Friday, February 13, 2009

LOST, BSG, 24 this week

24. This show is dumb and I am not reviewing it anymore, especially as Sara talked about it yesterday. Don't get me wrong: I am still going to watch it. The scene where the FBI agent has the baby was pretty good, as she looks really conflicted about what she is going to do next -- but at the end of the day this is just a guilty pleasure and kind of beneath comment. Except, as Sara pointed out, I CANNOT BELIEVE Dubaku left the side of the kidnaped first gentleman while threatening the president of the United States to deal with some nonsense with his waitress girlfriend.

BSG. Though I am partly sympathetic to complaints that this show had ten episodes to go and spent three of them going around in a circle, I really liked the mutiny plot, and liked especially that it had nothing to do with the mythology. The acting on this show is always superb and that, to my mind, lets them get away with lots -- Roslin yelling at at the crew of BSG saying she is coming for them was pretty well awesome. The deaths of Zarek and Gaeda were great and the fact that this was so close to the end adds the sense that anybody could die at any time -- a plot like this really takes advantage of the structure of the series.

LOST. I am going to continue to complain here, but it should be understood that my complaints should be read in the context of the fact that there is really nothing this show could do to prevent me from seeing it all the way to the end -- only 29 episodes to go until the end of the series, if you can believe it. This episode had some good moments, especially involving Locke in the well. But I need a clearer sense of the goals -- it was very weird when Ben brought some of the group to Mrs Hawking and she basically said that this was not enough people but let's get started anyway. I mean probably while she is getting ready Ben will have to get the remaining three, but it did not feel right as the ending beat since so much had been put on getting them all back and the same time. I was interested in the Rousseau plot, but it did not tell us more than we already knew from Rousseau's narration when we first met her. And Charlotte's death felt forced -- like she had a story in season 4, then the writers strike hit, so she just blurted out all this stuff and promptly died. To make matters worse, it looks like the island skipping around is going to get stabilized sooner rather than later -- I assumed it would take all season for the Oceanic Six to get back to the island, but now it looks like it might only be a few episodes. I really wanted to see more where the time skips would take us -- though this last is not quite fair as it might survive in some other form in the back half of this season. And I still do not have any idea what they are all supposed to do when they get there -- and I just want one clue. This is where I could use an old fashioned flash-forward to build my interest.

8 comments:

James said...

I think I was the only person with no complaints about the new series of Lost, but my brother said the other day he thought it had been leaning heavy on the exposition, as if they were courting a wider/dumber audience. I hadn't noticed, but I sure did this week! Boy. And yes, Charlotte suffered from a left-field Eko-style turbo-conclusion. Not enormously upset as she was fairly annoying, but still. And I can't decide if I loved or hated how insanely over-the-top Eloise was, her eyes and eyebrows dancing maniacally.

Marc Caputo said...

I've heard that the season is split into 3 parts, of which the first 7 or 8 make up the 1st part. I'm absolutely fine with the structure so far; it's been very exciting and I'm also sure that they'll slow down and concentrate on more character-driven writing after the first act is over.

My burning question is, When Locke gets off the island, when is he?
Either he's at the time the O6 are which will require a bit of suspension of disbelief or he'll have to "wait up" to the time when they are, which would require a different type of explanation. Either way, this is the question I want most answered (answered most?)

neilshyminsky said...

Marc: Suspension of disbelief? This is Lost we're talking about - you need to leave your disbelief at the door. Ben was dropped months (maybe even a couple years?) after he turned the wheel, so I don't think we should expect the rules about leaving the island to be particularly easy to understand.

neilshyminsky said...

I should also add that I'm loving BSG 4.5. The mutiny, as depressing as the build-up was, gives the characters and the viewers a reason to feel newly invested in what would otherwise seem like a hopeless situation - there's a desire to live and succeed for life's own sake, rather than out of a sense of fate or destiny. Having overcome their own despair and fear, this is a group that has proven they deserve a happy ending and who could now conceivably make their own if they never find the one they were promised.

Anonymous said...

BSG is totally kicking Lost's ass these days.

Marc Caputo said...

Neil: Yeah - I walked into that one. But, still, what I'm getting at is that I'll accept time travel with all its rules, I just hate serendipity (the movie and the phenomenon, while we're at it).

sdelatovic said...

BSG: Someone blurts out all of the answers because a blow of the head brought back all of their memories? I suppose having an eye scooped out is a different kettle of fish. Next episode I expect the seventh Cyclon - Calculon - to turn up having missed the previous episodes due to a bout of explosive amnesia.
Give me more episodes of Adama Vs Grenade. That was great.

neilshyminsky said...

Stefan: That was weak, wasn't it? It's almost like the 4 mutiny episodes and Anders' convenient memories are supposed to be a big 'fuck you' to the people who want the mythology stuff.