Hurley's weight has fluctuated over the years. Here's how I break it down on a system of 1 to 10, 1 being fat, 5 being Mongo, and 10 being Jumbotron.
Season 1 - He's pretty fat. Not outrageously so, but your wouldn't think he'd be crossing any old, tattered rope bridges. But he does, so that earns him a 4.
Season 2 - He's not turning any heads, but he dropped a few belt sizes. And Libby cute enough that she isn't going after the fattest of the fat. All that running on the beach gets him a 2.
Season 3 - Hurley really starts ballooning. Both Charlie and Sawyer decline his help on critical missions. We don't see him eating any peanut butter off leaves or chugging ranch dressing like a hungover college kid drinking water, but I suspect he's doing both. That earns him a 7.
Season 4 - All the time in New Otherton gave him plenty of opportunities to graze on Apollo bars. Also, he doesn't have to trek through the jungle nearly as much. It shows. 8.
Season 5 - It might be his unfortunate wardrobe, but Hurley never looks fatter than he does in this season. That Dharma jumpsuit just doesn't look as good on him as it does, say Roger Workman. And four last words: I Heart My Shih-Tzu. 10.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Lifted Material
I realize I've been on Jack overload lately, but indulge me on one last note (at least until I get to 316).
Jack likes to portray himself as a product of his own Herculean efforts, with everyone else often only playing supporting roles. One of my favorite examples of this is the 5-second story he tells Kate in the very first episode. After he made the wrong cut in one of his first surgeries, he was scared. But instead of letting the fear overwhelm him, he counts to five, puts the fear aside, and fixes his mistake. It's the ultimate instance of mind over matter, a perfect microcosm of Jack's belief in his ability to control any situation. I love that story.
But in "The Incident", we find out that his father, Christian was the one who told him to take those five seconds. Not only that, Jack resents his father for, what he says, embarrassed him in front of his team. So, what Jack later turns into one of his greatest triumphs of determination and mental toughness was really an instance of his father - a person wiser and more experienced than he - helping him succeed in a way he could not on his own. And all he could do was pout.
This revelation suggests that although Jack blames his father (either explicitly or subconsciously) for most of his insecurities, in reality, he owes him what little faith he has in himself. Not that Christian Shephard was perfect - the first time we saw him, he was telling Jack he just doesn't have what it takes to handle it when he fails - but Jack's lack of self-confidence led him to take every helping hand as a personal slight. Grow up Peter Pan, Count Chocula. You have to learn to trust yourself and trust others. Otherwise, you will go through life angry and regretful. Oh wait, that's what you've done.
In "There's No Place Like Home", Jack borrows the idea for The Lie from another one of his supposed adversaries - John Locke. This case illustrates that somewhere inside him, he knows that Locke is right, that they crashed there for a a reason, that all roads led there. It's the first sign of Jack as a man of faith. In a way, he's evolving. By the time he's sucking down pills and growing terrible beards, he completely believes Locke. He trusts him. How that leads to blowing up an atomic bomb, that's a whole other story.
My next post will be about something else. I promise.
Jack likes to portray himself as a product of his own Herculean efforts, with everyone else often only playing supporting roles. One of my favorite examples of this is the 5-second story he tells Kate in the very first episode. After he made the wrong cut in one of his first surgeries, he was scared. But instead of letting the fear overwhelm him, he counts to five, puts the fear aside, and fixes his mistake. It's the ultimate instance of mind over matter, a perfect microcosm of Jack's belief in his ability to control any situation. I love that story.
But in "The Incident", we find out that his father, Christian was the one who told him to take those five seconds. Not only that, Jack resents his father for, what he says, embarrassed him in front of his team. So, what Jack later turns into one of his greatest triumphs of determination and mental toughness was really an instance of his father - a person wiser and more experienced than he - helping him succeed in a way he could not on his own. And all he could do was pout.
This revelation suggests that although Jack blames his father (either explicitly or subconsciously) for most of his insecurities, in reality, he owes him what little faith he has in himself. Not that Christian Shephard was perfect - the first time we saw him, he was telling Jack he just doesn't have what it takes to handle it when he fails - but Jack's lack of self-confidence led him to take every helping hand as a personal slight. Grow up Peter Pan, Count Chocula. You have to learn to trust yourself and trust others. Otherwise, you will go through life angry and regretful. Oh wait, that's what you've done.
