Staring at the sky…

My God I’ve been busy. But, I have finally finished watching the last 7 minutes of the penultimate [NOTE: I do not usually use the word penultimate, but it seemed like it would save on typing... this of course would have been true had I not been compelled to write this note] episode of the first season of The Riches, and then the final episode.

I still really like this show. And, maybe it’s just that it plays to my favorite topics. I mean, I became a writer because I never felt all that good about the possibility of only living one life, and converting to Hinduism seemed like a bigger commitment. This is the story of people who spend all of their lives being other people.

I’d like to say that it’s a look at society from the outside, and in a way it is. It’s a look at a caricature of society, I’d wager for both the Travelers, and the Buffers. And that’s why it works.

As I said in my first post, it’s like a sitcom plot gone bad. Everything always seems on the verge of being given away, but that’s not it, really. Things are given away, things do change. Everything that can go wrong, does. But these people are professionals, and so they have a few tricks to avoid mayhem that should ensue.

In the final episodes, Dale, the former head of the Traveler’s camp, tracks down our heroes, and sets up shop with their biggest local enemy. He seems like the biggest possible threat to their carefully laid plans.

Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Pete, the best friend of the read Doug Rich, the dead man whose family they are all claiming to be, arrives on the scene.

These two dangerous problems move in closer and closer, and in the final minutes of the season finale…

Well, that’s not the point of this blog. Seriously, check out this show if you haven’t.

Oh, my bearded friend… so long must we now sit and wait, as the tide comes in and goes out. A full 9 months. A baby could be sired and birthed in this time. 48 episodes are left altogether in the series, to be spread over the next 3 years.

[SPOILERS ahead]

In the episode we see that there is a future after the island, and that Jack and Kate, are, in theory, safe for the rest of the series run. The big shock, of course, is that the show itself is reversed — it’s set in the present, while the flashbacks that are shown are the action on the Island in late 2004. This is a pretty big game changer, I will admit, and it’s similar to the end of season 2 of Battlestar in terms of how much impact it has the potential to have.

I definitely give kudos to the writers for coming up with such a major twist, and I am, of course, salivating at the thought of more episodes three quarters of a year from now. But I wonder if this is set in stone. With so many time related matters in the show, is this the future as it is, or as it could be.

I also caught something else, which I’m still working through. In the accident at the beginning of the episode, Jack is seen as the hero for saving the life of the woman and her son, and yet he caused the accident by attempting suicide on the bridge. Now, this is ironic in one way, but potentially significant in another.

The irony here is that it parallels the crash of Oceanic 815 if we are to believe the whole magic box analogy that Ben gave, and assume that it was Ben needing a spinal surgeon that caused the plane to crash in the first place. In effect, Jack would be the one who saved everyone, but actually was the reason the crash had to occur.

The other, more interesting potential is that there is something deeper going on, again related to the flexibility of time. I wonder if there’s potential that Jack will do something strange in the future episodes which causes something else to occur, which again relates back to the initial crash. People are making all kinds of crazy theories online, many of which involve John Locke being Jacob, but in the same vein, if Jacob were one of the survivors, wouldn’t it be more interesting if he were Jack? The name is closer, and Jack comes pre-bearded now.

The other major event, of course, is Charlie’s death at the hands of the incredible indestructible man [NOTE: invincibility void in region of eyes]. I thought it was a poignant moment, though there was no reason Charlie actually had to die, unless the door had to be closed from the inside. I’ll definitely miss his character, given that I feel like despite the past few episodes of development, they never really showed his full decent into evil, and never really touched on why he was acting strangely after returning from the hatch explosion. It seemed to me like there was something else planned there, which never really panned out.

So, for my own sake, I started thinking about a list of possible questions remaining from the past 3 seasons:

- What is the story behind Adam and Eve, the two skeletons found in the caves in season 1? These two skeletons have clearly been dead since before the purge, and had on them two stones (one black, one white). There is some sort of significance to them. We haven’t been back to the caves in quite a while (2 seasons, so nearly 2 months), so I can only imagine that something will happen which takes us back there.
- Who built the 4 toed statue, and what is its purpose? A statue that shares the size and the fate of the Colossus of Rhodes, but with one toe too few, was of course seen by Sayid’s crew as they circumnavigated the island at the end of season 2. What is its significance? We haven’t touched on it at all this season.
- Who and what is Jacob? This one is clearly going to be the primary thrust of the show from here on out.
- What is Locke’s connection to the island? I was pretty sure the whole plan was a set up — that Ben and Richard were playing on Locke’s naiveté, given that Locke just wants to be special. That they tricked him into taking the recorder, and that Juliet was going to turn out to be completely evil. Now, I’m just not sure. Clearly Jacob likes him, and Walt appeared to him (merely 3 feet taller than he appeared 2 months previous in show time).
- Who are the others? What percentage of them are Dharma, and who are the hostiles?
- Why is Dharma still doing food drops? There is no logical reason unless the Others have succeeded in convincing them that the project is still active. I would not imagine this to be the case. Some of this has been dealt with via the lost experience, but I can’t imagine that this won’t be addressed further. Note that the above page contains the video that helps explain the significance of the numbers.
- Why is Mikhail so difficult to kill? Is he still alive now, after the whole hold-the-handgrenade-up-to-the-porthole-while-Charlie’s-standing-there thing?
- Where is Walt now and what was his secret? Also, how did he get to be so tall in just 3 months?
- Who is Richard Alpert, and why has he not aged?
- What is the smoke monster, and do the Others actually know its back story?
- What are the whispers?
- What did Eko’s last words mean? “You’re next” was said to Locke, specifically. Clearly, however, Locke is fine, despite being shot in the back, and spending a day lying on top of dead bodies.

And new questions brought on by the end of this season :

- When did Charlie learn to swim? As has been pointed out in a variety of places, in the episode “White Rabbit” Charlie makes it clear he can’t swim, which is why he doesn’t go after the girl who drowns. Yet in the first episode where Desmond’s flashes appear, we see that Charlie can swim (though not very well, given that he was destined to drown when he tried it), and in the penultimate episode of the season, we see that he is capable of free-diving into Sealab. This seems odd.
- Is the future set in stone? Who else is alive if so?
- Is Jack’s father alive, or was he just really drugged out? It seems very odd that Jack would make mention of his father in the future like that, given that he’s dead. However, the body is nowhere to be found, and we’ve seen him walking around.
- Whose boat is it out there coming to “rescue” them? Naomi was clear that it was Penny’s right? If it’s not, whose is it?
- Who is Kate going back to in the future? The obvious inference is that it’s Sawyer, but my guess is that she and Bernard are… no, wait, that’s unlikely. I guess the deeper question is whether or not she’s managed to be pardoned, and if so, how? How did Jack find her if not?
- What does Ben know about the people on the boat? What’s going to happen to him?
- Who’s died that has Jack so upset? We assume it’s one of the survivors, but the number of male survivors left now (noticing the size of the casket, and that no one arrived) are Sawyer, Sayid, and Locke really. If it’s not a surviver of Oceanic 815, then it’s probably Ben, as he’s the only one of the others they’ve really interacted with much who is still alive and American.
- What is the Temple? This was mentioned very briefly in the dialog, but my guess is it’s something important.

Feel free to add comments with your own questions.

Also, a special message to Zombie Ayn Rand — “Lost” will appeal to you more than “House” for a number of reasons, including a number of themes like re-birth that tie into your own Zombie nature, as well as points toward objectivism, and the fact that it stimulates the brain. Mmmm, brains.

I’m torn. I’m not certain whether it’s best to write about the 1986 horror film, the 1987 comedy sequel, or the Hugh Laurie series on Fox.

I guess it’s perhaps best to focus on the TV series.

The first episode of “House” that I watched, I watched in stunned bemusement. This was a show with an abusive, bitter, drug-addicted doctor, in his late 40’s who doesn’t like people. It was a show with no chance of success, that was definitely going to be cancelled right away, and which wouldn’t have gotten made at all without Bryan Singer being interested.

And then I watched the second episode, and I realized that the doctor had a heart of gold, or some other type of metal which is ineffective at working in place of muscle. In each subsequent episode he became less and less likable, and yet, I found myself enjoying it more and more, and rooting for him, and less and less time practicing my Sitar during the episodes (which has been in its case for a bit too long, now that I think about it).

And I am constantly amazed by what they get away with on that show. He prescribes cigarettes for bowel problem. He takes LSD to get rid of a migraine.

And this week, we learned the psilocybin in psychedelic mushrooms can cure cluster headaches. We also learned that crack special effects artists can simulate urination of blood in a way that network censors find acceptable, but let’s focus on the psilocybin, because I find it’s best not to discuss bodily fluids.

This sums up the show. Like all dramas on TV, it tries to shock enough to make a good preview, usually of the following format :

Narrator: on the next “House”
Patient: “What are you doing?”
House: “When is a cold, not a cold?”
Wilson: “You’re losing everyone you care about!”
Chase: “Hold him down”
Foreman: Stares intensely
Patient: Does something unexpected

But at its heart it’s about facades. It’s a show where House pulls off being the most together person, because he has to be to survive his pathetic life. It’s a show based on the reality that “Everybody Lies.”

