No long, drawn out thoughts this week. Just a few things to keep in mind as we watch Lost's last. I may end up writing a show summary in the future, but it won't be for a while.
The Good:
Ben is (apparently) a bad guy again, or at least not a very good guy. This is awesome, as bad, manipulative Ben > good, wussy Ben.
Besides the whole "Kate, you're good to go" deal, the speech by Jacob was good, and I think it helps frame the character side of the show as well as the finale.
We're gearing up for a decent flashsideways ending, and the fan theory that it takes place after the island blows up is gaining more credence now that we know Widmore's plans for Desmond.
Jack has turned into probably the second best redemption story on the island (after Charlie), but will he keep his guardianship for long? Is Hurley's "I'm just glad it's not me," an ironic hint at the island's future, or could he be tapped to be the Richard to Jack's Jacob?
The Bad:
The whole "Kate, I crossed you off because you became a mom" thing was a letdown, but there still is perhaps a possibility that she was never the sixth candidate. Maybe Jacob has learned to let go of his lists.
Is Frank dead? If he is, the other characters don't seem to care very much. Notice how all of their mournings/questions are related only to Sun, Jin and Sayid. Granted, the castaways didn't meet our wisecracking pilot until three years into the show, but in Island time, that was about three and a half months.
I think that when all is said and done, one of the biggest flaws with season six (and, really, season five) on the characterization side of things is the lack of Desmond's on-island appearances. Let's hope that he's in the finale a lot, and let's hope that he's a lot less wonky and a lot more pining-for-Penny.
The Neutral:
Where is Richard? He can't be dead, can he? Other people/groups to keep locations in mind for: the rest of Widmore's people, Desmond, Claire.
How many people will die? Prior to Ilana's kaboom, I predicted that Ilana, Richard, Claire, Sayid, Sawyer and Miles would all be biting the bullet. I'm not so sure about all of them now, but I'm still holding out for at least a couple more.
Still want some answers? While you're looking online for the encyclopedia of unanswered question lists, throw the one I wrote at the beginning of the season into the mix. By my estimation, numbers six and seven are accounted for, along with most of one, part of two and ten, and maybe nine (I'm still holding out for a better answer on this one). Will we get any more?
It's been fun, Lost fans. See ya 'round the Internets.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Understanding "Across the Sea"
I was disappointed. Very disappointed.
Being the Lost junkie that I am, I had been anticipating last week’s episode, “Across the Sea,” for weeks, ever since I had heard that it was going to be different, weird, and, most intriguingly, not featuring any of the series regulars. I became a bit more skeptical as the season progressed with few answers being given (besides “Ab Aeterno” plus a few other unsatisfying answers like the whispers and Jack’s dad), but I was still looking forward to what I hoped would be a groundbreaking episode of the show.
What I got was a poorly conceived, poorly acted, trite and unnecessary hour thrown into Lost’s final moments – the moments when the show needs most of all to be on its A game. Many of the answers we received were hokey or not explained well, many were things we never needed answers to and a few even created inconsistencies.
Worst of all, however, was the episode’s absolutely terrible ability to stand by itself. I’ve read tons and tons of analysis about this episode, as I do after every episode, and I’ve thought a lot about it myself, again, same as every time; the difference with this episode is that this continued analysis was not optional – in order to make heads or tails of the show’s central concepts, a long puzzling needed to take place.
I’m not saying I want Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse to walk me through everything. I don’t, and they usually wouldn’t oblige me even if I wanted them to (the out of place flashback to the Adam and Eve skeletons notwithstanding). But one of their mantras has always been “The show should stand on its own.” I have never felt like it did that less than last Tuesday.
Nevertheless, I have puzzled, and these scrawlings are my observations. As usual, I will try to keep them short, and, as usual, I will probably fail. However, if you’re still trying to get a bead on what exactly “Across the Sea” was all about, read on. Maybe you and I can figure this one out together.
Did we need this?
Before the episode came out, I was excited for what Lost fanboys usually refer to as a “mythological download,” but after it was over I didn’t really feel like I needed to know what we found out. Essentially, the central Jacob/Man in Black myth was enough for me; the “cork in the bottle” analogy essentially explained to me everything I needed to know about the conflict of these two ageless titans: Jacob is a good guy trying to keep the embodiment of evil from destroying earth.
Granted, this is just my opinion, but for those of you who wanted more, what difference did these revelations make to you? OK, you found out how Jacob became the guardian. We now don’t know how Mother became a guardian, or how the whole guardian thing got started in the first place.
We now know that Jacob and MIB were brothers, separated by some weird longing to leave the island. I suppose this was intended to give their struggle more emotional impact, and maybe it would have if the child actors weren’t so typical child actor and if the adult versions of these two characters weren’t forced to wade through such mucky dialogue. This, too, raises more questions: how did the other islanders get there, for example? Why and how did MIB’s real mom appear as a ghost (side note: has anyone else noticed how lazy the writers are getting with the whole ghost conceit?)?
The biggest question raised because of the twins’ backstory, however, is why it was and is so bad that the Man in Black wanted off the island. My guess is that, at that time, it either wasn’t (in which case Mother was delusional or looking for her replacement or both), or it had something to do with the light at the island’s core (don’t worry, I’ll be getting to that).
This raises the even more important question of why it’s bad that Smokey is let off now. I mean, he’s obviously one bad dude, ready and willing to wipe out anyone who gets in his way, but what would actually happen if he gets off the island? Would he really wipe out existence, or would he simply say, “Hmm, this is nice. I don’t know what Mom was so worried about”? This raises some fundamental questions about what the smoke monster is, which hopefully will be answered in the final three and a half hours. At the rate the show is letting the ends dangle, however, I’m not so sure. If it isn’t answered, it calls into question the entire purpose of, well, really the entire show. There are a lot of ways I would not be comfortable with the series ending; one of them would be a resolution in which Smokey is just some dude who wants to get off the island. It seems a paltry thing to lose lives over.
Screw the cave. Seriously, screw that thing.
This was, again, something I didn’t need to know. The island is special, it has seemingly magic or electromagnetic properties, whatever. This is not something in and of itself that needs to be explained, it is just an explanation given for why the island does crazy stuff, similar to when a Star Trek ship starts to shake and Scotty calls Kirk and says, “Captain! The [jargon] is [jargoning] with the [jargonajigger]!” We don’t need to know what the jargon is. We just need to know that Khan is going to get messed up.
Again, even if you disagree, this is unquestionably one of the worst explanations in the history of explaining things. When Mother finally settles on a definition of the light in the cave, she says this:
“Life, death, rebirth; it’s the source, the heart of the island.”
OK, first of all, Alison Janey, go back to playing Juno’s mom. It suits you a lot better. Second of all, this is a definition so vague, so ill-defined, that it makes Obi-Wan Kenobi’s explanation of the Force sound like a doctoral thesis.
Based on that piece of dialogue and a few other tidbits, I think it’s safe to say that the cave contains some sort of Force-like substance, a Gaia sort of energy, a lifeforce that turns the wheel of the world. Thanks for that, guys, I guess. I don’t really know what that has to do with anything that has happened on the show up til now, other than the creation of the smoke monster and the donkey wheel.
And, now that we mention it, how about those two things? This is yet another case where the vague definitions of what the light actually is comes into play. This unnecessary revelation brings up the question of why light + MIB = smoke monster, and the much more annoying question of how and why MIB and his buddies thought the light could send them off the island. Obviously, none of them had ever been down there, or several smoke monsters would be roaming around. When Mother asked MIB about his logic, he simply responded with a petulant “Because I’m special!” – an obvious and unnecessary allusion to Locke when we actually wanted a real answer.
Again, to make sense of this, I will make an educated guess and say that some prior experiences with small slices of light caused the men to believe this, but we’ll likely never know.
A missed opportunity
Granted, I did say this was an episode that we didn’t need, and I stand by that, but yet another query comes to mind: if you, Damon and Carlton, decided that the series needed this ancient backstory, why didn’t you spend the time answering questions that have come up on the show rather than giving us this tired sibling rivalry crap?
I’ll give you the Adam and Eve tie up. It was nice of you to clear that up, even though the season one flashback was a bit much. But the questions about Jacob’s origin that have loomed the largest over the show itself remain unanswered. What’s up with the cabin? The ash? Probably most notably absent from the episode, what’s going on with all of the Egyptian imagery? I know you said you didn’t want to show the construction of the four toed statue, and that’s fine, but couldn’t you at least explain it at all? What about the hieroglyphics at the end of the hatch countdown? The only recognition of these elements was the Senet game MIB finds on the beach, and it merely served to jog our memories of past issues not yet accounted for.
Finally, the audacity
All right, guys (yes, this is still directed at Lindelof and Cuse), I understand it’s your show, but really? Really? Are you going to throw such condescending nonsense as “Every question I ask will only lead to another question” in our faces at this stage of the game?
I know you have said from the beginning that Lost is primarily about the characters, but your marketing, and indeed the way you have framed the entire show, tells anyone with half a brain that, in addition to the characters, the show is also about something else. It’s about polar bears and smoke monsters. It’s about teleporting children and hatches with old videos in them and a pile of notebooks heaped in the jungle.
I’ve said it so many times before, but I’ll say it again: Lost is a show that comes, inherently, with a promise of payoff – a guarantee that, yes, we’re going to explain this to you. To not give us that payoff is nothing less than profoundly disrespectful, and to speak so triflingly in both the show and interviews of fans who want this isn’t fair. We don’t need to know all the answers. We just need to know enough so that when (if) we rewatch the show, we can look at the narrative as a whole and say, “Ohhhh, so that’s what that means!” You have not given us this.
Before season six began, I wrote a list of Lost’s best and worst episodes of all time, including in the introduction to the “best” list an innocuous sentence: “Hopefully Season Six can carve out a few places here, too.” Thus, far, with two episodes to go, it has carved out one spot: the excellent Richard-centric “Ab Aeterno.”
The rest of the season has been hit and miss, with every good episode (“Dr. Linus”) seemingly balanced out by a bad one (“What Kate Does”). With this outing, however, I think we can notch a new entry in the “worst” column.
It’s hard to make 121 ½ hours of television. I don’t contest that. But this hour could have – should have – been better.
Being the Lost junkie that I am, I had been anticipating last week’s episode, “Across the Sea,” for weeks, ever since I had heard that it was going to be different, weird, and, most intriguingly, not featuring any of the series regulars. I became a bit more skeptical as the season progressed with few answers being given (besides “Ab Aeterno” plus a few other unsatisfying answers like the whispers and Jack’s dad), but I was still looking forward to what I hoped would be a groundbreaking episode of the show.
What I got was a poorly conceived, poorly acted, trite and unnecessary hour thrown into Lost’s final moments – the moments when the show needs most of all to be on its A game. Many of the answers we received were hokey or not explained well, many were things we never needed answers to and a few even created inconsistencies.
Worst of all, however, was the episode’s absolutely terrible ability to stand by itself. I’ve read tons and tons of analysis about this episode, as I do after every episode, and I’ve thought a lot about it myself, again, same as every time; the difference with this episode is that this continued analysis was not optional – in order to make heads or tails of the show’s central concepts, a long puzzling needed to take place.
I’m not saying I want Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse to walk me through everything. I don’t, and they usually wouldn’t oblige me even if I wanted them to (the out of place flashback to the Adam and Eve skeletons notwithstanding). But one of their mantras has always been “The show should stand on its own.” I have never felt like it did that less than last Tuesday.
Nevertheless, I have puzzled, and these scrawlings are my observations. As usual, I will try to keep them short, and, as usual, I will probably fail. However, if you’re still trying to get a bead on what exactly “Across the Sea” was all about, read on. Maybe you and I can figure this one out together.
Did we need this?
Before the episode came out, I was excited for what Lost fanboys usually refer to as a “mythological download,” but after it was over I didn’t really feel like I needed to know what we found out. Essentially, the central Jacob/Man in Black myth was enough for me; the “cork in the bottle” analogy essentially explained to me everything I needed to know about the conflict of these two ageless titans: Jacob is a good guy trying to keep the embodiment of evil from destroying earth.
Granted, this is just my opinion, but for those of you who wanted more, what difference did these revelations make to you? OK, you found out how Jacob became the guardian. We now don’t know how Mother became a guardian, or how the whole guardian thing got started in the first place.
We now know that Jacob and MIB were brothers, separated by some weird longing to leave the island. I suppose this was intended to give their struggle more emotional impact, and maybe it would have if the child actors weren’t so typical child actor and if the adult versions of these two characters weren’t forced to wade through such mucky dialogue. This, too, raises more questions: how did the other islanders get there, for example? Why and how did MIB’s real mom appear as a ghost (side note: has anyone else noticed how lazy the writers are getting with the whole ghost conceit?)?
The biggest question raised because of the twins’ backstory, however, is why it was and is so bad that the Man in Black wanted off the island. My guess is that, at that time, it either wasn’t (in which case Mother was delusional or looking for her replacement or both), or it had something to do with the light at the island’s core (don’t worry, I’ll be getting to that).
This raises the even more important question of why it’s bad that Smokey is let off now. I mean, he’s obviously one bad dude, ready and willing to wipe out anyone who gets in his way, but what would actually happen if he gets off the island? Would he really wipe out existence, or would he simply say, “Hmm, this is nice. I don’t know what Mom was so worried about”? This raises some fundamental questions about what the smoke monster is, which hopefully will be answered in the final three and a half hours. At the rate the show is letting the ends dangle, however, I’m not so sure. If it isn’t answered, it calls into question the entire purpose of, well, really the entire show. There are a lot of ways I would not be comfortable with the series ending; one of them would be a resolution in which Smokey is just some dude who wants to get off the island. It seems a paltry thing to lose lives over.
Screw the cave. Seriously, screw that thing.
This was, again, something I didn’t need to know. The island is special, it has seemingly magic or electromagnetic properties, whatever. This is not something in and of itself that needs to be explained, it is just an explanation given for why the island does crazy stuff, similar to when a Star Trek ship starts to shake and Scotty calls Kirk and says, “Captain! The [jargon] is [jargoning] with the [jargonajigger]!” We don’t need to know what the jargon is. We just need to know that Khan is going to get messed up.
Again, even if you disagree, this is unquestionably one of the worst explanations in the history of explaining things. When Mother finally settles on a definition of the light in the cave, she says this:
“Life, death, rebirth; it’s the source, the heart of the island.”
OK, first of all, Alison Janey, go back to playing Juno’s mom. It suits you a lot better. Second of all, this is a definition so vague, so ill-defined, that it makes Obi-Wan Kenobi’s explanation of the Force sound like a doctoral thesis.
Based on that piece of dialogue and a few other tidbits, I think it’s safe to say that the cave contains some sort of Force-like substance, a Gaia sort of energy, a lifeforce that turns the wheel of the world. Thanks for that, guys, I guess. I don’t really know what that has to do with anything that has happened on the show up til now, other than the creation of the smoke monster and the donkey wheel.
And, now that we mention it, how about those two things? This is yet another case where the vague definitions of what the light actually is comes into play. This unnecessary revelation brings up the question of why light + MIB = smoke monster, and the much more annoying question of how and why MIB and his buddies thought the light could send them off the island. Obviously, none of them had ever been down there, or several smoke monsters would be roaming around. When Mother asked MIB about his logic, he simply responded with a petulant “Because I’m special!” – an obvious and unnecessary allusion to Locke when we actually wanted a real answer.
Again, to make sense of this, I will make an educated guess and say that some prior experiences with small slices of light caused the men to believe this, but we’ll likely never know.
A missed opportunity
Granted, I did say this was an episode that we didn’t need, and I stand by that, but yet another query comes to mind: if you, Damon and Carlton, decided that the series needed this ancient backstory, why didn’t you spend the time answering questions that have come up on the show rather than giving us this tired sibling rivalry crap?
I’ll give you the Adam and Eve tie up. It was nice of you to clear that up, even though the season one flashback was a bit much. But the questions about Jacob’s origin that have loomed the largest over the show itself remain unanswered. What’s up with the cabin? The ash? Probably most notably absent from the episode, what’s going on with all of the Egyptian imagery? I know you said you didn’t want to show the construction of the four toed statue, and that’s fine, but couldn’t you at least explain it at all? What about the hieroglyphics at the end of the hatch countdown? The only recognition of these elements was the Senet game MIB finds on the beach, and it merely served to jog our memories of past issues not yet accounted for.
Finally, the audacity
All right, guys (yes, this is still directed at Lindelof and Cuse), I understand it’s your show, but really? Really? Are you going to throw such condescending nonsense as “Every question I ask will only lead to another question” in our faces at this stage of the game?
I know you have said from the beginning that Lost is primarily about the characters, but your marketing, and indeed the way you have framed the entire show, tells anyone with half a brain that, in addition to the characters, the show is also about something else. It’s about polar bears and smoke monsters. It’s about teleporting children and hatches with old videos in them and a pile of notebooks heaped in the jungle.
I’ve said it so many times before, but I’ll say it again: Lost is a show that comes, inherently, with a promise of payoff – a guarantee that, yes, we’re going to explain this to you. To not give us that payoff is nothing less than profoundly disrespectful, and to speak so triflingly in both the show and interviews of fans who want this isn’t fair. We don’t need to know all the answers. We just need to know enough so that when (if) we rewatch the show, we can look at the narrative as a whole and say, “Ohhhh, so that’s what that means!” You have not given us this.
Before season six began, I wrote a list of Lost’s best and worst episodes of all time, including in the introduction to the “best” list an innocuous sentence: “Hopefully Season Six can carve out a few places here, too.” Thus, far, with two episodes to go, it has carved out one spot: the excellent Richard-centric “Ab Aeterno.”
The rest of the season has been hit and miss, with every good episode (“Dr. Linus”) seemingly balanced out by a bad one (“What Kate Does”). With this outing, however, I think we can notch a new entry in the “worst” column.
It’s hard to make 121 ½ hours of television. I don’t contest that. But this hour could have – should have – been better.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Lost Notes, part one million
I'm sorry that my blog has disintegrated (for the time being) into a series of nigh incomprehensible musings about an ABC science fiction show. I'm not apologizing to you, as if you somehow expected grander things out of me. I'm just sorry. However, I must write, so here we are.
