Quad Blogs

Well, I’m back. And this is how I look:

It’s been just over one week but I can’t stay away from this damn site even if it still doesn’t tell me nor any other writer how many page views a single post has gotten. It’s even more baffling that I’m back because I havent’ been a student at this school for six months. It’s MOST baffling because LOST is no more and I haven’t written about ANYTHING else in this place for over a year. As far as you know, I have no other interests BESIDES LOST. Perhaps that is true.

But there was a time when I wrote and was overlord of the entertaiment section. I wrote about television, movies and music. Maybe I return to my roots and, by roots, I mean blowharding about television. While I can’t guarantee that I’ll write nearly 4,000 words on the latest episode of The Real World/Roal Rules challenge, I can guarantee that I’ll try my best to write 4,000 words about the latest episode of said challenge.

How do I begin navigating this post-LOST/post-Jacob’s Foot world I now find myself in? I do watch other shows besides LOST. Perhaps I’ll start there. Yes! Perhaps I begin by giving a brief rundown of other shows I could potentially write about in exhaustive and (for the reader) infuriating and unnecessary detail. Eh why not?

TREME: This has been my first true experience of a David Simon show. Fans of The Wire proclaim that series to be the greatest drama they’ve ever watched and critics have declared that The Wire is the greatest television series EVER. I’ve seen bits and pieces of The Wire, and by bits and pieces I mean the first half of season six, key scenes on YouTube as well as the series finale. But I’m in position to comment on The Wire. I figured I’d give Simon’s newest show a chance. He created it with Eric Overmyer. Treme tells the story of post-Katrina New Orleans. There’s a whole bunch of characters and they are united in their post-Katrina struggles. The show has delved into the buercratic nightmares the city found itself in and especially its residents following the floods which has, for me, been the most interesting part of the show. There’s a ton of great music in each episode and a couple of engaging characters like Antoine Batiste, Davis, Chief Lambrioux and John Goodman’s Creighton; however, the show hasn’t won me over and I have no real desire to write about it.

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS: I’ve watched the show since the beginning. I love the first season. I hate the second season. I enjoyed the third season and I’m intrigued by the fourth season. I do not have DirecTV so I’ve been watching the episodes as NBC aired them. I would probably enjoy writing about each episode even though I’ll barely get to make Saracen/Coach’s daughter jokes. Don’t be surprised if there’s something up about episode five. Also, don’t be surprised if I don’t remember stuff about past episodes. My photographic memory of television only includes LOST, Buffy and ANGEL. Plus, FNL can be inconsistent with their own story.

TRUE BLOOD: I wrote about a few episodes last year in this very blog before I decided devote all the content to LOST. Plus, Maryann destroyed any enjoyment I had in watching the show. I’ll see how the first episode goes on June 13. But probably not.

ENTOURAGE: Jacob’s Foot made it seem like I’m not capable of criticizing anything. Not true. Should I write about Entourage, a show that’s gotten worse as the years go by, there could be a ton of criticism. Consider last season when nothing happened at all. I’d use it in my “Why I Should Be a Television Writer” argument because, literally, Doug Elin and his band of writers got away with absolutely nothing happening for an entire season. The only show to come close to this feat has been the fifth season of How I Met Your Mother. That felt like Jack’s Tattoo episode dragged out throughout 24 episodes.

HEROES: Oh wait, this show got canceled! BAM!

MAD MEN: It’s rather daring for me to even put this here considering the fourth season begins in July and I’ve only seen the first three episodes of the series but I’m anticipating AMC OnDemand allowing people like me to catch up slowly but surely. I’m enjoying the show so far. Two Whedon alums in the cast: Vincent Kartheiser (the best actor ANGEL had…no offense to Alexis Denisof) and the lovely Christina Hendricks (who portrayed Saffron on Firefly for two episodes). The writing’s terrific and the direction of the show is pretty great. I’d like to but I’m in a race against the clock.

DEXTER: It’s even more daring for me to include this considering I’ve seen just one episode of the series and the fact that Showtime OnDemand only has the fourth season available to watch. Plus, it’s four seasons and lengthy in time. Could I do it? I’ve got to take in account all of the LOST I’ll be re-watching again when the DVD hits in August. FOUR COMMENTARY TRACKS. While I’m here, here is who I’m hoping to hear from in the LOST season six audio commentary tracks.

