I Voted Saxon!

Wow. One week left.

This week after our strange flashback moment and this and that, we really get our one last cliffhanger before it’s all over for good. The last time we see that LOST title and wonder “what’s to come next week??” hmm….

Then why at this point are they frustrating me??

Don’t get me wrong, I like the whole “source” of the island, even the whole Jacob/Smokey angle. That flashback ep was well done. Why do they make Ben and Charles’ wrap up stories so bad??

Some weeks ago, we got an excellent moment with Ben Linus. Almost a redemption of sorts. Since his birth, he’s been through hell because of this island. Maybe it’s time to realise all the mistakes his made because of the island’s.. The killings, the lies, the deaths… Then why hasn’t he learned anything?

Okay, yes I know he lost his daughter and all (mind you, not his REAL daughter, but anyways..) but apart from a brief mention this week, she’s been ignored in the storyline since last year. All of a sudden he thinks in the last moments of last weeks eps “to hell with the greater good, i have some petty squabble to fix”. Yes, the passion of the moment can cloud anyone’s judgement, but it was done in such a cold, calculated  way it’s not like it was even upsetting him. Maybe that’s more to do with Michael Emerson?’s acting style. Who knows… It just feels like that moment on the beach, standing by himself wanting to be part of that group (a perfectly shot moment) was for nothing. Never mind Charles Widmore’s death… After all that planning, all that buildup for him to return to the island, he’s killed off within seconds, like the writers ran out of ideas for him now he got to Othersville. It’s kinda weak.

Let’s use an example from another Scifi show, Deep Space Nine. Gul Dukat, played by the wonderful Marc Alaimo. Probably one of the best bad guys created for TV (tied with Al from Deadwood, but that’s another non scifi story,,,) he goes from supporting character, to baddie, to good guy to downright evil by the end of the 7 year run. The thing with his character, it wasn’t a pathetic WWE double cross or anything like that, at all times the character believed what he was doing was right. All the best bad guys believe it. During the series when he loses his position of leader due to his illegitimate half Bajoran daughter, he becomes an un-easy ally of some sorts to the Humans of the show, as he continues to fight the evil Dominion for the good of the empire. By the end of the series, he goes full on whackjob crazy not because “ahh shock! tricked you!”, more due to the fact that he has a mental breakdown due to the death of his daughter. If you’ve never seen DS9 and love clever scifi, give it ago… and mind the spoilers

The problem I have is the surprise twist in Lost is that it doesnt feel that real to me… He’s been betrayed by the island for not being that important. He never gets acceptance from Jacob in all his years which leads him to his mistake of killing the island’s protector. He receives acceptance somewhat with the remaining Losties (and the rest of the hangers on left over). After all he’s done to them all, they’re still willing to take him in while they’re busy running for their lives from Flocke. And yet he sides with Smokey at the end?

Maybe the creators are trying to tell us that deep inside Ben is a truly flawed man and can never learn from his mistakes, or he’s got an ace up his sleeve and the death of his old nemesis was just a bonus. Well, one more week to find out anyway

Here I am again.

No, no.. Nothing actually happened to me. Just “life” got in the way, and I got lazy. Work’s been work, but I’ve still been able to sneak in a little of a social life and some TV watching on the side too. Thought I’d spend a little while telling you how I feel about the sci fi shows I watch of late.

Dr. Who

There’s something fun and exciting when someone new takes over the reigns of my favourite show. Being that it’s Stephen Moffat as well, a guy who I think has made some of the best television shows of the past couple years doesn’t hurt either. (FYI – Press Gang, Coupling, Jekyll. Check them out if you haven’t already). To say I’m a fanboi is a bit of a understatement. I may cause dramas with fellow nerds, but I prefer his record over Joss’, despite me falling in love with the ex show Firefly.

