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Top 5 OMGWTF Lost Moments

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Lost has been off the air for more than a year now and I still miss its presence. I truly miss having my brain rocked every Tuesday and then having to immediately log on to Lostpedia to figure out what the hell happened. So, in honor of one of my most favorite shows ever, here are the moments that literally made yell, “WHAT?!” at the screen…and as always, click the banners for video.

5. Not Penny’s boat

I floved Charlie. So for me, watching him die was one of most upsetting moments of Lost. Especially since he didn’t have to lock himself in the room before Patchy launched the grenade.

4. Jin is “dead.”

The entire Ji Yeon episode tricked us into thinking that both Sun & Jin made it off the Island and they were going to live happily ever after with their little girl. But sadly, the adorably huge panda stuffed animal was not for his future daughter and Sun and Hurley brought Ji Yeon to his grave. Then watching Jin supposedly blow-up with the freighter in the season finale was heartbreaking. Sun’s scream seriously just echoes in your ears. Of course, he doesn’t die, but at the time it was still shocking.

3. “We have to go back!”

I never thought the Losties were ever going to get off the Island, and if they did it would be in the series finale. Obviously the season 3 finale shattered all of those expectations with the first flash-forward, which revealed a very chic-looking Kate and a druggie, beard-sporting, alcoholic Jack.

2. “Where the hell is the Island?!”

Ben turns a frozen donkey-wheel deep underground. There’s an eerie noise and a violently bright light and poof! The Island’s gone. WTF.

1. Locke in the coffin

I was so sure that in true Lost fashion, there was going to be a fade-to-black before we actually saw who was in the coffin. So yes, I was one of those people who stupidly followed the camera, leaning over the side of my couch, as if THAT would help me see who was inside. And when I realized they were actually going to show it and it was Locke, I was floored.

RECAP: Lost, The End

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Congratulations Lost, last night I was reduced to a blubbering mass of salt water. This morning when I downloaded and rewatched the finale, I was once again drowning in a pool of my own tears. After the Lost end-title card faded away for the last time, I was numb with shock. Part of the temporary paralysis was from severe dehydration, but it was mostly from the knowledge that this was truly The End. After having a bit to stew in my feelings, I have come to grips with the following: Did every mythological question get answered? No. Was it the finale I was expecting? Not in the slightest. But did it bring the series to a satisfying end? Yes, “It worked.”

In the final moments of season one’s fifth episode “White Rabbit”, Jack Shephard speaks these profound words, “If we can’t live together, we’re going to die alone.” When Oceanic 815 crashed, the majority of the survivors were strangers to each other. In between battling smoke monsters and eluding capture from less than friendly island dwellers, friendships were forged and relationships were created. In the end, the losties shared an unbreakable bond that stood the test of time. When each found their untimely end, be it on the Island or off, they did not die alone. They created the “Sideways World” or the in-between, in which the losties were forced to live alone with the intent of finding each other so they could all “die” and move on together.

I’m beginning to buy into Lost ultimately being the story of Jack’s test, Jack’s search for redemption. Of course, the other losties each had their own test and search for redemption, but I think the fact that the show began and ended with Jack means something. There’s also the fact that everyone was waiting for him in the church to move on. Together they all finally passed over.

There were several moments in the finale that had me squee-ing and sobbing like a pathetic little fangirl, the biggest one being when the stupid love triangle was finally resolved. Kate. Chooses. Jack. Did my couple finally win out for once?! I think it did. The reunion of Jack and Kate made me so incredibly happy, I actually got a happy ending for the couple I was rooting for in the end. Pretty much all of the “aha!” moments made me teary-eyed: When Sun looks at Jin and says, “I remember,”; the way Claire said “Charlie” when he recognized her; and pretty much the entire Sawyer / Juliet scene. I hated Sawyer and I hated Juliet. They both tried to infringe on the epicness of Jack / Kate, and at first I wasn’t even thrilled that the third and fourth wheels hooked up. But the recognition scene and Juliet’s untimely death in the season premiere were so well acted that they melted my ice heart for Sawyer and Juliet.