In "There's No Place Like Home", Jack borrows the idea for The Lie from another one of his supposed adversaries - John Locke. This case illustrates that somewhere inside him, he knows that Locke is right, that they crashed there for a a reason, that all roads led there. It's the first sign of Jack as a man of faith. In a way, he's evolving. By the time he's sucking down pills and growing terrible beards, he completely believes Locke. He trusts him. How that leads to blowing up an atomic bomb, that's a whole other story.
My next post will be about something else. I promise.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Something Nice Back Home
"Do you really think I'm good at this?"
"I'm the one who saved you."
"Who in the world am I?"
One of my favorite flashbacks/flashforwards of the entire series has some of the most telling quotes from our fearless leader, Jack Shephard. These three capture the mindset of post-island Jack; they encapsulate his uncertainty, insecurity, and hero complex that will drive him to the depths of despair and eventually lead him back to the island.
The scene that really stuck out to me the most this time through was when Jack wakes Kate up in the middle of the night to propose. First, he asks her if she really thinks he's good at this, at being a loving father and stable mate, two things about which Jack holds tremendous doubt. The former comes from his father (who appropriately haunts him in this very episode), the latter from his failed marriage with Sarah. When Kate says she does, he proposes. She happily accepts.
The expression on Jack's face as he hugs Kate is not only one of joy, but one of accomplishment, like he finally has the woman he's been after since she stitched him up on the beach. It's a lot like the look on his face as defiantly he calls the freighter in Through the Looking Glass. He's on top of the world. But is that really what you should feel when you get engaged? Happiness, yes, but is it really the same as achieving a goal? Is he trying to prove something here? Of course he is. Jack is always trying to prove something, where it's to his father, Ben, Sawyer, Kate, or himself. Kate has always looked to Jack as a hero, someone good. Jack knows this. When she accepts his engagement, Jack sees it as an affirmation from Kate of everything he did as a leader of the survivors. He rescued her from the island and he has earned her respect as a father. It satisfies his hero complex, and for a brief moment it looks like Jack might have put his demons to rest.
It all quickly crumbles when he sees his father in the lobby of the hospital. Not only does he think he's going crazy, but it's a symbol that his insecurities stemming from his relationship with his father are not dead and buried. Jack never thinks he can live up to his father's expectations for him, and seeing him in at the hospital reminds him of that and the island where his body is supposed to be. The question remains - how the hell is Christian Shephard appearing to Jack at all? Is it Jacob? Is it the Man in Black? Is it something else entirely? Either way, it's clear Jack takes this as the first sign that leaving the island might not have been the right thing thing to do.
When Jack comes home to Kate talking on the phone late at night, his trust issues begin to emerge as well. An under-discussed part of Jack's character is his issue with trust, and it's twice as bad with women he cares for than anyone else (see Tale of Two Cities). And Kate, who has undermined that trust on several occasions, is especially vulnerable to incurring his distrustful wrath. Coupled with his visions of his father, and there's a recipe for disaster. Now bad Jack starts pouring out. The drinking. The suspicions. The chest-thumping. He's jealous of Sawyer even though they're separated by 30 years and thousands of miles. After all this, his relationship with Kate is never the same. Somehow this leads to him blowing up an atomic bomb, but that's a little ways off still.
Jack's encounters with his father and with Hurley start to sow the seeds of doubt about whether leaving the island was really the right thing to do. How can his father be walking around if his dead body should be somewhere on that island? How is Charlie talking to Hurley, and actually giving him poignant advice? The transition to a man of faith begins in this episode. He just doesn't know it yet.
"I'm the one who saved you."
"Who in the world am I?"
One of my favorite flashbacks/flashforwards of the entire series has some of the most telling quotes from our fearless leader, Jack Shephard. These three capture the mindset of post-island Jack; they encapsulate his uncertainty, insecurity, and hero complex that will drive him to the depths of despair and eventually lead him back to the island.