You can see if all through the reviews over the net anyways, but people are looking towards series 5 (or 1, or 31, or whatever the true name of this is) as a far more fantasy feel than the big and bold era of Russell T’s time on board. Not that there’s anything wrong with the change, there’s such a different feel between series of old school who as well. From the fun camp Douglas Adams days, to the more serious sci fi Bidmead period, to much later on the darker feel of “Cartmel’s Masterplan” as the show went on. Apart from Nick Courtney and the TARDIS, nothing ever really hung around all these years. The opening scenes of that creepy garden as the Doctor crash lands with the mystical music of Murray Gold (I have to say an invigorated Murray Gold – maybe the change was good for him. Towards the end of last year I was seriously thinking he’d run out of ideas) we’re introduced to new everything. Not even an old companion to adjust, not even the classic series did that. It some ways it almost feels like a new show as well. There’s some clever retconning of the previous years as well to keep the Earth young and exciting again as well – some more hardcore fans might be infuriated that those 4 and a bit years are now null and void (personally I think a clueless Earth when it comes to aliens is much better) but it opens up the story for new and exciting ideas. It’s just a shame that the new ideas for the Daleks look so silly.

Beyond that, my only real grip at the moment is Amy Pond. Nothing about her, or her acting ability or anything like that, it’s just I’m having a hard time connecting to the companion this time.  The companion’s role usually is to connect to the audience, having the Doctor being incredibly alien and all. Gone are the days of the two dimensional cutout who asks stupid questions and screams whenever something weird comes in their direction. Since Ace (and especially Rose) the companion’s character and story is almost as important as The Doctors. So we go to series 5 and we get such a mysterious companion (with her backstory anyway) and I just don’t know what to make of her. At the moment she seems very much like a replacement Rose. Young, plucky etc etc… What else?? Maybe cause we’ve had such wonderful companions since (Martha, Donna, WILF!!) It’s going to take me a while? Or is it just the fact that her backstory is still unknown?? back in the day we had a similar thing with Turlough. We didn’t find out why he was exiled to the Earth until the very end of his stay in the TARDIS, but we also had Tegan to relate to as well – She was the one kids loved (actually, have to admit, apart from a dodgy Australian accent, I did like her character – she was the only one who stood up to The Doctor back then ) In this day and age it’s very much a one doctor, one companion and OCCASIONAL tag alongs, so it’s kind of different. Maybe this will clear up in the coming weeks as she goes back to Earth and takes Rory for a trip in the past. We’ll see.

Lost

Until this very week, I was beginning to think that the “shades of grey” was beginning to come into effect with the Widmore/Flocke showdown. I mean, noone is truly evil in this fight and both are doing bad things for the wrong reasons. Boy was I wrong! Such a heartbreaking episode! We see the end (and redemption) of characters and when they wash up on the beach and Hurley breaks down, I lost it. I think it’s the first time in the show that Hurley has and it really says something about all of the characters, it’s their breaking point. It’s also known that the show is ending very soon, so.. haha .. but you can really see that this is the beginning of the end for all of this. There’s one thing though – I HOPE it doesnt get too mystical on us all.

Before you laugh, let me explain. Does anyone remember a movie back in the 90s called Hideaway?? Very average film I remember watching PROBABLY because Alicia Silverstone is in it. About a father who can see into the mind of a serial killer, and begins to worry when the killer starts to stalk out his daughter. It’s not so bad up to that point but the showdown is almost like the director runs out of ideas and makes this stupid supernatural special effects showdown between the father and the killer which is just so stupid. I just hope that the candidate (whoever it is) and Flocke don’t follow the same path. Sure, the show is full of weird, unexplained things happening everyday, but I think that’s almost shark jumping material. We all know there will be a final confrontation, let’s just hope it’s a little more thought out. 6 years of this show, i want a decent satisfactory ending to all of it.

Stargate Universe

Not a real lot I can speculate about this show. It’s not that kind of show. I’m still very much enjoying it, and it’s great that these characters are all so very REAL (the flashbacks for Greer this week were very well done) it’s a bit more serialized and doesn’t have a “Big Bad” hiding in the background, like the cracks, or the pure oddness that is Lost. Killer cliffhanger this week though – I’ll be curious to see how they get back to the ship and if it will be instant next week or later on down the road.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – this is what Star Trek Voyager SHOULD have been.

That’s all I can formulate in this tired 29 year old head of mine. I know I should do this more and I promise to from now on. Peace.

