Calling TV a ubiquitous entertainment medium would be a ridiculous understatement. To declare that the majority of all programming available is lacking even the slightest shred of originality would be laughably obvious. But sometimes a program will still achieve absolute diversionary victory; not through an attempt at being unique in ways of story, plot, character development, drama, or suspense, but in the sheer flawless execution of these elements. Even if that victory is only won in and of itself, inside its scheduled hour alone, it doesn’t matter as much to me personally if it all falls apart after the fact. It is a startling and rare accomplishment to keep a viewer on the edge of his/her seat for an hour.
What I’m trying to say, Lager, is that 24 was fuckin great Monday night! Granted, I’ve been a shameless disciple of Jack Bauer since his inception in 2001. Granted, also, that this season’s plot may not survive the most trivial onslaught of logic (none do). But the plot isn’t what makes this show great. In fact, I’m not always sure why it’s so easy to become such an unapologetic devotee to 24.
I think it’s the tricky guaranteed plot twists that you know are coming, but you don’t know when or how, and you’re still sometimes caught off guard after 7 seasons. I think it’s the near flawless acting talent of not only the always in-flux ‘main cast,’ but every secondary character and nameless walk-on involved. Maybe it’s those intelligent drive-by moral dilemmas about torture or stem-cells. Or maybe it’s those harrowing save-the-world moments that would normally be as cliché as outrunning a fireball while saying “I have a bad feeling about this.” Except in the 24 universe, they really could happen. Sometimes, Jack really doesn’t disarm the clock in time. California got nuked in one season for Christ’s sake! One President was blown out of the sky in Air Force One; another was assassinated! No cast member is safe from being slaughtered at a moments notice (save Jack, or maaaaybe Chloe Obrien).
But the writers even found their way around that one; Jack’s CDC appointed doctor (last Monday he was exposed to a bioweapon, and his condition has quickly deteriorated) hinted that not only is Jack “dying;” the chemical agent is permanently altering his personality. In a few episodes, Jack may be saved by the grace of Elisha Cuthbert’s stem cells (!?) but he likely will be a very different Jack indeed. His reuniting with his daughter, whom we haven’t seen in several seasons, was actually touching even for my cynical heart. We find that Kim has had a mature change of heart towards her father, and had been actively searching for him for a period of time. You can really see, especially in dramatic scenes like this one that Keifer really has a handle on Jack’s character; how much his image of the ‘strong guy in control’ endures in every situation of peril, and only starts to crack when his family is involved.
While Jack is medically confined to FBI, he is still able to run Ops on an off-the-grid last minute ploy to blow Jonas’s missiles up with C4 (while writing this, I do wonder where Tony gained access to explosives, but whatever). Jonas and chief lackey Seden are in “negotiations” with President Taylor, which include turning Jonas’s private army for-hire Starkwood effectively into the 6th branch of the US military. Not only that, Jonas envisions himself at the “head of the table:” level 6 clearance (above the VP) massive funding, and obvious continuing blackmail power over Taylor. The first half hour details this and the simultaneous execution of Tony and Jack’s operation; Tony subdues chief henchman Lazarus (don’t know his real, name, but he did “come back from the dead” three episodes prior) and forces him into the missile chamber. Tony is then able to attach and arm the explosives to the outfitted missiles, but upon return is ambushed by another bad guy feigning unconsciousness. In the ensuing combat, Lazarus is able to hit the alarm, causing head Science Guy to prep the missile for launch. Tony drops the C4 switch down a grate, and has only seconds to pick it up. Again, this scenario would be very tired in any other format, but on this show you really don’t know how it will end. It is equally likely that some medium sized city in Maryland will be exposed to a nerve agent than Tony succeeding. But Tony prevails, once and for all redeeming himself for past transgressions. The missiles are destroyed; Jonas and Seden are arrested, not before Jonas hints that it’s not over.

What!?

How is it not over? This is one petrushka doll off a terrorist network! First rogue African military, then Blackwater-esque baddies, and now…Tony??
Like I said before, as much of a fan as I am, I just always believed that Tony was a good guy in his heart. It made perfect sense for him to betray the government he had served for years when Michelle died. But after working with Jack again, after saving thousands of lives, it seemed pretty clear where his true loyalties lay. Not so, it appears, and the come-from-behind murder of Larry Moss with the help of bioweapon toting henchman sets the stage for 5 more Monday nights…

10 out of Mofo 10 -The Storm

LOST "Dead is Dead"

Well, this season of "Lost" has been just one fantastic trip after another. I really think a show like this, or any genre for that matter, has everything going for it when it actually knows when it's going to end, and how. This is a show that is telling one story (so to speak) and knowing exactly how and when it ends, gives the writers of the show a clear path to follow. We don't get bogged down in general answers to specific questions, *cough* "Heroes" *cough*, and through the great use of telling backstory in order to explain the characters actions, we don't have to sit through too many lines of exposition.

