A lot of shows were on repeats this week (due to the Olympics, I assume), so there’s not a whole lot to talk about. For those of you wondering, the first week at work went excellently. I’m having a great time there and everybody is really nice.
I forgot to mention this in my Smallville column, but are there ANY competent female drivers in that town? I mean, Lois, Lana, and Martha have ALL hit a pedestrian after checking their cell phones or taking a sip of coffee or reaching into their purse or SOMETHING. Hell, Lana was killed in a car wreck because she blatantly took her eyes off the road. I mean, geez, they’re just perpetuating the stereotype here.
LOST:
I’m almost embarrassed that I didn’t notice this a couple weeks ago, but the waitress that served Sawyer at the diner was Kate’s mother. An awesome connection and I’m really disappointed in myself for not noticing that (especially since I explicitly noticed the actress when I was watching it).
TV Guide had a cool little web showing how all of the characters are connected to each other. Most of it was stuff we all know already, but there was one that I wasn’t aware of: Locke’s mother was in the same mental institution as Hurley. That’s another connection between the two of them, the other being that Hurley allegedly owns the box factory that Locke worked at.
The big connection this week was Sayid and Kate’s father, part deux (part….uh….uno? being Sayid on the television in the recruitment center Kate’s dad works at). An overall interesting episode, in the fact that they did not give us any solid resolution of whether this person was actually an Other or not.
A lot of people have brought this up already, but there are a lot of allusions to the Wizard of Oz with this character. His name is Henry Gale, which is Dorothy’s uncle’s name. He also supposedly arrived on the island on a balloon, which is a connection in itself as well. Haven’t quite deciphered the significance of all of this, but it’s interesting nonetheless.
Do I think this guy is an Other? In all likelihood, yes. I did find it surprising that in all of the interrogation, they never really touched upon the question of how he managed to survive for all that time. I mean, our crew hasn’t even been there for two months, and look at everything they’ve gone through, despite having a number of very capable outdoorsmen. To me, that would have been one of the first questions I asked.
I’m also noticing the heightened hostilities between all of the central characters. Jack is at odds with Sawyer, Locke, and Sayid. Locke is at odds with Charlie, Jack, and Sawyer. Sawyer is at odds with everybody. Ana Lucia and Kate are at odds with each other, to a much lesser extent. Charlie is at odds with Locke and Jack, and could very quickly be at odds with Sun and Jin. It just seems like a very explosive environment.
So my boss’ friend looked up the hieroglyphics that appeared on the timer when the countdown went to zero. Apparently it says “Cause of death” or “cause to die” or something along those lines. Can anybody verify this?
You know, I’ve talked to a lot of people and I must say that I think Lost is really suffering from the fact that they have so many repeats. I’d venture to say that a high percentage of people I know (and the audience as a whole, I’d say) became fans from positive word of mouth, and then renting or purchasing the DVD. When you watch the series that way, it’s difficult to look away from the TV. Most people I know have been disappointed with this season, and I really don’t think that it’s because it’s any less interesting or exciting (in my opinion, it is no less interesting or exciting), but because they have to tolerate this schedule. For this show to maintain its popularity, it REALLY needs to adopt the 24 straight-through schedule, where they just go twenty somewhat weeks of no repeats.
Come to think of it, really, the television season as a whole needs to be reconfigured: Have a fall/winter season, a winter/spring season, and a summer season.
24:
I continue to be thoroughly entertained by President Logan. Last week, when he tried to divert the responsibility on what to do with the mall situation to ANYONE that wasn’t him was priceless. First, claiming that it was a field decision, so CTU has to decide. Then putting them on hold and asking Mike what he should do. He really is one of the highlights of the season, and I love the season.
I already said it last week, but Audrey is beginning to grow on me substantially since last season. I enjoy her “voice of reason” without being righteous (although I’m sure a lot of people would probably accuse her of being so). Buchanan is another character that I enjoy watching now, but didn’t like so much last year.
I also like when they show Jack’s human side, so I thought the whole mall scene was great. No matter how bad ass this guy gets, and no matter how often he’s forced to do messed up and torturous things, it was sweet seeing him take control of the situation and refusing to release the gas. The scene with him saving the little girl was rather touching as well.
By the way, if these terrorists were so confident that their guy was being trailed, and they knew he would have to commit suicide anyway, why not leave a canister there and release the gas once they take off their masks? Or arm the place with explosives?
SURVIVOR:
Murtz and Eliza hit the nail on the head when they noted how the contestants have all segregated into pairs of two. It’s an interesting development.
I still highly prefer the tribe with Terry and Dan, but what was the deal with Ruth Marie? She seemed like such a major player in the earlier episodes, but she was barely even seen around camp in this one. It was strange seeing her play such an insignificant role, especially after a relatively strong beginning.
What can I really say about Shane that everybody else hasn’t already? I mean, this guy is starting fights, over nothing, with people IN HIS ALLIANCE. I honestly don’t see this guy lasting that much longer. Oh, and man, how smoking hot is Danielle?
I flip flop a whole lot in regards to Bruce. I really disliked him the first week, liked him the next week, but found him relatively unlikable last episode. The guy was just completely full of himself. I mean, yeah, he helped them figure out a neat little water purification trick, but he was acting like he was their savior. It seemed like a bit much.
The season continues to go strongly, but I wish they’d devote a bit more attention to what the exiled contestant is doing on the island. First off, it’s the whole centerpiece of the show (from a promotional standpoint), and isn’t this person on the island for like a matter of days? It seems like all we see is the person sleeping. Is the person looking for the idle? What are they doing for food and nourishment? Are they trying to make a fire? What are they doing to entertain themselves?
I’m going to cut things off at this point. Hope everybody has a good week. Oh, and happy birthday Mom!
And with that, Case closed.