The scene that really stuck out to me the most this time through was when Jack wakes Kate up in the middle of the night to propose. First, he asks her if she really thinks he's good at this, at being a loving father and stable mate, two things about which Jack holds tremendous doubt. The former comes from his father (who appropriately haunts him in this very episode), the latter from his failed marriage with Sarah. When Kate says she does, he proposes. She happily accepts.
The expression on Jack's face as he hugs Kate is not only one of joy, but one of accomplishment, like he finally has the woman he's been after since she stitched him up on the beach. It's a lot like the look on his face as defiantly he calls the freighter in Through the Looking Glass. He's on top of the world. But is that really what you should feel when you get engaged? Happiness, yes, but is it really the same as achieving a goal? Is he trying to prove something here? Of course he is. Jack is always trying to prove something, where it's to his father, Ben, Sawyer, Kate, or himself. Kate has always looked to Jack as a hero, someone good. Jack knows this. When she accepts his engagement, Jack sees it as an affirmation from Kate of everything he did as a leader of the survivors. He rescued her from the island and he has earned her respect as a father. It satisfies his hero complex, and for a brief moment it looks like Jack might have put his demons to rest.
It all quickly crumbles when he sees his father in the lobby of the hospital. Not only does he think he's going crazy, but it's a symbol that his insecurities stemming from his relationship with his father are not dead and buried. Jack never thinks he can live up to his father's expectations for him, and seeing him in at the hospital reminds him of that and the island where his body is supposed to be. The question remains - how the hell is Christian Shephard appearing to Jack at all? Is it Jacob? Is it the Man in Black? Is it something else entirely? Either way, it's clear Jack takes this as the first sign that leaving the island might not have been the right thing thing to do.
When Jack comes home to Kate talking on the phone late at night, his trust issues begin to emerge as well. An under-discussed part of Jack's character is his issue with trust, and it's twice as bad with women he cares for than anyone else (see Tale of Two Cities). And Kate, who has undermined that trust on several occasions, is especially vulnerable to incurring his distrustful wrath. Coupled with his visions of his father, and there's a recipe for disaster. Now bad Jack starts pouring out. The drinking. The suspicions. The chest-thumping. He's jealous of Sawyer even though they're separated by 30 years and thousands of miles. After all this, his relationship with Kate is never the same. Somehow this leads to him blowing up an atomic bomb, but that's a little ways off still.
Jack's encounters with his father and with Hurley start to sow the seeds of doubt about whether leaving the island was really the right thing to do. How can his father be walking around if his dead body should be somewhere on that island? How is Charlie talking to Hurley, and actually giving him poignant advice? The transition to a man of faith begins in this episode. He just doesn't know it yet.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Jack Shephard - Killer?
In "Man of Science, Man of Faith", Jack tells his future wife that he hurt his ankle running all the stairs in a stadium. When she asks him why he would do that, he answers, "I'm intense." That's as much of an understatement as Ben saying "I lie to people" or Kate saying "I'm a two-timing ho." That second one might not be fair, but you get the idea. Especially after watching "Through the Looking Glass" and "The Beginning of the End," intensity hardly describes Jack Shephard; it's more like insanity.
After Ben tricks him into thinking that Tom just shot Jin, Sayid and Bernard, Jack delivers one of the most savage beatings of the entire series, capped off with a nice "I'm gonna kill ya" to the supposed murderer on the other end of the walkie-talkie. He then tells Kate that once he gets everyone rescued and rubs his success in Ben's face (with a expression that horrifies Kate), he's going to kill him too. After pulling the trigger of a gun pointed at Locke's face, Jack seems to turn into a completely different person - a person ready and willing to kill anyone who gets in his way of getting off the island.
My question is, since when is Jack a killer? This is the same guy who wouldn't torture Henry Gale, and now he's Billy the Kid. After his gun jammed when he tries to shoot Locke (which I'm certain was the island's doing, not the result of an unloaded gun like Locke says), I remember feeling that the Jack Shephard that I knew and loved was gone. To some extent, that might be true. He's a completely different man. His one-track mind at this point in the series (late S3-S4) focuses relentlessly on getting off the island; his old morals and values do not matter.
