13 posts tagged “lost”
The way too awesome news: Joss Whedon has a new show in development, starring Eliza Dushku and with the involvement of Tim Minear (who's produced Firefly, Angel, Wonderfalls and Drive). The not so great news: television writers are pretty much on strike.
As someone who wants to be a writer and would love to write for/about television, I definitely support the writers. No doubt they're underappreciated - they've got one of the most vital jobs in television, and they don't get nearly the credit they should.
What sucks about the timing is that this could delay Whedon's new show, "Dollhouse," which otherwise might have aired as early as the spring. But Whedon has stated that he'll be on the picket line, which just makes me love him more, really. And I guess if it's for a good cause I can handle waiting a little longer for the awesomeness that will no doubt come from his magnificent brain.
The really freaky part of the strike - shows like "The Daily Show," which are not scripted very far in advance at all, will be the first affected. That'll be followed by daytime soaps, which are scripted about a month in advance. And depending on how long this goes, most shows will run out of scripts around January. Meaning pretty much the only thing on TV will be reality shows, reruns and, well, Lost, which has 14 out of its 16 scripts for the year already written and isn't set to start til January anyway.
Personally, I'm just hoping the writer's demands are listened to and this can be resolved quickly. Because while I'm all about supporting them, I so don't want to be left in a reality TV wasteland.
I took a bit of a break over the summer, when there wasn't much TV anyway, but I'm back!
Next week is jam-packed with season premieres, and in honor of that (and also because I'm trying to entertain myself while I watch 5 hours of political documentary for class), I present what I thought were the 10 best hours of TV last season. I'm sure I've neglected something fantastic, and please take into account that I haven't caught up on every great show yet (sorry, Friday Night Lights!) This is just one humble person's opinion based on the TV I happen to be watching.
*WARNING: SPOILERS WITHIN. Proceed with caution.*
10. The O.C. "The End's Not Near, It's Here" - This is more of an honorable mention (there were probably even better episodes of the O.C. this year), but belongs on this list as a wrapup to four seasons (two great, two okay) in the world of these characters. The last 10 minutes or so brought the series full-circle in a lovely and satisfactory way. And for those of us who adored the show's stellar first season, meh-ed the second, and were disappointed in the third, the turnaround back to fun, fresh TV in the fourth season was a welcome surprise.
9. Bones "Aliens in a Spaceship" - Who'd have thunk I'd put a forensics show on this list? Certainly not me. But Bones is surprisingly engaging, with lovable, fully-formed characters, and this episode was a standout last season. Two beloved characters in mortal peril plus a fantastic performance by David Boreanaz (whose acting I've certainly ridiculed in the past - hellooo, worst Irish accent ever) made this a solidly great hour of TV.
8. Gilmore Girls "Bon Voyage" - A touching sendoff for the Lorelais. After seven seasons of fast talking and copious junk food, Lorelai and the town send Rory off into adulthood, complete with a solid hour of tears. If you watched and didn't cry, you have no heart. For real.
7. Battlestar Galactica "Exodus Part II" - Season 3 of this consistently stellar show got off to an INCREDIBLE start, and this episode, where Galactica finally charges in to help the people of New Caprica, is a standout.
6. Ugly Betty "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" - For a show that has definite elements of the telenovela about it, Ugly Betty managed to pull out some very realistic and moving moments in its first season. This episode, in which the lovably bitchy, flamboyant Marc finally comes out to his mother, dealt with serious issues in a way that managed to be funny, smart and ultimately touching.
5. Doctor Who "Doomsday" - I was all set to hate Rose when I first starting Netflixing Doctor Who - a blond shopgirl played by a former British pop star? Psh! - but Billie Piper made the character lovable, real and a perfect foil for the Doctor's (slight) insanity. She even managed to transfer her chemistry from Nine to Ten, and when they finally said goodbye (at Bad Wolf Bay, fittingly), she had transformed into a confident, radiant hero. (Daleks vs. Cybermen was pretty cool, too.)
4. Lost "Through the Looking Glass" - The show took a lot of flack last season for moving too slowly, but by the end of season 3 things were looking up. The finale gave us a heroic death for a character who had moved into the background, a few kick-ass fights (Sayid broke someone's neck with his LEGS, people), and, um, a FLASH-FORWARD.
