Posted this on a Doc Jensen column today, just wanted to keep track of it, maybe dive into it more at a later date-
Maybe the parent-child theme goes along with the redemption theme – can our characters break the cycle that they were born into? Many of the 815ers have similar problems to their parents – Jack and Christian both were a too obsessive and self-involved. Kate always felt the “badness” of Wayne in her. Sawyer became who he was because of Cooper. Although not his biological father, he had more to do with how little James grew up than anyone else, and Sawyer was completely consumed by him. Those are the three biggest examples. Each of these characters need to reconcile with this truth before they can really move on. Kate may have. Sawyer may have. Jack certainly has not. The scene in White Rabbit was the perfect metaphor for this, where Jack finds the empty coffin. His father is still out there, and he can’t bury him. Thoughts?
Friday, July 31, 2009
Richard
A thought popped into my head recently and I wanted to put it down for future reference. So in "The Incident", Richard says, "I'm this way because of Jacob," referring to his agelessness. To me, that can be taken in two ways, either in a grateful way or a spiteful way. His reaction to the former would be obvious, and so he serves Jacob by advising the leader of the Others. The second option intrigues me more. Maybe Richard sees his agelessness as a burden and he only serves Jacob reluctantly, even against his will. Richard has been short-tempered on a number of occasions, and he sure doesn't seem like a very happy guy. This could be an interesting development for his character that I hope they explore his feelings about his "condition" further next year.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
The Screamer from Down Under
Today, my Lost rewatch brought me to "Maternity Leave". Not one of my favorites. One episode after the debut of Benjamin Linus, Claire's literal flashbacks give us our first glimpse of the bug-eyed one's stolen daughter, Alex. Coincidence? Absolutely. But still, this episode reminded me of one thing - I really did not miss Claire this past season. She does so much screaming and yelling in this episode, it's enough to make you want to shove hot skewers into your ears. It's an almost viceral reaction, a repulsion that comes from my deepest male instincts. I've certainly heard enough "My baybay!'s" for one lifetime.
I think I agree with something I once read that said Claire's character peaked in "Raised by Another". There's not really much interesting going on with her aside from her relation to Jack - in which she's been a completely passive participant - and the idea that she needs to raise her baby herself - which has not been addressed in a long, long time. Let's hope that her return this year steers her in a better direction.
I think I agree with something I once read that said Claire's character peaked in "Raised by Another". There's not really much interesting going on with her aside from her relation to Jack - in which she's been a completely passive participant - and the idea that she needs to raise her baby herself - which has not been addressed in a long, long time. Let's hope that her return this year steers her in a better direction.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
My Personal Red Carpet
So the 2009 Emmy nominations came out today, with Lost earning 6 nominations, including Best Drama, Best Supporting Actor (Michael Emerson), and Best Writing (The Incident). While this might not be my favorite season of the show (it might end up being my favorite someday, who knows?), I was still happy to see it getting some respect even as it dove head-first into science fiction.
But six nominations still seemed like too few. Josh Holloway was great this year as Sawyer, and since "LaFleur" was one of the episodes submitted to the academy, I thought he was in a pretty good position for a nod. Former Supporting Actor winner Terry O'Quinn also turned in a great performance this year, not only as Locke in "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham", but also as Fake-Locke later in the season. O'Quinn deserves credit for keeping the usual wit and charm of the character while adding a swagger and arrogance to leave the audience feeling as if something was a little off about the Box Man. Some people felt like anything short of a win for Elizabeth Mitchell as Juliet would be a travesty, but I've always thought she was overrated and never really connected with the character. If any of the female castmembers deserved, it would have been Evangeline Lilly. She brought it to a new level this season.
Anyway, all that Emmy talk got me thinking about my favorite acting performances of the series. This super-talented cast never disappoints, but there are certain moments, episodes, and character arcs that stand above even the usual level of excellence. My top 5-
5. Matthew Fox, "Man of Science, Man of Faith" through "Orientation"
I just watched these a few weeks ago, so there might be some bias here, and it might be cheating grouping three episodes together, but they told one complete story so I'm standing by it. Fox does a great job of displaying the inner turmoil in Jack as he confronts what Locke describes as destiny. I love when he tells Sarah, "I'm gonna fix you," right before the operation, then snaps out of it with a sense of embarrassment for getting so personal with a patient. I love when he yells at Desmond "You don't even know what you're running from!" as he chases him through the jungle, and"I married her!" when he asks what happened after that night in the stadium. Top notch stuff.
