9 posts tagged “television”
Major spoilers, people. If you haven't watched LOST, especially Season Three, read no further.
First of all: My favorite season so far.
Next: I hate this show.
Okay, "hate" is a strong word. I'm not sure I like this show. But here's the kicker: I CAN'T STOP WATCHING IT. And I won't be able to. Now, there is some very interesting writing, and I absolutely love the crazy way things/events/people link together; that's some tough stuff to pull off. Unfortunately, however, there is some ridiculous, stupid writing that pisses me off. Here's the one that's freshest on my mind:
Charlie knows that Desmond saw him die in a flooding of a small room, and knows Desmond's visions have yet to be wrong. So before going into said small room, he doesn't grab some of the bountiful SCUBA equipment? And once in the room, he closes himself in? And once closed in, he doesn't just take a deep breath, then swim out the big-enough window after the pressure of incoming water is over? The only possible excuse for this I can find is that Desmond said Charlie had to die for Claire to get off the island, but I can find more reasons for that not to make sense than reasons for it to be logical.
Okay, despite my bitching, I still think this was without a doubt the best season so far, and I'm very excited about the upcoming season (especially after watching the trailer you posted, Jen). I'm gonna go ahead and say the highlight of this season was in the final episode, seeing a bunch of others get blown up. Call me a violent lady, but that was the most satisfying moment of the show thus far.
I grew much more fond of Jack and Kate this season, and I gotta say... I used to be all about the Kate/Sawyer, but I'm becoming a Jack/Kate kinda gal. But since I have to have someone to at least mildly dislike, I've got Juliet. Obviously I'm whoa disappointed in Locke; it says something about how much I liked him to begin with that I'm still telling myself, "Maybe he'll redeem himself!" My feelings didn't change much towards anyone else. I'm beyond sad about the loss of Mr. Eko and Charlie; if we lose Hurley or Sayid in the upcoming season, I just won't be able to handle it.
Okay, so a short review because I want to go watch special features. I'm gonna go back and make my other two LOST posts unlocked to everyone, now that I have no fear of spoilers season 1-3 spoilers. January 31st ought to be interesting...
Side note: Once these kids get rescued, at the end of the episode, where the word "LOST" would typically pop up on a black screen, I desperately want "FOUND" to pop up.
I should've written this post a few days ago when I actually finished the season (after watching four discs of it in two days), but I've been busy with Christmas preparations and family stuff, so I'm a bit behind on ye olde blogging. This will probably be a much shorter post than my Season One post. (Edit: Um, nevermind.)
Everyone has told me that most people hated Season Two; I loved it! Yes, there were things that pissed me off, but in a good way if that's possible; I was frustrated in a way that let me know I was much more invested in the story than I had previously been.
*Spoiler Alert: If you're not up to date on LOST, you might want to stop reading right about now.*
On Characters.
So John Locke and Hurley are still my favorites. I was becoming incredibly fond of Libby and then, of course, they had to kill her off--heartbreaking! And as much as I pretty much loathed Shannon, I still felt awful about her death for Sayid's sake--I love that kid almost as much as I love Locke and Hurley. I'm also incredibly fond of Mr. Eko and can't wait to see more of his backstory. (Unfortunately I don't know how much more I'll find out; the one time I saw a clip of any LOST show just happened to be a clip of what I'm pretty sure was Mr. Eko's very silly death. I suppose I'll find out once I get through Season Three.) Ana Lucía I hated even more than Shannon, and I spent most of my time up until her death wanting to smack her; it's evil, but I'm very glad she won't be around anymore. Sawyer I just can't help but love no matter what stupid evil crap he pulls--it makes no sense! I would hate him in real life, he is the perfect picture of a guy I would never ever go for... and yet I can't help but love him. I'm strange, it's how I roll. I'm loving all the crazy backstory with Jin and Sun (and loving them--they're fantastic); I was pleased to see some Rose and Bernard love; Michael annoys me as much as he ever did, if not more so (really, has he been in a scene where he wasn't throwing a tantrum? I know dudeboy's got it tough, but seriously... calm down); and Claire and Charlie I'm mildly interested in, but eh. I wasn't pleased with the "character development" of Charlie this Season. It felt less like character development and more like character butchering. Claire I really like, except she seems to have the same tendency as Michael--always screaming about something. (See what happens when you have kids? You throw more tantrums than they do.) I'm very happy to see Desmond back in the picture, because he's just a cutie. And I hate to admit it people, but I just don't care so much for Jack or Kate. Kate's growing on me again, but Jack... he gets a bit too cranky/bossy for my taste.
On Story.
How about that button. I spent the entire season desperately wanting someone to let it go all the way down because I'm overly obsessed with those scary characters on the countdown. I can't help but be amused, though--I'm pretty sure Season Two of LOST could hold the world record for Most Plot Time Allotted to Discussion and Pressing of a Button.