3. Heroes "Five Years Gone" - Heroes was a freshman hit, leaving it with a lot to live up to in the coming season. But if "Five Years Gone" is any indication, there's a whole lot of awesome up their sleeves. A look at a dark, creepy "what-if" future, this episode may have had an element of X-Men about it (mutant/hero = different = WRONG), but it managed to be surprising and give us a chilling look at what could be. Plus, Peter looked totally hot with a scar. (Kidding! Kind of.)
2. Veronica Mars "Spit and Eggs" - In a season that was admittedly a bit uneven, after a second season finale that drew mixed reviews, "Spit and Eggs" was proof that Veronica Mars still had it. With a couple of truly chilling moments - Parker's courage in the face of her rapist, Veronica's drugging, Logan's purposeful jailing - this episode was a perfect example of why Veronica's fans were (and still are) so devoted.
1. Supernatural "What is and What Should Never be" - Supernatural isn't often held up as the pinnacle of critically-acclaimed TV, but "What Is", well, should be. Jensen Ackles delivered a spot-on, moving performance, and the poignant look at what Dean's life could have been was an emotional punch to the gut.
Here's hoping for a great new season of shows!
With finals finally over, it's time to concentrate on what's really important in May: season (and in some cases series) finales. So here's my wishlist for some of this month's season-enders (air dates in parentheses):
Gilmore Girls (May 15, aka tonight) - Having just gotten into this show last summer, I'm not quite caught up with this season, but I will be glued to my couch tonight for this one. They've given us seven (mostly) great, witty and heartwarming years, and there are only a few things I ask: some sweet Lorelai/Rory moments, some good moments with Emily and Richard, love for all the wacky Stars Hollow townsfolk, and, oh yeah, some Luke/Lorelai lovin'. Because they are MEANT TO BE, people.
Bones (May 16) - We're getting a Hodgins/Angela wedding, so I'm just hoping for some good Booth/Brennan chemistry. Which they never fail to deliver, but let's keep that up, okay?
Ugly Betty (May 17) - Ummm, can Betty and Henry please just get together already? Oh, and as much Marc and Amanda as possible, because they (and of course Justin) are totally my favorite part of this adorable show.
Grey's Anatomy (May 17) - I've been less than impressed with this season, so I think almost anything would be an improvement. If they could stop force-feeding us the George/Izzie thing and make Derek less of a jerk, that would be great. Oh, and more Alex. Always more Alex.
Supernatural (May 17) - I'm not quite caught up with Season Two so I don't know what to ask for exactly... but I'd settle for some shirtless Winchester boys. Pretty please?
Heroes (May 21) - Continued awesomeness. And not killing Peter, Claire, HRG, Hiro, Ando, Micah, or any of my other favorites.
Veronica Mars (May 22) - Let's finish up the Pizonica already and bring back the LoVe - especially since there's a good chance this could be the series finale. My ultimate wish here would be for a fourth season - c'mon, CW, you know you want to!
Lost (May 23) - I've LOVED some of the recent string of episodes, so my wishes for this one just include more answers, more intrigue, and more Sawyer.
There are several other shows I could mention - Numb3rs, Desperate Housewives, House, American Idol - but those are my main wishes for this May. So if the networks could just go ahead and adjust their finales accordingly, that'd be great. Thanks.
Even as an eternal optimist I've had some doubts about Lost lately, but last night's episode? Was freakin' fantastic.
Finally, we get some communication on this damn island, with Sayid informing Alex of her mother's existence. Danielle's face when she finally saw her daughter was heartwrenching. Can we please get a reunion soon?
But the best moments of the night were between Locke and Ben. Let's just get those two their own show now - they're both played by fantastic actors, and their interactions were priceless. Too many great one-liners between those two to even go into.
And finally, FINALLY, we find out how Locke ended up in that wheelchair. I figured it had something to do with his dad, but pushing your own son out of window 8 stories up? Harsh. I'm still thinking Locke's dad is the original Sawyer, too, and maybe now that he's on the island we'll get some answers in that department.
One of the best episodes of the season. Can't wait to see where this is going.
Apparently Josh Holloway could very possibly be playing Gambit in the next X-Men movie (this is probably old news to some, but apparently I'm not quite caught up).
Um, superswoon.
