Sunday, May 20, 2007

TV Week in Review (LOST)

LOST: this episode was more of a prologue to the season finale, and no island mysteries were unlocked, but, for me, this is a good example of why the show is great. I do not even like Charlie that much but I got genuinely choked up watching this episode. Mysteries aside, Lost tells good stories, which creates a phenomenal amount of sympathy for its main characters. Desmond's premonitions allow a story like this; right there is an often forgotten about virtue of science fiction -- as in Solaris, sci-fi is better with this human scope. And heading into finale territory I expected to be bored by the obligatory flashback, a flashback not revealing secrets; but the "Greatest Hits" thing -- using flashbacks for single memories rather than for telling a story -- really made the device feel fresh (not an easy thing to do three seasons in).

No one every talks about other shows in the comments, but you are welcome to.

7 comments:

Kenney said...

Anyone watching The Shield? Talk about a great show. I cheated and downloaded the remaining eps so I'm finished with the season. I won't say anything other than they knocked it out of the park.

In the remaining eps you see them backing Vic & Co into a corner and you can't imagine how things are going to work out. For those watching, enjoy watching how it does.

It has been really great seeing Ronnie in a bit of an expanded role this season. The show has been on for 4 or 5 seasons and it still feels like I barely know him. Turns out when they gave him some more screen time he gave back awesome in return.

Definitely one of the best shows on television and Vick Mackey is on of the best characters ever.

Unknown said...

I always hear about how good The Shield is, but I've never watched it. A friend of mine has all the DVD sets, so sometime I'm going to borrow them and watch the show (along with Deadwood, Carnivale, Season 1 of The Wire, and probably some other crap).

My big show lately is The Sopranos, which only has three episodes left. It's been damn good, and I like how the final season seems to be dedicated to demonstrating that Tony Soprano is an evil man and beyond redemption.

30 Rock's season ended a few weeks ago, so I haven't mentioned it here, but that is an excellent show, and I'm quite glad that it got picked up for another season. The Office also just had its finale, and it's such a good show. NBC apparently thinks it's going to be their cash cow, because they're planning on doing something like 20 regular episodes and 5 hour-long episodes next season. Cool.

Oh, and I should mention, The Colbert Report is seriously one of the funniest shows on TV right now. A week or so ago, he did this bit where he was talking about a Korean R&B singer (I forget his name), and he wanted to demonstrate that he was as good as that guy, so he showed this music video where he sang in Korean (the song was called "I'm Singing in Korean") and danced hip-hop style. Oh man, my wife and I were rolling on the floor laughing. I know my description doesn't do it any justice, but it was hilarious. I love that show.

Kyle Hadley said...

I have been a very faithful Shield watcher since the beginning, but I got behind this season due to the giant pile of school work I have been chipping away at for the last 3 weeks, so I now have to wait for this season to come out on DVD, but it is one of the best shows on television.

The CW Thursday had their season finales this week and Smallville ended the season the exact same way it ends every season. I love the show, but every single season has the same basic season finale. Supernatural continues to grow on me and is becoming a favorite of mine.

I am very sad Veronica Mars is gone. Even if the first season was the peak, it remained a fun hour every week and I shall miss Kristen Bell on my tv on a weekly basis!

Björninn said...

The very first episode of The Shield has to be the most vicious piece of television I've ever seen. Everything and everyone is either irreperably damaged or simply dirty and evil and it's perfect. I thought the show kind of slowed down in the third year, which is when I lost interest, but the first season I'd recommend to anyone.

And The Sopranos seems to be pulling itself together in these last episodes, which is great since in the first part of this season absolutely nothing happened.

I watched the first couple of episodes of The US Office, and to me it played like the UK version but without the teeth. I haven't bothered to check it out since then, but has it gotten any better? Also, has anyone seen the French or German versions of The Office? Just the idea of it sounds kind of ridiculous but that could also be a good thing..

Marc Caputo said...

Over the last 6 months, I watched the first 5 seasons of "The Shield" on DVD. If I hada seen these any time in the last 3 years, i woould have dropped "The Sopranos" and never looked back. This season is shaping up to be as good as 1-3; 4 and 5 could be some of the best TV I've ever seen.

Kenney said...

The Office got better, but more importantly it found its own voice. I left the show at first for the exact same reasons, but a friend told me to come back and check it out. It really is good, especially season 2.

I don't think it is as sharp as the UK version, but it's definitely worth watching. That and 30 Rock are the only shows that give me hope for the American sitcom. Scrubs used to, but I've become bored with that show.

Unknown said...

Kenney, you said it before I could. It's true, the American Office started out as a pale imitation (especially the first episode, which is the worst of the series), but it really picked up after it found its own voice. It's getting hard to compare the two, since the American version has produced three times as many episodes by this point. I love the British version, but it now seems like a miniseries compared to the ongoing hilarity of the American series.

I had never heard of French or German versions, but those could be quite interesting.

And Kenney, I agree with you completely about Scrubs. I quit watching it after I began to find it tiresome.