Collision

All right, I hope that the people who think that Ana Lucia’s actions are over the top will now understand her better.  Now that we know that she was a cop, and that she was shot in the line of duty because she trusted someone, and that as a result, she miscarried, we can all understand how it is that she reacted to crash landing on a mysterious island where her fellow passengers are kidnapped by barefoot psychos by resorting to a spot of violence.  Can’t we?  I just think that everyone has handled this situation according to their own personality, past experiences, and beliefs, and for someone like Ana Lucia, that means weapons, people!  

Seriously, this was a great episode.  Action-packed, enlightening – and highly emotional, as Michael reunited with Vincent, Bernard reunited with Rose, and Jin reunited with Sun.  Plus – Kate nurses Sawyer back to health, Mr. Ecko meets Locke, and we finally got to see the golf course again!

Looking forward to tonight’s episode, when we find out the truth about WHAT KATE DID…

Soapy Gilmore

Rory’s back…Luke’s got a daughter (and he’s keeping it a secret)…Christopher is suddenly a millionaire…it’s all a bit like a soap opera, isn’t it?  I’m not yet sure how I feel about the daughter thing, but it was great when Luke told his sister about it.  She’s awesome.  Obviously this is going to come back and bite Luke when Lorelai finds out he’s keeping this huge secret, especially after she promised to be honest with him.  I missed Emily and Richard in the last episode, but clearly something’s going to hit the fan when they find out that Christopher is paying for the rest of Rory’s time at Yale.

I did think it was odd that Rory thought she and Logan were just taking a time out.  I wondered if they had had a conversation we didn’t see (especially since his idiot friends moved her stuff out of the Gilmore house, which seemed weird).  But apparently he’s just assuming that they broke up the night of the big fight.

I hope Rory ends up moving in with Paris and Doyle when she goes back to Yale – we need more Paris!  And that would add many comic possibilities.

I also hope Lane is going to be done with what’s his name now.  He has always been stupid but now he’s also a jerk.

Goodbye to Threshold

I am seriously disappointed that CBS has cancelled Threshold.  I thought that it was perhaps the best new show of the year, and it was getting better and better each week.  Too bad that CBS couldn’t have given it more time to gather a following, because it had the makings of a cult show that could have gained in popularity over time.  I wish another network would pick it up, but that’s usually unlikely. Maybe SciFi…

The Other 48 Days

The other 48 days was full of laughs, wasn’t it?  At least now we understand why Ana Lucia is such an uptight and aggressive pain.  Not to mention, homicidal.  The “tailies” had a really rough time of it.  First, they crashed in the ocean.  The tail section sank, so they didn’t have access to luggage or other items salvaged from the wreckage.  They didn’t have the supply of food and water that the original castaways had.  There were far fewer of them – and their numbers dwindled fast with the others sneaking up and snatching people left and right.  Plus, total paranoia about each other – and that wasn’t just Ana Lucia, Libby felt that way too – probably they all did. Unlike the fuselage gang, these people were under attack from the first night, and had good reason not to trust each other. It was a pretty horrible situation.  Clearly, Ana Lucia has issues, but I don’t think she can be blamed for it.  

There was some nice synergy with previous episodes, particularly when Bernard tunes in Boone’s mayday, sent from the old plane that he and Locke found.  So now we know for sure what Boone heard – “WE are the survivors of Flight 815.”  Too bad he fell out of the tree before he could tell anyone.

Interesting about the things that they found in the Dharma project bunker – I’ll have to go look at the message boards to see what people thought about the logo.  OK – here’s a report, it was an arrow pointing north.  And what about the glass eye? Also, the Bible was interesting.  Mr. Ecko seems to be a religious fellow – and obviously his not talking for 40 days after he killed the two others was significant.

I think these characters are going to be a great addition to the main cast.  And I can’t wait for Bernard to be reunited with Rose!!

Lost Death Toll

Victim: Pilot
What Was His Story: Flew the plane, was trying to get the plane to Fiji when it crashed.
Cause of Death: Eaten by a huge and as-yet unseen monster.
Survivors: 48 survivors on the beach – the pilot didn’t live long enough to be counted among them.

Victim: U.S. Marshall
What Was His Story: Arrested Kate for an as-yet unknown crime in Australia, apparently after a long search. He was bringing her back to the U.S.
Cause of Death: Dying from a large piece of shrapnel in his belly, badly shot by Sawyer in a misguided attempt to put him out of his misery, and finally suffocated by Jack.
Survivors: 47 left.

Victim: Joanne
What Was Her Story: We never met her, and neither did Jack, but she had been scuba diving in Australia when she got an ear infection and changed her flight to come home early. Survived the crash.
Cause of Death: Drowning.
Survivors: 46 left.

Victim: Shannon
What Was Her Story: A selfish, whiny bitch who slept with her step-brother. Ick!
Cause of Death: Chomped on by giant, still unseen monster.
Survivors: Still 46 left because, unfortunately, it was all a drug-induced hallucination. Rats.

Victim: Scott
What Was His Story: A nice, ordinary guy. Everybody confused him with Steve, another nice, ordinary guy.
Cause of Death: Ethan broke his neck and apparently several other bones as well.
Survivors: 45 left.

