Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Lost: Producers Against Drunk Driving?

"Lost" spoilers coming up just as soon as I go and have a good cry...

Okay, this is getting ridiculous. You wanna kill off Ana-Lucia and Libby for driving drunk, go right ahead. But capping Mr. Eko because Adewale was driving without a license? On top of Boone dying not long after Ian Somerhalder racked up over $200 in speeding tickets? Won't someone please think of the unsafe drivers? If I was Josh Holloway or Naveen Andrews (both of whom have committed moving violations in the greater Honolulu area), I'd have my agent on speed-dial.

More to the point, DAMN YOU DAMON LINDELOF AND CARLTON CUSE for killing off the ass-kickingest character on the show! Damn you to H-E-double-hockey-sticks!

What drives me nuts is that this was easily the best episode of the season, a good blend of the island regulars and The Others, a flashback that didn't have me reaching to hit fast-forward on the DVR, some kewl hints of the smoke monster several times before we saw it and the rare case of a character dying on something resembling their own terms.

But what a waste of one of the most compelling, original characters this show has ever introduced (and, as Triple-A showed throughout, one of the two or three best actors in the ensemble). As if I wasn't already sick of the two new Lostaways, now they get to live and bore me while Eko is gone? Stupid, stupid, stupid.

And yet, again, damn good episode, outside of the apparent revelation that The Others' entire plan is about getting Jack to operate on Benry. If that's all they want, these people are colossal morons. Instead of terrorizing, abducting and killing these people for months and then having to resort to convoluted head games to get what you need, why not just make nice from the start and say, "Hey, if you do this surgery, we'll let you come over and watch movies sometimes"?

What did everybody else think?

30 comments:

Matt said...

This was the first time the presence of new Lostaways bugged. I was willing to buy that these were among the folks in the background and were privy to the basics of what was going on on the Island, but I thought the existence of the Hatch, much less all the Dharma crap, was a fairly closely guarded secret, limited to "first tier" Lostaways. (Or did that change when we had Hugo's Dharma Feast?) And any episode with minimal Charlieyammering is a goodthing.

Eric said...

They might have lost me with this one. Squandering Mr. Eko like that just ticked me off.

On the other hand, if anyone on the Island is a candidate for returning from the dead three days later...

So is Bernard the last surviving Tailie?

Anonymous said...

Yeah, Bernard is the last one left from the tail and he's only in every 5th episode or so. With the tailaways gone and the hatch blown up, pretty much every moment of the second season until the finale has been negated. It's almost a slap in the face to such a loyal fanbase.

BF said...

Someone please explain to me how Colonel Tigh turned up in the other hatch.

Ben only found out about his tumor 2 days before Flight 815 crashed? That puts a serious dent in my pet theory that Poppa Sheppard is a Dharma-ite who faked his own death in order to get Jack on the ill-fated plane and, once revived while in the cargo hold, was the one that cut the radio which caused Dharma to go off course.

Then again, Juliet says Ben's a liar. Loved the "Mockingbird" clip, though I certainly hope Juliet remembers to tape over the exculpatory evidence.

Anonymous said...

I was thinking the EXACT same thing, Alan. The Others' actions make absolutely no sense!

As I posted last week, if they wanted the island to themselves, why not have the Lostaways rescued? Or at the very least abstain from kidnapping them and dragging them to the other side of the island!

Anonymous said...

Yeah, when Ben told Jack he wanted him to want to help, I could almost hear every TV in North America being screamed at: "THEN WHY DO YOU HAVE HIM LOCKED UP, ASSHOLE???" Although just when I'm getting ready to give up on this show, they do something like Juliet with the cue cards and I'm back in again.

"Someone please explain to me how Colonel Tigh turned up in the other hatch."

Heh! I may be wrong, but it looked like this guy.

Anonymous said...

"Someone please explain to me how Colonel Tigh turned up in the other hatch."

mwah!

Don't hate me, but I was meh on Eko's death. I liked him, but I can live without him. But who inherits the Scripture stick? Maybe Locke can use it to smack Charlie in the head.

Anyone else think the new Lostie couple just DO NOT fit in at all? They seem like they got lost on their way to an all-inclusive vacation. "Honey, this is the worst Sandals resort ever!"

And my husband was convinced the new woman was a refugee from a horror movie. She just has that look of the third-tier horror movie character who dies ickily after getting busy in the forest with her boyfriend.

Anonymous said...

Eko was my favorite. This sucks and blows.

K J Gillenwater said...

Hard for the Others to make nice since they kidnapped some children, isn't it? I think they didn't know when the plane crashed that Jack was a spinal surgeon until after they started spying on and infiltrating the lostaways. And then how do you suddenly convince them you're the 'good guys'?

