"...Namaste, new recruits..."

I actually find myself with very little to say about the last two episodes of Lost, Namaste and He's Our You, as they're both relatively straightforward episodes. Just, really, a handful of points;

It was good to see Radzinksky at last, and even better to see his model of The Swan, which in 1977 had yet to be built. However... Pierre Chang, in his introduction to new Dharma recruits which we saw in Season 3 when Ben arrived on the island as a small boy (now dated to 1973), was wearing a Swan patch on his clothes...

Another point is that Sayid is meant to be trained in the art of the assasin. We see him giving the Russian bloke a double-tap (that is, two shots in quick succession). Yet, when he shoots the young Ben, he just shoots him once. Why not a double-tap? And knowing how slippery a fellow Ben is, and how he keeps on getting out of sticky situations etc, why not also just make sure with a shot to the head at point blank range...

...'cos there's no way Ben's dead from that shot. Not a chance in the world. 

"...others, others, others, OTHERS..."

Okay. So, in some sort of effort to pretend that this blog isn't really just a Lost blog at the moment, here are some thoughts on TV shows other than Lost:

Skins

My opinion (see previous posts) of Cook really hasn't changed. I'm still hoping for something bad to happen to him. I just can't work him out, though. He's odd. His reaction to when Naomi spurned him was unexpected; I expected anger, but instead he was very calm and cool, and even indifferent. Odd. Still, we're clearly building up to something. 

Whilst I'm still loving this season, I'm finding I'm loving it less than previous seasons. I do still miss Cassie et al, and although this new lot are a decent enough bunch, I'm not really sure they gel as a group. Like previous seasons, it does veer between absolute genius and utter wank. The episode with the school elections at one stage seemed to be heading towards making a point about how politics these days is all about personalities and not policies; but it never quite got there. We just got a riot, which didn't work at 

Still, overall it remains well worth watching...

Battlestar Galactica

BSG is nearing the end of its run now; three episodes to go by my reckoning. Again, this is a show that veers between absolute genius and utter wank, and I've never quite been able to figure out why. Until a day or so ago. Broadly speaking you can tell how good an episode is depending on which of these categories it fits in;

1 - militaristic episodes where either the Cylons are on the attack, there's a threat of attack, or there are factions within the fleet causing trouble; episodes like 33, or the Pegasus 2-parter, or the New Caprica arc, or the recent mutiny. They have all been stunning examples of great drama. Episodes that have kept you on the edge of your seat, and left you gasping for breath at the audacity of the things that are happening. The second of the mutiny episodes was breathtaking, it completely floored me. This is BSG on top form.

2 - any episode that focuses on prophecies, or Caprican Gods, or the Cylon God or any kind of mystical gumph. Sometimes I lose the will to live when watching these. They're not always all bad, but there always seems to be way too much padding. I mean, how many times do we have to see sodding visions of a Six taking Hera away...? Puh-lease!

And this is the fear I have for the forthcoming finale; that it will veer too far towards the latter, and not close enough to the former. 

Law & Order: UK

Strewth! This moves at one heck of a pace. There's enough plot in each episode for a 4 hour Lynda La Plante style mini-series. Sometimes you can blink, miss a scene, and miss a vital plot point. Still, for what it is, it's enjoyable hokum. 

Neighbours

I'll miss Harold. Ramsey Street won't be the same without Jelly Belly... : (

Lost

Oh, okay, I know I wasn't meant to speak about Lost here, but... 

...the promo pictures that have been realeased for the next episode of Lost are very intriguing...

 (Those of a really sensitive disposition towards spoilers should look away; even though what I'm about to say isn't really what I would call a spoiler; it's what I would call a teaser, in that it will tell you a little information about the episode, but gives no context.)

...they show Sayid, as expected in 1977. However, there is a shot showing Sun with Ben and Frank. So, she must somehow be in 2008 in the same time frame as the Ajira plane. Now, the question that this raises is this; why did Kate, Hurley, Jack and Sayid get caught in the time-flash that occurred as the plane approached the island, and Sun didn't? My presumption was that the time-flash affected the O6, which was why Ben wasn't caugt in it. Locke didn't go either as at that time he was still "dead". But an O6 split... that puts a different spin on it. It couldn't be at all contrived to give a delay to a Sun & Jin reunion, could it...? 

"...wow..."

It is a very rare occasion when an article in The News of the Screws makes me gleefully happy (mainly 'cos I never buy the rag), but my attention was drawn to this article:

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/showbiz/xs/208641/DR-Who-Celeb-XS.html

which does inded make me gleefully happy.

