tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post7692072066716729333..comments2024-02-04T05:13:04.501-05:00Comments on Nik at Nite: Lost 5.15 "Follow the Leader"Nikki Staffordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463618183850438914noreply@blogger.comBlogger204125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-613779725969399112009-05-12T15:40:00.000-04:002009-05-12T15:40:00.000-04:00The Power of Wanting:
We've all noticed that Moti...The Power of Wanting:<br /><br />We've all noticed that Motivation is a key word on LOST. We all remember that Ben wanted Jack to <B>want</B> to save him. Ben knew that the wanting would be enough to heal him.<br /><br />Ben also knows that for certain people (himself presumably included) wishing for something to happen will make it happen - not only that, but make it happen in a "rational" way.<br /><br />I'm thinking that all of LOST so far has been a Duel of Desire between two Forces each seeking to shape The Future by Motivating our Losties to Want and then to Choose actions that further the goals of these (so far invisible) Puppeteers.<br /><br />When we think of how intricate the series of "coincidences" and Free Will "choices" have been of our Losties that have led them to their current positions/states it appears that they've been the masters of their own Destinies so far, but IMO the Truth is that they've been manipulated/shaped/trained for decades to Choose what their Puppeteers want them to choose.<br /><br />I'm hoping that during S6, our heroes wake up to their own "Super-Powers":<br /><br />Hugo has the Super-Power to make his wishes come true. For me, there is no other explanation of his ability to revive that dead DHARMA bus.<br /><br />Jack has a similar Super-Power. It <B>was</B> a Miracle that Sarah recovered fully and it <B>was</B> a Miracle that Hanging Charlie was revived.<br /><br />We know about Miles' Super-Power. Here's hoping it gets greater air-play in S6<br /><br />Desmond's Super-Power used to include Future-Flashes, but we haven't seen any evidence of these since Charlie's LG death. He does, however (according to Dead Dan) have the ability to "Change Things" - so maybe he will - in S6.<br /><br />Walt's Super-Powers seem to include Teleportation, Wish-fulfillment and Pre-cognition. Hopefully we'll see him return in S6<br /><br />St John is in a whole 'nother league now that he's mind-melded with The Island, and we can only hope that he's become the Servant of the its Light Aspect. <br /><br />Sayid, Jin, Sun, Kate, James, Juliet and Frank all have important skills and we can hope that they all come into play in S6.<br /><br />Assuming our Losties go Back to The Future aware of their own Powers of Wanting, their own abilities to achieve what they wish for, S6 ought to be a Humdinger.Rolandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03354216891780850778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-65633085703843630422009-05-12T09:56:00.000-04:002009-05-12T09:56:00.000-04:00@Blam: He could avert the crash, leaving who we kn...@Blam: He could avert the crash, leaving who we know as the survivors to the fates you describe, only to have the other characters who perished die their destined deaths in their daily lives, inescapably, like those Final Destination movies that I never saw<br /><br />I did see those movies and the thing is, they all died much more grisly and terrible deaths than they would have if they had simply died the way they were "supposed" to.<br /><br />So if everyone who died on the plane was destined to die, then changing the past might just put everything on a more grisly path.<br /><br />I do think that somebody or several sombodies are trying to change things to make the future work out a particular way. You can change the way things happen, but not the general outcome.Rebecca T.https://www.blogger.com/profile/11994380364321336824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-27147315761247883752009-05-12T08:08:00.000-04:002009-05-12T08:08:00.000-04:00Ah, Blam, how we missed ye. I'm very glad you're ...Ah, Blam, how we missed ye. I'm very glad you're back, and more so that you're feeling better. You seem to have outdone yourself this episode, and after only a quick glance, I'm looking forward to reading what you've posted greatly. Welcome back!Batcabbagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16609077644806458692noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-41492934771209679832009-05-12T03:15:00.000-04:002009-05-12T03:15:00.000-04:00Comment 201! Sorry :(Comment 201! Sorry :(Ali Bagshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04826228234954697951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-86564280284229703572009-05-12T02:18:00.000-04:002009-05-12T02:18:00.000-04:00Nikki: [A]t the heart of Jack’s actions is his nee...