This week’s column is going to be a bit short. The reason is twofold, really. First off, due to Thanksgiving, there wasn’t much original television on, as most shows either weren’t on, or were just showing repeats. Secondly, I’m a bit pressed for time because of a family brunch we had this morning celebrating my brother being sworn in, and my brother-in-law getting a job in our area, which means he and my sister will soon be living nearby again. I called it “the party celebrating everybody in the family but me.”
CONTINUITY POLICE, VOLUME 12:
I was writing a piece of the show Joan of Arcadia, and why it was prematurely cancelled, especially since it was beginning to show a lot of intrigue and promise. While doing some research, I stumbled across a continuity error I had forgotten about. Therefore, this week, we take a look at Joan of Arcadia, starring the ever-so-beautiful Amber Tamblyn.
In episode 203 – “Back to the Garden”, Joan tells Helen that the thing she remembers about the night of the accident is that she was watching the Nutty Professor when she heard Helen scream. In the episode “No Future” (which flashes back to the night of Kevin’s accident), she and Luke are watching the Three Stooges when the police come to the door and Helen screams.
A very entertaining show, that was, and look for that piece to be posted in the December Feature on the television section of Insidepulse.
LOST:
An extremely awesome episode in my opinion, possibly even the best of the season. And this is coming from somebody who absolutely, positively loathes Ana-Lucia.
Where to start? Well, might as well look at the flashbacks, and what we learned from them. It seems that Ana-Lucia was a hard nosed cop, further accentuating the typecast of Michelle Rodriguez. What, did somebody get their hands on the script to SWAT or something? Anyway, the revelation that she was pregnant did seem to justify her behavior throughout the rest of the flashbacks, and it did help explain her attachment and concern for the children on the island. I would have enjoyed getting a look at her softer side, but I anticipate we’ll get a glimpse of that in a later episode devoted to her.
My sister actually has an interesting theory regarding Ana-Lucia, and considering the character’s past as a police officer, it seems possible. My sister believes that Ana-Lucia may have actually been an undercover U.S. Marshall, who was a back up of sorts to watch over Kate. Of course, this theory can easily be immediately thrown out the window based on what happens when the two characters come face to face for the first time, presumably in this week’s episode. The dynamic between Jack, Ana-Lucia, Kate, and Sawyer is already going to be interesting, and this may add a whole lot of tension to that already volatile foursome.
If there was a weak point of the episode, it had to be the stuff with Ana-Lucia and Sayid. Tying up Sayid made my dislike for her grow enough, but then preventing Bernard and Jin from being reunited with their wives was just cruel. Adding that she had kept Bernard alive all this time just made it worse. I completely recognize that she was in a totally desperate situation, and was clearly in shock over what she had done to Shannon, but even so, the scenes just made me dislike her more. I’d like to say that her flashback scenes made it all a lot more forgivable, but I’m not sure it did. She ever so slightly redeemed herself by submitting and letting the others return to their loved ones, and I’m glad she untied Sayid once she came to her senses, but I’m still not a huge fan of her.
I was skeptical of the whole Kate/Sawyer stuff based on the previews I had seen, but I actually immensely enjoyed all of the stuff regarding them and Jack. I think it was very deliberate that Kate and Jack were exceptionally flirtatious right before Jack had to watch her emotionally whispering into his ear, and I think it worked really well. Jack and Kate have the sort of relationship where each of them can primarily interact with any other character (and even go extended periods of the two of them not sharing any scenes at all), but once they become reunited, the chemistry and attraction is palpable. This week, it was really fun watching them outwardly flirting with each other, especially since we haven’t seen them let loose in a while.
This week also showed how Jack and Sawyer have developed. Consider the previous times that Jack has had to use his medical expertise on Sawyer. There was always this noticeable hostility, where Jack didn’t want to help Sawyer, and Sawyer didn’t want to go to Jack. They both did their part because of, surprise surprise, Kate. Now Sawyer didn’t have any qualms about returning to the opposite side of the island to get Jack’s assistance, and Jack genuinely seemed to care about saving Sawyer’s life. I really didn’t sense the usual hostility, even when Jack had to watch Kate whispering into Sawyer’s ear.