The one thing that made Jack such an appealing character early in the series was his strong moral compass. He treated decisions of great consequence like the deserved to be treated. Now he's blowing up atomic bombs just to get another crack at a life with Kate. He's still my favorite character, and I admire his unparalleled sense of self-efficacy, but I miss the guy who was more concerned with constantly proving himself and less consumed with guilt and regret.
I have a hard time writing posts about Jack. I've thought a lot about him, but he's such a complex character with such an expansive story that it's hard to capture it all in one post without it turning into War and Peace. I mean, we're dealing with over 100 episodes and about 10 flashbacks/flashforwards. His issues are so inter-related - his inability to let go, his guilt, his desire to prove himself, his insecurities about his father - that discussing one inevitably leads to another, and then you've got yourself about 50 tangents and too many paragraphs. I will work on this. His character deserves it. And if this blog is going to be worth anything to my future self as a documentation of my thoughts and feelings while going through my favorite show of all time, I have to find a way to make it work.
After Ben tricks him into thinking that Tom just shot Jin, Sayid and Bernard, Jack delivers one of the most savage beatings of the entire series, capped off with a nice "I'm gonna kill ya" to the supposed murderer on the other end of the walkie-talkie. He then tells Kate that once he gets everyone rescued and rubs his success in Ben's face (with a expression that horrifies Kate), he's going to kill him too. After pulling the trigger of a gun pointed at Locke's face, Jack seems to turn into a completely different person - a person ready and willing to kill anyone who gets in his way of getting off the island.
My question is, since when is Jack a killer? This is the same guy who wouldn't torture Henry Gale, and now he's Billy the Kid. After his gun jammed when he tries to shoot Locke (which I'm certain was the island's doing, not the result of an unloaded gun like Locke says), I remember feeling that the Jack Shephard that I knew and loved was gone. To some extent, that might be true. He's a completely different man. His one-track mind at this point in the series (late S3-S4) focuses relentlessly on getting off the island; his old morals and values do not matter.
The one thing that made Jack such an appealing character early in the series was his strong moral compass. He treated decisions of great consequence like the deserved to be treated. Now he's blowing up atomic bombs just to get another crack at a life with Kate. He's still my favorite character, and I admire his unparalleled sense of self-efficacy, but I miss the guy who was more concerned with constantly proving himself and less consumed with guilt and regret.
I have a hard time writing posts about Jack. I've thought a lot about him, but he's such a complex character with such an expansive story that it's hard to capture it all in one post without it turning into War and Peace. I mean, we're dealing with over 100 episodes and about 10 flashbacks/flashforwards. His issues are so inter-related - his inability to let go, his guilt, his desire to prove himself, his insecurities about his father - that discussing one inevitably leads to another, and then you've got yourself about 50 tangents and too many paragraphs. I will work on this. His character deserves it. And if this blog is going to be worth anything to my future self as a documentation of my thoughts and feelings while going through my favorite show of all time, I have to find a way to make it work.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
The Man Behind the Curtain
No episode has changed as much as this one in terms of it's meaning to the overall mythology of Lost. After it first aired (and really up until The Incident), this was our only glimpse of Jacob. Various characters had dropped his name here and there, and Hurley and Locke saw the cabin in season 4, but as far as we new, Jacob was not involved in either of those instances. That's what made it such a seminal episode. All we knew (or thought we knew) was that Jacob was a guy who lived in a cabin, was very old-fashioned, could speak to people telepathically, cause violent turmoil, and choose to whether or not to be visible. We assumed Ben took orders from him, that Richard never spoke to him. Now we know some of that is wrong. We have no clue what to make of that scene in the cabin. And after season 6, it will take on an entirely different meaning once we get some answers about the Jacob/Man in Black struggle.
After The Incident, what are we supposed to take away from The Man Behind the Curtain? If Ben has never spoken to Jacob, who was in that chair? Was it the Man in Black? Was it nobody at all? And why did Ben choose to take Locke there if he didn't even know where Jacob was? Had he gone to that cabin previously for instructions? And if so, does that confirm that the Man in Black has been influencing the Others for quite some time? That would certainly suggest that the Man in Black was the one who ordered the Purge, given how nicely that would parallel the flashbacks of the episode.
I have all the confidence in the world that we will get these questions answered in season 6. And when we do, then we will be able to put The Man Behind the Curtain and all it's craziness into perspective.
