TITLE: “The End”
WRITTEN BY: Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof
AIR DATE: May 23rd 2010

I was going to write a review of the series finale as soon as I’d finished watching it but when it was over I found myself going over everything in my head.  After that I went online and had a look at some of the reactions.  Needless to say they were at both ends of the spectrum.  Some were calling it the worst thing ever and that it made six years of the show worthless, which in itself is a ridiculous notion, and other were proclaiming it the best episode of TV ever.  Hell, E! just named Lost the best show of the last 20 years, which I have a feeling the finale played a strong part in.  After reading all this and with everyone weighing in on the finale I kinda lost interest in having my say.  However, my friend Crystal just called me and voiced her disappointment that I hadn’t given my opinion on the end of the show.  With her in mind here are my thoughts on the end of one of the best shows ever.

First off, I don’t buy Darlton’s claim that Lost has always been about the characters.  That may have been the writers intent all along but a healthy dose of fans followed the show for the mythology first and the characters second.  This season was certainly more focused on the characters with the mythology episodes seemingly used to answer questions raised in previous seasons, and I think now that the sideways world has been revealed as some sort of purgatory that side of the story also plays strongly towards the character side of things.  Being an atheist I wasn’t particularly happy with the idea that now all the characters had awakened they could all go on to heaven together, but I can appreciate what the show was going for.  When all the characters started to get together at the church I was sure it was the same church with the lamppost station that Eloise Hawking used to send the Oceanic 6 back to The Island.  I figured they were all going to go back and live happily ever after.  Guess I was wrong.

Lost has from the very beginning been able to introduce new characters and make them feel like a part of this universe.  They’ve never felt like addons or third wheels.  That’s a testament to the writers and the amazing actors.  Chief among all the new additions to the show was Michael Emerson (Benjamin Linus).  My understanding was that the character was written for a two or three episode arc but Emerson impressed everyone so much that he was written into the show fulltime.  I loved Ben’s apology to Locke outside the church, and him commending Hurley on being a great #1 and I really feel like Ben found peace with everything he’d done.  It was also great that Locke forgave Ben.  That short scene between the two was absolutely fantastic.

Aside from the skillful writing and the mystery surrounding The Island, Lost was a success because of the stellar acting of everyone involved.  I’ve harboured a grudge against Heroes since the show came on the air because fanboys insisted that it was a better show than Lost.  I’d like to think that the 1st season finale of Heroes and the 3rd season finale of Lost which aired a few days later proved conclusively that Heroes wasn’t worthy to like the shit off Lost’s shoes but if you need further proof you should look to the quality of acting on the two shows.  One of the many reason why Heroes was so God-awful was the absolutely terrible acting.  Lost never suffered from this problem and this is one of the reasons why so many new characters could be introduced and all be embraced by the audience.  Just off the top of my head after the 1st season the show was able to introduce Ben, Juliet, Mr Eko, Anna Lucia, Libby, Desmond, Penny, Charles Widmore, Eloise Hawking, Charlotte, Lapidus, Miles, Daniel, Richard, Jacob, the MiB, and probably more that I’m forgetting.  All of these characters were superb additions and each actor portraying them did an outstanding job.

Despite my misgivings about whether or not Lost has always been about the characters I have to admit that this was a very moving episode.  I haven’t cried once during the entire run of Lost, even when episodes are structured to bring about those kinds of reactions (like the one where Sun and Jin died), however I couldn’t help but tear up during some of the awakenings.  Of particular note was the whole Kate/Claire/Charlie scene.  I’ve never been a big fan of Charlie, he was always kind of a whiner, but for some reason that whole scene really got to me.  However, my favourite awakening was the Sawyer/Juliet one.  Those two were so great together and that scene was played brilliantly.  I always liked the chemistry between Sawyer and Kate but it was more of a lustful relationship than one of love.  Juliet and Sawyer loved each other.  Whilst we may not have seen their relationship develop they effectively spent 3 or so years together living with the Dharma Initiative.  They belonged together and I was extremely happy when it was those two who awakened each other and not Sawyer and Kate.

I was happy that the episode was able to mix in a healthy chunk of action along with the drama.  Jack facing off with Not-Locke was pretty cool and has been something that’s been building from the 1st season.  I know that Not-Locke isn’t the original and that Jack’s come around to Locke’s way of thinking about The Island (he even says that Locke was right about everything and that Not-Locke is just wearing Locke’s face) but it was still nice to see those two faces going at it on the edge of the cliff.  Not-Locke stabbed Jack fucking good.  And after six seasons of Kate following after people I shouldn’t have been surprised that she turned up to shoot Not-Locke yet I was.