Terry

The redemption of Benjamin Linus

You know, not since I think Gul Dukat in Star Trek, Deep Space Nine, have we had such a well depicted bad guy on a television series. This episode focuses mainly on Ben, and throughout the entire episode I was sitting there thinking that he WOULD actually take the bad route. Right up to the very end, this Machiavellian mastermind loves his control. Throughout the series however, he’s realised his one mistake – Alex. While not technically his daughter, he’s grown to raise her and chose the island over her. Because he thought his faith in the Island, faith in the Jacob will pull him through. In alterna-world, it’s a pretty mundane existence, but with the same Ben. He can have the principal’s job, however Alex’s (in this world, just a gifted student and no relation outside of school) application to college will be thrown in the bin. For a second I thought – “will he do it? he hasn’t had the experiences of the island since a child (the breaking point (so far) of the original timeline..), he hasn’t learnt life’s lessons?” Apparently, the good of the somewhat mundane yet good world has done him the world of good. Oh, and Artz is back as the science teacher. It seems even in this world, all these characters stick together.

We see similar aspects with Jack and Richard. The loss of faith. Jack because he thought the island would fix him. Richard now doesn’t have Jacob to look to. Yet fate is a cruel mistress in the Lost world. They can’t die – maybe they can still age unlike Richard, but the island has much more in store for them. So what do they do?? I almost feel in a way, like I said last time, that it’s a parallel to religion in someways. Jacob the good, yet not providing any answers. Being frank (yet cruel) to Ben when he tells him that he’s not important. When it’s more than an invisible man up in the sky and we truly believe in the island when we can see the mystic happening around, you WANT to know what’s going on. There’s probably a very good reason to why (like us) they’ve been kept out of the loop when it comes to answers. A point to all of this? I don’t want the end to say – “actually, Jacob was wrong. Flocke is fine to leave, end of show”. It would seem a bit of a cop out.

A few other notes -

When did the timeline split? The island is now underwater in Earth-A, yet Ben still went there as a child, and just left with his father. Maybe they evacuated the place when the bomb exploded? End of the island?? (although how could they survive something like that?? I’ll give them a little leeway there…)

Only last week I was saying “I wonder what happened to Charlie” and whether the character was coming back. If he is the person to be returning by Jacob’s hand? Or maybe Jacob had nothing to do with it, and just knew it was going to eventually happen?? He’s very anti-Ben at this point and I have a feeling that he won’t be cosying up to him, even for the good of the island. And also – Does that mean the eventual return of Penny/Des? I hope so. Even though I’d love a happily ever after for those two, you KNOW stuff like that is pretty impossible in the Lost world.

All round, a really good episode. Less WTF moments, but some really well done scenes with Ben and Ilana as she is ready to kill him.

“i am a good man…”

We start off with a good old fashion comfrontation, as Sayid’s had enough of being stared at and goes to see Dogen. What we get is a kick ass fight scene that shows us Dogen’s no slouch, he’s just devious like that. How an accountant (as we find later) manages to kick so much ass living on the island for so long is another story. Bit unintentionally racist there?? Like the sisko, he loses his baseball and just stops. End of fight. And tells Sayid to “git”.
Meanwhile, Claire and her “friend”, Flocke are behind the ash wall that keeps him out of places (my guess is that the hut was not housing Jacob but keeping Flocke IN, but we’ll hopefully later see)

“Are you going to hurt them, Friend?” “Only the ones who won’t listen….” Great friend you’ve got there, Claire. I’d really think about getting out more. Either way, it’s Claire’s turn to do some work. It might keep Flocke out, but Claire’s happy to wander wherever she likes.

In Sayid’s words “Apparently, i’m evil” – he’s gone to pack up and leave being banished, talking to Medium-Miles. Looks like Hurls and emo-Jack aren’t back yet. And in walks Claire!! Even messy she’s still adorable.. don’t know if i’d pick her up if she were hitchhiking .. Miles makes a similar comment as well. We get a little you go see him, no he can come here, so Dogen decides to get sayid to kill him! Poor guy, wherever he goes he cant escape his past..

It’s coffee (or beer) time as Miles sings the praises of Claire and fills in Kate with what’s been going down since she got the talk from Sawyer.

