with me now: Mr. Eko. My peeps watching it with me all agreed that we liked him. But here is something bizarre. When he and Jin were having their pseudo-discussion about being married (involving lots of pointing to rings and whatnot), and Jin replied, "Yes, you?" Eko's answer was "Worse." I checked the transcripts, too, because at first I thought he said "Was" and then there was a big debate about it on the boards, and the transcripts say "Worse." My head is just kind of blanking on this one - anyone have any ideas as to what he could mean? All guys who are thinking of sending lame replies like "There's nothing worse
than marriage!" can now go think of other witty responses.

My second question about Eko is: was he on the plane? I'm not so sure he was... I think we're assuming he was because he is with the Tailaways. He never actually SAID anything about being on the plane. He seems kind of like their "Locke" to me. It is going to be awesome when/if Locke and Eko meet. Someone may have to watch me to make sure I don't explode with excitement.

Here is a possible future exchange:
Locke: *I* made glue out of rendered animal fat.
Eko: Well, I made a huge machete and I'm not going to tell you how and spill my secrets!
Locke: I can predict when it's going to rain out here.
Eko: I can sense The Others coming even though they don't make any sound.
Locke: I've seen The Monster and I'm friends with it.
Eko: Everyone in my group is pretty much dead yet here I still am.
Locke: I used to be a regional collections manager at a box company.
Eko: Well I was the NATIONAL collections manager at a box company - HA!!!!!!!
Then they have a knife duel to the death.

MUTE CHICK
I'm just sayin'.... there was some girl who looked kind of freaky and didn't talk. She was with the rest of the Tailaways. So we've got Eko, Ana Lucia, Libby, Bernard and Mute Chick. Now watch, she's going to have some heart-breaking flashback about why she really is mute and then I'm going to feel awful.

MICHAEL
At the polar opposite end of the spectrum from Mute Chick, I present to you: Michael. Seriously, dude, just stop yelling.

ANA LUCIA
Even though I have never positioned this as a "family-friendly" distribution list, I am not compelled to write out the various nicknames that Ana Lucia has earned on the boards, for they are quite profane. Suffice it to say, there are only a few posters out there who like her, while most are hoping she bites the bullet. But I have a feeling we will not be that lucky. The only thing to mention with her is that she does have a thick band on her left ring finger, yet told Sawyer she wasn't married. Since I re-watched nearly all of Season 1 recently (mentioned last week), I remembered that in the flashback on the finale where she was flirting with Jack at the airport, I got the feeling that perhaps she was in the middle of a divorce.

SARA - DEAD OR NOT? DO I CARE? NOT REALLY.
Jack was married to Sara, that we knew. Now he is not, which we also knew. At first I thought she must have ended up dying after his miracle "saving" of her (possibly with the help of Hatch Man/Desmond's powers), and that is what turned him back to Man o' Science. But after his comment to Sun that his ring was "rolling around in a drawer back at home," I'm not so sure. Perhaps she did end up leaving him or vice versa.

LOCKE
When Sun is talking to Locke after he spied her ripping apart her garden, she says "Don't you ever get frustrated?" Locke says something like "I'm not lost anymore." My brother would like to point out that "he is totally lying. He DOES get frustrated. Remember when the computer broke and he hit his head on the desk and was like 'What do you want me to do?!' He totally lost it. So, he is lying about that." While I do not deny that Locke's actions seem to be different than his words, I also think he wasn't consciously LYING to Sun. I think he's giving himself a little more credit than he deserves... he's definitely not Mr. Calm, Cool and Collected ALL of the time.

Also on Locke, my brother asks "have you ever discussed *who* he is talking to/at when he talks/yells at the island? He also yelled at the island when he went paralyzed before Boone died, right? (ERIKA: Yes, along with when he was banging on the hatch and the light came on.) Has somebody or something talked to Locke? If not, then why does he feel like he can talk to the
island? Why does he think it is "listening" to him?"

My answer to this is that when Locke has "talked to the island" on several occasions, I think he thinks he is either talking to God, or some higher power that he believes is controlling his destiny. I do not think any person or thing ever literally talked to him on the island and that now he is shouting back at it. We know that he DID see the monster twice... once he said it was "beautiful" and the other time he became very afraid and then the monster almost dragged him down a hole to who knows where. So perhaps whatever it was he saw, combined with his miracle cure, has convinced him that there is some power or being that brought him to the island for a
reason.

BEST LINES OF THE EPISODE
[Hurley and Sun sitting nearby Vincent, watching him.]
HURLEY: So, Seoul. Is that in the good Korea or the bad Korea?
(awkward silence)
SUN: The good one.
HURLEY: Dude, dogs will eat anything. When I was a kid, my dog, Buster -- I had this drawer where I'd throw in all my change, right -- and I guess there were some Smarties in there -- so, like, the next day, Buster craps out a $1.35 in nickels.
[Sun doesn't respond.]

GREAT NON-PC/SWEAR-WORD-INFESTED SITE
Shout-out to Uncle Grambo for forwarding along this link... Definitely hilarious and highly recommended for the true Lost fan, and nothing TOO offensive... basically the gist of this site is that they "snark" (rip on, find fault with) various people/topics. The page below is them snarking the cast of Lost.
http://www.snarkywood.com/2005/09/snark_for_a_cau_1.html


PREVIEWS
D@mmit, CreepyDrownedWalt is back! I was just getting over my nightmares. Apparently someone is going to die. I don't know who it is. It better stay that way until showtime!

Also, apparently NEXT week they are going to do something different with the show. We may be spoiled by the previews at the end of this week, but I really hope they keep it under wraps. However, I have been forewarned that if you do not want to be spoiled (like me), then do NOT read the episode listing on Tivo or TV guide or whatever your source is for next week, because it gives it away. Is NOTHING sacred?


ON THE SENTIMENTAL TIP
I often mention "my peeps" who watch the show faithfully with me each week, put up with my antics, don't make fun of me for going as overboard as I do, and keep me on my toes by noticing things I never would have seen. KG and EG are two of these people and I am happy to announce that they recently added the first Lost Baby to the distribution list a few weeks ago. OK, so no, he doesn't already have his own email address, but he DOES already have his own dedicated mini-bean bag in my TV room. Lil' Will got his first visit by Crazy Auntie E tonight and is now the proud owner of a bib with "the numbers" on it, a baby t-shirt that says I Love Sayid (Love is a big red heart, Sayid is his mom's fave character), and then a jumper reading "I'd rather be watching Lost." You KNOW he's being schooled in Lost Season One the next time I see him! Seriously though you guys, congrats.

