In celebration of Pac Man’s 30th Anniversary, Google has a special feature on its page. Just go to google.com and you can play Pac Man right on the home page. Be sure to get your geek moment in before the opportunity goes away. Because once it’s gone, you can’t get it back. (Well I guess you could just play somewhere else, but what fun would that be?)
Author: News on Shuffle
Lost Recap – What They Died For
Warning: the following should not be viewed by those who don’t want to be spoiled on tonight’s Lost.
Last week we kinda took a break from the main story to get the back story for Jacob and MIB. This week we went back to the island and the remaining survivors of the awful submarine explosion that took half of our group away.
We start in Sideways land with Jack getting a call from Desmond claiming to be from Oceanic Airlines and saying they found his father’s coffin. Sideways world is mostly going to be Desmond coming in contact with everyone else from the flight and trying to get them to remember their Island lives. He even goes as far as to turn himself in for running over Locke so he can get near Sayid and Kate. His story ends with him, Kate, and Sayid escaping their imprisonment with the help of Hurley. Sayid goes with Hurley to we-don’t-know-where while Kate seems to be going to the concert Desmond set up with Charlie, but we aren’t 100% sure. All we know is they are going to a concert and this made the most sense to me.
Over in Island World, we see Ben for the first time in I-can’t-remember-how-long. When someone asked me “what ever happened to him?” I honestly had some false memory in my head of him dying. Oops? Turns out he really had been wandering the island with Miles and Richard (another person whom I had wondered what had happened to). They have a run-in with Witmore, who tells them that he was sent to the island by Jacob to stop Smoke Monster. Speaking of Smokey, he enlists Ben’s help in making a few people dead. First order of business: confront Charles Witmore. Whitmore whispers something to Smokey just before Ben shoots him dead. Apparently the killing isn’t going to stop there, but we will have to wait till next week to see what Smokey’s next move is.
On the other side of the scale, Jacob is back for what looks like could be the final time. He gathers the remains of the group together to share some things with them before he is gone for good. This speech wouldn’t have had as much meaning if it wasn’t for the back story we got last week (nor would the scene where Jacob has Jack drink from the cup before showing him the Light). He mentions how this is his fault due to his mistake (and we now know he means that he created the Smoke Monster). He also shared with the group why he chose them all. He said they needed the island just as much as the island needed them. Whoever replaces Jacob is going to have to protect the Light and kill Smokey. He is not going to choose which one it is though. He wants them to have the choice that he didn’t, so he is going to let them make the decision for themselves. Jack volunteers immediately, saying this is what he’s “supposed to do”. So Jacob takes Jack to show him what he will be guarding for the rest of his life, or as Jacob puts it, “for as long as you can”.
We end with Smokey explaining that Witmore told him Desmond is a fail safe created by Jacob in case the candidates all die, and he is going to use Desmond to destroy the Island. This brings us to the final episode, which airs this Sunday. If you want to watch the pilot and remember how it all started, that will air just before the finale. It looks like a lot of big things are going to happen, so make sure you tune in for our final hours on the island of Lost.
Edit: As was pointed out, I got my signals crossed a bit. There is a special airing just before the finale. The pilot airs Saturday at 8pm. Thanks for keeping me honest, friend.
24: 1-2pm
Sorry for the late post here, but it’s been a crazy last couple of days. Due to that fact, this will be a shorter recap than usual. There will still be some spoilers though, as is the nature of the beast, so viewer discretion is advised.
First notable event of the evening: Logan tries to convince President Taylor to stop the story that Jack has given to the reporter, but Taylor seems to be seeing the error of her ways. She definitely is not happy with Logan when they are discussing the matter. “I never should have let you do this!” she screams in frustration. This doesn’t seem to stop her from following Logan’s advice though. Maybe she has realized what she has been doing is wrong, but she is in too deep now and it is too late for her to stop. That must be her thought process anyway.
Meanwhile Reed (the reporter) calls the story that Jack gave her in to her publisher. And Jack gets ready to take Logan down. I expected lots of torture to be involved here but Logan was too scared of Jack for it to get that far. Still, it was great seeing Logan practically in tears being so scared of Jack when Bauer first captures him. At the same time, the image of Jack with the mask and own personal arsenal was quite frightening. If you didn’t already know it, you would finally have realized how completely gone Jack is. I’m not saying he is wrong for going after these men, but you can tell the situation is justification for him to get revenge for Renee’s death. Logan squeals like a little girl and gives Jack the name of the Russian who was behind all of the day’s events. Jack surprisingly takes the info and runs without killing Logan. Signs of restraint or just didn’t want to get caught? Either way it made me think that maybe he wasn’t completely gone. That was until we saw the end result of his next move.
