A Case of the Mondays

Archive

It’s been a long, but fun, weekend for me. Friday night I had a reunion of sorts with friends from college at the bar we used to always hang out with. It was fun being back and seeing everybody, but a little weird. Over the past year and a half or so, I haven’t been around the old college hang outs. The first half year or so after I graduated, I was down there all the time, practically every other weekend. But I haven’t been there so long, it was almost surreal walking those same paths I used to take all the time. It just felt so, unusual.

Another note of interest is that Pepsi now owns our soul. Our school had an exclusive contract with Coke, so everywhere you went, there was a Coke vending machine, and every store sold Coke products, and every food place had Coke fountain machines, so it used to be a running joke that Coke owned our souls. Well, I disappear for a year and suddenly Pepsi is all over the place. Don’t get me wrong, I actually prefer Pepsi, but Coke went better with our school colors.

LOST:

Well, this show certainly returned with a bang, didn’t it? I’m actually not a really big fan of Claire, but this was actually quite possibly my favorite episode yet. The flashback formula was a bit different, where we were seeing things that actually happened on the island, and I think it really, really worked.

Also, I don’t think we’ve ever had an episode in which so much was revealed. We still don’t know a whole lot, and there are still a lot of questions to ask, but man, they really gave us a lot of information to ponder. I also loved the revelation that the French Chick’s daughter is alive (which we all pretty much knew), and that the French Chick was actually saving Claire, not trying to hurt her. Added a whole lot to her character. How long before we get a French Chick flashback ep?

So, what did we find out? Well, first off, The Others are a lot more civilized and sophisticated than we were led to believe. And, for some unknown reason, they’re pretending to be gritty fishermen. I loved how they had the lead other call Ethan into the room with his very identifiable raspy voice, but have us be unable to see his face. Then finally we do, and he’s clean shaven and well dressed. How could this be possible, since we see him not too long after with a big, bushy beard, kidnapping Walt? That was a great head-scratching moment, and I thought it was directed fantastically. The follow up with Kate finding the fake beard and theatrical glue added to the scene greatly. The question remains: Why with the disguise?

Another question: Was Ethan actually a nice Other, or was his niceness all part of the big plan? Personally, I thought it was part of the big plan. He was obviously on-board with her getting offed, and even though he did have that sweet heart to heart with her, he didn’t bother to do it when she wasn’t drugged up. He was also willing to kill other survivors after Claire escaped.

I’ve been meaning to do this, but haven’t had a chance yet, but I want to take a really close look at the scene I which the French Chick’s daughter saves Claire, and they look at The Others in surgical gear. I want to see if Henry Gale is one of them. Anybody know?

After watching this episode, I was really quick to jump to the conclusion that this was all but a confirmation that The Others are in fact the Dharma Initiative (or at the very least affiliated with them in some way). Now, after thinking about it, I’m not quite so sure. It seems entirely possible that The Others just stumbled upon that facility, much like Locke and the others stumbled upon the Hatch. The question remains: Why did they evacuate? Also, who is this higher power that the lead Other was referring to (the one who wanted the list)?

Speaking of the list, I find the semantic vagueness of it interesting. Yes, the list is of “good” people, but what does good mean? Does good mean “not evil”? Does good mean valuable? Stuff to think about.

Going back to Henry Gale, is it me or did Jack and Locke completely switch positions regarding him being a prisoner? Suddenly Locke has sympathy for him while Jack is more hard assed. Isn’t that reversed from the episode before, where Locke condoned Sayid torturing him, while Jack condemned it?

I also really liked Eko’s scene, whether they teased him killing Gale, then him committing suicide, before him cutting off the two extended hairs from his beard.

A few tangents regarding the show: First, the selective time frame. There are times where they’re really conscious of the fact that they’ve only been on the island for two months. Other times they seem to ignore it, or blatantly play against it. My first pet peeve in terms of that is Jack’s hair. I can forgive facial hair, because we’ve seen that they have shaving cream and razors. I can even imagine that they have an added supply of that from the hatch. But his hair…am I to believe he has an electric buzzer with him? I mean, look how much Jin and Michael’s hair have grown. And we’ve already seen Sawyer and Charlie get haircuts. So what’s with Jack’s hair?

Also, what’s with the lack of discussion regarding Walt? I mean, they spent over a month with this kid, and had plenty of time to grow attached to him. Suddenly he’s kidnapped by a group of people who have murdered their own, and they only seem slightly concerned about this?