After The Incident, what are we supposed to take away from The Man Behind the Curtain? If Ben has never spoken to Jacob, who was in that chair? Was it the Man in Black? Was it nobody at all? And why did Ben choose to take Locke there if he didn't even know where Jacob was? Had he gone to that cabin previously for instructions? And if so, does that confirm that the Man in Black has been influencing the Others for quite some time? That would certainly suggest that the Man in Black was the one who ordered the Purge, given how nicely that would parallel the flashbacks of the episode.
I have all the confidence in the world that we will get these questions answered in season 6. And when we do, then we will be able to put The Man Behind the Curtain and all it's craziness into perspective.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Hardcore Rewatch
Hopefully this post will be better than my last...god those are some bad picks.
Season 5 DVDs come out next Tuesday. I need to be through seasons 1-4 by then, so I'm hitting the rewatch hard. Zipped through season 3, disc 3 Sunday, plugged through disc 4 yesterday. Next up, one of the strongest stretches of the series to close out season 3, then season 4, which might be my favorite season of all. This coming week is going to be great.
No groundbreaking revelations, but a few scattered thoughts -
Season 5 DVDs come out next Tuesday. I need to be through seasons 1-4 by then, so I'm hitting the rewatch hard. Zipped through season 3, disc 3 Sunday, plugged through disc 4 yesterday. Next up, one of the strongest stretches of the series to close out season 3, then season 4, which might be my favorite season of all. This coming week is going to be great.
No groundbreaking revelations, but a few scattered thoughts -
- Expose is an awesome episode. Hilarious. Dramatic. Incredibly self-aware. That was one of the biggest strengths of The X-Files; it knew exactly what it was and could poke fun at itself in sharp, clever way. D & C really took advantage of Nikki and Paulo to do the same thing here.
- Claire is annoying. She's pretentious. She's whiny. I didn't realize how much I haven't missed her this last year. Hopefully all this time trouncing around the jungle has led to a serious attitude adjustment.
- Jack's time in captivity with the Others flips the switch that begins his relentless efforts to get off the island. Seeing Kate with Sawyer, Locke blowing up the sub, the loss of control, it all turns him from merely a driven commit-o-phile to borderline psychopath hell-bent on leaving the island at all costs. Hopefully more on this soon.
- Stranger in a Strange Land - It pisses me off when they introduce characters on-island that you never see again (like Harper in The Other Woman). They did this here with the old woman who is supposedly the "sheriff". What the hell? Wouldn't the sheriff of the Others be a pretty important character? And if not, why introduce her at all? Couldn't Ben just have decoded Jack's tatoos? And how does "He walks among us but is not one of us" fit into the larger Jack picture? Too many questions, and not the kind that tickle your brain.
- I want to know what the Magic Box is. I am convinced that it's not just a mind game Ben was playing with Locke. The easy answer would be the Monster. I like this one better - the Temple. There's some weird stuff going on in that Temple. After Sayid shot Ben, Richard brought him there to save his life. Then again, the Monster appeared from a vent in the Temple to "judge" Ben in Dead is Dead, so it could be a mix of both. Either way, I guarantee we get an answer to this at some point in season 6.
- Jack spiking the ball at the end of Par Avion is just awesome. The little stutter just adds so much. Tom throwing like a queen is almost as good.
- Season 3 might have the best collection of cliffhangers of any season. There are so many [woah] BOOM moments that it's hard to keep track of them all.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
NFL 2009 Predictions
I had to get these down somewhere...
NFC
1. Bears 11-5
2. Falcons 11-5
3. Giants 10-6
4. Seattle 8-8
5. Packers 11-5
6. Vikings 10-6
Just missed: Panthers (10-6) Eagles (9-7), Redskins (9-7), Saints (9-7).
