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I don't want to give away who got voted off, so click the "Read More" link for my Survivor thoughts. Oh, and because I don't want people to forget about my Lost column as it slides down the blog, here's a link for that as well:
http://acaseoftheblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/case-of-lost-episode-5-14.html
Now, read my thoughts...
For whatever reason, tonight's episode of Survivor had me steaming. The characters -- two in particular -- had me annoyed beyond belief.
I've always felt that Coach was an absolute psychopath. I mean, honestly. I think he's a lot of fun to watch, but I really don't think he should be allowed outside the house, no less in the jungle playing with sharp objects. But this episode, I have to say, without a shadow of a doubt, Debbie was the absolute most unlikeable person. My blood was boiling whenever she spoke.
And I have to say, I was loving Sierra. The girl has balls. She straight up called out every single person for their lies, deception, and attempted manipulations. Coach and Debbie ABSOLUTELY asked Sierra to form an alliance with them. And when she rightfully resisted, they tried to act like she was the one violating their trust. These two treated her like an outcast and attempted to vote her out. And they rejected her attempt at an alliance at the previous tribal council (when she was in the weak position).
And she rightfully called them out about not having the numbers. And when she did, Debbie completely lost it. She simply couldn't convince Sierra that THEY were doing HER the favor, and it drove her over the deep end.
Then Coach showed that he's completely full of crap when he straight up lied about what had happened with no provocation whatsoever. And he has the gall to go on to say that Sierra is deluded and has tricked herself into believing this lie. Projecting much? This guy is the definition of a hypocrite.
I was going to say that Coach was a total tool for saying "Dragon Slayer!" after winning his challenge, but the fact that he later asked J.T., so proudly, "Did you hear me say 'Dragon Slayer'?" with this big goofy grin on his face....yeah...
I was so pissed that Sierra ended up getting voted off. I don't like her enough to root for her to win it, but just like last week, a very unpleasant person deserved to get what they had coming.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Survivor thoughts
What's happening with your favorite TV Show?
So as we approach the end of the television season, and the period in which networks announce their Fall schedule, we're starting to get a sense of which shows will be returning and which ones won't. Courtesy of TV Guide, I've got a pretty extensive list here. Nothing particularly earth shattering (except 'Til Death -- that show's still on?), but it's worth a look.
30 Rock: Already renewed.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
A Case of the.... Lost - Episode 5-14
“Do you have something for a beginner?”
BEST. LINE. EVER.
I stated the following in last week’s Revisited column regarding “The Incident” and the Oceanic survivors perhaps playing a part in the much alluded to event:
To me, that could easily mean that one of the Oceanic survivors-turned Dharma members meddles, perhaps in a failed attempt to prevent something catastrophic. Here's an idea: As Hurley noted last week, the Swan is responsible for their plane crashing. What if he uses the computer with the intention of destroying the hatch, but inadvertently causes the Incident instead? That seems perfectly plausible.
So let me go on record by stating that this is my official prediction to what causes the Incident. And, as also discussed in last week’s column, the Incident is what sends them back to the present day.
Click the "Read More" link for the full column.
Anyway, what a fun episode this was (well, aside from the ending). We got a whole lot of answers and explanations, as well as confirmations about many assumptions we’ve made throughout the season.
Let’s start with the now-confirmed assumptions: Ellie, the Other we met in the 50’s, is indeed Daniel’s mother. Additionally, in an eleventh hour reveal, Widmore is Daniel’s father (unless I misheard him).
Now onto the answers and explanations. First, why was Daniel crying when he was watching the news about the “Oceanic” crash? As we saw, his mind was a bit jumbled. I’m guessing that his consciousness that met the Oceanic survivors figured that they successfully prevented crashing onto the island (meaning his “variable” plan worked), but instead of landing safely in California, they ultimately got in a different accident that cost them their lives. This consciousness was mourning the loss of his friends. And that consciousness likely felt responsible as well. Of course, in “real time” he hasn’t actually met them yet, hence his confusion over why he is so upset.
There has also been this question of whether the Oceanic survivors ALWAYS went back in time and joined the Dharma Initiative, or if this is a new sequence of events that is integrating itself into the already determined future. I daresay that this episode answered that question as we learned that Daniel was pushed throughout his entire life, by both of his parents (verbally with his mother, monetarily with his father) to ultimately end up on the island. Eloise, in particular, seemed pained and uneasily, seemingly because she knows that, ultimately, her past self will kill him. As Daniel noted, “You knew this entire time.” So, from Eloise’s perspective, thirty years ago her son from the future attacked her base, held up Richard by gunpoint, forcing her to shoot and kill him. This episode suggested that this was always what happened, and not an altered chain of events, especially when you consider we witnessed two flashbacks that we’ve already seen (Daniel watching the news report on the Flight 815 crash and Daniel with Dr. Chang).
And about that ending. I have to admit that I saw it coming, although I was desperately hoping I would be wrong. Nonetheless, I couldn’t help but feel like Daniel was doomed. I mean, he continuously made the point that any one of them can die, Eloise constantly reminded him that he doesn’t have much time, and it was one of those episodes where you could tell they were trying to tie up all of the character’s loose ends. The writing was on the wall, and I’m sad to see his character go. I hereby award you MVP of Season Five – perhaps the best season yet – Mr. Faraday.
I was very interested in Daniel’s interactions with the Others, however. While he retained his unique charm (like the quote above, and taking the time to apologize to Jack for being rude), Daniel seemed significantly more confident and cocksure than he’s ever been in the past. His interactions with Chang and even a young Charlotte exhibited an air of confidence that we haven’t seen from this character. I don’t think the Daniel Faraday of last season would have semi-successfully held up all of the Others.
One thing I did find curious, though, was that Richard didn’t remember Daniel. At first I figured it was because their interaction happened over twenty years ago, and it’s silly to figure that anybody would remember every single person they came across. But then, as I was writing this column, it occurred to me that, three years earlier, Richard told Sawyer that he remembered meeting Locke. Obviously that was a pretty significant day for Richard. As such, it’s pretty natural that he’d remember meeting three other people as well. In fact, I find it pretty strange that he wouldn’t remember the guy who instructed them how to resolve that little H-Bomb issue.