4. Michael Emerson as Henry Gale
I could make a list of my favorite Ben Linus quotes and moments, but that could take days. I'm going with the his undercover work as hot air balloon enthusiast and punching bag Henry Gale. For a character who has been shrouded in mystery for over 3 seasons now, this was Ben's coming out party in terms of deception and ambiguity. "You guys got any milk" was the icing on the cake. Emerson better win the Supporting Actor award this year. If you can turn Ben Linus into an object of pity, you've done some good work.
3. Terry O'Quinn in Deus Ex Machina
To me and plenty of others, this is the defining John Locke episode. It showed us that Locke's almost-pathological need for acceptance and love from a father figure (either Cooper or the Island) drives him to be trusting, even gullible, to a fault, and O'Quinn absolutely nails it. The scenes where he's crying outside Cooper's house and when he's pounding on the hatch yelling "why did you do this to me?" make the room feel a little dusty every time. Bonus points for the great fake hair he's sporting throughout. Pulling. It. Off.
2. Josh Holloway in "The Brig", Killing Anthony Cooper
Maybe one of my favorite scenes in the history of the show. Watching Sawyer take out 30 years of pain with that chain around Cooper's neck was hard for me to watch the first time. I was in the camp that Sawyer had already moved on, that he didn't need to kill Cooper, and that getting back to killing was the worst thing for him. When he puked in the creek after doing the deed, I felt vindicated. Now, it's obvious to everyone that that moment pretty much closed the door on his horrible past, so it makes that scene all the more satisfying for me. Kudos to Holloway on this one. I've always felt he was an underapprecaited on this show. I stumbled across him in "Sabretooth" last night on AMC, but I'll pretend that never happened.
1. Matthew Fox in "Through the Looking Glass"
The best episode of the series needed a truly astounding performance out of it's leading man to lift it into the television pantheon of greatness. Fox delivered. On the island, he was the determined, stubborn, uncompromising leader that I've loved since 815 crashed. Off the island, he was broken, rudderless and pathetic as a drug addict wandering through the death of his one-time-rival-turned-spiritual-role-model, Locke. What range! Who said Matthew Fox only has one move? He's no Derek Zoolander!
So many great scenes for Jack in this one. The pained look on his face and the subsequent beat-down of Ben after those three gunshots ring out over the walkie-talkie just kills me. The determination as he tells Tom over that same walkie that he's going to get all his people off the island - all of them - inspires me. The anguish in his voice as he tell Kate that he's sick of lying makes me sick. And the sense of relief and triumph he exudes as he makes the call to the freighter in defiance of Ben and Locke is the stuff for history books. There's no topping this one. If there was a "Best Performance on Film All-Time" award, this would get it.
Honorable mentions-
Evangeline Lilly in "What Kate Did", Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje in "The Cost of Living", Henry Ian Cusick in "Live Together, Die Alone", Emerson in "Cabin Fever", O'Quinn in "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham", Fox in "Do No Harm" and the flashforwards in "Something Nice Back Home", Emerson in "Dead is Dead".
But six nominations still seemed like too few. Josh Holloway was great this year as Sawyer, and since "LaFleur" was one of the episodes submitted to the academy, I thought he was in a pretty good position for a nod. Former Supporting Actor winner Terry O'Quinn also turned in a great performance this year, not only as Locke in "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham", but also as Fake-Locke later in the season. O'Quinn deserves credit for keeping the usual wit and charm of the character while adding a swagger and arrogance to leave the audience feeling as if something was a little off about the Box Man. Some people felt like anything short of a win for Elizabeth Mitchell as Juliet would be a travesty, but I've always thought she was overrated and never really connected with the character. If any of the female castmembers deserved, it would have been Evangeline Lilly. She brought it to a new level this season.
Anyway, all that Emmy talk got me thinking about my favorite acting performances of the series. This super-talented cast never disappoints, but there are certain moments, episodes, and character arcs that stand above even the usual level of excellence. My top 5-
5. Matthew Fox, "Man of Science, Man of Faith" through "Orientation"
I just watched these a few weeks ago, so there might be some bias here, and it might be cheating grouping three episodes together, but they told one complete story so I'm standing by it. Fox does a great job of displaying the inner turmoil in Jack as he confronts what Locke describes as destiny. I love when he tells Sarah, "I'm gonna fix you," right before the operation, then snaps out of it with a sense of embarrassment for getting so personal with a patient. I love when he yells at Desmond "You don't even know what you're running from!" as he chases him through the jungle, and"I married her!" when he asks what happened after that night in the stadium. Top notch stuff.