The NFC rolls deep this year, with a lot of really good teams and then a couple stinkers (Lions, Rams, Bucs, I'm looking at you). Seattle should bounce back a bit with a healthy offensive line and TJ Housman-zode (championship!) to beat out a Cardinals team coming off a Super Bowl hangover to win a crummy West. The Falcons won't show any signs of regression after adding Tony Gonzalez to go along with an offense that ran on all cylinders last year. The real power comes from the North where Cutler and the Bears will beat out strong challenges from Aaron Rodgers and the Packers and the Vikings for the division crown. The Panthers won't be as bad as everyone thinks - remember, Jake Delhomme was their quarterback last year too - but they'll just miss that last playoff spot. And the Saints are basically the same 8-8 team from last year, and there's pretty much no way Brees can be better, so no big jumps from them.
AFC
1. Patriots 13-3
2. Steelers 12-4
3. Chargers 12-4
4. Texans 10-6
5. Ravens 10-6
6. Titans 9-7
Just missed: Colts (9-7), Jets (9-7).
The AFC is loaded with bad teams this year; I don't expect the Bills, Browns, Chiefs or Bengals to win more than 6 games. Maybe even throw the Kyle Orton Show into that category. But Brady's back so that means the Pats will light the world on fire, the Steelers will defend their championship with 20 returning starters, and the Chargers welcome back Tila Tequila's boyfriend coupled with a super-easy division to put up a nice record after last year's .500 performance. But the Colts' time has passed. With a new coach, unproven running backs, and their weakest group of receivers in years, Peyton and Crew will be watching the playoffs from home like the rest of us. The Texans, with a dynamic offense and young defensive players coming into their own, will seize the opportunity and win their first division title. With Rex Ryan, the Jets are going to play good defense and perform better than people think. Same with the Titans, who everyone is writing off for losing Albert Haynesworth. And though he's a stud, he only played ~50% of defensive snaps last year and with a lean LenDale White and more Chris Johnson, they should be just good enough to still make the playoffs.
NFC Championship: Bears over Falcons 31-20
AFC Championship: Patriots over Chargers 30-28
Super Bowl: Patriots over Bears 33-24
NFC
1. Bears 11-5
2. Falcons 11-5
3. Giants 10-6
4. Seattle 8-8
5. Packers 11-5
6. Vikings 10-6
Just missed: Panthers (10-6) Eagles (9-7), Redskins (9-7), Saints (9-7).
The NFC rolls deep this year, with a lot of really good teams and then a couple stinkers (Lions, Rams, Bucs, I'm looking at you). Seattle should bounce back a bit with a healthy offensive line and TJ Housman-zode (championship!) to beat out a Cardinals team coming off a Super Bowl hangover to win a crummy West. The Falcons won't show any signs of regression after adding Tony Gonzalez to go along with an offense that ran on all cylinders last year. The real power comes from the North where Cutler and the Bears will beat out strong challenges from Aaron Rodgers and the Packers and the Vikings for the division crown. The Panthers won't be as bad as everyone thinks - remember, Jake Delhomme was their quarterback last year too - but they'll just miss that last playoff spot. And the Saints are basically the same 8-8 team from last year, and there's pretty much no way Brees can be better, so no big jumps from them.
AFC
1. Patriots 13-3
2. Steelers 12-4
3. Chargers 12-4
4. Texans 10-6
5. Ravens 10-6
6. Titans 9-7
Just missed: Colts (9-7), Jets (9-7).
The AFC is loaded with bad teams this year; I don't expect the Bills, Browns, Chiefs or Bengals to win more than 6 games. Maybe even throw the Kyle Orton Show into that category. But Brady's back so that means the Pats will light the world on fire, the Steelers will defend their championship with 20 returning starters, and the Chargers welcome back Tila Tequila's boyfriend coupled with a super-easy division to put up a nice record after last year's .500 performance. But the Colts' time has passed. With a new coach, unproven running backs, and their weakest group of receivers in years, Peyton and Crew will be watching the playoffs from home like the rest of us. The Texans, with a dynamic offense and young defensive players coming into their own, will seize the opportunity and win their first division title. With Rex Ryan, the Jets are going to play good defense and perform better than people think. Same with the Titans, who everyone is writing off for losing Albert Haynesworth. And though he's a stud, he only played ~50% of defensive snaps last year and with a lean LenDale White and more Chris Johnson, they should be just good enough to still make the playoffs.
NFC Championship: Bears over Falcons 31-20
AFC Championship: Patriots over Chargers 30-28
Super Bowl: Patriots over Bears 33-24
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