By the way, this episode will surely open up that whole paradox can of worms. Throughout his life, Daniel is urged by Eloise to focus on his work so that he can ultimately end up on the island, where he eventually goes in the past and is shot by her. Yet she only knows that he ends up on the island BECAUSE he goes to the past and is shot by her. So where does the cycle begin?
Moving onto the non-Daniel stuff…
I was a bit disappointed that Juliet deprived Kate (and the audience) from being forced to decide between Jack’s side and Sawyer’s side. I’ll admit that Sawyer wasn’t privy to what Kate’s life was like over the three years that she was off the island, but I quite enjoyed the fact that Jack intuitively knew why Kate came back (without actually saying so), while Sawyer was pretty oblivious.
Speaking of Sawyer, is his long hair covering the exceptionally short leash that Juliet has him on? Jack shows up at his home and is quickly turned away by Sawyer. Juliet says, “Tell him” and thirty seconds later Jack is inside and seeing a guy tied up in Sawyer’s closet. Then near the end of the episode Juliet completely defies Sawyer by telling Kate the gate code. Minutes later, Sawyer is affectionately holding her hand. Is LaFleur Cajun for “P-Whipped”?
Anyway, here are some questions to consider for next week’s Revisited column (e-mail me or simply comment on my blog):
Is the Incident the event that sends the Oceanic survivors back to the present day?
Are the Oceanic survivors directly responsible for the Incident?
Richard seemed awfully confident that Daniel wasn’t going to shoot him, how did he know?
Also, why didn’t Richard remember meeting Daniel?
What happened between Widmore and Eloise? They obviously grew distant during their time off the island. And Widmore does father a child with another woman.
For argument’s sake, if the Oceanic crew does prevent the hatch from being created, effectively stopping their plane from crashing, what happens to them? Do they disappear? Do they remain in the 70’s? Does the universe implode?
As always, feel free to send me your thoughts and theories on any other issues as well. See ya’ll next week!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
A Case of the Mondays: TV Round Up!
A Case of the.... Heroes - Episode 3-25:
A Case of the.... Prison Break - Episode 4-18
So last week I compared Michael and Lincoln’s ruthless mother to Angela Petrelli. As it turns out, the Prison Break matron is named Christina Rose. And the actress who portrays Angela Petrelli? That would be Christine Rose. Deliberate? Coincidental? Who knows?
http://primetimepulse.com/2009/04/27/prison-break-episode-4-18-review/
Monday, April 27, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
A Case of the.... Smallville - Episode 8-19
While this was essentially a filler episode, I actually quite enjoyed it once it found its groove. And I have to admit, I was slightly concerned when I saw the previews. I mean, I wasn’t all too eager seeing Clark’s love interest masquerading as a superhero so soon after that Lana debacle. But once it became clear that this wasn’t a legitimate attempt to make Lois into a hero, that worry was gone. And once it became obvious that this episode was REALLY intended to make Clark realize that Lois provides everything that Lana had lacked (at least, that’s how I saw it), I started getting really into it.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
A Case of the.... Lost - Episode 5-13 Revisited
Here's a quick thought..
See, told you.
what if The Incident is something planned, something that causes those of our Losties in the 70's to time-travel to present day?
This is an interesting thought. Nothing spoilerific here, but it appears that the season finale focuses on The Incident (the first hint? That's the episode's title). It seems perfectly reasonable to assume that the series isn't going to conclude in the past, and if that's true, the finale is the perfect time to have the characters return to the present day.
But before I conclusively state that, yes, I do believe the Incident leads to the characters jumping forward in time, I'm racking my brain trying to remember what exactly we've learned about the Incident thus far. Here is what Wikipedia offered:
On the station's orientation film, Doctor Marvin Candle explains that an "incident" occurred early in the station's experiments. An edit to the film, which according to Inman was made by Radzinski, removed specific details of this incident. The full film implies that unauthorized usage of the station's computer terminal had something to do with the incident. This event caused a consistent build-up of electromagnetic energy, which resulted in a change of the station's focus: a two-member crew, replaced every 540 days, were instructed to enter a numeric code into a microcomputer terminal every 108 minutes.
"Unauthroized usage"? To me, that could easily mean that one of the Oceanic survivors-turned Dharma members meddles, perhaps in a failed attempt to prevent something catastrophic. Here's an idea: As Hurley noted last week, the Swan is responsible for their plane crashing. What if he uses the computer with the intention of destroying the hatch, but inadvertently causes the Incident instead? That seems perfectly plausible. But I guess that also means it isn't planned, per se.
Staying on the subject of Dr. Chang, let's take a look at some of the comments from the review over at the EW website:
My guess is that Dr. Chang booted his wife and kid off the Island because he's going to learn about future events like the Purge. The trippy prospect to consider, courtesy of time travel dramatics, is if Adult Miles is the one who spills the beans to his father, making him complicit in causing his own crap life.
I see this as a distinct possibility. Perhaps Chang and Miles develop a close relationship, now that the latter is in the circle of trust. Realizing that his father is not that bad a guy and not wanting him to perish, Miles divulges what he knows about the Purge. Chang accepts his fate, but is unable to knowingly allow anything to happen to his wife and son. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Shifting gears a bit, here's something related to the dead body Miles met, courtesy of his future freighter pal Naomi:
Now, if you recall, last season we had that business about an Oceanic 815 cover-up, with a plane loaded with corpses found at the bottom of the ocean. In ''Meet Kevin Johnson,'' Mr. Friendly showed Michael all sorts of stuff — including photos of an exhumed cemetery — that he claimed was proof that Charles Widmore was behind the hoax wreckage. So: Did Big Tom kill Felix and swipe his stuff? Or is it possible that Charles Widmore wasn't behind Oceanic 815 cover-up at all, that it was actually Ben who was behind it, and that Felix was killed to prevent him from reporting the scheme to Widmore?