Another thing: Lack of cameras. I’ve discussed my theory in the past that this may be a Utopian society, where every major, valuable, or socially revered occupation is represented. My friend Clelia noted that there is no photographer. A good point, but her additional comment is what struck me as most interesting: The fact that, logically speaking, there should be plenty of cameras packed, since many people were likely on vacation.

Speaking of things that were likely packed, the condoms issue. We’ve seen Jin and Sun have sex, and Shannon and Sayid. Did they use condoms? Although its never been explicitly stated, I think it’s within the realm of belief that plenty of people packed some with them. However, scenes for an upcoming episode have Sun asking Sawyer for a pregnancy test. Now, that’s a bit of a stretch. How many people pack a pregnancy test? That’s the type of thing you buy on the spot, use, and then discard. It’s not something you pack for a long vacation.

Anyway, this week is a repeat AGAIN, just solidifying my suggestion that they should abandon this current schedule and undertake the 24 method.

24:

Speak of the devil, and the devil came. This season of 24 has been highly enjoyable for me, in part due to the slower pace. Last season was amazing, and I highly enjoyed it, but the constant decoys were just a bit much. Let me get this straight: The plot to arm every nuclear warhead in our country was a decoy to take control of just one missile? I like the drawn out attack this season.

Last week’s episode was also very reminiscent of season 3, which, in my opinion, was the most ensemble in regards to the cast. I distinctly remember one episode that season in which Jack spent the entire time tailing some guy in his car, while the brunt of the hour focused on Michelle in the hotel. Last week’s episode was mostly focusing on the usurping in CTU, and the President’s predicament. The amount of character development devoted to Audrey, Chloe, Edgar, Curtis, and Buchanan are amazing. I still don’t like Chloe, and I’ve always liked Curtis, but the others have grown on me immensely.

Next week Kim returns, which everybody is boo-hooing about, but I love Elisha Cuthbert so I’m still happy. Plus, it will be interesting to see how she reacts to finding out Jack’s alive. Will she be happy? Pissed? Both?

~ ~ ~ POSSIBLE SPOILER, WHICH HAS ALREADY BEEN REVEALED IN WRITTEN PREVIEWS~ ~ ~

So apparently a “series veteran” dies in the two hour showcase tonight. It’s not Kim, so basically I’m thinking it is Pierce, Tony, Curtis, or Mike. Mike seems unlikely due to his non-life threatening role. It seems somewhat silly to kill Tony now and not in the premiere with the others, and considering that they teased Pierce’s death last week, I don’t think it will be him. So, my early prediction is that Curtis is the guy who gets killed off. Hope I’m wrong, since I like all of them.

SURVIVOR:

A pretty good episode, in my opinion. Shane is a really interesting character, since he’s confrontational, annoying, irrational, and an overall jackass. But when the man gives you his word, he actually sticks by it, no matter what. That’s admirable, in its own way, but what the hell is with him whoring his son’s life? It seems like he’s always saying “Swear on my son’s life” or “I swear on my son’s life.” There are other ways to give somebody your word.

The stuff with Bobby and Bruce drinking the wine was just stupid. How could you possibly think that there would be no repercussions to this? And over what? Supposedly losing your spot in the shelter? Like Murtz and Eliza say every week: This is a social game. What they did will continue to have serious social consequences.

The tribal council was pretty exciting. You had Aras attacking Bruce and defending Bobby. You had Danielle coming to Bruce’s defense. You had Shane give a throwaway vote just to keep his word. You had Bobby turn against Bruce just shortly after promising he never would. Crazy stuff.

I also find it interesting that Courtney would be so oblivious that she would do her exercising in the one spot that Bruce had set up his Zen garden. By that regard, though, I have to side with Aras somewhat. Bruce spends all this time, energy, rocks, and wood working on something that will have no impact on the group whatsoever. Meanwhile, the others are working hard to maintain a fire, and Bruce just struts over and starts barking orders. Again, this is a social game.

I was very pleased with the fact that Dan wasn’t completely miffed about the fact that Terry and the others voted Ruth Marie out. I was also really pleased that they won the Immunity Challenge. I definitely prefer that tribe, and I really hope they don’t go into the merge in the minority.

Anyway, I’m going to cut it off on that note. Hope everybody has a good week. Send any comments to me at the e-mail address below.

Until next week, Case Closed.

Matt Basilo has been writing for Inside Pulse since April 2005, providing his insight into various popular television shows. Be sure to visit his blog at [a case of the blog] and follow him on Twitter.