The last ten minutes of the finale were as close to perfection as television can get (minus the Jack / Kate reunion, which was perfection…can you not tell how happy I am about that?!). Christian’s revelation about the fates of Jack and the losties, everyone finally settling themselves in the pews to pass on, Vincent laying down next to Jack, Jack’s face when he realized his friends made it off the Island, and the last shot of Jack’s eye closing were all amazing. No words were necessary, the scenes spoke for themselves…and they were perfect.

Yes, I still have questions…okay about a thousand, and yes it would have been nice to know what the hell was with Walt , who gave Boone his “aha!” moment, and who the skeletons were down in the Heart of the Island. But right now, I am content with having the mystery live on in my mind–or at least until the season six dvd is released on August 24. Lost has always been open to everyone’s interpretation, having it end like that seems fitting.

If I should ever find a frozen donkey wheel in the bowels of my basement, I would rewind these last six years. Thank you Lost for entertaining me, confusing me, and making me yell “WHAT THE …” at the screen too many times to count.

Namaste.

screencap from daydreaming.

RECAPS: Season Finales

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This past week of television season finales was fully loaded with break ups, make ups, hook ups, surprising and not-so-surprising pregnancies…and guns. A multitude of guns. Out of the four season finales I watched this week (One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl, 90210 and Grey’s Anatomy), a stunning total of eight main characters were fatally shot. Of course in Grey’s Anatomy there was a sheer number of the dead or injured by the end, but honestly there were only five we truly cared about. And okay, 90210 did not literally have fire arms on the show, but I think Matt Lanter’s guns are licensed to kill.

I’m going to start with One Tree Hill. On the whole, I found this episode to be extremely lack-luster. Brooke and Julian are engaged, great for Brooke (look at that honker of a ring), but I will always remain a loyal Brucas believer. Haley’s pregnant (nice work, Nate). The amount of screen time devoted to characters I could give a rat’s ass about is truly testing my patience. I don’t care about stubbly Grubbs trying to get into the British lady’s pants again, which I can only imagine would happen if he elected to wear a paper bag over his head. I loved Chase when he had a purpose aka Brooke’s boyfriend in season four, but now he’s a waste of screen time. In short, the following characters need to be given the axe for the final season of One Tree Hill: Grubbs, Miranda the Brit, Chase (unless he gets a more interesting and important story line), Mia, Alex, Alexander, Josh, and most importantly, Quinn and Clay. In the final minutes of the finale, PsychoKatie makes a comeback and shoots both Quinn and Clay. I have to admit, I flipped a lot of serious shit at that moment. Totally did not see that coming. Okay writers, you have a golden opportunity here. By leaving the fate of these two characters hanging in the balance, it would be too easy to kill them both off and make season eight entirely focused on the main characters we actually like. And on the same note, enough with all of the deranged and psychotic characters. I think PsychoDerek, PsychoNannyCarrie, and PsychoKatie have filled the quotient of crazies allowed to roam free in Tree Hill. I may sound like a broken record, but seeing a OTH finale like this just reminds me of how awesome this show used to be. Remember the season two finale with the dealership fire? Now, THAT’S a finale.

On to Gossip Girl…Damn. You. Jenny. Humphrey. Jenny and I definitely to do not get along, she messes with all the relationships I love on the show. Chuck and Blair almost had a happy reunion, but nooooo… Jenny HAD to be “lonely” and do the nasty with the one person she shouldn’t, Eric HAD to find out why Jenny is drowning in tears and running eye liner/mascara, Dan HAD to get all macho and deliver a complimentary knuckle-sandwich to Chuck, and of course this all HAD to happen at the moment when Chuck was presumably going to propose to Blair. FML. Then poor, heartbroken Chuck gets shot for protecting Blair’s engagement ring just a few minutes later. Chuck Bass is the only character that needs to be alive come fall. I don’t think the writers would go there, but still, my smooth-talking man-whore better be healthy as a horse in the fall.

I’m going to gloss over 90210 and  skip Glee/Lost since those weren’t season finales. Teddy and Ivy as regulars next season? Gag me. Silver and Teddy / Dixon and Ivy reuniting? Gag me. Teddy and Ivy need to crawl back into the holes they came out of and let Silver and Dixon realize they belong together. Also, the members of the 90210 gang are supposed to be juniors? Right and Lea Michele is supposed to be playing a character born in 1994.

