Are You Lost? February 3, 2008

Thursday night was the season premiere of Lost, possibly one of the most anticipated premieres of 2008. While not as frustrated other viewers, I was slightly disappointed with the first half of Season 3 (more on that later). But after the mid season hiatus, Lost came back with a vengeance and the second half of the season more than made up for the first half. In my opinion, the season finale was possibly one of the best season finales of a show ever.

"And then I'm gonna come find you. And I'm gonna kill ya."
Lost Season 3 Finale
The first season of Lost was awesome. They built up so much mystery into the island and characters as well. None of the main survivors were absolutely good or bad and each had their own secrets. Season 2 introduced the tail survivors and more exposure to the Others on the island. While the show didn't answer many questions in those seasons, it still moved the story along and developed characters fairly well. Furthermore, it did so while eliminating several main characters - which other shows are reluctant to do.

Season 3 starts off with Jack, Kate, and Sawyer at the hands of the Others and their leader, Ben. I had two problems with the first half of season 3: First, nothing really happened and second, how many times were Jack and the survivors going to trust the Others? Those two aspects lead to a lot of frustration. This is also the reason why Sayid and Locke were great for the show, they never trusted the Others.

"That's for taking the kid off the raft."
This frustration is exactly why the season 3 finale was so great. Finally the survivors started confronting the Others. I kept the season finale on my DVR for nine months and watched the scenes where Jack beats Ben and where Sawyer and Juliet attack Tom over and over. When each scene first started I thought to myself, "Great they are going to trust him. Why the fuck would they do that." There was a satisfaction - not in that they would get off island, but in them taking action.

After the second flash sequence, I knew it was a flash forward so while that was a well-executed plan, it did not blow my mind. The best part about the flash forward was the direction it would take the show. The pilot episode showed the crash; the next three seasons were flashbacks to how each got on the island, their histories, and their lives on the island. The last three seasons will continue to be their lives on the island but now we'll have flash-forwards to their lives after they leave the island. I predict the series finale will have them actually getting off the island spliced with flash-forwards of either main characters dying or finding their way back to the island. When it's all over, it could be a very poetic show. Also, I predict that within one month of the series finale, someone will splice together all six seasons in chronological order...which would be ridiculously awesome.

Lost Season 4 Premiere
When I co-founded TV Club! last year, I never predicted that a writer's strike would postpone and cancel most of the 2007-2008 TV season. Thankfully, filming was complete on eight episodes of season 4 of Lost. It would be hard for the season 4 premiere to live up to a finale as good as season 3, but since there are not many other shows to even watch, it made me anticipate the premiere that much more. Next...the premiere blog.


Hurley Oceanic 6
"I'm one of the Oceanic 6!"
[8:01] A pile of fruit just gets nailed by a Camaro and a guy makes a screwdriver. This is clearly Jack. "Like father, stepfather, the son is drowning in the flood." Lance points out that the car is the same car Hurley was working on with his pops (Cheech).

[8:03] Wait...does Hurley really think he is going to outrun the police. Bad Idea Jeans Hurley. Ocean's 6! What the fuck. First commercial. I am looking forward to watching Jumper. Rachel Bilson is extremely hot and Hayden Christensen is possibly one of the worst actors I've ever had to watch.

[8:06] Hey it's Bull from Band of Brothers. Also, there is a Winter Storm Warning for Chicago. Why does Hurley want to go back into the nuthouse? Uh oh, more questions.

Ben
"Yeah. It is quite freaky, isn't it, Bret?"
[8:09] I feel really sorry for the actor that plays Ben. No other person on this show has freaked me out more than Ben. Even when he was a kid he was a little off. Granted after the Ben flashback storyline I did feel fairly bad for him.

[8:10] Claire is really cute. I never thought she was that good looking on Roswell but she looks great on this show...plus the accent is great. Um...did Rose just imply that Claire should fuck Charlie's brains out? I think she did.

