I would like to preface this, because I haven't before, that anytime I do a write up of an episode it, necessarily, contains spoilers. Of various sorts. So if you haven't seen the episode and don't want it ruined for you, DON'T READ MY EPISODE WRITE-UPS. Unless you don't give a shit. In which case, read on. It'll probably save you the effort of watching the episode.
So what's the deal with awesome TV shows falling into a mediocre spell? The last two episodes of BSG have been lame-to-bad in quality, and after last week's interesting (but slow) ep. of LOST, we get... one of the more mediocre eps of the season. And that's with some fairly bad-ass reveals.
So let's start somewhere and get movin', shall we? The flashbacks. Let's start with these. I can pretty much sum them up in one word: lame. Why do we need to see Locke's trampy-teenage-pregnancy-Mother get hit by a car? Did we really need those awkward beats with the mother noticing Richard Alpert and realizing she can't smoke around a THREE MONTH PREMATURE BABY in the hospital? Was it important to show Abaddon telling Locke to go on a walk-about? Honestly, the stuff w/Immortal Richard and Abaddon reeked to me of "tying-up-loose-strings." The problem with this is that loose strings are sometimes better left hanging on their own. We don't need to know why Locke went on a walk-about -- we can come to that conclusion on our own from what we've seen of his (pathetic/horrible) life. We don't need to see Immortal Richard testing him as a child, or attempted recruitment to Mittelos, or on and on and on when we get all this from Locke on the Island now. We don't need to be deluged. Sometimes making the audience fill in the between-the-lines-gap is not only more entertaining (and cheaper), but more efficient; avoids any confusion on the part of the viewer. And I can say that of the three people I watched the episode with, two were, at various points, VERY confused. They didn't remember Abaddon, or Immortal Richard (who's been absent nearly all season [if not all season]), and were confused as the order of events.
So there's the flashbacks. Let's leave them there and move on, shall we?
The Island. The dream-scene w/deceased Horace (RoboRoommate v.2 -- "Horace... isn't that Greek?" RoboNixon: "Horus. He's an Egyptian god.") was cool, gives us some (non-necessary, but detail oriented, character building) history, and moves things along.
Problem: Why did it take FOREVER for them to reach the cabin? Yeah, OK, rummage through corpses, Locke, but seriously, was that necessary? Also, isn't having a MAP to the cabin kind of, you know, contrary to the seemingly immaterial nature of the cabin as established so far? Like it appearing in and out of the jungle to Hurley, but being a real place when Ben first brings Locke there? I don't know. The point I'm trying to make is that the "rules" in the LOST Universe surrounding the cabin are hazy.
OK, but continuing... we get to the good stuff. Christian Shepard in the cabin. Alright. We've seen him here before. But oh -- he tells Locke he's like Jacob's Lorax -- I am the Christian Shepard and I speak for the Jacob. Except without letting on that he's Jack or Claire's father. Fine. Blah blah blah, we really don't find out a lot. We cut to a long and boring tangent of Hurley sharing a candy-bar with Ben (really Hurley? really? seriously? what about the whole BEN KILLING PEOPLE thing you object to?) that runs for like thirty seconds before, yes, finally, Locke comes out and gives us the big punch of the episode. The way to save the Island is to move it. Alright. Awesome! Except... Oh... Wait... We waited all episode for that? Uuuugggghhhhhhh...
But let's move to the freighter, shall we? The Captain's character does a 360, leading me to believe that the writers had no idea what to do with him once they realized Keamy was the baddie on board, and he inexplicably helps out Sayid, then gets capped. Also, WTF is up with Keamy's robot-tech? I mean, WTF are they doing to him when Lapidus takes Michael out of lock up? He's shirtless and being strapped up with shiznit and it kind of looks like that shot from the HULK trailer where Tim Roth is getting jacked up, Abomination style.
But I digress.
Lapidus helps out Michael, whose Island-Protection rears it's useful (in this case) head. The doctor is killed (giving us more confusion in how the Island's time is different than World time), Lapidus tosses a SatPhone to Jack 'n Co., and the ep's over. 1) Maybe if Lapidus has just typed out a text message or something it would have helped more. "gtg. non-rofl. run." 2) Jack's dumb. "Oh, well, we know that these people on the boat are shady, and they just dropped this sat phone out of the helicopter without telling us why, so let's just assume that these shady bad people with questionable tactics want us to FOLLOW THEM?!" Seriously, Jack, WTF? Did they sew up a dead cat inside you or what.
All in all, a meh episode. Not bad -- not nearly as bad as last week's BSG -- but a disappointment after the pleasant flash-forward of last week, and the smoke-attack of the week before. With the three part season finale gearing up next week, I hope that we may find ourselves headed in a different direction... and that it might prove more dynamic than lame-Lockeness.
Over and Out.
-RoboNixon
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2 comments:
I recognize and agree with your general assessment of the episode's form. However, I can say that as a fan watching with a bunch of other big (loser) fans, we all tweaked out when Richard and Abaddon appeared.
Now why were they so interesting? Ostensibly, they're working for different teams. Richard is an Other's-Ben-side. Abaddon is a Witmore (Whitmore? Whitemore? Whitey?)-goon.
Why are both of them trying to get Locke to the island? Is Abaddon working for Whitmore? Or has Locke's purpose changed?
Also, any episode that hearkens back to the good old days of Locke (and others) saying, "Don't tell me what I can't do," every five seconds is appreciated (in a jovial way) by me.
Post Script: This episode was the first time Claire seemed even remotely interesting in about two and a half seasons.
WHERE'S MAH BAY-BEH!? WHERE'S MAH BAY-BEH?!
God I hate Claire. Yeah, she's interesting when she's not spending every line with a forced reading of lame-ness. Ugh. Is she dead yet?
Yeah, well, the thing w/Abaddon could've been cooler, but I do have trouble when epics make the world "smaller" -- see Star Wars prequels as example. Also, we know NOTHING about Abaddon, so the extent with which he works for Whitey is unknown. He don't know if he works for him, or is, perhaps, an incarnation of the island itself. It was hard for me to get stoked when there's no context for his character. And, again, I knew what was up, but those I watched it with were all confused like whoa. Not ever viewer is a nerd. Just us. :^(
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