Enjoy the show this week, back on at the regular time Wednesday night...
- e

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

S2Ep4: Everybody Hates Hugo (Hurley's second flashback) - 10/12/05

Hello everyone -

Sorry about the late delivery of this week's write-up... normally I would not try to play the sympathy card (oh, who am I kidding, yes I would - but whatever)... but since so many of you gave me crap about it, I am going to tell you WHY it was late and then you will feel bad for me. Not only does The Man continue to beat me down with his politics, bureaucracy and supreme
Dilbertness, but I actually had leg/vein surgery last week. As in, they found out that I truly am a freak of nature and that NONE of the major veins in either of my legs worked (pumped blood the wrong way, yes, I know this seems impossible) and therefore they had to close all of them and rely upon the miracle that is the human body to reroute blood on its own so I can watch Lost in the future without my legs constantly falling asleep. SO THERE! I have mostly been confined to a chair with my legs elevated, so I took that time achieve a life's goal: to watch all 3 Lord of the Rings extended edition DVDs... we're talking 15 hours, people. Time slipped away and here we are at Wednesday already again... but it was funny to see Charlie from Lost back in his Pippin mode. (Note: I intended to send this out on Wednesday and then my DSL went down. When it rains, it pours.)

So back to Lost: I was very pleased with this episode, despite its general lack o' Locke. It goes to show that they can pull off a great episode and satisfy viewers even when nothing too major happens, as long as it is just well done overall. The love was back on the boards as well as you will see in the attachment - and those people are way more critical than I am. For the most part, everyone liked Hurley's second flashback and felt that Lost was back to "firing on all cylinders." Another thing to note is that nearly everyone hates Ana Lucia way more than any of us ever felt the Kate Hate, thus giving weight to the phrase, "It's all relative." Kate is way more tolerable than Ana Lucia ever could be. Grrrrrr.

HURLEY'S FLASHBACKS and ISLAND STORYLINE
Did I not call that Jin speaking English would be a dream? I did. But in case you didn't know, that was Daniel Dae Kim's "real" voice... he actually had to learn a specific Korean dialect for the show (he was already knew Korean, though).

We didn't really learn anything new from Hurley's flashbacks, but I enjoyed them nonetheless. His little mousy friend guy (DJ Qualls) was cool, and I learned from all the Vassar peeps watching at my place that the girl Hurley asked out at the CD store went to school with them (but is a few years younger).

Here are random comments from the flashbacks, but nothing of importance really:
- In Hurley's dream sequence at the beginning, when he had his feeding frenzy in the storage room, he is guzzling a carton of some liquid, and on the side it says "MISSING:" and then shows a picture of Walt, like milk cartons did back in the day. This has no significance since it was a dream sequence, but I caught it on my second viewing and thought it was clever, so I figured I might as well share.
- Hurley's boss at Mr. Cluck's was also Locke's boss at the box company. They are played by the same person (I initially didn't think they looked anything alike at all, but they are indeed the same actor) and the character's name is Randy in both Walkabout (Locke's original flashback) and this episode. It is strange because both of those flashbacks were shortly before the plane crash. However, Hurley's was further in the past because he hadn't actually cashed in his Lotto winnings yet, and I believe that all of his "bad luck" occurred over a series of months immediately following, during which time we know that Mr. Cluck's was hit by a meteorite (Hurley mentioned this on the premiere this season), and perhaps that is when Randy moved to become the manager of the box company. Locke's original flashback was just mere days before the plane crash. Or another theory is, since we know from Hurley's original flashback that he actually ended up OWNING the box company that Locke worked at, he himself might have moved Randy to that company after the meteorite hit.
- The scene with Hurley and his friend singing "You All Everybody!" (which might possibly be the worst song EVER - this coming from someone who has the full version in her laptop as I write this) was hilarious - notice the CD was in the $2 Bargain Bin under One Hit Wonders. Poor Charlie.
- It was great when Hurley thought CD Girl was going to turn him down and then she said "I could probably go Saturday..." - yay! I was very happy with that. So funny that he gained the courage to do all of these things BEFORE he cashed in, typically people would have more courage after the money was in hand.
- I loved the Cluck You! garden gnome display, because garden gnomes ALWAYS rock.
- While not necessarily telling us anything we didn't already know, I felt that Hurley's flashbacks were still very relevant to the goings-on at the island, unlike some other flashbacks that don't seem to move anything along. We knew Hurley won the lottery, but now we know that even before he actually had the money, he wasn't all gung-ho about getting it because he dreaded how his life may change. And since he was that upset about having to be in charge of managing the food, we can guess that a lot of people tried to take advantage of him after he became rich, not to mention all the freaky bad luck that descended upon him supposedly because of the cursed numbers.
- I thought the ending food party/bonfire montage was great - it was nice to just see a brief moment of normalcy for our beloved Lostaways. Who in the heck was manning the button though... and poor Sun, burying the message bottle so that no one else loses hope of rescue.
- Claire and Charlie got their d@mn peanut butter, hooray!
- ... But we still don't know why Hurley was in the mental institution where he learned the numbers... thus guaranteeing another Hurley flashback.

LOCKE
As mentioned above, there was precious little Locke in this episode, but when he was onscreen I think he did some telling things. First off, he was back to his old ways of forcing people to confront their fears/weaknesses, and he did this in two ways for Hurley: 1) Telling Charlie everything he wanted to know about the hatch, including revealing that there was a food stash AND that Hurley was in charge of it, and 2) His big "Yeah, I've had a lot of jobs I didn't want to do. I still did them. I'm sorry, Hugo, you don't get to quit" speech.

On a different note, Locke is getting really into his whole "I've created a system where people will take 6 hour button-pushing shifts" and it is frightening me. On yet another note, I read someone that the writers said in a recent interview that Locke and Jack represent two factions of fans - the ones who "want the island to be weird" (uh, like me) and those who "want the island not to be weird - for there to be an explanation for everything."

THE HATCH
So Sayid and Jack go crawling around all over the place in the hatch, and trying to break apart walls wherever they can, all to no avail. They cannot break through any walls, big surprise. Apparently they are trying to get to the whatever's on the other side of the hatch, though I have no idea why - the low, pulsing humming sound would not be motivating ME to get closer, but I am not Jack or Sayid. Sayid mentioned the similarity to Chernobyl, so I think I can guess where this is all going...

WHERE THIS IS ALL GOING
Actually I don't really know, but here is my guess. My guess is that we actually have already learned what is up with the island. It IS the base for a series of experiments, which had hatches/labs scattered across the island, each focusing on a different thing (magnets, animals, climate control, the paranormal, time manipulation, etc). I am totally fine with that, because it still leaves a ton of ways they could go with several different things. Such as: are the people who crashed on the island over the course of time there for a reason (as in, picked or forced to be there somehow), or were their crashes just random because there's some magnetic pull from the island? What is The Sickness? Where is all this power coming from, and the food supplies in the hatch, and the gas for the Hillbilly Boat, etc? What do they want with Walt? What exactly are The Others? Is there a way to escape the island? Is there some sort of time warp going on?
There are literally still hundreds of questions IF the island is really all an experiment base, which still may not be the case. But enough people have asked me what I thought was going on, so there you go. I will probably change my mind in 2 hours.


