First of all, congrats to the Celtics on a dominating win last night over the Magic. It was a must-win game and Boston came through big-time, with stellar performances from guys like Eddie House and Rajon Rondo - two players who have really stepped it up and proven themselves as invaluable to the Celtics team. It's going to be an interesting series, but after last night I feel like Boston is in good position to pull it out.
TV STUFF:
- On last night's LOST: Well, there was a lot to like about the episode - from Hurley's hilarious inability to pretend he *wasn't* from the future, to Ben Linus' classic reaction shots when he realizes that he is no longer in control of things. Overall, there is a great sense of momentum going into next week's double-length finale, and I definitely anticipate we are in for one roller-coaster ride of an event in one week's time. I also can't deny that last night's Lost built off of the previous week's sense of intrigue. When I sat down to watch Lost last night, I was still buzzing from last week's time-loop craziness involving Eloise Hawkings and Daniel Faraday, and contemplating all of the potential implications of Eloise's shocking shooting of her own son (which as of this episode - I think? - has the added twist of her having been pregnant (!) with Daniel at the time!). And I'll give it up for this episode - the talk of undoing the past and re-writing the future provides endless fodder for discussion and debate.
But where this episode lost me a bit (pun intended) was in Jack's reasoning for detonating an H-Bomb in order to set off some kind of chain reaction that *might* irreversibly change the future such that Flight 815 never crash-lands on the island and lands safely in Los Angeles. I mean, sure, Jack has been unstable and on-edge ever since he left the island way back when ... but, his current plan seems completely crazy. For one - who wants to erase years of their lives, wiping out relationships, maturity, etc? Second, even if Jack himself wanted to go through with it, he would essentially be playing god and forcing Kate, not to mention Rose, Bernard, et all to lose moments that they probably don't want to lose. To me, Kate was clearly justified in ditching Jack - not only would his plan potentially rob her of memories she doesn't want to lose (ie Aaron), but it would put untold lives in peril. Plus, who knows if it would even work? Faraday told Jack that people are variables, but prior to that he insisted that "what happened, happened." Most evidence we've seen so far points to the latter being true.
Again, it's fun to debate all this stuff, but at the same time, you'd think the show might address some of these issues. As is, this ep was vintage Lost in that Jack stated his position, Kate stated hers, and the two said barely anything else. Kate never said "Jack, your plan is insane because of x y and z," and Jack never said "Kate, we have to do this because of x". I'm not saying the show needs to be one giant exposition-fest, but I also don't like when character motications and logic are so murky. Same goes for Locke's big cliffhanger statement about going to kill Jacob. Um, what? What does that even mean? Sure, it *sounds* cool - "kill Jacob? wha? huh? but who? but how?". But it's basically an empty statement as far as we're concerned. Very Grant Morrison-esque - throw out a cool-sounding concept with the hopes that the idea of it alone will blow our minds.
Anyways, it's semi-hard to judge this episode, because next week's payoff might be so awesome that, in retrospect, the build-up turns out to be perfect. At the same time, what happened happened, and what happened with this episode was that there was some questionable characterization that made me say "huh?".
My Grade: B
- I also watched Tuesday's episode of FRINGE last night, and, whoah boy, this show is getting good. Whereas Lost sometimes makes me feel like the writers just splashed some paint on a canvas and said "here, look what I made!", Fringe has been doing something pretty cool: telling and old-fashioned, by-god *story*. Yep, the awesome thing about Fringe is that literally every episode from the pilot to now has seamlessly fit into the larger tapestry. There's no questions about continuity, no contradictory plot points, no sense that the show is just throwing crap against the wall. Fringe has quietly gone about crafting one hell of a mythology. At the same time, each episode has a nice element of self-contained craftsmanship. In some ways, it's a reliable workhorse - in every ep we know we'll get a cool fringe-science case, learn about some cool pseudo-science theory, get a couple of hilarious Walter-isms, etc. But at the same time, and I don't think it's fully surfaced until now, there's been an awesome web of alternate realities, mysterious observers, secret drug trials, and shady corporations that's been weaved in the background, and at times in the foreground. Suffice it to say, I was very impressed this week to see that practically *everything* that's happened on the show to date artfully fits into the bigger picture. And man, they have no set things into motion for one barnburner of a season finale. Meanwhile, I was absolutely wowed by Jon Noble as Walter in this ep. His breakdown at episode's end after Olivia confronts him about the drug trials he helped facilitate, of which she was a part, was intense, sad, and disturbing all at once. If Noble does not win an Emmy for this role, there is no TV god. Furthermore, the interplay between the characters has been honed to the point where it's truly enjoyable to watch them interact. It's amazing how Anna Torv has made Agent Dunham into one of TV's best characters in such a short time - especially after most wrote her off as bland and stiff in the early days of the show. I still think they overdo it with Peter questioning his father's theories all the time, but even Peter has had a lot of nice character advancement since the pilot. But really, this show is just plain kicking ass of late. The whole ZFT / alternate realities arc is just plain cool-as-hell, and I can't wait to see where things go from here.
My Grade: A
- Finally, I do want to talk about PRISON BREAK from Friday. I thought last week's ep picked up some substantial momentum as compared to the week before that, and this week's ep again built on that. Everything just seemed amped up - we got a truly vile and villainous T-Bag, some vintage Mahone craziness, and a great, very evil turn from Michael's mom. Up until now, she's been kind of a generic schemer, but in this ep we finally saw that she was an adversary worthy of the Scofield name - conniving, manipulative, and as easy to hate as Michael is to root for. There was also the big Lincoln-is-not-Michael's-brother revelation, which sort of came out of nowhere but at least was a semi-interesting twist (so is THAT why they have different last names? hmmm ...). But yeah, the ep was fast-paced and enjoyable, and my hope is that, again, it all makes for an awesome finale. I really hope the whole Company storyline is wrapped up ASAP, so that we can get a final episode that feels more like vintage PB. In the interim, it's good to know that the show has, at the least, upped its game since its somewhat limp return a few weeks back.
My Grade: B+
- Aaaaaand I'm out. Check back soon for the latest.
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