A Lost Addendum
A friend just sent me a link to a fascinating interview with Harold Perrineau ("Michael"). Truth be told, I agree with pretty much everything he says. His character was pretty poorly written this season with his demise tied to the absurd notion of the island determining when it's time to die.
He also has some interesting points on the depiction of Black characters (both on the show and within the entertainment industry, in general) which I'm sure most people will trivialize with their usual, lazy "playing the race card" appellation, but dude makes sense.
I get what he's saying, and I think the whole storyline was something of a waste, too. Of course, my solution would have been to not bring him back at all.
ReplyDeleteIt'll be interesting to see if his bitching about his character's death gets harsher reaction than Ian Somerhalder's equally bitchy reaction to Boone getting killed got. As I recall, Cam, you and I were the only ones relishing in that.
The only reason Perrineau loses more points with me is because he named his daughter "Wynter Aria." It's no "Pilot Inspektor," but it's close.
I see where he is coming from.
ReplyDeleteThey brought him back and didn't really do anything with him except promise the audience he was going to die eventually.
They completely bypass the Walt/Michael dynamic and didn't give them a big moment after he return.
I think LOST writers have more daddy issues than stereotype issues. Every father is an asshole or a reformed asshole, who ends up dying (Jin...if he's dead).
Still, the writers may have had more planned for Michael, but the season was cut short by the strike. Also, they could still ask him back, though I bet this interview isn't going to help that idea.
Agree that his death seemed kind of worthless. Although, I'd almost guarantee that he and Walt will have some sort of teary-eyed happy ending at the end of it all.
ReplyDeleteIf anything, it seems like they're eliminating as much of Walt as possible since they're now realizing that casting a little kid in a show involving time travel where it takes three years to move through 108 days might have been a bad idea.
I always thought it was weird that a show like Lost, that wallows in its spoiler-free secrecy, tipped their hand on Michael's return six months before season four started. I think Perrineau's comment about "pandering" is spot on.
ReplyDeleteAnyone got a scorecard on "disgruntled former cast members"? As Joe mentioned, Boone's exit was gloriously bitter. Ana Lucia and Mr. Eko won't be making postmortem cameos, either. And, Michael's probably the newest member of the group.
The Walt thing is just getting absurd. With puberty and that prison weight lifting system he seems to be on, he'll have appeared to have aged 20 years by the time the show ends.
I know that "trust the writers" is the default response for any criticism of the show, but I refuse to believe they planned for this.
It depends. If they planned to have the show jump into the future five years than having little kid Walt was fine. Unfortunately, it certainly seems like Walt is... uh.... maturing pretty quickly. That's what they get for casting a young-looking 12-year-old to play a 10-year-old who quickly turned in to a normal looking 15-year-old.
ReplyDeleteThen again... the "kids" on 90210 were in their 30s so whatever. Hopefully the show will finish up before he's the starting fullback for Ohio State.