THE DEGROOTS = THE OTHERS?
OR ADAM AND EVE (THE SKELETONS)?
OR JUST U of M HIPPIES?
Here is a current theory circulating, that I mentioned last week as well... that the two U of M grad students (The Degroots) who started the Dharma Initiative and were in the video were actually the same people on The Others' boat on the season finale (who took Walt). Judge for yourself at the link below. I personally do not think the women look anything like each other, and the guy only has a faint similarity (just because two people have mustaches doesn't mean they are actually the same person...) (This web site goes down a lot, be forewarned)

http://www.humpys.net/images/thedegroots.jpg

Another theory is that The Degroots are the two skeletons Jack found in the cave last season (nicknamed Adam and Eve). But he said they had probably been there 40-50 years, and it has not been that long since 1980, unless there is some time warp thing going on. However, I was not under the impression that the Degroots themselves ever went to the actual island, but I could see how they could have in order to set up the experiment labs.

THE RETURN OF ROSE
To prove that I am not totally crazy, I will now reveal that I DO realize these characters are not real people, because I know that the reason Rose has not been on the show since early in Season One is that she was in a Broadway play. OK, now quickly! Back to Escapism Land...
- I do like Rose, and I like how Hurley chose her to be his partner. They made a good team and she was definitely ready to knock sense into him when he was going to BLOW UP all the food... ?!?!?!
- I wanted to bring up what may or may not be an important thing Rose said (in the original pilot episode)... when they had first crashed and they were all out on the beach the first night on the island, they all saw the trees shaking and heard what we now know to be the "monster sounds," and Rose said "That sound that it made, I keep thinking that there was something really familiar about it." And then Shannon asked her where she was from, and she said, "The Bronx." Hmmmm...
- So this whole time we knew that Rose held firm to the belief that her husband was still alive. And drumroll please... we find out he is a white guy. This was the big shocker to everyone on the boards, who then felt bad for making assumptions... but seriously, as you will see in my attachment, even all of the African-American posters were like "Uh... we didn't see that one coming, either." But the funniest thing was that even all of the hard-core toughies on the boards admitted to getting a tear in their eye when Bernard revealed himself to the Three Amigos, and then when we saw the shot of Rose saving the candy bar for him. *Sigh.*

INSIDE HATCHLITE
(or Hatch #2, The Ghetto Hatch, whatever you want to call it)
- There are now three Dharma Logos: The Swan (original hatch), The Straight Line (I'm just making that up, I don't really know what it's called, but it's on the shark), and The Cross (also making that name up, it's in the second hatch where the Tailaways are hiding out).

Several other sources had also reported that the Dharma logo could be seen on the wreckage of Flight 815. However, that has been widely negated since, and I myself have seen the screenshots and they are not the same logo. Planes have several warning logos and whatnot all over the place and some are octagons, but they do not appear to be the Dharma logo.
- There were 23 original Tailaways... one of the numbers. When they all reached HatchLite, and there were only a handful of Tailaways there, Michael asked Libby, "I thought you said there were 23 of you?" to which she replied, "There WERE." My father happened to be watching it with me and all my peeps that night, and he immediately was like "Cannibalism!" Nas-tay. But a lot of the people on the boards assumed that, too. Seems as though the original Lostaways fared much better than the poor Tailaways have...
- There is a theory that since there are 6 numbers, and everyone's assuming there are 6 Dharma stations, that each number has some sort of significance to one of the stations - like 23 is for HatchLite because there were 23 of them, and 42 is for the Swan because I think there is that number of them remaining now, etc, etc. That doesn't make sense to me but if it makes
sense to someone else, let me know.

BEST LINES OF THE EPISODE
HURLEY: Dude, look, I'd never lie.
CHARLIE: Oh, and the time you told you were worth 150 million dollars?
HURLEY: It's 156 million.
CHARLIE: I'm sorry, I must have confused it with the 900 TRILLion *I* am worth myself!!!


RANDY to Hurley after viewing Mr. Cluck's security video: You owe the company for an 8 piece dark meat combo!!!


MICHAEL: Everything's cool. We had a talk and they believe we were on the plane, too.
SAWYER: Swell, I guess we can all sue Oceanic together.

(Erika's personal favorite... do you think they got a hold of one of these write-ups and this is a shout-out?)
CHARLIE: You're saying no to a nursing mother?
HURLEY: It's not like that.
CHARLIE: Oh, it's exactly like that. You know, I never thought this would happen but it did. You've become one of them.
HURLEY: One of them?
CHARLIE: Them - The Man - management.


JOHNNY: Driveshaft - more like Suckshaft.

JOHNNY [as they are leaving the record store]: Dude, you've been crushing on this girl for months and doing nothing. Today you're frickin' Fabio.


LOCKE: Change is good, Hugo.
HURLEY: You know, people say that, but it's not true, man. Trust me, I know. And guess who gets to be the bad guy who has to say: no you can't have peanut butter for the cute blonde and her poor... island... baby.

JOHNNY: Do you think we got enough gnomes?

SAWYER ROBBED at GUNPOINT (in real life)
http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,17570,00.html


DON'T PLAY THE LOTTO WITH HURLEY'S NUMBERS
http://news.yahoo.com/s/eo/20051020/en_tv_eo/17621

- e

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

S2Ep3: Orientation (Locke's third flashback) - 10/5/05

My dear and sympathetic friends -
I need to begin this message with an apology. I do not anticipate this is going to be a very good write-up, because The Man has got me extremely down,and I am feeling sorry for myself and depressed. Therefore, if any of youcan think of a way that I can make a living writing Lost recaps rather than working for The Man, I would be all ears. Enough of my sob story.

So I finally broke down and bought "Make Your Own Kind of Music" (aka: Desmond's Hatch Song) from iTunes last night. It is quite the catchy tune,I must say.

One quick thing before we get going on Orientation:

DHARMA LOGO
The Dharma swan logo that's in the hatch is actually different from the one that was on the shark. The shark just had a straight line through the inner circle on the logo, leading me and many others to believe that the shark is controlled by, or part of another experiment from, another station of the experiment somewhere else on the island.

Now on to Orientation.

HELEN / LOCKE'S FLASHBACKS
Cue the music, cue the Buckingham Fountain shooting a jet of water up into the air... "Love and marriage, love and marriage.... "

How YOU doin', Peg Bundy? It's good to see you again! I was pleasantly surprised at Peg's turn as Helen, Locke's love interest. Of course Helen was also the name of Locke's s@x phone operator "girlfriend" in his original flashback, and since I'm assuming the Helen from this episode didn't devolve into that, something ends up going sour in their relationship but Locke still pines for her, and therefore asks the phone woman to take on the name of Helen. Other people assume that the same accident that causes Locke to be paralyzed will kill Helen, but of course that is all speculation. Her purpose in this episode was help us see that clearly, in his past, Locke was NOT a Man of Faith.

