In episode number six after getting a Kate, Locke and Jack episode we are treated to a "Sun and Jin" episode. I remember being frustrated as the rest of the audience when there existed a language barrier. I thought to myself, "How are they ever going to integrate these people in the story when they can't communicate?" Well that was answered faster than I recalled with Sun revealing herself to Michael which I appreciated since Michael is probably my least favorite character next to Shannon who thankfully hasn't been featured too much yet, but if memory serves me correctly, that fact changes for the worse. Also begins Charlie battle with drugs which I also found to be a little annoying, but typical for a rock star.
Despite my little negative rant about Michael, Shannon and Charlie, it was good seeing Sun and Jin go from an innocent couple to a trouble marriage. I thought it was great when Sun almost left him at the airport, but Jin pulled out the flower that he once gave her which was very small for him to do, but huge from her point of view. Little did she know, how big of a decision is actually was for her to stay and how it would strengthen their marriage to the point where NOTHING could nor would ever break it.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
S1: White Rabbit
"If we can't live together, then we'll die alone."
I forgot how great an episode this was as I watched it. Our hero Jack gets his flashback episode and we get to see pre-island events like his childhood, his interactions with his father, and his interactions with his mother. It's excellent how his off-island mood, convictions, and actions directly mirror his on-island mood, convictions and actions. It's definitely some really excellent writing.
But again, I find myself flashforwarding to Season 6. I remember Locke in the form of the Smoke Monster sitting down with Jack and pretty much confessing that he was in the form of his father and led him to the water. I don't remember why. Then my mind flashes to other moments in the future where the Smoke Monster appeared to just kill people without any thought. Was it Jacob touching so many of Losties before coming to the island that threw off old Smokey? Maybe. I don't remember all the rules of Jacob and the Smoke Monster's game. I will just have to wait and see it unfold to see if it makes more sense.
I forgot how great an episode this was as I watched it. Our hero Jack gets his flashback episode and we get to see pre-island events like his childhood, his interactions with his father, and his interactions with his mother. It's excellent how his off-island mood, convictions, and actions directly mirror his on-island mood, convictions and actions. It's definitely some really excellent writing.
But again, I find myself flashforwarding to Season 6. I remember Locke in the form of the Smoke Monster sitting down with Jack and pretty much confessing that he was in the form of his father and led him to the water. I don't remember why. Then my mind flashes to other moments in the future where the Smoke Monster appeared to just kill people without any thought. Was it Jacob touching so many of Losties before coming to the island that threw off old Smokey? Maybe. I don't remember all the rules of Jacob and the Smoke Monster's game. I will just have to wait and see it unfold to see if it makes more sense.
Monday, May 23, 2011
S1: Walkabout
"Don't tell me what I can't do!"
After keeping to himself for 3 days, Locke comes upon his set of knives and it couldn't come at a better time because the Losties are out of food. What will they eat? Oh, there are wild boar on the island. Sweet! Locke is on the case.
It was great seeing Locke take charge, but still battle his demons. It makes sense why he has been laying low for the past couple of episodes - he went from being in a wheelchair to being able to walk again. I could only image how someone wraps their brain around that. He somehow comes to grips with it, goes on the hunt and comes back successful.
We see that Locke is the first person to come face to face with the Smoke Monster, but when asked if he did lies about it to Michael. Also, Christian Shepard (aka the Smoke Monster) makes his first appearance to Jack. Of course, we don't find out that it's the Smoke Monster until Season 6, but it seems clear that the Smoke Monster has chosen who he's going to manipulate - Jack and Locke - which makes sense because they are the man of science and the man of faith, which becomes clearer later on in the season.
It was really great how the writers hinted at Locke's "condition" the entire episode to finally drop the bomb on us in the scene where Locke argues with the walkabout guide and then it quickly takes us back to the beach where Locke wiggles his toes for the first time in a long time and immediately helps when called upon by Jack. A subtle yet powerful episode that definitely lays the ground work for many more things to come without letting you know that it was laying the ground work.
