"...I always have a plan..."

I've now finished my big Lost rewatch in preparation for Season 6; I watched all of the first five seasons over the last three months or so. Or was it longer? May have been. Anyhow, I've been thinking of what to do when Season 6 ends, and to console myself that when it does I should plunge myself headlong either in to a rewatch of something else in its entirety, or something completely new that I've not seen before. The thoughts that are going through my head;

Babylon 5 - a good, big epic story. 111 episodes should last me just long enough until I'm ready to do a "complete Lost re-watch" when I'll watch all six seasons. B5 would be good in this respect as that's all one big (albeit "incomplete") story, with some truly wonderful moments in it.

Twin Peaks - I've not seen Twin Peaks all the way through in quite some time now. I don't even think I've watched most of Season 2 on DVD at all. It'll be good to revisit it.

The Wire - I started this a little while back, but only got three or four episodes in to season 1 before getting distracted by other things. Having heard so much about it, especially the praise heaped on it by Charlie Brooker, I really should get around to watching it.

There are of course other shows. Battlestar Galactica would probably frustrate me too much, as I'd have to skip some of the really bad episodes and concetrate on the great ones. Oz is a possibility too; Mr Eko's in it. Even The Sopranos; never seen a single episode of that. Some of the box sets of these can be picked up quite cheaply now...

...still, I guess I'll decide closer to the time... : )

"...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...? 

"...theorising that one could time travel..."

Somehow Lost has turned in to Quantum Leap. Sort of. Only instead of just one person leaping through time, it's half the cast. And there's no Al. Presumably he's still too busy being evil in Battlestar Galactica.

Talking of which... (and I apologise for any Sky viewers reading this in case I give away spoilers; really I don't know what day it's on there, so if you've not seen S4 Ep 13, stop reading now and only come back for the bit at the end which is about Lost theories. That's safe as Sky viewers are enjoying episode I'm writing about as I type, and who's sad enough to read the internet whilst watching new episodes of TV shows. Well... as some loony forums attest, quite a few people. There are entire threads on some written by people who are giving their "OMG!!!", "SQUEEEEEEEEE" and "ROLF" opinions as things are happening. Losers.)

Anyhow... Battlestar Galactica's latest episode was an absolute belter. Rebellion. Insurrection. Mutiny. And with, erm, Felix Gaeta in charge... it was a real hum dinger of an episode, with each twist and turn bringing ever more unexpected happenings. Who would have thought that Gaeta could amass such a large amount of people to launch a successful (well, successful at this stage) mutiny without a single word of it getting back to The Powers That Be. Impressive. There's one thing that BSG does really well, and that's putting its characters in to dark and dire situations. This goes right back to the mini-series where virtually everyone is killed, followed by 33 (which I maintain is one of the very best single episodes of anything) where the Cylons relentlessly pursue the fleet with only a 33 minute window between each new attack. That one episode, actually, is BSG in miniature, summing up the bleak nature of the show, yet ending with a hint of optimism. The bleakness continued with the New Caprica arc at the start of season 3; with most of humanity under Cylon subjugation you got the impression, for a while, that this was it and that there was no way out. And I'm getting that feeling again. Only now, as the show enters its final run - just seven episodes to go, remember - all bets are off, no-one's safe. Though having said that, anyone who thinks Adama and Tigh are dead at the end of this episode has rocks in their head. Adama makes the finale, that's fer sure...

Also heading to its end is Lost, although rather than just 7 episodes to go, Lost has 31 more. The third episode saw several things slot in to place, and the great thing was that they weren't shoehorned in, and weren't over egged. For example we now know why Richard Alpert was at Locke's birth; because Locke told him where and when he was to be born. The bomb, which was to be buried in concrete is clearly the thing that was buried in concrete in the Swan in Season 2... oh, and as ever it opens up the possibility of theories...

1 - that Ellie chick who Daniel thought looked familiar...? 'Course she looked familiar, Danny-boy, she's your mother. Ellie = Eloise, and it's odds on that Eloise Hawking is Daniel's mum.

2 - "Do not mistake coincidence for fate," said Eko back in Season 2, but Eloise and Charles Widmore on the island together...? Could Charles be Daniel's daddy...? Who knows...

But my favourite is this one:

3 - Penny's dad and her son are the same person... think about it. Penny gives birth to Charlie who grows up a bit and ends up travelling back in time to the island in the 50s where he prefers to be known as Charles. Think about it. It works. It'd make Desmond Charles Widmore's dad. However, it does mean Charles would have to shag his own grannie to create Penny. But would he know he's doing this...? 

Ooh. I do love Lost