Lost: Every Man for HimselfAs we move toward the holiday hiatus for
Lost, things are really starting to pick up some steam. "Every Man for Himself" was a great episode, with (hopefully) hints to come of great things in the next weeks and then in January when we get an uninterrupted run of new episodes.
I have a feeling whatever cliffhanger they're building toward it is going to be a doozy.
It was interesting that we kept the flashback sequences to a minimum--in fact, there was one act with no flashback in it. I like that because, at this point, the flashbacks aren't quite as revealing as they were in season one, though it's nice to see elements from the flashback have a payoff in this epiosde. Sawyer and Ben both making reference to
Of Mice and Men was nicely done and Ben's throwing back the line "don't you read?" was great. (And now, I have to probably seek out
Of Mice and Men to read. Yes, I'm totally uncultured and haven't read it.) That said, the rest of the flashback was kind of predictable. I called early that Sawyer, the con man was working for the warden. I guessed that he was somehow working for the warden directly and the warden himself was corrupt but that proved not to be the case. Of course, we see how Sawyer puts up a big front both in the time before the island and on the island--in both cases refusing to admit that he has any feelings about any of the women in his life. But deep down, we know he cares.
We see it in his setting up the fund for his daughter and then his trying to get Kate to escape while she can.
Interesting to see Sawyer get conned by the Others. I also figured early the whole pace maker thing was a ruse to con him. But it's interesting that the Others want to earn his respect somehow. What purpose do they have there? And is Sawyer there as some kind of bait to keep Kate around? I've heard a lot of theories that Kate is there to hook up with Sawyer and produce a child for the Others. Is that why they want and need to keep them around?
And the revelation that there are two islands....that was a pretty big one. But it raises more questions about why the Others are so interested and involved with the other island. Is there something there they need or want, besides our group of castaways?
Meanwhile, Jack is slowly sewing seeds of doubt and mistrust in the Others. Interesting to see Jack's defiance and attempts at manipulation of the Others, esp. Juliett. Jack's barbs about her not being in charge and maybe he should talk to Ben, who is the real power of the group was nicely done. And I have to wonder--did Ben take advantage of the situation of having to move Jack from his cell to the operating theater to put up the X-Rays (which I am going to assume are his, but we can never assume on this show) so that Jack would see them? Interesting that when Jack could refuse to help the Others, his oath as a doctor takes over and his training. I wonder if the temptation that will be offered to Jack isn't going home but instead being part of the Others? Would this be the kind of acceptance and validation he's sought his whole life and never full received? Could Ben be some kind of strange father figure who gives Jack the approval that Jack so desparately yearns for? And how would our group of regulars react if Jack went over to "the dark side"?
Meanwhile, back on the other island (we can say that now, I guess), Desmond continues to have pre-cognition. At least we can forget the theory he's one of Hurley's friends since others interact with him. I am not sure where his storyline is supposed to go, other than to possibly show is ability to predict the future last week wasn't a fluke.
Jericho: 9:02 In one episode we see all that's good and all that is frustrating about
Jericho.
Jericho continues to delve into how ordinary people would react to the destruction of life as they knew it and the slow erosion of civilization as we know it. Selfishness and vigilantism takes over a bit as the authority figures in town try to maintain their authority over the general population. I wondered how long it would take for someone to figure out--hey, the old rules and law and order don't necessarily apply here any longer. In a lot of ways, Jericho has now become a frontier town from the old west, which makes me wonder--who will be the marshall, appointed to uphold law and order in town and keep the chaos of the wilderness at bay?
It may or may not be Jake, who we find out more about his mysterious past. This week we find out that Jake was maybe somehow sort of responsible for someone's death because he hung out with the wrong crowd. We're quickly made to believe Jake didn't kill the person directly, but that still leaves a whole lot of unanswered questions out there about what Jake did and why he left town. Also, it's interesting that Jake was gone four years and Hawkins was gone four years. Is there some other connection between these two or am I just hoping for too much?
Meanwhile, the town descends into near anarchy with every person looking out for his or her own interests. It is interesting to see how the cute IRS agent (whose name I can't recall) is the attempted voice of reason in the debate over the pestacide. I also found it interesting that Stanley tries to go the mayor for help, only to be annoyed when he's asked to share his crop. Staneley is clearly, like the rest of the town, guarding his resources and the balking at sharing of resources was interesting. (Though it is interesting that Ms. IRS agent, who can't get past that Stanley's debt is pretty much null and void at this point as she's so by the book there, is the one who goes outside the law to get the pesticide. Ends justifying the means sort of thinking).
It's interesting to see
Jericho try to deal with these types of issues, but then it's totally negetated by the last scene in which the town comes out and harvests the corn. It's a touching, wonderful, feel good scene but.....OK, why not have them use the pesticide? I thought we had some dialogue that said he had to either use the pesticide soon or harvest the crop immediately? I kind of got the impression that wanted to let the crop grow a bit more before harvesting. Of course, maybe they only harvested the area of the field that was affected by the bugs. If so, why give him all the pesticide and why not keep it and ration it for next season? I can't imagine that these bugs aren't going to go away and they might become more prevelant next year if the supply of pesticides runs out and is gone forever.
And then there's Hawkins. For a super spy, he's not very bright. He leaves the door to his secret lair unlocked and the info on Jake on-screen. The only thing I can think of is he did this so the daughter would find out and they could connect or she'd see how important it was that she followed his every order. And, of course, there was much hilarity when they used Vanilla Ice CD's for target practice.
As a whole I'm not sure where exattly
Jericho is going. I keep tuning in to find out who attacked and why, but we get no closer to the answers as the weeks go by. Also, the rather two-by-four-to-the-head mystery on Jake is not as compelling as it could be and I have a bad feeling the revelation of where he was and why he left town will be no where as interesting as everyone on the show wants it to be. But yet, I'm still intrigued enough to keep tuning in, for now.
posted by Michael Hickerson at 10/26/2006 08:01:00 AM |
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