Hawaii Five-O

Now that summer is upon us and all our shows are wrapping up for the season (if they haven’t already) it is time for us to take a look at some new potentials for the fall season. Hawaii Five-O wasn’t on my to-do list until I watched the trailer.

It looks entertaining enough (for what it is) and seems to have a good cast. I loved Alex O’Loughlin in “Moonlight” and Daniel Dae Kim is fresh from a great stint on “Lost”. I’ll probably watch the first episode because I like the cast and see if it tickles my fancy any.

What fall premieres are you most looking forward to? Sound off in the comments section.

Lost – The End

The following was written as the show progressed, in an attempt to make the writer’s life just a little easier. It is chock full of SPOILERS and lots of commentary. You get the honest to goodness first reactions to the events as they happened. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed the process. There are no concluding remarks at the end, as my brain really couldn’t process much more once it was finished. Maybe I’ll write more after a second viewing in a couple days. For now, sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.

This is it. The moment we have all been waiting for. After 6 years investing our hearts and lives into this show, we have now come to The End of Lost. The finale was quite extensive, but I’m going to try my best to write as coherent a recap as I possibly can.

In Sideways world, Desmond has busted Kate and Sayid out of jail. Sayid has gone with Hurley while Kate has stayed with Desmond, who is going to give her a bit of Enlightenment.

Back on the Island, Jack is fresh from his own brand of Enlightenment, with Jacob passing on the Island torch to him. The stakes: protect the Light or it will be the end for all of them. Hurley says, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” Ya think?! After the scene with the submarine blowing up earlier this season I won’t put anything past these writers. Expect the unexpected, is what I say. Boy was I right about that.

Sideways Hurley telling Sayid, “if you stick with me you’ll be happy you did” made me think of our relationship with Lost. We have stuck with this show for 6 years, and now is the time where we get to be happy we did.

On the Island, Smokey and Sawyer are both looking for Desmond at the well, but he has somehow found himself with Rose and Bernard. Oh, and their little dog Vincent too. Looks like we really are bringing everyone back for the big finish. Smokey finds where they are hiding and tells Desmond to come with him or Rose and Bernard will die. He cooperates in exchange for their guaranteed safety.

So Desmond goes with Smokey and Ben to the next phase of “the plan”. When I saw that Ben was still in contact with Miles and hadn’t actually abandoned them I did a little cheer – and then quickly got my head back in the game.

In Sideways world, Miles is heading to the concert that Drive Shaft is supposed to give. I predict all of Sideways world will be at this concert for a huge dose of Enlightenment before we are through. (Was kinda sorta right on this point). Jin and Sun seem to have their moment when Juliet is examining Sun and the baby though. It had to have been incredibly weird for Sun watching she and Jin die in the final flashes of her memory. Still, it was great seeing them suddenly know how to speak English perfectly and using that as a merging of the two worlds.

Back on the Island, the pieces are set up and it is established that everyone is going to the Cave of Wonders for a final showdown. Switching from Island Jack planning on killing Locke to Sideways Jack working to save Locke was quite a transition. They are approaching it from different angles, but both versions are ultimately going to accomplish the same thing. Their versions of Locke are broken in different ways and they are going to fix them. Does that mean merging the two together? Keep reading to find out.

Hooray moment #2 – Frank is still alive! And he is going to fly them all off the island! Hooray!

Back to the main story though – Jack and Smokey face off. Jack looks him dead in the eye and says “I’m gonna kill you. “How are you going to do that?” Smokey asks. “It’s a surprise,” Jack replies. *gets chills* That was almost Cheer Moment #3, but not quite. The real “Hooray” comes when he actually does it. For now it was more of a *gasp*

Sideways world gives us our own *gasp* with Juliet being the mother of Jack’s child. They are all planning on going to the Drive Shaft concert as a little not-quite-perfect family.