As usual, don't read this until you are caught up to the current episode, which in this case is "Everybody Loves Hugo." Also if you don't feel like reading all of this, scroll down to the bottom where I discuss the contest.
Thoughts on yesterday's episode:
I enjoyed it. Quite a bit, actually. Throughout the show, the writers have made fleeting, futile efforts at convincing us that Hurley deeply matters, plotwise, to the show. While I would be the first to recognize his value as a character, as a member of a rich ensemble, I was never quite convinced by any arguments that his role in the Island's mythology was vital.
Last night, I believed for the first time. There really isn't that much else to say. The writers finally managed to convincingly elevate our fat friend to "mover and shaker" status, and I for one hope he stays there. I still don't think he's going to be the Last Candidate Standing, as it were, but he certainly jumped up through the ranks in this episode.
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While I'm sure she'll pop up in a flashsideways or two, I'm assuming this will be the general end of questions about Libby. The only question I ever had about her, which I believe was the main question most fans had about her, was simply what was she doing in the mental hospital. It seems that "Everybody Loves Hugo" didn't really answer that question so much as remove. In other words, the reason Libby was in the mental hospital was because she was mentally ill.
As I've previously stated, Libby is not that big of a deal to me. However, the turning of her central mystery into a nonissue is rather disrespectful of the writers. It's almost as if a parent who once promised three scoops of Baskin Robbins got so tired of his child asking about that he finally slammed down the newspaper, said "Fine!" in a grumbly sort of way, and went to and purchased a McDonald's vanilla cone for the kid.
In essence, they essentially just said, "She was there because she was there," making her situation no different from when we see Sawyer in background of the Australian police station while Boone is there. The difference, however, is that the camera didn't do a slow turnaround shot while an orchestra played Cliffhanger Music written by an Oscar winner. It's dumb that they did it this way, but I have bigger fish to fry.
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The answer to what the whispers are was not one of the show's best reveals, but it was nice to see that they hadn't forgotten about them. Also, I love Michael, so that was nice, too.
However, I have a nagging question about those whispers that I really, really hope gets answered: How does that explain Walt?
In "Abandoned," Shannon hears whispers right before getting shot in the guy by Ana Lucia. Right before the bullet bites her, however, she sees a tripped out, dripping wet, backwards-talking Walt. Walt was not dead at this time, nor is he now, but it seems that his strange appearance was related to the whispers. How does this line up?
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Two thoughts on Desmond:
A). He is clearly not dead, and I found it almost insulting how half-heartedly they tried to convey that he might be.
B). I'm 99 percent certain he ran over Locke in the flashsideways to induce some sort of emotional trauma that will result in a flood of memories.
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For those who followed my Lost character death game on Facebook, I was right about Ilana shuffling off the mortal coil -- or, in this case, shattering said coil into tiny pieces. I was surprised, though, that she nipped off so soon. I was certain she would get more explanation, perhaps even her own episode. As it is, I'm guessing that some sort of Jacob flashback will still explain a little more about her.
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OK, that's it for the episode specific stuff. Here are three other thoughts.
The timeline of the flashsideways has really bothered me because I am a nerd who is actually concerned about constructing a semi-workable theory of how time travel works in the Lost universe. The thing that was bothering me, however, is something that most people probably don't care about or even notice. The thing in question is the matter of when the sideways universe began.
Presumably, the reality split from regular Lost continuity when Jughead was blown up. However, if that's the case, whatever way Widmore found out about the sideways universe (let's assume he knows little else except that there's some kind of something that is out of whack and has to do with electromagnetism) should have been able to be discovered for 34 years. Why did someone just figure it out now?
One can't even assume that Widmore knew about such events for a long time and just chose to act now, because the last time he saw Desmond before the kidnapping, he told him to run away and hide. Clearly, something changed his mind in a big way. However, it simply makes no sense that the flashsideways universe would suddenly appear in 2007, because the event that caused it happened in 1974. Hence, my theory.
The Island binds each group of people who come to it together in time. They can all interact with other members of other groups, but when it comes their own personal chronologies, the Island always makes sure it matches up. The Others are their own thing, the Dharma folks are their own thing, and the freighter folk and survivors make up their own little group. That's why the survivors left on the Island at the beginning of Season Five jumped through time while the Others didn't.
To address more coincidental occurrences, that's why the returning Kate, Jack, Hurley and Sayid jumped back in time to exactly the time period in which they would have aged as much as Sawyer and Co. That's also If you watch, through all the time travel that has occurred, none of the freighter people or the survivors (or, nonsensically, Juliet), ever get any older than any of the other ones. If Jack was two months older than Kate at the beginning of the show, he is two months older than her now.
How does that explain the flashsideways? Simple. While the actual event that caused the flashsideways happened in 1974, it was caused by people from the survivor/freighter group, all of whom are bound together in time. Thus, the event took effect in their collective present, which was the day in 2007 when Jack and Co. came back to the future (yuk, yuk, yuk).
Clear as mud? Sure, and it doesn't explain Juliet or why Sun stayed in the present while her buddies went back to 1974. But it's the best I've got.
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Where are Walt, Christian and Aaron? Seriously, this is making me angry. These are some serious loose ends, and they need to be resolved.
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Why do Miles and Frank still exist? As much as I love them, I'm confused as to what purpose they're serving on the show right now. Frank has barely said or done anything at all this year, and it's been several episodes since Miles has been called upon for any use. What are they there for?
That's all I've got for today folks, except an invitation to get in on my previous Lost Facebook challenge. Granted, you're coming in a week late, so you'll lose one point by not being able to guess the fate of Ilana, but you've still got a legitimate shot at some predictive bragging rights. The rules are below, taken from my Facebook note on the subject.
Game One: The Character Death Game
We all know about Lost's predilection for offing its main characters, and one of the most surprising things about this singularly odd final season is that there are only five weeks left until the last hurrah, and all of the main characters (with the possible exception of Sayid? (EDIT: and now, Ilana)) are fully intact.
We know this isn't going to last. The writers have said so, and even if they had said the opposite we would, like psychic and biological polygraphs, know immediately that they were lying. Your first mission, should you choose to accept it, is to either post down below or send me a message with your predictions, simply "alive" or "dead," for the following 14 main cast members (astute readers will note that I'm leaving out unLocke for the moment. If I should not do so, let me know):
Desmond
Ilana XXXXXXXX
Richard
Claire
Sayid
Kate
Sawyer
Jack
Jin
Ben
Hurley
Sun
Miles
Frank
Game Two: The Candidate Game, Part One
One of the central mysteries of this season is who will become "the next Jacob" and take over the role of The Island's eternal and mysterious babysitter. Why someone would WANT such a job is probably one of those mysteries that just won't get answered.
Anyway, there are six people - or, as the show calls them, candidates - up for the job. Currently, the identities of five of them are (more or less) known. Your second job is to write below or to me which of these six options will, in the end, become Jacob's replacement. Please note that I'm intentionally using the names as they appear on the cave wall, just in case the writers end up surprising us and telling us that Christian, not Jack, is a candidate (or some other such manipulation), no matter how far fetched such an idea might be.
Shephard
Ford
Reyes
Jarrah
Kwon
An unknown, sixth candidate
Game Three: The Candidate Game, Part Two
This one is the one most open for ideas, and I would encourage discussion below. Illana mentioned that there are six candidates, but, as shown above, only five of them are (literally) carved in stone. Who is the final candidate, and why do you think so? Could it be Miles, who has somehow stayed alive long after the show has last found use for him? Could it be Lapidus, who was supposed to be on 815 that day? Could it be Desmond, who has found himself once again in the middle of circumstances he can't even begin to understand? Or could it be some other unnamed person, yet to factor prominently into the mix?
Let's discuss.
As usual, don't read this until you are caught up to the current episode, which in this case is "Everybody Loves Hugo." Also if you don't feel like reading all of this, scroll down to the bottom where I discuss the contest.
Thoughts on yesterday's episode:
I enjoyed it. Quite a bit, actually. Throughout the show, the writers have made fleeting, futile efforts at convincing us that Hurley deeply matters, plotwise, to the show. While I would be the first to recognize his value as a character, as a member of a rich ensemble, I was never quite convinced by any arguments that his role in the Island's mythology was vital.
Last night, I believed for the first time. There really isn't that much else to say. The writers finally managed to convincingly elevate our fat friend to "mover and shaker" status, and I for one hope he stays there. I still don't think he's going to be the Last Candidate Standing, as it were, but he certainly jumped up through the ranks in this episode.
---
While I'm sure she'll pop up in a flashsideways or two, I'm assuming this will be the general end of questions about Libby. The only question I ever had about her, which I believe was the main question most fans had about her, was simply what was she doing in the mental hospital. It seems that "Everybody Loves Hugo" didn't really answer that question so much as remove. In other words, the reason Libby was in the mental hospital was because she was mentally ill.
As I've previously stated, Libby is not that big of a deal to me. However, the turning of her central mystery into a nonissue is rather disrespectful of the writers. It's almost as if a parent who once promised three scoops of Baskin Robbins got so tired of his child asking about that he finally slammed down the newspaper, said "Fine!" in a grumbly sort of way, and went to and purchased a McDonald's vanilla cone for the kid.
In essence, they essentially just said, "She was there because she was there," making her situation no different from when we see Sawyer in background of the Australian police station while Boone is there. The difference, however, is that the camera didn't do a slow turnaround shot while an orchestra played Cliffhanger Music written by an Oscar winner. It's dumb that they did it this way, but I have bigger fish to fry.
---
The answer to what the whispers are was not one of the show's best reveals, but it was nice to see that they hadn't forgotten about them. Also, I love Michael, so that was nice, too.
However, I have a nagging question about those whispers that I really, really hope gets answered: How does that explain Walt?
In "Abandoned," Shannon hears whispers right before getting shot in the guy by Ana Lucia. Right before the bullet bites her, however, she sees a tripped out, dripping wet, backwards-talking Walt. Walt was not dead at this time, nor is he now, but it seems that his strange appearance was related to the whispers. How does this line up?
---
Two thoughts on Desmond:
A). He is clearly not dead, and I found it almost insulting how half-heartedly they tried to convey that he might be.
B). I'm 99 percent certain he ran over Locke in the flashsideways to induce some sort of emotional trauma that will result in a flood of memories.
---
For those who followed my Lost character death game on Facebook, I was right about Ilana shuffling off the mortal coil -- or, in this case, shattering said coil into tiny pieces. I was surprised, though, that she nipped off so soon. I was certain she would get more explanation, perhaps even her own episode. As it is, I'm guessing that some sort of Jacob flashback will still explain a little more about her.
---
OK, that's it for the episode specific stuff. Here are three other thoughts.
The timeline of the flashsideways has really bothered me because I am a nerd who is actually concerned about constructing a semi-workable theory of how time travel works in the Lost universe. The thing that was bothering me, however, is something that most people probably don't care about or even notice. The thing in question is the matter of when the sideways universe began.
Presumably, the reality split from regular Lost continuity when Jughead was blown up. However, if that's the case, whatever way Widmore found out about the sideways universe (let's assume he knows little else except that there's some kind of something that is out of whack and has to do with electromagnetism) should have been able to be discovered for 34 years. Why did someone just figure it out now?
One can't even assume that Widmore knew about such events for a long time and just chose to act now, because the last time he saw Desmond before the kidnapping, he told him to run away and hide. Clearly, something changed his mind in a big way. However, it simply makes no sense that the flashsideways universe would suddenly appear in 2007, because the event that caused it happened in 1974. Hence, my theory.
The Island binds each group of people who come to it together in time. They can all interact with other members of other groups, but when it comes their own personal chronologies, the Island always makes sure it matches up. The Others are their own thing, the Dharma folks are their own thing, and the freighter folk and survivors make up their own little group. That's why the survivors left on the Island at the beginning of Season Five jumped through time while the Others didn't.
To address more coincidental occurrences, that's why the returning Kate, Jack, Hurley and Sayid jumped back in time to exactly the time period in which they would have aged as much as Sawyer and Co. That's also If you watch, through all the time travel that has occurred, none of the freighter people or the survivors (or, nonsensically, Juliet), ever get any older than any of the other ones. If Jack was two months older than Kate at the beginning of the show, he is two months older than her now.
How does that explain the flashsideways? Simple. While the actual event that caused the flashsideways happened in 1974, it was caused by people from the survivor/freighter group, all of whom are bound together in time. Thus, the event took effect in their collective present, which was the day in 2007 when Jack and Co. came back to the future (yuk, yuk, yuk).
Clear as mud? Sure, and it doesn't explain Juliet or why Sun stayed in the present while her buddies went back to 1974. But it's the best I've got.
---
Where are Walt, Christian and Aaron? Seriously, this is making me angry. These are some serious loose ends, and they need to be resolved.
---
Why do Miles and Frank still exist? As much as I love them, I'm confused as to what purpose they're serving on the show right now. Frank has barely said or done anything at all this year, and it's been several episodes since Miles has been called upon for any use. What are they there for?
That's all I've got for today folks, except an invitation to get in on my previous Lost Facebook challenge. Granted, you're coming in a week late, so you'll lose one point by not being able to guess the fate of Ilana, but you've still got a legitimate shot at some predictive bragging rights. The rules are below, taken from my Facebook note on the subject.
Game One: The Character Death Game
We all know about Lost's predilection for offing its main characters, and one of the most surprising things about this singularly odd final season is that there are only five weeks left until the last hurrah, and all of the main characters (with the possible exception of Sayid? (EDIT: and now, Ilana)) are fully intact.
We know this isn't going to last. The writers have said so, and even if they had said the opposite we would, like psychic and biological polygraphs, know immediately that they were lying. Your first mission, should you choose to accept it, is to either post down below or send me a message with your predictions, simply "alive" or "dead," for the following 14 main cast members (astute readers will note that I'm leaving out unLocke for the moment. If I should not do so, let me know):
Desmond
Ilana XXXXXXXX
Richard
Claire
Sayid
Kate
Sawyer
Jack
Jin
Ben
Hurley
Sun
Miles
Frank
Game Two: The Candidate Game, Part One
One of the central mysteries of this season is who will become "the next Jacob" and take over the role of The Island's eternal and mysterious babysitter. Why someone would WANT such a job is probably one of those mysteries that just won't get answered.
Anyway, there are six people - or, as the show calls them, candidates - up for the job. Currently, the identities of five of them are (more or less) known. Your second job is to write below or to me which of these six options will, in the end, become Jacob's replacement. Please note that I'm intentionally using the names as they appear on the cave wall, just in case the writers end up surprising us and telling us that Christian, not Jack, is a candidate (or some other such manipulation), no matter how far fetched such an idea might be.
Shephard
Ford
Reyes
Jarrah
Kwon
An unknown, sixth candidate
Game Three: The Candidate Game, Part Two
This one is the one most open for ideas, and I would encourage discussion below. Illana mentioned that there are six candidates, but, as shown above, only five of them are (literally) carved in stone. Who is the final candidate, and why do you think so? Could it be Miles, who has somehow stayed alive long after the show has last found use for him? Could it be Lapidus, who was supposed to be on 815 that day? Could it be Desmond, who has found himself once again in the middle of circumstances he can't even begin to understand? Or could it be some other unnamed person, yet to factor prominently into the mix?
Let's discuss.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Lost: The Halfway Point
It came just in time.
That's how I, and, I think, a lot of other loyal Lost fans felt about "Ab Aeterno," the ninth episode of Lost's final season. Being the ninth hour of the 18 hour-long season, the episode also served as a landmark of sorts, a suitable hook to keep us interested and (yet again) an inherent promise of more answers to come.
That such a hook was needed is nearly unquestionable. For all but the most blindly loyal Lost fans, this season has been, well, not really disappointing, but perhaps underwhelming, at the very least not what ABC has been cracking it up to be. The flashsideways have been met with mixed reviews, the acting retains some of its season six hamminess and, while the plot has moved forward, it has done so in ways that are perhaps too subtle for the stakes. That isn't to say there haven't been a good many bright spots this year (more on those later), but the excitement factor was certainly low for a show promising us high octane thrills and cerebral revelations.
And, speaking of that, it was beginning to look like those revelations would never come. For a season supposedly chock full of answers, the only real reveal we had received was that unLocke is the smoke monster, and we figured that out in the first episode of the year. I believe I shared the emotions of many a fan when I began to wonder if the writers were going to hold on us.
Then came "Ab Aeterno," the most dramatically and mythologically satisfying episode of the season (and, on the mythological side, of the entire show). Nestor Carbonell's Richard is terrific, and boom, boom, boom, we clear up the mystery of Alpert, the Black Rock, what the smoke monster really is, the broken statue and even the purpose of the island itself.
The most encouraging thing about the episode was that it didn't feel contrived. With so much to answer in so little time, the writers could easily have defaulted into expository mode, clearing up vast swaths of myth with dense explanations by those in the know. Instead, they took the time to provide one of the series' better crafted narratives, allowing you to really feel for Richard while at the same time thinking, "Oh, so that's how it happened!"
And, complaints aside and "Ab Aeterno's" top dog status notwithstanding, there have been other good moments this year. "Lighthouse" and "Dr. Linus" both provided viewers with poignant flashsideways (with "Lighthouse's" Jack-centric arc hinting that things in the flashsideways may not be as they seem) and serviceable-to-good on-island drama. Probably the best constant plot point of the year is the candidate mystery, which has turned out to be one of the show's better driving forces.
But, of course, there have been flat moments as well, like the predictably boring "What Kate Does" and the fact that when the show should have been at its most expansive, half of the cast was trapped in a temple courtyard for about five episodes (season three cages, anyone?).
Regardless of all of that, "Ab Aeterno" left me energized and hopeful for the remainder of the season. Therefore, I'll leave you with a couple of roundups, one summarizing the season up to this point and one looking forward to what we should hope for/expect in upcoming episodes.
Season Six Pros And Cons (so far):
Pros:
Juliet is dead.
The flashsideways do not appear to be a useless element of the show.
The candidate mystery is going strong.
We are getting some answers.
Jack is heading down a great arc towards redemption.