1.) LA X–the premiere episode of season six. I expect Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse to break their ‘no more 88 minute commentary’ rules for this one. I also expect it to be quite like the season five commentary for “Because You Left.” I expect a lot of tidbits and inside stuff they couldn’t reveal during the season about the entirety of season six and much information about the process of developing and executing the sideways.

2. Dr. Linus–I expect to hear Eddie Kitsis, Adam Horowitz and Michael Emerson on this commentary. Emerson usually terrific to listen to when he’s talking about LOST. I hope Emerson breathes some life into Kitsis and Horowitz because those two are pretty brutal to listen to. One would think after working on the show for as long as they did that they’d have interesting things to say but nope. Emerson will be the MVP of this one. Plus, Dr. Linus is probably the best episode of season six.

3. Ab Aeterno–the epic, epic Richard backstory. Who do I expect to hear? Nestor Carbonell of course, Gregg Nations and Melinda Hsu-Taylor and (hopefully) director Tucker Gates. But the only directors we’ve heard from in past commentaries have been Jack Bender, Paul Edwards and Steve Semel. I’d love to hear from Jack Bender on “LA X” but I don’t think that’s happening. I’m not really sure what I expect to hear on this commentary. Nestor usually has a lot of good thoughts about the show. Gregg Nations was in charge of the LOST bible during the show so he should have much to offer. I’d love to hear how Tucker Gates prepped this epic episode in just eight days and shot it all in just ten. It’s amazing.

4. Across The Sea–Damon and Carlton said on the final LOST podcast that they recorded a commentary for this episode so I imagine it’ll just be them. If you listened to that podcast or read any post-Across The Sea interviews with them or tweets, you know what to expect. For the record, I LIKED “Across the Sea.”

Anywho, returning to Dexter now: I probably won’t write about the show.

THE VAMPIRE DIARIES: I’m a big Kevin Williamson fan because of SCREAM. I’ve only seen one episode and don’t really care to catch up. If I’m home and there’s no sports on, I’ll watch a re-run. But this might be fun to write because of how much information and story I won’t know. I think the lead actress of the series is gorgeous.

THE REAL WORLD/ROAD RULES CHALLENGE: There is only two episodes left of Fresh Meat II but who says I can’t start late?

Also, I’m bringing back THE EPISODE OF THE DAY feature. This time it won’t be solely for LOST episodes (though LOST will appear because I’ll never really stop writing about the show totally). This entry’s already long enough so I’ll save the return of the EPISODE OF THE DAY for another day.

Oh yeah, listen to my online radio show/podcast here: http://blogtalkradio.com/fiveminutesoffame

HE’S BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DESMOND HAS RETURNED TO THE ISLAND! WOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!! Patience is indeed a virtue, folks. Do I like the fact that Widmore kidnapped him and brought him back to the Island against his will? Hell No I don’t. Do I like that the previews hinted that someone would be sacrificed and that it seems like, according to Widmore and the secrecy of Desmond, Desmond will be the one sacrificed to somehow prevent Smokey from leaving the Island and destroying the world? No. But with that second question I posed for myself to answer, I now am thinking about the button, the hatch, saving the world and how Desmond’s purpose for three years was saving the world. I promise I’ll detail a bit later. Also, do I like Damon Lindelof’s cryptic tweet minutes after the episode ended after being, I assume, flooded with DESMOND!!! tweets? No. Anywho, this was Sun and Jin’s episode and that is where I shall begin.

“The Package” is an episode that really advanced the plot as we head towards the series finale. We found out why Widmore came to the Island. Richard is now a man with the plan and is ready to launch an assault on the Man in Black. For Jin and Sun though, the fate of the world/saving the world is secondary to them. In the scene between Jin and Widmore, Widmore pretty much sums it up: for Jin AND Sun, it’s about Ji-Yeon and being. It’s about getting off the Island to be with Ji-Yeon, to finally be a family. In the Sideways, we saw that same theme play out just a little differently.