Back on the island, I couldn’t help but think the Island brought us to the Light a little too soon. That was until Desmond basically confirmed going into the Light was going to bring them to Sideways world and their own bit of Enlightenment. Then I figured the rest of it had to be the merging of the two worlds. Desmond seems to be the thing connecting the two worlds together. By him going into the Light, it will somehow trigger this merging of the worlds. Or so I thought.

Sideways world gives us back Shannon and Boone, and in that moment also gives Sayid his Enlightenment. Now he can have his second chance. It also brings us one step closer to that merger I just talked about. And back on the Island Desmond is being lowered into the Light to really get this party started.

Speaking of parties, there certainly are a lot of familiar faces at that party/concert that we’ve been gearing up for. Aww shucks moment #I-don’t-even-know-anymore = Charlotte and Dan Faraday meeting in Sideways world. Every couple that meets in this world makes me melt a little more. And it looks like Drive Shaft doesn’t wait till the end to put in their appearance. (Sidebar – damn Faraday is a good piano player). And awww to Charlie and Claire staring at each other when he gets on stage. They were one of my all-time favorite couple on this show. It made Charlie dying even harder.

Island Desmond steps into the Light (literally) and makes Enlightenment look way more painful than the Sideways world had made it seem. Just when you think he will be torn apart, the Light goes out. And then it looks like a lock being opened and I-don’t-even-know-how-to-decribe-it. What the hell did I just witness?! Brain = overloaded. (Maybe that’s how Desmond feels?) Whatever it was just made it so Smokey could bleed – almost like it turned him human. Did Desmond walking into the Light somehow counter Smokey’s powers? Like maybe there is a balance in the universe now? You’ll just have to stay tuned to find out.

Back to Sideways world – Claire’s moment with Charlie seems to have triggered her labour. Everyone say it with me – Of course it has! And how appropriate that Kate is the one there to help her deliver the baby. That doesn’t sound familiar at all? *note the sarcasm* The whole thing makes me believe in fate more than ever – and brings the two a little piece of Enlightenment. And then when Charlie joins the picture – forget about it. No – remember! Everything! Charlie remembers Claire and we all get the moment we’ve wanted since the day Charlie died – the idea they will actually get to be a picture-perfect family and live happily ever after.

Things aren’t nearly as peachy on the island though. As Sideways world gets pieced together, the island starts falling apart. No one said paradise would be easy to reach though, did they? Oh, and hello there Jack and Locke. Them facing off makes my heart stop a little, and I wonder if I will live long enough to post this massive blog I have written. Their fight is purely primal, and sends us back to the early days of man. It is a woman who will save Jack from a knife to the throat though – more specifically Kate. Locke takes a tumble off the cliff and we wave bye-bye.

Sideways world seems to be merging even more, as the cut on Jack’s neck appears in this world as well. And Locke wakes up, knowing that “it worked” – almost as if his two selves had merged as well. And in that moment Locke has his Enlightenment, remembering the first time he walked on the island. Jack starts to remember a little too, even though he tries to fight it. He hurries off quite shaken (which I would be too if the same had happened to me).

Island Jack isn’t doing so good either though. He has quite the stab wound to contend with. Although he claims he’ll be fine, this viewer isn’t convinced.

Moments that make me smile: Frank giving Miles duct tape (!) to fix the plane. Thus proving my theory that duct tape can fix ANYTHING. He and Ben also get the exchange of the night:

Frank: Don’t bother me
Ben: Sounds like they’re making progress.

Love it! “Don’t bother me” is what we all say to our friends when they try to talk to us during Lost. And we always finish each week thinking we are “making progress”.

It is all happening too fast. Ben is saying “If the island is going down, I’m going down with it” and Jack and Kate are proclaiming their love for each other and I am just done at this point. If you thought it was hard following this review before, then you better hold on because we still have a long way to go before this thing comes in for its final landing.

