So if memory serves, this is my tenth week doing this column. Just thought I’d mention that. Anyway, due to having to pick up my parents at the airport last night, I was unable to watch the finales of The 4400 and The Dead Zone. However, since I didn’t discuss last week’s episode, I’ll talk about those, and then give my thoughts on the finales next week.
Regarding my Simpsons vs. Family Guy synopsis last week, my buddy Beer Pong Champ Frank brought up the point that my criticism about the first 10 minutes of Simpsons having nothing to do with the rest of the storyline can be applied to Family Guy as well. That’s a very valid point, however – for me – the big difference is that I don’t find the first 10 minutes of Family Guy to be a waste. It’s almost always exceptionally humorous, and they seem to almost mock the fact that this will have nothing to do with the rest of the episode. For me, I just haven’t found the beginning portion of Simpsons to be worth the time spent watching it, to the extent that it’s almost frustrating watching it knowing that it won’t matter in a few minutes.
CONTINUITY POLICE, VOLUME 4:
I’m about THIS close to mentioning how Bart Simpson constantly switches between being left handed and right handed, so in order to maintain delivering you the best possible examples of a television show contradicting or challenging its own continuity, I want you to e-mail me any instances you can think of, and I’ll use the best ones in my column (with credit given to the person who sent it) whenever I can’t think of a very good example. So, please send me any continuity errors you can think of.
As for this week, we’ll take a look at a former TGIF show that I feel is vastly underrated, Boy Meets World. I feel like the show really picked up in the latter high school years, and especially in the college years. When they drifted Cory away from the clichéd obnoxious, trouble making kid, and into the obsessive compulsive weirdo he became, the show really grew into itself.
Before it grew into itself, however, it seems as if the writers couldn’t quite decide what Shawn’s sibling situation is. For example, in the first season Shawn mentions having a sister, and how she tried to help Cory straighten his hair. This sister is never heard of, mentioned, or seen again. Then, in the third season, we find out that Shawn has a half brother named Eddie. Shawn protects Cory from him after Cory films Eddie with stolen goods. However, after this episode, much like Shawn’s sister, Eddie is never heard of, mentioned, or seen again.
Then, in season five, when Eric goes off to college, we learn that Shawn again has a half brother, this time Jack (played by Matthew Lawrence). Despite this discovery, no reference is made whatsoever about Shawn’s sister or his other half brother Eddie. In fact, it is made explicitly clear to us that, after Shawn’s father dies, Jack is the only family Shawn has left.
For what it’s worth, typically I’m avoiding bringing up examples of a changed last name, or a missing sibling, because it usually takes a season or two for a television show to grow into itself and get completely comfortable with its characters and their back stories. However, when a missing sibling becomes a trend (like this example), I feel like it is a worthy example.
THE 4400:
A few weeks ago I brought up how many of the regular characters, even when they are closely linked, don’t interact with each other, so when they do it’s almost a surreal experience. I brought this up when Shawn met up with Lilly and Richard in the beginning of the season. Despite being relatively closely associated through Dylan and being main characters, the three had never shared a scene together during the entire course of the series. The same can be said about when Dylan and Maia met. Last week, another example of this happened, where Shawn and Maia talked for the first time. It’s odd, considering how exceptionally connected they are (Shawn’s uncle and Maia’s mother are partners), and the fact that they were both the proverbial “golden children” of the 4400 (I would say that their powers were focused on the most, both by the writers and within the reality of the series, if that makes sense).
I actually like how their meeting was handled. It wasn’t through Tom or Diana, which would have been easy. Instead, while in quarantine, Maia recognizes Shawn from seeing him on television, and the two sort of set each other at ease. I liked how Maia acted more adult than her physical age (much like she did early in the series), and I enjoyed the way Shawn was comforting and kind, yet not condescending. We’ve learned from past experiences that Shawn doesn’t talk down to people because of their age or social status, and because of that I liked his overall tone with Maia. I also thought it was sweet how he said he would have to have faith in her.
I have to say, this episode really intrigued me, partially because I didn’t completely understand if the government was maliciously infecting the 4400 with the intention of eliminating him, or if it was an unfortunate side effect that they had not anticipated. That said, it was exciting seeing Ryland return (although the effect was somewhat hindered by the fact that he had appeared in the previews), and he’s certainly acting more suspicious than when we had last seen him. I like how there’s a certain overall untrusting tone, where Tom and Diana are unsure who they can trust. They had always considered Ryland a trusted superior, yet now they’re unsure of that. Diana had grown close to the doctor who was watching Maia, but now she finds out that he was injecting her with something, and hiding it from her.
Richard taking over the 4400 clinic was a bold and surprising move, however I did like how he finally brought attention to the fact that the people from the future didn’t even give him powers. Personally, I think he just hasn’t realized what his powers are yet, but they’re going to have a big overall impact when they are revealed. Now that he has this new authority, we’re starting to see a darker side of him as well, to the extent that Lilly has left him, and she’s taken Isabell with her. However, I think a nice contrast to all of this was how Shawn willingly brought himself to quarantine. Now, his successor is putting the 4400 into hiding to avoid that same fate.
Finally, I felt a very powerful image to show the war between the government and the 4400 was when the army of government officials went face to face with the army of employees from the 4400 clinic. After a brief stare down, the 4400 employees divide, allowing the government officials to walk in.
This show is only getting better and better, and I think that if I had to suggest one show to somebody right now, it would be this. I also really like the intro they show before each episode now, with Jordan at the end saying “We’re not a threat, we’re salvation.”
THE DEAD ZONE:
This was pretty much the definition of a filler episode, however next week looks really interesting. Stillson is being portrayed as an intriguing character this season, as we’re learning that he doesn’t quite seem to be downright malicious. He’s ambitious, and he’s willing to fight a little dirty, but he doesn’t seem to have that certain sinister intention that he does in the movie and book. However, we do know that he is still responsible for Armageddon, so no matter what he’s still at odds with Johnny. It makes for something more interesting than the standard good vs. evil dichotomy.
I don’t have much to say regarding last week’s episode, other than the fact that I found it somewhat odd that Johnny didn’t choose to tell Sarah that her mother’s last words were “I love you.” I did think that the vision of him watching her die was pretty nicely handled, with a bright white light glowing upon seeing her body. A good episode, just not very impacting.
LOST:
It seems as if starting next week, they’re doing two episodes a week. I don’t know why they didn’t just do that to begin with. Considering how massively popular the show was, and how overwhelmingly positive the word of mouth was, you’d think that ABC would open up an additional hour a week to make sure that they show every episode before the season premiere in September.
First things first, I found the whole Shannon/Sayid thing a bit…..out of nowhere. I don’t know if I missed anything from the episodes that they’ve skipped, it just seemed like one day they randomly started kinda sorta flirting with each other, and like later that episode Sayid’s telling Boone that he’s probably going to have sex with his sister. Throughout the first season they seem to be building up two main relationships: Charlie and Claire and Jack and Kate. As far as I can tell, nothing physical has happened with either of those relationships, so it seemed odd seeing two people randomly shacking up out of no where. Not complaining, it just seemed to happen with no real build up. But hey, Shannon’s exceptionally hot, so bravo Sayid. Now that I think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever been on a plane with so many hot, unattached women.
This episode seemed to end on a bit more of a down note than usual. In most episodes, after getting a glimpse into somebody’s past, there’s a certain lesson learned. Something that was once unresolved becomes resolved. That wasn’t entirely the case here, as the marriage between Jin and Sun has now hit rock bottom. That said it was interesting getting Jin’s perspective of their relationship, after we had already seen Sun’s earlier in the season. Through Sun’s eyes, it seemed as if Jin was into some seriously illegal stuff, especially when Jin came home one night with somebody else’s blood all over him. Now that we saw Jin’s side of the story, we know that he had only viciously beaten a man to a bloody pulp in order to save his life (he was supposed to be shot). We also learned that Jin was going to give up his work in order to save his relationship with Sun.
As I’ve said in the past, part of the fun of watching this show is that, for the most part, I know the resulting friendships and relationships are. For example, I know that by the season finale, Jin and Michael are close friends. However, as I watch the series now, I see that they are the two people constantly at odds with each other. I enjoy watching the journey they make towards friendship. Along with that, I do believe that Jin and Sun are together again by the end of the season (if I am mistaken, don’t tell me), so I look forward to finding out how they reconcile. By the way, I also think it’s a really nice touch that Jin still has the handcuff on his wrist, from the episode a few weeks ago.
Speaking of Michael, he sure does fight with a lot of people, doesn’t he? Between Locke and Jin, it seems like he’s constantly in somebody’s face. It’s realistic, possibly even understandable. Just an observation.
Anyway, I liked the ending, with Michael losing his cool and then gaining his composure and acting very fatherly towards Walt. Then having Jin arrive at the beach to build a new boat, and asking Michael to help him. I also enjoyed the interaction between Locke and Walt, especially since I had assumed that Locke was the one who set the boat on fire. Overall a really good episode.
TV FUN FACT OF THE WEEK:
Since fellow InsidePulse columnist Brendan Campbell wanted to know more fun facts about Sesame Street (and really, who doesn’t?) I am here to serve:
Before trying cookies for the first time, Cookie Monster’s name was Sid.
And now? Well, now Cookie Monster can be found hiding in the stalls of women’s rooms desperately trying to get his latest cookie dough fix. My, how the mighty have fallen…
That’s it for this week. Next week I’ll discuss the season finales of The Dead Zone and The 4400. Be sure to send in any continuity contradictions you can think of, I’ll use the best ones whenever I can’t think of a good example myself.