After keeping to himself for 3 days, Locke comes upon his set of knives and it couldn't come at a better time because the Losties are out of food. What will they eat? Oh, there are wild boar on the island. Sweet! Locke is on the case.
It was great seeing Locke take charge, but still battle his demons. It makes sense why he has been laying low for the past couple of episodes - he went from being in a wheelchair to being able to walk again. I could only image how someone wraps their brain around that. He somehow comes to grips with it, goes on the hunt and comes back successful.
We see that Locke is the first person to come face to face with the Smoke Monster, but when asked if he did lies about it to Michael. Also, Christian Shepard (aka the Smoke Monster) makes his first appearance to Jack. Of course, we don't find out that it's the Smoke Monster until Season 6, but it seems clear that the Smoke Monster has chosen who he's going to manipulate - Jack and Locke - which makes sense because they are the man of science and the man of faith, which becomes clearer later on in the season.
It was really great how the writers hinted at Locke's "condition" the entire episode to finally drop the bomb on us in the scene where Locke argues with the walkabout guide and then it quickly takes us back to the beach where Locke wiggles his toes for the first time in a long time and immediately helps when called upon by Jack. A subtle yet powerful episode that definitely lays the ground work for many more things to come without letting you know that it was laying the ground work.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
S1: Tabula Rasa
"We're going to have to lie."
It's fantastic and funny that the lies begin ALREADY! I seriously laughed out loud when the above quote was said in this episode. The questions have begun and as a viewer I want answers, but I'm not going to get answers...I'm not going to get truth. The fact of the matter is is that I'm going to get lies. And I know that I'm not going to get lies all the time, but I'm going to get points of view that people hold as truths and I'm going to get half truths.
I understand that the Losties lie to the big group of survivors to protect them and not take away their hope. Ignorance is bliss, but knowledge is also power. So the Losties, in a way, put themselves in a position of power over those without the information. Is that right or wrong? I think it's a little bit of both, but that's human nature and ultimately human nature is a big theme of this show. We don't always get what we want when it comes to people, because some people are straight with you while others beat around the bush. People are neither black nor white, but shades of grey.
In this episode we get the first person who is most certainly many shades of grey - Kate. We get a small piece of her back story, and we are shown that she is not naive but smart, not dangerous, but kind, not weak but strong. And then on the flip side, we see that she's not smart, but naive, she's not kind, but dangerous, she's not strong, but weak. We see that she's human and we are left with wanting to know more about her.
The ending scene with the powerful music that plays while Sayid throws Sawyer some fruit, Walt and Vincent re-unite, and Jin runs his finger through Sun's hair as she sleeps is the first of many scenes that I love in LOST. No words are needed, but simple actions become profound among a group of people forced together by tragedy.
S1: Pilot: Part 2
If Part 1 of the pilot is the cake, Part 2 is the icing.
What's the first thing you do when you find yourself stranded on a desert island? Figure out how to get off, at least, that's what a group of Losties decides to do. With transmitter in hand recovered from the front of the plane, the group attempts to get a signal after a long hike. We get a little nugget of information that there is a transmission already broadcasting and it has been for 16 years. And of all things, the group comes upon a polar bear. Questions keep piling up and watching it now, a second time, takes away some of the frustration, especially when some of these questions don't get answered until seasons later. Charlie puts it best at the end of the episode saying, "Guys, where are we?" Where are they? They are on an island and they might as well be on an iceberg because we've only just hit the tip.
What's the first thing you do when you find yourself stranded on a desert island? Figure out how to get off, at least, that's what a group of Losties decides to do. With transmitter in hand recovered from the front of the plane, the group attempts to get a signal after a long hike. We get a little nugget of information that there is a transmission already broadcasting and it has been for 16 years. And of all things, the group comes upon a polar bear. Questions keep piling up and watching it now, a second time, takes away some of the frustration, especially when some of these questions don't get answered until seasons later. Charlie puts it best at the end of the episode saying, "Guys, where are we?" Where are they? They are on an island and they might as well be on an iceberg because we've only just hit the tip.