Hurley's power is more clearly manifesting itself.
Jacob has been at work.
Cons:
Kate is alive (sorry, I had to). Also, many of the most beloved characters have died by now.
The flashsideways, while of interest at times, are not as satisfying of a narrative device as the flashbacks or flashforwards.
The acting is still a bit hammy
Are we getting enough answers?
NO DESMOND (this one is the worst).
What To Look For In The Final Nine Hours:
As I said previously, "Ab Aeterno" represents a reiteration of the age old Lost adage: We are going to explain this to you. Presumably, this episode should signal a shift into answer mode - probably not in the barrage we were presented with last week, but in a steady stream in which the juiciest bits are saved for last.
Lost is notorious for attempting to trick its viewers into believing that more questions have been answered than actually were, so don't view the latest episode as a be all and end all to your Lost queries. As a guide, take a look at this article that I wrote at the beginning of the season about Lost mysteries that still need to be cleared up.
In it, you'll find some encouraging news. We can essentially cross Richard and the Black Rock off the list entirely. We're also making a dent in the "overall mythology" category, although additional information about who/what Jacob is as well as all of the Egyptian imagery still needs to be addressed. I also think that Richard's origin story more or less served as a de facto explanation of the Others' origin, but more work is required there too. Same thing with the numbers.
On the other hand, the five other categories (What's going on with Christian, Aaron, Walt, the flashsideways, and the Dharma Initiative) remain virtually undiscussed. All three of the aforementioned characters have been conspicuously absent, with Walt not even warranting passing reference. The flashsideways will presumably not be addressed til the very end of the show, so that's OK, I suppose. But the Dharma Initiative... oh boy. That's something else altogether.
The way the writers have handled the DI is quite possibly my least favorite treatment of a Lost mystery. We know almost nothing about them beyond the fact that one offshoot of the team was looking into time travel. Everything else remains a mystery, and it's one that the writers do not seem ready to address. No word on how they found the island, no word on what their other studies were, no word on their continued interest in the island (remember the food drops?), and, most importantly to me, still no word on the Initiative's implied ulterior motives. Will any of this be addressed? I'm really not sure.
Nevertheless, the coming episodes promise to be interesting. First of all there's the expectation. While the hook of mysteries solved is obviously a huge reason to keep watching, we are now getting ready to see events really come to a head. Widmore and unLocke are preparing for a showdown, and a confrontation with Ilana can't be too far behind. The fates of both Sayid and Claire are in question too, and, perhaps most enticingly, Lost fans have begun to get that creeping sensation that character death is near.
Think about that for a second. The writers have held off for a long time. Not only has a main character not been offed yet, but, with the exception of Juliet, not even any significant minor characters have been killed (and Juliet was practically dead before the season even began). While season one had to wait for introductions before the killing could begin and season four waited until the end of the season to unleash its havoc (though from episodes nine through 14, we saw the demise of Carl, Danielle, Alex, Keamy and *sniff* Michael), the other three seasons drew blood very early, with Shannon getting shot in episode six of season two, Eko getting beaten to death by Smokey in episode five of season three and Charlotte dying of what seems to be a time-travel-triggered brain aneurysm in episode five of season five. We are now halfway done with this season, and none of the main characters have thrown off the mortal coil. One of them is bound to do it soon (my money is on Richard or Sayid).
The other reason to look forward to the final episodes is the casting. Please be aware: I promise I won't reveal any plot spoilers (I don't know any myself), but if you don't want to know about past characters who will be appearing in upcoming episodes in some fashion, skip the next four paragraphs.
While we've seen a few familiar old faces in the flashsideways (most notably Charlie, Arzt and Charlotte, but also Ethan, Helen, Liam and others), casting announcements are telling us that the majority of appearances are yet to come. Charlie is slated to appear in more episodes, as is Boone, and there are several other deceased characters who will be making an appearance, including Shannon, Anna Lucia, Libby, Michael and, best of all, Daniel.
Also, different press releases have revealed which characters will get their own centric episodes in coming weeks. This week it will be Sun and Jin, two weeks from now it will be Hurley, and in between those will be (squee!) Desmond! With these announcements (and the announcement that the third to last episode will feature Jacob and the Man in Black) we can be sure that things are going to get pretty interesting.
We can also start speculating about the five remaining hours not currently aligned with a character. If Lost's past season finales are any indication, the last two hours are probably not going to be character centric, leaving us with the episode right before the finale and the episodes two and three weeks before that. Who these episodes focus on is important. It seems likely that at least one of the characters (likely Jack) will have more than one centric episode, but there are still four main characters (Ilana, Frank, Miles and Claire) who haven't gotten their own episodes this year. My money is on Frank and Ilana getting at least a sizable chunk of an episode each (particually Ilana, whose backstory is begging for an explanation). The other episode will then be a repeat.
However, I could be very wrong. Even if a character like Jack ends up getting the episode before the finale, it seems weird that two of the show's least iconic characters would take up episodes so close to the end. However, they must be choosing their episode emphases carefully these days, as the central character will determine much of that hour's story.
Whatever the remaining disappointments, dramatic reveals, casting questions and mystery hopes, it's clear that the show isn't out of the woods yet (nor should it be). But then again, do we really want it to be at this point? One element of the Lost experience that has become more fascinating over the years is the high level of risk with which the viewers invest themselves in the show. Think of it this way: by the end of the show, Lost will be the equivalent of 121 episodes long. If you watched every episode on TV once, you would be watching for four days and 21 hours. Assuming you slept and did nothing else, it would take you a whole week to finish.
And that's just one time through. If you are among the hardest of hardcores who watched the show from the beginning and then watched each season again on DVD before the next one came out, you're dealing with totals ranging in the area of 355.5 hours (14.8 whole days, or 22.2 waking days!). And that's without watching favorite episodes over again or rewatching the last week's episode before the new installment. The point of all this is that even for a newcomer like myself (seasons one through five twice over, with part of season five on TV, plus season six online), this is a significant investment of time. While shows that aren't inherently mysterious may end unsatisfactorily, you can still enjoy the ride. While Lost has been mostly great over its run, you're essentially betting the farm on the end of the show because that's what provides the show with meaning. It's kind of exciting not knowing how your gamble is going to turn out.
Then again, wouldn't it just suck if it ends poorly?
That's how I, and, I think, a lot of other loyal Lost fans felt about "Ab Aeterno," the ninth episode of Lost's final season. Being the ninth hour of the 18 hour-long season, the episode also served as a landmark of sorts, a suitable hook to keep us interested and (yet again) an inherent promise of more answers to come.
That such a hook was needed is nearly unquestionable. For all but the most blindly loyal Lost fans, this season has been, well, not really disappointing, but perhaps underwhelming, at the very least not what ABC has been cracking it up to be. The flashsideways have been met with mixed reviews, the acting retains some of its season six hamminess and, while the plot has moved forward, it has done so in ways that are perhaps too subtle for the stakes. That isn't to say there haven't been a good many bright spots this year (more on those later), but the excitement factor was certainly low for a show promising us high octane thrills and cerebral revelations.
And, speaking of that, it was beginning to look like those revelations would never come. For a season supposedly chock full of answers, the only real reveal we had received was that unLocke is the smoke monster, and we figured that out in the first episode of the year. I believe I shared the emotions of many a fan when I began to wonder if the writers were going to hold on us.
Then came "Ab Aeterno," the most dramatically and mythologically satisfying episode of the season (and, on the mythological side, of the entire show). Nestor Carbonell's Richard is terrific, and boom, boom, boom, we clear up the mystery of Alpert, the Black Rock, what the smoke monster really is, the broken statue and even the purpose of the island itself.
The most encouraging thing about the episode was that it didn't feel contrived. With so much to answer in so little time, the writers could easily have defaulted into expository mode, clearing up vast swaths of myth with dense explanations by those in the know. Instead, they took the time to provide one of the series' better crafted narratives, allowing you to really feel for Richard while at the same time thinking, "Oh, so that's how it happened!"
And, complaints aside and "Ab Aeterno's" top dog status notwithstanding, there have been other good moments this year. "Lighthouse" and "Dr. Linus" both provided viewers with poignant flashsideways (with "Lighthouse's" Jack-centric arc hinting that things in the flashsideways may not be as they seem) and serviceable-to-good on-island drama. Probably the best constant plot point of the year is the candidate mystery, which has turned out to be one of the show's better driving forces.
But, of course, there have been flat moments as well, like the predictably boring "What Kate Does" and the fact that when the show should have been at its most expansive, half of the cast was trapped in a temple courtyard for about five episodes (season three cages, anyone?).
Regardless of all of that, "Ab Aeterno" left me energized and hopeful for the remainder of the season. Therefore, I'll leave you with a couple of roundups, one summarizing the season up to this point and one looking forward to what we should hope for/expect in upcoming episodes.
Season Six Pros And Cons (so far):
Pros:
Juliet is dead.
The flashsideways do not appear to be a useless element of the show.
The candidate mystery is going strong.
We are getting some answers.
Jack is heading down a great arc towards redemption.
Hurley's power is more clearly manifesting itself.
Jacob has been at work.
Cons:
Kate is alive (sorry, I had to). Also, many of the most beloved characters have died by now.
The flashsideways, while of interest at times, are not as satisfying of a narrative device as the flashbacks or flashforwards.
The acting is still a bit hammy
Are we getting enough answers?
NO DESMOND (this one is the worst).
What To Look For In The Final Nine Hours:
As I said previously, "Ab Aeterno" represents a reiteration of the age old Lost adage: We are going to explain this to you. Presumably, this episode should signal a shift into answer mode - probably not in the barrage we were presented with last week, but in a steady stream in which the juiciest bits are saved for last.
Lost is notorious for attempting to trick its viewers into believing that more questions have been answered than actually were, so don't view the latest episode as a be all and end all to your Lost queries. As a guide, take a look at this article that I wrote at the beginning of the season about Lost mysteries that still need to be cleared up.
In it, you'll find some encouraging news. We can essentially cross Richard and the Black Rock off the list entirely. We're also making a dent in the "overall mythology" category, although additional information about who/what Jacob is as well as all of the Egyptian imagery still needs to be addressed. I also think that Richard's origin story more or less served as a de facto explanation of the Others' origin, but more work is required there too. Same thing with the numbers.
On the other hand, the five other categories (What's going on with Christian, Aaron, Walt, the flashsideways, and the Dharma Initiative) remain virtually undiscussed. All three of the aforementioned characters have been conspicuously absent, with Walt not even warranting passing reference. The flashsideways will presumably not be addressed til the very end of the show, so that's OK, I suppose. But the Dharma Initiative... oh boy. That's something else altogether.
The way the writers have handled the DI is quite possibly my least favorite treatment of a Lost mystery. We know almost nothing about them beyond the fact that one offshoot of the team was looking into time travel. Everything else remains a mystery, and it's one that the writers do not seem ready to address. No word on how they found the island, no word on what their other studies were, no word on their continued interest in the island (remember the food drops?), and, most importantly to me, still no word on the Initiative's implied ulterior motives. Will any of this be addressed? I'm really not sure.
Nevertheless, the coming episodes promise to be interesting. First of all there's the expectation. While the hook of mysteries solved is obviously a huge reason to keep watching, we are now getting ready to see events really come to a head. Widmore and unLocke are preparing for a showdown, and a confrontation with Ilana can't be too far behind. The fates of both Sayid and Claire are in question too, and, perhaps most enticingly, Lost fans have begun to get that creeping sensation that character death is near.
Think about that for a second. The writers have held off for a long time. Not only has a main character not been offed yet, but, with the exception of Juliet, not even any significant minor characters have been killed (and Juliet was practically dead before the season even began). While season one had to wait for introductions before the killing could begin and season four waited until the end of the season to unleash its havoc (though from episodes nine through 14, we saw the demise of Carl, Danielle, Alex, Keamy and *sniff* Michael), the other three seasons drew blood very early, with Shannon getting shot in episode six of season two, Eko getting beaten to death by Smokey in episode five of season three and Charlotte dying of what seems to be a time-travel-triggered brain aneurysm in episode five of season five. We are now halfway done with this season, and none of the main characters have thrown off the mortal coil. One of them is bound to do it soon (my money is on Richard or Sayid).
The other reason to look forward to the final episodes is the casting. Please be aware: I promise I won't reveal any plot spoilers (I don't know any myself), but if you don't want to know about past characters who will be appearing in upcoming episodes in some fashion, skip the next four paragraphs.
While we've seen a few familiar old faces in the flashsideways (most notably Charlie, Arzt and Charlotte, but also Ethan, Helen, Liam and others), casting announcements are telling us that the majority of appearances are yet to come. Charlie is slated to appear in more episodes, as is Boone, and there are several other deceased characters who will be making an appearance, including Shannon, Anna Lucia, Libby, Michael and, best of all, Daniel.
Also, different press releases have revealed which characters will get their own centric episodes in coming weeks. This week it will be Sun and Jin, two weeks from now it will be Hurley, and in between those will be (squee!) Desmond! With these announcements (and the announcement that the third to last episode will feature Jacob and the Man in Black) we can be sure that things are going to get pretty interesting.
We can also start speculating about the five remaining hours not currently aligned with a character. If Lost's past season finales are any indication, the last two hours are probably not going to be character centric, leaving us with the episode right before the finale and the episodes two and three weeks before that. Who these episodes focus on is important. It seems likely that at least one of the characters (likely Jack) will have more than one centric episode, but there are still four main characters (Ilana, Frank, Miles and Claire) who haven't gotten their own episodes this year. My money is on Frank and Ilana getting at least a sizable chunk of an episode each (particually Ilana, whose backstory is begging for an explanation). The other episode will then be a repeat.
However, I could be very wrong. Even if a character like Jack ends up getting the episode before the finale, it seems weird that two of the show's least iconic characters would take up episodes so close to the end. However, they must be choosing their episode emphases carefully these days, as the central character will determine much of that hour's story.
Whatever the remaining disappointments, dramatic reveals, casting questions and mystery hopes, it's clear that the show isn't out of the woods yet (nor should it be). But then again, do we really want it to be at this point? One element of the Lost experience that has become more fascinating over the years is the high level of risk with which the viewers invest themselves in the show. Think of it this way: by the end of the show, Lost will be the equivalent of 121 episodes long. If you watched every episode on TV once, you would be watching for four days and 21 hours. Assuming you slept and did nothing else, it would take you a whole week to finish.
And that's just one time through. If you are among the hardest of hardcores who watched the show from the beginning and then watched each season again on DVD before the next one came out, you're dealing with totals ranging in the area of 355.5 hours (14.8 whole days, or 22.2 waking days!). And that's without watching favorite episodes over again or rewatching the last week's episode before the new installment. The point of all this is that even for a newcomer like myself (seasons one through five twice over, with part of season five on TV, plus season six online), this is a significant investment of time. While shows that aren't inherently mysterious may end unsatisfactorily, you can still enjoy the ride. While Lost has been mostly great over its run, you're essentially betting the farm on the end of the show because that's what provides the show with meaning. It's kind of exciting not knowing how your gamble is going to turn out.
Then again, wouldn't it just suck if it ends poorly?
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Lost Lists, Part 4: Best and Worst Characters
I'm double posting today in order to get all of the lists out by Tuesday. I once again encourage everyone to read this on the actual Web site for formatting reasons. Lastly, this post is the last Lost list that will appear on Reviewing Life, as the final two are slated to appear on GooseRadio. I will link to them when they are up.
If it could have been argued in the past that Lost was not a science fiction show, all such protestations have by now been firmly put in their place. However, even before time travel and weird Dharma stations, Lost acted like science fiction, in that it used the on island situations to explore real world themes and philosophies. And, like the skilled science fiction writers they are, J.J. Abrams and company realized that the dilemmas, mysteries and, well, science on their show would only be palatable if their story was populated with interesting characters.
To this end, they have done an almost (but not quite, as you'll soon see) universally good job at making their main and supporting characters complex, compelling and diverse people. And let's not forget their sheer numbers. With the announcement of season six's starring cast, the final tally for main characters appears to be 28 (unless they pull a season five Jin again and introduce a new main cast member partway through). To put that in perspective, the revolving door, 15-season-long ER only had 26 characters with top billing. NYPD Blue (12 seasons) had 24, and Dallas (14 seasons) had 17 (source: Wikipedia).
This combination of quality and quantity have created one of TV's richest worlds. This list will give you the 10 characters I think have contributed to that world the best. First, however, I'll give you five characters that have done more harm than good.
Lost's Five Worst Characters
5. Shannon Rutherford
This one is more of a missed opportunity than anything else. I have many friends who hate on Shannon to no end, and I don't really think that's fair. Maggie Grace played the role she was given, that of a manipulative, spoiled brat, quite well. That her character was unlikeable isn't necessarily a bad thing, as not every character is meant to be a sympathetic one. And, as her time on the island went on, she eventually matured a little bit and began to show some sort of character progression.
Then she died, serving no purpose but that of a plot device to make the main section survivors view the tail sectioners with animosity. To further add to the pointlessness, her stepbrother Boone was already dead, his main contribution being tripping over the hatch and making Locke feel guilty. The two characters' (especially Shannon's) contribution to the mythology and overall progress of show are infinitesimal, and yet they both received flashbacks, centric episodes, the works. Assuming that the island picked these people for a reason, the question now becomes why?
Worst Moment: Seeing Walt and then getting shot.
4. Juliet Burke
My previous Juliet bashing aside, I do feel bad that I have to include her. While her writing and that stupid smile have always seemed a bit trite to me, the little else I've seen Elizabeth Mitchell in has been good, at least partially due to her being in it (see particularly ABC's V). And her role on Lost, while never captivating, was at least mildly interesting at the beginning of her story. Her opening scene in season three is probably one of the most memorable moments of the show.
However, both her likability and importance have gone down considerably since her debut, and season five reached new lows as she became nothing more than Sawyer's personality-free girlfriend who would occasionally take nonsensical actions in order to move the plot forward. It's all about motivation, but Juliet doesn't seem to have any. Bottom Line? I'd really like that bomb to go off, hopefully blowing her up with it.