Also, if Ben has been on this island from birth, all he knows is what the Dharma-ites might have taught him...which is a lot of head games, psychological experiments, etc. Who knows what the Dharma people did to him as a child or what they taught him? So I can believe that he might think this kind of manipulation would be the only way to get Jack to trust them/help them.

Remember the shot they gave Jack, Sawyer, and Kate last season? They still think there is some kind of virus or disease or something loose on the island. And if they believe the plane crash survivors haven't been vaccinated, maybe the Others have already written them off a a threat to their little Eden on the island. Why make friends with a bunch of strangers who might go crazy b/c of this weird disease or whatever it is?

What I didn't believe was Juliet and her little video. Why trust her more than anyone else? She looked pretty mean and evil when she was with Kate and Sawyer during the forced labor scene. Something about her is awfully suspicious.

Bummed that Eko is gone, but I think they sent him off in a good way. Once again, a lostie comes to terms with his past and then dies. A running theme on this show.

Anonymous said...

Alan, Let me give you a big AMEN BROTHER! from the hallelujiah praise chorus.

The whole time with Benry I was thinking "you could've just asked." I also do not trust Juliett one bit.

If the tumor surgery was the whole point, then why do they have such a fascination with obstetrics and gynecology?
Did they need stem cells from Claire's baby?

Toby O'B said...

I get this suspicious feeling we'll see a scene in the future when Juliet turns the tables on Jack and says with that creepy smile of hers: "Remember what I said in the cue cards, Jack - 'Ignore everying I'm saying.' - and that includes those cue cards."

I think he's being set up for more than just complicity in a murder plot.

I'll miss Eko too. I thought his character had so much story potential. I figured the fact that the episode was Eko-centric, that was just a smokescreen (no pun intended) and that somebody else would get killed.

Specifically, Sayid. Although I think he will figure heavily in the mystery about the giant foot.

Toby O'B said...

Oh, and can we call a moratorium on "Benry"? "Henry Gale" was just a convenient alias for Ben Linus to use but now that we know his real name, let "Henry Gale" fade into the show's history.

I hate that cutesy trick. If we found out Number Six of 'The Prisoner' really was John Drake of 'Secret Agent', should we be calling him Drix?

Or will we get sued by the Farrelly Brothers?

Sorry. It was a long night at work....

Anonymous said...

Mr. & Mrs. Artz have got to go. It was as if I was watching some high school film project with spliced in characters.

What was the deal with Eko's brother's image in the end? Was there a real person there that Eko saw as his brother or was it all a figment? The dialogue makes it seem like there may have been a real person there. Maybe the hatch pirate? Arghhhh.......

Toby O'B said...

I think Yemi was the manifestation of the smoke monster in human form, taken from Eko's memories.

Remember, one of the producers (Lindelof? He seems like the chatty one.) said that we've probably seen the smoke monster before on the show and didn't recognize it.

This leads me to believe that it took the form of Christian Shepherd from Jack's memories to lead him into the jungle.

Maybe it even dredged up Dave from Hurley's past trauma.

I also think the smoke monster is working at odds with the island itself. I believe it was the island that spoke to Locke through Eko two episodes ago, and so now the smoke monster lashed out at Eko to sever that connection.

Just sayin', is all.....

Anonymous said...

I loathe the new 'Losties', waste of screen time that could be going to someone-anyone else.

I feel killing off Eko was just a gimmick or ratings ploy. Knew it was coming when the actor was suddenly scheduled to be on several talk shows in the coming future...

I'm with DCJ, why didn't Ben just ask?!

Love the One-Eyed Willy bit.

Anonymous said...

Sorry Toby. I'll clear all my future posts with you. I wouldn't want your sense of high comedy to be offended ever again.

Louis said...

Didn't someone (Rousseau, maybe?) say along the way that the smoke monster and whatever it was that was stomping through the jungle, knocking over trees, were some sort of "security system"? I figured Eko got too close to one of the island's secrets. Or something.

Anonymous said...

I kind of liked Juliet's "Subaquarium Homesick Blues":

"Jack's in the fishbowl
Looking like an a-hole
The surgery won't work because the vandals took the scalpels!"

This could be another of Ben's tricks; he's testing Jack to see if he'll go against his own nature and kill Ben, or stick to his principles and save him. And if he does kill Ben, Juliet is nasty enough to avenge Ben and continue his reign of terror. Or not. I'm so pissed at this show for killing Eko that I may not be back after the long hiatus.

And I agree with everyone else that the new Losties need to go. Slap some red shirts on those people, stat!

Taleena said...