<BR><I><B>Nikki:</B> [A]t the heart of Jack’s actions is his need to fix things, to fix people, to fix situations. My heart went out to him in this scene, and I really felt for him.</I><BR><BR>I really liked him making sandwiches while refusing to save Ben's life a half-dozen or so episodes ago, but this is Same Old Jack to me, and it's wearing thin. When he proclaimed that he was going ahead with Daniel's perceived plan, all I heard was, "Hi, I'm Jack Shephard. Whenever I have a brilliant idea, please, whatever you do, <I>don't</I> go along with it, because I'll just royally screw things up... and refuse to admit it... then sulk about it, start drinking, and maybe grow a beard. But I <I>reeeally</I> want to help."<BR><BR> <I><B>Nikki:</B> [S]o many bad things would have happened if the crash never occurred: Hurley would believe he was cursed; Charlie would be a heroin addict; Claire would give up Aaron; Kate would be arrested; Jin and Sun would be miserable; Jack would have to face his mother, who half-blamed him for Christian’s death; Locke would be a paraplegic; Nikki and Paulo would still be alive ... But on the flip side, there were 324 people aboard that plane. Of those, 71 survived the crash. By 2007, the only Oceanic people still alive are the 6 who leave on the helicopter, and Sawyer and Locke on the island. Rose, Bernard, and the redshirts have all disappeared. Is it not worth sacrificing the personal growth of a handful of characters to bring back all those people? </I><BR><BR>I'll grant that from an empirical standpoint, as a wise man once said, "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few". But it's often the point in irony-laden time-travel stories that none of us know if <I>anybody</I> would be better off if X event was changed -- in this case, if Oceanic 815 hadn't crashed on the Island, <I><B>if</B></I> it's even possible to bring that about. The issue of personal growth, or "redemption" as it's been tagged since early in the musings on <I>Lost</I>, is only part of the story, although admittedly an up-front concept given that Jack is focusing purely on the number of lives that will be <I>"biologically"</I> saved. And remember that "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, <I>or the one</I>," and in a way Jack is piling ego on top of selfishness if he's doing this assuage his guilt at having not been able to save the survivors who died post-crash.<br />It's an open question as to whether the lives led by those who died in the crash or during events on the Island would be "worth living", or even if the heartache we expect would define the lives of Kate, Jin & Sun, etc., based on the trajectories of their pre-Island lives would occur. We really just don't know, and that may be what makes Jack's plan so bold and/or reckless, depending on your position -- I'd say the latter, again because it's clear that, in his reversion to a stereotypical "Man of Science" position, Jack believes that saving people in this instance means having them alive rather than dead, period. So many bad things would have happened if the crash never occurred? So many things change once you negate whatever "Incident" triggers the design of the button-pushing that the same people wouldn't even necessarily be on that flight 27 years later...<br /><br />Unless, thanks to Destiny, they'd be on that flight or an equivalent one in the changed timeline because that's just How Things Are Going to Be -- but then nobody gets "saved" anyway.<br /><br />And this is without taking into account that by the rules of the <I>Lost</I> universe the deaths that Jack is trying to undo may through some kind of cosmic balance be inevitable, even if the plane indeed never crashes. He could avert the crash, leaving who we know as the survivors to the fates you describe, only to have the other characters who perished die their destined deaths in their daily lives, inescapably, like those <I>Final Destination</I> movies that I never saw but, hey, I used to watch <I>Ebert & Roeper</I>.<br /><br />Speaking of fate, kismet, or inevitability also makes me wonder how much of the Destiny stuff we've seen can be tied specifically to the Island -- which has been spoken of as wanting or needing things and can apparently actively or passively keep Michael from taking his own life or shunt some of the returning Oceanic survivors through time -- and how much is an overarching cosmic rule that applies to the world at large. Even Mrs. Hawking's "course correction" concept, which you'd think would apply universally, has really only been seen in action regarding people whose lives are intertwined with the Island, although granted that's the focus of the show.