Lost: There’s No Place Like Home (Parts 2 and 3)

I enjoy breaking each episode down of Lost. It’s one of those things I have had fun with this strike-stricken season.

Of course after last night’s brain-exploding extravaganza, I found myself seriously believing this is one of the best shows I’ve ever watched from the pilot where I’m truly enmeshed in what’s going on. We started two weeks ago with the first hour of the finale and there was a three hour showing last night repeating that episode and spiraling into an amazing finale.

It’s good TV.

So let’s break it down after the break. I don’t think there is anyway to get everything all the way in.

Quick Takes On Finale Of Lost

I’m going to have to wrap my brain around Lost’s finale.

All I have to say is that Hurley was playing chess with Mister Eko.

That’s all I can say tonight. I’m wrapping my brain around it all. A lot happened. My brain is fried.

So while I’m figuring it out, go to Jorge Garcia’s blog which is really his blog and which is charming and is as  navel-gazing as the rest of us.

I adore smart television. Regardless of Lost’s missteps last year, it was amazing this season.

Bloody amazing.

Lost: There’s No Place Like Home (Part One)

Well, I guess it’s a bad thing to use a small gold statue of Jesus Christ as a weapon. Want to know how I know?

It happened tonight on Lost.

Too much to think about in these initial moments after the conclusion of tonight’s episode, so what I have to say goes after the jump.

Lost: Cabin Fever

So, if your mom is named Emily then you get to choose an object, and if you choose the right object, you are to become the Island’s next Dalai Lama?

Okay, Carlton Cuse/Damon Lindelof have changed the rules again and my initial reaction is WTF? I’ve also been saying to myself that Destiny is a fickle bitch because that’s what this episode was about.

Let’s talk Lost after the jump.

Lost: Something Nice Back Home

Jack is back and we see him drunk and drugged out acting all … well, Jack.

Spoilers if you haven’t seen it after the jump …

Lost: The Shape Of Things To Come

Lots happened on Lost last night. I don’t know where to start but I think I’m starting to understand why Michael Emerson was signed for two episodes and the Powers That Be kept him around.

Spoilers about “The Shape of Things To Come” after the jump.

Meet Kevin Johnson

I didn’t do a Lost post last week mainly because I didn’t see the episode Ji Yeon until last Friday morning while I was drinking my coffee. I got snookered with the flash forward/flashback. It was surprising and some questions were answered. Of course, new ones came up.

Let’s break it down after the jump:

The Other Woman On Lost

So, we know a lot more tonight after “The Other Woman” but what do we really know?

I only have one complaint about the wonderful Elizabeth Mitchell’s character Juliet’s character and that is what role does she play? Maybe that is the beauty of her character. I don’t know if she’s a good guy or a bad guy.

Still.

Under the jump for those not caught up. Yeah, I’m cool that way.

Lost Recaps That Will Make You Spew Your Beer

Go now if Lost is yo’ thing as it is mine.

You will thank me later. Atomic Tumor and I found these last year and now they are back.

Awesome.

The Constant Explained In Photos

From Pink Is The New Blog

The Constant

First of all, all I’ve done for the past week is apologize for being completely whacked on meds fighting my bronchitis and being on steroids which has made me a quivering pile of goo. And it’s also created a lack of thought synapses. It’s also created grammatical challenges, inane wanderings about this blog and, in an honest note, kicked my ass harder than anything I’ve been through in a long time. (We had an allergy to the first antibiotic. Yeah, that was enjoyable. Make a note to yourself, never be allergic to antibiotics when you are trying to get well. It will sidetrack you for a few days trying to get over it.)

Thank God I’m a cheerful person, but, yeah, this hasn’t been fun.

But, I guess I’m better than Desmond in Lost though because my nose isn’t bleeding and I’m not skipping to and fro between 1996 and 2004. I just want to eat raw meat, play baseball and appear before a congressional hearing headed by Henry Waxman. Have I told you that steroids, and I’ve had a lot of ’em, aren’t fun?

I did?

Let’s talk Lost then …

I think the main thing I have to say about “The Constant” is my head kept screaming “SLAUGHTERHOUSE 5” and yes it was in capital letters.

More for those who haven’t seen it or are catching up after the jump.