Hurley
Canonball Run III
[8:12] Wow. They really should have redone the cannonball editing. Also, it's good to see Mr. Dewitt, Mike Seaver's high school principal, working again. I've decided that one day each month I'm going to talk like Desmond and say "brotha" all the time. Is that okay with you brotha?

[8:14] "Naomi went to get some firewood." Hahaha. Worst Line Ever. Second commercial break. This new Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson movie looks horrible. Artistically, I like these Schwab commercials are cool but they still freak me out a little...not as much as Ben.

[8:19] Once again, Sayid is the only voice of reason.

Hurley
"Are they still alive?"
[8:21] Woo hoo, Connect 4. One my most favorite games ever. Looks like Hurley made it to the psych ward after all. This Oceanic airlines attorney is creepy. He speaks too slowly. "Are they still alive?" WTF. Ok, this attorney just got a hell of a lot creepier. Who are "they?"

[8:24] Aww. It's nice to see Sawyer care about Hurley. Voices. Creeepy. Third commercial. I will be first in line to see Step Up 2 The Streets! And it opens on Valentine's Day no less!!

Jack and Ben
Put him in a body bag Jack.
[8:29] Here's the thing about Ben. Every time I feel a slight bit of compassion, he turns into a total douche bag. He just gave Jack shit about Kate stealing the phone and I want Jack to throw another 9 punches at him.

[8:31] Ok so first Jack tells the ship that Naomi is getting firewood. Then they call back and Kate hangs up on them. Apparently Jack and Kate have reverted to six year olds. I know Naomi from somewhere....[after searching IMDB] oh yeah, she was on Las Vegas...a show I watched twice, maybe. Fun fact: Naomi backwards is I Moan.

Jack's Dad
Jack's Dad
[8:33] The scene is now Hurley back at Jacob's barn. That is clearly Jack's dad sitting the rocking chair. CREEPY! Is Jack's dad Jacob? Lance points out to me that it was Locke's eye that appears. Freeze framing confirms both Jack's dad and Locke...as does the next scene where Locke speaks.

[8:39] The snow advisory is still going on in Chicago.

[8:41] Hurray, a reunion between the two groups on the island. The scene where Hurley tells Claire that Charlie is dead is sad. As much as I wanted Charlie to die through most of season 3, I was sad to see him go at the end. Uh oh...flash forward...great, Charlie might not be that dead after all. Who needs Hugo?

Survivors
"I don't need your civil war."
[8:54] I gotta say, I think at this point, if I were a survivor on the island, I'd probably go with Jack. "Same things I've always done Kate. Surviving." Awesome. Interesting that Desmond and Sayid also stayed behind with Jack. Lance points out they are standing near a plane. Where did that come from?

[8:57] Flash foward where Jack meets Hurley at the ward. What is Hurley going to tell? And what doesn't Jack want him to tell? Now Hurley's sorry he went with Locke?

[9:01] Lance points out that the dude that parachutes in is the guy from Saving Private Ryan. And the new Asian guy looks like the audio dealer from Keeping the Faith.
Ok so the big question is who are the Oceanic Six? Part of me wishes it were the Oceanic 11 and there would be guest appearances by Clooney, Damon, and Pitt...but that is probably asking too much. So we know that Jack, Kate, and Hurley are three of the six. After discussing this with my friends more the six can only be people that were on the passenger list, so Ben, Juliet, and Desmond cannot be one of the remaining three. Based on that, I'd expect Sawyer and Michael to be two more. I can't see Sawyer not wanting to leave if given the chance. Michael because he did get off the island (or so we think). But if Michael is one of the three, then is Walt?

Overall I thought the episode was great but mainly because I've been waiting for the new season. It could have been an hour of Bernard and Rose talking and I still would give it a good review. My friend Bill said if this same episode was on during the middle of a season it would have only been okay, and I have to agree with that.

Anyway. I am really looking forward to the next seven episodes. For those of you that stopped watching (Amy and Bob), I think it is time to pick it back up.
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