God help me if I ever see the actor who plays Locke's kidney-stealing father, because I don't think I will be able to separate real life from TV, and I will beat him down.

MORE ON DESMOND
So we now know that Desmond WAS on his race around the world and crashed onto the island. He was not a part of the original experiment team, but was brought into the hatch by Kelvin, who was randomly wandering around the island when Desmond arrived. What happened to Kelvin's original partner? Anywhooo, Kelvin somehow convinced Desmond that they needed to press the button in the hatch every 108 minutes. Kelvin ends up dying, but we do not know how.

I am glad that they just straight up addressed the whole issue of "what if this is just all a mind game?" by having Jack ask Desmond if he ever thought that this was all just an elaborate experiment on HIM or on human behavior, and Desmond answering, "every single day."

I am confused as to why neither Jack nor Desmond made a bigger deal out of the fact that they MET EACH OTHER BEFORE, and NOW THEY ARE BOTH ON THE ISLE O'CRAZINESS. I mean, shouldn't that have resulted in a stronger reaction from both of them?

Some people thought the woman with Desmond in his pic in the hatch was Jack's wife. I don't think it was because Jack had no reaction when he saw it. Plus it didn't look like her, duh. Jack freaking out to Desmond asking what happened to "that girl" once again signals to me that she is now dead.

THE TURN OF THE SCREW
This book was briefly shown as they were searching for the film canister. In brief summary, in this story, the reader of the story is left to figure out on his or her own if the main character is delusional, or if they are actually seeing ghosts. Guess what movie was loosely based on this book? Oh, that would be "THE OTHERS."

THE THIRD POLICEMAN
This book was also briefly shown. The book itself is crazy, so who knows what it could be a hint to for the show itself... there are complete threads devoted to this topic, so if you are interested you should investigate and report back to me.

THE DHARMA INITIATIVE
First off, that movie was hilarious. Second, we better all be scared if some hippies from U of M are behind the whole experiment, because you KNOW those peeps are freaks (yours truly being the obvious exception - ha)! Here are some important things to note from the movie:
- The tape was 3 of 6, meaning that perhaps the other tapes exist somewhere that explain more about the project.
- The initiative was started in 1970. The date at the end of the film was 1980.
- BF Skinner was mentioned as an inspiration. He is famous for the "Skinner Box" - an experiment in which animals would receive food if they performed certain functions. There was a device in the box recording their actions to collect data. Sounds very similar to the hatch itself, no?
- One thing that concerns me a tad is that basically EVERYTHING going on thus far on the island could be explained by this experiment, from what they mentioned it encompassed in the film: meteorology, psychology, parapsychology, zoology, electromagnetism, and utopian social (... film jumps at this point)
- Alvar Hanso was the creepy dude (Reminiscent of The Cigarette Smoking Man/Cancer Man from The X Files, I dare say) standing in the building that they zoomed in on, who provided the financial backing. I am SURE he will appear again in the series somehow.
- They allude to at least 2 other stations for the experiment on the island, as this is station 3. They also say that this station, The Swan, was focused on the special electromagnetic force existing on that part of the island.
- Participants in the research stay in the station for 540 days. There seems to be no significance to this number thus far except that it is 5 x 108.
- People have said that possibly the narrator was Korean and therefore could be linked to Sun's father?
- At the end, in his signoff, he says Namaste, which people found odd. This is a Hindu phrase that roughly means: 'The God in me greets the God in you. The Spirit in me meets the same Spirit in you.' Look at all this stuff we learn from this show!!!

THE BLONDE MYSTERY WOMAN
Shout out to K-gibbs (aka Nerdy G) for letting me know that someone sent in some screen captures to a radio station that show that the woman in the Orientation video looks very much like the Others' blonde woman who threw the bomb-thing onto the raft. I tried to compare myself but it wasn't that clear. The Orientation video was taken 25 years ago, so that would be odd if they were the same person unless time warps are involved, which I still think is possible.

THE CON MAN GETS CONNED
It is lame that Sawyer and crew fell for Ana Lucia's trick. I am seriously thinking that Kate is not so bad anymore. You know it took a lot for me to write that.

SAYID = AWESOME, PART 1
The supporting evidence:
LOCKE: Can you fix it?
SAYID: This man, who ever he was, replaced the motherboard. The power transformer is blown.
LOCKE: Don't you need to know why?
SAYID: All I need to know is that the timer is counting down to something, and that this computer needs to be repaired. I'm sure you'll tell me why once I've done so.
Case closed.
Once again. Sayid = Awesome. I seriously think he's the only sane one left on the island at this point.

THE LAME BUTTON STANDOFF AT THE END
Yes, we all realize that they were trying to make a point by focusing on the importance of the INITIAL decision to push the button or not in order to further evolve the Locke vs. Jack tension, but seriously, is there anyone who WOULD NOT have just pushed the button in order to buy themselves 108 more minutes to think it through more clearly? The boarders feel that this was done to represent "whether they consciously decide to go mad" or not, because surely if they give in to pushing the button, they are resigning themselves to eventual madness. Others pointed out, correctly I feel, that the "leap of faith" on Jack's part would've been to NOT push the button. Of course Jack was going to push it, because he's the Good Doctor and cannot possibly knowingly endanger everyone else. So had he NOT pushed it, that would've been more of a stretch for him.

Everyone was annoyed that they pushed it.

But fear not, I don't think they are going to make the rest of the series about Button Shifts.
And remember, Hurley was going to let Locke enter in the wrong number at the end. He's that convinced of the numbers' evil-ness.

SAYID = AWESOME, PART DEUX

The supporting evidence:
During the Button Showdown
LOCKE: You do it, Jack.
JACK: What?
LOCKE: You have to do it.
JACK: You do it yourself, John.
LOCKE: You saw the film, Jack. This is a two person job, at least.
SAYID: This argument is irrelevant.
Case closed.
I repeat, Sayid = Awesome.

BEST LINES OF THE EPISODE
LOCKE at group therapy session: You want your damned 30 dollars back? I want my kidney back!

HELEN: ... I like bald guys.
LOCKE: I'm not bald.
HELEN: I can wait.

HURLEY: Dude, I've got to say, I didn't think we were going to get through the night. And I wasn't even here for that baby stealing part.
SAYID: I can assure you it was very exciting.
HURLEY: It's about time things are finally returning to normalness.
[Kate comes running onto the beach.]
KATE: SAYID!!!!!!
HURLEY: Ah, Crap.

And of course, the best line of the night was the shout-out to end all shout-outs to all the obsessive Tivo-dependent boarders...:
LOCKE (after video ends): We're going to need to watch that again.

PREVIEWS
Hurley's flashback...
Jin speaking English? I feel that must be a trick or a dream sequence... we shall soon see.