<br /><br />There's also the possibility that all of this time-traveling and mucking about in the past has <I>been</I> course correction, of one of two sorts. Jack, Kate, Hurley, and Sayid could be inescapably fulfilling the history that they know, as seems to be the consensus opinion, or changing it <I>to <B>re-establish</B> a preferred timeline that we've never seen</I>. We mused at one point that the Oceanic 815 flight itself wasn't how things were supposed to be, that the crash might have been part of Destiny's plan but that it should have been Lapidus piloting instead of Greg Grunberg and Christian Shephard instead of his son arriving alive (and perhaps communing with the Island instead of Locke as more than the specter that he is now). <br /><br />Maybe Jack's plan, or some variation on it, will work and we'll see the Oceanic 815 that we know land safely, with the echo of the previous reality ringing in our protagonists' minds, only to discover that Jack's father wasn't in a coffin on the plane because he was alive on the Island or in Australia working to get there after seeing Claire or something like that, because what was done 30 years ago shunted things back in place to make that possible. Could the Incident be not an inevitability that Jack's going to fulfill despite himself but instead an event akin to Ben turning the Frozen Donkey Wheel and shunting reality on the wrong track? I didn't like the idea of the reality that we knew being reset, until I wondered whether the whole point of our gang's adventures is to set this wrong reality right. And now it scares me that I'm thinking like Jack Shephard.Blamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07342343767763035991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-65209712319733676252009-05-12T02:06:00.000-04:002009-05-12T02:06:00.000-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Blamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07342343767763035991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-56066419119053427462009-05-12T00:29:00.000-04:002009-05-12T00:29:00.000-04:00I don't always have time to write extensive stuff....<BR><I>I don't always have time to write extensive stuff. Usually, when I write up a paper or brief, it's based on posts written here. But I might just take you up on it for the summer and next season ...</I><BR><BR>Hey, I hear ya. I've been vacillating all season on doing per-episode blog entries, but just about all my <I>Lost</I> energy gets focused here on the tremendously enjoyable, rewarding conversations here. I really do need to get my massive <I>Fringe / Dollhouse </I> essay up this week, though.Blamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07342343767763035991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-18378814576570034412009-05-12T00:24:00.000-04:002009-05-12T00:24:00.000-04:00It's probably not worth going back and listening t...<BR><I>It's probably not worth going back and listening to the previous ones, but if you find yourself bored, take a 22 min. break and do just that!</I><BR><BR>Had I but world enough, and time... If I'd remembered early and often enough, listening to the podcasts likely would've become an an enjoyable habit, but, yeah, I'll check out the latest on your recommendation and stop there.Blamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07342343767763035991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-7354658230303664432009-05-12T00:11:00.001-04:002009-05-12T00:11:00.001-04:00Oh, and the video podcasts are usually 5 min. inte...Oh, and the video podcasts are usually 5 min. interviews with the cast and sometimes members of the crew.Bennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16036549649615941601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-24040005844539905112009-05-12T00:11:00.000-04:002009-05-12T00:11:00.000-04:00@Blam: I've thought commenting on my Blog and post...<B>@Blam:</B> I've thought commenting on my Blog and posting things but I don't always have time to write extensive stuff. Usually, when I write up a paper or brief, it's based on posts written here. But I might just take you up on it for the summer and next season (if I keep it up).<br /><br /><br />As for the podcasts, they are 22 min. pieces with Damon and Carlton. They usually discuss the previous show and pre-hash the coming one, suggesting their own theories and asking themselves questions, as well as answering a few fan questions. The better part of it is the high-larity.