lost
Lost: “Confirmed” Shmonfirmed
Feb 7th
Trying to review an episode with Lost without divulging anything that some might see as spoiler-ish is difficult – so difficult that I didn’t attempt it last week. But now we’ve all had the chance to mull over “The Beginning of the End,” and anything is fair game, it’s time to acknowledge how thoroughly rewarding, palm-clamifying and potentially perfect the fourth season looks to be.
At first glance, not much has changed on the island. Locke and Jack are fighting, Kate keeps pulling her criminal shenanigans, Hurley is overly sensitive and Rose continues to offer her exquisitely delivered sassy commentary. But, um, the others are dunzo, there’s a whole slew of newbies who just dropped onto the island and our poor Losties think they’re coming to save them! How wrong they are…
I’m not that concerned with spoiling tonight’s episode, which mostly serves as an introduction to the four folks who have helicoptered over from the mysterious freighter of doom. One thing I can say is that there’s no clear formula for season four yet, with this evening returning to the flashbacks in favor of flash forwards – if only for this new set of characters. The episode offers modest back story for the freighter-ers (they remain about as ambiguous as you expect them to), but does begin to explain their loose ties with this season’s new Wirey mastermind, Colonel Cedric Daniels. “Confirmed Dead” is just as good as the season premiere – though it may lack a little excitement coming a mere week on the heels of the last episode. Half the payoff last week was the fact that it was actually happening.
It’s hard enough for me to digest Lost myself without regurgitating it in blog form. So for the most thoughtful recaps imaginable, check out new “band” Previously On Lost’s weekly musical summaries on MySpace. Their first offering went up this week, and it is as thorough as it is hilarious. Well done.
#3 of 2007: Lost
Dec 29th
My crash course in Lost last summer probably makes my perspective on the show a unique one. While most of you toiled and questioned the show’s numerous “wtf?”s for over three years, I watched all 70 episodes in a third as many days. Lost currently ranks high on my list of favorites. My excitement to actually watch it unfold in real time (the way I think serial TV is best enjoyed) is immeasurable. Most agree that the series has seen its share of awesome highs and desperate lows since its 2004 debut, but for me there is no question that this past season (its 2007 installment in particular) saw the show at its strongest. My bizarre rationale for this assessment: Juliet Burke.
I often feel like the only person who is completely obsessed with her. For me, she’s the most interesting and dynamic character the show has yet to offer. My major obstacle with Lost was that I had a hard time getting into the survivors of Oceanic flight 815. You have to try to love them. This may be a failure on their part and it may just be my own laziness, but it was enough to keep me from watching until the demise of Veronica Mars left my TV roster mystery-deficient. Juliet hasn’t just fueled my interest in “the others” and the origins of the island, she’s made me care about Jack again. I’d sort of written him off as the same old Party of Five whiner, but his lust for the morally ambiguous Juliet (combined with his dismissal of the seriously not that swoonworthy Kate) has put our noble lead back in my favor. The first thing I’d like to see in this season’s potentially flash-forward-tastic season? Juliet’s role in Jack’s melodramatic descent into alcoholism.
Emmys 2007: “A Wide Selection of Trash”
Sep 17th
The Emmys are something of a necessary evil. If you have any taste at all, you’re disappointed year after year by the criminal snubs, but if you like TV half as much as I do, you’re forced to pay attention anyways. This year wasn’t as bad as it could have been; Battlestar Galactica, Neil Patrick Harris and Minnie Driver all earned much-deserved nominations… not that they won. As for the ceremony itself, holding it “in the round” (just like JT!) proves that they’re at least aware of the their waning legitimacy. Ryan Seacrest was as non-present as a host could be. And his greatest success? A smart, if slightly dated, joke about his short relationship with Teri Hatcher – his last earnest attempt at feigning heterosexuality.
Since live-blogging would have required my watching the show in its painful entirety (and the onslaught of FOX plugs), I hope you’ll settle for my slightly delayed reactions to the big winners…
Supporting Actor in a Comedy – Jeremy Piven – Is it fair to award the same actor two years in a row for playing the same stagnant, stereotypical character that isn’t remotely different from who he is in real life? Apparently so. Piven, you may have Emmy, but you’ll never be half the bro Neil Patrick Harris is.