WEB SITES OF INTEREST
The Montauk Project (shout-out again to K-gibbs/Nerdy G)
For true conspiracy theorists, this page (scroll down, DON'T click on the top of the page links that reference Lost) discusses the supposed Montauk Project, a continuation of the Philadelphia Experiment. There are tons of similarities to Lost (possible time travel, electromagnetic experimentation, etc.) and it was quite interesting.

http://www.mygeekyplace.net/montauk_project.html

Dharma Video:
http://thedharmainitiative.org/orientation


Alvar Hanso Foundation:
http://www.thehansofoundation.org/activeproject.html


Til next week,
- e

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

S2Ep2: Adrift (Michael's second flashback) - 9/28/05

Hello my dear friends -
I was not as enthralled with this episode as I was with the premiere... but every time I start to even think about getting disappointed by Lost, I remember all the other high quality, brain-bending, thought-provoking TV shows that have graced screens around the country recently, such as: I Want to Be a Hilton, Taradise, Hogan Knows Best, Britney & Kevin: Chaotic, The Littlest Groom, etc., etc., and then I calm down. The very worst episode of Lost bests 95% of what is on TV right now, so let's not forget that, should we ever become frustrated.

But by no means am I saying that I thought this was a bad episode... far from it. In fact, I was surprised to find that most boarders actually liked this episode way better than the premiere?!?! I wouldn't go that far, because I did think the flashbacks this time were completely useless and repetitive, and I wasn't really even a fan of any of the raft scenes. But I loved how the HatchBacks brought us up to speed on what happened in the hatch from Kate and Locke's points of view, I thought that was brilliant. Last week I was stewing over how I didn't know what transpired between Locke and Desmond before Jack arrived. And speaking of Desmond (aka Hatch Man), he is now officially my #2 favorite character. If you can't tell, I like crazy/sane people.

Regarding the flashbacks in general, people are very split on if they like this format or not. I highly doubt they're going to all of a sudden STOP showing flashbacks, so you might as well get used to them if you don't like them. I know that they are trying very, very, very hard to NOT fall into The X-Files trap of getting fans so wrapped up in the 'mythology' of the show that they will never be able to satisfy anyone with any answers they eventually dole out. So therefore they keep saying that this show is about the characters, and that is always going to be the writers' main focus. As I was a long-suffering mega-fan of The X-Files for all nine seasons (I even went to two conventions - yes, my dear friends, THAT is the level of nerdiness you are dealing with here! (shout out to Nerdy P, who was with me at 1 of them)), I can say that they are smart to take this approach. Because if, as they've said before, they actually do have this series planned out loosely for at LEAST five years, they are going to have to keep answering questions but also raising new ones, and if none of us care about the characters, then it's probably not going to work. So, I will deal with lame flashbacks such as Michael's because I know overall it is worth it over time.
Here are new things to ponder:

ONE QUESTION ANSWERED!
Hear ye, hear ye, a question has been answered on Lost! The shoes in the hatch hallway belonged to Locke! Now if that isn't enough for you, I don't know what is.

THE HATCHBACKS
DHARMA LOGO

As I said above, I thought how they showed the happenings in the hatch again but from Locke and Kate's points of view was great. We learned A LOT from these scenes. Here we go:
- Remember the spider web looking logo I mentioned last time? Well I am going to have to complain to DirecTV soon because all of the boarders could read that the logo said Dharma on it, while I could not make that word out, even on pause. What is Dharma, besides being one half of a cheesy 90s sitcom? Well let me drop a little m-w.com on ya:
Hinduism & Buddhism a : the basic principles of cosmic or individual existence : divine law b : conformity to one's duty and nature. So there you go (there are other variations on what Dharma means, included in attachment). Some people on the boards also brought up the fact that surrounding the Dharma logo was the bagua (also spelled Ba-Gua), a feng shui tool used to help determine preferred locations. I have attached a .gif of it in the Word document below.

Finally, upon viewing the logo very closely, it looks like some sort of silhouette of a swan or something behind the word Dharma. And one more thing, the R is backwards. Hatches R Us! (keyboard can't make a backwards r, but you get what I was trying to do).

This just in: I have met my match in nerdiness. As I mentioned briefly last week, I had shirts with various sayings from Lost made for my little premiere party. But check out how quick and ingenious this guy is! (This site may have been taken down by ABC's Man by the time you get this)(it is nothing profane, just probably some copyright infringement or something):
http://www.cafepress.com/mostlymuppet

If it's still up, click on one of the shirts, and then clock on "View Larger" and then do "Zoom in on image" and you can see the Dharma logo very magnified. If you think it's something other than a swan, let me know, as I really have no idea and no one seems to be mentioning that part of it from what I've read on the boards.

There are SO MANY theories about what the Dharma logo means, ranging from Morse code to a logo of a communications company that maybe Sun's father owned, that I can not possibly recap them all here. Needless to say, the logo can be found on:
- Desmond's coat
- The medicine injection cabinet
- The mirror system and various other places in the hatch
- Almost all food containers in the food warehouse where Kate was, and... drum roll please
- The underbelly of the shark that nearly got Sawyer. Once again, nearly impossible to see in real-time, and a shout-out to CJ who emailed me at home right away after viewing - he actually saw it on his own, impressive!

DHARMA SHARK
Although I will cop to not noticing the Dharma logo upon first viewing, I did state that I did not think it was a totally real shark, because the fin just looked way too thin and almost saw-like/metallic. However, blood did spurt up after Michael shot it, so maybe it was partially real, or all real but tattooed with the logo because it is part of the overall "security system" of the island?

DESMOND
I love Desmond! One minute he's talking to Locke and seems genuinely befuddled that "the real world is still out there?", and the next he's going berserk and taking Locke's advice to tie up Kate instead of him, and the next minute he's shooting off his gun and making quite possibly the most wacky-crazy delirious smiling face in the world at Jack at the very end. He's awesome. From the markings on the wall, it appears he's been there quite a long time (couldn't find anyone who counted them all, but I'm sure that person does exist somewhere).

Desmond asked Locke "are you him?" and when Locke first said "yes,"... I cannot lie, my heart skipped a beat and my blood ran cold and I cried inside my head, "No! Please tell me Locke is not the evil mastermind!" Luckily, it was just an attempt to stall for time, and Locke is not HIM. But then who is HIM? I would say there are three major theories on this:
1) Hurley is Him, as he was the one most connected to the numbers before the crash, and obviously the numbers play a huge role in the hatch.
2) Some unknown person is Him, and there really is a mastermind of something going on on the island
3) Desmond's eventual replacement is Him, meaning that Desmond is on a "shift" down in the hatch, and his job is to ensure that the counter always get reset. He is waiting for the next person to relieve him of his duty. On this note, there was the thought (shout-out to DW) that perhaps Lenny, the guy Hurley met in the psych ward who kept repeating the numbers
constantly, was the PREVIOUS guard in the hatch? All we know about him was that 16 years ago he was stationed in the South Pacific and heard the numbers being transmitted over the radio. We do not know what happened to him after that point to land him in the psych ward (we only knew what happened to the other guy he was with, Sam), so there is a slight chance that Lenny was perhaps the previous Hatch Man and it drove him mad.