Last night's episode, "Dead is Dead," dealt with the group of people who went down with the plane, Ajira Airways flight 316, rather than those that seemed to phase out of the aircraft before it went down. Those that were beamed out ended up in 1977, and those that fell victim to gravity are in the show's "current" time of either late 2007 or early 2008. I've seen so many people arguing over what year they are actually in and to me, late 07 or early 08 are as close as we need to get. I could explain why I know this is accurate, but I don't think that's necessary.

Ben began the episode by explaining why he had "come back" to the Island. Apparently, he had "broken the rules" and had now returned to be judged. We've heard the phrase "broken the rules" before from Ben, when he confronted Charles Widmore after Ben had moved the island. You see, once the Island is moved, who or whatever turns the big wheel that makes it possible, is shot through space and time and lands smack in the Tunisian desert. That sucks. Charles Widmore had allowed the death of Ben's adopted (stolen) daughter, and when confronted about it we had assumed that was the rule that had been broken. We had also assumed that Widmore was banished from the island, mainly because he told Locke this, but we had taken it a step further by thinking that at some point, Widmore had spun the mystery wheel and ended up in a sand bath. It seemed likely because Widmore knew about the Tunisian "exit." That, however, wasn't the case.

We got some really cool flashback stuff from the Island's native people, lovingly called "The Others" by our main cast. In the last episode, we saw little Ben Linus brought to the Others by the very people who have been victimized by him later in his life. These would be the ones that were zapped out of flight 316 before it went down, and were sent to the fun lovin 70's. Now, we see Ben later in his life as a member of the Others out on a mission. He finds the French Woman, the last of her team of people that accidentally floated to the island, and her newborn baby. Ben scares the Hell out of her at gunpoint, and then takes the baby with him away. When Ben arrives back to his people, their Leader, Charles Widmore, takes offense to Ben's apparent failure of his mission. Widmore told Ben that he expected the French Woman to be dead, and when Ben questioned him about the child, Widmore coldly expected the same fate. Ben would not murder the child, and thus mutiny had been achieved.

In another scene from this time, we see Ben sending Widmore away from the island as we had known, but not by turning the wheel of destiny. He was shuttled away with a submarine that used to belong to the Dharma Initiative. At this "time" those guys are long dead and rotting in a pit. That sucks for them. It was here that Ben explained Widmore's banishment was because he "broke the rules." He claimed Widmore had done this by leaving the Island frequently, having a child with an "outsider," and I think something else, but I can't remember. This was very interesting because up until now, we have been led to believe that Ben has also left the Island many times, and so have other Others (that rolls of the tongue, doesn't it?) in order to follow Ben's orders.

Back to the Future (I have always wanted to start a sentence that way...) we find Ben and a surprisingly alive John Locke on their way to the Temple in order for Ben to be judged. John asks Ben who the judge is, and Ben replies, "You call it the Monster." The Monster in reference has been a huge pain in the ass for some of the initial plane crash survivors, and is responsible for the deaths of some of them. It's been visually just a huge cloud of black smoke, but it's also been known to rip healthy trees out of the ground, and kill pilots.

When they arrive at the Temple, another mysterious locale as of late, Ben's judgement takes place. Ben was conveniently separated from Locke via falling through a poorly patched hole in the floor. He then found himself somewhere it looked like he had never been. Certainly the audience has never seen it, and it was very interesting. It looked like a Pharoah's basement. Heiroglyphs on everything are furthering the point that the Island has some ancient Egyptian ties, and that point was hammered home by Ben arriving at what looked like an ancient air conditioning vent. On the wall above, was a carving of Anubis, (who I believe is the Statue from a couple episodes back) and what looked like a lightning bolt thing with a head on it confronting Anubis. I believe (as I probably should) that the bolt is supposed to be the Smoke Monster.

The Monster then came through the vent and began to swirl around Ben showing him scenes of his past with his "daughter" Alex, culminating in the moment Ben bluffed a Marine and she got whacked. Then the smoke dissipated and Ben turned to see his deceased daughter standing before him. Ben was able to apologize to her for letting her die, but that was not what "she" was there for. She was a manifstation of the Smoke Monster and she told Ben that she knew he was a liar, and that she knew of his future plans to kill John. Again. She strongly advised against that course of action and warned Ben to follow John's leadership.

That was a judgement? I guess if I'm going to nit pick anything with this episode, it would be that Ben's judgement wasn't really that at all. Not to me. It just didn't seem like a judgement. I suppose Ben's sentence is to be the follower he never was, but I was hoping for a little more time spent in the Temple, and maybe a little more of Ben getting smacked around a bit, either emotionally or physically. Lord knows the guy can take a beating. I still thought this episode was great and will be glued, as always, to the couch for the next one, and the next one, and the next one, and the next one........

Storms, you like number ratings, so I'm gonna give this one a 9/10.

_Lager_

PS- Once again, so I don't get a pile of subpoenas on my desk, the pic up top sure as Hell isn't mine, and was provided politely by Google.

Where's my Office, Damn it?!