<br /><br />It's probably not worth going back and listening to the previous ones, but if you find yourself bored, take a 22 min. break and do just that! Sometimes it nudges some thinking about the show or can just be a relief in times of stress.Bennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16036549649615941601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-2299904450967780242009-05-12T00:00:00.000-04:002009-05-12T00:00:00.000-04:00Benny: For those who haven't listened to the podca...<BR><I><B>Benny:</B> For those who haven't listened to the podcast yet (or usually don't) there are some un-spoilery answers about the compass, the ComiCon video and who's good/who's bad/who's undecided.</I><BR><BR>How long are the podcasts? Are the audio podcasts just the audio portion of the video podcasts? Is it worth going back and listening to previous podcasts if I like the latest one, in anticipation of the finale?Blamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07342343767763035991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-16326991409994207142009-05-11T23:50:00.000-04:002009-05-11T23:50:00.000-04:00Benny: I'm not the one who mentioned that the show...<BR><I><B>Benny:</B> I'm not the one who mentioned that the showrunners said Jacob was someone we hadn't met yet. But thanks for the mention!</I><BR><BR>Oops... Sorry! That was Humanebean, I see. <br /><br />I thought about your probabilities paper while at <I>Star Trek</I> this weekend, by the way, although technical formulae aside I'd like to think I already had a pretty good grasp of that stuff thanks to lifelong exposure through comic books and other fantastic literature (and film, like, say, <I>Star Trek</I>). <br /><br />Has anyone yet formally posted upon here? And have you thought of writing about that stuff on your own blog?<br /><br /><I><B> Sonshine Music:</B> I think one of the things that confused me the most about this episode was how bewildered Richard appeared in many scenes. I've always seen him as this wise guide/advisor who helps direct people and therefore knows more than they do. Is he just lost when it comes to Locke, because Locke really is the chosen one? Maybe he's just used to directing people like Charles and Ben who really don't understand the Island, so when John comes along and has a deep connection with the Island he's feeling a bit at a loss?</I><BR><BR>I'm of like mind with your premise -- as well as your possible explanation, although as mentioned I liked Richard smoother, and wished the explanation/rationalization weren't necessary.<br /><br /><I><B> Scrvet:</B> Oceanic 815 was meant to crash based on the people on that flight. Why would Richard seek out Locke as a child if there wasn't a divine plan for him to be on the island. Richard wouldn't have known about the flight back then.</I><BR><BR>Richard sought out Locke as a child based on what Locke told him when they met during the Left Behind castaways' time-trip back to 1954. The fact that we'd already seen Richard meet young John Locke in a previous season's flashback, in fact, is a leading point in refuting that the time-trips were creating history anew, not that it's out of the realm of possibility for Richard to have sought him out anyway. His frustration with young John at not choosing the "proper" items, though, could compound his frustration with Locke in the present day, giving him a shorter fuse as he realizes that he's only ever championed John Lock as leader on Locke's say-so.<br /><br />Oceanic 815 may <I>not</I> have been meant to crash based on the people on that flight. My as-yet-unposted thoughts on Jack's plan to rewrite history includes callbacks to our discussions over whether history went <I>wrong</I> before that flight, as Lapidus was supposed to be the pilot and Christian was supposed to land on the Island alive in place of Jack, as Shephard, and John, as shepherd.<br /><br /><I><B> Sonshine Music:</B> Jack has been acting rather paradoxically (is that a word?) </I><BR><BR>Uh... Yes and no.Blamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07342343767763035991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-91725362446854737532009-05-11T23:38:00.000-04:002009-05-11T23:38:00.000-04:00For those who haven't listened to the podcast yet ...For those who haven't listened to the podcast yet (or usually don't) there are some un-spoilery answers about the compass, the ComiCon video and who's good/who's bad/who's undecided.Bennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16036549649615941601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-68919788235991838642009-05-11T23:30:00.000-04:002009-05-11T23:30:00.000-04:00Sonshine Music: I didn't think that Kate was only ...