Sayid’s looking aroundin the jungle, and we get the good old ca chunk ca chunk of Smokey’s true form,, forms into flocke and Sayid goes the stab. Mind you, Dogen instructed to stab before he spoke. Maybe thats why we get a “it’s just a flesh wound!” moment as Flocke pulls out the knight with a confused/annoyed look. “Why you go and do that? It’s quite a good moment. Made me giggle.

Flocke gives some answers here. Is he being trustful here ? “You had no chance. Dogen knew that and he was hoping i would kill you…” Sayid is offered his temptation – could have anything he wanted?? ahhh so i was wrong with that “Last Supper” photo they setup. Perhaps Sayid was meant to be the judas figure?? The betrayer??

Sayid returns and gives all the group a message “Jacob is dead. You no longer have to stay here anymore. You are free” … well, maybe.. we’ll see how well Flocke treats the redshirts… “Flocke wants to leave the island. Anyone who wants to go, join him… if you don’t, you die..” Dogen looks less than impressed…

Kate gets all up on hippy sol star’s face so she can go see Claire. Claire, however, is singing some ditty that i couldn’t recognise (well US Australian children certainly didn’t sing it) and Claire goes all OH HAI to I KILL U!!! once she figures out what happened to Aaron. the face change is amazing, Emilie is an amazing actress…

Sayid drops the knife off to Dogen, where Sayid asks him why he gets others to do his dirty work. The sad strings start and we here Dogen once lived in Osaka, he made a silly mistake and lost his son to a drink driving accident. He was also given the option for his son to live, but he had to come to the island and he would never be able to see his son again. Sayid, without blinking, decides to drown Dogen. Umm, dude, remember that water brought you back to life?? Well, regardless to whether Dogen comes back, it’s too late. Hippy sol star lets us know that Dogen was the only one keeping Flocke out, he gets a slash to the throat for his troubles and yes, the wail and ca chink sounds of good ol’ smokey…. have a guess what happens?? miles and take split up, and while take goes for Claire (stupidstupidstupid), Miles bumps into the rest of the Ajira crew, just in time Kate hides in the hole with Claire while smokey runs through the room, and Ben and Sayid have their confrontation.. Ben for the first time in his life is actually nice and caring, but the evil smile on the face of Sayid says it all.. Ben slowly backs out the room off to the rest of them where they hide in Hurley’s tunnel from the other week. Kate follows Sayid and Claire outside through all the destruction where we see Flocke did do good on his promise, the rest are behind him, a little scared, but alive nonetheless.

On Earth-A, however. Still it’s Sayid’s turn. Nadia is alive, and yet married to his brother. You can tell there’s some tension there, some tense looks which disappear when the Brother’s kids come in and Sayid gets them their presents – the fakest, dodgiest tourist boomerangs I have ever seen. I hate to be mean, but seriously, it looks like they were probably made in Hawaii.

Omar, the brother turns to Sayid in the middle of the night. Even in this world, Sayid still seems to be the go-to man when things get rough. Bro owes cash to bad men. You can guess what he’s been asked to do. I really feel for Sayid at this point. No matter what he does in his life, the memories of the past always come back to haunt him.
It’s really only the next day when Sayid’s bro is “mugged”, but wife and Sayid know better. Nadia pleads for him to go home and wait for the kids to come home from school. He actually agrees!! She gives him “why didn’t you want me” actually, that’s a DAMN good question. Who’d say no to her??? Looks like he still feels guilt over his past actions. YET – an extended stay on a weird island makes a different opinion later on. Go figure…

Later, Sayid bumps into some hired goons who offer him “a ride he cannot refuse”, and not in the dirty way (ew). In some kitchen restaurant, we find the head honcho is Keamy, that bastardo from the freighter a couple of years ago. Good to know a bastard is a bastard, no matter the time line. Sayid sorts the business out as he knows how, and on the way out bumps into Jin in a freezer… obviously that money he stashed in ep 2 was meant from them. And we’re left wondering WTF is going on there for another week. why Jin seems to be in a poorer position in this universe is beyond me. isn’t sun’s dad Mr. powerful and all of that?? *shrugs*