Personally, I don't really buy the theory that Ben was actually the one responsible for the cover up. Quite simply, it just needlessly complicates things. If Widmore is responsible, there's a clear motive for why, and with his abundant resources, we understand how. But if Ben actually did it, there are too many logical gaps. And for what? A neat little twist that people didn't see coming? Is M. Night Shamalackaey writing for the show now?
The reason I included this comment, however, is because I liked the explanation that Tom (miss you!) had killed Felix. Nice little connection there. Fun!
Moving on, I have a few observations following the Oceanic Six Special:
First, how did Richard know that Locke had to die in order to get everybody back to the island? Christian seemed legitimately surprised by this information, although he trusted Richard's advice. And both Widmore and (arguably) Ben attempted to prevent him from dying. There doesn't seem to be an indication that Richard deals directly with Jacob, so how did he get this information? Could he still be in contact with Eloise Hawking? If so, why wouldn't he just tell Locke right off the bat that he needs to see her? Besides which, I seem to recall that the island had lost its capabilities to communicate with the main land.
Nonetheless, I'm beginning to think that Jacob practices the KFC Secret Recipe method: He gives select bits of information to a variety of people. No one person seems to know everything: Richard knew that Locke had to die, and Christian knew that he needed to see Eloise, but neither seemed aware of the other's Intel.
Second, how much does Widmore know about time travel? I think it's fairly safe to assume that the Others' knowledge of time travel was none-to-limited before the Purge, and we don't quite know enough about the time line to determine how much time has passed between the Purge and Widmore's eviction. However, he had the wherewithal to ask Locke how much time had passed for him between their meeting in the 1950's and in 2007. One might argue that he noticed that Locke hadn't aged a day, however he also spent years with Mr. Eternal Youth himself, Richard Alpert.
Besides which, Widmore's mind went immediately to time travel, which I find interesting. If I remember correctly, Juliet seemed somewhat unsettled about the fact that they were jumping through time, despite being an Other. Color me curious.
Any thoughts or theories? Send them my way! Otherwise, I'll see you guys next week.
Oh, and of course, here's Lost! Untangled:
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
A Case of the Mondays: TV Round Up!
A Case of the.... 24 - Episode 7-19:
While I love watching Jack make observations that the typical agent misses, I can’t help but wonder how absolutely inept everybody else in the FBI is. I mean, noticing that Tony and Larry were shot with two different guns seems pretty basic. And the same can be said about checking the location of the agent who claims to be tracking the terrorist. I know we’re privy to knowledge that the characters are not – and thus it’s say to say “why aren’t you doing this?” – but these two examples definitely fall into the realm of basic protocol. I mean, that bullet thing was pretty inexcusable.
http://primetimepulse.com/2009/04/21/24-episode-7-19-review/
A Case of the.... Heroes - Episode 3-24:
So this was a very Sylar-heavy episode. And while this has the potential to be a good thing, the problem with Sylar is that he’s been so inconsistent and uneven that I find it difficult – perhaps even impossible – to become emotionally invested in his plights and inner turmoil. I can’t even wrap my head around some of the inconceivable actions and decisions he made last volume. Angela manipulated him into becoming a “hero” because of his well-established mommy issues. Fair enough. But then, like, two episodes later he disregards her and decides to side with fake papa Arthur, who somehow, someway knew that Angela was lying to Sylar about being his real parents.
http://primetimepulse.com/2009/04/21/heroes-episode-3-24-review/
Monday, April 20, 2009
A Case of the.... Prison Break - Episode 4-17
So Prison Break returned this past Friday after a rather long hiatus. Now airing on a new night, and with the network already confirming that the next few episodes will be the last, the show was burdened with the need to remind the audience what happened, while remaining extremely focused on the concluding story arc at a quick pace. Not necessarily an easy task.
http://primetimepulse.com/2009/04/20/prison-break-episode-4-17-review/
Thursday, April 16, 2009
A Case of the.... Lost - Episode 5-13 (oh, and 24 and Heroes as well)
No “Previously” scene at the beginning of the episode? Strange. Was this a first?
So this episode confirmed what most people had suspected already: That Miles is Dr. Chang’s son – the baby that we saw in this season’s premiere. And it seems that, sometime in the next few years, Chang’s wife leaves the good doctor. The impression I got is that Chang goes over the deep end, which, incidentally, sounds an awful lot like what happened to Charlotte’s family. I’m not suggesting that Chang is Charlotte’s father, but perhaps whatever happens to Charlotte’s father happens to Chang as well. Could this be the much alluded to Incident? Chang refers to it in later orientation videos, suggesting that the effects are not immediate, but perhaps it’s what sets everything in motion.
Click the "Read More" link for the full column.
For what it’s worth, we also got some insight into Chang’s outlook on certain Dharma experiments. For example, he thinks the polar bear hijinx over at the Hydra Station are nonsense. Sure, that polar bear mumbo jumbo is ridiculous to you now, but let’s see who you get to turn that donkey wheel, fella.
Speaking of which, I loved how Dr. Chang was reading baby Miles a children’s book about polar bears.
In other news… I mean, c’mon people, how could you not love New Jack? Old Jack probably would have empathized with Roger and assured him that Kate was merely being supportive. In other words, Jack would have set Roger at ease and made him feel silly for even questioning Kate’s motives. But what does New Jack do? He pretty much threatens Roger. Awesome. Just awesome.
I also loved how Jack reported this bit of news to Sawyer, completely unprovoked. Sure, there was a passive aggressive tone, but I like how he basically said, “You want to be leader? Here’s what happened, do what you want. But really, I already fixed it.” And then, moments later, yet another one of Sawyer’s plans completely fell apart.