I gave a chuckle when the first flash sideways ended with the revelation that Sun and Jin are not married in the sideways world. I know that the sideways world have their differences yet I am always surprised when I find out about the differences. I loved it though. Sideways Jin doesn’t have the anger of pre-Island non-Sideways narrative Jin. Sideways Jin is the man he was before Mr. Paik caused havoc in his life. He’s the man we saw in “…And Found” and “D.O.C.” He’s not the overbearing, controlling husband we knew from “House of the Rising Sun” etc. He was working for Mr. Paik and Sun had nothing to do with it. Is Jin’s father still a fisherman? Perhaps not. I doubt Jin is the son of a whore in the Sideways but I doubt his origins are important with just 8 episodes left to go. Or maybe it’s essentially the same. Who knows. The Sideways story filled in the blanks from what we saw at the end of “The Substitute.” What happened was a whole lot of fun (for the viewer). Customs confiscated the $25,000 and sent he and Sun on his way. The only problem? Jin had to deliver the 25 grand along with the the watch to good ol Martin Keamy. At the hotel, following the airport, we found out Jin and Sun are not married. Jin asked for separate rooms. What we didn’t know is that they were involved in a secret relationship. At around 11:30PM, Jin stopped by Sun’s room, preparing to go to the restauraunt. Sun told him to stay because no one would be there. Jin teased her by saying she’s only here for shopping and that the watch delivery is of little interest to her. He also told her that he does what her father tells him and does not ask questions. Anywho, in the hotel room, she unbuttoned her top button and asked Jin whether or not he’d tell her to button it. He said no. He explained he only told her to button the shirt on the plane in case someone was watching. Sun continued to unbutton her shirt, asking Jin whether or not she should button each button that become unbuttoned. Jin said no. She eventually removed her shirt, they kissed, and you know…

The following morning, they awoke. Sun told Jin that she wanted to run away with him (which is of course another difference) and Jin wondered whether or not this was her plan all along. She told him she had her own account and that they could run away. Jin reminded her that it was forbidden. Soon, Keamy showed up. Jin hid when they first heard the knock on the door. Keamy came in, got the watch. He asked about the money and Sun said ‘no English.’ Omar soon arrived after checking Jin’s room and finding no one. They looked in the bathroom and found a shirtless Jin. Soon, Sun and Jin were on the bed. They discussed what to do about the money. Sun suggested paying Keamy the 25 grand herself; however, Keamy and Omar couldn’t understand a word because they don’t speak Korean. Keamy made a Gozilla joke because he’s a so and so. The two of them put their brains together (Omar and Keamy) and decided to bring in the Russian dude who speaks a bunch of languages. The russian guy? NONE OTHER THAN MIKHAIL! Mr. I-Killed-Charlie Mikhail returned. He translated for Jin and Sun. Keamy decided to take Jin with him to the restaurant while Sun would go with Keamy to get the $25,000.

At the restaurant, Omar and Keamy put him into the fridge. Omar bumped Jin’s head and Keamy told Omar to be more gentle. I took this to be part of Keamy’s twisted sense of humor considering his job was to kill Jin. In the fridge, Keamy told him exactly that. Keamy got a kick out of it too. Little did he know that, when Omar returned with Sayid, he’d be laughing no more. He told Jin that Mr. Paik found out about Jin/Sun because Keamy told Paik (Keamy is a bastard). After all of that, Jin simply said thank you for Keamy cleaning up the cut on his forehead. Keamy then put a piece of tape over his mouth. Sayid soon arrived, did his thing we saw in “Sundown,” and he gave Jin the tool to set himself free. Once free, Jin met Mikhail where the dead bodies were. They had a brief fight and then Jin shot Mikhail in the eye. Mikhail shall always remain Patchy! But uh-oh. A bullet hit Sun. As Jin carried her off, she told him she was pregnant (yet another difference as Jin was sterile pre-Island). I wonder will Claire and Sun be giving birth at the same time. Time will tell.

Meanwhile, in the Island narrative, Jin was taken by Zoe and Seamus. But before that happened, NotLocke of The Smoke sat down to talk with Jin. He asked Jin about his leg. Jin told him that it still hurts. NotLocke suggested removing the bandage to the wound some air. Jin continued wrapping. He told Jin that about the candidates and admitted that he didn’t know whether he or Jin was the candidate but he told Jin that he was working on getting Sun back because he can’t leave the Island unless he has all six candidates with him (he did tell Jacob that he’d kill ALL of the candidates so he can leave…don’t forge that). After his talk with Jin, Claire sat down with NotLocke. She overheard NotLocke telling Jin about the caves and the names written in the caves. She asked if she was on there. He told her no. I wanted to hug her. I digress. Claire seemed closer to the Claire we knew from seasons one through four. They discussed Kate. NotLocke told Claire that he needs Kate to get three more people but after that “whatever happens, happens.” That bastard. Claire also talked about how Aaron wouldn’t even recognize her if she got off the Island and how he thinks Kate is her mother. Anywho, when they finished talking, NotLocke went to Sayid. NotLocke told Sayid that he was in charge of the camp while he was gone and that he’d be a gone for a day. Sayid told NotLocke that he doesn’t feel anything–not pain, not anger, not happiness. Nothing. Very powerful scene.