Okay, Grey’s Anatomy. Holy hell. I have been on the brink of writing this show off my weekly schedule of television watching ever since the introduction of ugly ginger Owen, the merger with Mercy West and the break up of Mark and Lexie. But Thursday’s finale was insane. Meredith and Derek have never been a favorite couple of mine, but watching Meredith’s silent scream when Derek was shot (by the way, nice work Sarah Drew, you got McDreamy shot) and her plea to the gunman to kill her instead was unbelievably heart wrenching. Not to be insensitive, but I could care less whether anyone shot during Grey‘s finale lives or dies. McDreamy is obviously safe, no McDreamy = no program. Alex is getting in the way of my Mark and Lexie and I’ve hated Owen from the beginning. The deaths of Reed and Charles had no impact on me, other than a sudden jump when the gun fired (I hate loud noises). I just wish Gary Clark had taken down Arizona and April while he was at it. God, I sound like such a horrible person. Don’t get me wrong, I thought the finale was amazingly written, amazingly acted, and amazing in general. I was definitely shaken up by the end.

Hopefully the next batch of season finales will be tad bit lighter. I’m guessing Lost isn’t going to give that to me (SERIES FINALE SUNDAY! *sob*) but I’m assuming the regional show choir competition in Glee will not include a GSW, but who knows…I’m not one to question Puck’s bad-ass guns.

screencap from IMDB.

Three Reasons Why Television Shows Fail

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As I sit here watching last week’s exceedingly uninteresting new episode of One Tree Hill on Hulu, I can’t help but feel an extreme sense of loss. This program used to be so freaking good. Circa seasons 2-4, One Tree Hill had some of the most powerful and creative story arcs on television. Now what has this program come to? They’re bringing back the cougar and young guy story line, a psycho comes into the picture and pretends to be someone they’re not, and ugly ass Mouth is somehow the only one getting tail in Tree Hill. Remember basketball? The voice-overs with quotes from famous authors? The original 5 characters that we have come to love?

There comes a time in the life of every television program where the writers and executive board hit a road block. Some shows find a way to rise above and continue to produce good television. Others fall by the wayside and they become syndicated history. In my opinion, there are a few main reasons why good shows fail, they are as follows:

1. The characters go off to college: Chances are pretty slim that you and your 5 closest friends all chose the same college to attend. So this puts the writers in a dilemma: how do we keep the chemistry between our actors when they are all at different schools? Eureka! We’ll create a new school that is in their hometown (or close by) and have them all attend there. There is no actual Penbrook University, the college  Cory, Shawn, Topanga, and Angela on Boy Meets World all magically chose to attend. And in sheer coincidence, that’s where Jack and Eric also go to school AND where Mr. Feeny happens to end up. Joey Potter gets accepted at the uber prestigious and uber fake Worthington College on Dawson’s Creek. Jen and Jack go to school at the equally as fake and half as prestigious Boston Bay College. Where do both of these fake institutions happen to be located? Boston (I guess I kind of gave that away), which is conveniently 15 minutes away from their fake hometown of Capeside.  Dawson then loses his way (of course), drops out of USC (idiot) and moves to where? Boston. Shocker.

Most shows that document high school fail when the characters transition to college. All of the family dynamics are lost, presumably because the parents don’t follow them to college. A bunch of new characters are introduced which takes screen time away from the characters we’ve formed a connection with. Most of the time the circumstances that bring all main characters to the same place are stupid and usually involve some sort of loss of faith, death of a family member, or being kicked out of school for ridiculous circumstances.

2. A main character is killed off / leaves: Getting rid of an essential cast member is one boat that should not be rocked. Yes, Marissa was annoying on The O.C. But she was the source of a lot of drama and half of the beloved pair of Ryan and Marissa. Were the writers missing broody and angry Ryan so much they needed to kill off his girlfriend to get him moody again? It’s common knowledge that I loathe the character of Peyton on One Tree Hill, but her and Lucas’ departure from the show have killed it. Ever since Dr. Burke left on Grey’s Anatomy, I can’t imagine Cristina being happy with anyone else. Any story line pairing her with another guy makes me cringe. Grey’s hasn’t been the same for me since Burke left, and then they have the nerve to kill my beloved George?!  FML. I am so not looking forward to tomorrow’s Lost, where I have been told that losties just start dropping like flies.

