Just cause it’s on my mind…

This new Facebook thing that you can do where you choose your Top 5 in various categories got me thinking of my Top 5 Episodes of Television Ever. Unfortunately, you can’t really do that on Facebook, but, of course, I had to figure it out anyway. And now that I know, I want it in print. I had to separate between Drama and Comedy/Dramedy just because.

Top 5 Drama Series Episodes:

1. Angel: “Not Fade Away” – Not only the greatest series finale of any TV show, ever, but my favorite episode of any TV show, ever.
2. Lost: “The Constant”
3. Friday Night Lights: “Mud Bowl”
4. Mad Men: “The Wheel”
5. Doctor Who: “Blink”

Honorable Mention (in no particular order): Alias: “Phase One”; The Wire: “Final Grades”; Buffy the Vampire Slayer: “Doppelgangland”; Veronica Mars: “Leave it to Beaver”; Firefly: “Out of Gas”; Deadwood: “A Constant Throb”; Battlestar Galactica: “Kobol's Last Gleaming: Part 2”

Top 5 Comedy/Dramedy Series Episodes:

1. The Office (BBC): “Christmas Special”
2. Pushing Daisies: “Comfort Food”
3. Arrested Development: “Meat the Veals”
4. Freaks & Geeks: “Disco & Dragons”
5. 30 Rock: “Subway Hero”

Honorable Mention (in no particular order): Wonderfalls: “Karma Chameleon”; Chuck: “Chuck Versus the Cougars”; Sports Night: “What Kind of Day has it Been?”

I’m my me

The more I think about Lost, the more I come around to the conclusion that FutureBen was not only preparing Sayid to shoot Young Ben, but that it also served as a sort of payback for shooting Young Ben.

This, of course, works under the assumption that Young Ben does survive and doesn’t cause an alternate timeline as I postulated in one of my theories yesterday.

I do wonder what will become of Sayid now. Even if he feels justified in his actions, even if this was always supposed to happen, what does the show do with him? Does he commiserate with the Hostiles? He can’t ever go back to the DI or even his old friends. I think that really only Jack could truly understand his actions, and, really, who wants Jack as an ally? I wonder if he will run into Faraday (wherever he is) and Faraday will explain everything to him. Actually, I suppose that Faraday would pretty easily identify and understand Sayid’s plight.

So instead of alternate timelines, I’m back to my original view of the space-time continuum, one that Daniel Faraday shares: if it happened, it happened, and you can’t change it. You can’t go back in time and kill Hitler, because it never happened. That’s not how time travel works – the universe won’t let it; similar to how Dr. Manhattan views time in Watchmen and how the Doctor views it in Doctor Who. Everything is happening at the same time: Sayid always shot Young Ben, even though Sayid was actually just a little kid in 1977. Even though linearly he hasn’t gone back yet, linearly it WILL happen, so it always does happen in 1977.

It’s all just so confusing and wonderful.

They didn’t just do what I think they did, did they?

My notes are short for this ep, so I’ll start with those before I get into that crazy ending.

