Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Losing Lost

Tonight was the last new episode of Lost until February, and they went out with a definite... shrug. I suppose I was expecting a more elaborate cliffhanger than it delivered -- not that it was an uninteresting episode, though.

For one, we had Nathan Fillion playing Kate's husband in the flashbacks. I'd rather he was playing Malcolm Reynolds in the fourth season of Firefly right now, but I suppose this will have to do.

I don't think I have much of a stake in Kate/Jack vs. Kate/Sawyer, but it was nice to see that storyline finally arrive somewhere as it did tonight. And Ben's line about how he would have been on Kate/Jack instead was great.

Not the greatest line in the episode, though. That would go to Locke: "I'd like to think you died for a reason, Mr. Eko. I just hope it's not too long before we find out what the heck it might be." Amen to that!

So, it ends in a standoff where the lives of Ben (who was just made a series regular six episodes ago, so we know he's not going to die) and Jack, Kate, and Sawyer (who, because of their ongoing love triangle and the general sex appeal they're intended to bring to the series, we also know are not going to die) hang in the balance. Not dramatically inappropriate, but not even remotely suspenseful.

Season one's cliffhanger had me itching all summer to start season two. Season two's cliffhanger had me contemplating the possible implications of what season three would bring all summer long. This mid-season finale? Whatever. I'll be there when it comes back, but I'm not going to be spending much time worrying about it.

4 comments:

GiromiDe said...

Locke's line made me feel better about Eko dying. From what I gathered, he died so that he could be buried so that Locke would plant his stick as a marker in just the right place on the island. "Lift up your eyes and look north."

I can't tell you how many times I rewatched the images on the six monitors in Ben's chamber. My wife was going to kill me. I didn't see a thing of interest.

If Batman Begins has to be slightly saddled with a love interest, Lost must have its love triangle. For the life of me I was confused about Jack's motivation at the end. Did he want Sawyer to die?

Who the hell is Jacob? Before going to execute Sawyer, Pickett said "Shephard wasn't even on Jacob's List." I know because I TiVo-rewound this bit a couple of times, then settled on the closed captioning. (Again, wife wanted to kill me.) Is Jacob the real leader? Did I miss something?

Even though she's not really my type, Evangeline Lilly possesses the best bedroom eyes ... scratch that ... bedroom face of any woman on television. How she never had much work before this show is a mystery. She and Nathan Fillion make a much better couple than she and Dominic Monaghan.

I'm generally annoyed at how the writing obviously has been held back because of this goofy split timeslot gimmick. All we are given are little hints that we pray will pay off in the 16 uninterrupted weeks starting in February.

By the way, what kept my wife from killing me was another brief glance of Josh Holloway with his shirt off.

DavĂ­d said...

I've decided that Lost is no longer a "must watch" for me. There was only one really good episode in this opening stretch of shoes (granted only one really bad one as well). But it just doesn't excite me and entertain me like it used to. I'm watching more just to see what the mystery is and am no longer totally caring what happens to the characters. As such, when it returns in February, I don't know that I'll return with it.

As for the "Jacob" that they mentioned in this show, he's been mentioned in other shows too (I think in the first episode of this season).

Mkae said...

The big problem I have with Lost is that I'm tired of episode after episode of watching Jack, Kate and Sawyer get drug around with the proverbial rope around their neck. There was a brief hope when Sawyer picked a fight a few weeks back to determine the fighting capabilities of the Others. Then, nothing.

Ben is a passable villain. I despise the smug Julliane and hope she meets a grisly end along with the jerk that keeps punching Sawyer. Zeke went from really menacing to being a total tool.

I could go into the multitude of plot threads that are left dangling or ignored but I won't. It's getting tiresome quick. I truly believe what many are saying that the writers have no clue where any of this is going.

GiromiDe said...

David, I just have hope that the back 16 episodes compensate for the uncharacteristic messy pacing of these first six episodes. I also believe these first six were so mild on average because the writers were either compelled themselves or were compelled to set up some kind of early cliffhanger.

Just as ABC mucked with Alias by butting in on the writers in Season Three, ABC has done so by splitting the time slot for Lost's Season Three. ABC should just leave well enough alone.