NotLocke soon left. Jin mobilized. He wanted to leave while NotLocke was gone. Sawyer tried to stop him. Of course Widmore’s people stopped Jin from going. Everyone is hit by darts. When they are all down, Zoe arrives with the team and they take Jin with them.

Meanwhile, at the beach, everyone is pretty much relaxing. Ilana has no plans to move forward until Richard returns with a plan because Jacob said Richard would know what to do next. Sun grows frustrated and walks off. She goes to her garden. Jack follows her there. He tries to assure her that they are on the Island for a reason by telling her about the lighthouse and the names. Sun tells Jack that she doesn’t care about destiny or the lighthouse. She just wants to be left alone. When alone, NotLocke shows up and tells her that he can bring her to Jin but she doesn’t trust him and she runs away. She eventually runs into a tree and knocks herself out. She awakes with a concerned Ben over her. She tells him that she is allright but in Korean. She is able to tell Ben that she was running from Locke.

Back at the beach, Jack examines her and tells her she might be suffering from aphasia. She still understands English but cannot speak the language. Only Korean. There’s a funny exchange between Miles and Frank when Miles wonders if they’re supposed to buy this. Frank says “this coming from the guy who communes with the dead.” That was great. I wonder when Sun will regain the ability to speak the English language or will Jin be her translator now. That would have a rather circular feel. Anywho, a bit later, Richard and Hurley returned from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Ilana was relieved as was everyone else except for Sun when Richard finally spoke. Ben tells Richard that NotLocke planned to go to Hydra Island and Frank confirms to Richard that the plane is on Hydra Island. Richard plans to destroy it and that’s when Sun takes issue because Richard will be destroying their only way off of the Island. After all, Sun only returned to the Island to bring her husband home. Once Ben convinced her of Jin’s survival, her only goal has been to find Jin. Not to save the world. She figures that, since she is candidate, she is important and needed and will refuse to go with them.

Later, at night, Sun sits on the beach and stares out at the ocean. Jack approaches her once again and sits down. He tells her about a patient he had who, after surgery, wasn’t able to talk and grew frustrated. What Jack did for the patient was provide a notebook and a pen. He does the same for Sun so that she can still have her English voice. He tells her that he went back to the garden to look for Locke but he didn’t find him. Jack did find a fresh, healthy tomato even though all of the vines were dead. Jack says to Sun, “No one told the stubborn tomato that it was supposed to die.” Sun tells Jack that she didn’t go with Locke because she doesn’t trust him. Jack asks if Sun trusts him. Sun smiles, tears up a little and writes yes. Jack tells Sun to go with him and the others because he’ll do whatever it takes to reunite Sun with her husband and get them on the plane. Jack offers her his hand and she takes it. Recall the scene when Sun did NOT take NotLocke’s hand. I thought this scene was lovely. I loved the score. I love the season oneness of it all. I’ve been thinking about the transformation we’ve seen of Jack from the pill-popping man we saw at the end of Through The Looking Glass to right now. I’ve thought about that intense scene when Locke shows his face after throwing a knife into the back of Naomi and Jack pulling the trigger on an empty gun and the look on his face. That man is gone. This might be Jack’s best season. More on Jack/NotLocke later.

We must return to Jin now. Jin awoke in Room 23. He made the mistake of accidentally turning on the video we saw poor Karl watching in season three. Zoe told Jin that Dharma used Room 23 to experiment with subliminal messaging. Zoe, the geophysist, had a map with her of the electromagnetic hotspots on the Island. The signature looked like Jin’s and Zoe told him that whoever signed it could really help her out. Jin had no interest giving answers to her. He wanted to talk to the Big Cheese: Charles Widmore. Zoe had no problems with that.

