Lost: The final episode final thoughts in a final post

The review by Davie Bianculli on Fresh Air deserves a 2nd (or 1st) look. Check it out because it really puts the final episode in perspective. After the show, Matthew Fox, among many other cast members, was on Jimmy Kimmel. He claimed years ago that he always knew how the show would end, but it turns out he meant the final seen of his death w/ his eye closing in the bamboo field just as it opened there when the show started 6 seasons ago. I highly doubt he actually knew that the flash-sideways timeline was actually more like some Limbo/Purgatory/holding facility. When the show started, people thought maybe the island was just that sort of place, but the producers repeatedly denied that angle. As it turns out, they pulled the wool over our eyes. The island was the real world & the real world was the spiritual holding facility. Harold Perrineau was also on Kimmel. He seemed to clear up the "why wasn't Michael in the church @ the end" question pretty well. He was never redeemed & is then doomed to wander the island forever whispering things to people. The whispers were explained in all of 4 seconds a few weeks ago when Michael talked to Hurley in the jungle. If that didn't bother people, then the ending should certainly not raise any eyebrows.

Over all, I have many problems w/ the entire final season, but I certainly can't put all the anger on the 1 episode. It reminds me of Star Trek V in that they needed to explain more than they had to for & did their best to squeeze it all in. If you'll recall, Star Trek V features an awkward alliance between Kirk & a Klingon general. They clearly wanted to get to the Klingon treaty that eventually leads to Worf being on the Enterprise, but rushed it too much. The final episode of Lost is by no means bad like Star Trek V, but the rushed explanations are the same.

Along w/ the connections to Star Trek V there was also some Star Trek II things. namely, Jack putting the plug back into the yellow well thing. It was exactly like Spock putting the mains on-line. The good of the many.... The funeral thing was a lot like Finnegan's Wake... from what I've been able to make out of Finnegan's Wake. It was also like the funeral scene in Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader. It's a recent graphic by Neil Gaiman in which Batman dies & all of the main characters (good & bad) speak @ his funeral & claim responsibility for his death. (Alfred's story is pretty good, btw.) Ben's redemption @ the end reminded me a lot of Celie's husband Albert's in The Color Purple. He's just suddenly a semi-decent guy. It's odd, but it strangely works.


What we did learn amounts to this:
* Ben turns out alright which is what I was hoping for all along
* Richard starts aging again & leaves the island w/ Kate, Clair, Sawyer, & Frank... I wonder what he'll do next. Here's a little something for the comment section: in what fields could Richard succeed?
* Widmore & Ben were basically on the same side all along.
* Clair will be alright which suggests the temple-folk didn't really know what they were talking about which is what I assumed all along. That Degen dude pissed me off.
* Anna Lucia wasn't in the church which means she apparently never found her redemption even though she helped the fugitives (Kate, Sayid, & Desmond) escape.
* Being crossed off the cave list wasn't very important. It was just a line of chalk through a name (wee might have gotten that last week, but it was a funny revelation none the less).

What we didn't learn:
* What the fuck was the yellow glowing stuff? And is it similar to the stuff in Marcellus Wallace's briefcase?
* What's up w/ Walt?
* why was Desmond weird w/ electro-magnetism? Did the hatch explosion make him special like Bruce Banner w/ the gamma rays or was he already special and therefore able to survive the hatch explosion?
* How did Mikhail lose his eye? (I didn't really expect to get this info anyway)
* Daniel's time in A2? other than the 5 minutes it took him to decide that blowing up the bomb was a good idea, what was he doing?
* Did the 2 hot chicks in the Looking Glass ever get it on?
* If Ben & Widmore were basically on the same side all along, was Season 4 ridiculous? If their main job was protecting the island & ensuring the Man in Black didn't leave, then why was their struggle important one way or the other? As long as it's getting done, why does it matter who is doing it?