- I thought a few weeks ago that we’d be heading back toward a more traditional flashback narrative, but didn’t think we’d be getting pre-Island flashbacks too. The Young Sayid flashback wasn’t really necessary and didn’t add anything anyway. I find it unfortunate that Sayid, an awesome character, has just pedestrian flashbacks, almost at a Kate or Charlie level.
- The kid playing Young Ben does a pretty good impression of how I would imagine a young Michael Emerson acting.
- The book that Young Ben gave Sayid was “A Separate Reality.” I have never read, and have no idea what it’s about, but is this an overt reference to the possibility that the future we have already seen may not come to pass based on things that happen in this past? (Especially considering the end of this particular ep.)
- Sayid = Henry Gale
- “A 12 year-old Ben Linus brought me a chicken salad sandwich. How do you think I’m doing” – Sayid, in the line of the night.
- Awesome seeing Roger Work Man again, as he went even further in his quest for the title of worst father of all-time in a show chock full of terrible daddies.
- Did the hostiles take children back then? During the discussion about killing Sayid, were the DI just talking about protecting their kids in general, or were they being more specific in that the hostiles kidnap kids?
- “Or I call Ann Arbor.” A reference to the DeGroots? Are they mythic figures in the same way that Jacob is? Are they real?
- Also, I do not trust Amy. Not even a little. Love Reiko Aylesworth, but I have a bad feeling about her character.
- MacCutcheon = everybody’s favorite scotch
- I miss regular Ben. It was nice seeing him in the flashbacks, but I miss in-control, one step ahead of everyone Benjamin Linus. (And who knows if we’ll see him again, based on the implications of the ending.)
- The “He’s our you” interrogation scene with Oldham was fantastic. Sawyer’s uncomfortability (a word or not?) translated directly to the audience. I loved the reactions that everyone else had to Sayid’s truth-telling and Naveen Andrews’ performance in this scene. He says he arrived on a plane, that he was here before, that he knows about the stations (and Radzinsky has great reactions to this knowledge) and that they are all gonna die, and he knows because he’s from the future, which he states very matter-of-factly. Really nice scene.
- Took me about 10 seconds, but I realized that young Ben provided the flaming van as distraction.
- “That’s why I’m here.” When Sayid said this, I initially thought that FutureBen told him that this was going to happen to him and that he had to bring Young Ben to the Hostiles. Guess I was wrong.
- Two more gems from Sayid: “Are you sure we’re going to Guam?” and “Can we get the next plane?” (Plus, his facial expressions in this scene were hysterical.)

And that gets us to that ending – and boy, was that an ending. Had I not discussed Sayid’s intentions with Angela during the commercial break, I don’t think I would have seen it coming. Probably because I really can’t believe that he really did it. If anything, I thought the gun would misfire or something or he would miss or anything other than Young Ben ending up shot dead on the first attempt. Maybe the Island doesn’t like Ben after all.

Anyway, I think this can play out in a number of different ways:

The Island intercedes and saves Ben’s life, a la when Locke was shot by FutureBen.
Jack saves Ben’s life and that’s one of the reasons why he was sent back in time with Sayid. I suppose Kate or Hurley could do this too, but Jack’s the doctor.
Ben dies and the future is changed.
Ben dies and becomes a spirit like Christian and (presumably) Locke.

I find #4 to be the most interesting and least plausible, if only because I’m pretty sure that Darlton have said that if you die on the Island, you stay dead, and while there have been visions of those who have died on the Island, they have never appeared to be corporeal and FurtureBen is certainly corporeal.

I also don’t think it’s #3 because I don’t think they would so easily eliminate Michael Emerson and FutureBen from the show. And it would change a whole damn lot of the future. (Unless you consider option #5, discussed below.)

I think #1 and #2 are equally likely, but I like #2 more and it fits in more with the whole “destiny” theme of the season. What I am most curious about is if this is the way it always happened. That would mean that FutureBen always knew that Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Sayid, etc. would show up at the DI at some point. I don’t know where I stand on this because I could see Ben always knowing this and keeping it under wraps because it would have sounded like crazy talk. However, I’m not sure how to read his future actions, especially off-Island, if this is true.

Also, I wonder, assuming Young Ben does survive, if he will take this to mean that the Island was telling him to be more patient – perhaps a real turning point in becoming the Ben Linus that we now know. Also, I wonder if he survives this, if this event helps shape him into the lying, manipulative, back-stabbing, information close-to-the-vest-keeping guy that is Ben 2007. Could Ben 2007's actions with Sayid have been pushing him toward this action? It could be read that Ben 2007 was trying to anger/enrage Sayid. I wonder...

But back to the ‘separate reality’ reference earlier in the show – maybe this could be explanation #5. If there’s more than one reality now, FutureBen could still exist in one and Young Ben be dead in another. I don’t know what this really means for the show, but if true, I would guess that the realities spilt somewhere around here, because as Christian showed Sun last week, Jack, Kate, etc. were part of the DI in Sun’s past. Honestly, while I think this alternate is potentially really cool, I’m not sure I want the show to go this route because it’s hurting my head to think about it.

