It's May and that can only mean one thing--lots of new episodes. It's only the first week of sweeps and already there have been half-a-dozen "holy cow!", jaw dropping moments in many of my favorites. So let me warn you if you've not yet seen the latest episodes of
Lost, Alias, Veronica Mars and
Gilmore Girls, I am going to give away SPOILERS for all of them.
Alias: 30 Seconds
Not nearly as much fun as last week's episode, but still more fun than most of the first three quarters of season five. I hate to say it, but cancellation and the ability to wrap up all the lingering storylines may be the best thing to happen to this show since that fateful Super Bowl episode in season two.
First jaw-dropping moment on ABC of the evening: Sloane kills Nadia. After sacrificing so much and betraying all of his friends out of a desire to save his daughter, Slaone is forced to choose between her and his Rimbaldi obsession. When Nadia throws Page 47 into the fire and we see some kind of inscription or message come glowing through, I guess we knew her days were numbered. That said, I wasn't sure they'd kill her. I figured she'd go back into a coma and wake up just in time to reveal to Syd and company that Slaone was up to his usual no good.
And now he's gone back to the dark side, working with Prophet Five. What exactly is the agenda he's working on here? And what will Rimbaldi's final prophecy and end-game be? Thankfully, the show seems to want to make it more than a giant red ball that makes everyone go 28 Days Later.
That said, while I'm happy we're having some attempt to tie up continuity, it's the little things that drag this show down. Syd references having time taken away from her, simliar to what happened to Nadia. But yet, Nadia's hospital wrist band shows that she was admitted in 2005. So, I guess we're supposed to assume it's now 2006 on the show (since they talked about Nadia losing a year in the coma) but that sort of goes against the whole Syd lost two years between seasons two and three. I know, I'm beating a dead horse here, but then again I still think they need to address the Chinese considering Jack public enemy number one on 24....
Meanwhile, the attempt to draw out Ana Espenosa was an OK plot but I think this is where having the audience know more than the characters eliminted some of the suspense. I knew that Ana would wander in and kill the other agent because she now looks like Syd. And they did work hard to make sure the APO crew never sees the new Ana. These were "twists" you could see coming a mile away.
Lost: Two for the Road
And here I thought the biggest jaw dropper of Lost was going to be--"Gee Locke, they sent me to get you becuase you're one of the good ones."
Boy, was I totally unprepared for the final five minutes of this one.
I now come to you with a new theory...the island is run by the rules of classic Star Trek. And every male on it is living out his fantasy to be Captain Kirk. Becuase if you kissed Captain Kirk or slept with him, odds were you were gone by the end of the episode.
Same exact thing is happening here.
Ana Lucia sleeps with Sawyer--dead. Libby kissed Hurley--dead.
Now, I'd heard for months the rumors that the Lost producers were unhappy with Michelle Rodriguez. So they'd decided to kill her off. Then we heard the counter rumors that this was not true and they loved her and loved her work on the show. And that they had a specific story for the character planned out. Also, what set me at ease was the fact that the last two times a regular on Lost has shuffled off this mortal coil, we've had pretty much six months of hype about it. This time, not one word. Sure, we could have had them both die in the season finale, when such huge events are expected. But to kick off the May sweeps...holy cow, that's really raising the bar a lot don't you think? Almost to the point that the final five moments overwhelm the rest of what happened in the episode...and the rest of what happened was actually pretty darn good.
We get a flashback of Ana Lucia, examining what led her to on the flight. We knew she'd killed the man who shot her and killed her unborn child, but here we get to see the after effects. Interesting the parallels of her meeting Jack and his father. She meets both in a bar, they both have drinks and then they both go and board a flight. And there's an obvious undercurrent of flirting with both. I wonder if Ana Lucia ever put it all together that Jack was the son of the man she came to Australia to serve as a body-guard for. Also, we find out that Jack has a sister out there somewhere. That should be interesting to see explored though I wonder if she might not show up on the island somehow. Is she a potential Other?
Speaking of the Others, I don't believe one word Michael said about them. I have a feeling Jack and company are walking into a trap. On the one hand, it'd be easy to think Michael had been Loctus of Borg-ed by the Others and is following their orders. But a more likely scenario is that Michael is doing this to free Henry and get Walt back. And if you think the Others will keep their word, raise your hand.
Yeah, I don't see many hands going up in the air.
So many new questions, only four more hours left this season. This one had enough twists, turns and jaw droppers for a season finale...and yet, it's only the beginning of the end. Heaven only knows what they've got in store for us next. But I can tell you one thing: I'm eager to find out.
Now, I'm sure some of you will say--but weren't Michelle Rodriguez and Cynthia Watros in trouble for drunk driving over in Hawaii and might not that have led them to be written out of the show? Sure, but according to the show's producers that wasn't the case. It was all planned from the beginning. Read more about that here.
Veronica Mars: Happy Go Lucky
Jaw dropper of the week number one--Aaron Echols is aquitted. OK, so maybe not that unexpected but well done that the show had me figuring it could go either way right up until the verdict was read. Sure, the whole trial is a travesty legal-wise, but if I wanted a show about realistic lawyers, I'd watch Angel. (Where they're all evil and plotting the apocolypse.)
But anyway, enough with the lawyer jokes.
Last year, going into the season finale, I had no clue who the culprit was. And this year, going into the season finale, I have no clue who the culprit is. I have theories and wild speculation on who it could be. I still think it's Woody, Kendall or Beaver, though I am sure Rob Thomas could have it be Weevil and I'd buy it. I'd not be happy about it, but I'd buy it. I do feel as if this episode was one about moving the chess pieces into play for next week. We've got all the clues there and now it's a matter of stringing them all together.
Before Lost aired, this was the show I was most looking forward to next week. Now with how good Lost was, it's a tie.
Gilmore Girls: Driving Miss Gilmore
It seems to be awfully fashionable to pile on Gilmore Girls these days. Is the show having a down year? Probably. Has it jumped the shark? Possibly.
It's so easy to run down the show and it's hard to have much optimism since the two people who are the creative force behind it will be gone next year. To draw a parallel, it'd be like Ron Moore stepping away from Battlestar Galactica now...sure there are some good writers on the show, but can they bring the vision and the direction to the show Moore can? Probably not.
Anyway, back to Gilmore Girls.
The big bone of contention for why the Paladinos left the show was they wanted a contract for two more years and the studio only wanted one. And in looking on-line, there's a theory that ASP was setting it up for a two-year end arc that would end up with Luke and Lorelia together, but would break them up for next year. And, you know, based on what I've seen here, that theory makes a whole lot of sense. It would explain a lot of this season and the choices made in terms of Luke and Lorelai as a couple.
But, alas, we shall never find out...
That said, the show is a shadow of its former self. We have isolated scenes that work--Emily's revelation that she wants to buy a house for Lorelai and Luke was a nice touch. But then you've got stuff that just is so....wrong for lack of a better word. I want to reach in and strangle Lorelai, Luke and Rory because they're all acting so self-absorbed and stupid. It's painful and hard to watch these three characters who were once so great just become so self-centered and shallow. If they'd all just talk about what's bothering them instead of avoiding the issues in what feels like a desparate attempt to tread water, it might be better.
I'm not "done" with the show yet, but the bloom is definitely off the rose....
posted by Michael Hickerson at 5/04/2006 09:21:00 AM |
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