With all of these unanswered issues, a follow-up movie is almost certain. Who will sign on though, & more importantly, what will it be called?
* Lost: The Motion Picture
* Lost: The Man in Black Strikes Back
* Lost: Fire Walk w/ Ben
* Lost: Jack Wants to Believe
* Lost: Jack & Juliet & Kate & Sawyer
* Lost: Big & Carrie Go to the South Pacific (I like this one because Kim Catrall could merge her characters from Sex & the City & Star Trek VI & maybe be some ancient Egyptian mannequin again too)

Lost: The Final Episode

After my 2nd match this evening, I need to race home having imbibed very little beer in order to catch the recap before the last episode. I'm excited but also a bit saddened by the end of the show. This season hasn't been quite as good as seasons 4 & 5 which are clearly my favorites, but it's been fun. The answers to the questions have occasionally left me w/ more questions though... like when will the spin-off movie come out to answer yet more questions & what the fuck are they thinking w/ the lack of more pseudo-scientific explanations? There have been a lot of answers though so I looked back @ the list of question I posted a year ago & realized that only a few haven't been addressed. Walt, Libby, & Helen probably won't get covered tonight, but we might get some interesting info about Faraday. It probably won't be in regards to A2, but it should be good none-the-less.

Enjoy the series finale & check back here tomorrow for a more thorough wrap-up... adios & namaste.

If You're a Nerd Like I'm a Nerd...

Like many of you who know what's up, we rewatched the 1st 5 seasons of Lost over the last couple months in order to get ready for tomorrow's big Season 6 Premier. Along w/ the rewatch, you should check out some of the better parodies. I found a couple on Jorge Garcia's blog. The first one uses the Petula Clark song, "Downtown," in a fun way... & it's a fucking Petula Clark parody! And I was just thinking the other day that we don't get enough Petula Clark parodies... dreams do come true, my friends. The second one is an extended Italian family in Brooklyn (I don't know for sure that they're in Brooklyn; I'm going on stereotypes here... it could be Jersey or Philly too)reenacting the 1st 5 season in about 5 minutes... it's odd. After that, there's the Mad TV season 1 parody & then the coup de grace, the sweet, sweet, Star Trek parody: Star Trek: The Lost Generation. Oh, & here is Wendy's list of things we need to learn... it's not exhaustive, nor will we get everything, but it's a good list none-the-less. And why not read a list... Jacob made a few, Ben made a few, I imagine Richard has made more than his fair share of lists @ one time or another, Hurley made at least one... read Wendy's too.

On the down side, I have a bad feeling about Season 6. I don't think we're gonna get many of the explanations for which we've been so patiently waiting.It just doesn't seem like they'll have time to get to everything. I'm sure we'll get Adam & Eve, the Smoke Monster, & Richard, but Horace & Ann Arbor... I doubt it... we'll keep our fingers crossed though.

So now, do what Andre does: order up some Chinese food, get a 4-pack of imported stout, & prepare to be a little let down by the parodies.

Answers

Italian Family

Mad TV

Star trek

Shatner & J.J. Abrams

Last night I stumbled upon the most ridiculous talk-show ever. Shatner's Raw Nerve makes The Pat Sajack Show seem like a good idea. It's a 1/2 hour show on the Bio channel which features Shatner interviewing another celeb for the entire program. The 2 of them sit facing one another in an S shaped kissing chair while Shatner pries into the tortured past of the guest. I saw 2 episodes last night & got to witness both Weird Al & Gene Simmons in tears. I've never said to myself, "Hey, I'd really like to watch The Demon weep." But it works. Against all my best judgement, I recommend this show... & I know I'll be watching it again.In other Shatner news, I watched Star Trek VI w/ Aiden last night. Over the summer, we started watching the films (skipping the 1st one), as a build up to the new movie. He has finally seen all of the original cast films so no we're ready. I saw VI in the theater w/ my cousin when it 2st came out, & I always liked it. It's definitely better than V, but last night's viewing made me think it may not be as good as I'd always thought. It's a bit low on action. They muddy up a pretty basic plot by spending way too much time explaining it. Also, the effects aren't what I remembered. The parallels w/ Tomorrow Never Dies are pretty interesting though. I've probably talked about this before, but they both feature a cloaked ship that can fire while cloaked, they both feature an enemy general named Chang, & they both revolve around a plot to use the cloaked ship to start a war between 2 groups that are uninvolved w/ the ship. (Admittedly, the 3rd point could be said of most Bond movies).While we're now ready to give the J.J. Abrams Star Trek movie a go this weekend, Stephanie & I have also been watching his new show, Fringe. It's no Lost, but it's pretty cool. I'm yet to decide if I love it or hate it. I feel like I might be on the verge of addicting myself to the next Zena: Warrior Princess. It revolves around an FBI agent, her boss (played by the dude who played Abaddon on Lost), a crazy old scientist who spent the last 17 years in a mental institution after doing weird experiments on humans, & his genius son (played by a dude from Dawson's Creek) who will obviously become a love interest for the FBI agent. Crazy events are happening (mainly in he Boston area), & they're all related to some pattern of scientific research that has been killing hundreds of people. I'm afraid I may be hooked.Not as hooked as Aiden has become on Abrams' other recent show. We've been rewatching Lost, this time w/ the kids, & they're loving it. We slowly got through season 1 last fall & then blew through seasons 2 & 3 over the holiday break. We started 4 last night in the hopes of getting through 5 before 6 starts on February 2. It's pretty awesome watching the kids pick up on the foreshadowing & little stuff in the background. I was afraid they wouldn't be able to follow it, but they're doing really well. I think we'll watch a couple more episodes tonight before The Office.