Whew, ok, I think I’ve composed myself enough to continue. It’s hard when Miles gives me lines like this though:

“I don’t believe in a lot of things, but I do believe in duct tape”

Going back to the actually story though, Sawyer seems to be the only one left in Sideways world who is totally and utterly confused here. He is left wandering the hospital in this state of mind when he runs into none other than Juliet. They get their little flash of Enlightenment and Sawyer is no longer the odd-man-out. Again I say it must be weird for these people seeing the death scenes of them and their partners. It is hard to imagine just how that would feel, but the cast all did a great job of conveying it convincingly enough.

The Enlightenment continues when Kate and Jack run into each other at what remains of the party. Jack is still resisting, but Kate is going to help complete the process.

Meanwhile, Island Jack is embracing his destiny by throwing himself down into the Cave to complete his part in protecting the island. Before he goes he passes the job onto Hurley (who, if you remember, had previously said he was glad it wasn’t him when Jack got the job in the first place). They perform the same ritual that has been tradition from the beginning, and with that Hurley is the new Island Guardian.

Cheer Moment #I-stopped-counting-at-this-point goes to Jack’s line to Desmond, “I’ll see you in another life brother.” We are realizing here that while the island has huge implications, at the same time it doesn’t really matter what happens here or who survives – we’ll see them in another life.

And so we end as we began – with a bunch of people on a plane heading for they-don’t-know-what. They fly off just as the island starts breaking up beneath them. They will live together somewhere, while Jack will die alone on the island.While this sounds rather sad, the scene they paint for us is really quite beautiful. Somehow we are left knowing that this is what Jack was meant to do all along. This is how things are supposed to be.

Sideways world ties it all together in the most beautiful way possible. The scene with Locke and Ben – well, words just can’t even describe. Ben apologizing for what he did and explaining himself, and then Locke forgiving him for everything. Nope, words can’t describe how perfect that felt. Just like there are no words for John getting out of the chair and walking into the church where the other Enlightened Losties were.

Island Ben gets some good final moments too. He guides Hurley along in the learning process that is “what-the-hell-do-we-do-now”. Wish we had something like that here in our post-Lost world.

We still have one final piece of the puzzle before we can wrap this up though. Sideways Jack is ever so slowly working his way towards Final Enlightenment. As he touches the casket his father is to be buried in, it all comes rushing back to him. The first person to be introduced to us is the last one to be Island Enlightened. It seems rather fitting. Nothing could have prepared me for the conversation with his father. Dad tells him he is dead and so is everyone else and SURPRISE Sideways world is what we can possibly interpret as heaven, paradise, whatever-you-want-to-call-it. I could never have imagined a more perfect finish to this show. I never would have believed I’d be happy to see an entire cast die, but really everyone dies at some point (as Christian points out to Jack). And despite all the challenges the island presented, they were happiest when they were together. Now they can live happily-ever-after for all eternity. Can I get an Amen? If the island was purgatory, then they have finally reached their final resting place. And as the Light pours throughout the church, encompassing them all, I am left completely satisfied.

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.

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.

Lost Recap – The Candidate

Wow, looking at my notes for this one and there is a ton of stuff to cover. That means LOTS OF SPOILERS… in case you were wondering.

Last week we left with Sideways Jack performing surgery on Locke. We start tonight with Locke waking up from surgery. Jack gives him details on what happens and mentions his original spinal injury. “I think you’re a candidate,” he says, referring to a selective surgery that could possibly make him able to walk again. “I think that I can fix you.” Sounds good to me, since both versions could certainly use some fixing. Flip to the island and Jack is waking up from his own injuries. “Welcome to Hydra Island,” Sayid tells him. Oh, and Sawyers group? They had been ambushed by Whidmore’s people in the last episode, and are now being locked away in some very familiar cages (well, familiar to Sawyer anyway).