But not that I’m actually thinking about it, I wonder if this “war” that Widmore has referred to is not just between two opposing groups, but between two competing realities, and the one that wins decides the future. I’m gonna draw a picture to illustrate what I mean…





I also wonder if this relates to the “unpredictable” result that Ms. Hawking referred to if the return flight to the Island was not done exactly the same way as 815. But I think I’m getting a little carried away and writing without thinking about it clearly. Maybe in a few days, I’ll read this and realize it makes no sense, so I think I’ll stop now.

Catching up on my TV shows...

Lately all I’ve been writing about is Lost. Now, I do love to write about Lost, but I felt like catching up on some shows that I have been ignoring.

Gonna start with the most difficult one to write about, Battlestar Galactica.

BSG just had its series finale last Friday. I really had been annoyed by the episodes leading up to the finale, feeling like they were spinning their wheels, holding everything for the last episode. I didn’t hate the last few weeks, but I did find myself bored at times, and I actually fell asleep on one of the episodes, which is really unheard of in my history with the show.

So let’s start with the stuff I liked before I nitpick:

I generally enjoyed the flashbacks, Roslin’s especially. Nothing really special, but enjoyable nonetheless.

I really like how they dealt with Baltar. At one point, he was my favorite character. Lately, he’s been a bit too much as a prophet/evangelical leader/whatever, but I really like where his story went in the finale.

I didn’t really have a problem with the 2nd Earth, but I called them being our ancestors around the middle of season three.

The Opera House stuff was a nice payoff, though I have a feeling that they put that together just to suit their needs.

The assault on the Cylons was wonderfully done. Really intense, had my on the edge of my seat the whole time. Really, really good. One of the best battles they’ve ever done.

Doc Cottle’s goodbye to Laura – that was perfect.

Adama joking at Baltar’s expense on 2nd Earth.

I left the episode feeling very satisfied, yet really disappointed, which seems an odd statement, but I still stand by it, four days later.

So, on to my nitpicking:

I love Helo. Always been one of my favorite characters. Did not want him to die. However, when it seemed like he was dead, I was sad and shocked, but ok with it. So why did they have to let him live? He was a casualty of the battle that saved his daughter. I think that’s a good way to go. After a series filled with death, destruction and general unhappiness, did everyone really have to get a happy ending?

I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hated the coda ‘150,000 Years Later.’ Hated it so much. Seeing Ron Moore was awful and distracting enough, but then they have to bang us over the head with their message. Give your audience a little credit please. Ugh. Left a terrible taste in my mouth.

Starbuck. An angel? A messenger of God? Who knows? This just felt so lazy to me. Moore has said that Kara’s what you want her to be and to explain her too much makes her less interesting. I 100% disagree. Not explaining her makes it easier for the writers because it seems like they couldn’t explain her and that’s never what BSG has been about. I might not have liked it if they came out and said she’s an angel sent from the one true God to guide the fleet to its home, but at least they could have said it and tried to explain it. After killing her, bringing her back and having everyone and their brother ask what she is, I expected some kind of answer. (Not to mention all of her backstory with the paintings of the Eye of Jupiter and her father and the notes that became the coordinates.) But no, no explanation, instead she’s the very definition of a Deus Ex Machina.

It wasn’t a bad episode of TV at all. It was just a frustrating finale.


Big Love

I’m gonna miss old Roman. Harry Dean Stanton was the main reason I stayed with Big Love in its first season. I’ll miss having him around, but I’m certainly glad I stuck with the show.

The third season of Big Love was the very definition of tight storytelling. Always enjoyable, sometimes shocking and surprising, I left the finale of Big Love satisfied and looking forward to next year.

Chloe Sevingy did her best work ever this year, especially in the last few weeks. And I am very curious how Zeljko Ivanek will fit into the show next season.

I loved Margene standing up for herself to Bill and hope that she does find some success on her own.

Not sure how I feel about Sarah and Scott, but I love Amanda Seyfried and Aaron Paul, so I’m willing to give them a shot.