So far into this season and I’m already thinking of some ideas. Is that the gist?? Have we got two sets of people living on earth?? Maybe the time line WAS changed, just that the old paradox keeps the original time line going. So YES, technically Sayid would be able to see Nadia again, well as long with Sayid-B? maybe Flocke IS evil, but is the island really THAT important?? Now that the button is no longer an issue, does anyone really need to stay?? is it to protect it from outsiders? and speaking of which, hows widmore going? havent heard much about him lately… hmm

One thing I’ve noticed is the heavy handed religious theme they’re playing with Jacob/Flocke. Jacob with the God/Faith angle, and Flocke, the devil side actually offering power and answers. I’m not the most religious man in the world, but in my head it really feels like this is what they’re aiming for. i might have to look up some stuff online. It’s no confusion compared to say, Neon Genesis when it comes to religion, but I’ll say I’m still enjoying all of this and it’s keeping me watching, that’s for sure!

Welcome to the latest review of Lost, where Jack certainly does NOT want to be a lighthouse keeper and we get a whole new generation of Daddy issues for him!

If someone with a knife to your leg asks if you are still friends, YOU SAY YES!!

This week there’s a lot of things happening in real 2007. Hurley’s on his (what seems) to be twentieth game of Plant naughts and crosses with (whatever happened to scribbling in the dirt?) where Jacob comes back and tells him to get a pen – He’s got work to do. Looks like now that Jacob’s dead Hugo’s the little errand boy, seeming that he’s the only guy who can see dead people. He doesn’t manage to find a Dharma notepad, so he’s arms all blue with instructions. Apparently he’s got to take Jack to some lighthouse where they can light it and summon someone who will help. After a brief encounter with Dogen, Jacob teaches Hurley the magic words he wishes he knew all the way back in Season 1 – “I’m a candidate”. Firefly fans try and decipher the harsh language Dogen spits out and from then on it’s a mainly a few character moments with Jack and Hurley. There’s one point when Hurley says “This is like the good ol’ days!” which is replied by a foul look by Jack. Mind you, foul looks is pretty much all you get from Jack in this episode. He’s had a gutful again. He thought that the island would “fix” him, never mind looking within himself to find out why he feels like this. We stumble across the old cave and Adam & Eve, where Hurley gives a few ideas (maybe they’re time travelers from the dinosaur age? My guess at the moment is Rose and Bernard) and Jack and Hurley are both amazed that they have never seen a lighthouse on the island before. I’m surprised the “Somebody else’s problem field” has worked for this long. Douglas Adams would be proud.

In the lighthouse, we see those silly old numbers again. Matched up to names. When Jack lines it up to his number (despite the instructions by Jacob) we see Jack’s childhood house. Before we get to see what’s behind Hurley’s window, Jack smashes up the glass. He’s realised that Jacob’s been manipulating them all for a very long time. Outside Hurley’s one to add to this list as well – this was all to get Hurley and Jack out of the Temple, and to show Jack that’s he’s important. They’re certainly playing Jack up as the reluctant hero. I just wish he was less emo about it all. It gets a little annoying from Jack after a while..

Meanwhile, on the other side of the island, we return to Jin and Claire’s last encounter. In the three years since we last saw Claire, she really has turned batshit insane. We have Rousseau 2.0. She’s got her little camp setup packed with traps, dynamite, the works. One of the fellows from last week wasn’t exactly dead. Jin wakes up next to this tied up guy, Justin (for the 80s kids, it’s in fact BLT from Degrassi Jnr High. Remember him?) who pleads Jin to let him go, Claire is batshit crazy. Well, Jin soon discovers this fact himself. Claire thinks they’re hiding Aaron in the Temple. Jin lets slip what really happens, but covers it up quickly. Claire’s relieved, if Kate DID look after Aaron, she’d have to kill her too. And Claire REALLY doesn’t want that. Just before she starts hearing voices, or a three headed monkey, Jin is saved by Claire’s new friend. Well, she says “friend”, I say Flocke. Jin, be scared Does that mean Christian WAS Smokey? Or is he a completely different character in the jungle? Be interesting to see how that one goes and whether we see Christian in the normal timeline again…