Worst Moment: Clearly it is the completely out-of-place divorce "reveal" ("The Incident"), if you can even call it that.
3. Nikki and Paulo
These two would make the absolute bottom if they were on the show more, but thankfully, the writers realized what a mistake they'd made fairly quickly. The attempt to retcon these two into the plot was awful and sloppily done (a fact that Sawyer humorously references in "Expose" with his repeated "Who the hell is Nikki?" questions). Fortunately, we only had to see them in seven episodes before the writers, sensing viewer hatred, not only killed them off, but buried them alive. Sweet.
Worst Moment: Either their retconned Pearl discovery or their weird accompaniment of Locke to the Pearl later.
2. Kate Austen
While Kate was all right but unspectacular in season one, seasons two and beyond saw her turn first into a childish pouter who always followed other characters through the jungle after being told she couldn't come with them and later into an emotional crybaby who made the often trembling-lipped Jack look positively stone-faced. Whether it was her should-I-or-shouldn't-I relationship with Sawyer and Jack, her seemingly endless "Mom, why won't you thank me for killing your husband?" flashback episodes or her constant agonizing over Aaron's welfare, you just get tired of all the weepiness. That the writers never give her anything really important to do only adds to the problem.
To be fair, she does do something interesting every now and then, but a few good flashback episodes aren't enough to earn her redemption.
Worst Moment:, Her sobbing "They're gonna kill Sawyer!" in "I Do" has always particularly irritated me. That and all of her "I must get that toy plane back!" episodes.
1. Ana Lucia Cortez
I know my list must seem misogynistic, but it's not my fault: a few characters aside (Danielle, Sun, etc.), Lost just isn't quite as good at handling female characters. Perhaps it's just that Lost is primarily a man's world - out of the 28 main characters, only 10 of them are female, and, depending on Juliet's fate, only four or five of them have survived to see season six (and Claire made it by skipping season five altogether).
All perceived misogyny aside, however, Ana Lucia really is terrible. Sulky, unemotive (except when she was angry), constantly looking as if she was vaguely sick to her stomach - all of these words or phrases could be used to describe her. She was written shallowly, and Michelle Rodriguez did nothing to make this portrayal any better. She was also irritating, spitting out all of her lines with a half-formed sneer that made you wonder why the tail section survivors hadn't looked to Mr. Eko for help instead of her.
In short, I was a little relieved when Michael finally shot her. A brief interesting story arc involving Christian aside (and even then, it was interesting because of Christian, not her), her tenure on the show was one of nearly constant aggravation.
Worst Moment: When she has sex with Sawyer.
Now, the good.
"Lost's" 10 Best Characters
Please note: these rankings are based on a combination of which characters are actually my favorites and which ones I think add the most to the show. These two opinions are often the same, but not always.
10. Jack Shephard
First appearance: "Pilot"
Currently: In the past, escaping what is probably "The Incident"
Jack has his ups and downs, but uncertainty about miracles, occasional whimpering and fixing complex aside, he really is the soul of the show, and, for a character who has had to deal with so much, he really is a good protagonist. His relationship with his father is an added bonus, as is his tumultuous marriage.
Jack was originally going to be killed in the pilot, but ABC insisted that he be kept on as the main character. For once, the meddling network executives were right; a show like "Lost" needs an everyman, and Jack fills the role nicely.
Best Moment: Every moment he was onscreen with the crazy beard. Man, I loved that thing.
9. Martin Keamy
First appearance: "The Constant"
Currently: In the present, dead, presumably rotting on the floor of the Orchid
Though he only makes an appearance in 10 episodes (nine if you don't count his brief ghostly appearance in "Dead Is Dead"), the menacing mercenary makes the most of every minute of screen time he can grab. He is the driving force behind much of season four's drama, as you know that he will only wait so long for the four freighter folk before coming down hard on the island's inhabitants. Every moment he's onscreen is filled with a sense of grim inevitability, a sense that is only increased when he dons the killswitch. He's also responsible for three supporting character deaths in two episodes, which is a pretty big amount in a short time, even on "Lost."
Best Moment: A tie between him killing Alex and the "fix my gun" moment with Captain Gault.
8. Christian Shephard
First appearance: "Walkabout"
Currently: In the present, presumably hanging out with Claire. Last seen telling Sun to wait for Locke.
Christian is one of the most important (if not the most important) factors in making Jack as interesting as he is, and his own story is pretty compelling as well. John Terry does an excellent job portraying a father who really does love his son but who is crippled by pride. Plus, there's the always fascinating question: What's he doing up and walking around, anyway?
Best Moment: Drinking in the bar with Sawyer.
7. James "Sawyer" Ford
First appearance: Pilot
Currently: In the past, escaping The Incident and mourning over the presumed loss of Juliet.
Sawyer occupies a special place in both the hearts of many fans and the overall makeup of Lost itself. Fans have (understandably) latched onto Sawyer because of his wisecracking personality and endearing nicknames. He's good for the show because he's one of the only characters who has actually undergone a significant change in personality and character over the years.
Josh Holloway has also shown a surprising depth over the course of the show, portraying a man who is at times wiseacre, at times tortured, at times responsible leader and at times wracked with guilt and self-doubt. His changing roles on the show have served it well.
Best Moment: His long con to acquire the guns.
6. Richard Alpert
First appearance: "Not In Portland"
Currently: In the past, presumably dragging the unconscious Eloise back to the Others' camp, and in the present, looking at Locke's dead body with confusion.
Richard is always so fun because the show rarely ever addresses his apparent immortality. He's just always around, safeguarding a nuclear bomb, checking up on Locke, taking Ben in, recruiting Juliet, etc. Why he is the way he is is seldom mentioned, making him a fascinating, enigmatic character. He also always remains on an even keel, and he even seems kind, a trait not usually seen in the Others. The word that he's going to be one of the main characters on season six is good news to me.
Best Moment: His testing of young Locke to see if he was eligible for the "special school."
5. Charlie Pace
First appearance: "Pilot"
Currently: Serving as fish food in the submerged Looking Glass station.
Charlie was one of the few characters on Lost who was good for both comedy and pathos. His wit was always sharp, but his story arc, both on and off the island, was quite poignant. He was a very well rounded character.
While Lost is known for great characterization, many of the players on the show are not easily to relate to. Charlie, however, is, if only because his constant confusion and impetuousness in the face of danger mirrors the way that many, perhaps even most, people would act in those situations. He met us where we are on a more personal level too. Even though he was a rock star, Charlie illustrated the failures faced by us all and our own quests for redemption.
Best Moment: If I had to pick one, it would be his sacrificial death scene.
4. Daniel Faraday
First appearance: "The Beginning Of The End"
Currently: Dead in the past, shot by his mom.
There is something so oddly compelling about Faraday, probably because everything seems to go drastically wrong for him. He put the woman he loved in a coma, he zapped his memory, he was fired from Oxford, the next woman he loved died because he couldn't save her and his mom knowingly sent him to his death. Poor guy.
And yet, rather than wallow in misery, Faraday always attempted to get up and move on, always putting others first and trying to do what was right. In a way, there is a sense of purity about him. Perhaps no other character on Lost has been so consistently selfless.
Best Moment: You've gotta love Shaggy Dan from the past, but I'll say the missile test when he first realizes that something might be wrong with the island's timeline.
3. Desmond Hume
First appearance: "Man of Science, Man of Faith"
Currently: In the present, recovering from a gunshot wound at the hospital.
Oh Desmond, how I love you so. Henry Ian Cusick hits every right note, perfectly capturing this poor, scared, unlucky man who just wants to live happily ever after with his girlfriend (are they married yet?).
The time travel elements of Desmond's character are always good for speculation, and he plays them up perfectly, but the primary draw of this beleaguered Scot is his likability. He just genuinely seems to be a good guy, and it is his character who I most want to see survive the show.
Best Moment: A toss-up between his entire performance on "The Constant" and when he beats the crap out of Ben.
2. Sayid Jarrah
First appearance: "Pilot"
Currently: In the past, hopefully not bleeding out in the jungle.
Sayid is my favorite character. He may not have had the most influence on the show, but Naveen Andrews always seems to know exactly when to play him as tormented, angry, bemused or sympathetic. He's not a good person, but he truly wants to be, and his self-loathing just makes us want to comfort the poor guy.
Acting like the sensitive guy is only one part of Sayid's role, however. The other part is arguably more important: serving as Lost's consummate badass. I mean, come on. He's constantly trekking, shooting, torturing or otherwise killing people and things, all ostensibly for the greater good. It's enough for me to even excuse his womanizing tendencies. However, this season promises to be one of the saddest for our dear old Republican Guarder. Between his dire wound and the writers' constant mission to keep his from being happy, I've got to agree with the MTV movie blog on this one: there's no way he's making it out of season six alive.
Best Moment: All of his flashback/forward performances, the scene where he fights the men in the safehouse, and, of course, "snap[ping] that guy's neck with that breakdancing thing you do with your legs."
1. Benjamin Linus
First appearance: "One Of Them"
Currently: In the present, hanging out inside of the foot statue after killing Jacob.
Cuse and Lindelof often cite "Star Wars" as a major influence on their work, and perhaps nowhere is it more apparent than in their realization that making the villain the best part of the story totally rules. I may like Sayid a bit better, but Ben has been a major series player since the very beginning of his "Lost" tenure, and things have only gotten crazier since.
Perhaps the best thing about Ben is that he's got his finger in everything. You never know what he's gunning for until whatever he wanted to happened has happened, and only then do you realize that he's not only been manipulating the characters into doing his foul bidding, but the audience into wanting it. He is perhaps the primary mover and shaker of the show's last three seasons, and, unlike many of the other characters, the motivation for his actions has always been clear and menacing: whatever keeps me on top.
Best Moment: The Henry Gale saga, culminating in the "Got any milk?" scene, which may be one of the best in the show's history.
If it could have been argued in the past that Lost was not a science fiction show, all such protestations have by now been firmly put in their place. However, even before time travel and weird Dharma stations, Lost acted like science fiction, in that it used the on island situations to explore real world themes and philosophies. And, like the skilled science fiction writers they are, J.J. Abrams and company realized that the dilemmas, mysteries and, well, science on their show would only be palatable if their story was populated with interesting characters.
To this end, they have done an almost (but not quite, as you'll soon see) universally good job at making their main and supporting characters complex, compelling and diverse people. And let's not forget their sheer numbers. With the announcement of season six's starring cast, the final tally for main characters appears to be 28 (unless they pull a season five Jin again and introduce a new main cast member partway through). To put that in perspective, the revolving door, 15-season-long ER only had 26 characters with top billing. NYPD Blue (12 seasons) had 24, and Dallas (14 seasons) had 17 (source: Wikipedia).
This combination of quality and quantity have created one of TV's richest worlds. This list will give you the 10 characters I think have contributed to that world the best. First, however, I'll give you five characters that have done more harm than good.
Lost's Five Worst Characters
5. Shannon Rutherford
This one is more of a missed opportunity than anything else. I have many friends who hate on Shannon to no end, and I don't really think that's fair. Maggie Grace played the role she was given, that of a manipulative, spoiled brat, quite well. That her character was unlikeable isn't necessarily a bad thing, as not every character is meant to be a sympathetic one. And, as her time on the island went on, she eventually matured a little bit and began to show some sort of character progression.
Then she died, serving no purpose but that of a plot device to make the main section survivors view the tail sectioners with animosity. To further add to the pointlessness, her stepbrother Boone was already dead, his main contribution being tripping over the hatch and making Locke feel guilty. The two characters' (especially Shannon's) contribution to the mythology and overall progress of show are infinitesimal, and yet they both received flashbacks, centric episodes, the works. Assuming that the island picked these people for a reason, the question now becomes why?
Worst Moment: Seeing Walt and then getting shot.
4. Juliet Burke
My previous Juliet bashing aside, I do feel bad that I have to include her. While her writing and that stupid smile have always seemed a bit trite to me, the little else I've seen Elizabeth Mitchell in has been good, at least partially due to her being in it (see particularly ABC's V). And her role on Lost, while never captivating, was at least mildly interesting at the beginning of her story. Her opening scene in season three is probably one of the most memorable moments of the show.
However, both her likability and importance have gone down considerably since her debut, and season five reached new lows as she became nothing more than Sawyer's personality-free girlfriend who would occasionally take nonsensical actions in order to move the plot forward. It's all about motivation, but Juliet doesn't seem to have any. Bottom Line? I'd really like that bomb to go off, hopefully blowing her up with it.
Worst Moment: Clearly it is the completely out-of-place divorce "reveal" ("The Incident"), if you can even call it that.
3. Nikki and Paulo
These two would make the absolute bottom if they were on the show more, but thankfully, the writers realized what a mistake they'd made fairly quickly. The attempt to retcon these two into the plot was awful and sloppily done (a fact that Sawyer humorously references in "Expose" with his repeated "Who the hell is Nikki?" questions). Fortunately, we only had to see them in seven episodes before the writers, sensing viewer hatred, not only killed them off, but buried them alive. Sweet.
Worst Moment: Either their retconned Pearl discovery or their weird accompaniment of Locke to the Pearl later.
2. Kate Austen
While Kate was all right but unspectacular in season one, seasons two and beyond saw her turn first into a childish pouter who always followed other characters through the jungle after being told she couldn't come with them and later into an emotional crybaby who made the often trembling-lipped Jack look positively stone-faced. Whether it was her should-I-or-shouldn't-I relationship with Sawyer and Jack, her seemingly endless "Mom, why won't you thank me for killing your husband?" flashback episodes or her constant agonizing over Aaron's welfare, you just get tired of all the weepiness. That the writers never give her anything really important to do only adds to the problem.
To be fair, she does do something interesting every now and then, but a few good flashback episodes aren't enough to earn her redemption.
Worst Moment:, Her sobbing "They're gonna kill Sawyer!" in "I Do" has always particularly irritated me. That and all of her "I must get that toy plane back!" episodes.
1. Ana Lucia Cortez
I know my list must seem misogynistic, but it's not my fault: a few characters aside (Danielle, Sun, etc.), Lost just isn't quite as good at handling female characters. Perhaps it's just that Lost is primarily a man's world - out of the 28 main characters, only 10 of them are female, and, depending on Juliet's fate, only four or five of them have survived to see season six (and Claire made it by skipping season five altogether).
All perceived misogyny aside, however, Ana Lucia really is terrible. Sulky, unemotive (except when she was angry), constantly looking as if she was vaguely sick to her stomach - all of these words or phrases could be used to describe her. She was written shallowly, and Michelle Rodriguez did nothing to make this portrayal any better. She was also irritating, spitting out all of her lines with a half-formed sneer that made you wonder why the tail section survivors hadn't looked to Mr. Eko for help instead of her.
In short, I was a little relieved when Michael finally shot her. A brief interesting story arc involving Christian aside (and even then, it was interesting because of Christian, not her), her tenure on the show was one of nearly constant aggravation.
Worst Moment: When she has sex with Sawyer.
Now, the good.
"Lost's" 10 Best Characters
Please note: these rankings are based on a combination of which characters are actually my favorites and which ones I think add the most to the show. These two opinions are often the same, but not always.
10. Jack Shephard
First appearance: "Pilot"
Currently: In the past, escaping what is probably "The Incident"
Jack has his ups and downs, but uncertainty about miracles, occasional whimpering and fixing complex aside, he really is the soul of the show, and, for a character who has had to deal with so much, he really is a good protagonist. His relationship with his father is an added bonus, as is his tumultuous marriage.
Jack was originally going to be killed in the pilot, but ABC insisted that he be kept on as the main character. For once, the meddling network executives were right; a show like "Lost" needs an everyman, and Jack fills the role nicely.
Best Moment: Every moment he was onscreen with the crazy beard. Man, I loved that thing.
9. Martin Keamy
First appearance: "The Constant"
Currently: In the present, dead, presumably rotting on the floor of the Orchid
Though he only makes an appearance in 10 episodes (nine if you don't count his brief ghostly appearance in "Dead Is Dead"), the menacing mercenary makes the most of every minute of screen time he can grab. He is the driving force behind much of season four's drama, as you know that he will only wait so long for the four freighter folk before coming down hard on the island's inhabitants. Every moment he's onscreen is filled with a sense of grim inevitability, a sense that is only increased when he dons the killswitch. He's also responsible for three supporting character deaths in two episodes, which is a pretty big amount in a short time, even on "Lost."
Best Moment: A tie between him killing Alex and the "fix my gun" moment with Captain Gault.
8. Christian Shephard
First appearance: "Walkabout"
Currently: In the present, presumably hanging out with Claire. Last seen telling Sun to wait for Locke.
Christian is one of the most important (if not the most important) factors in making Jack as interesting as he is, and his own story is pretty compelling as well. John Terry does an excellent job portraying a father who really does love his son but who is crippled by pride. Plus, there's the always fascinating question: What's he doing up and walking around, anyway?
Best Moment: Drinking in the bar with Sawyer.
7. James "Sawyer" Ford
First appearance: Pilot
Currently: In the past, escaping The Incident and mourning over the presumed loss of Juliet.
Sawyer occupies a special place in both the hearts of many fans and the overall makeup of Lost itself. Fans have (understandably) latched onto Sawyer because of his wisecracking personality and endearing nicknames. He's good for the show because he's one of the only characters who has actually undergone a significant change in personality and character over the years.
Josh Holloway has also shown a surprising depth over the course of the show, portraying a man who is at times wiseacre, at times tortured, at times responsible leader and at times wracked with guilt and self-doubt. His changing roles on the show have served it well.
Best Moment: His long con to acquire the guns.
6. Richard Alpert
First appearance: "Not In Portland"
Currently: In the past, presumably dragging the unconscious Eloise back to the Others' camp, and in the present, looking at Locke's dead body with confusion.
Richard is always so fun because the show rarely ever addresses his apparent immortality. He's just always around, safeguarding a nuclear bomb, checking up on Locke, taking Ben in, recruiting Juliet, etc. Why he is the way he is is seldom mentioned, making him a fascinating, enigmatic character. He also always remains on an even keel, and he even seems kind, a trait not usually seen in the Others. The word that he's going to be one of the main characters on season six is good news to me.