It’s a show that does not feel the need to avoid talking about potential (if fairly under researched) benefits of illegal drugs (or in the case of cigarettes, legal ones that will get your film rated R), just because we live in a society so obsessed with avoiding any discussion of them. And it’s a show that tries to play with perceptions by showing that not everything is ever all good or all evil.

In short, Ayn Rand would hate this show. So, I would like to recommend that if she ever does return to life, or comes back as a Zombie, that she avoid this show. My reviews are sometimes a bit specific, admittedly, but I feel that Zombie Ayn Rand is a person, too, and she deserves our compassion, and television watching advice.

[SPOILER ALERT for the Tivo fans]:

Apparently, Lost Island is next to Sealab, underneath the water. Debbie is definitely there, along with another female friend (perhaps Captain Murphy’s beloved Adrienne Barbeau). Consequently, while Charlie did not die at the end of this episode, it is very likely he will be blown up in some sort of bizarre time paradox, instigated by Stormy, who apparently is an other.

On the whole, the penultimate episode of the season and the year, was decent, and definitely had some moments. And in all honesty, I am foaming at the mouth in expectation of the season finale.

All in all, though, it was a calm before the storm, and I’m personally worried about where the payoff will be on some of the questions it set up. Questions like:

- Why did Desmond lie to Charlie about what he would find in the Looking Glass? This is the first time we haven’t seen Desmond’s flashes since the first few episodes he had them. There’s something big coming, and what could be worse for Charlie — harder to deal with than dying?
- Did Desmond know what was coming when he turned around? He seemed awfully calm about taking Charlie’s place, and he had kind of a bemused look on his face, almost serene. I don’t think he ever actually considered going in Charlie’s place.
- How would an untreated concussion sustained on a boat that far off shore affect the ability of a Scotsman who has precognitive visions to navigate?

There’s so much to cover in the final episode of the season, and so many questions that we will still have to wait until at least February for, that it’s frustrating.

If I could make my own recommendation to the writers, I think it would be interesting to see a situation where the vast majority of the male population was removed, so that the others could try to absorb the female population of the island. It would be, from a writing perspective, a very bold move, and something which would change the show dynamic. It would, however, also kill the ratings, so I have no expectation that this will happen.

Only a few days left until we see what does happen, though.

[Warning: this entry not only contains spoilers, but clearly summarizes the entire final 3 seasons of "Lost"]

Before I get started, I think this week’s episode was one of the best in a while, and they’ve recently been pretty high quality all around, with a few exceptions.

So with only 2 episodes left this season, and only 50 episodes left for all time in “Lost,” this week’s episodes brought some interesting points which support my theory that it all centers around a Time-traveling Tyrannosaurus Rex Jesus from Outer-space.

Of course, this week’s episode focused on Locke and Ben (whose long term relationship possibilities may have lowered even further following the surprising ending — which really isn’t that surprising, I guess, given that Ben acted as any crazed cult leader, and former janitor with a friend who is sometimes invisible and sometimes a shadowy man with a beard, would in the given situation, and I think we could all agree to that).

We learned that many things:

1) Jacob hate flashlight, smash!
2) Locke is an idiot
3) Ben was born near Portland
4) The Dharma Initiative is no more
5) Richard Alpert (like the music of Herb Alpert) is immortal

On point 4, my biggest question is where did the food drop come from in season 2? The one that Ben apparently prompted with his time in the control room in the episode “Lockdown.” Why would the Dharma initiative send them food? Well, I guess it’s possible that Mittelos Bioscience took over the Dharma initiative, but it seems weird that all the food would be marked as Dharma Initiative.

On point 5, Richard Alpert, who is apparently named after an associate of Timothy Leary’s who wrote “Be Here Now,” and now goes by the name Ram Dass, did not seem to age. Now, Ben also did not seem to age between being apparently in his late teens, and today (I’m basing this on the fact that Alex Rousseau is 17, and was raised as Ben’s daughter — she’s not there yet, so this event would have to have happened at least 17 years before). So Richard may have been meant to seem to age. But this seems unlikely, given the comment from Ben of “You do remember birthdays, don’t you?”

So what does this mean?

