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