3. Story lines get recycled: How long can a couple play-out the “will they / won’t they” before the audience explodes? Apparently Friends can do it for 10 years. How many times can someone attempt to kill Dan Scott? How many times does Clark Kent have to save Lana Lang before she realizes he’s got magical powers? Seeing the same thing over and over and over again gets tiresome. The program eventually becomes so predictable that it’s not even worth watching anymore.

Alas, I have a sinking feeling this will be the last season of One Tree Hill. It didn’t even get to redeem itself. I am praying that the CW will give OTH one last chance to make things right aka bring back Leyton, ditch the newbies, and start showing the geniusness I know the writers still have.

RECAP: Lost, Ab Aeterno

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It’s been two days since the landmark Richard centric episode aired. If you’re like me, you’re still sitting on your futon with your jaw dropped and eyes locked on your television screen with your mind still completely blown. For six years, Lost fans have been puzzled by Richard, the non-aging and eyeliner-wearing inhabitant of the island ; and now, we finally have [some] answers.

The only thing that really bugged me about this episode was the subtitles. It turns out that five years of Spanish truly did nothing for me.  I was literally lost in translation (nice pun). I hate having to read and watch at the same time. The last movie I saw with subtitles was the Passion of the Christ in 2004, and with 10+ years of Catholic school education under my belt, the movie was easy to follow. But this is Lost! You need to pay attention for the whole hour so you don’t get an ulcer from the stress of trying to figure out what the hell just happened. Oh and when Hurley was shown speaking in Spanish for the 2.5 seconds before Richard’s flashback began, my first thought was “Please, for the love of Jacob don’t be Ana Lucia.” I truly despised that character.

After five seasons, we’ve been led to believe that the island is some mysterious, time-traveling capable mass of land somewhere in the South Pacific. Nope, it’s a cork (at least metaphorically). First, I’d like to mention how awesome it was when Jacob opened that can of whoop-ass on Richard (pardon me, Ricardo). The man seemingly incarnate of all things good knows how to pack a punch and administer a rather violent baptism in the ocean. Ninja Jacob explains the island using a bottle with wine to Richard. All of the evil of the world is the wine — trapped inside the bottle by the cork aka the island, the only thing keeping the evil at bay.

Last thing, how ridiculous was the priest Richard confessed his murder to?!  I may be putting my Catholic knowledge to the test, but I am pretty sure as long as you’re truly remorseful in your heart (which it seemed he genuinely was), you can be forgiven up until the moment of your death. In my eyes, Richard completely had permission to slap the priest up side the head…although that would probably be a sin. God probably doesn’t take violence to the clergy lightly.

Is the island purgatory? Are all of our favorite characters really dead? And most importantly, who will be Jacob’s substitute? Well, we’ve got eight more episodes to find out.

photo credit: Dark UFO

RECAP: Lost, Sundown

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There are only TEN episodes left of one of the greatest television shows ever. So sad. But seriously, what gives with all the creepy stares this season?! First, Fake Locke. Now Sayid, and even Claire had a little demonic gleam in her eye. Sayid is not my favorite character, so I usually dread his centric episodes. This was no exception. Sure, there was a lot to grab onto: Sayid and Dogen beating the crap out of each other, seeing Keamy again (he makes good eggs, okay), Claire creepily singing “Catch a Falling Star” a la The Others, Jin in the fridge (?), and of course the presumed beginning of the “war” that Charles Widmore warned Locke about. Dogen wasn’t my favorite character, but seeing as he is supposedly the one person preventing the Man in Black from entering the temple, having him dead is probably not a good thing. *Insert Sayid’s creepy glare here* Havoc is going to wreak in his absence. I really want to know the meaning of the baseball. I’m not sure, but wasn’t the baseball one of the objects that Richard brought to young John Locke’s house? I’m thinking that there is some sort of connection there. I’m really excited for the Richard-centric episode. It’s about time we learn about the eyeliner wearing-unaging island protector. And what about Kate?! Is she part of Locke’s crew now? Why wasn’t her name crossed out at the lighthouse, but she still isn’t one of the “main” candidates? I guess we have ten episodes left to find out.

photo credit: Dark UFO-Lost Theories

Side-note: ABC, if you ever preempt Lost again for an Iowa State basketball game (which they didn’t even win, by the way…), all hell will go down. Thanks.