Speaking of awesome, how great was it seeing Daniel again? As I mentioned in the past, this guy went from MVP to MIA. When the submarine door opened and a voice yelled out, I was certain it would either be Daniel or Desmond. Anyway, it seems like Sawyer’s vague “he ain’t here anymore” (paraphrasing) comment didn’t mean that Daniel died or lost it mentally. It seems he simply left the island. Follow up question: When? If you recall, when Horace first met our time traveling friends, he told them a sub would be leaving in a short amount of time (I believe two weeks). Perhaps Daniel decided to leave at that point, while the rest stayed. And then there’s the obvious second question: Where did he go once he left? He seemed awfully together (mentally), a far departure from the bumbling, grieving man we saw three years ago.
We also met Ilana’s statue shadow friend, who attempted to talk Miles out of going on the island expedition. This strongly suggests that they don’t work for Widmore, as many had theorized last week, but I also didn’t necessarily get the impression that they’re Ben’s goons either. For whatever reason, I just don’t see anybody who works for Ben giving up so easily. The whole, ”he didn’t listen, let’s throw him out of the van….but not before we slow down” thing didn’t seem like Ben’s style.
I don’t have many talking points for this week, but I do encourage my readers to send me some general feedback for next week’s Revisited column. However, I did ask a question last week that didn’t get any responses, so I’ll give it another shot:
Who do you believe is the better leader, Jack or Sawyer? Please try to support your answer.
And here are your 24 and Heroes reviews as well:
A Case of the.... 24 - Episode 7-18:
http://primetimepulse.com/2009/04/15/24-episode-7-18-review/
A Case of the.... Heroes - Episode 3-23:
http://primetimepulse.com/2009/04/15/heroes-episode-3-23-review/
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Anthony "Grandpa" Basilo: 1918 - 2009
It saddens me deeply to report that my grandfather passed away this morning at the age of 90. I was discussiing this with a friend of mine (who also recently lost her grandfather), and she brought up how, to many people, the loss of a grandparent doesn't "count." There's this view that grandparents are "supposed" to pass away, and that it's just a part of life. Because of that, people don't always recognize how significant and painful the loss actually is.
I was exceptionally close to my grandpa. We'd have dinner practically every night at my aunt's house, and I was always responsible for driving him home. Four nights a week, for the past five years, I've been driving him home from dinner. We had created a special bond, I'd like to think, and I was seeing him more than many relatives in my immediate family. He was a wonderful man that touched many, many lives, and I miss him deeply already.
If you have a moment, please take a look at this video I made for my grandpa's 90th birthday celebration. Ignore the muted sound, because apparently the Frank Sinatra Estate are threatened by the 25 views this video has received:
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
A Case of the.... Lost - Episode 5-12 Revisited
After last week’s dry spell, I received some interesting feedback from some of my readers. I got some nice discussion over at the blog. Kyle remarks:
Well, I suspect Ben did leave the island. I can't remember if it was confirmed, but he had all those passports and stuff hidden away, and for someone who was essentially on the island since he was a small child, once he did leave via the wheel, he seemed fairly knowledgeable of what he was doing, finding Sayid very quickly, having people under his command, etc. I actually always just assumed he had...now I wonder if he was doing it in secret the whole time.
Adds “The Blog of Steel(e)”:
Ben has definitely left the island, because either Faraday or Miles showed Kate and Jack the photos of Ben in their little "mission portfolio" at the beginning of Season 4. That explains his connections at the butcher shops, etc. I don't think the reasons he gave for expelling Widmore were particularly valid, considering he went on to break both of them by stealing a child and by leaving the island frequently.
Kyle responds:
Well I don't think there was any rule against "stealing a child"...heck, the Others seem to do that all the time. The issue was against having a child with a non Other or off the island woman or whatever.
That said I agree Ben broke the rules as well and I too think he left the island frequently. I wonder what his excuse was, though. "Okay, going off into the woods by myself for a week..." and then he sneaks onto the sub or a boat? Seems like it'd be tough to leave in secret.
Click the "Read More" link for the full column.
Thanks, guys, for the great interaction. This has always been the hope for my blog: to get readers to interact with each other, as well as with me. Let’s hope to take this to an even higher scale!
As both Kyle and Steel(e) have noted, Ben has presumably left the island a number of times. I think the best argument that could be made is how well adjusted he was when we’ve seen him on the mainland. If the only life he knows is the one he has on some crazy island, I’d think the mundane lifestyle of the real world would be a massive culture shock.
So I would have to agree that leaving the island for the mainland isn’t a no-no, leaving fraternization with outsiders as the sinful act. Incidentally, I could see this tying into the still-untold Annie story. We know that Ben cared for her deeply, well into his adult life (evident by him keeping the dolls she made him), but we don’t know what happened to her. Could it be that she wasn’t an Other? Perhaps Ben was able to make the difficult decision that, apparently, Widmore was unable to make.
And my good friend Andy JUST beat the clock with his e-mail. Here’s what the former Inside Pulser had to say:
I loved last week's episode, which is no surprise for a Ben-centric episode. I thought the trip below the Temple was really cool, and I loved the mural of the Monster with Anubis. That means that the Monster is possibly an instrument of judgment used by Anubis before bringing people into the Underworld. "Underworld," by the way, is what the hieroglyphs on the Hatch's countdown timer say.
I don't think the giant statue is of Anubis, by the way, just from what I can tell from behind. I may be wrong, but I think the statue is Taweret, an Egyptian fertility goddess. The destruction of the statue would then explain why pregnant Others die on the Island. And that is why the pregnancy problems only apply to the Others, being the Island's "native" population; we've seen Ethan, Alex, and Aaron all be born on the Island, and the only thing they had in common was what they WEREN'T, and that is Others (at least, not yet!).
My knowledge of Egyptian history is pretty much limited to knowing that the Sphinx doesn’t have a nose, so I’m going to have to take your word on all of that. Nevertheless, that is an exceptionally interesting observation, and I think that theory definitely holds a lot of water.
However, I do think it’s worth noting that Alex and Aaron were not conceived on the island, and if I recall Juliet’s discussion with Sun correctly, the “pregnant women dying” rule only applies when the baby was conceived on the island as well. That being said, all evidence suggests that Ethan WAS conceived on the island, so who knows?