Russ Joins Us

We have brought Russ McBee to the darkside.

Heh.

Eggtown

In our Lost watch, the best I can do today is not hack on the computer but as I’m wickedly devoted to recapping this puppy, let’s go.

First of all, I honestly think in the past seasons that Kate was one of the weakest written characters. Sort of like Jessica Rabbit “I’m not bad I’m just drawn that way” and in all fairness, pretty Evangeline Lily can exude sadness as well as anyone but she tends to make me want to sigh deeply and drink Cosmos until I’m in a stupor. The romances on the Island go from being annoying to “Hey, Sawyer is one sexy-ass dude” back to me praying the smoke monster will show up and rock someone’s world.

But last night we saw a shift of where Kate Austin was finding her own strength and writing her own destiny sans Jack and Sawyer. And I thought it worked.

More observations after the jump:

The Economist

In the world of Lost, there are no easy answers and questions always arise to where we, the viewer, sometimes are left speechless. Last night, after watching Sayid become a cold-hearted assassin and then turn around and fall for his own blonde, femme fatale mirror image, I was left somewhat speechless. As you know, I’m all about making Sayid the leader of the losties who are sometimes the most dunderheaded wahoos on the planet.

But we found out last night that Sayid remains a follower in many ways on the island and off of it as well. With the Iraqi Republican Guard, he followed orders. On the Island, he followed orders and we see that not much changes as he was revealed to be one of the Oceanic Six. But is he a just a killer for hire or does he have a mission because “they” are going to know that he’s after them. And in a surprise appearance, Ben, who was healing his gunshot wounds at a vet’s office for pete’s sake, said “Good.”

If you haven’t seen it, I’ll put my weekly ramblings and observations after the jump.

LOST in Time (Travel)?

In some ways, last night’s episode could be considered flawed but I think it made up for it by creating new mysteries and those small moments that sometime come back with huge ramifications.

If you haven’t seen it, I’ll put my thoughts after the jump. (Get it jump, because everyone jumped out of a plane that the guy that played Jobe in the Lawnmower man flew. Bwaahaahhaa, I crack myself up.)

Lost

Lost starts in one week. For those of us who adore the show, this is good news but the writer’s strike may impact the series.

Or not.

With that said, I found this and it made me wonder about the whole phenomenon of the whole show.

It’s called Everything I Need to Know I Learned From Lost … I like this one.

7) There is no such thing as a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ person: No-one on the island is free of some crime. Everyone has done something wrong and everyone has done something right. The ambiguity of Lost – its refusal to box people in, whether Juliet, Kate or Charlie – is its greatest and most honest triumph. This, perhaps more than any other reason is why Lost is the show for the uncertain and morally ambiguous 2000’s.

Well, that is more than true about the show. But I’ve learned more from just Lost.

How I learned not to throw matches at piles of wood soaked in gasoline at a party in the country when I was a kid from another teenager who wasn’t too bright (We warned him.) How LOLCats have taken over America, which disturbs me although I realize they are beloved so I just go with the flow on it. How Lou Dobbs has freaked me out for years and if he becomes president I would have to go just sit on the roof for about six weeks (Thanks CNN, you’ve taught me to0.)

But, yeah, I’ve learned a great deal from Lost. Mainly that Jack being the leader of this crew is not of the good and that folks really need to listen to Sayid.

Just saying.

Lost, Torchwood And Spike

It’s twofer Saturday with a sneak peak of Lost and Torchwood.

Woot!

And then there is this. Spike … umm… James Marters is the only man on this planet that I would pretty much be a screaming fangirl over. Not really, but maybe in the privacy of my own home. Yeah, when I’m alone. Screaming. If you don’t like seeing dudes kissing, you might not want to watch. Of course, I’ve watched it six times as it’s just sexy hot.

H/T to Dark UfO and I Am TRex

Damen Lindelof And Marc Cherry

Damen Lindelof of Lost and Marc Cherry of Desperate Housewives break down the writer’s strike.

They have a point. Things are changing rabidly rapidly. If you told me three years ago about social media and that the reporters that work for me would be taking video for news, I would have looked at you like you were a nutcase.

World’s a changing.