If it proves to be true, I shall indeed probably explode with excitement. The prospect that The Moff might give Hannah Murray the companion role in Dr Who is just too exciting to contemplate. I would go so far as to say that in terms of excitement, and Dr Who, only the return of Dr Who in 2005 would have been more exciting.

I just hope it turns out to be true...!

"...we're the good guys..."

So... Another week, and another Lost blog post... Season 4, episode 8, La Fleur, was a rather straight forward episode, but none the less it was another quite compelling one. 

First of all, we have an end to the time-flashes, leaving the Losties stranded in the seventies - the episode flits between 1974 and 1977 (another Star Wars reference...?). I was somewhat surprised by this, as I was sure that when time was stabilised they'd end up in the late 80s, shortly before The Purge, and circa when Danielle's lot arrvied on the island... 

Still, like I said, although straightforward, it was an epsiode that raised many interesting points and questions;

* - just before the last time-flash we get a glimpse, albeit from behind, of what appears to be the four-toed statue first seen at the end of Season 2. Based on this glimpse, and endlessly pored over screen grabs, many theories have been posited as to what the staue is of. Most have talked of Egyptian gods such as Anubis, Set et al (after all, this would tie in with all the hyroglyphics that are dotted all over the island), but there is one rather out there suggestion that the statue is of Juliet...

* - after being told they were not "Dharma material" after arriving at the DI in 1974, how did the Losties ingratiate themselves with the DI to the point that Sawyer managed to get himself made Head of Security? I would guess it started with the encounter with Richard, which probably meant that the truce that there had been was maintained. 

* - very interesting that the sonic fence around the DI camp doesn't keep Richard and the "Hostiles" out... It's been seen to be effective on people before, so what does that make Richard et al? Must mean the fence has been built for one specific purpose; keeping Smokey out. Which means he's nowt to do with the DI... 

* - despite that the women of the DI "always give birth on the mainland", Amy manages to give birth on the island, and there are no ill effects. She lives, the baby lives. Now, we know from earlier, or in temporal terms later, events that any woman that gets pregnant on the island dies. So, this problem must have occurred since 1977. Well, either that or Amy got up the duff at some point when she left the island for a short while. Also, is the pregnancy problem one that only came to light after the Purge... or is it tied in to the discovery of the Frozen Donkey Wheel...? And is Amy's baby going to grow up to be someone significant...?

* - oh, and of course, being in 1977 there's a number of people who should be on the island that we've not yet seen; notably Ben and Widmore. We're seeing young Ben in the next episode (don't whinge about that being a spoiler; it's not. It's not. It's obvious we're going to see him), and for a few more epsiodes. Widmore certainly should be on the island as well at this time, as he said that it was Ben who banished him from the island. He says to Locke that he was on the island for 30 years. He was there in 1954, but we don't know how long he'd been there then. Could the reason why, when Ben visited Widmore at his home last Season, Widmore referred to Ben as "boy" be that it was when Ben actually was a boy that he manipulated Widmore in to leaving the island...?

* - and where are Rose and Bernard? And the other red-shirts. I would assume that's who Jin's looking for when he's saying his grid searches haven't found anyone yet. Could they all survive on the island for three years? Could R&B et al have stumbled across Richard's lot...?

* - oh, and someone who shouldn't be on the island; Charlotte. She wasn't born until 1979, so unless young Charlotte was doing some time hopping, the red head Daniel saw wasn't her. Either that or he was seeing things. Wouldn't be the first time someone's seen someone that wasn't there in this show...

* - also, is it coincidence or fate that the 06 were off island for three years, and that Sawyer et al have now been with the DI for three years also? The only one that three years hasn't passed for is Locke... (and if you really want to be picky, Ben, but for him it's circa 2 1/2 years...).

* - okay, returning to Ben. Young Ben is around in 1977. Juliet is around in 1977. Ben in the 21st century is obsessed with Juliet (there are plenty of episodes which bear this out). Could the reason be because she had some sort of efffect on him in his formative years? Will she do something to save his life? Who can tell...?

But, yes, it's going to be very interesting to see what's going to occur in coming weeks. Will they stay in 1977? I doubt that very much. I reckon we'll see them figure out some way to shift themselves in time again. Locke, (adult) Ben and Frank are seperated from the rest of the cast (well, bar the noobs Cesar and Ilana) by over 30 years. That won't last long. Also, Desmond... he's not even on the island at the moment. I can't believe (bar the forthcoming "what happened after he stormed out of the Lamp Post" flashbacks) we've seen the last of him... 

...but we're going to have to wait. There's no episode next week. Grr! And there's another week long break after episode 13... Grr...