<BR><I><B>Sonshine Music:</B> I didn't think that Kate was only talking about her and Jack when she said us.</I><BR><BR>Samesies!<br /><br /><I><B>Teebore:</B> [H]ow old is Daniel? Is it possible he's already a bouncing bundle of Other joy at this point, and that's why Eloise is so shocked: the man she just killed is the same as the little tyke sleeping in her tent, or something?</I><BR><BR><I><B>Ashlie:</B> [D]id anyone else notice the protective way that Widmore put his hand over Eloise's stomach before she left? Is it possible she's pregnant with Dan right now? It's got my vote!</I><BR><BR>I'm pretty sure I heard background dialogue with Charles asking Ellie about her "condition" -- but Nikki herself said, "I think the reason we don't hear what they're saying is because they're talking about her being pregnant," which confused me, because it ain't like I got a souped-up TV. Wait! I've just read Poggy's post, and she's transcribed it. <I>(Grazie!)</I> How did some folks, including Jeff Jensen, whose post-episode column I finally read today and who pointedly refers to the fact that we can't see or hear what Ellie and Charles are saying at a crucial point, not hear this?<br /><br /><I><B>Batcabbage:</B> What I really wanted to get across is the possibility that our beloved Richard, who's been so enigmatic and such an awesome character, might be up to no good.</I><BR><BR><I><B>Teebore:</B> Agreed: if there's one thing I didn't like about this episode, it was that, the implication that perhaps Richard, in the end, is no better than Ben when it comes to stewardship of Jacob and the island. ... I'm disconcerted by the fact that Locke's been their leader for less than a day before Richard is questioning his leadership to the man he helped Locke usurp.</I><BR><BR><I>Totally</I> samesies! <br /><br />Unlike my earlier grousing about Dr. Chang Halliwax-Candle's underwhelming presentation, the blame here is laid squarely at the writers' feet, since Nestor Carbonell is only playing what he's given. <br /><br />While it's still possible that Richard is pulling a Ben on Ben, like Teebore I'm concerned that it feels like I have to talk myself into seeing it that way. Not only don't I enjoy Richard seeming so venal or base, I don't enjoy him seeming so <I>humanly</I> venal or base, and so just plain flappable. Maybe he was indeed once an Egyptian god or an alien visitor, or both, and inevitably he would become more human over time, but conversely even if he were born a human, say as shipmate or slave on <I>The Black Rock</I>, living for presumed centuries amongst mortals who come and go would surely remove him from them. I know we don't know <I>what</I> Richard is yet, but whether human, superhuman, or suprahuman, I don't like seeing his previously established calm and seeming surety of the big picture eroded like this. He's clearly not omniscient, and when Sawyer confronted him in 1954 and 1973 we learned that his consciousness isn't linked across time as some earlier supposed, but, well, I think I've made myself clear.<br /><br />And by the way, Batcabbage, right before reading your callback to the Richard Alpert haiku thread I revisited it myself for a little pick-me-up while thinking on this very topic.Blamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07342343767763035991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-89019222930647624052009-05-11T23:01:00.000-04:002009-05-11T23:01:00.000-04:00@Blam: I'm not the one who mentioned that the show...<B>@Blam:</B> I'm not the one who mentioned that the showrunners said Jacob was someone we hadn't met yet. But thanks for the mention!<br /><br />As for "the way Jughead was brought in", I've speculated that it is through some bigger tunnel entrance that is located within the barracks. My only argument is that we see Jack waltzing in pointing a gun.Bennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16036549649615941601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-70204795399926857112009-05-11T22:53:00.000-04:002009-05-11T22:53:00.000-04:00Joshua: What is "the same way we brought [Jughead]...<BR><I><B>Joshua:</B> What is "the same way we brought [Jughead] in"?</I><BR><BR>I don't see a practical correlation, but this made me flash on the scene of Richard building the ship-in-a-bottle. They probably didn't get Jughead in the tunnels that way -- it was already a fully formed thing with no collapsible parts -- but it may have been a hint, at least, to his cleverness in dealing with apparently insoluble problems.<br /><br /><I><B>The Question Mark:</B> Jacob is God, or the Authority, rarely seen and rarely questioned. Alpert could be Metatron.