Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Lost - "Whatever the Case May Be" Revisited

Another Lost repeat this week. I find the outrage that people express whenever Lost is a repeat to be pretty funny. It's almost as if these people have never watched a serialized network drama before. For the uninitiated, there's something like 40 weeks of programming during a typical network "season". Traditionally, a full season of any program is 22 episodes. Therefore, there are always 18 weeks of repeats each season- or 18 weeks when the show is not on. That's right, almost 50% of the time. (We're actually lucky with Lost - it was a full 24 hours last season, and the same looks to be the case this year.)

Granted, some networks are moving towards more of a "year-round programming" concept, and doing "non-stop seasons" a la 24 - but most TV shows are going to have repeats in the months of October, December, January, March, and April (and all summer). They're not sweeps months. It's the nature ofthe industry. Get over it.

Honestly, as cool as it is to watch new episodes of 24 each week, for a show like Lost, I prefer having it last as long as possible. Since there is so much to think about and research on the show, it's downright mentally exhausting to watch, analyze, predict, and write about each episode week in and week out. If nothing else, repeats give me a chance to rest up... and forget about how quickly the show likes to drop and ignore promising storylines (but I digress).

It's like a bye weekduring the NFL season. Without them, I would probably die from exhaustion. Which brings us to this week - another repeat, this time of Season 1, Episode 12: "Whatever the Case May Be".

As I've said before, I'd like to think that there is some master plan, and they pick the repeated episodes for a reason. It might be to remind us of characters we haven't seen in a while. It might be to remind us of a storyline that hasn't been referenced in a while. Or it might be picked at random by network executives who mock my overanalysis. Either way, here are a few points to ponder this week:

  1. Kate's Criminal Past. Granted, she is uber-hot and most of her crimes are easily justifiable - but deep down inside, she's a badass who knows how to wield a gun and use people for her advantage. She's feisty. We were very recently reminded that Sawyer isn't all cuddly when he stole the guns - will we soon get a reminder that Kate is also somewhat of a wild card on the Island?

  2. (Note: The real highlight of the episode...)

    Image Hosted by ImageShack.us


  3. CFL's Notes. Yes, CFL (Crazy French Lady to the new reader outthere, because typing "Rousseau" is too hard) scribbled The Numbers a lot, but there looks to be a considerable amount of other information on her papers that have never been explained. Finding Nemo song lyrics. A map of the Island showing a boat that looks very similar to the Others'. Strange mathematical equations that even Sayid can't figure out. Will any of these ever come back into play? Or do we write them all off as CFL being crazy?
  4. Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

  5. Tide Rising. In the end, I think this small scene is the main reason for repeating this episode. Freakishly, the tide suddenly rises very quickly and the Survivors are forced to gather their belongs and move up the beach. This is a very important point that hasn't been mentioned in quite some time. This is also the only episode that ever referred to it. Why? Yes, there is the practical excuse that it gave the set crew an "out" for not having to put up the crashed Fuselage on the beach every week. But it also seems to indicate that this Island isn't just your run of the mill Island full of crazy people. There's something crazy about the Island itself. Like, is it even an Island? Our foolish cast still hasn't ventured around the entire perimeter. Is it somehow mechanical? We've seen Hatches leading to a very developed underbelly, holes appearing for "The Monster" to spring from, and trees flying out of the ground as if shot out. Is this Island somehow a living, breathing thing?

Let's see how long these pictures will stay up!

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wasn't this the episode where Kate was supposed to get nude, but refused to do a nude scene?

Anonymous said...

nude? if that happened i would miss 2 days of work, one day to find it on the internet and the other day to "enjoy" it

Anonymous said...

Tehy only aired two new episodes during February. That was a sweeps month. :-(

Anonymous said...

I'd like to second the motion of how weird the "tide incident" was/is. It suddenly happened...they all moved. And no one ever speaks of it again. ...although, such is the way with MANY things on LOST...but still! That's all I have :)

Brian said...