Jack’s next move was for the Russian who’s name I’m not even going to try to spell out here. He can just be known here as The Russian. When making his move, Jack gets stabbed by one of The Russian’s men. It’s only enough to complicate things without being instantly fatal though.
This week ended with Reed getting arrested by the FBI. This wasn’t until after telling Hassan’s daughter that she had important evidence to give to Mrs. Hassan. Hopefully the daughter does the right thing and tells her mother before it is too late.
And finally, we end on a shot that looks like a massacre happened. The Russian and all his men are dead. Apparently he didn’t say anything, just came in shooting, but we only get a secondhand account. So much for Jack not being completely gone. If this was about bringing people to justice then he should have brought them in for questioning. I realize being a rogue agent this would be hard, but “shoot first, ask questions never” really wasn’t the way to go here. Logan calls the Russian President to warn him, but Jack has bugged Logan’s shirt collar and hears everything. Next week we’ll probably see him use this information, but only if he doesn’t bleed to death first. It looks like that wound is getting worse. Will time run out on Jack before he finishes his mission? Tune in next week to find out.
Desperate Housewives – I Guess This Is Goodbye
Wow. Wow. Wow. To this entire season of Desperate Housewives. Just, wow. Two things I must warn you of before you proceed any further in this post. 1) Obviously if you haven’t watched yet then you should hold off as there will be spoilers. 2) I’m going to try and break this down by storyline but since there is some crossover between the characters that will get tricky (especially towards the end). I’ll do the best I can though and hopefully you can follow along.
Lynette – We picked up right where we left off with Lynette – she has just found out Eddie is the Fairview Strangler and is now being held hostage. So of course this is the moment her water decides to break. She begs him to take her to the hospital, but he is worried that she will tell someone about what he has done. Just as he relents is when Tom shows up at the house looking for Lynette. By the time he leaves it is too late and she is ready to give birth. My thoughts: Fastest. Labor. EVER. I mean really now, Tom wasn’t there that long and she is already rearing to get this baby out. And the rest of it seemed to go by just as fast. I realize they only have an hour and there are other stories but there was no indication that any significant amount of time had passed here. At least give us that. On the other hand, things moving that quickly added to the tension, so I guess I can forgive the writers on those grounds. And it was great seeing Eddie deliver the baby. After all of the lives he has taken, he finally gets the chance to bring one into the world. When the whole birthing process has finished, Lynette tries to act like a Mom to Eddie and advises him not to run. People have complained that she has been blind to his secret and should have known better but I think deep down she always cared for him as if he were her son. I was glad to see she never gave up on him and finally got him to do the right thing. Kudos to the writers for giving a serial killer a heart and making us actually feel for him. I hope that Eddie gets the help he needs to sort out his psychological problems and ultimately ends up living with Lynette and becoming part of her family.
Bree – Last week Sam had blackmailed her with info he found out about Andrew. She shares this latest development with her family, and they try to convince her not to give in to his blackmail. Andrew even offers to turn himself in, but she doesn’t want to see her son go to jail. She sells Sam the business with as much class and dignity as only Bree can offer in even the murkiest of times. I thought she handled herself very well, telling Sam she felt sorry for him instead of getting angry. After the transfer is complete, Orson argues with her about the similarities between the situation with Andrew and when she sent Orson to jail for a similar crime. Orson is disappointed that she does not hold Andrew to the same high standards that she had held him to and tells her that he is leaving. So to recap: they spend all season fighting and after they finally start working together as a family he decides to leave her. Right then, moving on… Bree knows Orson is right (and I kinda did too) and asks Andrew permission to tell Gaby the truth. All we see is Bree telling Gaby they need to talk but it is assumed that is what they are talking about. Aftermath of this will have to be dealt with in the next season. It is safe to assume that Gaby will not be happy, but is there a chance she doesn’t tell Carlos? After all, I feel like there was no love loss between Gaby and Carlos’ mother. He is the one more likely to blow a gasket over this. Would Gaby keep this secret to protect her friend? And is there any way Andrew goes to jail without Carlos figuring out why? Guess we can add that to the list of questions for next season.
Susan – Last week, Susan had announced she was moving from her house and renting it out to make enough money to pay all her bills. This week we see her making preparations for the move. There is a garage sale and a slightly comedic moment involving a T-Rex, but overall there is only one thing that is really important in this story – the moment I finally cared. I have been very vocal in past weeks how I felt about this story. Most of it was because everything else going on around this story was so much bigger that it just got left in the dust, in my opinion. When Susan was having her meltdown moment with Mike and blaming him for having to leave the house her kids grew up in, it finally hit me how big this was for them. And the story is about to get a whole lot bigger, considering who the new resident is that’s moving in to their house. Anyone remember Mary Alice? Of course you do, she only narrates the show! Well her hubby is moving back on the Lane – and into Susan’s house. Looks like things are going to get a whole lot more interesting on that front. My biggest question is probably shared by all of you – What is he doing back on Wisteria Lane? Something tells me it is not to catch up with all his old neighbors. Big things are going to happen, just you wait.