Finally, the stuff with Sawyer and Kate was not as bad as I thought it would be (again, based on the previews from the week before). I was worried, as I stated last week, that seeing Sawyer in such dire shape would make Kate all lovey dovey, but that wasn’t the case. Instead, it seemed more like she was simply using her influence to make sure Sawyer did what he needed to in order to get better. That’s not to say I don’t believe she truly cares for him, because she clearly does. I’ve said it before, but I really like how Sawyer and Jack are such dramatically different characters, and Kate is clearly attracted to and has feelings for both. Likewise, the same is sure to be true for Kate and Ana-Lucia, who are also very different personalities.
Mr. Eko remains one of my favorite characters, as he continues to show a great deal of character and integrity every week. I really, really enjoyed how he first refused to tie up Sayid (since he recognized the circumstances of the situation), and how he would not listen to Ana-Lucia when she told him he could not take Sawyer back to the camp. I also like how people have been comparing Mr. Eko to Locke, only to have the two of them come face to face this week. It was a very enjoyable moment, with Locke seeing him and simply saying “Hi.” And without knowing much about each other, Locke was able to determine that Eko was not responsible for what happened to Shannon. Eko also seems somewhat stand offish, yet he appeared comfortable enough to share his tale of survival with Locke.
There are few scenes in television that I found more touching and heart wrenching than when Jin, Michael, and the tailies reunited with the rest of the survivors. Seeing Charlie jump up from playing guitar and giving a heart felt hug to Jin (who he was never entirely close with) was very sweet and genuine. Seeing Bernard and Rose embrace was really sweet, and something that everyone had long been waiting for. The scene with Jin and Sun was absolutely beautiful, and such a fantastically scripted scene (having Sun doing menial tasks before realizing the commotion and seeing Jin). That said, I did get a bit of a kick out of Bernard returning and kissing Rose, Jin returning and kissing Sun, and then Michael returning and hugging…..Vincent the dog.
The final scene, having Jack and Ana-Lucia come face to face, was very symbolic. First off, it was the two of them reuniting. Secondly, it was the leaders of each crew confronting each other. Finally, it was almost an Exorcist type scene, where the “face of good” stood across from the “face of evil.” There Jack was, on one side of the screen, with a white top, and there Ana-Lucia was, on the other side of the screen, with a black top. To further the imagery, Jack had just finished saving somebody’s life (Sawyer), while Ana-Lucia had just killed somebody (Shannon) and holding somebody captive (Sayid, and arguably the rest of the tailies). It’ll be really interesting how these two interact with each other, since they had previously flirted, but now they’re two leaders with two very different philosophies butting heads with each other.
NIP/TUCK:
I have some briefs thoughts on the past couple week’s episodes. Although our resident Nip/Tuck reviewer disagrees, I’ve actually really enjoyed the new, nicer, more moral Christian. It shows the growth and evolution of his character, and I think it’s natural since somebody needs to counteract Quentin. It may just be a moot point, since it seems like Christian is reverting back to his old ways next week.
Also, I think it’s obvious that (a) Kimber was kidnapped by The Carver (she was, after all, ready to walk down the aisle moments before she disappeared), and (b) that Quentin in The Carver. Both characters clearly have a vendetta against Christian, and their motives seem similar.
By the way, it’s great seeing Brittany Snow back on television. She’s incredibly beautiful, and very talented. Looks like her acting chops are going to be put to the test, as she’s now playing a white supremacist. Additionally, it seemed odd to me that Christian and Sean accused her character of being racist (ultimately, of course it turned out she was), because her initial comments at the office didn’t seem to be racist. Again, I guess that ended up being a moot point, though.
Finally, the cake tasting scene was probably the funniest few minutes I’ve seen in television in a long, long time.
TV FUN FACT OF THE WEEK:
In lieu of a fun fact, I thought I’d give you a fun link:
http://www.ruinedendings.com/
This website here gives you the endings to pretty much any movie imaginable (you have to click a link to each movie, so simply going to the site won’t give anything away). So if there are any movies out there in which you forgot the ending, or any movie out there you want to know the end of without watching, check that site out!
I’ll be back next week. Until then, Case closed!