Yes, they were going to do a nude scene on network TV. Riiiight. You're better than that.

(Also, this February was a non-traditional sweeps month due to the Olympics. But I was also shocked that they didn't air a new episode the last week of February)

Jenn said...

Thanks for the post despite the "no new episode" week. I like to keep up on theories and plotlines even when we have a week off. I don't want to forget anything!

Anonymous said...

Yeah seriously, I have trouble remembering what happened last week, let alone last season.

Rebecca said...

As for the tide, I had not paid much attention to this fact when it first aired. Last night I did. I truly believe that this island is running things. Sounds a little kooky, but lots of kooky things are happening there. Favorite scene: Sawyer wrapping his legs around Kate to keep her from taking the case. I'm a little disturbed with myself for finding this sexy.

stinkowoman said...

So where are the half naked pic of SAWYER?!?

Anonymous said...

Sawyer is half naked in every episode. We dont need pics of it!

stinkowoman said...

Speaking of half naked and steamy, has anyone seen the Lost UK trailer?!?! They can actually show that stuff across the pond. We, my American viewers, and getting ripped off!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=FmRmK76KFt0&search=lost

Anonymous said...

Sawyer is half naked in every episode. We dont need pics of it!

- Yes we do! :D

Brian said...

People, people - we could debate the need for half naked people in our favorite TV shows for hours, but it's not going to get us anywhere thanks to the cold-iron grip of the FCC, which will allow any CSI-type show to display graphic acts of violence and decapitated bodies, but will not allow our favorite Hollywood celebrities to cavort around nakedly on a desert island.

Viva la revolucion!

Anonymous said...

You can see some HDTV captures of any Lost episode here ;)

Anonymous said...

Your entry in the blog called LOSTLOSTLOSTLOST on May 02 2005 is messed it - somehow the copy and paste duplicated the post.

FYI.

melodrama said...

Hmm, I don't think I agree with the numbers having something to do with the bible.

First of all, they would disappoint a lot of viewers that are atheiest or another religion other than Christian. I'm sure they are trying to target lots of different kinds of viewers (the multi-ethnic cast hints to that), so I don't think they'd single out one group of viewers to please.

Second, I've seen interviews with the creators and they just don't hit me as the really religious types. Their background work just doesn't show any interest in religion. Even if they did, at least one of the creators is Jewish and I doubt he'd want to promote something against his beliefs. Watch the bonus disc on Season 1 and do some research on the creators and you'll probably see my point.

I'm not trying to offend anyone, but I just don't see it as a likely explanation for the mystery behind this show.

melodrama said...

FYI, I'm not saying that there are no religious themes whatsoever -- obviously there are -- but I don't think whole premise behind the show is religion. I do believe other "universal" beliefs such as faith, fate, etc. are part of the underlying concept.

Rachel said...

The book of Numbers is in the Old Testament, is reported to have been written by Moses, and thus would not be offensive to anyone of the Jewish faith... I'm not saying I think that the book of Numbers is necessarily relevant to the show, just pointing this out.

Anonymous said...

Dude, I am DYING for another one of your posts. Please tell me that you are going to have one up soon. I just discovered your blog about two weeks ago....maybe 3. Anyway, someone posted a link to it on one of the ABC-Lost message boards. You ROCK, DUDE!!! I have read all of the posts since I found it. ALL OF THEM. Why is this show so addictive and mind consuming? I'm not a big time tv watcher by any means. I watch a little tv. THere have only been a handful of tv shows that I watched religously. HBO's Oz and the Sopranos along with Prison Break and now Lost are most of them. I absolutely love your theory on Locke. Anyway, I just wanted to compliment you on your blog. It is great!

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Anonymous said...

Granted, she is uber-hot and most of her crimes are easily justifiable.

How in the hell did you come to that conclusion? How does murdering your father in cold blood and committing insurance fraud, let alone attempted bank robbery for a toy airplane . . . justifiable?