Gaby – There was some crossover with Gaby and Angie, but I’m going to try to separate their stories as best as I can. Last week Angie had snuck a note to Gaby instructing her to tell Nick what their situation was. He asks her to drive him to the house to get them out. She does, but Nick passes out just as they arrive. Now it is all up to Gaby. Ok, crossover time here. Susan comes over to say goodbye and Gaby sends her to Angie’s to use her as a distraction while she goes to try and free Danny. Susan’s part is actually way shorter here than I expected it to be. I honestly thought her part would be much bigger, in order to make her overall story more interesting. But this is supposed to be about Gaby now. She climbs through the window and unties him just as they hear the explosion that is Patrick’s car blowing up. (More on that when I talk about Angie). Gaby gives the Bolens enough money to get out of dodge and start fresh. I love that she has always been the most superficial of the ladies, but ends up showing how big her heart can truly be here. It showed another layer to the character that made her seem more real. More kudos to the writers on that one.
Angie – Finally we get to my favorite story of the show (as well as the reason this was my favorite season yet). Last week Patrick had asked Angie to build him a bomb. Once she finishes he tells her that she will be accompanying him to Oregon, where he plans to detonate the bomb. Except he leaves the bomb inside her house instead… WTF?! It all makes sense when he explains how badly he was hurt by her actions in taking Danny and that he wants to make her suffer just as much as he did. He tells her she has 30 seconds to try to save Danny. She starts running but suddenly stops, turns, and waves to Patrick. Turns out she actually put the bomb in the detonator. We watch as the car explodes. I’m not sure what was louder, the car exploding or my gasp at all these events happening at once. (Gaby trying to untie Danny happens at the same time as the events leading up to the bomb exploding). For a minute I was really scared the house would blow up with Danny and Gaby inside. Nick and Angie move to start their new life in Atlanta, but send Danny to live in New York with his grandmother. And me? I mourn the end of the greatest story Desperate Housewives ever told. I was really starting to get attached to the Bolen family and am sad to see them go. I know a huge part of what made this story great for me was the addition of John Barrowman and his character interacting with Angie but by the end of the season I really just loved this family and wanted them to stick around longer. They made for a great addition to Wisteria Lane and will be missed.
There was one other story involving a dying nurse who confessed something in her final moments. We don’t know all the details, but it involves one of the ladies on Wisteria Lane raising a child that isn’t really theirs. This will likely be one of the main stories for next season, along with the stuff I already brought up.
So all you Desperate fans… what did you think of the season and its final moments? Liked it? Loved it? Was a little disappointed? Looking forward to all your comments so don’t hold back.
Doctor Who: Confidential
Usually I write a little something about Doctor: Who Confidential for the week after I finish my recap. Due to some technical difficulties I didn’t do that with the last two episodes involving the Weeping Angels, so I thought I would take a few minutes to mention them now. (And if you want to see them, they have been linked above).
I love behind-the-scenes stuff on occasion, but never as much as when watching DW: Confidential every week. It is fascinating to me to see how some of the scenes work and where the ideas come from. A few especially cool things from the Weeping Angels episodes included seeing the make-up work and some of the stunts. Also pretty cool was hearing where Steven Moffat got the idea for the crack in the wall. (No spoilers. You’ll just have to watch for yourself.) My favorite though might have been seeing Matt Smith and Karen Gillan interact (especially when they talk about *slight spoilers* the smooching that happens at the end of part 2). It was a lot of fun watching them tease each other and such. Don’t take my word for it though. Go watch and judge for yourself.
Doctor Who – Flesh and Stone
*As always, Spoilers ahead*
When last we left The Doctor and Co, they were trapped by an army of Weeping Angels. That is exactly where we pick things up this week, with the aftermath of The Doctor firing the gun he borrowed from Father Octavian up into the air. They have jumped up onto the ship that had crashed and away from the Angels – but not for long.