Holiday Post #9: Eve & Morning

After working @ both 2nd jobs yesterday, I made it home around 6:00ish & we enjoyed a fantastic Tofurkey dinner that couldn't be beat. Stephanie made Yorkshire pudding to go w/ it & then we watched a couple X-Mas cartoons (Smurfs & Mickey's X-Mas Carol) before the season 2 finale for Lost. After the kids went to bed we enjoyed Little Women while doing the Santa stuff.Isaiah seemed to completely understand what was going on as he kept looking @ the tree & saying "ho ho ho." He was then up all night, & Stephanie woke me up @ 6:00 because she couldn't wait any longer to watch the kids open their stuff.
Solstice: Guitar, Hannah Montana video game, Grease sweatshirt
Aiden: Batman book, FIFA '09, Lost Via Domus
Isaiah: Woody doll w/ pull string, Little People school bus, dog puzzle

They seem to have had a good X-Mas, but it's certainly not over yet. We're off to Stephanie's mom's in a few minutes, some old friends of my family tomorrow evening, & then my parents' Sunday afternoon. Hopefully I'll get a chance to see Jason & make the Season 2 - Season 3 switch w/ Daye this week too. And while we're on the topic of upcoming events, the voting has fallen off a bit... a few people still need to cast their votes... so get on it! It seems like Sarah Michelle Gellar might win this year, so we certainly can't let those numbers stand.

Another reason to drink a Guinness today

Thanks to a couple of Facebook status updates, I was reminded that today is Bloomsday so put on your eye patch & go for a really really long walk. There had been some talk of a party to celebrate, but that never really got off the ground; however, if anyone wants to stop by tonight, drink a few Guinness, & maybe read a passage from Ulysses, that might be a great idea. I haven't read it in a few years, but I suppose I should give it a quick once over this afternoon.

In other book news, I need to report that since I finished The Time Traveler's Wife, I've knocked off a few other books on the list:
Three Bags Full: it's a great little story about a heard of sheep whose shepherd would read to them every day which made them really smart. When they find him murdered by the barn, they decide to solve the mystery themselves. It's sounds ridiculous, but it's really good but funny references to classic mysteries & animal tales like Animal Farm. This is also a fitting book for today because it takes place in Ireland & 1 of the sheep is hooked on Guinness.
If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things: This is a fantastic novel. I think I may teach it this fall. it was nominated for the Booker, but for some reason didn't make the short-list. It's about a young woman in Nottingham (or maybe London... it's not clear) who witnesses a boy get hit by a car & then 3 years later gets knocked up during a 1 night stand. It flashes back and forth between the day of the accident & her pregnancy... & you all need to read it.
The Secret of Morel: A cool novella by Adolfo Bioy Casares from 1941 about a fugitive on an deserted island where all sorts of crazy shit starts happening. It's yet another cool book I learned about via the Lostpedia book list.

After that, I diverged from the list & picked p a copy of The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. He's going to be @ Nicola's next week, & I'd heard so much about the book that I figured I'd take a look... it's sweet! It's like Borges meets Eco w/ a little Paul Auster thrown in for good measure. A kid finds an old book which turns out to be the last copy of anything by the author because some dude has been traveling around Europe setting all of his books on fire. At the moment, the kid has just been approached by the book burning dude. It's cool... read it.

