A Case of the Mondays: TV Round Up!

Well, I will say this for Heroes: I typically watch 24 and Heroes right after one another, starting at about 11:15, making my Monday nights pretty late (especially when you consider that I have to type up a review afterwards). Well it’s been a really long and tiring day, and the weekend wasn’t particularly restful. So when it came to watching one of the shows tonight and saving the other one for tomorrow, I went with Heroes, despite the fact that I’ve really, really enjoyed 24 thus far. I don’t know if it was morbid curiosity or I was genuinely interested in what was going to happen next (perhaps both), but Heroes got the nod this week.

A Case of the.... Heroes - Episode 3-15:

http://primetimepulse.com/2009/02/10/heroes-episode-3-15-review/

A Case of the.... 24 - Episode 7-8:

http://primetimepulse.com/2009/02/10/24-episode-7-8-review/

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Addressing the mailbag

I'm emptying out the inbox with some interesting e-mails.

This first comes from long-time reader Larry, who discusses some points regarding the Heroes premiere:

Now, moving on to some issues that you wondered about that I think could be explained.

#1 Sylar surviving: It's not too hard for me to buy into the idea that the huge explosion and collapse could knock loose whatever was stuck into his head. Combine that with him not being able to be killed in general, because he got into Claire's brain while she was still (in theory) the one who was the key. As far as his hand acting as a gun, well, he's got so many powers now that he doesn't use it's almost silly. He can do the gun thing, he can melt stuff, he can turn stuff into gold, he can do the lightning thing, painting, and other stuff. I think he just likes the Telekinesis for the control it gives him (and the cheaper budget for fx of course)

Yeah, I agree that it's within the realm of possibility that the bullet could have been dislodged. I just think it was unnecessary to further diminish the "rules" regarding Claire's healing ability. At this point, there's really no consistency whatsoever. And as a result, I really don't feel any sort of urgency as it relates to anything life threatening happening to the characters that harness this ability.

I'm also convinced that the writers really have no set plan when it comes to giving Sylar any new abilities. Did that "Dead Zone" ability that they put so much emphasis on even play into last volume?

#2 Peter trying not to fall out of the plane. What I am thinking could be the case is that Peter's power now is limited to the last person that he touched, because once he touched Ali Larter, the guard starting kicking his butt, because he didn't have Mohinder's strength.

I actually think this is an awesome idea. I'm not completely convinced either way, since we haven't seen enough to determine if this is true, but that's a really interesting idea. But I do think that it's somewhat important to keep Peter as a formidable foe to Sylar.

#3 I don't necessarily think that HRG is working any sort of angle. He's shown himself to be fairly ruthless, especially when doing things for his family, and it is likely he decided to go along with this plot if Nathan agreed to let Claire be alone and help put her through college (seeing as I don't think he's got much else going on as far as a career goes, and with today's economy well...)

I don't know, I just feel like HRG is always "playing" the side he's apparently on. I also do honestly believe that Nathan would have protected Claire whether or not HRG was involved. I still think he's up to something.

#4 I thought it was hilarious the way that Parkman painted a couple minutes into the future, and the whole "What's that thing on your neck?" was funny too. I don't know if they're going to have him paint more significant stuff in the future, but if they keep his paintings in the short term, they can use it for dramatic or comedic effect.

They've got to be careful when it comes to the whole future thing. They're treading on thin ice here.

Now my biggest gripe: the idea of having those with powers hunted down by the government was a great idea...in X-Men. I'm sure the storyline will be compelling and well excecuted, but they definitely lose points for the lack of originality. There's one thing to do an homage, it's another to copy. We'll see what they do with the concept and what the result is.

Eh, I'm pretty forgiving when it comes to this. Honestly, the X-Men story arc wasn't exactly earth shattering either. The idea of people hunting down those that are different, and considering them a threat for that reason, is nothing new. It's a very basic story. It may not be completely original, but it's very organic for the show to broach this idea. I suggest we wait and see where it goes before accusing it of blatantly copying.