4. Michael Emerson as Henry Gale
I could make a list of my favorite Ben Linus quotes and moments, but that could take days. I'm going with the his undercover work as hot air balloon enthusiast and punching bag Henry Gale. For a character who has been shrouded in mystery for over 3 seasons now, this was Ben's coming out party in terms of deception and ambiguity. "You guys got any milk" was the icing on the cake. Emerson better win the Supporting Actor award this year. If you can turn Ben Linus into an object of pity, you've done some good work.
3. Terry O'Quinn in Deus Ex Machina
To me and plenty of others, this is the defining John Locke episode. It showed us that Locke's almost-pathological need for acceptance and love from a father figure (either Cooper or the Island) drives him to be trusting, even gullible, to a fault, and O'Quinn absolutely nails it. The scenes where he's crying outside Cooper's house and when he's pounding on the hatch yelling "why did you do this to me?" make the room feel a little dusty every time. Bonus points for the great fake hair he's sporting throughout. Pulling. It. Off.
2. Josh Holloway in "The Brig", Killing Anthony Cooper
Maybe one of my favorite scenes in the history of the show. Watching Sawyer take out 30 years of pain with that chain around Cooper's neck was hard for me to watch the first time. I was in the camp that Sawyer had already moved on, that he didn't need to kill Cooper, and that getting back to killing was the worst thing for him. When he puked in the creek after doing the deed, I felt vindicated. Now, it's obvious to everyone that that moment pretty much closed the door on his horrible past, so it makes that scene all the more satisfying for me. Kudos to Holloway on this one. I've always felt he was an underapprecaited on this show. I stumbled across him in "Sabretooth" last night on AMC, but I'll pretend that never happened.
1. Matthew Fox in "Through the Looking Glass"
The best episode of the series needed a truly astounding performance out of it's leading man to lift it into the television pantheon of greatness. Fox delivered. On the island, he was the determined, stubborn, uncompromising leader that I've loved since 815 crashed. Off the island, he was broken, rudderless and pathetic as a drug addict wandering through the death of his one-time-rival-turned-spiritual-role-model, Locke. What range! Who said Matthew Fox only has one move? He's no Derek Zoolander!
So many great scenes for Jack in this one. The pained look on his face and the subsequent beat-down of Ben after those three gunshots ring out over the walkie-talkie just kills me. The determination as he tells Tom over that same walkie that he's going to get all his people off the island - all of them - inspires me. The anguish in his voice as he tell Kate that he's sick of lying makes me sick. And the sense of relief and triumph he exudes as he makes the call to the freighter in defiance of Ben and Locke is the stuff for history books. There's no topping this one. If there was a "Best Performance on Film All-Time" award, this would get it.
Honorable mentions-
Evangeline Lilly in "What Kate Did", Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje in "The Cost of Living", Henry Ian Cusick in "Live Together, Die Alone", Emerson in "Cabin Fever", O'Quinn in "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham", Fox in "Do No Harm" and the flashforwards in "Something Nice Back Home", Emerson in "Dead is Dead".
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Charlie Pace, Great Man
A while back, I read a piece on a Lost website that attempted to categorize the various male characters on the show as either "good" men or "great" men. The criteria was somewhat vague, and I don't really remember how the writer placed most of the characters, but what he said about Charlie has stuck with me all this time. He said that Charlie was a "good" man because he always strove for a comfortable life where he was loving to those close to him, always loyal and caring, but never extraordinary. This stuck with me because I think Charlie Pace was indeed a great man. He was never ordinary. In fact, whenever he tried to be, he failed. For some people, the "good" life is perfectly fine, even noble. But Charlie couldn't just live quietly with Claire and Aaron. He was always meant to be something more, even if it cost him happiness and, ultimately, his life.
Greatness is a hard concept to nail down. What separates the great from the good? Like porn, you know it when you see it. I know Springsteen's Born to Run is great. Michael Jordan, great. My dad's smoked pork, great. Dick Jauron, not great. Harry Reid, not great. Nickelback, definitely not great. But great things share a common thread - they go above and beyond what is expected, an unavoidable ambition that you can't help but admire. They take risks. They accept the possibility of failure or worse.
Although "Fire+Water" might not be the best episode of the series (it's the one time in the whole show that I despise John Locke. He can't be punching Charlie! He's not a violent guy! Let's just pretend that never happened and move on...), the dream sequence at the beginning where Charlie gets the piano for Christmas as a young boy shows that he always had tremendous pressure on him to lift his family out of poverty with his music. While Liam might have been the charismatic front man, Charlie was a gifted musician. The Paces were depending on him to save them. This was the path Charlie needed to travel, and it was put in front of him from the beginning. He wouldn't be following in his father's foodsteps as a butcher. Sure, that's a perfectly respectable career, but there's nothing extraordinary about it. Charlie had bigger plans.