Well, knowing that the producers and writers have said flat out that they are not dead, that leaves only one possibility, which is the Time-traveling Tyrannosaurus Rex Jesus from Outer-space. Given the amount of religious symbolism (Jacob), political symbolism (Locke and Rousseau), anachronistic objects (the Black Rock), and various other things (examples — Hurley’s father is Cheech, Charlie plays the bass, etc.), this is the only possibility. I’m sure I don’t have to draw a picture for any of you, and you know where I’m getting at. I kind of hate even posting this here, because it seems like it would ruin the next 3 seasons, but clearly that’s all in how it plays out. I’m expecting it to be given away either in the season finale, or possibly the first episode of the next season, anyways.

Listen, There’s only 8 and a half months left in 2007. That’s not really a long time, and I know it. But, I have to wait that long, at least, until the return of Battlestar Galactica.

Now, for anyone who reads below, and sees the other topics I’ve chosen, yes, I admit it, I am a geek. Fine. I do, however, have many other interests, which are completely separate from my geekiness. And believe it or not, I have to lump Battlestar into that category.

Believe me, it shocks me as well.

I have fond memories of the 1970s version of the show, which was like Star Trek, Star Wars, and the Disco era all mixed together. Admittedly, It was a guilty pleasure.

But the current BSG is something different. It is the best show on Television. (Sigh) I admit it, it has no right to be. Based on the source material, and the fact that it’s on the Sci-Fi channel (whose previous best original programming was the Harlan Ellison commentaries on their weekly news show in the early 90s), it shouldn’t be a guilty pleasure. It should be a painful ordeal. So, admittedly, the fact that it’s good at all, is amazing. The fact that it’s so good is nothing short of a miracle and a half.

I describe the show as being like early “ER” episodes, only instead of medicine they use science fiction, and instead of life and death they deal with the more pressing question of species survival.

And now, we have to wait until 2008. Well, okay, there’s an extended episode coming in the fall. All the same, it’s something that becomes such an unexpectedly big part of the weekend when it’s on that I don’t really know what to do on Sunday nights now.

I hate TV, and not in the way that most people who say that mean it. It’s more that I’m mostly finished with it. I used to average 10-12 hours a day when I was a teenager. I absorbed television. Documentaries to movies to sitcoms to anything. And now, I’m mostly done. I watch a handful of shows, and get mad at Ann for talking to the screen while I’m writing, drawing, or playing on the internet (NOTE: order does not accurately represent amount of time spent).

Seriously, I may not like how fast I’m aging, but an extra 8 and a half months at the moment…

The new show “the Riches”, on F/X has been out for a few weeks now, and I have to say that I really enjoy it.

Starring the always hilarious Eddie Izzard, and the multi-talented Minnie Driver, follows a family of Irish Travelers named the Malloys. For those of you who have a picture of Irish people with brochures and cameras roaming through popular tourist destinations, I’m afraid that’s not what I mean. Irish Travelers are an ethnic group, which live off the grid.

Now, the plot is, in a nutshell, is really hard to encapsulate in a nutshell. The basics are that Wayne (Izzard) decides, during Dahlia’s (Driver) time in prison that he’s not really happy with his life, which is largely based on just scraping by, doing illegal things, and traveling. Luckily, due to a horrible accident that happens while they’re trying to sever all ties to the extended clan of travelers, they are provided by an almost perfect way to escape.

This is to become a couple that were accidentally killed — the Riches.

In an incredibly fortunate series of deus ex machinas, we discover the Riches had bought their new house (which they were driving to) on the internet, and no one has met them there. The Riches have no real family, or very close friends. And, all of their stuff was sent ahead.

Oh, there are inconveniences — Wayne is shorter than Doug Rich, and the Riches weren’t supposed to have kids, and Doug doesn’t have a job waiting. All in all, though, where there are problems, the family’s skills as fantastic con artists more than make up for it.

Now, all of this sounds, on paper, like a manic sitcom plot gone bad (”Uh-oh girls, we’ve got to pretend to be the people who just died in this car accident, or Mr. Furley’s going to lose the building”), but it’s amazingly compelling. Even though, you know it can’t possibly last for any length of time, without going very badly.

And the actors are great. I can never say enough about Eddie Izzard, who I think is one of the funniest comedians working, though I have to say his accent isn’t quite right. It’s still got a fair amount of an English edge to it. I have no idea what Irish Travelers are supposed to sound like, though, so it might be perfect. Also, I have no idea how bad it sounds when I speak with a British accent. Driver, on the other hand, sounds nearly perfect. She has a better accent than the one affected by my oldest sister, who’s lived in North Carolina for 24 years (I lived there for 18 years myself, starting at age 5, and never picked up the accent).

The writing is solid, and I’m definitely interested in checking out other stuff by Dmitry Lipkin, but according to IMDB there isn’t anything else. And, according to Wikipedia, he, like me, doesn’t exist. Sad.