Best Moment: His testing of young Locke to see if he was eligible for the "special school."
5. Charlie Pace
First appearance: "Pilot"
Currently: Serving as fish food in the submerged Looking Glass station.
Charlie was one of the few characters on Lost who was good for both comedy and pathos. His wit was always sharp, but his story arc, both on and off the island, was quite poignant. He was a very well rounded character.
While Lost is known for great characterization, many of the players on the show are not easily to relate to. Charlie, however, is, if only because his constant confusion and impetuousness in the face of danger mirrors the way that many, perhaps even most, people would act in those situations. He met us where we are on a more personal level too. Even though he was a rock star, Charlie illustrated the failures faced by us all and our own quests for redemption.
Best Moment: If I had to pick one, it would be his sacrificial death scene.
4. Daniel Faraday
First appearance: "The Beginning Of The End"
Currently: Dead in the past, shot by his mom.
There is something so oddly compelling about Faraday, probably because everything seems to go drastically wrong for him. He put the woman he loved in a coma, he zapped his memory, he was fired from Oxford, the next woman he loved died because he couldn't save her and his mom knowingly sent him to his death. Poor guy.
And yet, rather than wallow in misery, Faraday always attempted to get up and move on, always putting others first and trying to do what was right. In a way, there is a sense of purity about him. Perhaps no other character on Lost has been so consistently selfless.
Best Moment: You've gotta love Shaggy Dan from the past, but I'll say the missile test when he first realizes that something might be wrong with the island's timeline.
3. Desmond Hume
First appearance: "Man of Science, Man of Faith"
Currently: In the present, recovering from a gunshot wound at the hospital.
Oh Desmond, how I love you so. Henry Ian Cusick hits every right note, perfectly capturing this poor, scared, unlucky man who just wants to live happily ever after with his girlfriend (are they married yet?).
The time travel elements of Desmond's character are always good for speculation, and he plays them up perfectly, but the primary draw of this beleaguered Scot is his likability. He just genuinely seems to be a good guy, and it is his character who I most want to see survive the show.
Best Moment: A toss-up between his entire performance on "The Constant" and when he beats the crap out of Ben.
2. Sayid Jarrah
First appearance: "Pilot"
Currently: In the past, hopefully not bleeding out in the jungle.
Sayid is my favorite character. He may not have had the most influence on the show, but Naveen Andrews always seems to know exactly when to play him as tormented, angry, bemused or sympathetic. He's not a good person, but he truly wants to be, and his self-loathing just makes us want to comfort the poor guy.
Acting like the sensitive guy is only one part of Sayid's role, however. The other part is arguably more important: serving as Lost's consummate badass. I mean, come on. He's constantly trekking, shooting, torturing or otherwise killing people and things, all ostensibly for the greater good. It's enough for me to even excuse his womanizing tendencies. However, this season promises to be one of the saddest for our dear old Republican Guarder. Between his dire wound and the writers' constant mission to keep his from being happy, I've got to agree with the MTV movie blog on this one: there's no way he's making it out of season six alive.
Best Moment: All of his flashback/forward performances, the scene where he fights the men in the safehouse, and, of course, "snap[ping] that guy's neck with that breakdancing thing you do with your legs."
1. Benjamin Linus
First appearance: "One Of Them"
Currently: In the present, hanging out inside of the foot statue after killing Jacob.
Cuse and Lindelof often cite "Star Wars" as a major influence on their work, and perhaps nowhere is it more apparent than in their realization that making the villain the best part of the story totally rules. I may like Sayid a bit better, but Ben has been a major series player since the very beginning of his "Lost" tenure, and things have only gotten crazier since.
Perhaps the best thing about Ben is that he's got his finger in everything. You never know what he's gunning for until whatever he wanted to happened has happened, and only then do you realize that he's not only been manipulating the characters into doing his foul bidding, but the audience into wanting it. He is perhaps the primary mover and shaker of the show's last three seasons, and, unlike many of the other characters, the motivation for his actions has always been clear and menacing: whatever keeps me on top.
Best Moment: The Henry Gale saga, culminating in the "Got any milk?" scene, which may be one of the best in the show's history.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Lost Lists, Part 3: Flashbacks and Speculation
You should know the drill by now, although I'm making a slight change today. From now on, when there is a negative list, it will be placed before the corresponding positive list, so as not to end the article on the negative note. Let's begin.
"Lost's" Top Five Flashbacks
I was going to do a bottom three list for this one, but then I realized that the only character who has bad flashback episodes on a relatively consistent basis is Kate, and I've already expounded a little bit on why I dislike her, with more to come in the next list. Anyway...
Flashbacks are integral to "Lost's" first three seasons (as are the flashforwards in season four), but, from a characterization perspective, they've had ramifications on the entire show. The writers used them to establish backstory, reveal plot points and - in one special case, as you'll see below - create plot points on the present day island.
Another thing that I've always liked about the flashbacks is that not all of the best flashbacks belong to the best characters. I'm still finalizing my top 10 characters list, but at least two of the characters on this list won't be making it onto that one. Note: When I give the flashback count, I am counting flashforwards, and I am only counting episodes in which all or most of the flashbacks are centered around that character. Also, I'm not counting season five, as many of the flashbacks from that season are primarily expository in nature and could be considered as happening concurrently with the main action.
5. Hurley
Flashback count: five
Hurley is a solid character, but, crazy-guy angle and Libby lamenting aside, he's primarily used for comic relief. Thus, when he does get a flashback episode, it's always interesting to see Jorge Garcia show his chops.
Sometimes the flashbacks contain even more comedy than a traditional Hurley appearance, like season one's "Numbers," which rather darkly parades a seemingly endless amount of mishaps that befall Hurley after he wins the lottery. Most often, the flashbacks are surreal, showing the audience the weird misery in which Hurley has lived much of his life (the most infamous incident is the meteor strike from "Tricia Tanaka is Dead," but the best example of this kind of episode is "Dave").
However, my favorite flashbacks of his are from "Everybody Hates Hugo," which features Garcia's best acting on the show to date. In this episode, the flashbacks parallel Hurley's on-island dilemma, as his problems as the food supervisor seem to mirror what happened to him when he won the lottery. Hurley has often said that he would get rid of his winnings if he could, but we've never believed it more than when he makes his best friend promise never to change.
4. Charlie
Flashback count: four
I wish that Dominic Monaghan's fame for playing Charlie exceeded the amount he got for playing Merry, but such wishes are in vain. Nevertheless, Monaghan managed to create a smart, funny and dramatic character in his washed-up British rock star, and nowhere is that character more on display than in his flashback episodes.
Even though Charlie only had four episodes of his own before he died, the writers weave one of the saddest backstories on the show into these moments. To watch good brother Charlie's downward spiral into drug addiction while the undeserving Liam got clean is an experience in depressing irony, and we can't help but feel for the guy.
While you can't beat "Greatest Hits" for an overall Charlie episode, my favorite flashbacks for the character occur on "Fire + Water," when Charlie's dreams of a comeback are fatally dashed by Liam, who, even in his attempt to get clean, is more selfish than Charlie ever could be.
3. Michael
Flashback count: 4
Two of his flashbacks are primarily expository, and he shares three of them with Walt, but the writers sure know how to make you feel for this guy. Michael is often maligned by many "Lost" fans who I know, primarily because of his at first angry behavior and later because he shouts "WAAAAALT!" all the time. However, all of his flashbacks provide a very deep insight to his character.
In the flashbacks, you see Michael for what he is: a very flawed and inexperienced father who loves his son very much. The first thing this does is make you feel much more sympathy for his character (and hatred for Walt's mom. Man, it burned me when I found out she didn't give Wallt any of Michael's letters). The second thing it does is help you understand why Michael is the way he is. When you find out his backstory, you begin to understand his cross demeanor and his over-protectiveness. He becomes much more well rounded.
While the two expository flashbacks ("Meet Kevin Johnson" and "Three Minutes") are fine, Harold Perrineau really shines in the two Walt-story episodes, particularly in "Adrift," the one about the custody battle (although "Special" contains my favorite Michael scene, when he shows Walt his letters and doesn't drag Mom's name through the mud while doing so).
2. Desmond
Flashback count: four
Desmond is obviously a unique case, as his flashbacks were the ones I mentioned previously as having present day influence on the plot. While every other character's flashback is presented as a retrospective narrative, Desmond participates in two of his four flashbacks, and he realizes that he is in the past (he also does this one other time, in the season five premier).
Desmond is such a good character that his two normal flashbacks are as interesting and sympathetic his two "Back to the Future" outings. In the two normal episodes, we learn about Desmond's relational cowardice and the rather odd succession of jobs he took in an attempt to find fullfillment. There's also lingering mystery, as we find out that he was court-marshaled and that Libby gave him his sailboat.
However, his two trippy time travel flashbacks are the real winners. "Flashes Before Your Eyes" is an interesting journey, as it features the debut of Faraday's mother and the first real inklings that time travel was part of "Lost." And, of course, there's "The Constant," perhaps the show's most successful effort to date at combining sci-fi with characterization.
1. Locke
Flashback count: seven
If one thing could be said conclusively about John Locke, it is this: the man has some serious issues. While many of these issues, like his hatred of limitation and his childish desire to be special, come into play at various times over the course of the series, none of them can match his absolutely epic daddy issues. Jack should feel lucky.
Everyone loves "Walkabout," and it is a good episode, but there's just something wonderfully unsettling about Locke's other season one flashback, "Deus Ex Machina." You sense there's something wrong with Locke's dad from the start. You just don't expect the thing that's wrong to be, "He pretended to be close to me in order to steal my kidney." Weird stuff had already been happening on the island by this time, but this episode showed that some pretty bizzare stuff could come from these characters' pasts, too.
My favorite Locke flashbacks are in "The Man From Talahassee," when we finally learn why he ended up in the wheelchair. It's played nearly perfectly, as it provides not only emotional satisfaction, but, because they wait until the middle of season three to reveal it, narrative satisfaction as well. Locke is never more interesting than in his flashbacks.
OK, next list.
My Biggest "Lost" Hopes and Fears
If you haven't figured it out by now, I'm pretty darn excited about season six. While this wouldn't be surprising on the surface, it might be just a little confusing when you look at my "best seasons" list from yesterday. "Lost" has been a little lackluster as of late, and yet, I'm still anticipating Feb. 2 with baited breath.
However, behind my excitement, there does lie a twinge of fear. While I trust that Lindelof and Cuse are working their hardest to make a good show, there are still some things that could go terribly wrong. Here they are.
3. We could see a slide further into melodrama
As I've said before, season five was so full of overacted deliveries you could swear you were watching a soap opera (or a sidearm pitcher). With the exception of some good Faraday moments, gone were the times of cerebral mysteries and puzzling quandaries, and here were the days of "buh, buh, All this happened because you left!" and "(sob) You looked at her funny!" and so on. The last couple of episodes of season five have sort of started to dispel the melodrama a little bit, but it was by no means absent. This season, let's hope for more science fiction weirdness and less uninteresting love story.
2. A lot of the most interesting characters are dead/missing/fading into the background
I've written previously that the writers are to be commended for their willingness to kill off fan favorites for the sake of the story. The problem, however, is that many of the dead characters (here's looking at you, Charlie, Mr. Eko and Daniel) are among the most interesting characters. To top it off, of the remaining characters, the writers have chosen in recent times to focus primarily on Locke (now unLocke), Jack, Sawyer, Juliet and Kate. While Locke, Jack and Sawyer are all good characters to various extents, the three of them fighting with each other/other people does not a good show make.
In season five, Jin and Sun were relegated to tagalong status, Desmond left the island (and is not on the main character list for season six), Sayid was locked in jail for a while and then disappeared for several episodes, Faraday left the island for several episodes, Ben whined a lot and Hurley and Miles engaged in an endless (but admittedly funny) Laurel and Hardy time travel routine. There a lot of good characters here who didn't do very much.
There's much hope that things will be different this time around, and there's also word that many of the dead characters will be showing up in the final season. Unless this jumps the shark, we could see a more balanced cast this year.
1. There are still a ton of unanswered questions
Even though "Lost" has given us plenty of thrills, chills and spills over the years, the only reason we've stuck around to see them is because the premise of the show implicitly promises that one day, eventually, our questions will be answered. While the writers have promised that most of the mysteries will indeed be addressed, the sheer volume of mind bending elements packed into the first five seasons seems almost insurmountable.
Granted, they probably won't even attempt to answer every nagging complaint, and they probably shouldn't have to. But even if you toss out some loose ends (why is Libby in the insane asylum, who are Adam and Eve, etc.), you still have a lot to answer for.
And that, ultimately, is my biggest fear about Feb. 2 and beyond. If we come away still scratching our heads about what was actually going on, not only season six will be ruined. The entire show will be.
OK, here's the less depressing list: my hopes.
3. I think Jack caused The Incident when he set off the bomb
There are many reasons why I think this is important to the fortunes of the show. The first is that we then stay in the same timeline as all of the questions and characters we've watched and care about for five seasons. The second is that Juliet might be dead, thus lessening her impact on the plot this year.
The third reason is that The Incident is one of the anchoring events of the entire show. Its occurrence now sets up or indicates the coming of several events only hinted at so far, like the origin of the hatch's button, Mikhail Bakunin and his crazy eye patch, the purge, the orientation videos and more. It could be the beginning of the show's attempt to answer some questions.
2. Old characters return!
While this could push at the bounds of believability (even for "Lost"), I can't help but be excited that the writers have confirmed that many of the dearly departed players will return, including Charlie, Boone and Faraday. Not only does it signal a nostalgia laden trip down memory road, but the surprise announcement that characters like Michael and Libby will also be returning is good news for some lingering mysteries to be cleared up.
1. They've been planning this since season three
Cuse and Lindelof have stated that the show getting an end date was a very liberating thing, as it allowed them to stop stalling and start planning how they really wanted things to finish. Since that time, they've made seasons four and five, which, for anything you might say about them, were nothing if not jam packed with story.
Season six promises to be no different, but more importantly, there is comfort to be had in knowing that the writers are and have been aware not only of the questions we had before the last three seasons, but also of most of the questions that have arisen since that time. "Lost" has been called by some a show primarily about faith. Perhaps the viewers should have faith that the show's creators know what they're doing.
"Lost's" Top Five Flashbacks
I was going to do a bottom three list for this one, but then I realized that the only character who has bad flashback episodes on a relatively consistent basis is Kate, and I've already expounded a little bit on why I dislike her, with more to come in the next list. Anyway...
Flashbacks are integral to "Lost's" first three seasons (as are the flashforwards in season four), but, from a characterization perspective, they've had ramifications on the entire show. The writers used them to establish backstory, reveal plot points and - in one special case, as you'll see below - create plot points on the present day island.
Another thing that I've always liked about the flashbacks is that not all of the best flashbacks belong to the best characters. I'm still finalizing my top 10 characters list, but at least two of the characters on this list won't be making it onto that one. Note: When I give the flashback count, I am counting flashforwards, and I am only counting episodes in which all or most of the flashbacks are centered around that character. Also, I'm not counting season five, as many of the flashbacks from that season are primarily expository in nature and could be considered as happening concurrently with the main action.
5. Hurley
Flashback count: five
Hurley is a solid character, but, crazy-guy angle and Libby lamenting aside, he's primarily used for comic relief. Thus, when he does get a flashback episode, it's always interesting to see Jorge Garcia show his chops.
Sometimes the flashbacks contain even more comedy than a traditional Hurley appearance, like season one's "Numbers," which rather darkly parades a seemingly endless amount of mishaps that befall Hurley after he wins the lottery. Most often, the flashbacks are surreal, showing the audience the weird misery in which Hurley has lived much of his life (the most infamous incident is the meteor strike from "Tricia Tanaka is Dead," but the best example of this kind of episode is "Dave").
However, my favorite flashbacks of his are from "Everybody Hates Hugo," which features Garcia's best acting on the show to date. In this episode, the flashbacks parallel Hurley's on-island dilemma, as his problems as the food supervisor seem to mirror what happened to him when he won the lottery. Hurley has often said that he would get rid of his winnings if he could, but we've never believed it more than when he makes his best friend promise never to change.
4. Charlie
Flashback count: four
I wish that Dominic Monaghan's fame for playing Charlie exceeded the amount he got for playing Merry, but such wishes are in vain. Nevertheless, Monaghan managed to create a smart, funny and dramatic character in his washed-up British rock star, and nowhere is that character more on display than in his flashback episodes.
Even though Charlie only had four episodes of his own before he died, the writers weave one of the saddest backstories on the show into these moments. To watch good brother Charlie's downward spiral into drug addiction while the undeserving Liam got clean is an experience in depressing irony, and we can't help but feel for the guy.
While you can't beat "Greatest Hits" for an overall Charlie episode, my favorite flashbacks for the character occur on "Fire + Water," when Charlie's dreams of a comeback are fatally dashed by Liam, who, even in his attempt to get clean, is more selfish than Charlie ever could be.
3. Michael
Flashback count: 4
Two of his flashbacks are primarily expository, and he shares three of them with Walt, but the writers sure know how to make you feel for this guy. Michael is often maligned by many "Lost" fans who I know, primarily because of his at first angry behavior and later because he shouts "WAAAAALT!" all the time. However, all of his flashbacks provide a very deep insight to his character.
In the flashbacks, you see Michael for what he is: a very flawed and inexperienced father who loves his son very much. The first thing this does is make you feel much more sympathy for his character (and hatred for Walt's mom. Man, it burned me when I found out she didn't give Wallt any of Michael's letters). The second thing it does is help you understand why Michael is the way he is. When you find out his backstory, you begin to understand his cross demeanor and his over-protectiveness. He becomes much more well rounded.
While the two expository flashbacks ("Meet Kevin Johnson" and "Three Minutes") are fine, Harold Perrineau really shines in the two Walt-story episodes, particularly in "Adrift," the one about the custody battle (although "Special" contains my favorite Michael scene, when he shows Walt his letters and doesn't drag Mom's name through the mud while doing so).
