Thursday, January 29, 2009

Jughead

It is soooo back!!! I haven’t screamed like that in months! Episode 3 of the Fifth Season of LOST. They still got it.

Welcome all to a new week and where I share my thoughts about the best show on t.v., LOST. Strong episode after a good season premiere last week. I watch the show on delay because I can’t take waiting through the commercials. So I can see the minutes tick away at the bottom of the screen, wishing, hoping the the episode would last a little longer. That it would tell me a little more. But alas, they leave me and ever other fan wanting more. Best line of the night, “Put the gun down, Widmore.” SCREAM!!! I can’t stand it.

Summary

I like the fact that old Locke seems to be back. More decisive, more in control. I am loving Farraday’s character. I always worry when a new cast comes along, but they are so well written, it works. I was afraid for a few minutes when they started talking about Others. I was seeing a whole new story arch. Come to find out, it’s the future them in the past. It was touching that Desmond named his son Charlie.

Connections

There weren’t many connections this time. But few that there were was more than enough. When Desmond went to find Theresa, the address had the numbers in it. The woman who was helping Desmond at the library was the same flight attendant that helped Hurley get on the Oceanic flight at the last minute. Desmond named his son after Charlie, which was really touching. Widmore had Namaste paintings on the wall of his office.

The biggest connection is that Widmore was an “Other” in the episode. What could have happened to make him leave? Ben isn’t born yet, so how does Ben assuming leadership of the Others tie in? Widmore said Ben broke the rules. That whole discovery is going to be good.

The biggest connection is that Locke tells Richard that he is their leader and that Richard will visit him at the hospital during his birth in 2 years. So in Locke’s flashback we see Richard at the hospital. It seems odd. Richard is fulfilling his destiny. He visits Locke as a young boy and asks him to pick the right item. Locke ignores the compass, the same compass that Richard will give him in the future, and picks the knife. Locke isn’t ready. Richard tries again when Locke is teenager, but Locke chooses sports and fun instead of going to island. I love how things are making more sense. TPTB do know what they’re doing!!!

Question

- Any guesses on who Ellie, the young woman Other that Daniel couldn’t take his eyes off is? I’m guessing a young Mrs. Hawking. It would make sense that they all knew each other. Just read it, Mrs. Hawking first name is Eloise. Eloise=Ellie. Daniel’s mouse was named Eloise after her. If that’s true, I buy less that Mrs. Hawking is his mother, he either didn’t know or didn’t seem that surprised. Could have been a good bluff. But I do think she was Mrs. Hawking but she is not his mother.

- What is going to happen to Charlotte? Will she live to find out where she was born? Why is this shift affecting her so badly and everyone else experiences them fine?

For the first time I feel all my questions will be answered. And not in a bad way…the show is making sense! Except for the fact that we don’t know how or why they are going back to the island, how Daniel figures into all this, who and what is Jacob and will the Losties ever be happy…I’m good.

Conclusion

Just a side note, The LOST Weekend is in Los Angeles this coming April. I went in 2007 and it was pretty fun. I was able to meet tone of the executive producers of LOST as well as some of the cast (Rose, Bernard, Yemi, Sun’s Dad, Dr. Katz and Shannon). I plan to go this year, if only to enjoy a beautiful hotel in Hollywood and lounge by the pool. The LOST dinner, dance and silent auction was fun too! More details later but I would love the company. But I can also be a mega nerd all by myself.

Loving the show as always…until next week…c-ya!

Monday, January 26, 2009

Because You Left & The Lie

I know, I know almost a week and no blog!!! You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. I have approached writing the blog several times the past few days. But I needed to get back in the mood. After just re-watching the season premier….I’m in the mood!

So welcome all to Season 5 of LOST. I am your host, Joanna, here to take you on a magical journey each week of the best show on tv. Oh there may have been others that stole pieces of you heart during the 8 month hiatus…but LOST is back! Better than ever.

I want to thank those who came out o the Yelp event to help celebrate the season premiere. It was a nice change of pace seeing the show out in the real world and I loved those nachos! If anyone is interested in doing smaller group viewings of the show during the season, let me know. TALKERS need not apply!

With that said…on to the show!

Summary

As mentioned before, the show as no longer going to focus on flashbacks or flash forwards. Clear your mind of thinking in those terms from now on. Now it is shifts a time to watch for. One thing to know, when they move to the past, its during the daytime. When they move to the future, its in the past. So when we left off in episode 2, it was nighttime when Sawyer and Juliet met up with Locke. Time still unknown.

I was confused about having 2 episodes back-to-back but it made sense after watching them. The Lie, ep 2, would have felt like filler had we had to watch it this week on its own. I like the dynamic between Sawyer and Miles. I think they are both tough, think mainly about themselves, but have a soft center. I look forward to them being paired more and more.

Best lines:

Alpert giving Locke the compass. Locke, “What does it do?”. Alpert, “It points North.”.

Sawyer refers to Farraday as “Dr. Wizard.” Miles correcting him, “That’s MR. Wizard.” “Shut up!”, snaps back Sawyer.