</I><BR><BR>I've done some <I>very</I> layperson research into the Bible and extraBiblical literature, in college and for some writing projects, but I confess all that I didn't recall much of Metatron beyond his status as chief agent or spokesangel of God, as you suggest -- and of course I thought of Alan Rickman's portrayal in <I>Dogma</I>. Thank Heaven for the Internet, because some quick clicks revealed that in the Talmud (a book of supplmentary stories to and thoughts on the Hebrew Bible) Metatron is present in the story of Rabbi Elisha ben Abuyah, who for perceived heresies is refered to as <I>Acher</I>, Hebrew for... "Other".Blamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07342343767763035991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-20078755441361839902009-05-11T22:33:00.000-04:002009-05-11T22:33:00.000-04:00The Question Mark: After all, Jacob's first (and o...<BR><I><B>The Question Mark:</B> After all, Jacob's first (and only) words so far were "Help me." The dude is obviously in some kinda pickle.</I><BR><BR>Maybe whoever Jacob is has died out in the real world but has a strong enough connection to the Island that he still exists somewhat spiritually <I>on</I> it, and is asking for his body to be brought back so that he can be fully reborn. I'm not sure if this holds up, or -- like many of my off-the-cuff hypotheses -- if I even believe it, but it's an interesting idea. Hell, this is <I>Lost</I>, so Jacob could <I>literally</I> be <I>in a pickle somewhere.</I><BR><BR>There are also interesting parallels with the Jacob of the Bible. <I>Genesis</I> says that "Jacob was a simple man, a dweller in tents," which sounds like the nomadic Others (well, as nomadic as you can be on an island). Also, Jacob was a dreamer, remember, and another famed Biblical dreamer was Daniel, which as long as we're spitballing could suggest a connection between <I>"our"</I> Jacob and Daniel -- even that Daniel is the perhaps temporally trapped entity now known as Jacob, although as Benny's reminded us we've heard from the showrunners that Jacob is an entirely new character. Let's not forget too that Jacob cheated twin brother Esau out of his birthright, leading to the previously mentioned connotation that name has of "usurper"; <I>another</I> definition of the name became "he who wrestles with angels" after Jacob did just that in <I>Genesis</I>. And the Biblical Jacob eventually became known as Israel, giving his name to an entire people, which we could take to mean that Jacob is the very founder of the Natives; perhaps whomever or whatever they revere as God promised to its followers an everlasting kingdom as did the Israelites' in the Bible.Blamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07342343767763035991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-91853441332744754702009-05-11T22:32:00.000-04:002009-05-11T22:32:00.000-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Blamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07342343767763035991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-44527423040367094992009-05-11T22:20:00.000-04:002009-05-11T22:20:00.000-04:00Nikki: I loved it; it definitely created the bridg...<BR><I><B>Nikki:</B> I loved it; it definitely created the bridge between the second half of the season and the finale ... </I><BR><BR>Yes it did. T minus 48 hours and counting!<br /><br /><I><B>Nikki:</B> From the focus shifting back to Locke to Richard Alpert appearing in all of the timelines </I><BR><BR>I don't know if the producers have ever promised us a Richard flashback, but since he was key to both periods, this could be considered one -- <I>if</I> the Richard of 2007 remembers what we're seeing the Richard of 1977 do. We'd still better get a proper look at Richard's story, though, even if it's in the series finale. <br /><br /><I><B>Nikki:</B> Last week when we saw a clip of [Jack] saying this in the preview, we, too, were shocked, knowing that so many bad things would have happened if the crash never occurred: Hurley would believe he was cursed; Charlie would be a heroin addict; Claire would give up Aaron; Kate would be arrested; Jin and Sun would be miserable; Jack would have to face his mother, who half-blamed him for Christian’s death; Locke would be a paraplegic; Nikki and Paulo would still be alive ... </I><BR><BR>Ha! My reply on this whole Jughead plan keeps getting longer, so let me move on to other stuff and come back to it.