2. Desmond
Flashback count: four
Desmond is obviously a unique case, as his flashbacks were the ones I mentioned previously as having present day influence on the plot. While every other character's flashback is presented as a retrospective narrative, Desmond participates in two of his four flashbacks, and he realizes that he is in the past (he also does this one other time, in the season five premier).
Desmond is such a good character that his two normal flashbacks are as interesting and sympathetic his two "Back to the Future" outings. In the two normal episodes, we learn about Desmond's relational cowardice and the rather odd succession of jobs he took in an attempt to find fullfillment. There's also lingering mystery, as we find out that he was court-marshaled and that Libby gave him his sailboat.
However, his two trippy time travel flashbacks are the real winners. "Flashes Before Your Eyes" is an interesting journey, as it features the debut of Faraday's mother and the first real inklings that time travel was part of "Lost." And, of course, there's "The Constant," perhaps the show's most successful effort to date at combining sci-fi with characterization.
1. Locke
Flashback count: seven
If one thing could be said conclusively about John Locke, it is this: the man has some serious issues. While many of these issues, like his hatred of limitation and his childish desire to be special, come into play at various times over the course of the series, none of them can match his absolutely epic daddy issues. Jack should feel lucky.
Everyone loves "Walkabout," and it is a good episode, but there's just something wonderfully unsettling about Locke's other season one flashback, "Deus Ex Machina." You sense there's something wrong with Locke's dad from the start. You just don't expect the thing that's wrong to be, "He pretended to be close to me in order to steal my kidney." Weird stuff had already been happening on the island by this time, but this episode showed that some pretty bizzare stuff could come from these characters' pasts, too.
My favorite Locke flashbacks are in "The Man From Talahassee," when we finally learn why he ended up in the wheelchair. It's played nearly perfectly, as it provides not only emotional satisfaction, but, because they wait until the middle of season three to reveal it, narrative satisfaction as well. Locke is never more interesting than in his flashbacks.
OK, next list.
My Biggest "Lost" Hopes and Fears
If you haven't figured it out by now, I'm pretty darn excited about season six. While this wouldn't be surprising on the surface, it might be just a little confusing when you look at my "best seasons" list from yesterday. "Lost" has been a little lackluster as of late, and yet, I'm still anticipating Feb. 2 with baited breath.
However, behind my excitement, there does lie a twinge of fear. While I trust that Lindelof and Cuse are working their hardest to make a good show, there are still some things that could go terribly wrong. Here they are.
3. We could see a slide further into melodrama
As I've said before, season five was so full of overacted deliveries you could swear you were watching a soap opera (or a sidearm pitcher). With the exception of some good Faraday moments, gone were the times of cerebral mysteries and puzzling quandaries, and here were the days of "buh, buh, All this happened because you left!" and "(sob) You looked at her funny!" and so on. The last couple of episodes of season five have sort of started to dispel the melodrama a little bit, but it was by no means absent. This season, let's hope for more science fiction weirdness and less uninteresting love story.
2. A lot of the most interesting characters are dead/missing/fading into the background
I've written previously that the writers are to be commended for their willingness to kill off fan favorites for the sake of the story. The problem, however, is that many of the dead characters (here's looking at you, Charlie, Mr. Eko and Daniel) are among the most interesting characters. To top it off, of the remaining characters, the writers have chosen in recent times to focus primarily on Locke (now unLocke), Jack, Sawyer, Juliet and Kate. While Locke, Jack and Sawyer are all good characters to various extents, the three of them fighting with each other/other people does not a good show make.
In season five, Jin and Sun were relegated to tagalong status, Desmond left the island (and is not on the main character list for season six), Sayid was locked in jail for a while and then disappeared for several episodes, Faraday left the island for several episodes, Ben whined a lot and Hurley and Miles engaged in an endless (but admittedly funny) Laurel and Hardy time travel routine. There a lot of good characters here who didn't do very much.
There's much hope that things will be different this time around, and there's also word that many of the dead characters will be showing up in the final season. Unless this jumps the shark, we could see a more balanced cast this year.
1. There are still a ton of unanswered questions
Even though "Lost" has given us plenty of thrills, chills and spills over the years, the only reason we've stuck around to see them is because the premise of the show implicitly promises that one day, eventually, our questions will be answered. While the writers have promised that most of the mysteries will indeed be addressed, the sheer volume of mind bending elements packed into the first five seasons seems almost insurmountable.
Granted, they probably won't even attempt to answer every nagging complaint, and they probably shouldn't have to. But even if you toss out some loose ends (why is Libby in the insane asylum, who are Adam and Eve, etc.), you still have a lot to answer for.
And that, ultimately, is my biggest fear about Feb. 2 and beyond. If we come away still scratching our heads about what was actually going on, not only season six will be ruined. The entire show will be.
OK, here's the less depressing list: my hopes.
3. I think Jack caused The Incident when he set off the bomb
There are many reasons why I think this is important to the fortunes of the show. The first is that we then stay in the same timeline as all of the questions and characters we've watched and care about for five seasons. The second is that Juliet might be dead, thus lessening her impact on the plot this year.
The third reason is that The Incident is one of the anchoring events of the entire show. Its occurrence now sets up or indicates the coming of several events only hinted at so far, like the origin of the hatch's button, Mikhail Bakunin and his crazy eye patch, the purge, the orientation videos and more. It could be the beginning of the show's attempt to answer some questions.
2. Old characters return!
While this could push at the bounds of believability (even for "Lost"), I can't help but be excited that the writers have confirmed that many of the dearly departed players will return, including Charlie, Boone and Faraday. Not only does it signal a nostalgia laden trip down memory road, but the surprise announcement that characters like Michael and Libby will also be returning is good news for some lingering mysteries to be cleared up.
1. They've been planning this since season three
Cuse and Lindelof have stated that the show getting an end date was a very liberating thing, as it allowed them to stop stalling and start planning how they really wanted things to finish. Since that time, they've made seasons four and five, which, for anything you might say about them, were nothing if not jam packed with story.
Season six promises to be no different, but more importantly, there is comfort to be had in knowing that the writers are and have been aware not only of the questions we had before the last three seasons, but also of most of the questions that have arisen since that time. "Lost" has been called by some a show primarily about faith. Perhaps the viewers should have faith that the show's creators know what they're doing.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
"Lost" Lists, Part 2: Best Seasons and Best Twists
A brief reminder to my Facebook readers. This blog is RSS Feeded to Facebook from www.ryanreviewslife.blogspot.com. I would love it if you read it there instead of on Facebook, as the formatting I give to the original post does not show up on Facebook notes and adds (I think) a bit more to the posts.
Welcome back to "Lost" Lists. Last time, I wrote about the show's most overused cliches and the best and worst deaths that we've seen so far. Today, I'll be running down the best seasons and the worst and best twists the show has given us thus far. Without further ado...
"Lost's" Worst To Best Seasons
While the overall story of "Lost" is one that continues throughout the entire show, each season has had its own little miniarcs that carve out a special place in the overall mythology. Some of these miniarcs have been great, others... eh, not so much. Here are my thoughts.
5. Season Five
Arc: "TIME TRAVEL, YOU GUYS! TIME TRAVEL! ALSO, LOVE TRIANGLES."
Like every season of "Lost," this one sure had its moments. It was nice that they finally came out in the open about the time travel elements of the the show, and there was some high adventure, but three things in particular dragged it all down. The first thing is that the time travel episodes in the beginning were quite similar and also disorienting, making it hard to understand what was going on. I know I wished for a constant a few times.
The second problem was the Jack/Kate/Sawyer/Juliet love triangle. Some viewers probably loved it. I, however, was bored to tears by it. Don't get me wrong, "Lost," like any truly good science fiction, only works when it cares about its characters. The only problem is that I don't care about these characters. Jack is a fine protagonist and Sawyer is very good, but I hate Juliet and Kate, and even if I didn't I wouldn't care about which one is dating which and who feels particularly angsty about it today. Geez, it's like a teen drama, and it chewed up screen time, relegating great characters like Sayid, Desmond, Hurley, Miles, Faraday and others to much more minor roles.
The final problem was that it was just all so melodramatic. This started a little bit in season four, but it really reared its ugly head when 2009 rolled around. Back when Ben was in his heyday, he wouldn't just shrug off the deaths of a plane's innocent passengers. He'd make you think it was all your idea. Dramatic one liners abounded, intended to create tension but actually revealing laziness. It was as if the writers got too wrapped up in how awesome their high concept show was and sometimes forgot to make it high concept.
Hopefully, some of these problems will be fixed this year.
4. Season Two
Arc: "So, there's this hatch..."
The first time I watched this season through, I considered stopping altogether. The second time through was much more interesting, but it still suffers from a few key problems.
First, the good. This season stops messing around with Season One's proclivity to shove smoke monsters and numbers and polar bears in your face with absolutely no explanation, hoping that you'll just go "Oh my gosh! So weird! So different! I'm blown away!" Instead, some method starts to be injected into the madness by way of the Dharma Initiative, beginning with the hatch, the first of Pierre Chang's mysterious films and, in the season finale, the capsule dump, one of my favorite unanswered questions thus far. You were still confused, but it was a much more organized confusion.
Also, some of the character drama was really good. Mr. Eko was always fascinating, and the Charlie/Locke conflict really heated up. And, of course, I can't leave out the most important character addition in season two: Benjamin Linus, the scheming, double-dealing, Machiavellian leader of the others.
Now, the bad. Well, first there's Ana Lucia. Gosh I hated her. Annoying, two-dimensional, and she wears the same clothing the entire time she's on the island. Gross. Besides her, however, the should they or shouldn't they debate with the button got a little old by the end of the season, as did Jack and Locke's faith vs. science shtick. Lastly, we can't forget Kate's downfall from a relatively interesting manipulative fugitive into a weepy, petulant nuisance (to be fair, this does start in season one, when she spends many of her flashback episodes attempting to retrieve a toy airplane).
On the whole, it's an interesting season, but it's not without its setbacks.
3. Season One
Arc: "There is some pretty weird stuff going on on this island."
The best things about this season are, of course, the best things about any opening season to a good drama: the premise and the introduction to the characters. "Lost" proved its quality in both of these areas, introducing the engrossing flashbacks (indeed, the season one flashbacks often upstage the events on the island) and creating a pilot that sucks you into the plot faster than that one guy got sucked into 815's engine.
The weaknesses are not really weaknesses, nor are they anyone's fault. The writers had to establish that weird shenanigans were about to go down, and they did so nicely. However, the first season was, from a mythology angle, all about setup, and "Dude, it's a polar bear! Weird, right?" is inherently less interesting to me than "Why is there a polar bear hanging around?" This is all OK by me, however. The first season isn't supposed to be the best.
2. Season Three
Arc: "Wait... I really don't understand the Others at all."
While this season certainly has its fair share of bumps in the road (Nikki and Paulo, too much time spent in the cages, Nikki and Paulo, Jack's tattoos, Paulo and Nikki), it took the hints of conspiracy and mystery that season two introduced and turned them into full-blown, head scratching craziness with the revelation that the Others live in a town just like regular people, if regular people lived in the middle of an island fueled by strange and hellbent forces that no mortal could begin to understand. The narrative strength also increased, particularly in the long, bittersweet road towards Charlie's death.
Besides the already mentioned hiccups, Juliet wasn't always the most interesting, and the death of Mr. Eko made it clear that basically the entire reason the tail section existed is for Rose and Bernard to be together. However, these things are forgivable. The positives already mentioned, along with the introduction of Desmond as a central character and the flashforward twist in the finale, made for a great season.
1. Season Four
Arc: "Well, if it's not Penny's boat, whose is it?"
While I enjoyed many of the more non-essential episodes of the first three seasons (a particularly fun one is "Tricia Tanaka Is Dead," more commonly known as "the one where Hurley finds the van"), I also loved the writers' decision to buckle down in season four and make it all about plot. The flashforwards were innovative and exciting, and Jack's bearded moments may be Matthew Fox's best acted scenes on the show so far.
The on-island action was gripping as well. The four freighter folks were introduced (my favorite? Faraday), Michael came back, Ben was vengeful and manipulative as heck and the whole drama was given additional urgency by the menacing Martin Keamy. It wasn't short on mythology either, as time travel began to be revealed in full force, particularly in "The Constant" and at the end with the frozen wheel.
This is an almost perfect season, perhaps marred only a little bit by the absence of Charlie and a bit of a slide into melodrama. Even with these small concerns, it is definitely "Lost" at its best.
Now, for today's second list:
"Lost's" Best Twists
One of the key dramatic devices used in "Lost" is the plot twist, turning everything we thought we knew on its ear. Sometimes these revelations have added to the show, and sometimes they haven't. Let's take a look.
Note: For the purposes of this article, a "plot twist" shall mean a new, unknown and unexpected revelation or action meant to advance the plot.
5. Daniel gets shot by his mom
Episode: "The Variable"
While Faraday's odd, about-face insistence that the survivors can indeed change the past irks me, the reveal that his destiny has, in essence, been set in stone since before he was born hits you like a sucker punch, particularly because of the person who kills him: Eloise Hawking, Faraday's mom.
That she knew throughout Faraday's whole life that she would kill him recontextualizes the forgetful physicist's entire journey on the show, and it casts Eloise's motives and intentions even further into doubt going into the final season.
4. Michael shoots Ana Lucia and Libby
Episode: "Two For The Road"
Sorry that my first two twists are also two of the best deaths, but "Lost" can pack a lot of good into one action - or, in this case, two actions. While I've always loved Michael, he was a bit... whiny in season two, and the writers didn't give him much to do besides having him say "I've gotta find my son" over and over (he sounds like a regular Tom Jane after a while). However, his murder of Ana Lucia is shocking and something that most viewers wouldn't think Michael capable of. When he instinctively offs Libby moments later, it hits us: he can't come back from this.
The gamechanging nature of this moment also serves as one of the more potent (and one of the first) reminders that, on "Lost," no one is safe. The tension is ratcheted up because Cuse and Lindelof aren't afraid to kill fan favorites. While Shannon and Boone died before the two tail section occupants, this is when we knew that the writers meant business.
3. The Others are civilized and live in a town
Episode: "A Tale Of Two Cities"
Clair's flashbacks and the abandoned Dharma hospital had already given us glimpses into the idea that the Others might be more than just savages, but the wide shot of Dharmaville nestled in the middle of the island was something else entirely. It was the establishing shot of season three, the season when we found out much more about the Others than any season before or since.
Besides the unexpected fact that the Others behave like normal folk when they aren't terrorizing the survivors, this twist also gets props for its stellar setup. The first time I watched the episode, I assumed that Juliet was another survivor whose backstory was being fleshed out for the first time. Then the house starts to shake, the camera looks up to see the plane breaking apart, and BAM! It's Ben! Good work, guys.
2. "We have to go back!" is actually a flashforward
Episode: "Through The Looking Glass"
This one was actually spoiled for me, but it can't be discounted. The flashforwards took one of the most beloved parts of "Lost" and changed it into an even more unique storytelling device, one that gave immediate context to many on-island plotlines and saved a lot of exposition that would have otherwise had to be done in season five. That they at first lead the viewer on to think that it's just another episode in Jack's sob story is just good writing.
1. Locke really is dead
Episode: "The Incident, Part 2"
Somehow, the writers managed to turn Locke's death into three separate twists. The first is in the finale of season four, when you find out that he's the one who's been in the coffin the whole time. It's nice, but not completely shocking or anything. After all, you knew it had to be one of the main characters.
The second twist is when he comes back to life. Yawn. I saw that coming from the moment Ben suggests that Locke be used as a substitute for Christian. It was the third twist, however, that caught me unaware.
Again, here is a twist that recontextualizes the things that came before it. Now you know why Locke has been acting a little more terrible than normal. Now you know why he hasn't whined for the last half of the season. Now you understand why he's been spouting all of this villainous verboseness. You still don't understand what he means, but you understand why he says it.
Also, as is important for any good twist, this one was completely unexpected. I'm guessing that almost all "Lost" fans thought that the island had healed Locke and made him a cocky jerk to boot (in fact, this is one reason why I wasn't as big of a fan of season five). Then, just like season two, when the show needed a shot in the arm, Cuse and pull this one out.
"Lost's" Three Worst Twists
One of the pitfalls with something like "Lost" (or really any quality, popular media icon) is that the people responsible for content can get a little too caught up in how awesome the product is and begin to think that anything they do will be the best thing ever. This is why we have things like the "Pirates of the Caribbean" sequels, season four of The Office and most of John Lennon's post-Beatles career. Here are three times when the writers were wrong about what would play well.
3. Dr. Chang is Miles' dad
Episode: "Some Like It Hoth"
This one isn't terrible so much as it is mediocre. It currently makes little difference to the show that Chang and Miles are related, unless you think that changing Miles from a snarky smart-alec into a emotional, misunderstood adolescent is a major plot improvement.
Indeed, the main problem with this twist is the melodrama (a problem which, as previously noted, plagued season five). Miles' contrived "You need me?" when Chang asks him to do something for him is one of the top three worst anythings to appear on the show.
2. Nikki and Paulo actually discovered The Pearl station first
Episode: "Expose'"
I understand why the writers needed to do this episode, and it even has its moments now and then, but I really didn't like the retconning of a major moment in the plot. Such a revelation is pointless, and it retroactively takes away from Locke's discovery of the station later on. Oh well. At least those two are dead now.
1. Juliet's parents are divorced
Episode: "The Incident, Part 2"
This only qualifies as a twist because the writers chuck it at you out of the blue as an explanation for Juliet's suddenly irrational and inconsistent behavior (by the way, have you ever noticed how the flashback doesn't even make sense with the rest of the episode? Everyone else is having significant Jacob moments, and all of the sudden Juliet's parents just pop up for no reason).
Her decision to help Jack blow up the bomb, based only on a supposed "look" that Sawyer gives Kate and the sudden announcement that "hey guys, she's got issues from her childhood," is by far the most contrived plot point that has occurred on the "Lost" thus far. Let's hope season six can't top it.
Stay tuned for more "Lost" lists!
Welcome back to "Lost" Lists. Last time, I wrote about the show's most overused cliches and the best and worst deaths that we've seen so far. Today, I'll be running down the best seasons and the worst and best twists the show has given us thus far. Without further ado...