Finally, I’d like to briefly mention what a pleasant surprise it was to see Boone and Shannon return.  Like Charlie I was never a very big fan of these two but I thought their inclusion was a further nod to the show and the characters returning the their 1st season origins.  It never actually occurred to me that Shannon would be the one to awaken Sayid.  I figured Nadia was his one true love and when he didn’t get together with her that he’d be awakened in some other fashion.  And again, it was a touching flashback montage of their memories.  It was also great to see Rose and Bernard on The Island.  I’d forgotten about them completely.

When Jack became the protector of The Island last week I can’t say I was surprised.  Jack has been the lead character since the very first episode so it stands to reason that he’d be the one to take over for Jacob.  I know my friend Crystal would have been disappointed with that development because she hates Jack and wanted Hurley to be the one to take over.  I know she’ll be happy that Hurley ended up being the protector of The Island.  I also really liked the conversation between Hurley and Ben after Hurley took over.  That desperate need of Ben to be important was validated by Hurley asking him for help.  It’s something that Ben hasn’t really experienced in a number of seasons, that someone actually needs and wants him, and it’s fitting that Hurley, probably the purest Lostie, would be the one to show Ben that he’s needed.  And that his need is in requirement of The Island only makes Hurley’s request more significant for Ben.

After last week’s episode there was ridiculous talk about Lost jumping the shark and that people weren’t going to watch it anymore.  Just craziness.  But that’s the type of devotion fans have for the show.  Me on the other hand, I like to just role with whatever the show throws my way.  I haven’t bothered to try and formulate a theory about what The Island is or why they were all brought there, so when that stuff is actually revealed I have the luxury of not being disappointed that my theory was wrong or second guessing the decisions of the writers.  I think my approach to watching Lost is one that lead to me enjoying the conclusion of the show more than those who’ve invested a lot of time into developing a theory of everything that’s taken place simply because I have no preconceived notion of how I think the show should/would end.

More idiocy followed the finale with people saying it ruined the previous six years.  I’m positive that anyone who feels this way doesn’t have the intelligence necessary to follow a simple conversation between Jack and Christian.  Below is a transcript of everything that was said between the two in the church:

Christian: Everything that’s ever happened to you is real.  All those people in the church, they’re all real too.

Jack: They’re all… they’re all dead?

Christian: Everyone dies sometime kiddo.  Some of them before you, some  long after you.

Jack: But why are they all here now?

Christian: Well there is no now here.

Jack: Where are we dad?

Christian: Well this is a place that you all made together so that you could find one another.  The most important part of your life was the time that you spent with these people.  That’s why all of you are here.  Nobody does it alone Jack.  You needed all of them and they needed you.

Jack: For what?

Christian: To remember… and to let go.

Jack: Kate, she said we were leaving.

Christian: Not leaving.  No.  Moving on.

Jack: Where are we going?

Christian: Let’s go find out.

Retards the world over are saying that the finale made the entire series a waste of time, presumably because they think the castaways were dead the entire time.  It’s precisely because there are morons in the world who can’t follow a simple conversation that networks feel the need to make simple mindnumbingly shit shows like The Big Bang Theory.  A look at what was actually said between Jack and Christian shows that this is simply not the case.  Everyone was real.  They crashed on The Island.  They lived there for a time and clashed with The Others, the smoke monster and the freighter guys.  It all really happened.  The finale provided a bookend to show that that time on The Island was the most important time of those people’s lives.

As for complaints I would have liked a little bit more mythology in the episode but I guess the whole water thing and that underground cave can be debated over by fanboys until they’re blue in the face.  I’m also not sure what happened to Desmond.  Did he live or die after going into the cave?  For a guy who was so important to The Island his ending was a little ambiguous.  In addition, the one mystery which still has me wanting an answer is “the rules” between Ben and Widmore and why Ben had said he couldn’t kill him yet he did.  That seems like something which is pretty important and is probably the one remaining question I’d like answered the most.

RATING: 9/10

CONCLUSION
I thought it was suitably epic, sad, heartwarming and poetic.  A finale perfectly in tone with what the series has always been.

It’s made entirely from old footage combined with a wonderful soundtrack and is edited perfectly.  But it’s the various voiceovers by Locke that really make this thing shine.  Any fan of Lost should love this promo.

It’s such a shame that there’s only 3 1/2 hours of Lost left.

Like everything on this site it’s for my own enjoyment but feel free to comment.

Oh man, it’s been a long time since I’ve written up my Best of the Week.  What with work, a hectic study schedule and a lot of shows being on break I haven’t had the time or desire to do one of these.  That all changed this week though because I watched a decent amount of shows and my exams are over.  It feels good.  Hell, I even found time to go see Iron Man 2.