All this business with the "others" is becoming more and more intriguing. I really enjoyed the episode dedicated to Claire's remembering of what happened to her, especially now that Alex is being incorporated into the story--I so want to know more about her.
Why is it that no one communicates on this damn island? "Oh, we caught a guy that might be an other." "Oh, he tried to kill Ana Lucía, so don't leave her alone with him." "Oh hey, we visited another hatch where Claire was abducted and figured all sorts of shit out." These people piss me off with their secrecy from one another, and that's why Jack is one of my least favorite characters--he's usually captain of the secrets team. To be fair, Locke gets on my nerves about that, too. How about, "We found a hatch, let's all work to get inside it." Bah.
Genuine Frustrations with the Show:
(I label it that to distinguish from things about the characters that frustrate me--in other words, things that are supposed to frustrate you as opposed to things that I consider inconsistent or silly about the plot/writing.)
Seriously. Where the hell is the fire coming from? How does everyone make these torches that burn perfectly and never burn the stick down, not to mention never set surrounding grass on fire?
How has Jin picked up so much English in two months? Maybe something will explain this later, but it's a bit ridiculous. For that matter, how did Sun become fluent so quickly, and how is her vocabulary so expansive? It seems like a stretch, but that's okay.
Why is no one emaciated or at least thinning or getting sick from malnutrition after two months of poor diet?
Despite all my bitching about some things, I'm totally addicted to this crap. I can't stop watching. In fact... I've spent enough time writing about it, and now I believe I'll get my Season Three on.
That's right, people, I'm a recent LOST convert.
It's Brian's fault, actually. He started watching it and quickly zipped through all three seasons, and keeps getting frustrated over being unable to talk to me about it. I decided to give it a chance. I spent the first three discs of Season One thinking, "Wow, really? This is what people have been raving about for three seasons?"
I spent the next three discs UNABLE TO STOP WATCHING EVER. I watched half of Disc Five and all of Disc Six tonight, if that tells you anything. I CANNOT BE STOPPED. (Thank goodness for Movie Gallery's students rent-one-get-one-free thing.)
So now that I've finished the first season, I'm going to start documenting my thoughts. I know I've got a number of LOST fans in my neighborhood, and I would love to hear some comments. But spoil not, dear neighbors! I'm going so far as to make this post neighborhood only for now to avoid any random Voxer leaving a spoiling comment. (Also, if you don't want anything up to Season One spoiled for you, I recommend you stop reading now.)
People I Thoroughly Enjoy: John Locke, Hurley, Charlie, Sayid, Sun. (Please note that I'm making no effort whatsoever to spell these names right.)
People I Initially Was Not So Fond of but Love More Every Day: Jin, and of course... Sawyer! <3
People I Initially Enjoyed Thoroughly but Give Less of a Crap About: Kate and Jack.
People (Person) I Despise: Shannon.
Everyone else I have no real feelings towards. It's important to note that I am madly in love with John Locke. He is, quite frankly, my dad. And no one can take that away from me. I also have a very special place in my heart for Hurley, who tends to voice the things I'm thinking. And Sawyer. Let me just say "mmph." I wouldn't mind seeing him remove his shirt to chop more bamboo. For the love of all that is holy, we need more bamboo...
Storywise, I'm still on the fence about some things. I can't handle another heroine saga with Charlie--once is enough. And the whole baby/child-stealing thing is getting old. A few glimpses of sci-fi-ness has me itching for more, because I'm a nerd like that. BRING ON THE STRANGE ISLAND PHENOMENA.
For the first few episodes, I was just bored. The back stories seemed forced and cheesy, and there are some things about island living that pissed me off (and still do, sometimes)--I'm sorry, where are we getting fire from? Can people just magically conjure it? And I'm sure there's lots of fruit, but... c'mon, 40+ people? That's a lot of mouths to feed.
After getting past that, however, I'm really digging it and seriously starting to get into some of these stories. John Locke and Sayid especially interest me background-wise, as do Michael and Walt. My only serious beef with the show so far was the Claire's-been-kidnapped saga. Why? Because she was kidnapped, everyone freaked out--and then seemed to forget about it for three or four episodes. What the hell? We've discovered that there are at least two other people on this island, one of them has stolen a pregnant chick... but no, we've got other important island business to attend to first. Also, the fact that people went awhile before remembering, "Oh, there's a monster out here!" irked me a bit, but oh well. I'm hoping these are issues that won't be repeated in Seasons 2 and 3.