Supporting Actor in a Drama – Terry O’Quinn – As big of a Heroes fan as I might be… their Drama nod seems a little undeserved. Not so for Masi Oka though. He should have had this. Terry O’Quinn is all well and good in Lost, but if you’re going to award the supporting cast of the island, you could at least have given it to Ben Linus. Nice speech, though, Terry. Can’t say the same for the shirt…
Supporting Actress in a Comedy – Jamie Pressly – In all honesty, I’ve never watched more than five minutes of My Name is Earl, but I’m having a seriously hard time believing that a glorified extra from Not Another Teen Movie is more deserving of this award than Jenna Fischer or Vanessa Williams.
Supporting Actress in a Drama – Katherine Heigl – The reach of America’s love of Denny Duckett goes on long after he’s in the ground! “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama” is now officially the “Lengthiest and Most Annoying Mourning Period” award. Not that I don’t adore you, Izzie.
Lead Actor in a Comedy – Ricky Gervais – I love Gervais. I love him for his work on Extras, and I love him for not being there to speak.
Lead Actress in a Drama – Sally Field – Have people seen Brothers & Sisters? I watch it religiously, but it’s all kinds of sucky. Unless this Emmy is for the episode when Sally got stoned with Margot Kidder, I don’t buy it. Also… nice editing, Emmy guys! A full hour after Tell Me You Loved Me showed real-life vagina and prosthetic wieners, FOX still can’t let America hear a middle-aged woman say “god-damned.”
Lead Actress in a Comedy – America Ferrera – Wow, the first award of the night I actually called. And one of the few I don’t object to.
Lead Actor in a Drama – James Spader – Can I say “wow” again? Boston Legal is not something I’ve ever watched, or ever intend to, but it can’t be all that bad. Somewhere in Los Angeles, Gandolfini is watching Mannequin and getting trashed.
Outstanding Comedy – 30 Rock – I hate to throw it out there so soon, but 30 Rock is flirting with Arrested Development-type prophetic doom.
Outstanding Drama – The Sopranos – Despite the acting snubs, the Emmys’ love for The Sopranos could not have been more obvious. That Jersey Boys homage? They might as well have just paid someone to felate a bunch of HBO execs live on stage for three minutes. Whatever, it’s not like they don’t deserve it.
… Oh, and Tony Bennett won everything else.
Lost: My Official Apology
Jun 27th
I held off on Lost for longer than I ever thought I could: past the over-hyped first season, past its disappointing follow-up, and through the third’s supposed renaissance. There were many motives for my disinterest. The reason I offered up to most who questioned my resistance was my hatred for Matthew Fox – specifically his whining that ruined Party of Five, my favorite 7th grade extracurricular activity. In reality, I just get bitter when sci-fi shows achieve critical recognition and high ratings. It’s a genre where mass appeal isn’t generally sign of quality. (And Charlie’s cancer really did throw Party of Five so far over the shark.)
From the random, legitimately horrible, episodes I caught over the last few years, I found enough ammunition to defend my arbitrary hatred and justify my status as non-viewer to myself. But now that Veronica Mars is dunzo, and Battlestar Galactica is on borrowed time, my primetime lineup is rapidly becoming mystery deficient. The fear of waking up one day to a life without serialized drama prompted me to finally start watching Lost a couple of weeks ago, and, as of this moment, I am officially obsessed. It’s yet to rival the great Gilmore-athon of 2006, but it’s already taking way too much of my time from more conventional and social pursuits.
Falling in love isn’t as easy as it could have been if I’d started watching earlier in the game; Lost’s ability to saturate TV coverage over the past few years has left me filled to the brim with spoilers. One bit that I somehow avoided was that the plot involved a mysterious group of jungle-dwelling baby-stealers, and that’s reason enough to keep watching right there. Better yet, Matthew Fox and I are finally getting back to that special place we shared in 1994.
Despite my newfound affection, I must maintain that the show’s 2005 Emmy win for “Outstanding Drama” was one of the more ludicrous injustices in the ceremony’s rich history of buffoonery. Having caught almost all of the first season now, I don’t see any material that competes with Six Feet Under and Deadwood (not to mention the shows that didn’t even see a nomination). I am able to forgive Lost though. The Emmys are a juggernaut of crap, and the winners are really just as innocent as the painfully overlooked bystanders.