Meanwhile, Widmore was a tad busy. On the main Island, NotLocke got Sayid to travel with him to Hydra Island because Widmore took one of NotLocke’s people. Sawyer has a great line about The Smokeness and the ability to travel over water. NotLocke says it’s not that simple. He and Sayid take the outrigger over to Hydra Island. When they arrive, well when NotLocke arrives, since Sayid’s doing his stealth thing that he likes to do, Widmore meets him by the pylons after Seamus and crew go ballistic once they see the Walking Smoke. Widmore tells NotLocke that he knows that he’s not John Locke. NotLocke inquires about Widmore having one of his people. Widmore claims he has no idea what NotLocke is talking about. NotLocke responds with: “A wise man once said that war is coming to this Island. I think it just got here.” That wise man? Charles Widmore, of course, who told John Locke that war was coming to the Island in “The Life and Death of Jeramy Bentham.” He also told Locke that he needed to return to the Island or else the wrong side would win. NotLocke left soon after that conversation. He returned to camp without Sayid. Prior to his arrival at camp, Sawyer and Kate had a nice conversation. Kate asked Sawyer why he’s not worried. Sawyer says that he is worried but he’s just good at hiding worry. Sawyer hopes that Widmore had gotten NotLocke but one second later NotLocke wanders back into camp. Sawyer asks about Jin. NotLocke tells him that they said they don’t have Jin but it’s not to be believed. Sawyer asks about Sayid and NotLocke tells him about the locked door in the sub and how Sayid’s spying on that because NotLocke is not a fan of secrets.

Back to Jin, he’s finally able to talk to Widmore himself. Before their conversation though, Widmore has a very interesting exchange with Zoe about a timetable.Zoe tells Widmore that she should’ve hired a mercenary. Widmore doesn’t respond really. It looks like he’s thinking “I DID HIRE ONE AND HE’S DEAD!” But anywho, the great part of Jin/Widmore was the camera Widmore brought for Jin. Jin was finally able to see his daughter Ji-Yeon. He saw pictures of Ji-Yeon on a playground and pictures with her mother at her birthday party. Daniel Dae Kim was great during this scene. Widmore then told Jin about the Man in Black and about the need to stop him. Widmore tried to relate to Jin, explaining that he is not allowed near his daughter or grandson. Widmore told Jin that if the Man in Black leaves the Island then everyone will cease to be. It makes the Man in Black seem like the physical embodiment of the electromagnetic energy bottled up and if the button’s not pushed every 108 minutes then the world as we know it will be destroyed. If he leaves the Island, bye bye world. He’s a clever bastard though that Man in Black. It seems like anyone going with him will die so all of Jacob’s candidates will die. Claire talked about her fear of Aaron not knowing her. Well, he will know her in the Sideways. I believe the Sideways are going to bleed into the original Island timeline. How that happens? I don’t know. But I’m thinking this season gets even more intense and I think the Island will become a place of death again. We shall see.

And then, at episode’s end, we got the return of Desmond David Hume. One of the greatest characters ever created in all of fiction. Widmore wanted the package put into the infirmary. He told Jin that the package was a who. We soon saw, after the final sideways part and NotLocke returning to camp, Desmond emerge from the sub all drugged up. He fell down on the deck and saw Sayid in the water, looking up at him. And then he was taken away. End of episode.

Time for even MORE thoughts:

–I don’t trust Charles Widmore. I never have. I don’t even like the dude. He was a bastard to Des in every Desmond flashback. He was a bastard in Desmond’s time-traveling fun (Flashes Before Your Eyes and The Constant). He sent a freighter to kill everyone. The last time we saw Desmond and Charles was in “Jughead” when Desmond finally had the upper-hand. He told Charles to stay the hell away from he and his family. Desmond also didn’t want to go back to the Island. Ms. Hawking told Desmond that the Island’s not done with him though. The last time we saw Desmond was as he recovered from the gunshot wound. He also beat the daylights out of Ben for trying to kill Penny. Between then and now, Widmore kidnapped him and brought him back to the Island. Why? We shall soon find out. Desmond is special though as Faraday told us. Please use him for good, Widmore. It’s still great to have Desmond back.

–I really enjoyed the tiny scene between Sayid and NotLocke because it seemed like another tomato moment. Hope for Sayid. Hope for his redemption. Just hope. I really want to see a Jack-like Sayid transformation. HE’S SAYID! He’s the same guy who needed to leave camp after he tortured Sawyer, telling Kate “What I did today I swore I’d never do again.” Sure he’s done those acts quite a few times since that day but it’s not too late to shake himself out this…whatever is going on with him…and start on the path to redemption once again. Angel the vampire has been trying to atone for his past for over a century. There is hope for Sayid Jarrah. He’s just very, very lost right now. He’s been very, very lost since Nadia was killed.