Mission statement: Sideways Jack is on mission to find out what caused Locke’s accident, since he won’t tell Jack himself or let Jack help him. Meanwhile the Locke-ness monster is on a mission of his own – to convince the rest of the group that it is in their best interest to all leave together. Now that I know how this ends I can’t help but think “Like lambs to the slaughter…” but I am getting ahead of myself here. What I thought at the time is just as relevant: Jack got it right when he said they should stay on the island. Let me do the math for you: Smokey = bad, therefore, what Smokey wants = BAD IDEA. Whatever he says you should DO THE OPPOSITE. Right, moving on then…

Jin and Sun share a lovely moment just before the lights go out on camp Whidmore. Foreshadowing or coincidence? You decide (but there is no such thing as coincidence, in this show or life). Storms appear seemingly out of thin air and Smokey makes like the smoke monster he is and smokes him some Whidmore flunkies. Then Jack sets his captured mates free, and instead of saying “thank you” they ask what he is doing there. Now that’s gratitude for ya!

Back in Sideways Land, I can’t help but wonder what would make Locke so against this surgery. Unless he feels guilty about some element of the accident… like he deserves what he got maybe? Then we see what happened to his father and that becomes the most likely scenario. Yet we are still missing a crucial piece to the puzzle (but that comes later).

Other things that confuse me: Why people think bullets will actually be able to do anything to a SMOKE MONSTER. He takes the form of dead people and turns into SMOKE! Bullets ain’t gonna do nothin’ to him. And hello there plane that is almost perfectly in tact even though it should probably be in a million pieces right now. Isn’t it lucky that all they probably need to do is hot-wire the thing and it will fly like a beauty? Oh, explosives, eh? Didn’t see that one coming… Sawyer saying, “Guess I was wrong about you” to Smokey also had me confused until I realized he was just pretending to keep him from getting suspicious. The scene went something like this for me though:

Sawyer: I guess I was wrong about you.
Me
: Sawyer, you weren’t wrong! He is using you to get what he wants. Why are people on these shows so stupid?! Arrrrrrggghhhh

*five seconds later he is planning to stab Smokey in the back* (well, figuratively).

Me
: Yay! You do have two brain cells to rub together!

To be fair, Sawyer has proven to be a smart, conniving, son-of-a-bee in the past and I shouldn’t have doubted him so easily. In my defense, I was watching 24 last night and the writers have made a few characters so incredibly stupid that I’m praying this is all some kind of trick so they can redeem themselves. (President Taylor, I’m talking to you).

Back in the hospital, Locke is mumbling some “nonsense” in his sleep. Things like “push the button” and “I wish you had believed me”. Connecting with events on the island? Possibly. In fact, very likely. (Especially that “push the button” stuff). Jack is starting to see a connection too, at least regarding the passengers of Oceanic 815. Seeing him and Claire made me really hope this world is the one we are working towards. Or maybe we can get the best of both worlds. Maybe they can learn from their experiences on the island but get to be as happy as most of their Sideways selves seem to be.