The Angels follow them onboard the ship, and with that the chase is on. At this point it is important to note that Amy seems to be counting down from 10. The audience notices this (or should) as does The Doctor. Also worth noting is the crack in time has made a surprise early appearance. That is because it is going to become the focus of the rest of the episode. The Doctor says it is pure time energy and the end of the universe. That doesn’t sound very good to me…
Back to the thing with the counting though… turns out there is an Angel inside Amy’s mind (from back when she had a staring contest with the one) and it is kinda just chilling in the vision center of her brain. The Doctor has her close her eyes to “starve” the Angel. Problem: she can’t open her eyes or the process will start up again and she will die. I loved how this sort of switched things up from what we were used to when dealing with the Angels – instead of “don’t blink” and have to keep staring we now aren’t allowed to open our eyes.
At this point the story with the crack starts to take precedence. The Doctor explains something about there’s going to be a very big bang and things will collide and *poof* a crack in time will emerge and bring about the end of the universe. This particular crack seems to originate from Amy’s time. The Doctor ponders, “what would happen if time could run out?” and I start clinging to the edge of my seat. I knew this was going to be our story arc from early on, but it was still cool watching it play out. This is the reason that Amy couldn’t remember the Daleks. And these memory lapses aren’t going to be the last thing the crack in time changes. People are forgetting things, as if time is being altered. And it seems to affect the Angels as well – they all run in fear from the light (which is shaped like the crack in the wall).
I’ve noticed this pattern that The Doctor and Amy seem to split up a lot. Is it just me, or did that not happen nearly this often in past seasons? I’m not sure how I feel about him always leaving her behind or letting her fend for herself. It’s as if he just thinks she will get in the way. And then he wonders why she doesn’t trust him…
While Amy is dealing with cracks in time making her guards disappear one by one, The Doctor is with Father Octovian, who gets caught by one of the Angels. Before he dies he tells The Doctor that River was in prison for killing a man and that she can’t be trusted. My reaction – River killed someone?! WTF?!
Finally we see a merging of the two stories going on (Amy, the Angels, the crack, all of it). Now that Amy is all alone The Doctor has realized just how dangerous that crack can be. “If the time energy catches up to you, you will never have been born,” he warns her. Amy has to literally walk blind and try to get to The Doctor while staying ahead of the time energy. The crack is hungry and needs to be fed. I loved The Doctor’s comment at this point, “The Angels came to feed on the time energy, and now it’s going to feed on them.” I loved the irony in this, but not as much as what happened next.
The Doctor feeds the Angels to the crack to get it to close! The crack is not gone forever though. The explosion that created it in the first place is still happening somewhere in the universe. This means we have not seen the last of this story arc. As for River and the “good man” she killed – could it possibly be The Doctor? If she cared about him as much as she seems to have, then why kill him though? And when The Doctor says, “Time can be rewritten,” is he referring to the person River killed? I tried figuring out River’s timeline with The Doctor in my head but it just made my head hurt.
Going back to the story though… The Doctor returns Amy home, they snog a little bit, and The Doctor has a light bulb moment where it all suddenly makes sense. Except it doesn’t entirely make sense to this blogger. I get that it has something to do with Amy but that is all. And it seems that we are dropping this until the season finale, especially since the date they mentioned in the show was 26-06-2010 – June 26, 2010 for those Americans who might not be used to this way of writing the date. Looks like we’re going to just have to take what we have so far and enjoy the ride as it happens. No spoilers!
Polly Wants A Crack At Happy Town
It was announced recently that Happy Town would be pulled after this week, with the remaining episodes airing starting June 2. To all my fellow Happy fans, I mourn with you. This series showed a lot of promise, and I am disappointed in the network for not giving it enough time to blossom into the great product it could have become. Two episodes simply wasn’t enough time to determine if you had a hit show here. I am very disappointed with ABC in not having a little more faith and giving it somewhat of a chance. Hopefully they will at least let the mystery wrap up, although with only 5 episodes left I seriously doubt that will be the case. What will more likely happen is we will get highly invested in a great mystery only to be disappointed when we don’t get all the answers we want. I just hope they prove me wrong.
Complaining about network issues is not the reason for this post though. No, the real purpose here is to recap tonight’s episode and sift through all the shiny new details we got about the residents of Haplin. So, without further ado, I present my recap of “Polly Wants A Crack At Her”…
When last we left Happy Town, Henley had just gotten into her auto accident due to the giant bird crashing through her windshield. Cue the cheerful little ditty with lyrics about being dead. One of the things I will miss about this show is it’s quirky choice of song placement.
Last week we had also learned that Dave was the one who killed Friddle, claiming it was because he believed him to be the Magic Man and he was therefore doing a service to the community. Debate: If Friddle really was the Magic Man, does that give Dave the right to take the law into his own hands?
This week we saw Dave and Tom Conroy looking for the bodies Friddle supposedly buried. The problem is they can’t seem to find said bodies where they are supposed to be. Looks like Friddle wasn’t our Magic Man after all… because that would have been too easy.
