Sorry for the delay. Couldn't watch the episode live, so I had to watch it... via other means, and then write. The first portion was mainly written beforehand. Skip down if you want to read about my thoughts on the episode.
Before getting to the Tuesday episode, I wanted to again write a little bit about another topic first, somewhat related. Watching LOST can be a frustrating experience (although this topic is a little less timely after an awesome episode like tonight's. At least, I think most people will consider tonight's episode awesome). You finish an episode, and you're like WHAT'S GOING ON. Or "Why aren't they answering anything? It's the final season, and they're supposed to be giving us answers, and all I'm getting are more questions! I'm so confused. ARGH! Why are they stuck in the Temple, this is so stupid." You get my drift. You've probably been there. I know a decent amount of us were thinking that concerning this season until tonight's episode. Unless you breezed through the past 5 seasons of LOST on DVD, you've been frustrated with the cliffhanger ending of Season 1, or the poorer quality of the beginning of season 3, or, lest we forget, the confusion of the time jumps at the beginning of Season 5 or the confusion of the Ben shooting in the middle of that season.
I know some people after episode 3 of this season (the Kate-centric episode) were frustrated that things were going so slowly, and I know people felt that way after last week too. To that, I would remind you all that after 5 episodes of season 5, we were just finishing with the time jump chaos that seemed to just be all kinds of confusing (again, this point is more moot after tonight's episode. I should have written on this topic last week!). I would also like to explore an interesting thing about TV watching. Watching a show as it happens vs. watching it after the fact, on DVD/online/etc.
Season 5 of LOST was a mixed bag for me. The time travel stuff and the Dharma stuff was meh for me at times, but it did pay off at the end. When friends asked me what I thought of season 5, I would say it was good, but it's a little weird at times, I'll warn you. Don't give up on it if you're not into it right away. There are parts of it that are a little weak sometimes. Yet, as people started catching up to LOST in anticipation of the final season, with some people catching up as far back as season 2 through the current state, I got the same thoughts again and again. Season 5 is awesome. And I was like oh... cool. Wasn't really expecting that unanimous of an opinion, but that's cool... why couldn't I have felt that way?
It's interesting to consider the positives and negatives of watching a TV show after it's done vs. while it's happening. This has happened to me a couple times this year, as I watched through the incredible series The Wire and caught up on Friday Night Lights all the way to its current state, then watched this past season of it week-by-week. Watching a show after it's done is great for the ability to follow it on your terms, as opposed to worrying about season breaks, potential sudden cancellations, the fear of the show turning crappy... did somebody just say Heroes?
Take The Wire, for instance. I watched it all in 1 summer, and it was incredible. It's the greatest TV show ever. No doubt in my mind. It's so incredibly good (another blog post in the future on that). But you know how many months were between seasons 3 and 4, which I watched one after the other? 21 months. That's right. Almost 2 whole years. That's an HBO show's timing for ya. Think how much that would have sucked if you were a Wire fan back in the day. Granted, Season 3 didn't end on a cliffhanger, and the season wrapped up pretty well, but there were some definite storylines that you were left pondering about between the two seasons, and after watching an amazing season, you had to wait 21 months to watch another amazing season (a season so good, in fact, that a lot of people think it's the greatest season in any show, ever, in TV history). Or take Friday Night Lights. I got to watch it this past year, enjoying 3 seasons and knowing that it was guaranteed for a 4th and 5th season. But during Season 1, it was facing the threat of cancellation. During Season 2, it was facing cancellation AND the writer's strike. Same for most of Season 3. That's not a good feeling as a TV fan.
But if you watch it all after the fact? You thought that LOST season 1 ended awesomely, but you really wanna know what's in the hatch? Just pop in that season 2 DVD. You know how many episodes you have ahead of you. Scared of if Jack's wife is gonna make it in Season 1 of 24? Go on right through that next episode! Worried that Heroes might suck after season 1? Well, it will! So don't bother!
It's cool to be able to get recommendations from people to check out various little gold mines of shows and to be able to enjoy excellence, guaranteed before watching. Still, there is less of an exciting factor there. Unless you're joining forces with someone else as you watch the old show together, you're left to let your friend know "hey, I finished season 2... it was awesome when..." and have that sort of one-sided conversation while the other friend has to hold back on potential spoilers, etc. or have trouble remembering random tidbits of a season. It's a fun conversation, but not as good as the conversation one can have over, say, this season of LOST or Glee back in the fall (and again in April/May).
So as much as it's fun to be able to zoom through some seasons, I do really enjoy being able to follow a show in its current state and kind of just bank on it being awesome. Which it might not be. This season of LOST could still suck in the end. But I'm trusting that it will be good, trusting that my initial concerns for this season (and your concerns) will decrease as the plot moves along, and enjoying the conversations I have with friends and coworkers until the season's end.
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And on that note... SPOILERS AHEAD...