That kind of news needs to keep coming if I'm going to keep from going crazy in the next month and a half having to wait for new Heroes and Veronica Mars. Stupid TV schedules.
At least I finally have Lost back, and in my opinion, it's getting better and better each week. And if the previews are any indication, we're FINALLY going to find out how Locke ended up in that damn wheelchair soon. It only took them three seasons...
The "fall finale" of Lost certainly left us with a lot to chew on until February - did Kate REALLY choose Sawyer? Will Jack let Ben die? Is his plan even worthwhile considering they're not on the main island? What does the message on Eko's Jesus Stick mean?
Personally, I'm pretty on edge knowing we have months to go before new episodes. My love for this show may not be quite as strong as it was in the first season, but I still love these characters and I can't tear myself away. Although if they had actually killed Sawyer (which for a very tense moment I thought they might, and I'm still not totally convinced he's safe), that might have been it for me. Josh Holloway is just amazing.
And despite the two of them usually not being my favorite characters, I was impressed with both Kate and Jack tonight. Evangeline Lilly has really come a long way as an actress and she was genuinely moving at times. And Jack's plan, while possibly useless, was pretty awesome.
But the best part of tonight - Cap'n Tightpants! One of my very favorite people, Nathan Fillion, showed up as Kate's husband back before the island. Poor guy. Was it just me, or did he make a pretty darn cute cop?
I'm not sure I've ever discussed Bones on this blog, but last night's episode was just so good that I have to do it. Booth, Brennan and the gang returned from hiatus with a vengeance, giving us an hour of TV that included an adorable Angela/Hodge date, finally, although it seems Angela is still resisting the love, and finishing off with a very nice moment between Booth and Bones. As usual, the squints offered some great funny lines, but the best was Bones trying to talk to a group of child beauty queens. And with cameos from two actors from Veronica Mars - Beaver and Celeste Kane - the episode just reached a squee-worthy high.
Over on Lost, the show continued its record of major character deaths with Eko biting the dust after a creepy encounter with his dead brother and the return of the Smoke Monster. As much as I loved Eko, I was super spoiled on his death and had some time to come to terms with it, so it didn't hurt me as much as I thought it might.
It was a pretty good episode overall. The appearance of the eyepatch man in the camera in another hatch was intriguing, and I for one am excited to find out more about him - although it does seem like this island is getting awfully crowded. But the best moment was Juliet's secret message to Jack through posterboard cards on videotape telling him to kill Ben during surgery. I'm still not sure we can trust her, but the actress is doing a great job - she's fascinating to watch.
The new characters are still feeling forced to me - hopefully this will change, if they're actually sticking around. But at the moment it just seems a little off that suddenly these two new people are in the mix, and the actors have yet to impress me.
Next week looks exciting. I would say I can't wait, but since we have an insanely long hiatus after that, I'm partly dreading it. Hopefully it'll be an amazing episode and send us to hiatus on a high note.
As a shameless Sawyer fangirl, I really enjoyed tonight's episode of Lost. Sure, they're still not giving us any answers, and the long hiatus is getting closer and closer, and Kate's "choice" wasn't so much a real choice... but what I've always loved about this show is the characters. And no matter how many answers they don't give us, the characters continue to be compelling, if not always likeable.
At first I wasn't clear why this part of Sawyer's backstory was important, but I knew when he found out about his daughter he wouldn't just abandon her. I'm glad he proved me right.
I guessed (well, more like hoped) that they hadn't actually put a pacemaker in Sawyer, but I really wasn't expecting the second island reveal. I guess this means that Jack's underwater hatch is near the second island? He was sure transported over there to operate quickly. I'm just not sure how no one has noticed this extra island just sitting around - I guess they really haven't done much exploring around the coasts.
Silly Kate. Just admit you like the bad boy and get over it. He's hot; no one will blame you. Or, you know, at least RUN when you get out of your cage. We know now that it wouldn't have done any good, but YOU didn't know that (did you?). At least you could have gone for reinforcements.
The previews were fascinating and need a re-viewing. Can't wait for next week.
So apparently if you sew mismatched fabrics together at odd angles you're "innovative" in the world of fashion. I thought that was a bit overdone, personally, but apparently the judges at Project Runway disagree.