Additionally, in that season 1 flashback, when Hurley visits him and tells him he played the numbers in the Lotto, Lenny's response was: ""You've opened the box! It won't stop! You've gotta get away from those numbers!!!!!" I guess we'll see.
4) Desmond has been down there long enough to not be sure that the outside world still exists...
5) ... but he has obviously been out on the island at some point, because he asked about the sickness
6) Did HE paint the mural? If so, we've got three artists on our hands in this show: Desmond, Michael and Claire's old boyfriend/father of Aaron, who if you remember, also painted similarly haunting images:
http://guillaumedupuis.free.fr/!/Peinture.jpg
7) Does Desmond recognize Jack? There didn't actually seem to be any sort of recognition on his end, or at least definitely not any SURPRISE upon seeing Jack. Perhaps he was expecting him? Or perhaps he doesn't remember him?
8) Contrary to what I previously said, I do now think Desmond may be alone in the hatch. And I do think Make Your Own Kind of Music had special meaning because he's been down there so long and needs to keep himself entertained. Also, the ping pong table was set up so that one person could play alone.
9) Does Desmond remember something specific that happened 44 days ago? When Locke tells him about their plane crash and when it was, Desmond kind of paused and then repeated '44 days?' I am not sure if that's because he knows of something specific that went on 44 days ago that perhaps caused their crash, or if he was just reacting to the fact that a) they'd been on the island for 44 days and had not gotten sick or b) the "real world" still existed because they mentioned they were flying from Sydney to LA. He barely remembered his own name, so I'm sure the whole thing was confusing to him.

THE COUNTDOWN
Near the end of the HatchBacks, a familiar beep starts sounding and it is clearly either a warning that someone was on the premises (Jack coming down hatch or Kate in vent), or it was an alarm sounding because the counter had to be reset. After Locke entered in The Numbers, it reset to 108 00. It was cool to see Locke hesitate and look pretty scared before hitting Execute, though.

So what exactly is the countdown counting do to? Most people seem to agree that this is a "doomsday" device, and if it is not continually reset, "something bad" will happen. That is why there always must be someone in the hatch, whose responsibility it is to reset it all the time. I have not seen any other theories than this one, except that it is a counter, but that nothing bad" will happen if it counts down all the way, and the fear is just all in Desmond's head.

KATE
My Kate Hate is waning this season, and I can only worry that it's because another female character is soon coming to usurp her position of Supremely Annoying Lostaway. But even of all the haters on the boards, everyone, and I do mean everyone, agreed that she had two of the best scenes of the show:
1) her "choco-gasm" as it was called on the boards (the candy bar had the brand Apollo on it, by the way), and
2) her hilarious "WTF?" face when Make Your Own Kind of Music starting blaring as she was crawling through the vent. She nearly got shot! Close, but no cigar.

MICHAEL'S FLASHBACKS
Only two things to note here:
1) I was remiss in including this last season, so I will say it now: Remember how Michael got hit by a car? Well supposedly that car was seen elsewhere last season, here's a quote from a Lost site: "The mystery car refers to the tan Bonneville that hit Michael, Locke and Kate." As in, the
same car hit all three of them. Coincidence? I think not!
2) Michael gave Walt a polar bear stuffed animal. Coincidence? I think NOT!

THE RAFTUGEES
You either loved these scenes or you didn't. I am in the latter camp. I felt like they were obviously trying to deepen the bond between Sawyer and Michael, but a lot of the dialogue to me seemed forced, especially on Sawyer's end. Although he did seem to figure out the whole "Those were The Others and the kid they were coming for this whole time was Walt" thing pretty quickly, I must say. I also really didn't need to see him digging out the bullet from his shoulder.

At least there was an end to the floating, as they washed back to the shore, and then found poor Jin, who was now on the set of 28 Days Later, rather than Lost. Crazy zombie-looking peeps were stumbling toward them with medieval-looking weapons. Choices are:
1) The Others
2) Other 815 Survivors who are defending their turf
3) Other 815 Survivors who have The Sickness
4) Other 815 Survivors who went all Lord of the Flies on each other
5) Combo of Others and Survivors
6) Combo of Others and Nigerian Drug Smugglers (from c@caine plane)
7) Others, Survivors AND Smugglers, oh my!

BEST LINES OF THE EPISODE:
MICHAEL: They took my son. They found us -- took Walt -- because you made me fire the flare.
SAWYER: At least Walt is on a boat -- probably wrapped in a blanket with a cup of cocoa -- while we're on this piece...
MICHAEL: Get off my raft.

LOCKE: How long have you been down here?
DESMOND: Shut it.

LOCKE: It's pointless to tie me up, I'm not dangerous. But her, she's a fugitive.
DESMOND: So, what does that make you then, brother?
LOCKE: I'm a regional collections manager for a cardboard manufacturer -- boxes primarily.
DESMOND: All right then, box man, tie her up.
(Erika's favorite scene, because of Locke's hilarious delivery:)
DESMOND (after seeing Jack in mirrors): Who the hell is that?
LOCKE: That would be Jack.

SAWYER: They found us because they were looking for us, for Walt.
MICHAEL: Don't you ever say his name again, ever.
SAWYER: Oh, what are you to do, splash me?

THIS WEEK'S EPISODE:
"Orientation"
PREVIEWS. LOOK. AWESOME.

Enjoy,
- e

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

S2Ep1: Man of Science, Man of Faith (Jack's fourth flashback) - 9/21/05

Hello my dear friends...
Say it with me now: LOST is BACK.... yeah, baby, yeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

I will start out by welcoming several new members to this distribution list. I had every intention of writing each one of you a personal message, but time slipped away. Since at this point I believe there are more people on the list who actually DON'T personally know me than there are those who do, along with the fact that I'm no longer writing these from my work account,
you can expect me to "up the level of craziness" in these write-ups that much more. Hee hee. But seriously, since there are so many new people added, I have a one-time only special section at the end of this already too long recap just to set the rules of participation as well as expectations, which I beg all of you to read just this once, even the old-timers.

But first, on to the good stuff. I stayed miraculously almost entirely spoiler-free throughout the summer, and since I was out of the country for the two weeks leading up to the premiere, I hadn't even seen previews, which I'm confident made my viewing enjoyment all the greater. I recommend this approach to everyone. I was completely happy and utterly impressed with the
premiere, and have high hopes for the season. So without further ado, here are the things you may or may not have caught in the premiere, and how they may or may not tie into anything bigger.