"Lost's" Worst To Best Seasons
While the overall story of "Lost" is one that continues throughout the entire show, each season has had its own little miniarcs that carve out a special place in the overall mythology. Some of these miniarcs have been great, others... eh, not so much. Here are my thoughts.
5. Season Five
Arc: "TIME TRAVEL, YOU GUYS! TIME TRAVEL! ALSO, LOVE TRIANGLES."
Like every season of "Lost," this one sure had its moments. It was nice that they finally came out in the open about the time travel elements of the the show, and there was some high adventure, but three things in particular dragged it all down. The first thing is that the time travel episodes in the beginning were quite similar and also disorienting, making it hard to understand what was going on. I know I wished for a constant a few times.
The second problem was the Jack/Kate/Sawyer/Juliet love triangle. Some viewers probably loved it. I, however, was bored to tears by it. Don't get me wrong, "Lost," like any truly good science fiction, only works when it cares about its characters. The only problem is that I don't care about these characters. Jack is a fine protagonist and Sawyer is very good, but I hate Juliet and Kate, and even if I didn't I wouldn't care about which one is dating which and who feels particularly angsty about it today. Geez, it's like a teen drama, and it chewed up screen time, relegating great characters like Sayid, Desmond, Hurley, Miles, Faraday and others to much more minor roles.
The final problem was that it was just all so melodramatic. This started a little bit in season four, but it really reared its ugly head when 2009 rolled around. Back when Ben was in his heyday, he wouldn't just shrug off the deaths of a plane's innocent passengers. He'd make you think it was all your idea. Dramatic one liners abounded, intended to create tension but actually revealing laziness. It was as if the writers got too wrapped up in how awesome their high concept show was and sometimes forgot to make it high concept.
Hopefully, some of these problems will be fixed this year.
4. Season Two
Arc: "So, there's this hatch..."
The first time I watched this season through, I considered stopping altogether. The second time through was much more interesting, but it still suffers from a few key problems.
First, the good. This season stops messing around with Season One's proclivity to shove smoke monsters and numbers and polar bears in your face with absolutely no explanation, hoping that you'll just go "Oh my gosh! So weird! So different! I'm blown away!" Instead, some method starts to be injected into the madness by way of the Dharma Initiative, beginning with the hatch, the first of Pierre Chang's mysterious films and, in the season finale, the capsule dump, one of my favorite unanswered questions thus far. You were still confused, but it was a much more organized confusion.
Also, some of the character drama was really good. Mr. Eko was always fascinating, and the Charlie/Locke conflict really heated up. And, of course, I can't leave out the most important character addition in season two: Benjamin Linus, the scheming, double-dealing, Machiavellian leader of the others.
Now, the bad. Well, first there's Ana Lucia. Gosh I hated her. Annoying, two-dimensional, and she wears the same clothing the entire time she's on the island. Gross. Besides her, however, the should they or shouldn't they debate with the button got a little old by the end of the season, as did Jack and Locke's faith vs. science shtick. Lastly, we can't forget Kate's downfall from a relatively interesting manipulative fugitive into a weepy, petulant nuisance (to be fair, this does start in season one, when she spends many of her flashback episodes attempting to retrieve a toy airplane).
On the whole, it's an interesting season, but it's not without its setbacks.
3. Season One
Arc: "There is some pretty weird stuff going on on this island."
The best things about this season are, of course, the best things about any opening season to a good drama: the premise and the introduction to the characters. "Lost" proved its quality in both of these areas, introducing the engrossing flashbacks (indeed, the season one flashbacks often upstage the events on the island) and creating a pilot that sucks you into the plot faster than that one guy got sucked into 815's engine.
The weaknesses are not really weaknesses, nor are they anyone's fault. The writers had to establish that weird shenanigans were about to go down, and they did so nicely. However, the first season was, from a mythology angle, all about setup, and "Dude, it's a polar bear! Weird, right?" is inherently less interesting to me than "Why is there a polar bear hanging around?" This is all OK by me, however. The first season isn't supposed to be the best.
2. Season Three
Arc: "Wait... I really don't understand the Others at all."
While this season certainly has its fair share of bumps in the road (Nikki and Paulo, too much time spent in the cages, Nikki and Paulo, Jack's tattoos, Paulo and Nikki), it took the hints of conspiracy and mystery that season two introduced and turned them into full-blown, head scratching craziness with the revelation that the Others live in a town just like regular people, if regular people lived in the middle of an island fueled by strange and hellbent forces that no mortal could begin to understand. The narrative strength also increased, particularly in the long, bittersweet road towards Charlie's death.
Besides the already mentioned hiccups, Juliet wasn't always the most interesting, and the death of Mr. Eko made it clear that basically the entire reason the tail section existed is for Rose and Bernard to be together. However, these things are forgivable. The positives already mentioned, along with the introduction of Desmond as a central character and the flashforward twist in the finale, made for a great season.
1. Season Four
Arc: "Well, if it's not Penny's boat, whose is it?"
While I enjoyed many of the more non-essential episodes of the first three seasons (a particularly fun one is "Tricia Tanaka Is Dead," more commonly known as "the one where Hurley finds the van"), I also loved the writers' decision to buckle down in season four and make it all about plot. The flashforwards were innovative and exciting, and Jack's bearded moments may be Matthew Fox's best acted scenes on the show so far.
The on-island action was gripping as well. The four freighter folks were introduced (my favorite? Faraday), Michael came back, Ben was vengeful and manipulative as heck and the whole drama was given additional urgency by the menacing Martin Keamy. It wasn't short on mythology either, as time travel began to be revealed in full force, particularly in "The Constant" and at the end with the frozen wheel.
This is an almost perfect season, perhaps marred only a little bit by the absence of Charlie and a bit of a slide into melodrama. Even with these small concerns, it is definitely "Lost" at its best.
Now, for today's second list:
"Lost's" Best Twists
One of the key dramatic devices used in "Lost" is the plot twist, turning everything we thought we knew on its ear. Sometimes these revelations have added to the show, and sometimes they haven't. Let's take a look.
Note: For the purposes of this article, a "plot twist" shall mean a new, unknown and unexpected revelation or action meant to advance the plot.
5. Daniel gets shot by his mom
Episode: "The Variable"
While Faraday's odd, about-face insistence that the survivors can indeed change the past irks me, the reveal that his destiny has, in essence, been set in stone since before he was born hits you like a sucker punch, particularly because of the person who kills him: Eloise Hawking, Faraday's mom.
That she knew throughout Faraday's whole life that she would kill him recontextualizes the forgetful physicist's entire journey on the show, and it casts Eloise's motives and intentions even further into doubt going into the final season.
4. Michael shoots Ana Lucia and Libby
Episode: "Two For The Road"
Sorry that my first two twists are also two of the best deaths, but "Lost" can pack a lot of good into one action - or, in this case, two actions. While I've always loved Michael, he was a bit... whiny in season two, and the writers didn't give him much to do besides having him say "I've gotta find my son" over and over (he sounds like a regular Tom Jane after a while). However, his murder of Ana Lucia is shocking and something that most viewers wouldn't think Michael capable of. When he instinctively offs Libby moments later, it hits us: he can't come back from this.
The gamechanging nature of this moment also serves as one of the more potent (and one of the first) reminders that, on "Lost," no one is safe. The tension is ratcheted up because Cuse and Lindelof aren't afraid to kill fan favorites. While Shannon and Boone died before the two tail section occupants, this is when we knew that the writers meant business.
3. The Others are civilized and live in a town
Episode: "A Tale Of Two Cities"
Clair's flashbacks and the abandoned Dharma hospital had already given us glimpses into the idea that the Others might be more than just savages, but the wide shot of Dharmaville nestled in the middle of the island was something else entirely. It was the establishing shot of season three, the season when we found out much more about the Others than any season before or since.
Besides the unexpected fact that the Others behave like normal folk when they aren't terrorizing the survivors, this twist also gets props for its stellar setup. The first time I watched the episode, I assumed that Juliet was another survivor whose backstory was being fleshed out for the first time. Then the house starts to shake, the camera looks up to see the plane breaking apart, and BAM! It's Ben! Good work, guys.
2. "We have to go back!" is actually a flashforward
Episode: "Through The Looking Glass"
This one was actually spoiled for me, but it can't be discounted. The flashforwards took one of the most beloved parts of "Lost" and changed it into an even more unique storytelling device, one that gave immediate context to many on-island plotlines and saved a lot of exposition that would have otherwise had to be done in season five. That they at first lead the viewer on to think that it's just another episode in Jack's sob story is just good writing.
1. Locke really is dead
Episode: "The Incident, Part 2"
Somehow, the writers managed to turn Locke's death into three separate twists. The first is in the finale of season four, when you find out that he's the one who's been in the coffin the whole time. It's nice, but not completely shocking or anything. After all, you knew it had to be one of the main characters.
The second twist is when he comes back to life. Yawn. I saw that coming from the moment Ben suggests that Locke be used as a substitute for Christian. It was the third twist, however, that caught me unaware.
Again, here is a twist that recontextualizes the things that came before it. Now you know why Locke has been acting a little more terrible than normal. Now you know why he hasn't whined for the last half of the season. Now you understand why he's been spouting all of this villainous verboseness. You still don't understand what he means, but you understand why he says it.
Also, as is important for any good twist, this one was completely unexpected. I'm guessing that almost all "Lost" fans thought that the island had healed Locke and made him a cocky jerk to boot (in fact, this is one reason why I wasn't as big of a fan of season five). Then, just like season two, when the show needed a shot in the arm, Cuse and pull this one out.
"Lost's" Three Worst Twists
One of the pitfalls with something like "Lost" (or really any quality, popular media icon) is that the people responsible for content can get a little too caught up in how awesome the product is and begin to think that anything they do will be the best thing ever. This is why we have things like the "Pirates of the Caribbean" sequels, season four of The Office and most of John Lennon's post-Beatles career. Here are three times when the writers were wrong about what would play well.
3. Dr. Chang is Miles' dad
Episode: "Some Like It Hoth"
This one isn't terrible so much as it is mediocre. It currently makes little difference to the show that Chang and Miles are related, unless you think that changing Miles from a snarky smart-alec into a emotional, misunderstood adolescent is a major plot improvement.
Indeed, the main problem with this twist is the melodrama (a problem which, as previously noted, plagued season five). Miles' contrived "You need me?" when Chang asks him to do something for him is one of the top three worst anythings to appear on the show.
2. Nikki and Paulo actually discovered The Pearl station first
Episode: "Expose'"
I understand why the writers needed to do this episode, and it even has its moments now and then, but I really didn't like the retconning of a major moment in the plot. Such a revelation is pointless, and it retroactively takes away from Locke's discovery of the station later on. Oh well. At least those two are dead now.
1. Juliet's parents are divorced
Episode: "The Incident, Part 2"
This only qualifies as a twist because the writers chuck it at you out of the blue as an explanation for Juliet's suddenly irrational and inconsistent behavior (by the way, have you ever noticed how the flashback doesn't even make sense with the rest of the episode? Everyone else is having significant Jacob moments, and all of the sudden Juliet's parents just pop up for no reason).
Her decision to help Jack blow up the bomb, based only on a supposed "look" that Sawyer gives Kate and the sudden announcement that "hey guys, she's got issues from her childhood," is by far the most contrived plot point that has occurred on the "Lost" thus far. Let's hope season six can't top it.
Stay tuned for more "Lost" lists!
"Lost" Lists, part 1
Note: If you’re not a “Lost” fan, absolutely none of this will make sense to you, and I would encourage you not to bother. If you are a “Lost” fan, but you’re not caught up yet, I would implore you not to read any of these lists until you’re caught up. Spoilers abound.
I’m done. For about a week.
When I wrote these words, I had just finished watching “The Incident, Part 2,” otherwise known as the season finale of the penultimate season of “Lost.” Since this summer, I’ve been rewatching every episode in order to beef up on the mythology and chronology of the show before it begins its final season next week. However, I also had an ulterior motive.
The other thing I decided this summer about “Lost” is that I would write a very long article made up of lists about the best/worst things in the “Lost” universe. Recently, I’ve decided to split it up into six different lists, the first one of which is below. I will be posting the other five installments as the week continues, although one or two of them might appear on GooseRadio instead (check out my first article for that site here).
First, however, a more proper introduction.
I’ve been a “Lost” fan for about a year, much less than some of my more dedicated friends. However, I’ve become convinced that the story the creators are weaving is truly a great one, and it was very rewarding to rewatch all 100+ episodes knowing, to a certain extent, the context in which those episodes were placed. The first time around, you see, you don’t know what’s coming up next, which is fun but confusing. The second time, you can see what the writers were up to from the start, and it (mostly) starts to make sense. “Meet Kevin Johnson” aside, the nearly flawless continuity they’ve managed to keep is astounding for a show of this scope. The writing and characterization are excellent as well.
That being said, it’s impossible for a TV show of this length to not have at least a few bad parts. Even “Arrested Development” came up with “Ready, Aim, Marry Me.” These lists will have something of a fun look at the lamer elements of “Lost,” right along with all the good bits. In fact, that’s where this first installment of “Lost” Lists begins…
"Lost’s" Top Five Most Overused Clichés
Lost generally has great writing, but an obsession with “themes” can go a little too far when you hear the same old tune over and over again. Here are the worst.
5. “When the hell are we?” jokes
The only thing keeping this entry from being higher on the list is that it mercifully only went on for six episodes (season five, episodes 1-5, 7). However, those six episodes sure had some cringe-worthy moments: 10, in fact. That’s right. The first half of season five made a joke akin to “when are we?” or “where are we in time?” or “where the hell are we? We don’t even know when the hell we are!” an average of 1 2/3 times every episode, otherwise known as Tim Allen’s grunt ratio on “Home Improvement.”
OK, guys, we get it. It was a groan-worthy but also silly-grin-worthy joke the first time, but only the first time. The second time just made us think, “I hope they don’t make this into a thing,” the third, “Oh no, they’re making it a thing,” and beyond, “OH MY GOODNESS I HOPE THE SMOKE MONSTER JUDGES YOU ALL.” The time jump episodes (“This Place Is Death” excluded) are not some of “Lost’s” best fare to begin with; constantly referencing what is going on onscreen with a joke that you obviously think is super clever just makes things worse.
4. The Island telling people (OK, mostly just Locke) to do things
I understand that this is part of the mythology of the show, but at times it’s just become a catch-all for any otherwise unexplained action taken by everyone’s favorite balding crybaby. It’s often lazy, and it (along with the next item on my list) kind of makes hate Locke just a bit more.
The mythology argument is also becoming a little tenuous now that Jacob is on the scene. Is he the person Locke originally thought was The Island, or does The Island still function as its own entity? I originally thought the former, but the un-Locke once again references chit-chatting it up with the mysterious jungle-clad rock.
3. “Don’t Tell Me What I Can’t Do!”
OK, Locke, sure, I’ll just tell you what you can do: shut the hell up. Before I go on, I should note that I think Terry O’Quinn is a great actor, including his stint on “Lost.” I did become infuriated with him starting midway through season three, but that’s how you’re supposed to feel about him if you’re in the slightly saner Jack camp. He has imbued the character with a lot of pathos, and I admire that.
What I don’t admire is that the writers think that he can assert his constant need for independence in only three ways: breaking kitchenware when Ben questions him, hating wheelchairs and that stupid line. The first one is OK because it doesn’t happen very often, and the second one works because, again, O’Quinn is so good at his craft, but the oft-exclaimed line is the second most annoying thing to come out of a “Lost” character’s mouth on a regular basis. It’s petulant and whiny for one, which is a bit more forgivable because it’s supposed to be that way, but it’s also about as repetitive as the “when are we” jokes, except that it spans the entire length of the show.
2. “Live Together, Die Alone”
This is the line that beats out Locke’s. I know the original speech in which this appears is supposed to be a watershed moment for the survivors, but I found the expression a bit trite even then. The writers, however, seem enamored with it, which is highly unfortunate.
Like “The Island made me do it,” the phrase has become an excuse to make characters do things without actually giving them motivation. In short, I wish Rose had followed through when she threatened to sock Jack if he used the phrase again.
1. Daddy Issues
All right, all right. I have a confession to make. This one is overused so much that it’s kind of endearing. Let’s take a look see at every main character from the first five seasons and find out how many of them have had problems with one or both of their parents which have been implied to affect the character in a significant way.
Jack – The Classic. Can’t win his dad’s approval. Poor baby.
Kate – Killed who she thought was her stepdad but who was actually her real dad. Mom hates her for this.
Sawyer – Dad killed self, mom. Shapes his whole life around revenge.
Hurley – Dad abandoned him and only came back when he got rich. Suspects that he’s only in it for the money.
Locke – Mom insane, put him up for foster care. Dad (among other things) steals his kidney and pushes him out of a window with intent to kill.
Jin – Mom’s a prostitute, ashamed of fisherdad.
Sun – Dad is a conniving, controlling mobster/businessman.
Claire – Absentee, adulterous dad, mom in a coma because of an accident that may have been Claire’s fault.
Ben – Mom died in childbirth and then haunts him on the island. Dad is an alcoholic, abusive jerk.
Juliet – Parents divorced, caused her to disbelieve in relational permanence.
Walt – Mom died suddenly, dad doesn’t know how to be a father and also killed two people.
Shannon – She more has “brother issues” than anything else, but her dad died in a car accident and her stepmom is withholding and condescending.
Ana Lucia – Her mom suspects her (rightly) of committing murder, and she mingles personal concerns with on the job ones.
Daniel – His mom is withholding, controlling, rude, and, oh yeah, she knowingly sends him to his death by her own hand in the past (only on “Lost,” ladies and gentlemen). Also, his dad is probably Charles Widmore, which could open up a whole new realm of problems.
Miles – Secretive mom, absentee dad who really did love him, but Miles doesn’t know that until he goes back in time and hangs out with him while occasionally seeing his baby self.
