Lost: The Man from TallahasseeI have to admit I was a bit worried about this week's episode of
Lost. After three years of hints and wondering, at long last we'd find out just how John Locke ended up in a wheelchair before he came to the island.
If there was one mystery on this show that has intrigued me, it's this one. The revelation that Locke was in a wheelchair before he came to the island was what hooked me on this show, taking it from a good show to a must-see every week until the bitter end. But as time went on and we slowly didn't find out what put Locke in the wheelchair, I began to worry if the story could ever deliver on the promise.
Well, let me just say--the story did deliver and it even had some good twists along the way.
I really liked the give and take between Locke and Ben. Hearing Ben ask Locke how it felt to to be hurt was a chilling moment. How is Ben able to be so creepy and threatening when he's so helpless from the surgery and confined to a wheelchair. When Locke admitted it hurt when his back shattered, I was bracing for the worst. I figured there would be some fight with father but I never quite expected it would be an eight story fall. It was an almost Hitchcock-like suspense moment, knowing something bad had to happen to Locke but not quite sure when and how it'd happen. So when it did, it was a take-your-breath-away kind of moment that made you both stare in disbelief and then flinch as we heard Locke hit the ground.
For once, the flashback story informed the events taking place on the island. One thing that is interesting about pre- and post-crash Locke is that how he interacts with con men. He's been conned by his dad and an attempt by Ben. And you'd think after all of the manipulation he's experienced, he'd have learned. Not so much. Locke plays right into Ben's game, giving Ben the best of all worlds--Ben gets to keep Jack, keep his word and not lose face with the Others. I think that was a telling conversation with Ben. His desire to be as strong is interesting. If Ben showed weakness or lost face with the Others, would they overthrow him? Are they all vying for some power postion on the island? Or does Ben have something over each of them that he holds over them besides the submarine off the island?
It opens up some interesting doors for the show now mythology wise. Presumably Locke has destroyed two ways to communicate with the outside world in the past few days...that has to come back to haunt him. He can't deny it since Sayid, Jack and Kate all know what he did.
Locke has shown an intense desire to stay on the island. I loved the role reversal of Ben and Locke. Ben wants so desparately for the connection with the island that Locke has, while I bet Locke wouldn't turn down the leadership role Ben has.
And the cliffhanger--wow, that was a jaw-dropper. Yes, I guessed what was going to be behind door number one as soon as Ben offered to show Locke what was inside the black box. But it stil didn't make the revelation of Locke's father being on the island any less dramatic, intense and one heck of a cliffhanger for next week. See, that is where they should have ended the fall run of shows...can you imagine the buzz if we'd had to wait three months to find out what happened next?
Meanwhile, it appears Locke has burned a lot of bridges and his fellow castaways know it. So will Locke now be forced to stay with the Others because of retribution the other castaways would give him?
Wow, this show is getting great again....that's two great episodes in a row.
24: Day Six, 7-8 p.m. I'll admit I've been sort of wondering how to approach this week's episode of
24 since the final seconds of this hour ticked down Monday night.
It wasn't bad, so much as it was "more of the same for those who haven't had it up to here" (apologies to Bob and Ray).
So, another season, another mole. Excuse me while I'm not shocked or surprised by it. I guess I could be excited that we found out who the mole was fairly quickly, but then again, Nadia is a bit too obvious, don't you think. But as I think of everyone else in CTU, I'm not sure who else it can be and work from a plot standpoint. I mean, unless it's Bill and he's got an implanted evil personality...oh wait, that was Babylon Five.
Meanwhile, it's a whole lot of very little Bauer this week. Jack finds out Audrey is dead (presumed) and he suddenly drops everything to see the file. Now, I understand it's a shock for him to find out, but is taking Chloe away from her normal duties to get the file really going to fly?
And Marilyn makes her move, which ends up pretty awkward. Can't blame the poor girl since just a few hours ago, Jack was inappropriately touching her face and subtlely feeling her up under the pre-text of fitting her with a bulletproof vest. And where's the kid? Was he off in the other room getting a soda? How weird would it be to see mom busting a move on your uncle when dad's only been dead a few hours? I think someone is going to need a lot of therapy. Hopefully CTU will pick up some of the bill for that.
Meanwhile, the real drama is taking place at the White House where the vice president has lost it and gone full out war-monger. He seems to be looking for an excuse to nuke someone, much to the horror of the Biscuit and the newly-returned Karen Hayes. "Don't let your silly logic fool me" he says as he presses the button to nuke the country that shall not be named. And none of the military leaders stand up to him on it. I know our military men and women are trained to fight, but I also know they like to avoid it as much as possible and it's a last resort.
Are we really at last resort stage yet?
I don't think so..again, it feels like we've warped to day two and are repeating out same mistakes.
I'm betting next week we somehow try to wake Wayne up. I didn't see the previews so I can't say for sure. But the way things are unfolding, I bet it that is where we're headed.
I just wish that after the last two weeks when things were looking up that we'd somehow built on that. It appears that we've regressed a bit here and while the White House stuff was good, the rest of it was nothing to write home about.
And did we all suddenly forget about Charles Logan? Not even an update...come on
24, you can do better than that!
Labels: 24, Lost, tv shows
posted by Michael Hickerson at 3/22/2007 02:51:00 PM |
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