The Greenes continue to freak me out, so I hope they are around next year too.

And I know it happened a few weeks ago, but I’m still very saddened by the abrupt death of Kathy. I do hope that Mirielle Enos sticks around as Jodene next season, but I’ll still miss sweet Kathy. At least Joey got his revenge, though I can’t imagine murdering Roman will really make him feel better.

So A+ to Big Love for providing a near perfect third season and ending their season very well.


Friday Night Lights

I had seen the first 7 episodes of season three of Friday Night Lights and I was watching as they aired on NBC, waiting for new eps.

Jason Street’s last episode was fantastic. Jason and Tim in NYC was both hilarious and touching, and the look on Taylor Kitsch’s face as Tim said goodbye for the last time is etched in my mind.

This past week’s was another strong outing too. Jesse Plemons did some really great work when Landry told off Tyra. And Zach Gilford and Kyle Chandler’s scene in the backyard was also very well done. From Coach walking out of Matt’s house after walking in on Julie and Matt to the scene in his bedroom when he told Tami what had happened, Chandler is just a master at the non-verbal. Not just his facial expressions, but his posture and movements all are just perfect.

But THE best scene in the ep was between Tami and Julie. It just felt so authentic and real, like Connie Britton was trying to discuss sex with Aimee Teegarden. I don’t even really have the right words to describe how great it was. You just have to see it and see how beautiful and moving and perfect those few minutes were.

Also, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention how much I’m enjoying J.D. and his family. I really like his whole storyline, and, this week, his mom especially.

Can’t wait for next week!


Dollhouse

I was worried about Dollhouse. So worried that I don’t think I have ever written about it here. I was worried before it began, and I continued to be worried as the series moved on.

To be honest, I didn’t think the premiere was as bad as everyone seemed to think. Not great, for sure, but the potential was certainly there. I was encouraged by the second ep (the one like ‘The Most Dangerous Game’) and I think episode 2 was the series’ highpoint for me.

That was until last Friday.

“Man on the Street” was what I was hoping I would get from Dollhouse. Interesting, smart, witty, funny, just all around fantastic.

I loved Patton Oswalt’s story. I thought it was a relatable use of the Dollhouse. People can identify with that need and Oswalt did a great job in his role.

I saw the twist with Millie coming, but it’s a twist that I wanted to happen and an intriguing and thrilling twist at that. (As opposed to a twist I don’t want to happen like Ballard being Alpha. I may change my mind on this, but, please, don’t do it!)

And I really didn’t predict the culprit in the abuse of Sierra coming. I really did think that it was Victor.

I hope that the show continues in the vein of last week’s ep, because it had me thinking, theorizing and anxious, something that Dollhouse had not done for me until that episode.


ER

Don’t really have that much to say about ER, but I have loved the nostalgia that the show has thrown at us this season. Was worried when they brought back Carter that they were going to kill him and I was going to be mad at ER forever. Thankfully, that didn’t happen.

Anyway, I added this section because I wanted to mention how happy the episode that featured the return of Doug, Carol and Peter made me. It was exactly what the show should be doing in their final season and made me glad that I still watch the show. Everything with Benton and Carter was perfect and while the stuff with Doug and Carol related to Carter was a bit contrived, it was easily ignored because it made me happy. The best ep ER has put out there in a few seasons, and almost makes up for them cavalierly killing Dr. Pratt earlier this year.


Will be back tomorrow to write about…Lost!

“Namaste” quickly…

Because I really have no time this week, just a few quick thoughts on “Namaste,” last night’s episode of Lost:

- Didn’t love it as much as “LaFleur,” but still found it engaging and certainly interesting. It’s like they are slowly fitting the puzzle pieces together. My assumption now is that this how it always happened (i.e. destiny), so nothing that the 815ers, etc. do will change their “future” on the Island. But I’ve been wrong many times before.
- Thought the ep’s title could easily have been “Really, Jack?!?”
- Jack annoyed me so much last night, and I forgot whatever sympathy I had for him off-Island. He annoyed me so much, I was actually hoping for more scenes with Kate.
- When the Ajira 316 hit the turbulence, Ilana looked very calm. Also, it sounded like she said “Sarah” when Cesar woke her up. What does that mean?
- The sequence with Frank landing the plane was very well done.
- Loved that the numbers were broadcast over the radio when the plane was going down.
- Reunion between Sawyer and Hurley = Awesome.
- The brusque handshake between Sawyer and Jack…Really Jack?!?
- Hurley’s “Uh…what?” was great and should be Lost’s tagline for season 6. Season 5 = Lost: Destiny Calls; Season 6 = Lost: Uh….what?!?
- Hurley’s “Dude, your English is awesome.” was equally awesome.
- “Faraday’s not here anymore?” Say what? Did he take the sub off Island? Is he on Hydra Island?
- Radzinsky!
- The Muppet Show was playing on one of Radzinsky’s monitors.
- Ethan! (And Juliet’s fantastic reaction to hearing his name. Looked like she wanted to just drop him right there.)
- The baby being Ethan means that not everyone in the DI was killed in the Purge.
- Radzinsky’s building the Swan! (I guess that explains his crazy Blast Door Map)
- I gotta say, I laughed out loud to Jack’s reaction to being assigned as a janitor, so kudos to Matthew Fox for that.
- Jin’s reaction to Sayid and Sayid’s reaction to seeing Sawyer. Some very effective non-verbal work done this week.
- Sawyer verbal takedown of Jack was brilliant and made me love Jim LaFleur even more. Just fantastic and cathartic.
- I love bad-ass Sun and Yunjin Kim’s line reading of “I lied” was perfect.
- That scene with Frank and Sun at the Dharma barracks was awesomely creepy and really well done. Favorite scene in the whole episode.
- Holy Hell Christian!
- And are we supposed to think that there is a connection between Smokey and Christian because Smokey was there when Sun and Frank arrived. Could Christian be a manifestation of Smokey? If so is he working with or against Jacob? If it’s basically Widmore v. Ben for control of the Island, could it ultimately be Smokey v. Jacob?
- “You have a bit of a journey ahead of you” If I wasn’t dying to see Jin and Sun reunite before, they had to throw this line in and make me even more curious as to what Christian meant by that and what that means for Jin and Sun.
- Young Ben! (And Sayid’s brilliant reaction to him.)

The season of Sawyer continues!

You know how some eps are just ok, but are elevated because of a great ending? (I’m thinking specifically of last season’s “The Economist” and this season’s “The Lie” but there have been others.) Tonight’s episode, “LaFleur” was the opposite: a fantastic and entertaining hour which ends with a bit of a blërg. Mostly because I am a big ol’ Kate-hater, probably; no one stops momentum on the show like she does. I think Evangeline Lilly is a capable actress – not great, not terrible – but the character is just endlessly annoying and pointless. And I really don’t get the appeal.

It’s not like I didn’t know that it was eventually going to happen – their reunion, I mean. The execution was just too clunky and melodramatic for me, especially after all the Sawyer greatness that preceded.

Anyway, a minor squabble with the almost best ep of the season (it might have surpassed “Jughead” with a better end), so onto my highlights:

The Four-Toed Statue! I clapped when it appeared (ask Angela, she made fun of me because of it). My first thought was that it looked kinda Egyptian (like the hieroglyphics seen so often throughout the show – on the countdown clock, on the door Ben went through to summon Smokey, on the outside of Smokey’s temple). Also, if we’re talking about resurrection/reincarnation, so are the Egyptians with their mummies and all. (Update 3:30pm: I just read that the symbol on Paul’s necklace is an ankh, which symbolizes everlasting life – it also appeared on the statue.) Awesome to see the statue though and I wish we could have explored it more, but I suspect there really would not be much for the left behinders to do that far in the past. I also wish I knew more about Ancient Egyptian culture and could come up with some better conclusions.