The question then remains, as posed by Ilana the bounty hunter: "What lies in the shadow of the statue?" I'd love to hear your thoughts on that.
I’m a little ashamed that I completely forgot to mention this in my initial column. More on that odd comment below.
Incidentally, here's some food for thought: could the John Locke who led Ben to the Temple have been the Smoke Monster itself? When Ben went outside, he expected to be greeted by Smokey, and instead Locke came out of the woods... and mysteriously knew exactly where they had to go. And then, under the Temple, as soon as Locke disappeared to find a rope for Ben, that's when Smokey showed up. And as soon as Smokey-as-Alex vanished, Locke reappeared with a rope. Coincidence?
I don’t think that is a coincidence. As in, I do believe that the writers deliberately orchestrated this possibility. As Andy noted, Locke and the Smoke Monster were very closely associated throughout the episode, but were never once at the same place at the same time. Is Locke the Smoke Monster? Honestly, I don’t believe he is. But I’m enjoying the guessing game.
Another fun question: Is Locke REALLY alive again, or has he resurrected in the same fashion as Christian? Again, I think the writers were having some fun with us. Notice that throughout the entire episode, unless I’m mistaken, Locke never once makes physical contact with any of the other characters. So is he a spirit, or a flesh and bones human being?
I came across some interesting insights over at the EW website. The reviewer there states:
Behold Ben's Achilles' Heel: Moms. Which makes sense. His own Bad Daddy had pumped him full of guilt for his mother's death during childbirth. Mamas are the line that this Locke-killing, Dharma-purging fiend just can't cross. So he spared Rousseau's life and returned to camp with Infant Alex and got scolded by soup-sucking Chuck for being so darn empathetic.
So is that Ben’s weakness? Mothers? I’m pressing my memory now, trying to think back at any time that he may have knowingly inflicted harm upon a mother, and so far I’m struggling. In fact, if this is true, that would certainly place an added layer to the fact that Ben was arranging for the Others to kidnap all of the potentially pregnant women. What if this wasn’t to steal their babies, but rather to protect the mothers?
The comments over at that site were interesting as well. Here’s one noteworthy comment:
In Season 2, Danielle caught Ben in her trap. She insisted to Sayid that he was an Other, but didn't seem to have any proof other than her gut instinct. Shouldn't she have recognized him as the guy that stole her baby years before?
This is a good observation, but unfortunately I don’t even remember if Rousseau actually saw Ben when she captured him (I seem to recall Sayid being the one who let him out of the net). At what point does Rousseau actually set her sights on Ben? And at what point can we stop using the excuse “well, she’s crazy” for why she doesn’t recognize some of these characters from her past?
And finally: What did the bounty hunter’s riddle-esque comment about the shadow of the statue mean? There’s a theory over at Scott Keith's blog:
What lies in the shadow of the statue? That was creepy, and I’m thinking that it’s a code to let others know who is on Widmore’s team that he sent on the flight to get to the island.
I subscribe to this idea as well: It’s definitely a code to determine who’s on their side. But whose“side” are we talking about? Is it Widmore or Ben? Ilana didn’t seem to recognize Ben, but that doesn’t necessarily mean she’s not working for him (or she might just be lying). Then again, Widmore seemed just as invested in getting everybody back to the island, so it’s absolutely within the realm of possibility that he would hire her to capture Sayid to ensure that he’s on that flight.
Or maybe she’s Dharma? Aren’t they the ones who came up with the “What did the snowman say?” code?
Thanks for reading. Enjoy the new episode!
And enjoy the newest installment of Lost! Untangled:
Monday, April 13, 2009
WWE Draft Predictions
So the WWE Draft is in about, oh, five minutes, so I thought I'd provide some quick predictions (this may also be a good time to issue a forewarning that all of my reviews this week will probably be a day late). Anyway, the toughest part to predict is what will happen with the two World titles, Edge, and Randy Orton. Basically, I don't see John Cena (World Champion) moving to Smackdown and I don't see Triple H (WWE Champion) STAYING on Smackdown. But somehow they're going to have to even everything out RE: the World titles.
I also see Edge moving to Raw, if only to continue or provide closure to the Vickie Guerrero storyline. I don't see him being on the same show as Orton -- since they're essentially equivolents of each other -- but I'm not sure I see them moving Orton and Legacy to Smackdown.
Nevertheless, I'll play it safe AND dangerously....
Edge to Raw
Triple H to Raw
Orton and Legacy to Smackdown (Orton wins the WWE Championship at Backlash, keeping that belt on the blue show)
Jericho to Smackdown
Mark Henry to Raw
Big Show to ECW
Evan Bourne to Smackdown
Jamie Noble to ECW
Rey Mysterio to Smackdown
MVP to Raw
Candice to Smackdown
Santino to Smackdown
Matt Striker to Smackdown
Natalya to ECW
Nikki Bella to Raw
Michelle McCool to Raw
Chavo Guerrero to Raw
Hurricane Helms to ECW
I don't know, that seems to cover it pretty much. And that includes the supplemental draft as well. Enjoy the show.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
How's the Oxycodone?
I usually sport a light beard, but during tax season (I'm not an accountant, but I work at an accountant & consultant firm) I decided "hey, lets not maintain this thing until April 15th!" And a couple of weeks ago, as I gazed at the beast looking back at me in the mirror, I thought, "I look a bit like drug addict Jack Shephard." Decide for yourself:
Friday, April 10, 2009
Family movies
It's been a while since I've updated the Youtube page (remember that?), so here are some new additions!
Last Wednesday was my dad's 60th birthday, and to commemorate the occasion I made him a video that he has creatively titled "Zero to Sixty" (it took me a few days before it hit me that that's a car reference). It's a tad on the line side (17 minutes), but give it a look-see. Hey, you'll even see a young ME (circa second grade) on the Today Show (it's a Facebook video, so let me know if there are any problems viewing it):
And a while back I posted a ghetto version of my nephew Ryan's birth announcement on CNBC, so here's the REAL footage:
Oh, and for what it's worth, I regularly update my "Favorites" section on my Youtube page, so be sure to keep checking that out for some fun videos.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
A Case of the.... Lost - Episode 5-12
We already know that Smokey D. resides in Newark, New Jersey. So I guess we shouldn’t be all that surprised that you summon him by flushing the toilet. Hey-yo!