As for Earth-A, or alternate timeline, WE HAVE MORE DADDY ISSUES!! This time around though, it’s with Jack’s son. Yeah, even I went “WTF” there. Starting off he seems like most teenagers – Emo, Sulky, resentful… But we find he’s an akward kid whose father/son relationship is very much like how Jack and Christian were. Jack and his (less bitchy) mother go rummaging around Christians things looking for his will, and, of course, we find out about Claire, but that story is cut short and we return to Jack looking for his son David. He’s run out. Not back to his mother’s house, or to some club on a drug bender, but TO PIANO PRACTICE?? Looks like David’s issue is he’s afraid he can never live up to his fathers expectations. We have a sweet moment and it’s also kind of sad – back in the original Earth during Hugo and Jack’s walk, Jack scoffs at one point announcing “I’d be a terrible father. I could never have kids”.. At least we know in this timeline he doesn’t have one…

Wasn’t a bad episode at all. Jack is never my favourite character to explore. It does seem that’s he’s having a better attempt at life on Earth-A, though. He gets along with Mother, even though he’s broken up with his wife (that’s an interesting question to see) he still has a pretty good kid and has given up the booze… As for the rest? it just seems that these characters we’re watching week after week have been manipulated into this final showdown that is coming soon. More of a build up, but still interesting TV

So I’m back for the week and we get to see John’s side story, and his New story, as The new Man in Black (apologies to Johnny Cash). Oh, yeah, SPOILERS as usual.

Locke was really getting sick of receiving all that Dharma spam in his inbox.

This week is John Locke’s turn at the sideways swipe. This time, however, things are different AND the same. John obviously had a healthier relationship with his father (yet STILL ended up in a wheelchair, how does that happen??) and is happily engaged to Leela, err, I mean Helen. No sex lines for THIS Locke He still tries to go on his walkabout, however, and is denied. What we get this time is more of the asshole boss, who ends up firing him and Locke bumps into the owner of the paper company, one Hugo Reyes (who never twigs seeing a bald wheelchair guy on the plane earlier, or vice versa) who still basks in luck in the alt-universe, and offers to help John with a new job.

Basically we see John agonize over the card given to him by Jack in the second episode during their past encounter. He decides to stop believing in Miracles and hopes that Helen can accept him for who he is and not keep holding onto a hope that one day he’ll walk again. It’s a sweet moment.

Back in Timeline A,  Fake Locke (or Flocke as he is known around the Lost forums) is running and ca-chinking around the island in hope to recruiting some people to his cause. His kidnap of everlasting Richard last week doesn’t help a bit – he refuses and ca-chinks back over to ex-Otherstown where Kate has tearfully left and somehow there’s still enough power for Sawyer to crank some Iggy and the Stooges on the turntable, and I crank the speakers for a few minutes .

Back on the beach, not too much happens. IIlana sooks a little about her dead crew. I don’t know why. Maybe they’re some sort of “off-island Jacob cult” and very close, but until these last couple of weeks, she’s seemed not much more than a muscle group here to help Jacob. However she scoops up some of Jacob’s ashes, buries Locke, and decide to all go to the temple, but before (of course) will have all sorts of zany adventures and stay out of the way until needed just before mid-break finale, where they will most definitely tease us with the Sun/Jin meetup as a cliffhanger…

Back in ex-Otherstown, James in his drunken state has gotten to the point where he just doesn’t CARE anymore about the weirdness of the island. I want to say he takes it all in his stride, but it’s more than that. More of a resignation in some ways. It’s very sad. Still, Flocke offers him answers and after a run around in the jungle with a warning by Richard and some creepy little kid, we fall down a rickety old ladder (good question – how in the hell are they getting back UP that cliff-face for next week?) and Flocke throws a white stone out in the ocean. I was right about the ying/yang thing. There are two sides to this show. Whoever Jacob WAS and Flocke IS, they are the ying/yang to all of this. Stands to reason whether black is evil and white is good… We see a large list of crossed out people, the list of the dead. The remaining on the list are the main characters. Jack, either Sun or Jin, Sawyer, Hurley and Sayid, all accompanied by those good ol’ numbers (according to the show, Jacob was a bit of a maths nerd). For once, we GET SOME ANSWERS! Jacob/Flocke were once men like them, Jacob is there to protect the island. Flocke, most probably, is chaos. Chaos/Order, anyone? Someone needs to replace Jacob, and “the list”, are the candidates. The remaining main cast of this show. Flocke gives him the options 1. Do nothing, and get struck off of the list (does that mean die, though, or be removed as a candidate?), 2. Become Jacob’s successor, or 3. Get off the island with Flocke, which is all that Flocke has ever wanted to do. And just as Sawyer decides, “stuff it, let’s leave”, it’s credits time.