1. Parks and Recreation “Telethon” (2×22) – Detlef Schrempf.  That’s gotta be one of the best and most random casting/cameos I’ve ever seen.  Add in some truly fantastic highjinks from everyone at the telethon, Ron’s sleep fighting, and Leslie passing out at Anne’s in the tag and it amounts to one of the best episodes this season on a show which to me is clearly the #1 comedy on TV.  9.5/10

2. Lost “The Candidate” (6×14) – It’s hard to judge individual episodes of Lost because each season is really constructed as one large story which is broken up in 14-16 parts.  Not to say that the show isn’t consistently fantastic because it is.  I feel like I should have had some emotional response to the deaths which occurred during the episode but it just left me stunned that they actually killed off main characters this far from the finale.  I wasn’t expecting the people who died to actually die.  Not now and not in the series as a whole.  And I certainly wasn’t expecting four of them to go in one episode.  Looks like Jack’s the man now though.  I just wish they’d reconcile the two realities already, but something tells me we’ll learn what the whole sideways thing means in the finale and not a minute sooner.  8/10

3. Community “Modern Warfare” (1×23) – It was like Terminator, Die Hard and a John Woo flick all rolled into one.  Fantastic stuff.  Community is really ending its first season on a roll.  This and the great Goodfellas inspired episode were some of the best stuff this season.  What’s even better is that Jeff and Britta hooking up wasn’t the focal point of the episode so we finally got that over with (I’m not a fan of those two getting together, I’d prefer Jeff and Annie) without it turning into a must see episode.  Oh, and Ken Jeong rocks.  8/10

4. 30 Rock “The Moms” (4×20) – All those returning moms.  Brilliant.  Tina Fey’s boobs.  Brilliant.  Alec Baldwin being a fucking comedic legend.  Brilliant.  I really run out of ways to say how much I love 30 Rock.  This is how a sitcom should be done, not like that piece of shit Big Bang Theory.  8/10

5. Survivor “A Sinking Ship” (20×13) – Russell continues to amaze me week after week.  I wouldn’t of thought that was possible after almost two seasons with him but the guy’s a damn God.  He almost certainly won’t win it this season either (he might not even make it to the final 3) but just like last season he deserves to.  His hand has been in every move over the last two seasons.  That’s unheard of.  8/10

6. Fringe “Northwest Passage” (2×21) – Only two good things occurred in this very lacklustre episode.  Martha Plimpton guest starred (The Goonies is one of my all-time favourite films) and the identity of the “Secretary General” was revealed.  And to no-one’s surprise it turned out to be alternate Walter.  I can see it now, Walternate will tempt Peter to join him, Peter will consider but ultimately side with Walter (yay Peter really does love him, isn’t everything grand) and defeat Walternate in some mediocre fashion.  I hope I’m wrong and the plot develops better than that but I don’t think I will be.  5/10

7. How I Met Your Mother “Twin Beds” (5×21) – I didn’t even make it through the whole episode.  I think that’s the first time I haven’t watched an episode of HIMYM all the way through during its entire run.  What the hell happened to this show?  4/10

Didn’t Find Time To Watch: The Office, Treme, Justified, Party Down or The Ricky Gervais Show.

Like everything on this site it’s for my own enjoyment but feel free to comment.

Once again my study commitments have raised their ugly head and I just haven’t had the time to post anything.  I’m still getting in some TV watching but even that has shrunk a little with the workload.  I’m gonna do my Best of the Week in a Twitter style 160 character format this week in an effort to get something posted and to save just a little time.

1.  Archer “Skorpio” (1×06) – Either Carol or Lana naked or in lingerie for the entire episode. The best story and some of the funniest lines yet. Best episode so far.  9.5/10

2.  30 Rock “Anna Howard Shaw Day” (4×13) – Five cool cameos. Horatio Sanz, Dean Winters, Jon Hamm, Jason Sudeikis, and Jon Bon Jovi. Liz tripping balls was awesome too.  7.5/10

3.  Survivor “Slay Everyone, Trust No One” (20×01) – Steph is back. That alone makes the return of Survivor kick ass. But add in Russell, Amanda, Tom, Courtney, Rupert, Colby & Jerri too. WOW!!  7.5/10

4.  Community “Communication Studies” (1×16) – The Breakfast Club montage alone made this ep superb, but Senior Chang dancing like Michael Jackson sustained the greatness.  7/10

5.  Lost “What Kate Does” (6×03) – I hate to put it this low but Kate episodes are always so dull. The few revelations in this ep didn’t make up for it’s mediocrity.  5.5/10

6.  How I Met Your Mother “Rabbit or Duck” (5×15) – Why is HIMYM so average this season? Maybe if they actually introduced the “mother” it would inject some life into the show.  5/10

7.  The Mentalist “Blood In, Blood Out” (2×14) – Cho’s a former gang member. That’s the biggest leap this show’s asked of me, and that’s saying something. None of these CBI guys are tough.  4.5/10

Peter, if you’re reading this, GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER AND WATCH LOST FROM THE BEGINNING.