So apparently in the LAX universe, the Gulf War never happened! OK not really, but here's a Sayid-flashback episode, in the house! And we have a smackdown between Dogen and Sayid. Gotta love action-Sayid. Later, when talking about his debt, Sayid's brother sorta tries to take advantage of Sayid's love for Nadia... kinda weird. But I guess it's also weird if your brother's in love with your wife. Awkward...
Claire is like a creepy baby doll with this new haircut. I think the hair makes her face more round, creating the baby doll illusion. And yeah Claire, tell that Dogen not to speak Asian! Plus, they use subtitles. MUCH less annoying.
The scene with Locke and Sayid after the stab-that-doesn't-do-anything-wow-that's-crazy is pretty intriguing. Again, gives me vibes of Satan and tempting. Also though, this time, reminds me of Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith, where Anakin is promised that he can have his love, snatched from the hands of death. I really don't like thinking about the newer Star Wars trilogy, but it definitely came across my mind with that conversation topic. And what happens in Star Wars? Palpatine tricks Anakin for his own purposes. HEY WHAT ABOUT SHANNON, SAYID?
The Sayid flash-sideways didn't really do it for me in the way that Locke or Jack's did. I think I found Locke's to be sweet and poignant and Jack's to be somewhat poignant and also somewhat more relevant with things like the appendix scene hinting at potential clashings of the universes. Sayid's? Not so much. It's hard to get emotional about Nadia when she's definitely married to her brother, and the flash-sideways ends on more a plot point, as opposed to the happier endings that Locke and Jack left off on. Thus, it just makes me wonder, like my boy TV critic Alan Sepinwall (sepinwall.blogspot.com), what these scenes have to do with the plot of the show. As Sepinwall notes, maybe these scenes will be better after we know what their point is; until then, not so much. It was amusing to see bad boy Keamy again and that other dude from Sayid's past (was that the guy that tortured him in return for Sayid torturing his wife?). Also, Jin in the kitchen. Things like that make me think that maybe we'll start hitting some more castaway uniting in the LAX timeline, leading to some connection to the Island timeline. For now, though, I just don't see it.
Also, who do you think they'll still flesh out in the LAX timeline? Will they continue to focus mainly on one person per episode (Claire was in Kate's, but it was still Kate's), leading to episodes centered around Hurley, Jin/Sun, Sawyer, maybe others? If so, when will it stop? Will we have episodes ala some of Seasons 4-5, where they won't have it focused on one person in some episodes, but it'll jump from person to person within the episode?
The Sayid scene in the Temple. Whoa, as many of you probably thought. I was riveted from the start of that scene until the end of the episode, unable to even type any notes or anything. What a sequence.
RIP Dogen. Sure, I made fun of your language and found you annoying in the first few episodes, but you grew on me. Especially in that final scene about your Juliet-esque coercing to the Island. That sucks. And that explains how you got here, which is cool. Makes me wonder how he has so much power (if he actually did, which I'm guessing to be the case, since Smoke Monster didn't arrive until after), considering he shouldn't be as special as someone like Juliet. I hope they explain that later. I wasn't so sad about Lennon though. Dude was annoying. Even before Sayid kills him, he sounds annoying when he calls Sayid "Idiot!" I also thought that Sayid might kill Ben right then and there. Heck, he shot baby Ben. But I guess killing two people was enough.
Sayid... I always liked to think that he would end on the good side, that he would find redemption. I really didn't want him to die at the end of last season so that such a thing could happen. Now though, I'm fearing that to not be the case. Maybe he is just too damaged in the show. Killing, allying with Locke, Dogen forewarning that Sayid was bad now, shooting baby Ben (even though I was rooting for it when it happened, while also being really confused about the context of the rules of paradox/time travel stuff if baby Ben died). It's hard to believe that Claire and Sayid can have redemption in the end. Also, does anyone still think Man in Black is on the good side? It's hard for me to believe that.
I'm starting to think that Locke will gather and gather, recruiting, and it looks like Jack and Hurley, along with Ilana and the others, will be on Jacob's side. I still think Widmore is on the way too. Or, who knows, maybe Jacob's saying that the LAX timeline is coming to the Island... That really doesn't make sense to me yet. And I would bet that Sawyer would side with Jack in the end, and Jack and Locke will have another showdown. BUT WHAT ABOUT CHRISTIAN SHEPHARD. Has anyone else been annoyed in LOST with how it's spelled "Shephard" instead of "Shepherd"? Me too.
Theories on Kate's role? With her being probably rogue within Locke's camp and her being a non-candidate, I feel like she must have some kind of special role.
Some loose-ends. Where are Jin and Sawyer? That part confuses me. Where did Sawyer go after the cave? Is he on some sort of mission for Locke? Is Jin tied up somewhere because he refused to cooperate? Where did Ben go after seeing Sayid? And where are you, Richard Alps!
Misc. notes:
"He will come as someone you know" - reminds me of a scene in The Godfather. Know what I'm sayin'?
Miles, by himself, playing Solitaire. Heh.
Miles on Claire, to Kate: "She just strolled in here a couple hours ago, acting all weird. Still hot though."
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