I am very intrigued as to the actual nature of Sylar's father, and curious as to how the capture squad knew he was going to be there. I also think it is a good plan to keep Sylar busy and away from the rest of the Heroes for now, just so that they don't have to stretch to figure out why he doesn't just kill people, as at this point, I would think that HRG and Angela would likely be killed by Sylar should he run into them again (of course, barring some big explanation).

I agree that it's a good idea to create some distance between Sylar and the rest of the cast. We've been seeing that confrontation for the past three years. Let Sylar go off on his own and allow his character to flesh out and grow. Just try to do it without essentially rewriting his entire character, like they did last season.

I know Hiro is obsessed with being a Hero, but really, what does he expect Ando to do to fight crime? He's basically got the power to be a super sidekick.

Hiro's character perfectly illustrates one of the severe problems with this show: None of the characters have really developed in the least. I do have high hopes about the reversed roles, with Hiro being powerless and Ando having abilities, though.

Now, onto some Lost business. This e-mail comes from PrimeTimePulse alum Andy Campbell:

I love your theory about Desmond & Penny being "Adam & Eve" and Charles Widmore being Penny's son rather than father. I think that's awesome.

As for Locke being Jacob, it's an interesting idea for sure, but I believe Jacob had a different color eye (brown) than Locke (blue). I wouldn't write off that theory completely, though.

You asked for thoughts on Richard Alpert, and here is mine: I think he is one of the ancient inhabitants of the island... from the days the ruins were made. The way it plays out in my mind is that, at some point, he takes off his shoes to reveal 4-toed feet... just like the statue... meaning that the statue was a colossus of Richard himself.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on that.

I can't take credit for the theory about Desmond and Penny being the island's Adam and Eve, and Charles Widmore actually being their son. And, I have to admit, I'm not completely sold on it either. I just find it interesting. I think the best way to make it work is to have them slyly reveal that Penny was adopted, hence avoiding having to explain how Widmore can be Penny's son AND father.

There are also a lot of complications with the Locke is Jacob theory, especially when this latest episode debunked the idea that the Oceanic survivors can't see their past/future selves. But I haven't completely given up on that theory yet, either.

I actually quite like that theory that the statue is some unfinished (or destroyed) relic made as a tribute to Alpert. And I can completely see the revelation that he only has four toes. To steal the show's own term, Alpert is a great "constant" throughout this time travel storyline. Almost a guide, of sorts.

I also find it curious that despite his seniority, he's the perpetual second in command, and seemingly never the leader.


Keep the e-mails coming, everybody.

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A Case of the.... Smallville - Episode 8-14

http://primetimepulse.com/2009/02/05/smallville-episode-8-14/

I'll be honest: It's a pretty negative review. And since we like to keep things light here at A Case of the Blog, check out this hilarious video to counter the negativity:



My two favorite parts: When the kid spontaneously screams, and when the dad completely calls him out after he claims that he can't see anything.

Hilarious.

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A Case of the.... Lost - Episode 5-4

Is it me, or was that “Previously on Lost” bit unusually thorough?

As an admitted Jack/Kate fan, I really enjoyed the opening sequence. These two were kept apart for much of the third season, and since then their one-on-one scenes have been sparse, so it’s sometimes hard to remember that, for the first year or so, these two shared practically every scene together. I thought her reassurance that she’s also been at his side was very sweet, as well. Perhaps best of all, it was great learning about the circumstances that surrounded Kate’s decision to pretend Aaron is her own (and how appropriate that we would later see a flashback of her delivering Aaron).

I loved the look on her face when she watched Jack get out of the car, and saw the (beardless) man she had fallen for. In fact, the looks she gave him throughout the episode were so genuine and real looking. Bravo. And speaking of looks, her piercing expression upon seeing Ben was absolutely priceless.

Click the "Read More" link for the full column.