Back on the island, the gangs all back together – and they are attempting to hijack the sub so they can blow this Popsicle stand. Little do they know that it is their sub that is going to blow. Smokey tries to convince Jack that whoever told him to stay on the island was wrong but Jack replies “Locke told me to stay” then pushes him into the water. Awesome! A gunfight ensuing and Kate gets shot – not so awesome. And Sawyer totally leaves Claire behind to keep Smokey from coming with them – also not awesome. Claire is definitely going to be on Smokey’s side after that (unless Jack has some family bonding moment with her and convinces her otherwise). Right now it looks like the only way Jack and Claire get their happy family is in the Sideways world. Claire complains about getting abandoned to which Smokey tells her, “You don’t want to be on that sub.” That is when I knew something bad was going to happen. (Exact words: Oh, God. What is going to happen next?) Cue bomb set to go off in under 4 minutes. “We did exactly what he wanted,” Jack tells them all. (Me: “Yes you did. But you knew that before you did it, Jack”) My other thought here was that we can’t kill them all because there are still like 3 episodes left. Right? Jack seemed to agree with me as he said “Nothing’s going to happen. Locke can’t kill us.” We already demonstrated their not being able to die (or at least not being able to kill themselves) in a previous episode. Jack added to this his theory that Smokey needs them all dead, but he needs them to all kill each other. (See, even the characters have their own theories about where this is all headed). Unfortunately there is no way of testing this since they pull the wires anyway. Sayid runs away with the bomb in hand, saving them all (sorta). At least his final act was a good one. But *gasp* there is a huge leak in the sub now. So that’s what happens when explosives blow up inside the sub! Oh, and Sun is predictably in danger, because that couple was only allowed to be happy for about five seconds this season. Sun telling Jin to “save yourself” reminded me of when Jin warned them all the boat was going to explode in a previous season (which is the reason they had been separated in the first place!). My theory is that it doesn’t matter who dies here though because the two worlds are going to merge together and they will all live happily ever after. Because THESE PEOPLE HAVE SUFFERED ENOUGH, DAMMIT! (Whew, got that out of my system). So Jin tells Sun, “I’ll never leave you again” and we all cry a little and curse the writers for torturing this couple so. The only consolation is that they leave the world together.

Final revelations for the evening: Sideways Locke was in a plane crash. He had had his pilots license for a week and begged his dad to be his first passenger (even though Dad was hella scared of flying). The plane crashed and now he feels guilty because Dad is basically a vegetable. When Jack was talking to him I found it interesting that in the first season Jack and Locke were complete opposites but the Sideways versions seem to have a lot in common (at least with their father issues).

The island segment ends with some of the group washing up on shore of the island. It seems to only be Kate, Jack, Hurley, and Sawyer though. Is Jack right that this is what Smokey wanted? This exchange makes it seem that way:

Claire: Where are you going?
Smokey
: To finish what I started.

There are only 3 episodes left in the series (if you count the 2-part finale as one episode) so we don’t have much longer to figure all this out. Last minute predictions accepted… NOW.

Lost Recap – The Last Recruit

*Insert obligatory Spoiler Alert here*

From the first few minutes of this week’s episode of Lost I had one prediction: everyone in Sideways world was going to end up together by the end of the night. I wasn’t exactly right, but I was damn close.

We started with Sun and Locke being rolled into the hospital at the same time. Sun seemed to not only recognize Locke but was also scared of him… what gives? We also saw Sawyer bring Kate to the police station and talk about being pushed together somehow. Then Miles gets the call about the shooting and Sayid and with that the hunt is on. Sayid gets arrested and presumably ends up in the police station with Kate (although we don’t see this so who knows). Claire and Desmond end up at the same place as well. He is going to meet a lawyer (Ilana) while she is going to talk to the adoption agency. Desmond offers to help her out and introduce her to his lawyer friend, who is conveniently the same lawyer that Jack hired to handle his father’s will. Thus Jack and Claire meet and discover their paternal link. Before they can really discuss how they are related, however, Jack gets called in to do emergency surgery on… John Locke. No idea how that plays out yet but I predict he not only saves Locke but also might be able to fix his spine. It’s a miracle! And speaking of miracles, Sun and the baby are perfectly fine. So all is right with the world… for now.

Meanwhile, back on the island… the whole gang is back together (minus Jin, who is still with Widmore’s posse) and they are planning on leaving Smokey and the island far behind. Sawyer has supposedly made a deal with Widmore to get them off the island. While they are en route to meet Widmore & Co. Jack and Sawyer have a little chat and talk about their feelings a bit. Well, Jack talks and Sawyer scoffs at him. All kidding aside, Jack brings up an interesting point. He says, “If that thing (Smokey) wants us to leave, maybe it’s afraid of what happens if we stay.” I never thought to ask this, mostly because I assumed it just really wanted off the island. What if that is not the only factor? Maybe Jack is right and Smokey is somehow in danger if they all stay there. And yet again Lost offers twice as many questions as it does answers.

