Sunday, November 14, 2004

Lost (Mega-Early Edition!)

(Fun Fact: My praying did not work... I made it home halfway through Lost - stupid work! How do I not have Tivo?)

Hello friends! I'm working in the Great White North in Wisconsin Monday through Wednesday eating cheese and praying to the god of airplanes that my flight arrives in time for Lost. Here is your weekly update, a little early. I don't want to risk not sending it out after the verbal bashing I got last week for not getting one out!

Episode Title: "Solidarity"

Brian's Deeper Meaning Guess: Well, this episode looks to center around Sayid, which makes me think it's in reference to the following:

Sayid left the group last episode, to "map the island" on his own (but that's too easy for this show).

Sayid used to work in the Iraqi National Guard's "Communication Group". I know we all used to think this was just talking about phone lines, computers, etc. but after last week it looks like "Communication" meant "getting people to talk by torturing them". I'm sure this was something of a lonely life, definitely not something that you would share with your family and friends. (again too easy).

The previews showed Sayid captured in the forest, then being tortured by someone. Who? My money's on someone from the original French people on the island - and here's the deeper meaning part - I bet it's the French woman who said she was the "last one left on the island" on the radio transmission. She's been living in solidarity on the island for 16 years and is likely going to be CRAZY due to that.

Points to ponder:
It looked like Sayid was being held in some metal building with industrialized looking materials in it. Was the island originally some test lab for crazy experiments? And the French girl somehow killed / outlived everyone else on the island and took over their building?

What was up with Kate and Sawyer going at it? She could have just kissed him a little and moved on. But no, she was all into it and was using tongue. Seriously, stop cheating on me, Kate!

How great was Sawyer's story? For those who didn't get it at first (read: me and Sully), the flashback story was that of one of the later grifts in his career. Seeing the kid reminded him that he had become exactly the thing that he hated his whole life - and what's his real name?

Don't you think Jack seemed a little over anxious to start with the torturing of Sawyer last week? I think there's more to his backstory than we have seen so far.

Isn't it weird that the "monster" hasn't been seen since Locke came face to face with him? I still think Locke is part of a bigger story, maybe even working on the side of the island. Maybe the monster was directly tied to him and his story. Maybe the monster ate the real Locke and now it's some "replacement Locke" on the island who is working to pit people against each other. Remember, he gave the knife to Sayid last week and was like "Get 'er done"?.

The big theory on the internet is still that everyone on the island is dead. As much as I hate to say it, it makes more and more sense the longer I think about it. First, the title of "Lost" serves a double purpose as them being lost on the island and their souls being lost - in a purgatory of sorts. When they overcome their life's big secret and / or atone for it, they die on the island and move on to the afterlife. Think about the people who have died so far - the pilot in the first episode explained why the plane went down, what went wrong, why it wasn't his fault, pretty much clearing his mind of the responsibility - and then was eaten. The Warden told people that Kate was a criminal, and then died. Jack sees his dead father walking around the island, leading him to deal with his inner demons and "escape" the island. If this is the case, the "monster" serves as an Angel of Death or something like that. Sayid even hinted at it last week by saying "isn't it weird that we all "survived" the crash without a scratch and we were in the middle of the plane? It's like the rest of the passengers on the plane didn't have these issues to deal with and just died and moved on - the 47 on the island are the ones with the issues.

Here's what is working against that theory - the Warden didn't die of natural causes or at "the island's hand" - he was shot by Sawyer. Why are things like bees able to attack them and how can they get hurt by things like knives if they are already dead? The little kid obviously doesn't have any huge secrets, nor does the dog. What about the boars on the island? The French people 16 years ago? How did they end up on the same island? The pregnant girl? Shouldn't her baby have "died" already if it was some sort of purgatory? Plus, I think this theory is just a red herring that he producers are hinting at to keep crazy people on the internet talking.

Okay I'll call you guys and let you know about Lost this week. My flight is scheduled to be back around 7:00 pm on Wednesday. Hopefully I'll be able to log in from Wisconsin and check your responses. Don't disappoint me!

PS - No, I'm not one of those crazy people on the internet. I'm just one of the people who read the opinions of crazy people on the internet. There's a difference!

Brian

Wednesday, November 10, 2004

L O S T

(Look at how embarassingly short this was! The good news is even when it was this crappy, people were complaining when it wasn't out early enough!)

Before I play MasterCard SecureCode for the next four hours, I figured I should get this Email out before people start complaining:

Tonight’s Episode Title: "Confidence Man"

Brian’s Deeper Meaning Guess: Per the previews, this episode looks to be centered around Sawyer (white trash guy). As the show seems to like throwing the twists at us, I would propose that the title is ironic. Since Sawyer is very confident on the island and seems to be running his own show, I bet that in his prior life Sawyer was not confident at all. Was he some sort of dorky guy? Did something happen in his past to "harden" him? That’s my bet.

I read an interesting article this week about how the characters stories get written. It turns out that the producers put each character on the show’s name in a hat, and then each writer had to pick out three characters and write their back stories.

The good news is that the writer who is doing tonight’s episode also did Locke’s episode "Walkabout" - which I think was the best so far!

Wednesday, November 03, 2004

L O S T (The Original Email!)

(Fun Fact: The Original Email went to a whopping 11 people and was crazy short!)

Tonight’s Episode Title: "Moth"

Brian’s Deeper Meaning Guess: Moths are usually drawn towards light, which ultimately burns them (a la a "bug zapper"). I believe that tonight’s episode centers around Charlie (aka the Band Guy, the Druggie Guy, or the Hobbit Guy - not Charlie from Party of Five! His name on the show is Jack J ) Metaphorically, Charlie is a moth drawn to the light, which I think is fame and / or drugs. However, much like our flying insect friends, it ultimately will burn him and bring him down. This episode should give us insight into Charlie’s former fame and fall from grace, perhaps caused by the drug addiction to whatever that stuff in the baggie is (I apologize for not being "hip" to the drug culture).

Points to Ponder:
- Did you notice last week when Jack and Kate were in the cave and Jack picked up the one white stone and the one black stone? This was almost the exact same thing we saw in the pilot where Locke picked up two backgammon pieces and gave his "there is a good side and an evil side" to everything speech to the little kid. Is one of the groups going to become good and one evil?

- Remember the comic book from the pilot with the picture of the polar bear in it? I read an article in TV Guide saying that the creators of the show picked that comic specifically. In researching on the internet, I found that the comic deals with an alien life form that the good guys are fighting who turns out in the end to be a good guy. Symbolism? They think the island and the beast, etc. are evil - but they are really good?!?

- Tonight’s episode has some sort of avalanche occur in the cave and Jack is buried in it. Will Jack die? Will this force everyone to move back to the beach? Is this the island warning them to stay away from that cave?

- Why didn’t Jack admit to Kate last week that he was checking her out? We all were checking her out, it’s cool to admit it! And how genius are the show writers to craft a scene where both Jack and Kate are ripping off their clothes as fast as possible? Hello ratings! God bless angry swarms of bees!

- So the Korean girl speaks the English - now she can be in cahoots with everyone else on the island, while keeping up a secret identity with her husband so he doesn’t beat her!

- What a cruel twist of fate that Jack and Kate are in different groups on the island! Get those kids together so they can make out!

- What happened to the Beast, who has been oddly absent since the Locke episode? Did Locke somehow tame it / kill it / overcome it?

- Is anyone going to mention the Polar Bear or the French girl ever again?

Discuss.