I really should have known about this for at least the last 2 weeks, but for some reason, my brain only told me one thing. It's Thursday, and "The Office" and "30 Rock" are on. Ok, that's two things. "The Office" has been one of my favorite shows for a hwile now. (Wait, what did you say?) A hwile now. (Yeah, but why did you---ah, never mind...)

Anyway, ever since I glimpsed the original BBC classic with Ricky Gervais, I knew I had witnessed some smart comedy. I didn't see it again for a long time because at the time we didn't get any BBC America channel or anything like that, so it was up to trusty old PBS to ferry across the Pond and bring back some British goodness. When I heard there was going to be an American version, the first thing I thought (like just about EVERYONE) is that it wouldn't be up to snuff. British television is very different from American television for any number of reasons. Two reasons include less channels Over There, and the American audience is at times just plain stupid. I'm not going to sit here and detail the evolution of the show, the characters, and all that crap because it's been done to death. The point is, our Office is funny as Hell.

So like I said, I should have remembered that this was happening, but "The Office" and another gold offering "30 Rock" were not on the menu last night. Instead, the only plate to come out of the kitchen was 3 goddamned hours of "ER." I get it. The show has been on for 15 years, stars have come and gone, it was an emotional and well acted drama, and all that, but did they need to dedicate the whole damn night to it? Technically, the series finale of "ER" was only 2 hours and the preceding hour was a trip down memory lane with the show's past and present cast. We didn't need that. I'm sure that even the die hard "ER" fans (can I call them ERs?) wouldn't have minded that being a DVD extra for the inevitable release of the overpriced DVD/Blueray release. And it probably will be, over inflating the price of the disc even more because now it isn't "unseen." Realistically, there was no reason why we couldn't have had both "The Office" and "30 Rock" on before the "ER" finale, I mean that's the way they've always done it...great comedy leading into great drama. I'm not the biggest "ER" fan out there, in fact, I'm not a fan at all. I have watched it, and enjoyed watching reruns of the older episodes now in syndication, but it was never a show I made time for.

I did watch some of the finale, however. I was mildly interested in seeing whether or not the Chicago hospital was blasted into space, revealing itself as Scientology's vessel for the trip Home, or whether the characters just had a simple happy ending. It was the end of an era, (ERa? Ha! I made a pun....) and I thought it was worth a look. I enjoyed some of the direction and camera angles, and as always, the dialogue was believable and never seemed forced. I just couldn't get into it! I kept thinking of how violated, and robbed I felt about not having my other shows! Oh well. I didn't even finish it. I fell asleep. Not because it was bad or boring, I was just tired. I'll wait til next Thursday and see if the new show "Parks and Recreation" will be any good. It does look funny....we'll see.

_Lager_

PS- So I don't get sued, the NBC logo above is NBC's. Suck on that, legal team.

Whatever Happened, Happened

Lager, I think this episode was a winner! I’m stunned about how little I have to bitch over an installment largely devoted to Kate. The pacing was perfect, and while there were no great revelations, the overall story proceeded forward. And it was mostly devoid of the traditional Kate pouting and purring. In fact, Jack was the true asshole of the story by refusing to help younger Ben and generally pissing off everyone. No, Kate is the one who gets some kind of altruistic inspiration when she briefly loses sight of Aaron in the grocery store. (Lager, I thought that scene was setting up a different kind a twist at first. I was sure when Aaron disappeared that he didn’t actually exist then; that something had happened to him earlier, and that he was a figment of her unconscious because she couldn’t deal with taking him with her, only to lose him. This would have explained why she dramatically ordered Jack never to ask her about Aaron again. Of course, we knew only seconds later that this wasn’t the case). This scene did mark a change in ‘tude for her. Selfish, scheming Kate gives up her posh post-settlement life to return to the island and find Aaron’s mother. Who would’ve thought? I hope this is an enduring evolution of her character.

Back at the island, the “current” story happening “now” (you know what I mean) moved along nicely. Very obvious that young Ben would still be breathing, but noteworthy that the island doesn’t seem to be healing him. Also predictable was Jack’s attitude towards dying little Ben. ‘Save your life once, shame on you. But save you twice…’ (Even if Jack thinks Ben will inflict an exponentially greater amount of suffering on the world if he is allowed to survive, isn’t this still a Hippocratic Oath violation, since it's Jack himself who is causing/allowing harm?) Jack had a great line to Kate in that scene: “You didn’t like the old me.” You could interpret that to mean she didn’t like him enough to follow through with their engagement, but I took it mean that Jack understands what Kate has been all about: using people at her pleasure, and then throwing them away. She never “liked” Jack the way he liked her. He was more of a convenience or commodity. Oh, on a random side note, I love how Hurley is the chef!

What I can’t wait to see is an episode devoted to The Others. Call me an airhead, but I still for the life of me can’t figure them out. Sometimes they are referred to as the “indigenous people” of the island, sometimes they appear to be rogue elements of the U.S. and British Armies. Sometimes they are disheveled and unkempt, other times they aren’t. Maybe you have a firmer grasp on them, Lager. In either case, can't wait for that back story.
-The Storm
8/10