S1: Pilot: Part 1
The opening scene is great, not just because it's going to end where it begins, but because it begins in such a way that the show could go ANYWHERE from that point...and it most certainly does. It made me smile seeing Vincent and then the shoe as Jack ran through the bamboo forest.
Jack as hero is always fun to watch and for him to take charge on the beach among the chaos is great. I really enjoyed his story about letting the fear in when Kate was stitching him up. I love later on when the Smoke Monster has Kate hiding in the group of trees when she counts to 5 to let the fear in. Great moment. Great writing.
Jack as hero is always fun to watch and for him to take charge on the beach among the chaos is great. I really enjoyed his story about letting the fear in when Kate was stitching him up. I love later on when the Smoke Monster has Kate hiding in the group of trees when she counts to 5 to let the fear in. Great moment. Great writing.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Preface
I was never into LOST at first. At the time it was on, I was living with my dad and he would watch his shows and I would cruise the internet half paying attention. I don't remember what episode I saw first, but it was somewhere towards the end of Season 3. I remember having NO idea what was going on. After watching a handful of episodes, we came upon the Season 3 finale. While watching the finale, I said to my dad, "I don't think this is a flash back, this is some sort of flash forward." And at the end of the episode, I found out I was right once they showed Kate. I wouldn't understand the power of this episode until some time later.
Some time later, I got a job at Geisinger and reconnected with my friends in the area. My friend Dan was obsessed with the show. At the time, the show had started Season 4 and was about 5 or 6 episodes in. He let me borrow Seasons 1, 2, and 3 on DVD. Once I started watching them, I was hooked. I was watching 3 - 5 episodes a night. I finished Season 1 in less than a week. When I got caught up, we watched Season 4 together that he had on his DVR and each week after that I met up with him and Stacie to watch the newest one. It was great fun.
At some point in the future, the episode watching moved from his place to mine. We added our mutual friends to the mix and we had LOST nights that included our friends Dave, Jeff and sometimes Tina, Jen and Bill.
In the end, the series finale was enjoyed at my place where I threw a huge party with Dharma beer, pretzels, chips and more. It was a fitting end to a great show and now I find myself, a full year later, craving to watch the show from beginning to end.
Thanks to Netflix streaming and needing a distraction while I work out each night after work, I have decided to do exactly that -- to watch LOST from beginning to end. And in doing so I plan on blogging about each episode and typing whatever comes to mind. As I post, I'm sure there will be a lot of love and a lot of hate towards specific actions or plot elements or certain characters, but overall, please keep in mind that I loved this show and it is sadly missed in a world where nothing after it has even come close to replacing it. So please feel free to get LOST with me and maybe we'll find something along the way.
Some time later, I got a job at Geisinger and reconnected with my friends in the area. My friend Dan was obsessed with the show. At the time, the show had started Season 4 and was about 5 or 6 episodes in. He let me borrow Seasons 1, 2, and 3 on DVD. Once I started watching them, I was hooked. I was watching 3 - 5 episodes a night. I finished Season 1 in less than a week. When I got caught up, we watched Season 4 together that he had on his DVR and each week after that I met up with him and Stacie to watch the newest one. It was great fun.
At some point in the future, the episode watching moved from his place to mine. We added our mutual friends to the mix and we had LOST nights that included our friends Dave, Jeff and sometimes Tina, Jen and Bill.
In the end, the series finale was enjoyed at my place where I threw a huge party with Dharma beer, pretzels, chips and more. It was a fitting end to a great show and now I find myself, a full year later, craving to watch the show from beginning to end.
Thanks to Netflix streaming and needing a distraction while I work out each night after work, I have decided to do exactly that -- to watch LOST from beginning to end. And in doing so I plan on blogging about each episode and typing whatever comes to mind. As I post, I'm sure there will be a lot of love and a lot of hate towards specific actions or plot elements or certain characters, but overall, please keep in mind that I loved this show and it is sadly missed in a world where nothing after it has even come close to replacing it. So please feel free to get LOST with me and maybe we'll find something along the way.
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