It seems like 1974 was when they were supposed to be. I’ve stated before that I think that there was some sort of intent to when they flashed to – I think this final flash is no exception. Maybe the Island was skipping because Jack, Kate, Hurley, etc. left when they should not have and not necessarily because Locke didn’t push the wheel the first time. I wonder if they had stayed and Ben had pushed the wheel if they would have all just been zapped to the 70s with no other flashes.

Obvious conclusion: All of them on the Island in the 70s cannot live past the Purge – either they get off the Island (via sub, presumably), travel through time or die because of Ben. Unless older versions of these characters are hidden among the Others in the 00s, I don’t think there are any other alternatives.

So the security station at the beginning of the ep was The Flame – that’s where Mikhail was holed up when we first met him. The girl in The Flame was wearing a Geronimo Jackson t-shirt (I love those little insider-y things they throw in). It seems as though Sawyer set up The Flame/Security station to monitor when Locke would be back. And I’m glad that they did not hold the LaFleur reveal for too long.

Speaking of LaFleur, James was awfully clever in this ep – making smart deductions, asking the right questions. Using the Black Rock as cover story; referencing Jughead and Locke to Richard; surmising that the Island's anti-baby policy was caused by something that has yet to happen. I feel like he was smarter than any character, ever, in the entire series’ run. Very impressed on a character level.

And then, there was that GREAT Sawyer/Juliet scene at the sub. You could feel the chemistry come through the TV screen; it was palpable and just fantastic. I have always been a fan of Elizabeth Mitchell as an actress and Juliet as a character and Sawyer was one of my two favorite characters in season 1 (the other was Sayid). But honestly, I don’t think I ever realized that Josh Holloway was as good as he has been this season. That scene was probably my favorite moment in the episode, so much so that I watched and rewound a couple of times so I could get this full quote from Sawyer: “Well, what about me? You’re really gonna leave me here with ‘The Mad Scientist’ and ‘I Speak to Dead People’? And Jin, who’s a helluva nice guy but not exactly the greatest conversationalist. Who’s gonna get my back? C’mon – just give me two weeks, that’s all I’m asking.”

I’ve written before that I think Lost does established relationships (i.e. ones that existed before the show started) really, really well, but tend to be lacking when it comes to setting up new romances. That’s probably why I have never really cared for Jack and Kate or Sawyer and Kate or Sayid and Shannon, where Des and Penny and Jin and Sun regularly can bring me to tears. So I am so pleased to announce that they have finally gotten one right: a new couple I can get behind! Long live Juliet and Sawyer! (Sawliet?)

I wish I had time to write more (cuz I feel like I could go one for a while about this one), but I’m actually busy, so I’ll bullet the rest of my thoughts:

- I miss Michelle Dessler on ‘24’ – it was really good to see Reiko Aylesworth again. I think she’s gonna be on for a few eps, so I look forward to learning more about her and her mysteriously unnamed baby.
- I love that Jin of 1977 has barely a trace of an accent.
- The truce between the hostiles and Dharma is kinda similar to the truce between the castaways and the Others. (You leave us alone, we’ll leave you alone.)
- Juliet’s reaction to being caught in a lie about the sonic fence was fantastic.
- Miles: “We’re screwed; he’s probably trying to explain time travel by now!”
- Just a random though that I don’t really have time to elaborate on (and I really don’t know if I could anyway): What if Jack, Kate, Hurley, etc. coming back is related to the baby-birthing problem?
- Jeremy Davies was (as usual) fantastic in his few scenes. His grief at Charlotte’s death and insistence that he won’t say anything to her, coupled to his reaction to seeing a young Charlotte in town was heartbreaking. I think I liked Charlotte more because of Faraday. And I miss her already.
- Another great Sawyer line, when he pretty much spoke directly to the online folks: “Your buddy with the eyeliner.” (I forgot to write down the whole line; maybe I’ll update later when I watch again.)
- So I guess Richard with the scraggly hair was smoke and mirrors for young Benjamin Linus.
- By the way, where is young Benjamin Linus?
- Also, where are Rose, Bernard and (especially) Vincent?
- I want a bottle of Dharma-brand Merlot.
- Actually, I think I physically need a bottle of Dharma-brand Merlot.