Wednesday, March 3, 2010

TBG TV: Lost -- "Sundown"


Three Things I Dug:

Sayid's Demise: If this is the writers' way of making up for underutilizing one of my favorite characters on the show for the past five seasons...apology accepted! Early on, I was certain I'd figured out where Sayid's storyline would take him -- his brother would betray/kill him in the sideways world and then he'd sacrifice himself on the island to keep the "darkness" from consuming his heart, proving (in both worlds) that he's indeed a good person. The desperation on Sayid's face and in his actions during the opening fight with Dogen (ceramic bowls as weapons!) only hastened his breakdown and left him ripe for Dark Locke to manipulate like putty. Dropping the knife at Dogen's feet was a sneaky bit of business and lulled me right in, before Sayid brought down some of that "evil incarnate" on Dogen and his hippie Smithers. The smirk on Sayid's face at the end? Best heel turn ever.

Sideways Sayid: So sue me...I was sucked right into the soap opera with Nadia. The picture in the backpack, the "why did you push me to your brother" speech...everything. Yes, it was ham-handed, but the focus seamlessly transitioned to Sayid, his brother and the loan sharks. The Jack Shepard two-second cameo was a nice touch, but the Martin Keamy appearance had me out of my seat. The "eggs" sequence just slayed me for some reason and then watching this clean-cut(!) bad-ass try to bargain his way out of the gun pointed at his chest was gold. I said it way back when and I'll say it again: they killed off "island mercenary" Keamy too soon. In many ways, he was this generation's Boba Fett.

Claire v. Kate: The scene where Kate is brought in to see Claire down in the pit was very well-written. With Claire seemingly helpless (and clinically cuckoo), Kate unintentionally lords over her and declares that she "raised" Claire's son. If I didn't know better, I'd think the writers were having a little fun with the well-worn (and absolutely f-ing deserved) contempt that many Lost fans feel towards the Kate character. Even if Claire wasn't Evil Claire, it'd be hard NOT to root for her to kick Kate's ass.


Three Things I Didn't Dig:

"What are you...the narrator?": I'm still holding out hope that the writers have something better for Miles than serving as exposition for everyone else. I thought there might be some kind of revelation during Sayid's talk with Miles -- when Miles tells Sayid he was dead for two hours -- but "the guy who converses with corpses" apparently had nothing to ask Sayid during his brief eternal sleep. Glad to see he survived ol' Smoky, but Miles has been wasted all season.

Wait...Kate?: Soooo...everyone seems to see that Kate has not been "infected", right? Dark Locke even gives her this cock-eyed look as she exits the temple with Evil Claire and Sinister Sayid ("Sinisayid"? "Sinestro"?) Kate grabs a gun from a dead temple-dweller and that's her infiltration? Sayid and Claire didn't notice the calm look on everyone else's face within Team Smoke set against the "OMG, the humanity!" horror on Kate's face? No?

"I want answers!": C'mon, writers. Those words actually found their way out of Sayid's mouth early in the episode. Let's tighten up the dialogue going forward, 'K?


The Verdict: After several weeks of episodic inertia, I'm pleased to report that Lost has a pulse. Best episode since the season premiere and the opportunity for two-in-a-row is right THERE with next week's Ben-centric show.

4 comments:

SHough610 said...

Hippie Smithers... I wish I knew how to quit you Cam.

I too loved this episode but was slightly annoyed with the preview for next episode where


****POTENTIAL SPOILER FOR THOSE WHO DON'T WATCH THOSE PREVIEWS



















The fact that they seemed to say that Ben was going to meet his fate. Oh yeah, they're going to announce killing off a f*cking main character right there? Give me a break.

Aaron C. said...

I wouldn't put too much stock in it. The "next week on LOST" previews at the end of each episode have been notoriously...well, what's a nice way to say "bullsh*t"?

There've been "next week" teasers that proclaimed "all your questions WILL (pause) BE (pause) ANSWERED ~!" Others have stated that the "final fate of [character] WILL (pause) BE (pause) REVEALED!"

And, then, after the following week, I still don't know what's up with Walt (answer THAT question, Lost!) and the "final fate" of so-and-so is still being told six years later.

SHough610 said...

http://tv.ign.com/articles/107/1072865p1.html this is a write-up where the creators talk about some of what they will and won't answer (they mention walt! And Vincent!)

And how much more interesting is FLocke's, well, flock? FLocke himself, Sawyer, SiniSayid, Killah Claire (I almost called her Krazy Killer Klaire "KKK? Oh that can't be good!")? Swap Kate for Ben and I honestly don't care about the so-called good guys (though I do like Hurley).

How much is Michael Emerson killing it this season? Between his "And I'm sorry that I killed you" at Locke's funeral, his persnickety coffee rant as a teacher, or his horrified backing away (which slayed me for some reason, it reminded me of the horrified look on Bart and Lisa's faces when they see Adam West doing the Batusi in Mr. Plow) he's just been great.

Hypnotoad said...

It was nice to see hippie Smithers continue the Lost tradition of introducing and killing characters who serve absolutely no purposes. He's like that hispanic dude from the Ajira flight who looked like he was going to be a rival to Ilana's faction before being unceremoniously shot by Ben.