By the way, while I truly do hope that Kate ends up with Jack, I have to admit that I was deeply moved by Sawyer’s speechless reaction to seeing past-Kate in the woods. Incidentally, I find it interesting that he repeatedly dodged telling Locke who he saw, despite his pestering, yet spilled the beans to Juliet without any provocation.

However, that scene does pooh-pooh on the theory that the collective group of Oceanic survivors cannot see themselves from a different time period (as in, 2008 Jack wouldn’t be able to see 2004 Locke). This perhaps squashes the theory that the whispers in the jungle are people from another time.

By the way, I did love how Locke recognized what time period they were in when they saw that mysterious beam of light. If you recall, after Boone’s accident, a distraught Locke began banging on the top of the hatch, begging the island for some sort of sign. Moments later, that beam of light shot up (alright, I typed all of that out before Locke spelled it out for us). Although I do find it interesting that Locke’s immediate reaction was to avoid their past selves, instead of, say, attempting to warn them to not leave the island.

I resisted the idea that Miles might be the baby from the premiere (Dr. Candle’s son), but it looks like that might be the case after all. Daniel hypothesized that there might be a correlation between the temporal displacement and the length of time spent on the island. When Miles pointed out that he’s only been on the island a matter of weeks, while the Oceanic crew have been on for months, Daniel (who was on the island for an undisclosed amount of time during Dr. Candle’s tenure) asked if he’s sure. Could this be confirmation that the baby was, in fact, Miles?

How surreal was it to see Jack spend the entire episode arguing that Ben is on their side? May how things have changed in a matter of a few years. I mean, Ben spent all of last season bloodied and bruised because of the beating Jack gave him the previous finale. It almost felt like I was watching Heroes, with the viewer constantly wondering who is on whose side (not that that’s a bad thing).

Last week I sung the praises of Alpert. This week I’m going to bestow that honor upon Dan the Lawyer (opposed to Daniel the Scientist – are they running out of names???). He’s an intriguing character. In addition to harassing Kate about Aaron, he’s also Ben and Mrs. Littleton’s lawyer. This guy really gets around. Honestly, the Oceanic crash did wonders for business, I guess. Speaking of Dan (most popular name ever?), one of my long-time readers by that name correctly predicted that Ben was responsible for the Kate/Aaron DNA (anagram for Dan) demand. Although he was wrong about Jack being involved.

We saw our first glimpse of that Indian airline that kept flashing during the previews to the new season. Who were those people on the island? Why were they shooting at Locke, Sawyer, and the others? When will we see them again? Any predictions?

Speaking of predictions, it looks like one of mine came true, just a week too late, as we saw the arrival of Danielle (female version of Dan) and her science group. Oh, and was their discovery of Jin not the happiest moment in television history?

Speaking of Jin, I found one of the comments during the preview for next week interesting. Ben noted that Jin was alive and that he can prove it. This makes me wonder if Ben is capable of communicating with those on the island. Or did he just receive evidence from Locke?

As always, I’m interested in hearing about your thoughts and theories. Feel free to visit my blog or send me an e-mail! It really helps make my Lost: Revisited column more interesting. Some possible topics of conversation: Who were the people on the Indian airline? How does Ben know Jin is alive? What’s the deal with Dan the Lawyer? Was Miles the baby we saw in the premiere?

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A Case of the.... Lost - Episode 5-3 Revisited

I forgot to mention this in my previous Lost columns, but I absolutely love this season’s subtle alteration to the Lost logo. As many of you may have noticed, the classic logo always featured the word “Lost” in front of an ominous sky, with either the jungle or silhouettes of the main characters in the foreground. This season, the image of a city skyline now appears within the word “Lost.” When set against the jungle scenery, this acts as a great illustration of the current Oceanic Six/Island time travelers story arc. Incidentally, I went to the ABC website in hopes of finding a great image of the new logo, and was pleasantly surprised to see that they’ve done something similar with their background graphic. On one side you have the Oceanic Six, Ben, and Desmond standing in a city setting. On the other side you have Sawyer, Locke, Juliet, and the freighter folk on the island. Very neat.