OPENING SCENE
Those on this list who were at my place watching the premiere (my specially made shirt said "I love Locke" (love was a heart symbol) on the front and "I Hate Kate" on the back) can attest to the fact that I freaked out a little bit at the beginning of the show, thinking we were on the wrong channel. Then after I realized it was the right channel, I next thought it was a flashback, and guessed everyone from Sawyer, to Locke when he was young, to Hurley when he may have once been skinny. So obviously I had no idea what was going on as it ended up being a present-day/real-time scene of the at-that-point unknown dude in the hatch.
Important things from this scene:
- As so many episodes have in the past, this one also started with a focus on an eye opening. I still can't help but wonder if some day that will end up being significant.
- The scene begins in a bedroom. The guy wakes up from the UPPER bunk, and the lower bunk is cleanly made and there is a stack of books on a shelf near the pillow, leading me to believe our Hatch Man, as he is known on the boards, is not alone. The window behind him has blinds and daylight appears to be shining through at one point, but most people obviously now think that
it was just an artificial source of bright light. He is in all white - boxers and a t-shirt.
- He goes to an Apple II (?) computer, types in The Numbers (thank you Tivo/slo-mo), and hits the "execute" button (which I have learned from board nerds was not typically a button on this type of computer)
- "Make Your Own Kind of Music" by The Mamas & The Papas (I think) was spinnin' old school style on a record player
- Then he started going through what looked like a typical morning routine, which caused some people on the boards to point out that he was "living" down there and not "surviving" like the people above ground. He exercised on outdated equipment, had running water for a shower, electricity for a blender and washer/dryer, and some sort of weird food. At first I actually
thought he had eggs, but upon several slo-mo's and pauses, I now think what he mixed into the blender with some sort of protein powder looked like jello mold type jiggly stuff, not eggs. He's also rockin' a red lava lamp down there, so I give him respect.
- He ended his routine with what I thought was a big ol' 'roid injection, but what I now think was an immunization shot or medicine. There were several vials lined up in his cabinet, all of course which contained The Numbers on the RX, prefaced by the letters CR.
- He is interrupted by an explosion from above (Locke blowing off hatch). He immediately goes to grab one of many identical light-colored jackets from a closet, puts on boots, and then runs to a door with a combination lock... through meticulous slo-mo'ing I saw him turn to 23 then 42 and then I think either 47 or 48 (original number of survivors? or some other meaning?). He takes out a few of MANY guns, runs to some machines to power everything down and then looks through some crazy scope and adjusts several mirrors so he can actually see up to the top of the hatch and look at the Lostaways peering down... It should also be noted that both his jacket and the 'roid cabinet had the same logo on them. It is an octagon, with an S-like graphic
in the middle... it almost looks like a spiderweb.
- So ONE question has been answered, sort of... What's in The Hatch? Well, naturally... it's the Hatch Man!

"QUARANTINE" WRITTEN ON THE INSIDE OF THE LID
I'm hoping I don't need to spell this out, but just in case... that means that the hatch is the safe place to be, not the island.

JACK'S FLASHBACK, or JACK!BACK (Jack in his own flashbacks is referred to as
Flash!Jack)

Many board peeps were bitter that it was yet ANOTHER Jack!Back, and I must agree. We already know that he ended up marrying a patient of his who he miraculously fixed. So the only new things we learned, which I think we could've learned through much cooler means, were:
- Apparently the producers of Lost have the ability to travel back in time to when Matthew Fox (actor who plays Jack) was starring in the show Party of Five, because I will be d@mned if that bad hair/wig wasn't straight outta the early 90s, so much so that I honestly expected good ol' Bailey and whiny Julia and Claudia and baby Owen to pop out at any moment and that theme song by the BoDeans to start blasting over the hospital PA system.
- The man who Jack chose NOT to save was Adam Rutherford, age 57. I am SURE that this guy was either the dad or stepdad of Shannon, whose last name is also Rutherford. They just do not put in small details like that for no reason. His time of death was, of course, 8:15.
- Jack had no bedside manner and actually got some good advice from his dad, who was sober for once - Jack worked at St. Sebastian hospital. He had a number on his badge but I couldn't make it out.
- Jack had given up hope of curing Sarah and was taking out his rage like every normal guy does by attempting to do a tour de stad. We see him starting to race some other crazy guy. The conversation that then transpires after Jack twists his ankle was perhaps the most carefully
scripted we've seen thus far in the series, with gems like:
- I was ALMOST a doctor once
- So what's your excuse for running like the devil's chasing you?
- ... I'm training for a race around the world.
- You must have done something worthy of self-flagellation
- Just one thing - what if you DID fix her?, I didn't, But what if you did? You don't know her situation, that would be a miracle. And you don't believe in miracles?
- Well I'm going to give you some advice anyway. You have to lift it up.(NOT sounding like he's talking about the ankle)
- See ya in another life, yeah?
- I will get to theories on Desmond later... but I will take the time here to say that in my finale write-up from Season 1, I ended with a list of outstanding questions, one of which was "Why did Jack get divorced?" My brother was quick to point out that we only know he is no longer married. We don't know if he got divorced or if Sarah ended up dying, which I think is especially important to consider after this flashback. Perhaps his "faith" was temporarily restored when she miraculously was "fixed," but then later after they were married something happened and she died, turning him back into Man o' Science.

CreepyDrownedWalt / WALT'S WHISPERS
OK, so, here's the thing - I don't like creepy little kids. Never have, never will. Walt officially is on that list now, up there with Dakota Fanning, those twin girls from The Shining, Malachai from Children of the Corn, and so on. This scene made my top three Creepy Freakouts of the series, with the other two being Charlie hanging from the tree and Locke's freaky Boone/ "Theresa falls up the stairs" hallucination.

So what exactly was going on here? Supposedly a PA radio station played it backwards and claims that Walt is saying "Push the button no button is bad" which could be interpreted two ways: 1) Push the button. No. Button is bad. or 2) Push the button. No button is bad. Who knows if that is even what he said. If you have to go to that much effort to know what he said, I doubt it's crucial information to know, but I've been wrong before. You could tell that the scene itself was weird because his lips were moving out of sync and in general it seemed jumpy. Also he was dripping wet (at first I thought it was blood and nearly passed out) and wearing some bizarro shirt he didn't have on before. Most board people noticed he also grew approximately 12 feet over the summer. I think there are a few possible explanations:
- It was a hallucination and nothing more
- He is dead and that was his ghost
- Shannon also has "powers" and saw something that was happening off of the island
- Walt used his powers to apparate himself in front of Shannon for a few seconds to try to convey a message but wasn't able to actually say anything (note - I was positive that apparate was a real word. So a shout out to Nerdy P for being right that it is actually only a word used in the Harry Potter books. I was stunned to see it is not in the dictionary. I'm not sure if I like the fact that I didn't realize it was a made-up word from HP, or if I'm ashamed. Either way, you know what I was trying to say.)
- He somehow did fall off the boat, or escape, and "the island" is conveying a message to Shannon on his behalf I wouldn't hold your breath that we will find out any time soon. But I will
ask you to ponder this - Why did Vincent lead her there? I'll tell you why - because dogs rock, and they are smart, and Vincent is probably the mastermind of everything going on the island. You heard it here first.