And what about our mysterious Mr. Merritt Grieves? Well, today we see him interact with Conroy’s wife and daughter. He talks bird myths – “In some cultures the frequent appearance of a bird is a harbinger of things to come” – and magic journals. The little girl’s reaction to this was adorable (and exactly the same as mine would have been). Where’d Grieves get the journal from though?
Apparently Happy Town has a thing for birds, because there is another reference to them later on when Bravin is describing the Magic Man. One of the things he mentions is the Magic Man having a giant bird with him with wings of fire. The bird’s name – Cicero. Let the analysis commence.
Going back to Henley though – she is found by a mysterious stranger called Aidan who helps her back to town (after bringing her to a vet to be checked out and sexing her up a bit). Who is this Aidan fellow though, and where did he come from? And is it just coincidence that he happens to find Henley right after her accident?
If nothing else, Aidan seems to give Henley a reason to stay in town a while longer. What is really interesting though is that some of the ladies in the boarding house seemed to recognize him, although we realize who he is by the end of the episode.
It wouldn’t be an episode of Happy Town, it seems, without a mysterious phone call from Henley to mystery person. Hopefully within the next 5 episodes we finally get to see who this person is and what they are about. Tantalizing quote of the night, “I’ll go see her and get it done.” See who?! And get what done?! Oh, HT, please don’t leave me in suspense much longer. I get enough mysteries on Lost. I’m not sure how much more I can take.
Getting back to Henley though – she realizes the mystery hammer is missing and Aidan probably took it. Speaking of Aidan, turns out his full name is Aidan Gregory Stiviletto – the brother that Tom Conroy sent to prison (and who was supposed to be in jail still). Oh, and he has a grudge against Conroy – a fact we spent practically the whole episode establishing before finally getting the big reveal. To make matters worse, Conroy’s wife goes conveniently missing right around the same time. Too easy? Possibly. But sometimes the simplest solution is the right one.
As Tom goes looking for his wife, he remembers something his dad said about the Magic Man, “He’ll be back, now that blood’s been spilled again, everything will unravel.” Add to that the daughter saying something about the man made the writing go away in the journal (which Mom was holding before she disappeared) and a giant hawk flying over them (which I think we are meant to believe is Cicero) and we’ve got ourselves a chilling scene here, folks. It would appear the Magic Man is back and has kidnapped the sheriff’s wife. Based on the comment about the journal, I’m going to take a guess that Grieves is going to have some connection to this case. I won’t go so far as to say he is the Magic Man though. No, I actually like Aidan for that one (depending on how his prison sentence overlaps with the crimes). If I am right, I think they stopped when he went to jail and are now conveniently starting up with him back out. Speaking of which, how exactly did he get out of prison two years early? With only five episodes left we don’t have much time left to answer all of these questions.
Lost Recap – Across the Sea
First of all, I would like to take the time to mention that this will be the site’s 200th post. I find it very fitting that it is dedicated to the most revealing episode of Lost yet. This was the origin story, the foundation that has been holding the show together. This is what it’s all about, folks: the origin of Jacob and MIB. *Note: if you haven’t watched yet then 1) shame on you, and 2) you should probably stop reading right about… now. You have been warned*
We started the episode with the woman who we would learn to know as Jacob and MIB’s birth mother getting washed on the shore of the island and being found by a mysterious woman who seemed to know a great deal more than what she was telling. Mom asked question after question before the woman finally said, “Every question I answer is going to lead you to another question.” This sounded like the entire show. If Lost were a person I could almost hear it saying, “Story of my life.” But I digress…
Mom of course chooses this moment to go into labor. Anyone who saw it was a boy and didn’t predict the baby was Jacob should turn in their detective badges right now and find a new career path. I also kinda saw it coming that there would be a second baby, making MIB Jacob’s brother. I did not see it coming when the woman suddenly killed the mother though.
The rest of the episode would see Jacob and MIB growing up together and being the inquisitive youngsters you would expect at that age. (Editor’s note: from here on out “mother” spelled out in quotes will mean the woman who killed their real mother and raised them as her own. Without quotes means I am talking about the birth mom.) “Mother” had some interesting lines in this one that added a lot of character to the episode. (Kudos to Allison Janney for an outstanding performance). Her line, “Jacob doesn’t know how to lie” made me think about what we’ve seen of him so far and wonder if it was true. I almost feel the need to go back and see what the implications of that would mean for the show.
“Mother” also said that MIB was “special” which made me wonder what she meant by that. Obviously she knew something about them and their role on the island from the moment they were born. Or did she just feel that they had been sent to her to take over when she was gone? Ah, more questions to add to the ever-growing list.