Anyway, unfortunately I didn’t receive any e-mails regarding last week’s episode (get on the ball, people!) which actually surprises me a bit, considering how chock-full of potential theories this episode presented us with. I suppose I’ll just have to take the driver’s seat on this one…

Click the "Read More" link for full column.

As noted in my review column, I love how the Others have been waiting for Locke to lead them – an idea that was set in motion by Locke himself. And that really got me thinking about two other popular theories. The first is that there are multiple timelines simultaneously occurring on the island, yet people aren’t able to see their past/future selves (hence the whispers). The next theory is that Locke is Jacob, an idea that gained popularity after a screencap of Jacob hit the internet. The prospect of Locke unknowingly being responsible for his own destiny got me thinking, maybe Locke is Jacob, only from another time period. And since the island won’t allow you to see yourself, this would also explain why Ben was able to see Jacob, while Locke only saw an empty room.

Naturally, this theory isn’t flawless. Wouldn’t Ben recognize Locke and Jacob as one in the same? You could argue that Ben does, and that his rivalry with Locke is actually motivated by his desire to usurp Jacob, but there are several instances throughout the series where Ben refers to Jacob, and it’s clear that he’s not referring to Locke (like in last season’s finale, when he parts ways with Locke and then curses Jacob). Nevertheless, there’s something to this idea, and I’m not giving up on it quite yet.

Now, onto some more obvious ideas. There were two names revealed during last week’s episode that I completely missed for some reason. The first was Desmond and Penny’s son, named Charlie, presumably after everybody’s favorite fallen rocker. I actually thought it was really, really touching that Desmond would name his son after Charlie Pace. Despite really only lasting a season, their friendship slowly became one of my favorites. So I found that little tribute very sweet.

Of course, you can’t overlook the fact that “Charlie” can be derived from “Charles,” which is Penny’s father’s name. There’s one theory out there that I completely disagree with, but is interesting and worth sharing. What if Desmond, Penny, and young Charlie return to the island, but in the past? What if Desmond and Penny are killed and become the island’s “Adam and Eve” (remember them?) From there, Charlie is raised on the island, becoming Charles Widmore of the Others. As it turns out, Widmore isn’t Penny’s father, but rather her son. This would explain why he’s so invested in keeping her safe, and adds a little flavor to the fact that he was actually directly responsible for Desmond ending up on the island in the first place. It’s interesting, but far too complicated for its own good.

The second name drop of the episode was the young female Other who was holding Daniel up with the rifle (the one that reminded Daniel of somebody he once knew). Her name is Ellie. As in Eloise. As in Eloise Hawking, the time traveling monk lady that we saw Ben conversing with at the end of the two-part premiere. She’s also the woman that everybody – including me – predicts will be revealed as Daniel’s mother. If that’s the case, Daniel was interacting with a young version of his mother, which would (a) explain why Daniel was so fascinated with her, and (b) make sense of why he was so insistent that Sawyer lower his gun. And for what it’s worth, I do believe that Daniel was aware that this woman is his mother. By the way, the observant viewer will recall that “Eloise” was also the name of the rat that Daniel had tested time travel on.

Now, of course, this has led many people to believe that Widmore is Daniel’s father, making our time travel expert Penny’s half brother. I’m resistant to this idea, to be honest. Sure, it may explain why Widmore would essentially bury Daniel’s mistake (with his time travel experiment gone wrong), but I just don’t see it for some reason. For whatever reason, revealing Widmore as Daniel’s father would take away the allure of Widmore and Penny’s father/daughter relationship, and Mrs. Hawking and Daniel’s mother/son relationship. That being said, I love the fact that Widmore (presumably) unknowingly sent his daughter (mother?) into his enemy’s hands by giving Desmond Mrs. Hawking’s address.