Connections

The alarm clock read 8:15. The stuffed giraffe with the baby on the island is the same giraffe in Aaron’s room. Hurley’s dad was watching Expose. Ben pulled ticket 342 at the butcher shop. Neil was wearing a red shirt (there was a mention earlier that in Star Trek, the crew member that was going to die always wore a red shirt). Hurley is again visited by a ghost (first Charlie and now Ana Lucia). We see Ms Hawkings at the end with Ben. She is trying to plot coordinates with a pendulum. They have 70 hours or else they will all die. She says “God Help Us” just like Pierre Chang in the orientation video.

Some key themes are:

- You can go forward and reverse, but you cannot create an alternate direction. If you try, time will course correct.

- If it didn’t happen, it can’t happen. You can’t change the past. (This point I missed. Sawyer knocking on the hatch for Desmond to answer. Desmond would never answer because they never met in the past. But when Farraday did it, he did answer, because they did meet before in the past and had a connection).

- There are rules that can’t be broken. But…the rules don’t apply to Desmond. (It also seems like Locke as well. He is shot in the past and is still wounded in the future. He dreams of a plane and discovers it with Boone. He now sees the plane land in person. Just like Farraday planting the message with Desmond and him remembering it now. Was it a dream or a memory? Another point about Locke that I just read, if he was shot in the future, then we he discovers the plane with Boone in the past, he has a sudden loss of feeling in his legs…perhaps from the gunshot wound? That is why Boone climbs up and is killed instead?).

My head hurts. There’s still more!

Questions

- Ms. Hawkings seems as if she is the time gate keeper off the island. First with Desmond, now with Ben. Does Alpert play that same role on the island?

- Was the baby really Pierre (Marvin Candle) and his partner’s? Was the baby brought to the island or was it born there? Can mother’s not conceive there due to the time shift?

- How is Farraday able to shift so easily through time? When was his trip to the mine as they built the Orchid station? Was it after Ben turned the wheel or does he know so much now as a result? Is Ms. Hawkings Faraday’s mother?

- I always believed that the whispers were people on an alternate plane of time. I believe more that they are the natural inhabitants of the island. Or maybe its them but they are shifting forwards and backwards. But check this out…what if the visions of the dead people are really those people in an alternate time as well. They are still dead, but either before or after a shift. So they cannot prevent their death, but they can interact with the living?

- Charlotte is obviously affected by the time shifts like Minkowski on the freighter was. He eventually died as his mind could not handle the shifts. How will this affect her?

- Who is trying to take Kate’s son (Ben to use her as bait back to the island). Who is trying to kill Sayid and capture Hurley (Widmore because he wants Huley’s talents). I think both Widmore and Ben are moving the Oceanic 6 like chess pieces on a board.

- What happens in 70 hours – 3 days? Is there another anomaly and they have to be in the exact same place to be transported back to the island? What happens if they don’t go?

- Is Ben course correcting for something he did before? He didn’t have to let them off the island in the first place, now to have to run around and bring them back. Was he trying to kill them when he killed Keamy? But they were on the helicopter, outside the radius and survived? Ben broke the rules. That is why Widmore had his daughter killed. Which ones did he break and how did he do it?

- Why harness this power at all? Marvin Candle knows he is close to a limitless energy source that can manipulate time. If you cannot change the past, why use it at all? Wouldn’t using it to go into the future, learn and bring that knowledge back effect the past as well? I guess my question is, what is the purpose of the island? See you in another year and a half for the answer to that one!

Conclusion

At least that still consistent with LOST, more questions rather than answers. But I am hooked again and I will try to be more timely with my thoughts. This season is called “Destiny Calls”. I think the theme is destiny vs. choice. Do they have the ability to do something else or is it all just fate. There attempts to make their own choices is what’s preventing them from having peace. We shall see! Anyway, have a good week…er..Tuesday – and you WILL here me after Wednesdays show! J But for now…C-ya!

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Season 5 - Lost Premiere Party



Hi all! Welcome back!

It's almost here. Season 5 of Lost. I have stayed away from any spoilers and hints about the new season but my anticipation for the new season is growing. I can't wait!

As always, it's time to party! This time, I would like to do something different. Yelp.com is sponsoring a viewing event downtown. Details are below:

Taste & Thirst On Fourth
Gaslamp Downtown SD
715 4th Avenue
San Diego, CA 92101

They have 10 HDTV plasma screens in a private room, and all of them will be showing Lost. Additionally, there will be free appetizers and 2 for 1 drink specials all night long!

The party is from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. and then ALL QUIET during the show that's from 9:00 - 11:00 p.m. I'm still bringing my Scattergories (although we might not play - I'll be ready!). I think it sounds like a lot of fun. It is a late night...but what are we...old?!? Heck no! We're going to a bar to watch a TV show and play boardgames. Ok...maybe we are old. But it sounds like a good time anyway. :)

So email me at my Gmail address (jclark33@gmail.com) and let me know if you're in.

Tomorrow, ABC will be re-showing the season 4 finale. If you don't remember it - watch it! It was great. There will be 17 episodes of Lost this season with no repeats. I am also thinking of redesigning the site to include more discussion. Don't worry, you can just read, but I want to give those who want to participate the opportunity to.

Have a great week and hope to see you soon!