i liked this episode. Out of all of the characters in this show, it seems that they let John Locke suffer the most. Nothing in this guys life ever seems to work out. Here though, despite his disability, he’s doing alright. He learns to deal with his drawbacks, and becomes a better person, something he couldn’t really do on the island as he was chasing faith every week. Locke’s a believer, and all this mystical shit is like Heroin to Charlie… In the real word of Timeline B, he’s decided – “enough dreaming, time to grow up a little”. It’s sad that I feel like all of this “what if” is going to be swept under the rug somehow, and we’re going to be left with the John Locke we buried this week.

The secrets? It’s good to finally, (if slowly) see some answers. My big question is do they ALL need to be part of what is to come? Is it destined? Something they can’t escape? The way Flocke was talking to Sawyer, it sounded like Death will be certain if he chooses not to take this path. We’ll see. And what about Jacob/Flocke? Did they come in the times of the Black Rock? Did these two replace some other people? Is it a never ending battle that started at the beginning, like the Egyptian times? I’m happy to see the black/white side though. And I like the little moment with Timeline B’s Locke’s alarm clock sounding very much like the alarm that the hatch used to make. Great episode and well done enough to keep us fans guessing and thinking for the week to come.

SPOILERS, As usual…

In which we see Kate’s story as a girl on the run again, and Sayid finally gets a taste of his own medicine..

Deep breath, Claire. You’re about to go into Labour. AGAIN.

So this week we return to the flash-sideways? Is that a good way of putting it? Kate and Claire are in the taxi running for their lives and as soon as we get rid of the unimportant taxi man, it’s all about them. What I think they’re doing with these sideways stories is showing us a more “what if”, alternative universe, much like the new Star Trek movie and that their lives wouldn’t have been that much different if their plane didn’t crash. It begs the question “if that’s so, how did Jack etc end up back in the current day?” but even I scratch my head at that one. Best way I think.

I mean, look at it. The adopted couple end up not being able to keep the baby and Claire ends up going into premature labour. Apart from a nice little cameo from Ethan, or Dr. Goodspeed (obviously the Rom surname was a pseudonym of some sort) Claire decides to keep the baby and Kate ends up caring for Claire way more than she should.

I have to say, I have to giggle about poor old Artz copping it episode after episode. He must be a character the writers delight on making him suffer.

Back in the original timeline?? Sayid comes back from the dead and he gets a red hot poker, and some electrodes on the nipples, and DEFINITELY not in the kinky way. I mean, Sayid’s alright, but it would of been a nice moment where he goes “now I know how they all felt…” or something like that. Sawyer cops a brief comment before leaving, but he’s gone by the time the event happens. As for magical Sayid? The Gods champions? Claire playing for the “white” side (or if Jacob IS the good side) and Sayid being on the “black”, or Smokey’s side. The rest of that story was drawn way out as the whole group go “woah” and Jack and The mysterious Chinese guy get into a pissing competition about who is cooler and whatnot. Withholding information this late in the game?? Better start coughing up the answers soon, boys, we’ve only got one season left….

As for Sawyer, you really get the sense that he truly has lost everything. Finally finds love in Juliet and he gets it cruelly taken away from him. Kate follows out of a sense of… what? Love still? She says to Sawyer the reason she came back was for Claire, but you can tell from her reactions earlier with Jin (who also left the temple, looking for Sun in (of course) a later episode) and her tears when Sawyer and her have a little talk that I think Kate still has some feelings for our Western boy. My guess is that something happens with Juliet and Sawyer in the alternate timeline, I mean he’ll bump into Kate in some very too convenient way but by the end of the season, they’ll be happy in some way or another..