Writers Guild Of America Strike Could Happen This Week

Well, it appears for those of us who dig television that the writer’s strike most likely is going to happen. There could be a hail mary pass thrown, but it’s looking pretty doubtful.

Of course, I watch a lot of BBC, so I’m in better shape, I think, than some. Let’s take a look, shall we, of how television addicts will be dealing with their, umm, well, addiction. Pop Matters breaks it down better than anyone and says we may even be seeing the UK versions of shows like “The Office” on NBC if the strike goes on for any length of time.

Variety, by way of Alan Sepinwall, gives a pretty good breakdown of what will be impacted first. It looks like Stephen Colbert just might have plenty of time to make his way to the presidency.

While the networks have been repeating the mantra that “screens will not go black,” it won’t take long for TV viewers to see the impact of a Writers Guild of America strike.

The canaries in TV’s creative coal mine are latenight hosts such as David Letterman and Jay Leno, whose monologues and sketches are dependent on union writers. If history is any guide, both shows will almost instantly go dark, as would “Saturday Night Live.” Comedy Central‘s latenight stalwarts “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” and “The Colbert Report” would also likely switch to repeats in the immediate aftermath of a strike.

“Boom — our show just shuts down,” said “SNL” vet Amy Poehler. “It’s just done. There is no backlog of scripts.” (For more on latenight and the strike, click here.)

The new shoes, like Pushing Daisies that I kinda dig, will be hit the hardest. And we are looking at lots and lots of reality television, as if there weren’t enough already. For Lost-o-philes, the producers say they will air what they’ve got.

The thing is, if you look at some of the grumbling behind the thing, is that no one wants a strike, but the question is does it financially benefit the producers to a degree. Here’s the gotcha phrase from the Variety article:

From a financial standpoint, network execs are at least in a better position than their studio counterparts. The nets may see their ratings and revenue go south as they replace scripted fare with repeats and reality shows, but their costs will decline, too. Sliding in a reality show that costs $900,000 per episode in place of a $3 million-per-seg drama will help soothe the sting of a strike.

So, for those of us who watch some reality television, we will see what happens. The Writer’s Guild contract ran out at midnight.

It might be a long winter, campers, if you dig TV.

More links, if you are so inclined:

• Remote Access and how the strike affects watchers.
• New York Times
• Great article about how digital distribution in clogging the talks up from Gizmodo
• CNN

Shabby TV Reviews

So the bad weather didn’t really hit us in Hooterville. I’ll be honest, it might have.

I went to bed.

Some spoilers below …

Most of my television viewing habits come from the trusty DVR, but as I’m a huge fan of “The Office”, I was sort of excited that I was actually home to see it. That hour of television was interesting. First of all, I got to see all the commercials and then when the show would come back on, I’d get a weather alert.

But I got to see the commercials of the “The Office” so just call me blessed because of the stupid television station’s storm alerts. I know, it has to happen, bills have to get paid.

Other shows I’m digging this year is “Pushing Daisies” where I think Jim Dale’s narration and the whimsy of it all has me smiling even though it’s quit dark. I love stuff like that.

Now, with that said, I have to wait for “Mad Men” for the next season. I do want to say this. My mother used to tell me two separate stories about two women from her childhood. One of the women looked as if she gained weight. My mother said it just looked like she put on a few pounds.

Yup, she had a baby. The town was surprised. According to my mother, who was in high school around this period of time, the girl was surprised as well. Another woman was fit, played sports and the like. No one knew she was pregnant either. She also had a baby. That girl told everyone she had no idea she was pregnant. The time frame of this was roughly, you guessed it, 1960.

So my thoughts on Peggy being knocked up and giving birth is that I don’t think it’s too over the top and not knowing about it doesn’t surprise me. I have to remember when I’m watching this show that it’s set in a time very different. This was nearly 50 years ago. I think that’s why I like it, that they really haven’t modernized some of the ideology that occurred in that period of time. I look forward to the next season.

With that said, I’ve not seen “Cavemen” nor do I expect that I ever will, but I dig get a review from my brother-in-law Squeegee Monkee. He says it sucks almightily, the make-up is horrible and he wants 30 minutes of his life back. I just laughed because he watched it in the first place.

Man, I love my DVR. Let’s just hope they get the next season of “Lost” completed in case we have a writer’s strike.

Just saying.