JACK VS. LOCKE
The growing tension between Jack and my man Locke finally reached a breaking point as Locke (who, let's remember, was prodding Jack all last season to Be A Leader) openly defies Jack in front of the group and leaves everyone to go down the hatch, as well as asks Jack earlier what exactly he was afraid of finding down there. There were a few key shots that I thought were important and done for a reason. One was when Locke was lowering Kate down the hatch, his palms soon became totally bloody as she was dragged down and he tried to pull against the force taking her. The other shot was when Jack went down, they showed him ripping off rags to tie around both of his palms beforehand. I'm sure the Man of Science, Man of Faith title and the bloody palms and religious symbolism they carry are all tied together.

ENDING SCENE
Jack drops down the hatch, and is met with a dark, damp concrete hallway with dripping water and big pipes all around. He noticed a pair of shoes on the floor - which I think may be Kate's because they looked small, but could also obviously be Locke's, or I guess could also be Desmond's. There are electrical outlets and moldy-looking corroded ceilings, actually bringing
back bad memories of old rented apartments of yore. He passes a berzerker mural made from various colored paints that were still sitting out. The mural included:
- An underground house,
- The phrase "I'm Sick",
- Arrows pointing up from the house to a beach scene,
- The sun with the number 108 in it (all the numbers added up)
- A woman's face who may or may not resemble Danielle the French woman,
- The numbers "108" and "42" were painted in various other spots as well, as well as what also looked like a few fish

Jack continues trolling around and sees a bunch of buckets that appear to be open and have dirty dusty crap overflowing from them. The key around his neck starts moving toward the wall, which is undoubtedly a big part of whatever it is that is going on. In Season 1 we realized that the compasses didn't work, the tides were all screwed up, and many people also thought the
floating black stuff could possibly be a bunch of little magnets making forms together.

Now the Freaky Factor escalates, as Jack turns the corner and a mirror readjusts to follow him, and the eerily happy "Make Your Own Kind of Music" starts blaring again. He's now moved into a big domed control room, with tons of machines with wave-like readings, spools twirling, and sounds that are a lot like those Lostzilla makes... He is about to hit the "execute" button (um, let's just all agree that of all things to do when you're finally in the hatch, pressing buttons randomly is probably not a good idea), and Locke appears to say "I wouldn't do that." A heated exchange ensues, during which Locke tries to tell Jack to calm down and that Kate is fine, but Jack is flipping out to the point that Brother Desmond must shoot the gun off in the ceiling and then finally reveal himself to Jack. We end with a stunned "You." from Jack.

DESMOND
- Another anagram - "Demons" with an extra D. However, I will say that the Desmond in the stadium seemed like a totally normal, nice guy. - Is Desmond the devil? Did he meet all of the Lostaways before the crash and did they somehow unknowingly or unwittingly "sell their soul" to him? He really didn't seem evil in the Jack!Back though.
- Did he really attempt to go on his race around the world and somehow he also was destined to land on the island? Is the hatch the crazy vessel he was using for his journey and it somehow ran aground? If so, when did he arrive and how long has he been there?
- He obviously wants to STAY in the hatch (quarantine lid, he didn't come out, he's got tons of guns and an elaborate system to protect himself, etc., etc). I feel like the song he was playing symbolized a lonely life where you need to find happiness in a repetitive existence on your own. He was definitely just hangin' out down there. But he must have been there a while if he knew the island was dangerous and if he was injecting himself with something to fight off "the sickness," perhaps?
- What is the logo on his shirt (I think it also appeared on the mirror system)? What was he injecting? What was the program he executes? Some think it is a virtual reality program for HIM to liven up his time down there. I think he may control Lostzilla and Lostzilla keeps people away from his lair.
- Is he alone? How big is the hatch?
- Where is Kate? A huge column of white light appeared before she vanished, so something different may have happened to her... we can only hope.
- Why is Locke so calm? Had HE met Desmond before? If Sarah miraculously was fixed after Jack talked with Desmond in the stadium, and Locke could miraculously walk again after landing on the island, was Desmond somehow involved in both?
- Is that NOT Desmond but perhaps an evil twin? Yes, I know evil twins are lame (sorry, Nick), but we do know that supposedly there were evil twin guys on the Others' boat... so perhaps there are clones running around...
- Is Desmond connected with The Others? I actually don't think he is.
- Whose d@mn shoes were those? Come on, writers, throw us a bone!

MAN OF SCIENCE, MAN OF FAITH
Is this title of the episode referring to Jack vs. Locke?...
... or Jack vs. Desmond?
... or Jack vs. himself at different points in his life?

BEST LINES OF THE EPISODE
Hurley: Why did you do that? Why'd you light the fuse, man?
Locke: Why wouldn't I light the fuse?
Hurley: Ah, maybe because I was running toward you, waving my arm, saying 'don't do that'?
Locke: (laughs) You got a point there.

Hurley: What's that thing where doctors make you feel better, just by talking to you?
Jack: Bedside manner
Hurley: Yeah, that. Yours sucks, dude.

NEXT WEEK'S EPISODE:
"Adrift" - focusing on the raft-ugees
(There appear to be three more episodes lined up after this week's with no lame hiatuses... we'll see...)

SPECIAL ONE-TIME SECTION
RULES FOR SEASON 2 WRITE-UPS/PLEA TO YOU, MY FAITHFUL READERS

After rejoining the boards for the first time since the finale, the full weight of how proportionate my enjoyment of the show is to my lack of spoiler knowledge was very obvious. So many hard core people on the boards were disappointed in the premiere whereas I thought it was fantastic. That is because they all knew about Desmond, they all knew about Walt appearing, and already know half of what is going to happen this season, whereas I, blissfully, know nothing.

And I'd like to keep it that way.

What brief periods of respite and escapism can be found in life must be closely defended... so therefore I just want to set a rule going forward for season 2... I do not want anyone to send me any spoilers whatsoever. If you hear something or read something about the show... please do not assume I also have heard or read the same information, because I go to great lengths to now avoid it. If you send me some sort of spoiler, well, consider yourself banned from this distribution list at the very least while my evil warped mind thinks of better ways to punish you. HOWEVER, having said that, part of the great joy I find in this show and going on the theory boards is that I DO love to hear what people THINK (as opposed to KNOW) is going to happen, what theories anyone has, etc., etc., so by all means if you have an idea that is truly your own and is not a confirmed spoiler, or have read about a cool theory on the boards, please send my way and I will include in the write-up for others to ponder. Examples from last season include the time-loop theory, the "everyone represents a different part of a personality" (aka Blank Slate/Tabula Rasa) theory, the virtual reality game theory, and all others included in this write-up today about who Desmond is, etc.

Finally, here is a pic of the cast after winning Best Drama at the Emmys.





Enjoy tonight's show,
- e