Something else interesting that “mother” said to the two of them, “I’ve made it so you can never hurt each other.” This rule had already been established earlier in the season, but it was interesting to see who was behind it all. What exactly did she do though? Or does it only matter that something has been established that keeps them from killing each other? Again with the questions!
Here’s one answer for you though: it turns out this woman is the protector of the island and some special light that’s hidden there – and one of the boys has to take over when she’s gone. So at this point we now know 1) how they got on the island, and 2) that one of them becomes the new protector of everything there. (We knew from the start that this person would be Jacob, but it was interesting to see how that came to be). Also kinda cool – watching the two brothers play the game where MIB made the rules and explained them to Jacob. Remind anyone of a certain episode where a certain character explained the rules of another game involving black and white stones to someone? Loved what MIB said to Jacob when he was complaining about the rules to him, “One day you can make up your own game and everyone else will have to follow your rules.” You mean like choosing all these “players” and moving them around like pawns to see who would take over for you one day? You mean like that?
We know that MIB would come to be associated with death, but apparently this happens at an early age when he sees his dead mother on the beach one day. She tells him who she is and where they came from. This would later fuel his obsession to get off the island. He tells Jacob about this and they have what I assumed was their first real fight. He tries to get Jacob to come with him but Jacob says no. “Mother tries to tell MIB that he can never leave the island (no matter what birth mom says) but he says he will prove otherwise. The woman then admits everything to Jacob and explains to him why she did it, “Those people are bad and I needed you to stay good.” She asks him to stay with her and he agrees.
We also saw what seemed to be the origins of the wheel that was used to move the island in a previous episode. It seems it was created to help MIB leave. Plans got ruined by “mother” though and we never actually see the wheel in action. “Mother” then brings Jacob back to the light and says he is the one who is going to protect it now. She makes him promise though that whatever he does he will not go down there. When asked she says it would be worse than dying. She then performs some sort of ritual ceremony thing that involves drinking from a cup. Once completed, it means that Jacob accepts the responsibility to protect the island for as long as he can. He argues but she says he doesn’t really have a choice in the matter, so he does it. And thus the keeper of the Light is born.
Meanwhile, MIB wakes up to find his camp has been completely destroyed. He gets revenge by killing “mother”. Her last words before dying were “thank you” which I found rather odd. Maybe it was a relief to no longer have the burden of the responsibility to care for the island anymore…? Jacob sees what his brother has done and goes into a rage. MIB tries to explain, but it falls on deaf ears. (I’m not exactly sure how he thought he could explain this one away, but points for trying, I guess). Jacob drags him to the cave with the light source and throws him inside. And thus a smoke monster is born.
We concluded with Jacob laying the bodies of his “mother” and brother to rest, while simultaneously flashing forward to Jack, Kate, and Smokey discovering the same bodies in their time. Smokey calls them “our very own Adam and Eve”. If Lost had a Bible, this chapter would have been its Genesis. And while we’re talking Bible references, anyone else think of Cain and Abel when they were watching Jacob and MIB interact? Because I certainly did.
That’s about all my brain can churn out on this episode for now. Did everyone else find it as fulfilling as I did? I was surprised to find I wasn’t bothered at all that we didn’t get to see any of the aftermath from last week here. And it’s not like we don’t have a lot to recover from, either. Instead we traveled across time to witness the origins of possibly the greatest story ever told. I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a pretty fair trade to me.
24: 12-1pm recap
*Yep, you guessed it – Spoilers time*
The theme for tonight seemed to be “Chasing Rabbits” *or* “How-far-ahead-can-Jack-get-in-this-game-of-cat-and-mouse”.
When last we left Jack, he had just killed Dana Walsh after getting the microchip that supposedly had evidence of the Russian involvement in the day’s events. At the time, I was scared the chip would turn out to be a fake and there would be no more leads to follow, but I should have known that was stupid. With very little time left, we are not wasting a single second of it for such lame storytelling tactics. Thus, my first thought was, “Wow, the microchip is actually real,” which was quite silly of me.
My second thought might redeem me a little though: I am really glad to see Reed Diamond *aka* Jason Pillar, getting more screen time. I enjoyed his appearances on the show Dollhouse, but was confused to find him playing such a small part here. I thought he deserved better and am pleased to see they are delivering.
Third thought for the evening: Chloe is on Jack’s side now? It took her long enough. If she had just listened to him from the start then maybe things would be different. So far her being on the inside hasn’t really contributed much. If it does then I might change my tune (although more likely I will say lucky for her it worked out for the best). Right now it seems like she and Arlo are just going to play catch up for another hour or so.