<br /><br /><I><B>Nikki:</B> I don’t mean to be cruel to the guy playing Chang, but ... </I><BR><BR>I'm with you on this, Nikki, as well as on the terrible sub fakery. Smokey looks obviously unreal, most of the time, but I can chalk that up to its being a fantastic creature in-story; that submergence scene was laugh-out-loud in all the wrong ways. With Chang it's not only disappointing that the actor is so one-note but, for me, that we're seeing him outside the context of the orientation films in a generally underwhelming manner; he was such a mythic figure that while it's exciting to meet him as a man on one level the thrill is deflated because he's being cheapened more than he's being humanized.Blamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07342343767763035991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-59401400163451469232009-05-11T22:05:00.000-04:002009-05-11T22:05:00.000-04:00Nikki: I really hope you'll be by my side this Thu...<BR><I><B>Nikki:</B> I really hope you'll be by my side this Thursday!</I><BR><BR>Me too, Nik. I really hated to sit out with such a meaty episode, great recap, and fascinating discussion this week. And I'm sorry if the text barrage to come feels like too much, too late, but I didn't want to be completely absent right before the finale. <br /><br />Thanks to both of you for your sympathies on the migraine. I've been dealing with that crap far too often for far too long, and last week's was particularly severe. And HB, if you're going to San Francisco, be sure wear flowers in your hair; they'll really set off that Cyclops thing you have going on. 8^)Blamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07342343767763035991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-70170006451531774702009-05-11T20:45:00.000-04:002009-05-11T20:45:00.000-04:00Aw, thanks, Nik! You can be sure that I will come...Aw, thanks, Nik! You can be sure that I will come tearing into my driveway Thursday morning(about 6:30am local time), fling open the door, fire up the TV machine and be mesmerized within minutes.<br /><br />Blam: I feel your pain, my brutha from anutha mutha - I get migraines, too and can sympathize. Take care of yourself, bro!humanebeanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15717844158635399246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-32473599959564027922009-05-11T20:31:00.000-04:002009-05-11T20:31:00.000-04:00Blam and humanebean: you guys were sorely missed. ...Blam and humanebean: you guys were sorely missed. I really hope you'll be by my side this Thursday! Safe travels, humanebean. :) <br /><br />Sorry to hear about the migraine, Blam. Those can be crippling. :(Nikki Staffordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04463618183850438914noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-34314872668374712552009-05-11T18:39:00.000-04:002009-05-11T18:39:00.000-04:00Late to the party again!You and me both, HB. I had...<BR><BR><I>Late to the party again!</I><BR>You and me both, HB. I had a migraine last Wednesday, saw the episode over a day late, and didn't catch up on comments here until yesterday. Only now are the replies getting banged out.Blamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07342343767763035991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-57800207590915888942009-05-11T15:44:00.000-04:002009-05-11T15:44:00.000-04:00Late to the party again! Now I know what our Euro...Late to the party again! Now I know what our Euro-friends go through, having to wait to see and episode and then scramble to catch up after the fact. Barely had time to watch this (spectacular) episode and need to see it again when the time permits.<br /><br />As to the Jacob=Jack theory, interesting as it may be, Damon & Carlton refuted this notion a while back, saying that Jacob was "someone we haven't met yet". Barring their devious attempts to mislead us, this would seem to indicate that we DON'T know the character of Jacob as yet ... but perhaps can expect to soon.<br /><br />Great episode, excellent recap as always and fantastic comments by all. Can't believe I have to endure the delay again this week, as I will be at SFO airport on Wednesday evening, waiting to board a redeye back East. Sooooo, looks like I'll be watching the finale Thursday morning sometime. Oh, the humanity!humanebeanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15717844158635399246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-35702948626988485392009-05-11T10:49:00.000-04:002009-05-11T10:49:00.000-04:00If that should turn out to be true about Juliet, t...If that should turn out to be true about Juliet, then that means that she completely believes in "what happened, happened", because otherwise, I would think that she would approach herself and try to change things. After all, her life pretty much stinksRebecca T.https://www.blogger.com/profile/11994380364321336824noreply@blogger.com