–The Aphasia storyline is something I certainly did not expect. I’m interested in where it goes. I don’t have much else to add about it. We also got a mirror scene with Sun as she took a long look at herself.

–There were some terrific lines tonight. I loved the exchange between Ben and Ilana when Ben was pleading his case about NOT being behind Sun’s bump on the head. Recall when The Others were blamed for Sun’s kidnapping in “The Long Con” when, in fact, it was Charlie doing the kidnapping. Sawyer hatched the idea. Anytime Miles and Frank are together is always a good time. Miles had a good line about Hurley’s ability as a tracker, saying that unless Richard was covered in bacon Hurley wouldn’t be able to track anyone. Ilana believed in Hurley though.

–There was quite a lot of exposition early in this episode. I wonder why. This is LOST after all. No one’s going to suddenly decide, in the middle of season six, to begin watching the show without watching all of the show before. Of course, everyone will watch the finale without seeing the entire series. I digress though. Perhaps Lindelof and Cuse and Room 23 just wanted to point out the most important plot points as we begin the final part of the season and the series.

–I expected to see a Michael cameo just because he was an integral part of the Sun/Jin dynamic in season one and for most of the series except for when he yelled about Walt. Oh well.

–Speaking of Walt, there are some LOST fans on thefuselage.com that refuse to believe Desmond is the package and that Walt is, in fact, the package. WIDMORE AND WALT HAVE NEVER MET IN THEIR LIVES! COME ON!

–Keamy said that Mikhail’s friends name is Danny. Is that Danny Pickett? Also one of the top 9 so and sos of LOST (I did a whole top 9 early on in the hiatus. It was fun).

–I do wonder what’s up with locating the electromagnetic hotspots on the Island. What is Widmore’s gameplan?

–I think Terry O’Quinn knocked it out of the park yet again this week. Yunjin Kim and Daniel Dae Kim did a great job as well. This was a different kind of Sun/Jin episode though. We got a heck of alot of Island story

–Paul Zbyszewski and Graham Roland wrote this one. They also wrote “Sundown.” Veteran LOST crew member Paul Edwards directed it. Applause all around.

–Only six episodes left until the series finale. 8 hours in total. I enjoyed “The Package” a lot. I got a kick out of the Sideways story, seeing Mikhail again. It was a fun episode. It had a lot of heart and make it moved things along. Well done, LOST.

TO THE RANKINGS!

THE OFFICIAL LOST RANKINGS

Exciting week for the rankings I dare say. Desmond has returned to the top spot for me. Sayid has also returned to my top 5. Sawyer’s no. 10 now. Kate got bumped to 11. Those are the big exciting changes. As for STEVE, his top ten stayed same pretty much. He switched Ben and Miles. But check them out for yourselves:

AFTER EPISODE 10

RANKED: 3/31/2010

CHRIS

1. Desmond

2. Jack

3. Ben

4. Hurley

5. Sayid

6. Jin

7. Claire

8. Locke

9. Miles

10. Sawyer

11. Kate

12. Richard

13. Frank

14. Sun

15. Ilana

16. Jacob

17. Man in Black

18. Widmore

STEVE

1. Desmond

2. Man in Black

3. Jack

4. Richard

5. Kate

6. Ben

7. Miles

8. Sawyer

9. Sayid

10. Jin

11. Frank

12. Ilana

13. Locke

14. Sun

15. Jacob

16. Claire

17. Widmore

18. Hurley

NOTE: I wrote this in August and it ran in an online-only version of The Quad in August two weeks for the first print edition of the semester was released. It probably would’ve been more effective to post it now rather than in August but oh well. Heck it might even be a better idea to re-post it on Feb. 1 or Feb. 2 but, you know, it’s already available on wcuquad.com so it doesn’t really matter. So, if anybody actually reads this, please read it. It’s decent prose. I’ll post an all new entry tomorrow or Friday. It won’t be too exciting. I’ve got some ideas floating in my head for next week so keep checking back, if anybody actually reads this, for there will be new content up to and through the sixth season which is now less than two weeks away. WOOOOHOOO! Oh, and don’t forget ABC will be re-airing The Incident on January 26 at 9PM.

Originally printed (digitally): August 17, 2009

One the finest aspects of LOST is its mystery. I know many fans will be clamoring for answers and will feel like they’ve been following the show for six years for nothing if Lindelof and Cuse don’t provide a satisfactory amount of answers to the abundance of questions raised during the show’s run.