Every time Jack talks about Rene I feel so incredibly sorry for him. This happened a couple of times during this episode. The first time was with whoever that is that’s helping him. “The Russians took something from me. Her name was Rene Walker and they killed her inside my apartment. I need to make them pay.” Actually, that made me feel sorry and scared for him at the same time. Jack has lost one of the most important people in his life and is completely broken. I am wondering though, wasn’t it the beginning of this season that he was planning on moving to be closer to Kim? Has he forgotten about that just as easily as I almost did? Because that could be his only reason left in this world to go on living.
Going back to the story though… Jack calls in a reporter (Meredith Reed) who he helped earlier in the day, to pass off the info he got on the Russians. The call gets intercepted by the NSA, which puts them one step closer to catching up to Jack. They plan to dispatch the Russian team to take him out. Chloe gets suspicious and somehow becomes magically smart enough to figure out that Pillar is part of the cover-up and is planning on taking Jack out. Meanwhile, Logan tells President Taylor what is going on and she tells them, “let me know as soon as it’s resolved.” I had to wonder there, does she know how they are “resolving” it? Part of me wants to say yes and part of me says she doesn’t want to know. I don’t think she actually wants Jack dead, but at the same time this thing has soared way over her head at this point. She has lost control, and I think she is beginning to realize this.
Just when it looks like Bauer is caught in the cross-hairs, his partner takes care of the sniper. Go Jack for being on top of things! Shame on you for having a shoot-out in yet another public place though. First the streets of New York and now a department store… really now, Jack? That was not smart. He really doesn’t care who gets hurt anymore, does he? Loved the fact that Logan had just asked for some kind of public acknowledgment from the President and then has to hear that Jack got away with one of his Russian friends. Looks like he is finally going to get what’s coming to him.
So now Jack has the Russian who was going to kill him and can try to get him to spill who else was involved. “Four hours ago I had a friend,” he says, “A very good friend who was killed with a weapon just like that.” He is referring to the weapon they found with the sniper when they caught him. “Go to hell,” sneers the Russian. “You first,” Jack quips back. That exchange had the dual effect of making me smile and giving me chills.
Cue the torture scene that is really just a giant therapy session for him masked under the guise of being “part of the mission”. He says he is looking for info, but what he really wants is the name of the person who ordered the hit on Rene so he can go after them next. Jack has totally lost control here, folks (in case you hadn’t noticed). I was on his side in defying the President but this has become more about himself and less about what is right. He is going to extremes even for him. Tonight’s ending really drove that home for me. First there was the torture, then he cut open the Russian operative to get at the SIM card he swallowed. This leads him to the person behind it all – Charles Logan. Charlie, you are so gonna get yours next week. It was nice knowing you.
That concludes tonight’s episode. With only three hours to go, we are coming down to the wire here. Make sure you don’t miss a second of it.
Desperate Housewives – The Ballad of Booth
*Do I really have to say it? Spoilers ahead, people*
We left off last week with Patrick cornering Angie and saying he needed a favor. This week we start with the flashback that explains how Angie dropped out of college and joined the eco group that Patrick ran. She built him a bomb, but didn’t like the results so she ran. We learn the favor previously mentioned is this: he wants her to make him another bomb.
The rest of Wisteria lane isn’t quite as happening, but there are still stories to tell. Lynette is starting to get suspicious with Eddie’s mother missing, but not nearly suspicious enough. She still sees him as this sweet kid, instead of the monster he truly is. Just you wait, Lynette. You’ll find out soon enough…
Gaby and Carlos looked to be the comic relief for the night, but it was just a red herring. They started off fighting about Gaby’s lasagna, but this quickly turned into Gaby getting caught in the middle of Angie’s problems.
Susan and Mike are still dealing with their financial troubles. It turns out some of the problem is that Mike didn’t request payment up-front from some of his customers. Susan decides she is going to get them to pay up by guilting them into it.
Bree is still trying to figure out how to deal with Sam. Andrew seems to be the only one who isn’t scared of him. Orson comes up with the idea to offer Sam a large sum of money to make him go away.
And all that was just the beginning. Intrigued? Well hold onto your hats, kids. Because this week was full of twists and turns down Wisteria Lane.
Let’s start with Lynette. The police discover Irina’s body in the woods and visit Lynette’s house looking for Porter. They want to ask him a few questions, but he is on a camping trip with his brother. Know who is at the house though? Eddie. And he overhears everything. So he decides he is going to move back home, claiming he doesn’t want to get in their way during these difficult times. Lynette says she thinks of him as family and he should stay. I couldn’t help but ask myself, “Why are you so dumb, Lynette?!” I quickly changed my tune when she hugged Eddie goodbye though. I actually feel sorry for her now that she is getting attached to him. Especially when she finds out the truth… but that comes later.