Wow. Well, I am disappointed that Eko died and not Charlie. He was cooler than most of the folks on the show but I am really glad they did not Kill off Sayid or Locke.

I agree that smokie has appeared as Hurley's imaginary friend, jack's Dad and Eko's brother.

I think the Dharma-ites do think there is disease ravaging the island which is why they do not leave and they take the kids.

I think Ben wants Jack to want to operate on him because of the incidents in Jack's backstory. If Jack believes he can heal/fix the problem then he can do miraculous things.

Perky new Lost Chick is not on my nerves yet but Paulo needs to go start transporting dynamite.

Anonymous said...

This is the end of the line. Next week will almost certainly be the last episode of this show that I watch. Two of the largest premises of the first two seasons of the show have now been wiped out: 1) the hatch is a non-entity (and a stupid idea to start with by the way); and 2) the Tailies are now all dead. Why did I spend time worrying about them, then. It'd be one thing to get rid of one of them, but ALL of them (except Bernard I guess). Stupid and lame. I'm done. This show will get KILLED when American Idol comes up against it in the Spring.

Anonymous said...

Treacher: I distinctly remember seeing Divoff's name in the credits, so that was a good guess.

TV Guide's reporting the actor playing Eko whose name I can't be bothered to spell was not the most beloved actor on set and Lindelof and Cuse are claiming he only wanted to be around for a limited time.

I sort of swallowed Ben's not just asking Jack because... well, he's insane. And JJ Abrams has always viewed humans as unable to communicate directly to each other. It's a hallmark of his writing which I've just gotten used to.

Anonymous said...

It's so seldom that I'm right about something that it feels good. Frenchie from EZ Streets, baby!

Anonymous said...

I have three unwaatched, TiNo'ed episodes and this little spoiler makes me want to delete them unwatched.

I got hooked on Lost because it was a solid ensemble show, but since last season it's become the Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Locke and friends show. I don't care about continuity messes if the rest of the show is interesting and... well, it's not.

Anonymous said...

Adewale asked to be written out of the show: http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2006-11-01-eko-lost_x.htm

Anonymous said...

"Frenchie from EZ Streets, baby!"

Ah, from the bygone days when Paul Haggis wasn't a highly paid cornpone artist.

Anonymous said...

Best episode of the season? Not a chance. Sure Eko and the smoke monster, cool. Jack and Juliette, also great. But the Eko flashback. Snoore. LOST would be a better show without the flashbacks. In season 1, they were phenomenal insights into the show, and provided us with real information. Now they just seem like filler. To quote TVGuide's Dan Manu... I completely felt like "Sookie'ing" the entire flashback.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, have any of the flashbacks so far this season told us anything we didn't know about these characters? Jack is a control freak with father issues, Locke is a lost soul with father issues... Sawyer's fatherhood issues, I guess that was new.

dark tyler said...

Wow. I've disliked Eko from the beginning because he was presented as this very faithful Christian who was building churches and taking 40-day silence oaths and stuff and well, these types kinda bug me. But in his final moments, he suddenly became a character I loved. In the flashback we learn that all he ever wanted to do, was be okay with himself. He began building the church because he felt at the time that he owed it to his brohter. He took the silence oath because he felt that he needed to do it in order to be redeemed for his unethical actions.

But in the end, he refused to confess any sins. Because, and he feels strongly about this, he doesn't view himself as a sinner. He is not proud of his actions, but he refuses to cheapen his impossible life choices by asking forgiveness. He had too many tough life choices to make, and he went through with it one way or the other. He deals with the bad choices by himself, not by confessing to anyone. Ultimately, Eko doesn't feel that he owes any apologies to any strangers, including God. And that was just a brilliant addition to what we thought we knew about the character.

I had hated him for every second of his presence on the island, but in this excellent episode I ate my words. Turns out, Eko was the best damn character of the show.

What a frakking twist.

Anonymous said...

"I think the smokey only takes the form of dead bodies on the actual island (eg, Jack's father)"

If so, it couldn't have been Hurley's imaginary friend.

"Ultimately, Eko doesn't feel that he owes any apologies to any strangers, including God."

Didn't he more-or-less apologize to Ben for killing the two Others, though? He seemed genuinely sorry about their deaths as he handed Ben those funky beard things he used to have.

I still think it's unfair that the brilliant character of Eko is getting replaced by a Himbo and a Bimbo. GRRRR....

Anonymous said...

Wait a minute... Doesn't the island have mysterious healing powers? How come Ben is dying? Locke can still walk... Rose (as far as we know) is still kicking around...

Ben's lying. I think the x-ray is of Locke's back. We still haven't seen the flashback explaining how Locke ended up in the wheelchair.