So at least for now, I am all about this business. Unfortunately, it's been a bit... erm... distracting from schoolwork. (I didn't have to work today, but instead of practicing and composing... I watched like six episodes of LOST? Oops.) I need to make Season Two stretch until Season Three comes out in mid-December, so maybe I can fill any time not spent watching LOST with things like schoolwork and music. =)
I wish the sentences "Today I am going to be filmed for a television program that's going to be aired nationally" and "Today I have not one, but count them, two pimples" weren't statements that would both happen to be true on the same day, but alas, they are. And today, friends, is that day.
Ah, well. Wish me luck on my solid 45-60 seconds of talking, people!
I just watched the The Office's Season 2 finale about five times in a row. (Okay, technically I only watched the entire episode once; I watched the last five minutes multiple times. Shut up.)
I realize I'm way, way, way behind on The Office and the Jim and Pam obsession. The weird thing is, I've loved the show every time I've watched it, I just never bothered tuning in regularly.
But now... oh, now. My parents let me borrow their DVDs. It's a mad dash to get caught up on everything before Season 4 starts Thursday. (Which means I guess I'm going to have to start watching 30 Rock, since I'm now committed to Scrubs, My Name is Earl, and The Office.) Some things are spoiled due to my watching random episodes of Season 3 when it aired and my accidental reading of what was apparently "the big twist" of the Season 3 finale.
And sweet mercy, John Krasinski? Is it possible for me to find you/Jim more attractive than I do? No. No, it is not. You make girls feel bad about their current relationships, John/Jim. It's not nice. Be real, and come to my apartment, and then date me please. Um... I mean... not that?
Okay, aside from the Jim/Pam mania that everyone was talking about two or three years ago--I'm slow, my bad--I think this is just an excellent show. I'm impressed that they can do everything they do without music... I love Scrubs, but sometimes they rely a little too much on music to make you feel a certain way. Of course I'm me, so I'm all about that... but I'm impressed with what this show does without music. Good stuff.
And of course, Steve Carell and Rainn Wilson own me. And is it odd that I have a weird girlcrush on Paul Lieberstein, aka Toby? Yes, it's probably weird. I DON'T CARE.
And now, to watch the ending of Season 2 a few more times and start Season 3.
...or do other people under the age of 80 also enjoy this show?
I've discovered that I have a ridiculous love of the show Antiques Roadshow. I should state that I'm not really an antique person. I don't actively seek this show out. But if I turn the TV on, and PBS is Antiques Roadshowin' it up, I CANNOT RESIST. I must watch, and squee at the things that turn out to be worth huge sums of money. And then! The people are so happy! And it makes me happy to see that. A lady just brought in a painting she'd bought for $400 and had restored for $600-900. AND IT TURNED OUT TO BE BY ONE OF THE FIRST HAWAIIAN ARTISTS TO PAINT IN A WESTERN STYLE, AND HE ONLY DID LIKE 5 OR 6 PAINTINGS. AND THEN IT WAS WORTH $100,000-$150,000!
And it made me happy, and she cried, and I cried on the inside out of happiness for her.
I'M WEIRD.
"Grace is a female detective working in a man's world.
[insert clip of Grace saying, "If I was trying to harass you, I'd do this," then punching a guy]
...But that's how she likes it."
Excellent. What a splendid message. "Girls, sexist attitudes in the workplace shouldn't be worried about. Just be violent, and no one will notice you're female."
I'm sorry, but the Scrubs episode "My Way Home" is absolutely one of the best episodes of any television show I've ever seen. The entire episode is modeled after The Wizard of Oz, and it's just done so ingeniously. (Not to mention it has a splendid arrangement of Somewhere Over the Rainbow at the end as performed by Ted's Band, aka The Blanks.) Wikipedia has an article on the episode here, and it includes a table comparing features of the episode to their corresponding parts in The Wizard of Oz (including quite a few details that I would never have noticed on my own). If you've never watched Scrubs, you absolutely have to; then again, I'm biased, as it is My Favorite Television Series of All Time Ever.
And speaking of The Wizard of Oz, I plan on finally starting Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West tonight. I've been waiting aaaaaall semester to read this freakin' book, and now I finally have the time. I'm a huge fan of the musical, and from what I hear the book is much different (not to mention darker), so I'm eager to start it. For now, however, I must continue to indulge my laziness by watching a movie to get me feeling Christmas (it's been difficult, as the weather has been in the 60s and 70s for the past two weeks): It's time for some Love, Actually.
I must admit... Everybody Loves Raymond cracks me up.
Ray: "He separates his Good 'n Plenties into the Goods, and the Plenties!"
Robert: "I do not!"
Ray: "Yes, you do! Go on, tell them. Tell them which is which."
Robert: "...The pinks are the goods. ...And the whites... are the plenties. ...Because there are more of them. ....And they're not as good. There's also another category of irregulars."
Ray: "And what do you call those?"
Robert: ".................Cuties."
Ah, television is fun.
And just to make this in some way related to books or music, here's a nugget of goodness from my English 300 (Intro to the English Major) class:
