No time for the Jibba Jabba

From the Presidents- they're just like us! files here is an article about Barack Obama's TV preferences. 

No time for long posts but here is some quick hits:

TV

Lost- loving it, the plot is moving fast.

House- thanks, world, for ruining the major change to the show before I had a chance to watch it.

Movies

Zack and Miri make a Porno- don't see. I was excited to see the movie because I like most of the elements (Kevin Smith, Seth Rogan, Elizabeth Banks, Craig Robinson, etc.) but it was bad. The best part was Jason Mewes (Jay of Jay and Silent Bob) who played a dumb guy instead of his normal character. 

The Flower(ing) Sawyer

LaFleur: If you've never seen "Hands on a Hard Body", the documentary about a Longview, Texas competition to win a new truck by keeping your hands on it as long as possible, I highly recommend it. It is hilarious. At one point a veteran of the competition is waxing philosophical about the nature of the competition and comes up with this gem (best enjoyed while envisioning a THICK East Texas drawl): "It's a human drama thing."

...And that's how I felt about this episode. No real answers but just a thick layer of complication in the relationships between the Losties. I am, of course, referring to Juliet and Sawyer. Throughout the "3-years ago" parts of the episode we see the two of them align and then, near the end, Sawyer convinces Juliet to "give him two weeks" to allow him to convince her to stay. That alignment turns into three years and romance, just like the blossoming of une fleur. The depth and nature of that relationship is explained in their profession of love (preceded by the giving of an actual fleur) near the end and in the fact that they seem to live together. Horace's fight with Amy brings up the question of what happens if/when Sawyer and Juliet ever meet Kate and Jack. Sawyer basically says he is over Kate. We don't have to wait long, though, to test the validity of that because guess who's back? Kate. Oh and Jack, but I guess Juliet's love for Jack won't be as big of a deal because we never see Juliet's angst or thoughts on the matter. It's a human drama thing, y'all.

The other side of the flowering metaphor is the blossoming  of Sawyer as a leader. In the "3 years later" parts of the episode it seems that Sawyer (aka James LaFleur) is a feared/respected leader of the Dharma initiative folks. At the very beginning of the episode the Dharma guys run to get Sawyer when Horace goes a little nuts. Sawyer may arguably be THE leader because the doctor obeys Sawyer even though he is concerned about what Horace would think/do.

Even though this episode is more about the character interactions and not the island, some subtle island mystery things come up. First, it seems that Sawyer knew to look for the returning Losties. Jin came up to Sawyer early in the episode and said, "We finished grid 1-3 today. No sign of our people." Sawyer says that we'll keep looking for them "as long as it takes." Then, at the end of the episode Jin finds Hurley, Jack, and Kate.  Jin was looking for them on Sawyer's order, but how did Sawyer know to look for them? Did Sawyer talk to Jacob?

Second, 30 years ago (or whenever Sawyer, Juliet, Miles, etc. are) people can have babies on the island. That brings up the old, un-answered question of why the babies/mothers in Ben's camp died. Third, I also wonder if there is something to the fact that it was 3 years after the Oceanic 6 came back and 3 years after the Losties stopped time traveling that they met. Fourth, we still don't really know what the Dharma Initiative is, but I'm not sure that it has some mystical criteria for the people who are living there. Why? Because Horace tells Sawyer "You're not really Dharma material" and then let's him stay after Sawyer talks Richard Alpert into keeping the truce. 

First Lost Post

[Note: As this blog gets underway I will preface my thoughts on any particular episode by talking about my general opinions about the TV show. But just for the first time I talk about a show. Also, when I talk about TV shows, I'm not going to separate spoilers.]

Preface: I really like Lost. I've seen every episode twice (at least) to keep past events fresh in my mind. It probably goes with out saying that the biggest part of my attraction to the show is trying to figure out what's going on before they reveal it. I like the supernatural aspects of the show. Part of me feels that the island is really (and has been all along) an allegory for purgatory but they did it too obviously so they've been giving other possibilities to throw the viewers off. I also like talking about it, because everyone sees different things in the shows. As much as I like it, I'm not on any of the message boards and I don't obsess over the little things in the episodes. There are contextual consistencies that the production crew maintains, but I'm not sure that they build foreshadowing and hidden information into the episodes.

316: I thought this episode was disappointing. I almost wrote that this episode was boring... but it wasn't. It moves the action from LA back to the island but we didn't learn anything, except five of the six (plus Ben, Locke's body, and Lapidus) get back to the island. We meet Jack's grandfather, but I doubt he will be important. I suspect that maybe Jack's grandfather has been to the island, based on nothing more than, his tone, speculation and the existence of some other generational ties to the island (Charlotte and Miles). The actor who plays the grandfather was well-cast because he had a pretty close "Shepherd" look and voice.

The episode is titled "316" which sounds like John 3:16,

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (From Wikipedia)

By flying on Flight 316 to get back to the island are they getting everlasting life? Does it simply mean that because they believe Ms. Hawking they won't die on Flight 316? This would reinforce the religious allegory (say... purgatory) assertion. 

Which brings me to my current big big-picture question: Is Jack going to be the island's new permanent leader (the position that Ben was in, which Locke took over)? I have always thought that Jack is the center of the show. I mean, the VERY first image you see in the pilot is Jack. Locke is dead (right? maybe he'll come back to life- like Jack's dad- when they reach the island a la purgatory) and Ben left the island so he may not be the central figure when they reach the present day. Plus Jack's dad is Jacob's face/voice (or maybe actually Jacob?!) so he has a tie to the island's spirit (which would be reinforced if Jack's grandfather had been to the island too). Towards the bottom of the resume: Jack was the force behind the Losties and I don't think that was a coincidence. 

Side note: The Jack character bothers me sometimes when the story has him shaped by events, rather than shaping events. He's the leader of the Losties (Jack SHEPHERD, comeon?) and should be kicking ass and taking names. 

Interesting Plot Questions: Where is Aaron? Does his absence affect anything? If you remember way back, the fortune teller implored Claire (where is she btw?) to raise Aaron herself... His absence has to be significant. 

Why would Sun leave her kid? It seems implausible for her to leave her child to look for Jin.

Did Ben kill Penelope? I'm pretty sure the "promise" that Ben went to keep was to kill Widmore's daughter. Since she was there with Desmond, I think that could explain it. This could be a device to get Desmond back to the island (kill Ben, resurrect her because the island is purgatory, etc.).

Other thoughts: 

1) I've gotten into Ken Ken, the Soduku-like game that the NYT puts next to the daily crossword. It's fun.

2) T-Mac ruins my day. For the first few years in the league he was my favorite player. I was ecstatic when he came to the Rockets. But now, I resent him and see him as just another player. I don't want to hear any more about him unless its "T-Mac for ____" until he is dressing for games.