Welcome back to another edition of Case of the Mondays. This is likely being posted late (again), due to a poor internet connection on Sunday night. That said, we have a few season finales to discuss, so let’s get right to it.
THE OC:
SUMMER IS SAFE!!!! Rachel Bilson lives on!!!
With that out of the way, my thoughts on the episode. I’ll be honest, I felt a little cheated on that quick resolution to Seth’s arson charge. Sandy indicated that he was upfront with the DA about what happened and it being an accident. If that’s the case, why wouldn’t charges be brought up against, ya’ know, smoking pot? It IS illegal after all. Of course, Sandy may have lied and said that he was smoking a cigarette (which makes more sense), but I at least would have liked to have been told that.
Oh, going back to the whole Summer thing…I did notice that Seth said that he’s not going to start college until January, which means he’ll still be in California for the first part of the season. Does this mean that Summer will only be in the Thanksgiving and Christmas episodes? Because I have doubts about whether the writers would give her character a completely separate storyline on the other side of the country.
So, Marissa was killed off, and it was because of a violent act from Volchek. That’s pretty damn close to what I predicted would happen. I was a bit surprised, though, that they killed the character off, since they had just written a plausible reason for her to leave the show. I do suppose that if they had to kill a character off, hers was the best choice. It’s overall the weakest, and with Taylor joining the cast next season, she’s not even necessary in the “best friend” role.
I do have to say, though, that I thought they did a great job with the allusions to Ryan’s arrival and how he carried Marissa to safety from the fiery inferno. A very cyclical way to write off the Marissa character. I do look forward to seeing how the characters move on from this tragedy, particularly Julie, Kaitlin, and Summer. Next season is shaping up to be very interesting. But, bloody hell, Bilson better be back!
LOST:
I really enjoyed the Michael-centric episodes, and these episodes that fill us in on what certain characters have been up to on the island is a very interesting escape from the usual flashbacks we see.
There were a few things that surprised me about this episode. The first was that Michael was not lying about what he saw. He truly does believe that they live in huts and are all dirty and savage. He genuinely thinks that they only have two guns, and that his crew can overtake them. That was the first thing that surprised me.
The second thing that I found surprising was that the decision to kill Ana Lucia was strictly his own. From what we saw, under no circumstances did The Others ask Michael to kill her (or anybody else) off.
I am very intrigued as to why The Others want Jack, Kate, Sawyer, and Hurley. I have been racking my brain trying to figure out what, if anything, ties these characters together. Does it have something to do with actions they took since getting on the island? Or is it because of something they’ve done before the plane crashed? Does it have anything to do with the numbers? Count me interested.
Also, based on all these rumors that Walt was written off of the show because the actor had a growth spurt, I was expecting him to look like Eko by the time we saw him.
Not quite sure what to make of Miss Clue, other than her having a really weird name. I do see Alex possibly helping Walt escape, though.
I greatly enjoyed the Sawyer/Jack bonding moment together. The “stuck in a net” meaning sex bit was comedy gold. I did find Sawyer’s comment that Jack is the closest thing to a friend a bit curious, since overall he seems to get along with a few other characters just as well, or better, than Jack. Nevertheless, the scene as a whole was very humorous, and I loved Sawyer’s “at least we get to kill people” line to close it out.
I also found the side story of Charlie’s redemption very interesting. His reconciliation with Claire was sweet, especially when she held his hand during the funeral. Geez, that kid is going to be traumatized, though. He’s only a few months old, and he’s already been to, what, three funerals?
I do have to wonder if Charlie testing out the vaccine will have any side effects. I am also curious about whether him throwing the Virgin Mary statuettes into the water have anything to do with the appearance of the boat, as it seemed to have appeared at the same spot he threw the statues. Plus Vincent led Charlie to the statues, and that dog seems to always have something up his sleeve.
I’m very interested to see what’s going to go down in the finale, as they claim that they’ll be answering a lot of questions regarding the crash and the button. Do I have any predictions? I’m not so sure. I’ve stated in the past that I believe this could be an attempt at a Utopian society, as nearly every facet of a successful society is represented (a doctor, a soldier, a law enforcement officer, somebody in construction, a musician, a hunter, etc.) I still think that’s a possibility.
24:
So the finale is tonight (or last night, depending on when this gets posted), and the most exhilarating season yet will be coming to a close.
I had a feeling we’d see Henderson and Jack working together before the end of the season. Unfortunately for Henderson, I don’t see him surviving the rest of the day.
A few people are predicting that Martha will end up killing off Logan. I’m not sure how I see that story arc ending, since it seems like even people within the government don’t want something to happen to the President, in fear of losing integrity. I don’t see Jack killing him, because he’s too much of a patriot.
One thing is for sure, I definitely see Logan paying one way or another.
Anyway, that’s it for this week. Sorry for the short column, but I’m pressed for time, and due to last week’s lateness gave much of my 24 thoughts already. Besides which, we’re in that awkward period between the regular television schedule and the summer schedule, so there aren’t many shows to talk about.
I’ll be back next week though (hopefully on time), with likely many, many thoughts on the Lost and 24 finales.