The Ben-centric (Bentric?) episodes have always been insightful winners, and this episode was no exception. Right off the bat, Ben’s conversation with Caesar at the beginning was a fantastic reminder that we REALLY can’t trust a single word this guy says (just think back to his VERRRRRRRRRY different conversations with Locke and Sun RE: Locke’s miraculous resurrection). And wow, did anybody see it coming when Ben shot and killed Caesar? That was a sure jaw dropping moment – and that was only within the first twenty minutes.
Click the "Read More" link for the full column.
The awesomeness continued with that incredible Ben/Frank/Sun/Locke scene. Ben’s reactions were great. He seemed genuinely surprised to learn that the rest of the crew was in the Dharma Initiative – which is suspicious since he should, from what I understand regarding the established rules of time travel, now remember growing up with them. His exasperated look when Sun uttered the name “Christian” also raised my eyebrow. There was a definite sense of familiarity. Have these two met? If so, what is their relationship? Because Christian seemed to disapprove of Ben during his interactions with Locke. And does Ben know that Christian is the ghost of Jack’s father?
Speaking of facial expressions, the look on Sun’s face after Locke assured her that he was the same man she’s always been was absolutely priceless.
On the topic of Locke, I like the reborn version of this character. After constantly being manipulated and continuously trusting the wrong people (often the same person numerous times), it was refreshing seeing a more confident, rock steady John Locke. He repeatedly called out Ben on his lies, and he stuck to his guns regarding Ben’s judgment, no matter what obstacles or potential detours came their way. It was also a tad unsettling seeing him transform into a mini-Ben of sorts, particularly with his half truths while speaking with Sun. Dude totally preyed on her emotional vulnerability.
We also saw the under dwelling of the Temple. Naturally, there are a lot of confusing hieroglyphics. But perhaps the most intriguing drawing was of what appeared to be the statue staring face to face with what appeared to be the smoke monster. What does this mean? Very intriguing.
And that brings us to our friend Smokey D. We got another glimpse at what happens when the monster surrounds you. Basically it reads your memories and shows them back to you. It then determines if you are worthy of forgiveness or if you should be terminated. And, as we’ve seen in the past, Smokey took the form of a dearly departed, in this case Alex, and rather aggressively advised Ben to listen to whatever Locke says. Oh, and how great was it when Alex/Smokey called him out on how he was already plotting to kill Locke again?
I was a bit surprised by some of the stuff we learned about Ben’s past. In particular, I didn’t expect to see that Ben actually had mercy on Rousseau, and that taking Alex was an act of compassion. Similarly, his urgency for vengeance seemingly took a backseat after he discovered that Penny has a young son (and hey, another mystery solved! We now know how he got those bruises).
Caesar might be dead, but his bounty hunter cohort is leading some sort of mutiny. This is certainly setting the seeds for them shooting at the time traveling Sawyer and crew, but what are they up to beyond that? It seems curious to introduce all of these new characters if they don’t play some significant part in the overall story.
Last week was VERY light on the reader feedback, which is disappointing because overall I’ve received a lot of interesting comments and e-mails. Here are some potential topics of discussion for next week’s Revisited colunn:
How did Ethan become an Other? Why did Ben have mercy on him when it came time for the Purge? How did he react to the murder of his parents?
What exactly did Widmore do to get evicted from the island? Is it because he fraternized with a woman that wasn’t an Other, or can the leader never leave? I don’t recall Ben ever leaving the island.
Why did Widmore want Alex dead?
How much – if anything – does Ben know about Christian?
Ben told two polar opposite stories regarding Locke’s resurrection, with each tale benefiting his predicament at the time: Which one do you believe?
What is your interpretation of the hieroglyphics beneath the Temple?
What are the bounty hunter and her crew up to?
Ben seemingly does not recall Jack, Hurley, Kate, and the rest being part of the Dharma Initiative. Do you believe him? If so, why doesn’t he remember them? If not, what does he benefit from lying?
And finally, what do you make of Ben’s compassion towards children?
As always, send me an e-mail or comment on the blog.
Smokey D: A Look Back
With the smoke monster rumored to make its return in tonight's episode, take a look back at every appearance everybody's favorite dark cloud of smoke has made throughout the first four seasons:
Recap later tonight.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
A Case of the.... Lost - Episode 5-11 Revisited
A little light on the reader feedback this week. C’mon readers, send me your thoughts!
Over at my blog, “The Blog of Steel(e)” offered this:
This is pure speculation, but I'm thinking that maybe Richard is Faraday's father, based on how the bearded Other asked him if he should tell Ellie first. Like you said, if Widmore's in charge, why should Ellie matter? Maybe her and Richard were "together," and created little Daniel. Also, I read somewhere else, EW, I think, a theory that the bearded Other who approached Kate and Sawyer with the guns could be young Tom Friendly, which would be pretty awesome.
Click the "Read More" link for the full column.
While the idea of Richard being Daniel’s father is interesting, I’m not sure I buy it. Or that I’d want for it to happen. For one, Daniel most definitely appeared to recognize Ellie when they encountered each other on the island in the 1950’s. He certainly didn’t share that familiarity during his interactions with Richard. Additionally, one of the most alluring aspects of Richard’s character is that he’s this almost-mythical entity. He doesn’t age, and he seems even more in tune with the island than Ben, Widmore, and Locke. He’s also heavily involved with recruiting, evident through his mainland interest in Juliet and Locke. There’s just something so mystical and mysterious about him, and I feel like giving him a relationship with a female Other and having him father a child makes him just a tad bit TOO human.
That being said, the idea of the bearded Other being Tom is absolutely awesome. He’s now one of the very few “name” Others that we don’t really know anything about. He doesn’t appear to be a scientist like many of the rest. So what did he do? Why was he the apparent “Other” spokesperson during the early seasons? I’m eager to find out more about him, and to discover that he’s been with the group since the 70’s is rather interesting.