The problem with this, as noted by Doc Jensen, is the subjectivity of the audience. What are the most important questions? Depends on who you ask. Some want the nature of the Numbers unearthed. Others want to know about the Monster. Those stuck in 2004 are still puzzled about polar bears.

But really, the endgame of the show will not be constructed on what the audience wants. The endgame of the show is going to reflect the vision Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse have worked five plus years to create

In the end, LOST is a story. It’s not a complicated math problem that needs to be figured out and solved. It has a beginning, a middle, and an end like any other story. It’s a story about these characters, their problems, their weaknesses, their past. It’s a story, like all of the great stories in Western literature, that touches on the big questions in life: death, life, religion, philosophy, relationships, uncertainty, and destiny.

The evolution of television programming has lost the art of storytelling. Reality television is devoid of it Those shows are a series of happenings stringed along by a ‘theme.’ Scripted television also suffers from a lack of storytelling. There’s barely a whole picture now at the end of a season. What happened in the beginning of a season has no bearing on the conclusion of the season. There’s no cohesion, no building towards a climax. The end of Buffy marked the beginning of the end of serialized, story-based storytelling. The fifth season premiere of Dawson’s Creek marked the end of any hope for honest storytelling in a teenage drama and these procedural dramas have no idea what a season of television entails.

The blame can be placed on the television industry of course. It’s hardly a safe haven for storytellers. A new show exists on an episode-by-episode basis. Money drives everything. Advertising runs television. Commercials are responsible for three minutes being trimmed off an hour long drama. However, to blame the industry for a world of hollow storytelling is to make the industry a scapegoat when blame can placed on the shoulders of creators and showrunners. While the current structure of the television landscape is not in the best interest for a series, it is still the responsibility of the creator to have some sort of vision apart from the pilot and the first batch of episodes.

Take for example Joss Whedon, a veteran of the television business. He’s run two successful television shows (Buffy, The Vampire Slayer and Angel). His one abrutly cancelled television series, Firefly, ended up on the big screen in 2005. His secret to success? A plan. He believes in what I like to call ‘The 5 year plan.’ In interviews he gave following the cancellation of Firefly, he repeated that he had five years of story for his show. Likewise, prior to the debut of Dollhouse, he said that he also had five years of story for Dollhouse. Of course he made a critical mistake of starting off the series terribly slowly but, that aside, when the story really kicked into gear, when the show found its focus, it took off creatively and made waves critically. And is still on the air.

The viewing public can sense this focus, this sense that there’s actually a story. The most remembered television series of the last decade won’t be any lousy police procedural or reality show. The most remembered shows will be shows that told a damn good story like The Wire, Mad Men, The Sopranos, and, of course, LOST.

Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, on numerous occassions, have compared the structure of LOST to that of how Charles Dickens published his novels. Dickens published his novels in a serialized fashion, in increments. In addition to their love for Dickens, they have constantly alluded to great works in Eastern and Western literature. The battle between science and faith as represented by Jack Sheperd and John Locke was represented in a season two episode by the authors Ernest Hemingway and Fyodor Dostoevsky (and used by Ben (under the guise of Henry Gale then) to mess with an already fragile psyche). The Chronicles of Narnia, Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz, Lord of the Flies, Watership Down, The Little Prince, and Ulysses among many, many more novels have been alluded to throughout the series. LOST knows how to tell a story.

Consider then that some of the mysteries are meant to remain just that–mysteries. Consider: maybe it’s better to not know who the skeletons in the cave are (personally, i would like to know because i think it would be a very satisfying). Consider maybe that it’s best for the skeletons to remain a symbol of the long history of The Island. Consider that it IS better to not know the mystery of the Numbers or who ran over Nadia or why people who are dead appear to our favorite characters on The Island. The most important thing with all of the mysteries and intrigue is that they led to excellent character development and helped progress storylines.

Nestor Carbonell (Richard) echoed a sentiment that I myself agee with: there has to be some mystery at the end. Yes, they need to provide answers. We need to know why Claire disappeared, we need to know what the Others are definitevely, we need to know the deal with the whispers as well as why Richard doesn’t age. They will indeed provide answers.

Simply, do not judge the worth of the show on answers alone. First and foremost, the show is about the characters. Their struggles, weaknesses, problems, their destiny, and biggest of all, the show is about why these characters were brought together on an Island of miracles. And remember, it’s Damon and Carlton’s show, and that it’s a story and not a math problem that needs to be solved.