All in all, not a bad episode. There was less shock in this episode around, more of a building up to things. Poor ol’ Hurley maybe gets two words to bleat out (and while Jack admits that he didn’t save Sayid, he never tells him it was Big Hugo… Poor guy … Props where Props are due…) and the present day Claire reveal right at the very end probably will be a tease for another couple of weeks…

Oh, yes, before you go on. SPOILERS and all. I’m not going for a blow by blow account, but don’t get upset if i reveal anything in the two hour episode.

As we saddle in for the final season of Lost, probably one of the best series to hit TV since Babylon 5 for pure mind-fuck and well planned story, I think I shall try and blog the whole lot of this season this year. You know, I’m going to miss this crazy show once it’s finally off the air. It’s good for them though to say ” hey. we’ve got a plan. we don’t need to go on any further.” for example, look at the x files. that show went on for far too long and it suffered when it came to the overall story. I’ll just have to find another new show to obsess over. Until then, I still have Dr. Who, which comes back in March.. (yay!)

Well, let’s see. The alternate timelines is a clever but brilliant idea. It doesn’t seen to negate the original timeline either, the rest of the group are back in the present time and still being their typical selves. So instead of flashbacks and thinking “okay, enough is enough”, we get what would of happened to the group if they DID land at LAX instead. It’s gotten my attention so far. Kate is still Kate, We get a sweet cameo from some of the smaller characters (Froghurt) and apart from a big absence from Walt/Micheal (understandable, Walt can’t play being a kid again) we get the only difference from the original – Shannon decides to stay in Australia. Suits me fine – Couldn’t stand the character anyways… And, oh yes – we get our first appearance from Claire in a hell of a long time. Good to see she’s in it until the end. I would of hated to see that they couldn’t get her back for the show and they write her off with some back handed comment or something…

As for the current time, my thoughts aren’t as clear for the current moment. I’m glad to see I was correct – Jacob’s nemesis WAS Smokey the cloud monster and he’s been using dead people for quite some time. As for the temple? I don’t know. It’s good to see the kids and the rest of the flight still alive and safe, but it seems like a bit of a cop out. You’re trying to tell me that “The Others” as we have known them for the past 5 years didn’t know about this group living in the temple? Or perhaps this is their safe place?? Why didn’t they all run here when things got bad last year?? We’ll see what they have planned, oh, it’s good to see Kimberley Joseph again as the flight attendant. I thought she’d never come back.

So a delightful return for the last year of one of my favourite shows. Once this is over I’m certainly going back and rewatching them on Bluray to see the subtle clues (if any) they they have been planting since the beginning. Who would of thought this show would of been as sci-fi as it is now all those years ago

I finally caught up with Lost.

Since my terrible PC crash, I’ve kinda fell behind. What do I think? I think the time delay angle is kinda weird. I don’t know exactly the rules behind the island vs. the rest of the world, but that’s normal with Lost. I just try to follow as good as I can. it’s better than Emo-jack when he was locked up, so I’ll continue to watch for the time being. Not watching much else new at the moment. Well, you could say Doctor Who, I have a proper post for that to come. Bit underwhelmed with this week. Sure, it was good. But I’m not a Christie fan and the actress who played her was far from brilliant.

Oh, you hear about Steven Moffat getting the big role after Russell leaves? It’s been rumoured some time, and such good news. His episodes are always great and if it means he gets to write the arc episodes, all the better. I did like RTD’s work, but he was far from perfect.

Also finished a book called Farthing by Jo Walton. Like old fashioned murder detective mysteries? This will be right up your alley. The twist is this is set in an alternate history. In a world where Britain couldn’t wait for America during WW2, this rich upper class conservative family, The Farthings, took power from Churchill and managed a peace deal with Nazi Germany. Some years later, England is left alone, Hitler controls Europe and is kept busy fighting Russia and Jews are even worse off. One of them is married to The Farthings daughter. (In the UK they are tolerated) He’s framed for murder and the investigator from Scotland Yard realises something sinister is going on behind the scenes.

Good book. A little too snobby for my tastes at times and the ending is cut short for the sequel, but well worth a read. Now starting to read a book called Distraction by Bruce Sterling. Will let you know.

Anyways, late now and I have another day of work ahead of me. Night all..