That’s quite a list. The main characters who don’t make it are Charlie, Michael, Sayid, Desmond, Boone, Eko, Charlotte, Libby, Nicki and Paulo, and of those, it is at least briefly implied that Sayid, Michael and Charlie could have parental troubles. Of the remaining characters, there is only one character whose parent is even seen on the show. This means that, out of the 25 main characters that have appeared on “Lost” so far, Boone is the only one who is absolutely confirmed to have a non-crippling relationship with those who bore him.
I don’t actually mind this too much because it’s so widespread that it’s almost endearing, but man, what happened to Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof when they were little?
OK, next list.
“Lost’s” Top Five Deaths
“Lost” is a show in which death is an expected – if not always welcomed – thing, and it’s something that has both endeared people to the show (“it’s so daring and story-driven!”) and made them fly into fits of rage (“how dare they! [Name] was my favorite character!”). Of the 25 main characters so far (a number that will soon swell to 28 with season six’s addition of Richard, Ilana and Frank), only 12 have survived up to this point, and that’s only if both Juliet and Sayid make it out of The Incident alive (my bet is that Sayid will and Juliet won’t). Death is something that the writers are good at portraying, and many of the most poignant moments on the show come when a beloved character passes on. Here are five of the best, followed by three of the worst.
5. Frank Duckett
Death Episode: “Outlaws”
Even though he is featured in one of the worst “Lost” episodes of all time (but we’ll save that for another list), Frank’s mistaken-identity murder by Sawyer is still quite sad, and it gives us deeper perspective into the put-on tough guy persona of our beloved con man. The only thing that could make Mr. Duckett’s demise any better was if ominously-whispered “It’ll come back around” didn’t end up meaning “Sawyer, a boar is going to mess up your tent.”
4. Michael Dawson
Death Episode: “There’s No Place Like Home, Part 3”
I’ve always had a soft spot for Michael, even if the constant strains of “WAAAAALT” get on my nerves every now and then. Harold Perrineau always infuses his performance with believability and relatability, which is saying something when you play a new dad out-of-work architect who kills two people and then magically fails to commit suicide several times.
Speaking of which, it is the guilt Michael feels over killing Ana Lucia and Libby and the anguish over the estrangement from his son that really gives emotional weight to his almost-but-not-quite redemptive death. I know that the writers’ strike curtailed what was to be a more heroic final bow for Michael, but I still like the way the writers played it.
3. Ana Lucia and Libby
Death Episode: “Two For The Road” and “?”
Neither of these characters were particularly great (particularly not Ana Lucia, who I was kind of excited to see shuffle off the mortal coil), but the drama they gave Michael was excellent, and the surprise twist toward the end of the season combined with the introduction of Ben to inject new life into the show. There have been better twists on the show since then, but few have been more jarring and out-and-out surprising.
2. Daniel Faraday
Death Episode: “The Variable”
I was very sad and a little angry when this happened, as Faraday had been one of my favorite characters since his introduction and the writers killed him right as he got back from a several-episode hiatus. However, you can’t deny the dramatic setup and impact; while Faraday’s insistence on rejecting his “Whatever happened, happened” philosophy seems a bit out of character, every flashback scene with his mother was brilliantly paced, and the look of realization on the poor physicist’s face before he goes to the big mouse maze in the sky is just heartbreaking.
1. Charlie Pace
Death Episode: “Through The Looking Glass”
C’mon. You knew this was coming, didn’t you?
Charlie may have stopped breathing in the season three finale, but he was already dying 18 episodes earlier, when Desmond sets up the lightning rod in “Flashes Before Your Eyes.” The writers proceeded to toy with our emotions all season long, and it was gutsy of them to eventually follow through with the death of the rock star, by far the biggest fan favorite to be offed so far (well, besides Locke, but that’s different).
There were moments of tension, like Desmond’s decision to take Charlie on a trip that he knew could have ended in an arrow to the neck, and there were moments of poignancy, like the flashbacks of “Greatest Hits” and the developing relationship with Claire. However, the unquestionably best part of Charlie’s demise was the bravery with which he finally decides to pass on. The “Not Penny’s Boat” shot followed by the final sign of the cross may end up being the show’s most iconic moment.
Now, on a more negative note:
“Lost’s Three Worst Deaths
3. Shannon Rutherford
Death Episode: “Abandoned”
Legions of Shannon haters may disagree, but I’ll be quick to point out that the bikini-clad whiner had gotten considerably less annoying since her debut, making her one of the only main characters in the five season run to show considerable character progression. Besides that, her death makes her kind of pointless to the show, as the only thing she had ever contributed to the plot was knowing a little bit of French, an ability the writers could have easily given to another character. Her death didn’t even mean that much to Sayid, as he had already gotten over her by the middle of season two (you almost forget about their relationship sometimes, don’t you?).
Lastly, the ensuing chaos of her death meant that we forgot all about what caused her to die in the first place: trippy, backwards-speaking and still unexplained visions of a dripping wet Walt. What is up with that?
2. Matthew Abaddon
Death Episode: “The Life And Death Of Jeremy Bentham”
Nowhere else on “Lost” has a character been so built up only to end as an uninteresting footnote. Abaddon was creepy and always interesting in his sparse moments of screen time, and then, just as you think you’re about to find out more about what he actually does, he’s abruptly and unceremoniously shot by Ben, never to be heard from again. For heaven’s sake, the revelation that he is working with Naomi is treated like some sort of major plot point when it’s revealed, but no. Apparently he’s just a creepy dude who runs errands for Widmore. Lame.
1. Danielle Rousseau
Death Episode: “Meet Kevin Johnson”
This was another “too soon” death moment. Rousseau’s hunt for Alex had been one of the longest running plot points on the show. Then, when the two are finally reunited at the end of season three, she’s virtually ignored, only to be shot in season four as the second in a series of a character killing spree (Carl died moments before she did, and Alex was killed in the next episode).
Even though her quest was completed, the writers never brought closure to it, and they even wasted what could have been a look of fantastic regret as the dying Danielle realizes that, after all these years, it was all for naught. Instead, she just keels over. What a waste.
Look for more “Lost” lists as the week progresses!
I’m done. For about a week.
When I wrote these words, I had just finished watching “The Incident, Part 2,” otherwise known as the season finale of the penultimate season of “Lost.” Since this summer, I’ve been rewatching every episode in order to beef up on the mythology and chronology of the show before it begins its final season next week. However, I also had an ulterior motive.
The other thing I decided this summer about “Lost” is that I would write a very long article made up of lists about the best/worst things in the “Lost” universe. Recently, I’ve decided to split it up into six different lists, the first one of which is below. I will be posting the other five installments as the week continues, although one or two of them might appear on GooseRadio instead (check out my first article for that site here).
First, however, a more proper introduction.
I’ve been a “Lost” fan for about a year, much less than some of my more dedicated friends. However, I’ve become convinced that the story the creators are weaving is truly a great one, and it was very rewarding to rewatch all 100+ episodes knowing, to a certain extent, the context in which those episodes were placed. The first time around, you see, you don’t know what’s coming up next, which is fun but confusing. The second time, you can see what the writers were up to from the start, and it (mostly) starts to make sense. “Meet Kevin Johnson” aside, the nearly flawless continuity they’ve managed to keep is astounding for a show of this scope. The writing and characterization are excellent as well.
That being said, it’s impossible for a TV show of this length to not have at least a few bad parts. Even “Arrested Development” came up with “Ready, Aim, Marry Me.” These lists will have something of a fun look at the lamer elements of “Lost,” right along with all the good bits. In fact, that’s where this first installment of “Lost” Lists begins…
"Lost’s" Top Five Most Overused Clichés
Lost generally has great writing, but an obsession with “themes” can go a little too far when you hear the same old tune over and over again. Here are the worst.
5. “When the hell are we?” jokes
The only thing keeping this entry from being higher on the list is that it mercifully only went on for six episodes (season five, episodes 1-5, 7). However, those six episodes sure had some cringe-worthy moments: 10, in fact. That’s right. The first half of season five made a joke akin to “when are we?” or “where are we in time?” or “where the hell are we? We don’t even know when the hell we are!” an average of 1 2/3 times every episode, otherwise known as Tim Allen’s grunt ratio on “Home Improvement.”
OK, guys, we get it. It was a groan-worthy but also silly-grin-worthy joke the first time, but only the first time. The second time just made us think, “I hope they don’t make this into a thing,” the third, “Oh no, they’re making it a thing,” and beyond, “OH MY GOODNESS I HOPE THE SMOKE MONSTER JUDGES YOU ALL.” The time jump episodes (“This Place Is Death” excluded) are not some of “Lost’s” best fare to begin with; constantly referencing what is going on onscreen with a joke that you obviously think is super clever just makes things worse.
4. The Island telling people (OK, mostly just Locke) to do things
I understand that this is part of the mythology of the show, but at times it’s just become a catch-all for any otherwise unexplained action taken by everyone’s favorite balding crybaby. It’s often lazy, and it (along with the next item on my list) kind of makes hate Locke just a bit more.
The mythology argument is also becoming a little tenuous now that Jacob is on the scene. Is he the person Locke originally thought was The Island, or does The Island still function as its own entity? I originally thought the former, but the un-Locke once again references chit-chatting it up with the mysterious jungle-clad rock.
3. “Don’t Tell Me What I Can’t Do!”
OK, Locke, sure, I’ll just tell you what you can do: shut the hell up. Before I go on, I should note that I think Terry O’Quinn is a great actor, including his stint on “Lost.” I did become infuriated with him starting midway through season three, but that’s how you’re supposed to feel about him if you’re in the slightly saner Jack camp. He has imbued the character with a lot of pathos, and I admire that.
What I don’t admire is that the writers think that he can assert his constant need for independence in only three ways: breaking kitchenware when Ben questions him, hating wheelchairs and that stupid line. The first one is OK because it doesn’t happen very often, and the second one works because, again, O’Quinn is so good at his craft, but the oft-exclaimed line is the second most annoying thing to come out of a “Lost” character’s mouth on a regular basis. It’s petulant and whiny for one, which is a bit more forgivable because it’s supposed to be that way, but it’s also about as repetitive as the “when are we” jokes, except that it spans the entire length of the show.
2. “Live Together, Die Alone”
This is the line that beats out Locke’s. I know the original speech in which this appears is supposed to be a watershed moment for the survivors, but I found the expression a bit trite even then. The writers, however, seem enamored with it, which is highly unfortunate.
Like “The Island made me do it,” the phrase has become an excuse to make characters do things without actually giving them motivation. In short, I wish Rose had followed through when she threatened to sock Jack if he used the phrase again.
1. Daddy Issues
All right, all right. I have a confession to make. This one is overused so much that it’s kind of endearing. Let’s take a look see at every main character from the first five seasons and find out how many of them have had problems with one or both of their parents which have been implied to affect the character in a significant way.
Jack – The Classic. Can’t win his dad’s approval. Poor baby.
Kate – Killed who she thought was her stepdad but who was actually her real dad. Mom hates her for this.
Sawyer – Dad killed self, mom. Shapes his whole life around revenge.
Hurley – Dad abandoned him and only came back when he got rich. Suspects that he’s only in it for the money.
Locke – Mom insane, put him up for foster care. Dad (among other things) steals his kidney and pushes him out of a window with intent to kill.
Jin – Mom’s a prostitute, ashamed of fisherdad.
Sun – Dad is a conniving, controlling mobster/businessman.
Claire – Absentee, adulterous dad, mom in a coma because of an accident that may have been Claire’s fault.
Ben – Mom died in childbirth and then haunts him on the island. Dad is an alcoholic, abusive jerk.
Juliet – Parents divorced, caused her to disbelieve in relational permanence.
Walt – Mom died suddenly, dad doesn’t know how to be a father and also killed two people.
Shannon – She more has “brother issues” than anything else, but her dad died in a car accident and her stepmom is withholding and condescending.
Ana Lucia – Her mom suspects her (rightly) of committing murder, and she mingles personal concerns with on the job ones.
Daniel – His mom is withholding, controlling, rude, and, oh yeah, she knowingly sends him to his death by her own hand in the past (only on “Lost,” ladies and gentlemen). Also, his dad is probably Charles Widmore, which could open up a whole new realm of problems.
Miles – Secretive mom, absentee dad who really did love him, but Miles doesn’t know that until he goes back in time and hangs out with him while occasionally seeing his baby self.
That’s quite a list. The main characters who don’t make it are Charlie, Michael, Sayid, Desmond, Boone, Eko, Charlotte, Libby, Nicki and Paulo, and of those, it is at least briefly implied that Sayid, Michael and Charlie could have parental troubles. Of the remaining characters, there is only one character whose parent is even seen on the show. This means that, out of the 25 main characters that have appeared on “Lost” so far, Boone is the only one who is absolutely confirmed to have a non-crippling relationship with those who bore him.
I don’t actually mind this too much because it’s so widespread that it’s almost endearing, but man, what happened to Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof when they were little?
OK, next list.
“Lost’s” Top Five Deaths
“Lost” is a show in which death is an expected – if not always welcomed – thing, and it’s something that has both endeared people to the show (“it’s so daring and story-driven!”) and made them fly into fits of rage (“how dare they! [Name] was my favorite character!”). Of the 25 main characters so far (a number that will soon swell to 28 with season six’s addition of Richard, Ilana and Frank), only 12 have survived up to this point, and that’s only if both Juliet and Sayid make it out of The Incident alive (my bet is that Sayid will and Juliet won’t). Death is something that the writers are good at portraying, and many of the most poignant moments on the show come when a beloved character passes on. Here are five of the best, followed by three of the worst.
5. Frank Duckett
Death Episode: “Outlaws”
Even though he is featured in one of the worst “Lost” episodes of all time (but we’ll save that for another list), Frank’s mistaken-identity murder by Sawyer is still quite sad, and it gives us deeper perspective into the put-on tough guy persona of our beloved con man. The only thing that could make Mr. Duckett’s demise any better was if ominously-whispered “It’ll come back around” didn’t end up meaning “Sawyer, a boar is going to mess up your tent.”
4. Michael Dawson
Death Episode: “There’s No Place Like Home, Part 3”
I’ve always had a soft spot for Michael, even if the constant strains of “WAAAAALT” get on my nerves every now and then. Harold Perrineau always infuses his performance with believability and relatability, which is saying something when you play a new dad out-of-work architect who kills two people and then magically fails to commit suicide several times.
Speaking of which, it is the guilt Michael feels over killing Ana Lucia and Libby and the anguish over the estrangement from his son that really gives emotional weight to his almost-but-not-quite redemptive death. I know that the writers’ strike curtailed what was to be a more heroic final bow for Michael, but I still like the way the writers played it.
3. Ana Lucia and Libby
Death Episode: “Two For The Road” and “?”
Neither of these characters were particularly great (particularly not Ana Lucia, who I was kind of excited to see shuffle off the mortal coil), but the drama they gave Michael was excellent, and the surprise twist toward the end of the season combined with the introduction of Ben to inject new life into the show. There have been better twists on the show since then, but few have been more jarring and out-and-out surprising.
2. Daniel Faraday
Death Episode: “The Variable”
I was very sad and a little angry when this happened, as Faraday had been one of my favorite characters since his introduction and the writers killed him right as he got back from a several-episode hiatus. However, you can’t deny the dramatic setup and impact; while Faraday’s insistence on rejecting his “Whatever happened, happened” philosophy seems a bit out of character, every flashback scene with his mother was brilliantly paced, and the look of realization on the poor physicist’s face before he goes to the big mouse maze in the sky is just heartbreaking.
1. Charlie Pace
Death Episode: “Through The Looking Glass”
C’mon. You knew this was coming, didn’t you?
Charlie may have stopped breathing in the season three finale, but he was already dying 18 episodes earlier, when Desmond sets up the lightning rod in “Flashes Before Your Eyes.” The writers proceeded to toy with our emotions all season long, and it was gutsy of them to eventually follow through with the death of the rock star, by far the biggest fan favorite to be offed so far (well, besides Locke, but that’s different).
There were moments of tension, like Desmond’s decision to take Charlie on a trip that he knew could have ended in an arrow to the neck, and there were moments of poignancy, like the flashbacks of “Greatest Hits” and the developing relationship with Claire. However, the unquestionably best part of Charlie’s demise was the bravery with which he finally decides to pass on. The “Not Penny’s Boat” shot followed by the final sign of the cross may end up being the show’s most iconic moment.
Now, on a more negative note:
“Lost’s Three Worst Deaths
3. Shannon Rutherford
Death Episode: “Abandoned”
Legions of Shannon haters may disagree, but I’ll be quick to point out that the bikini-clad whiner had gotten considerably less annoying since her debut, making her one of the only main characters in the five season run to show considerable character progression. Besides that, her death makes her kind of pointless to the show, as the only thing she had ever contributed to the plot was knowing a little bit of French, an ability the writers could have easily given to another character. Her death didn’t even mean that much to Sayid, as he had already gotten over her by the middle of season two (you almost forget about their relationship sometimes, don’t you?).
Lastly, the ensuing chaos of her death meant that we forgot all about what caused her to die in the first place: trippy, backwards-speaking and still unexplained visions of a dripping wet Walt. What is up with that?
2. Matthew Abaddon
Death Episode: “The Life And Death Of Jeremy Bentham”
Nowhere else on “Lost” has a character been so built up only to end as an uninteresting footnote. Abaddon was creepy and always interesting in his sparse moments of screen time, and then, just as you think you’re about to find out more about what he actually does, he’s abruptly and unceremoniously shot by Ben, never to be heard from again. For heaven’s sake, the revelation that he is working with Naomi is treated like some sort of major plot point when it’s revealed, but no. Apparently he’s just a creepy dude who runs errands for Widmore. Lame.
1. Danielle Rousseau
Death Episode: “Meet Kevin Johnson”
This was another “too soon” death moment. Rousseau’s hunt for Alex had been one of the longest running plot points on the show. Then, when the two are finally reunited at the end of season three, she’s virtually ignored, only to be shot in season four as the second in a series of a character killing spree (Carl died moments before she did, and Alex was killed in the next episode).
Even though her quest was completed, the writers never brought closure to it, and they even wasted what could have been a look of fantastic regret as the dying Danielle realizes that, after all these years, it was all for naught. Instead, she just keels over. What a waste.
Look for more “Lost” lists as the week progresses!
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