Lost: Season 6

The biggest surprise I experienced last night while watching the Season 5 finale was that Season 6 will be the last. For some reason, I was under the impression that there were 2 more seasons. That said, Season 6 has a lot of 'splaining to do.
* What's Jacob's story?
* WTF is the smoke monster?
* How did Richard get there?
* How did the statue get destroyed?
* What's w/ the Shadow people?
* WTF John Locke II?
* What's Christian's Story?
* How did Helen die?
* Why was Libby in the hospital w/ Hurley?
* What's up w/ the Black Rock?
* Where is Claire?
* Will Kate be able to reunite Claire w/ Aaron?
* Who made the Temple?
* What's w/ the huge electro-magnetic energy pocket?
* What happened when Ben was taken to the Temple?
* Do Desmond & Penny return?
* What about Walt?
* What did Faraday do during those 3 years in A2?
** Will it be filmed in A2?
*** If so, how many of us get to be extras? I mean, I'd wear a Jump Suit & grow 70s hair for that.
*** If so, will the apartment building by the Maynard St. parking Garage really be used as the Dharma headquarters?
* Were Rose & Bernard the only survivors of the flaming arrows or are there other Red-Shirts around?
* Why did Bernard suddenly look more like Tim Conway than Sam Anderson?
* How many douchebags posting theories on Lostpedia will actually acknowledge that they're wrong about stuff?
* Will there ever be another TV show for me to obsess over like this one? I mean, come on, it took me 6 years to move on after Seinfeld went off the air. If that's any indication, I won't find another show until 2016. Sure, there are shows I like, The Office, My Name is Earl, How I Met Your Mother, & even The Unusuals is looking pretty cool, but not obsessive cool... not yet.

This list doesn't even begin to tackle any of the questions raised last night which will obviously have to be answered. It seems hard to believe they'll get all of this in in 16 episodes. Assuming 1/4 will be spent clearing up what happened last night, that leaves 12 episodes to deal w/ these issues. Of course, some can be dealt w/ @ the same time, while others might be answered while dealing w/ last night's questions, it still seems like they'll have to really cram stuff in since they can't just answer questions; they need to drive the plot by raising more concerns which will in turn need to be addressed. Dharma Headquarters in A2

Recent Books

I just finished The Mark of Zorro (formerly The Curse of Capistrano) by Johnston McCully. As a fan of old adventure stories & of the old films/serials based upon those stories, I'd wanted to read it for a long time. When I worked @ Borders 10 years ago, however, it was out of print so I had to wait patiently for the day it got picked up again. Well, I found it a few weeks ago & thought I'd give it a shot... maybe a mistake. The book kind of sucks, but it is supposedly the 1st to have a masked hero. (I'd though The Scarlet Pimpernel was older, but apparently that dude wasn't really a masked hero w/ an alter ego.) Coming to the book w/ full knowledge that Zorro & don Diego are & the same makes it impossible to read like the audience in 1919. It must have been something in a world w/o Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, or Peter Parker to read that for the 1st time. I kept trying to figure out when those readers would 1st be able to tell that they're the same, but it's a hard thing to do. He isn't unmasked until the last few pages, but of course even the back of the book explains who he is. I can't imagine it would have been that was originally though. McCully does a nice job of dropping hint, but people might not get them w/o the history. I think I was supposed to be surprised when his mask came off.

Since I finished it yesterday, I started Sharpe's Rifles. The movies w/ Sean Bean are really good (as far as low-budget made for BBC movies go), but reading a series isn't my thing so I've been putting them off for a few years. If I could access my "Chain Reading Profile," I'd recommend this book though. I'm only 30 pages into it & it's already definitely better than The Mark of Zorro.

A couple weeks ago, I read The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien. It's fuckin' good! Someone @ Nicola's recommended it, but I'd never heard of it before. Or @ least I didn't think I had. As it turns out, it's mentioned in a couple episodes of Lost, & w/ good reason. It's clearly influential on the producers of that show. A dude kills a guy for a box of cash, waits 3 years to get it, then finds out the money is gone & spends the next 200 pages in a weird 2D police station w/ a couple cops who can stop time w/ some weird room down a road that can only be found by reading the tiny cracks in the ceiling like a map of the county. READ IT!