One matter worth mentioning that I don’t believe has been given the proper attention is the fact that there’s an active hydrogen bomb (presumably buried) someplace in the island. I can see this little tidbit having huge repercussions later on, possibly during the finale or final season. Another revelation that was seemingly brushed off: The U.S. military has been on the island!

I also have to mention something that has puzzled me. I’m really shocked that some people haven’t taken to the time traveling aspect of the series. Some have said it’s a bit too Sci-Fi for them, despite the fact that Lost has ALWAYS been a Sci-Fi show. I mean, in the first few episodes we found out a crippled guy can walk, there’s some sort of monster, and people are seeing ghosts. But time traveling? Well that’s just silly!

Along with that, in my mind, this whole time travel method of storytelling is how we’re going to get those answers we’ve been anxiously awaiting. I honestly believe that this plot device is going to give us incredible insight into the Others, Alpert, the Dharma Initiative, Rousseau’s science club, and the island itself. Look at how much we’ve found out already? And we’ve only seen three episodes. I’m absolutely loving this time traveling island bit. In my opinion, it’s a really clever way of providing the answers we’ve been waiting for (incidentally, a friend of mine used the word “convenient,” which has a much more negative connotation).

I’m interested in any thoughts you readers might have. Particularly, I’m curious about any (non-spoiler) theories you might have on the ageless Alpert. Send me an e-mail or leave a comment. And enjoy the new episode, I’m sure it’ll kick ass.

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A Case of the Mondays: TV Round Up!

I'll be posting my Lost: Revisited column later today, so if you have any theories/thoughts/observations that you'd like to share, there's still time to comment (please do so in the appropriate blog posting) or e-mail me!

A Case of the.... Heroes - Episode 3-14:

http://primetimepulse.com/2009/02/03/heroes-episode-3-14-review/

A Case of the.... 24 - Episode 7-7:

http://primetimepulse.com/2009/02/03/24-episode-7-7-review/

Update: To those of you interested in such things, the Heroes premiere did see a 9% increase in their audience since the "Villains" finale. This also marked their best audience since October 20th. While I'm not naive enough to think that the audience will continue to grow at this rate, I do think this is a good sign. And I hope viewers watched with an open enough mind, because if they did, I think they'll tune in again next week.

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Talk about a dark knight...

So evidently, in the middle of filming a scene for Terminator: Salvation, the Director of Photography walked onto the set, resulting in a ballistic Christian Bale basically ripping this guy a new asshole via a curse-laden four minute rant.

Give it a listen....

Wow. Ya' know, after listening to this, suddenly it doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility that he'd beat the crap out of his own mother and sister....

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A Case of the.... Smallville - Episode 8-13

I don’t recall ever being so simultaneously compelled yet disappointed with a single episode of Smallville. I was honestly engaged throughout, and I thought the flashback plot device was handled wonderfully. Yet when the episode ended, I was severely disappointed. I daresay that it left me dissatisfied with the series as whole.

http://primetimepulse.com/2009/01/31/smallville-episode-8-13-review/

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A Case of the.... Lost - Episode 5-3

I just want to remind everybody to send me their thoughts, theories, and observations (either by e-mail or by visiting my blog) about tonight’s episode for my Lost: Revisited column, which will be posted next Tuesday. Remember – no spoilers!

Speaking of my Lost: Revisited column, one topic I discussed was my fascination with how certain characters are impacting by the island time jump (as in, their present day body and consciousness travels through time along with the island), while other characters are not. Specifically, it seems (for lack of a better word) inconsistent. Sure, Oceanic survivors like Locke, Sawyer, Rose, and Bernard are affected, but the tail-end survivors that ended up joining the Others were not (remember, all of the Others that Locke was with had vanished). So why was Juliet impacted, while the rest of the Others weren’t? And why were the freighter folks, for that matter?

Anyway, one of my blog readers asked if we know for sure that the Others aren’t impacted by the time jump (since Alpert seemed aware that it was happening), but I think that this episode solidly confirmed that they are not.