The Charlie Pace story is loaded with instances of heroism. In "The Moth", Charlie risks his life to save Jack after he was trapped in the caves. "Greatest Hits" showed him chasing off a mugger attacking Nadia in a London ally. When Aaron was kidnapped by Rousseau in "Exodus", Charlie did not hesitate to run into the jungle after them. He even let Sayid light his face on fire instead of turning back! Hardcore, man.
Those examples don't even include Charlie's finest hour - sacrificing himself in the Looking Glass station so his friends could get off the island. Despite Desmond's best efforts, Charlie was doomed to die, and he knew it. He had to courage to accept his inevitable death for the benefit of everyone else. Jack couldn't talk him out of it. Des couldn't talk him out of it. This was his burden, and he would bear it. So he swam down to the hatch, into the room with the blinking yellow light. He flipped the switch. The light turned off. He drowned. This moment, more than the drugs or DriveShaft, defined Charlie Pace.
Nothing ordinary about that.
Greatness is a hard concept to nail down. What separates the great from the good? Like porn, you know it when you see it. I know Springsteen's Born to Run is great. Michael Jordan, great. My dad's smoked pork, great. Dick Jauron, not great. Harry Reid, not great. Nickelback, definitely not great. But great things share a common thread - they go above and beyond what is expected, an unavoidable ambition that you can't help but admire. They take risks. They accept the possibility of failure or worse.
Although "Fire+Water" might not be the best episode of the series (it's the one time in the whole show that I despise John Locke. He can't be punching Charlie! He's not a violent guy! Let's just pretend that never happened and move on...), the dream sequence at the beginning where Charlie gets the piano for Christmas as a young boy shows that he always had tremendous pressure on him to lift his family out of poverty with his music. While Liam might have been the charismatic front man, Charlie was a gifted musician. The Paces were depending on him to save them. This was the path Charlie needed to travel, and it was put in front of him from the beginning. He wouldn't be following in his father's foodsteps as a butcher. Sure, that's a perfectly respectable career, but there's nothing extraordinary about it. Charlie had bigger plans.
The Charlie Pace story is loaded with instances of heroism. In "The Moth", Charlie risks his life to save Jack after he was trapped in the caves. "Greatest Hits" showed him chasing off a mugger attacking Nadia in a London ally. When Aaron was kidnapped by Rousseau in "Exodus", Charlie did not hesitate to run into the jungle after them. He even let Sayid light his face on fire instead of turning back! Hardcore, man.
Those examples don't even include Charlie's finest hour - sacrificing himself in the Looking Glass station so his friends could get off the island. Despite Desmond's best efforts, Charlie was doomed to die, and he knew it. He had to courage to accept his inevitable death for the benefit of everyone else. Jack couldn't talk him out of it. Des couldn't talk him out of it. This was his burden, and he would bear it. So he swam down to the hatch, into the room with the blinking yellow light. He flipped the switch. The light turned off. He drowned. This moment, more than the drugs or DriveShaft, defined Charlie Pace.
Nothing ordinary about that.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Orientation
After 5 incredible seasons, Lost has established a proven track record as a thought-provoking, gut-wrenching, mind-fucking, face-melting piece of television. Since I spend at least 50% of my time thinking about the show, I figured it was about time I started putting some of these thoughts down on paper, not only so other people can read, react and discuss, but also so I can have a record of my ever-changing theories regarding Mystery Freakin' Island and the characters I've come to love so much. I mean, wouldn't it be great if I could go back and read a 2000-word essay from 2007 about why I thought Christian Shephard, Charles Widmore, Mr. Paik and the Dharma Initiative were all part of a massive conspiracy controlling everything on the island? I'm sure that would have been a brilliant piece of writing.
So, over the course of the next year (and maybe longer), I'll be dissecting episodes, analyzing characters, decoding clues, and making predictions, with it all culminating in a grand theory of everything Lost after the finale next spring. At least that's the plan. It might take a while, but hey, isn't that the point? Enjoy.
So, over the course of the next year (and maybe longer), I'll be dissecting episodes, analyzing characters, decoding clues, and making predictions, with it all culminating in a grand theory of everything Lost after the finale next spring. At least that's the plan. It might take a while, but hey, isn't that the point? Enjoy.
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