Victim: Ethan
What Was His Story: Hurley uncovered the fact that Ethan was not on the passenger list – and therefore was already on the island and just blended in with the castaways…for a sinister purpose. He kidnapped Claire and Charlie, hung Charlie from a tree, and then after Claire apparently escaped from him, he told Charlie that he would kill one person every day until Claire was returned to him.
Cause of Death: After he was captured by Jack, Sawyer, Locke, Sayid, and Kate, Charlie shot him multiple times with the gun that Jack dropped.
Survivors: 44 left.

Victim: Boone
What Was His Story: Boone was a rich young man with a whiny, bratty stepsister, Shannon (see above).
Cause of Death: Locke and Boone discovered a mysterious hatch out in the jungle. Locke convinced Boone that they should keep it a secret. After Locke had a bizarre dream about a small plane crashing, he made Boone go with him to find it. They discovered it hanging in a tree – Boone climbed up to check it out, found Virgin Mary statues full of heroin, and a working radio. As he was attempting to communicate with someone over the radio, the plane fell out of the tree and Boone was fatally injured. Locke carried him back to the caves, where Jack desperately attempted to save him. Boone’s injuries were too severe and he died.
Survivors: 43 original survivors left, plus one newborn baby.

Victim: Arzt
What Was His Story: Arzt was a high school science teacher.
Cause of Death: He went out into the jungle with Kate, Locke, Jack and Danielle to find the dynamite in the hold of the Black Rock, because he said he knew how to handle it. Unfortunately, as he was explaining to them how dangerous dynamite is, he blew himself up.
Survivors: 42 plus the baby, Aaron.

Victim: Shannon
What Was Her Story: Shannon was a whiny, selfish bitch (see above) who redeemed herself somewhat by taking care of Walt’s dog, Vincent, and trying to find Walt after the boy appeared to her twice. She and Sayid fell in love.
Cause of Death: Shannon was accidentally shot by Ana Lucia, one of the tailies, who mistook her for one of the others.
Survivors: 41 plus the baby, Aaron, plus four tailies, for a new total of 46.

Abandoned

Well.  All I can say is that I am so relieved.  I wasn’t surprised it was Shannon who died, but I was nervous throughout the episode in case it didn’t end up being her.  I didn’t know what would happen, though – the only clue I had was that whoever was going to die would not be killed by a monster.  As soon as Sayid heard the gunshot, it was obvious who had fired the gun.  But what happens next is what’s interesting.  We’re going to have Sayid who wants revenge, Ana Lucia who is gnawed by guilt, and a lot of suspicion between the castaways we know and love and the “tailies” who will now join them.

I wonder why it seemed like Walt led Shannon to her death, in a way.  It seemed as though he was trying to warn Shannon and Sayid to be quiet so the others wouldn’t find them.  But then he ran off and Shannon followed and got shot.  Hmm.  

I will say that Shannon’s backstory made her more human. The same thing happened with Boone before he died, too.  I never liked either of them until just before they died.  I’m still glad it was them though, and not any of the people I love.  I would have been just devastated today if it had been anyone else.

Can’t wait until next week, when we find out what happened to the tailies after the plane crash, and hopefully get more insight into the others!  Did you notice that in the preview, there was a teddy bear in the plane wreckage – like the one that somebody was carrying when the others walked past Jin and Mr. Ecko?  

Lost in the NY Times!

Interesting article in today’s New York Times about the producers’ struggle to contain leaks about the plot.  No spoilers in it about tonight – I read the article with one eye closed just in case!  They mention two of my favorite sources – Mike Ausiello of TVGuide.com, and Kristin Veitch of Eonline.com.  

I’m so worried about who’s going to die!!  I hope it’s Shannon…  

Thanks, Jess!

Fabulous episode!  Finally, finally, Rory has woken up to the fact that she has been busy throwing her life away for months.  It took Jess to snap her out of it – but sometimes it’s someone who really knows you who can say what needs to be said and actually get through.  That scene where Rory had to wrestle the wretched, drunken Logan into her car was such a low point, and the fact that Jess showed up right afterwards – well, he always did have timing.  It is my fervent wish that we never see Logan again, although since he’s in the opening credits, this may be tricky.  I have to say though, he was not wrong when he told Rory that it was her choice to drop out of Yale.  It seems like she may finally start to make some good choices again.

Lorelai’s breakdown over Paul Anka’s illness (the dog, not the singer) was some seriously amazing acting.  I know she never gets nominated for best actress in a comedy, but Lauren Graham ought to submit that scene for best actress in a drama.  Lorelai is so heartbroken over Rory, and so upset with herself.  And Luke was great – as was the dog, wearing his Luke’s Diner soccer team t-shirt.  