One thing that struck me as odd while reading the comments on the EW.com Lost review was how many viewers felt that this episode was the conclusive proof that Kate is in love with Sawyer and that these two are soul mates. Ummmm, what? Sure, she was giving him the gooey eyes every now and again, but that was expected. I mean, these two had an undeniably close relationship that came to a very abrupt, unexpected, and emotional end. Reuniting after three years is bound to drudge up those old emotions. But does that mean she’s in love with him and no longer has feelings for Jack? I just don’t see it that way. In my opinion, the episode just as easily could have acted as their “closure” chapter. Here’s what I said in my original column (slightly abridged):
In a lot of ways, it did sorta feel like they were providing us with a resolution to the whole Sawyer/Kate ordeal. I’m not so naive that I believe that this was their “closure” episode, but I do believe it could play as the first step towards leading to that point.
Think about it: Cassidy insisted that Kate only took Aaron to fill the void left by Sawyer (an obvious case of emotional projection). But when it came time for Kate to return to the island, what was her motivation? Was it Sawyer? No. It was doing the right thing for Aaron. And when she required solace, she turned to Jack (despite the fact that she knew she’d likely be seeing Sawyer in less than 24 hours). On top of that, Sawyer sent his fair share of signals as well. Sure, he assisted Kate. But the gesture wasn’t for her, it was for Juliet. He even explicitly stated that the two of them wouldn’t have worked, and that the “new” him is meant for Juliet.
But yeah, all of that equals Kate and Sawyer being soul mates.
I also think it’s easy to overlook that even though we’ve only had, like, three episodes of Sawyer in Dharma-land – opposed to the four and a half seasons of him with the Losties – you have to keep in mind that in their universe, he’s known Kate for about 100 days and that he’s known Juliet for over three years. While an emotional connection doesn’t necessarily equate to the amount of time you’ve spent together, to me there really shouldn’t be any competition.
For that matter, a lot of people were upset that Sawyer sided with the Dharma folks instead of Sayid when he was being held captive. Again, he’s known Sayid for less than four months. He’s lived with the Initiative for three years. Who would you feel more loyalty towards?
And I think all of this brings up an interesting, yet rarely mentioned, idea: How much does Sawyer now know about the island? In addition to being head of security (and one would assume, relatively highly ranked), he’s also shown a personal relationship with Horace and Amy, the First Couple of the Dharma Initiative. It isn’t outside the realm of possibility that they’d trust Sawyer with some confidential information. Along with that, every now and then we see Juliet reveal some gem about the Others that we hadn’t known (they speak Latin! They can heal people!) Throughout their three years together – much of the time, we can assume, in a relationship and living together – it’s easy to imagine that she’d share some secrets with him. If you want to extend his social circle even further, Richard seems comfortable enough around him that it’s likely they’ve talked more than just that time in the 1950’s and that night in 1974. Sure, Sawyer was never the inquisitive type when it came to all of these island mysteries, but with so many sources of information, he must know more than he seems.
Hey, just think about how long it took him before he revealed that youngster Ben was living with them.
And, as always, enjoy the latest installment of Lost! Untangled:
A Case of the Mondays: TV Round Up!
A Case of the.... Heroes - Episode 3-22:
http://primetimepulse.com/2009/04/07/heroes-episode-3-22-review/
A Case of the.... 24 - Episode 7-17:
http://primetimepulse.com/2009/04/07/24-episode-7-17-review/
Sunday, April 5, 2009
WrestleMania 25 Predictions
Thursday, April 2, 2009
A Case(s) of the.... Lost, Heroes, 24
First, the reviews for your Monday night line-up:
A Case of the.... Heroes -Episode 3-21:
http://primetimepulse.com/2009/04/01/heroes-episode-3-21-review/
A Case of the.... 24 - Episode 7-16:
http://primetimepulse.com/2009/04/01/24-episode-7-16-review/
I apologize for the lack of Lost: Revisited this week (and the delay with this column, for that matter), but I’ve just been absolutely swamped with work and personal responsibilities, and since it was a light week as far as reader feedback goes, I thought I’d give myself a slight break. It shouldn’t happen again!
One thing I did want to mention, though, is how much I appreciate the fact that Jack has stepped down and allowed Sawyer to take the lead. Yet, despite his bravado, Sawyer’s leadership skills really aren’t holding up once put to the test. Jack wasn’t always democratic when it came to making major decisions, but more often than not his decision ended up being the right one. Had Sawyer forced Sayid to listen to him, a lot of drama, tension, and potential death would have been avoided. To paraphrase a commonly used phrase, sometimes you need to be a boss and not a friend. I think Jack understands this better than Sawyer.
Click the "Read More" link for the full column.
So do you even need to ask what the highlight of this past episode was? It was – by a large margin, by the way – the time travel conversation between Hurley and Miles (welcome back, ghost whispering buddy). Every now and again the writers basically have a character provide a tutorial where they explain something exceptionally complex. And while they usually disguise it in an entertaining and well written way, it’s still pretty obvious that they’re simply attempting to spell something out for the fans.
This certainly falls into that category, but both of them were so laugh-out-loud funny that you could barely notice the fourth wall being removed. Hurley asked pretty much every single question every fan has been wondering, and Miles answered in a pretty straight forward way (although, no mention of Daniel?) So there you have it: Everything that is happening has ALWAYS happened. The cast just didn’t experience their timeline in a straight line, so to speak. They also laid a few fun rules and tidbits: Basically, characters like young Ben, who is living in the “past,” despite being in the present, cannot die, because he’s alive in the future. Yet characters like Hurley, Miles, and the rest of the Oceanic survivors CAN die, because they’re living in the present – even though they’re really in the past. Fun conversation.