Back to the action though… Sawyer tells Jack to get off the boat if that’s how he feels… so he does. And swims to shore right where Smokey just happens to be there to greet him. Coincidence? No such thing on this show. (Also not a coincidence: Jack jumping off the boat much in the same way that Sawyer jumped out of the plane the last time they tried to leave the island. Oh Lost, I see what you did there).

But going back to Sawyer… Jin and Sun are finally reunited after an entire season of them trying to find their way back to each other. And just like that Sun is able to speak English again! It’s a Christmas miracle! (Wait, “Sun” and “miracle” happening both on the island and in Sideways world? Huh.) Jin and Sun say how much they love each other and that they will never be apart again. Anyone else think that was the kiss of death for them? I honestly thought someone was going to get shot right then and there. Bad fortune was to come for them though, as they were told the deal was off and Widmore would not be helping them get off the island. *Gasp* I never saw that one coming…

Oh wait, I did.

Widmore’s second in command (whose name eludes me right now) gave the order and just like that Smokey and his followers found themselves under fire. In an ironic twist, Smokey pulls Jack out of the way and essentially saves his life. Will Jack be able to do the same for him in Sideways world? Tune in next week to find out. Actually, you have to wait a couple weeks, but I’m sure it will be well worth it.

Smokey’s final words to Jack before ending were, “It’s going to be OK. You’re with me now.”

Yes, Smokey. We are with you… all the way to the end.

Everybody Loves Lost

*Warning! Warning! Danger! Danger! Spoilers ahead! If you have not watched this week’s episode of Lost yet then proceed with caution. You have been WARNED.*

After last week’s episode of Lost, I finally started developing a real working theory about what is going on this season and how the series is likely to end. The episode really was one of the defining moments of this season. We see that there is definite crossover between the Sideways world and the island. We also seem to be gradually demonstrating that certain people are destined to meet. Also, Desmond seems to be the one connecting them all. This reminds me of Jacob’s role before he “died”. If this is the case, I wonder what his death on the island would mean for the show (assuming he is dead, that is). Another theory could be that only one version of each character is allowed to survive future events before some kind of merge happens (?). If that is true, then we can expect more deaths for the future. It also might be a second chance for those already lost (Charlie, Libby). Speaking of Libby, when the doctor mentioned she had issues with reality, I couldn’t help but think, “Issues with reality, or more in touch with it?” It would seem the latter, since Hurley eventually remembered (via the ever classic “magic kiss”, no less). And finally, quote of the night comes from Ben: “No sooner does she tell you who you are then she blows up. The island was done with her. Makes me wonder what it’s going to do when it’s done with us.” Good question, Ben. Good question.

New New News

Lots of new music things for us to look forward to.

1) Wolf Parade is apparently working on a new album to be released in 2010. The goal is to have the finished product ready by the spring.
2) MGMT also have a new album, which is already available for streaming online. When you’re finished listening you can pre-order the album on their website.
3) The American Idiot musical is starting previews tomorrow. Buy your tickets today.
3.1) There is already talk of turning American Idiot into a movie as well. Seems Tom Hanks wants in on the gravy train. Thoughts on this? Good idea? Bad idea? Not entirely sure?
Lastly, don’t forget to program your Tivo for Lost tonight. The season is heating up, and there is still a lot more to discover about the inhabitants of the island.

Glee Gone Until April

According to my sources (see above) Glee will be going on hiatus until April. When it comes back it will be moved to Tuesday night at 9pm… the same time as Lost. If Fox was trying to make their biggest hit come crashing down then congratulations, you have done your job. With Lost wrapping up its last season I highly doubt many viewers will be choosing to DVR it for their Glee-full guilty pleasure. Hopefully this doesn’t hurt the rating too much and it is able to continue after it loses Lost as competition.