If they had just thrown Richard, Paris, and Doyle into the mix, it would have been perfect!  Maybe next week…

Capote

About ten years ago, I drove home from work in the dark along Boston’s thoroughfares and highways, riveted not by the lights of other cars, but by a voice coming from my car stereo.  
“But then, in the earliest hours of that morning in November, a Sunday morning, certain foreign sounds imagined on the normal nightly Holcomb noises – on the keening hysteria of the coyotes, the dry scrape of scuttling tumbleweed, the racing, receding wail of locomotives.  At the time not a soul in sleeping Holcomb heard them – four shotgun blasts that, all told, ended six human lives. But afterward the townspeople, theretofore sufficiently unfearful of each other to seldom trouble to lock their doors, found fantasy re-creating them over and again – those somber explosions that stimulated fires of mistrust in the glare of which many old neighbors viewed each other strangely, and as strangers.”

It was a book on tape, and that book was “In Cold Blood” by Truman Capote. Hearing the chilling tale of the Clutter family, murdered in their farmhouse in Kansas in November of 1959, and of the killers who were pursued, caught, and eventually hanged, I was both devastated and amazed by the power of writing at its greatest.

Because the book was so shattering to me, particularly hearing it read out loud in my dark car, I was especially intrigued by “Capote,” the current film starring Philip Seymour Hoffman in the title role, because it focused on the era of Truman Capote’s life during which he was caught up in the investigation and writing of his most famous book.  The film begins with the deaths of the Clutters, and ends with the deaths of the killers, Perry Smith and Richard Hickok, and although there are references to Capote’s earlier life, and an end card telling us that he never finished another book and died of alcoholism, the film has a very tight structure around the “In Cold Blood” period.  A few party scenes let us know what kind of more shallow life Capote was leading prior to the events that so devastated him, so we definitely understand that this six-year period was both the pinnacle of his life and the ruination of him.

The crux of the film is that Capote, while claiming to be an honest man, used the killers, particularly Perry Smith, with whom he developed an almost passionate attachment, in order to further what he called the greatest book of the decade (even before he had begun writing it).  Capote became obsessed with both the book, which he expected would change the world, and with Smith.  He falls in love with Smith, yet manipulates the man in order to learn all that he can about his past, his personality, and ultimately, about what happened that horrible night.  Capote refuses to tell Smith the name of the book he is writing, and when Smith gets a newspaper clipping announcing Capote’s reading from “In Cold Blood,” Capote lies frantically, saying that the event promoters gave it that name.  Smith wants so desperately to believe that Capote is his savior that he accepts the lie.

In the end, Capote spirals downward as the killers continue to receive stays of execution and appeal their case all the way to the Supreme Court.  He can’t complete the book until Smith and Hickok are executed.  To Capote, the delays are a personal attack on himself, and he becomes almost totally paralyzed by his conflicting desires – to finish his book and move on with his life, Smith must die.  

The film is about what it is to be a writer, what it is to be a journalist, what it is to be an outsider, and what it is to be human.  See it.

Great Cartoon

Priceless…

http://www.ucomics.com/adamathome/2005/11/02/

Lost News

Still pining for a new episode of Lost?  Me too.  One more week to go!  Meanwhile, here’s the text of an email I got today from Oceanic Airlines.  If you go there, click on Island Insider to sign up for these little missives from the writers.  It sounds like the show is going to be even more amazing!  I am especially interested in “The Other 48 Days”…
Dear Frequent Flyer —
Greeting from the Writer's Room of Lost!
As we careen wildly toward the midpoint of season two, the Writer's Room is working feverishly to continue to provide you with the kind of "Lost" thrills and spills to which you, the viewer, have grown accustomed. Sometimes, that includes changing things up a little bit...
...now, season two is already rife with change - new series regulars in the form of the tail section survivors (or "tailies" as we like to call them - as opposed to the "fusies" of the fuselage section), new mysteries (the Dharma initiative, the elusive Alvar Hanso, the mysterious Desmond), and new challenges - but some of our more daring experiments will come your way not just in the stories, but also in the way we choose to tell them.
During the November sweeps, you will not only be seeing the death of a major character (and we're not telling who it is here!), the tragedy will lead into one of the most unusual and compelling hours we have yet to produce. We won't spoil too much, but let's just say that the intense inside story of the tailies and their trials on the island will be told in a way that will surprise you - and those of you who have gotten used to "Lost's" method of telling stories in the present with flashbacks to the past are going to be thrown for what we hope is a fantastic thrill-ride of a loop on this one.
Beyond the November sweeps, "Lost" is going to continue to find new and exciting ways of telling stories on the island. One of the more thrilling developments going on around here is that director Darren Aronofsky - the daring visionary behind such films as "Pi" and "Requiem for a Dream" - as well as the upcoming Hugh Jackman/Rachel Weisz sci-fi drama "The Fountain" - has just signed up to direct an episode of "Lost..." and you can bet that the blend of the mystery and drama of "Lost" with the visually innovative style of this maverick filmmaker is going to make for some truly awesome television.
Wanna know more? Here are the confirmed titles and writers of some our upcoming episodes...
"Abandoned"Written by Elizabeth Sarnoff
"The Other 48 Days"Written By Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse
"Collision"Written by Javier Grillo-Marxuach and Leonard Dick

Lost Rhapsody

I came across this link on Entertainment Weekly’s site – HYSTERICAL!!  You must watch.  It is slow to load, but well worth the wait.
http://albinoblacksheep.com/flash/lost