Now, onto tonight’s episode (click the "Read More" link):

Discovering that Penny was pregnant – and later seeing Desmond with his son – was one of those rare genuinely sweet, happy moments that this show often deprives us of. I also appreciated the island-story tease. That being said, we’ve also waited so long for them to be happy that it was a bit unsettling seeing such tension between them.

I must say, it’s pretty remarkable that, despite everything they’ve gone through, Daniel is still rocking that tie. Bravo to him. I also loved how Miles immediately assigned Daniel as their leader the first sign that they were in danger.

When we first saw the soldiers, and they were evidently being led by a woman, my first thought was: This is Rousseau’s doomed science club! Then I realized she didn’t have a French accent. I must say, though, that the explosions that killed the two Red Shirts looked suspiciously like the Smoke Monster.

The revelation that the Others all speak Latin was pretty awesome. I also love it when Juliet teases Sawyer about the inner workings of the Others. One thing to consider, though: Juliet clearly does know a lot more about the Others than she’s thus far revealed to her new friends. The question is, why hasn’t she told them about anything? She’s repeatedly killed Others in order to protect the Oceanic crew, so there’s really no question about where her allegiances lie.

Of course, the REAL revelation of the episode was that Charles Widmore was originally a young and cocky Other, an underling to Richard Alpert. Alpert is an increasingly intriguing character. Even if you look beyond his whole ageless thing, I find it interesting that he was far more modern looking during this episode than he was when he first met Ben. I also really enjoyed Alpert’s discussion with Locke, which was very telling. In my Lost: Revisited column, I noted that perhaps the survivors going back in time has a direct impact on the drama they later experience. We got a glimpse of that this episode, as we learned that Alpert’s frequent visits and attempted recruitment of Locke throughout his life were actually suggested by Locke himself (kinda like how Fry is his own grandfather on Futurama).

In closing….I may go as far as to say that I enjoyed this episode even more than the two part premiere. It was actually THAT good. I think one of Lost’s greatest strengths is that it doesn’t feel the need to include every single character into every episode (unlike, say, Heroes). Anyway, remember to send me your thoughts on tonight’s episode!

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A Case of the.... Lost - Episodes 5-1 & 5-2 Revisited

Welcome to Lost: Revisited, where I take a closer look at the previous week’s episode of Lost and respond to e-mails and blog comments that have come my way.

Click the "Read More" link for the full column.

Let’s start with an e-mail from longtime reader, Dan:

Do you think Ben had Jack get the paternity test ordered? That way, he would get custody of Aaron, since he's his relative, and he could make a deal with Kate to get her to come back to the island.

This is an interesting theory, and not one that I had considered. That being said, I don’t think this is the case. Jack is undoubtedly a flawed hero, but I honestly don’t see him doing that to Kate. What’s that old expression? “You get more flies with honey than vinegar.” I just don’t see him threatening Kate in order to get her to do something for him. I do believe that he truly loves Kate, and he loves Aaron, and I just don’t see him doing that to either of them, even if it’s for the “greater good.”

Besides which, it doesn’t really add up timeline-wise. Jack had just discovered that Ben wasn’t on the island. I don’t think Ben would able to convince Jack to go through with this, find a lawyer, and sic them on Kate in such a short amount of time. Along with that, Jack still believes in continuing with this lie, and involving lawyers only risks uncovering the truth.

But it’s an interesting theory nonetheless.

Speaking of Kate, when you sit down and think about it, it’s interesting that she’s really the only member of the Oceanic Six that has adjusted to home life. Jack became an addict, Sun became consumed with vengeance and hatred, Sayid became a cold blooded killer, Hurley seemingly lost his mind, and then there’s Kate. Sure, she’s living a lie – perhaps more so than anybody else – yet she’s adjusted. Adding depth to this observation, consider that Kate had more reason than anybody else (excluding perhaps Locke) to NOT want to return home.