Honestly, I wasn't wowed by any of the designer's final collections. They all have talent, but none of them created a collection that was as great as I had hoped. I liked a few pieces from each, and I liked the final look of all of them (although I'm not usually a fan of silver and gold together, the beading on Laura's dress was so fantastic that I'll overlook the colors). But as a whole, no one really jumped out as great.
But Jeffrey? Even if his designs were the best (and I don't think they were, especially not looking at the season as a whole) I wouldn't have wanted him to win. You can give excuses about editing but they couldn't fake some of the stuff he said. I don't think he's evil or anything, but I'm not at all convinced that he's not a smug, condescending ass. And the sympathy edit that they tried to give him the past few episodes REALLY rubbed me the wrong way.
I don't want anyone to think that I just hated his win because of his personality, so let me reemphasize - I am not a fan of his design aesthetic. At all.
I think I might be done watching the Project Runway finales. This is the second one in a row that has seriously upset me.
Off that topic, Lost tonight was... well, weird, even for Lost. I'm not quite sure what I think of it yet, but it felt a bit disjointed (especially for a Locke episode, which I usually love), and for the first time in the history of this show, in my opinion, the introduction of new characters felt seriously forced. And what was with all the bad acting? One of my favorite things about Lost has always been the stellar cast, but both the cop in Locke's flashbacks and the two new characters were not at all impressive. I'll give the new guys a chance, since they only had a few lines tonight, but I'm a bit skeptical.
We only have three episodes left until hiatus. I really hope they give us a little more than what they have been, because it feels like it's moving at an even more snailish pace than usual, and we're not even getting much good stuff. Step it up, Lost!
Wow. Ok, again, let's break this down, because there's much to discuss:
Lost:
So Sun's not as nice as we were led to believe. Not too surprising, considering what some of the other castaway's flashbacks have revealed. But pretty interesting, nonetheless.
Of course, most of my attention was on SAWYER KISSING KATE. Okay, okay, I know it was just to scope out the enemy (supposedly), and I'm not really even a Kate/Sawyer shipper, but I do love Sawyer far more than I should. And I have to admit, the cheesy, "You taste like strawberries." "You taste like fishbiscuit.", exchange made me exceedingly happy.
Sorry, Sawyer turns me into a squealing fangirl. Ahem.
Other interesting notes: Ben(formerly Henry Gale)'s offer to send Jack home if he gave in, complete with a tape of the Red Sox winning the World Series to prove to him that the Others had access to the outside world. I don't know if he'll actually crack, but he looked pretty shell-shocked just to see a TV again. And I'm still longing for a glimpse of the other side of the island - we got to see Sun, Jin and Sayid this week, but there are only four weeks left until hiatus, and I want to see what's up with the other Losties - which, if the preview is accurate, I might get to next week?
But really I liked this episode quite a bit and it got me all fired up for more. Let's hope they deliver in the short time they have before a long hiatus.
Project Runway:
To admit a bit of bias, I've never liked Jeffrey, and the sympathetic edit- "woe is me I had drug problems and a bad childhood"- rubs me the wrong way. There are plenty of people who have problems, get past them and go on to NOT MAKE PEOPLE'S MOTHERS CRY.
Anyway. I was surprised at Laura's accusations that he's cheating, but I think she handled it well. She's never been one to shy away from speaking her mind to your face, so I think she would have told Jeffrey her suspicions even if Uli hadn't prompted her. And it is a competition, after all - whether he cheated or not, if she legitimately thinks there's a chance she has every right to go to the people running the competition with her suspicions.
That said, I don't actually think Jeffrey cheated, at least not much. He may have stretched the rules, if anything, but I don't want to assume even that without seeing the outcome of the investigation next week.
And on the actual collections, sans drama: Michael's is a bit risque, but there are some pretty striking pieces in there; I actually miss Uli's colorfulness - her collection looked a bit drab, but still flowy; Jeffrey's didn't do much for me, although there were one or two pieces I found interesting; and I really wish Laura had left some of those red pieces from her home visit in her collection, because they were gorgeous, and I'm not really that into her final product now. I don't have a clear favorite based on these collections, actually, although I'll probably go with wanting Michael for the win just because he's been my favorite consistently throughout the season.
Whew, enough on that drama for now. It's time for Thursday night TV to begin, after all!