Next I’m going to shock you by actually talking about my favorite story early in the recap instead of “saving the best for last”. This is mostly because Gaby had some crossover here and she was next on my list. First I would like to say that Patrick actually seems delusional enough that he honestly believes his plans to blow more things up is the best solution to saving the planet. This is what he and Angie are fighting about when Gaby knocks on the door, asking Angie for her lasagna recipe. Way to walk in at the worst possible moment, Gabs. I loved Patrick’s line at the end of this scene though. “You know how to make a bomb and you haven’t used one on her yet?” Classic. Eventually Danny comes home and finds his mother handcuffed to the bed. He says he got a text message from her telling him to come home, but it turns out that Patrick was the one who really sent it to trick him out of hiding. He also says that Danny is the “piece that was missing,” referring to a conversation the two of them had in the coffee shop. Patrick apparently tells Danny that they are father and son, but most of this happens off-screen. We only got the end of the conversation to let us know it had happened. I was disappointed we didn’t get to see the whole thing for ourselves. A word of advice for Patrick though – telling your son about your relationship while you have him tied to a chair… you are sooooo not winning Father of the Year for that one. And trying to make his real parents look bad because they lied? Please tell me that doesn’t work on him. I mean, he has to realize you were dangerous and they were just trying to protect him… right? And finally, way to go Gaby walking into the worst situation ever… AGAIN. So much for Gaby being the comic relief for the evening. Angie tries sneaking a note in the lasagna she brings over, but Gaby throws it out without noticing it. Lucky for us her girls are hungry, hungry hippos and dig it out of the trash. They find the note that was hidden inside, “Danny and I held hostage. No cops. Get Nick.” Looks like Gaby is officially involved in the outcome of this story.
Gaby isn’t the only one in a dangerous situation though. For that matter, the only one who isn’t dealing with life-or-death stuff is Susan. I’m sorry but her storyline seems really weak compared to what the rest of the ladies have to deal with. Real quick: she goes to all Mike’s customers and gets them to cough up the money they owe. Yeah it was fun watching her threaten everyone (especially the lady with the Hummels) but other than that this story has been underwhelming. Even when she tells everyone she is moving off of Wisteria Lane, I wasn’t that worried about her. I mean, she is moving to an apartment nearby, so it doesn’t mean she is leaving the show. That would have made for a different story.
Moving on to more important matters… Bree tries to get Sam to leave after handing him a large sum of money, but that doesn’t work according to plan. (I know, *shock*and*awe*, right?) Sam merely rips up the check and says she can’t buy him off. Oh, and let’s not forget the threats. “If you ever insult me again you’re going to wish you hadn’t.” Bree dishes it as well as she can take it though. She introduces him to a couple of ex-cops that she catered retirement parties for. The image of Sam sitting between these two rather large, threatening men as they told stories about the things they could do to make someone hurt was wonderful. The best was them casually letting him know they knew where he lives. That’ll teach Sam to mess with Bree Hodge. Or so we thought… Instead he takes it up to the next level. He tells Bree he wants her to sell him the company and uses knowledge he learned about Andrew running Carlos’ mother over as leverage. Looks like there’s more trouble ahead for this family.
Going back to Lynette now… Preston gets cleared for Irina’s murder but feels guilty for bringing her to America in the first place. Meanwhile, Lynette overhears that the police found the body of Eddie’s mother. She goes to tell Eddie about this, but he mentions having just talked to his mother before Lynette gets the chance to say anything. This makes Lynette think they must have made a mistake and she’s not really dead. When Eddie hears about them finding the body though, his reaction tells Lynette that he lied about talking to her. Now she is about to see what Eddie really is.
To be continued…
It occurs to me that a lot needs to happen in the last episode of the season (which is next week). We have Patrick’s endgame for starters, which could be the whole hour easy. And what happened to him affecting the lives of everyone on Wisteria Lane? It definitely said that in multiple interviews that John Barrowman did after announcing he got the part. So far only Gaby has gotten involved. And what about Lynette? We all know she has to go into labor while Eddie has her, right? Hopefully this kid shows he has a heart and helps her when the time comes. As for Bree, she still has to deal with Sam’s threat to her family. Does she give in to his demands for ownership of the company? Or does she find some way to stop him from spilling what he knows about Andrew? I don’t see how they are going to get through it all. Obviously some of it will carry over into the next season, but most of it should happen in the next episode. I guess we’ll just have to tune in next week to find out how it all ends.