The next comment comes from my blog:

Just speculating here, but maybe the invisible stuff only applies if you don't go on that "special course" that has to be calculated? So the freighter people and the Dharma groups followed the course and thus can see the island, but had they just flown over it they wouldn't have seen anything? I'm guessing but that may be it. And perhaps the second island is considered "part" of the first island.

What confuses me is if the island moved in space as well as time (which I think we were led to believe, and you'd think would have to be the case if the island just totally disappeared from view...unless a full island is appearing on top of the same island in the past...), then what's with stuff like Eko's brother still crashing? And if it's only moving through time then...how the hell does that work? I'm thoroughly confused but in that good, Lost way.

It is my assumption that the island is moving in time and space. Yes, the Nigerian plane still crashed, but who is to say that the island wasn’t in another location when that happened? Actually, I think it’s entirely possible that these time flashes aren’t arbitrary. Perhaps they’re occurring at moments in time that the island has moved.

Then again, maybe the island is merely “stuck” in time, and it won’t reappear until this apparent time vortex (or whatever you want to call it) is resolved.

This question actually brings me to the first matter I want to discuss. I’m curious as to why certain people were affected by the time jumps, but others weren’t. For example, Sawyer, Locke, Bernard, and Rose were among the Oceanic survivors that transported through time along with the island. Yet the Oceanic tailies survivors who had joined the Others had vanished. For that matter, Juliet – who is technically an Other – was impacted by the time jump, while the rest of the Others were not (I am, of course, excluding Alpert from all of this, because we don’t know what his deal is). Likewise, Daniel, Charlotte, and Miles were affected, most likely due to their close proximity to the Oceanic survivors. Yet, once again, the Others vanished, despite their physical closeness to Locke and the tailie survivors. I’m interested in seeing what the determining factor was with who jumps with the island, and who vanishes. It can’t simply be “if you were already on the island when the Oceanic plane crashed, you don’t jump through time with the island,” otherwise Juliet would have vanished. And it can’t be “only Oceanic people jump” because not only did the tailies vanish, but the freighter folk remained intact. I really hope that this gets examined.

I’d also like to discuss one theory discussed on the Entertainment Weekly website, regarding Daniel’s appearance with the Dharma Initiative. Since we already knew that Daniel was tinkering with time travel, I had naturally assumed that this either occurred before he ended up on the island (when he was still mastering his craft) or after he got off of it (perhaps going back in time in order to prevent a catastrophe). The columnist there provides a far more interesting explanation, however: Perhaps Daniel, Miles, Charlotte, Sawyer, Juliet, and everybody else continues going through time, ultimately ending up in the early days of the Dharma Initiative. And what if they actually play a significant role in creating the drama that their future selves had to endure? Even more interesting: Is it possible that a young Ben, upon first coming to the island, actually meets these castaways as they travel through time?

And speaking of time travel, I have to wonder something: Should Desmond have recognized Daniel when he encountered him outside the hatch? In “The Constant,” a pre-island Desmond meets Daniel. Does this not change the past, since Desmond wasn’t physically traveling to the past, but rather consciously?

Another matter to ponder: Why, exactly, does Sun want to kill Ben? Why does she blame him for Jin’s death? Her motivation isn’t entirely clear. We, the viewers, know that Ben WAS responsible (at least partially so) for the freighter explosion, but she doesn’t know that. For all she knows, the freighter folk came up with that scheme, and they fall under the direction of Widmore, the very man she’s making a deal with.

There are also a lot of people predicting that Miles was the baby at the beginning of the premiere (with Dr. Candle). This reminds me of when people were first predicting that Christian is Claire’s father, because he was arguing with an Australian woman. Most people argued, “Not all Australian people are related.” I’m tempted to make a similar argument here….that just because we saw an Asian baby in the past doesn’t mean that he/she later grows up to be one of the Asian leads. Then again, Christian DID end up being Claire’s father, so what do I know?

Anyway, that’s it for me tonight. Remember: This column is only as good and entertaining as the e-mails I receive – so don’t hesitate to drop me a line!!! Visit my blog or send me an e-mail!

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