Since I’m rooting rather adamantly for Jack ending up with Kate and Sawyer staying with Juliet, much of this episode walked along the edge of a very thin line, as it was pretty Sawyer/Kate heavy. Things got a little too close to the edge at times – like even suggesting that Kate adopted Aaron because she was so heartbroken over Sawyer (and yes, I do recognize that Cassidy was actually referring to herself) – but overall I thought it was effective. And in a lot of ways, it did sorta feel like they were providing us with a resolution to the whole Sawyer/Kate ordeal, while bringing my two dream couples closer together (I especially loved how Sawyer told Kate he was helping her FOR Juliet). I’m not so naive that I believe that this was their “closure” episode, but I do believe it could play as the first step towards leading to that point.
While much briefer, I thought the one scene between Juliet and Jack was phenomenal. So much is being made of how Kate returning messes up Sawyer’s emotions that Juliet’s confusion gets overlooked. She undeniably had feelings for Jack before he left, but even further, one must wonder where he would be if not for Jack. She’d probably be miserable with the Others, perhaps even dead. She certainly wouldn’t have met Sawyer. Jack put his faith in her when nobody else would, and he gave her another chance at living a free, if imperfect, life. You can imagine how emotionally distressing his return must be for her. And how could you not laugh at Hurley asking Juliet if Jack is “in trouble.”
By the way, does anybody else find it somewhat odd that Dharma clearly recognizes that Juliet is a doctor, yet they still had her working mechanic duty just a few days ago?
The one Jack/Kate scene was pretty good as well. It was a bit interesting seeing him on that side of this moral dilemma. Is it okay to let a child die, knowing full well what terrible things, including murder, he’ll commit later on in life? Directly or not, a lot of their fallen friends would still be alive if not for Ben’s actions. And, as Jack brought up, perhaps he’s not supposed to intervene. When it’s convenient, Sawyer and his crew will go on and on about how they’re not supposed to alter the timeline (or that they simply can’t). Yet when it benefits them in some way, or is arguably for the greater good, they’re all for interfering. And if they’re right about time being an absolute thing, and that no matter what they do, what has always happened will always happen, then Jack helping is a moot point. As he said, he’s already saved Ben once. He’s simply not willing to do it again.
That being said, Jack certainly seems like a changed man. Actually, he’s almost Locke-esque with his general mentality. In his conversation with Juliet, he revealed that “the island” wanted him back, but that he doesn’t even know his purpose yet (but, apparently, the island does). And when Sawyer was attempting to convince him to help Ben, Jack made the point that perhaps the island is trying to right some sort of wrong. The only other character – for the most part – that refers to the island as an entity in and of itself is Locke.
And even though I’m rooting for them to end up together, I did love Jack’s line to Kate about how she didn’t like the old Jack, either. And you know what? For that matter, she didn’t particularly like the old Sawyer. The girl is simply twisted. She wants the one she can’t have, and to cope she settles for the other.
Speaking of Kate, this episode answered a lot of questions regarding the missing time between yelling at Ben and ending up in Jack’s bed. As we expected, she simply gave Aaron up (to his maternal grandmother). And the reason for her coming back (thankfully) wasn’t for Sawyer, but to find Claire. But if that’s the case – and I do believe it is – does anybody find it odd that she hasn’t so much as asked about her? I understand that they have to be incognito about knowing each other, but she can’t slip in a simple question here or there? Like, “Hey, did you happen to see Claire at all over the past three years?” For that matter, I’m a bit surprised that Locke didn’t use Claire as a motivator to get Kate to return to the island, upon discovering that she is raising Aaron as her own. After all, hadn’t Locke seen Claire (alive, as far as he knew) in the cabin like a week earlier?
I’ll chalk it up to her maternal instinct kicking over the past few years, but I was really surprised to see how compassionate Kate was towards young Ben. I completely understand her mentality – I mean, I think it’d be tough for anybody to watch a child die while he’s still innocent, no matter who he becomes as a man. Yet Ben was particularly cruel to her during their Oceanic Six days. He threatened to take Aaron away from her simply to coerce her into returning to the island. Perhaps even more surprising to me was how kind she was to Ben’s father. It’s possible that she doesn’t know the sordid details of their relationship (although Roger did hint at it), but considering her own abusive father past, I didn’t think she’d be so warm towards him.
What I find interesting is that, in the end, Jack was ultimately right. The fact that he DIDN’T intervene pretty much determined the “rightful” path for Ben. Had Jack helped, it’s likely that Kate and Sawyer never would have needed to ask the Others for their assistance. With that, Ben wouldn’t have lost his innocence. And further, Ben’s father might have changed his way after almost losing his son and having a few heart-to-hearts with Kate. This may have dramatically altered the grown up version of Ben.
We also came to understand how Ben became such a seemingly dastardly person. Alpert reluctantly took him into the Temple (THAT place again) to save his life. With that, he lost his innocence, and was forever an Other. I find it interesting that one of the Others warned Alpert about telling Ellie, and that Charles (Widmore) would be upset. Why would he have to tell Ellie (and not Widmore, who supposedly was once the leader)? Even more interesting was Alpert’s response that he doesn’t answer to them. Yet he did seem to answer to Ben when he becomes the tribe’s leader.
Oh, and I think Alpert’s comment to Kate, when he asked who she was, was a subtle indicator to the audience that this IS Alpert from the 1970’s, and not some all-knowing guy from the future.
Some talking points for next week’s Revisited column (and yes, there will be one):
Who do you think is the better leader, Jack or Sawyer?
What do you think happened to Ben inside the Temple? Do you think the apparent resident Smoke Monster played a role (Ben is arguably the only person who could summon Smokey D. on command)?
What role did Ellie (assumedly Eloise) play in the Others?
Do you agree with Jack’s decision not to save Ben? Or Kate’s decision to actively intervene?
What happened to Daniel? One must assume he simply lost it after Charlotte died, but when he appeared in the past in this season’s premiere (when the donkey wheel was discovered), he seemed relatively mentally intact (on a related note, isn’t it ironic that this guy went from the season’s MVP to MIA in a matter of a single episode?)
As always, send me an e-mail or comment on the blog.