Like everything on this site it’s for my own enjoyment but feel free to comment.

Just under two weeks until Lost premieres.  Oh my God I can’t wait.  I tried to get as much TV watching in as I could this week but I haven’t felt too crash hot.  Plus I watched a lot of late night talk shows and finally saw Sherlock Holmes and The Fantastic Mr Fox so all that ate into the time I could spend on prime time TV.  I’m also trying to catch up on The Mentalist, The Office and I’ve started to watch Chuck so I’m going right back to the beginning on that one.

1.  Archer “Diversity Hire” (1×03) – The show’s only three episodes old and it’s already getting hard to come up with ways to say it’s damn funny and the best show on TV.  So aside from that I’d also like to mention the fabulous voice work by all of the actors.  Every single one of them does a superb job.  Roll on the next episode.  8/10

2.  30 Rock “Winter Madness” (4×11) – The gang head to Boston as a reason for Jack to meet up with Nancy.  I loved when Tracy said nothing bad could happen and behind him Pete says “smash cut to”.  It’s writing like this which makes the show so damn good.  7.5/10

3.  Better Off Ted “Lust in Translation” (2×10) – I really enjoyed this episode.  All three stories were fun.  Especially Ted and Greta using the translator with Phil’s voice while having sex.  The episode also had more great stuff with Linda and Veronica.  Whenever those two are together it makes for some awesome scenes.  7/10

4.  Fringe “What Lies Below” (2×13) – A good standalone episode.  That’s been a hard thing to come by this season.  I especially liked the idea of a virus decimating the Earth hundreds of thousands of years ago and then being defeated by a volcanic eruption.  It seems very X-Files to me but not in a derivative way.  I wasn’t too fond of Peter going crazy from the virus but I guess there had to be personal stake for everyone involved.  And there was once again more hints as to Peter’s death and Walter getting an alternative.  The next episode is titled “The Bishop Revival” so I’m really hoping that the show finally deals with what Walter did after the original Peter died.  7/10

5.  Community “Interpretive Dance” (1×14) – This episode was actually an improvement over the last few but it still wasn’t anything too great.  Danny Pudi continues to be the best thing about the show but he doesn’t seem to be getting much to do.  I’m not to fond of the idea that Britta is gonna be jealous of Jeff and the accounting teacher.  I don’t want another will they or won’t they show.  6.5/10

6.  How I Met Your Mother “Jenkins” (5×13) – Yeesh.  Talk about fucking average.  HIMYM is fast becoming a hit or miss show.  One week it’s brilliant and the next it’s barely acceptable.  It was nice to see Amanda Peet on the show but she was completely wasted with such a shitty story.  The same happened with Rachel Bilson last week.  They better not fuck up Carrie Underwood’s appearance.  5/10

7.  The Mentalist “Bleeding Heart” (2×12) – Eh.  Eco-terrorism and local council politics don’t make for a good episode.  Average as always but Jane wasn’t really that compelling this week.  And as much of a fan as I am of Robin Tunney in Empire Records and Encino Man I’m fast approaching a can’t stand her attitude to her on The Mentalist.  Her performance/character just rubs me the wrong way.  Amanda Righetti too.  I really wish there were more Red John stories on the show ‘cos a couple per season isn’t anywhere near enough.  4.5/10

Like everything on this site it’s for my own enjoyment but feel free to comment.

TV finally came back in a substantial way this week so that means I can do my Best of the Week post again.  It was an especially great week because we got double episodes of Fringe, 30 Rock, Better Off Ted, Chuck, and Archer, and there was comedy gold on just about all the late night talk shows concerning the Leno vs Conan vs NBC drama that’s been unfolding.

1.  Archer “Training Day” (1×01) – Ever since I saw the pilot back in September (which I guess is no longer the pilot considering the order that FX chose to show the first two episodes) I’ve been dying to see some more.  I’m thrilled beyond belief that I wasn’t let down.  I loved the Archer and Cyril story about training him and thinking Cyril killed a hooker.  I always know a show or movie is good when the time flies while watching it, I don’t even once look at my watch, and it leaves me wanting more as soon as it ends.  All the best shows do that.  30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, South Park.  Archer is already up to that level.  Two episodes down and it’s already the clear frontrunner to be my favourite new show this year (and second only to Lost as my favourite of everything on TV).  9/10

2.  Archer “Mole Hunt” (1×02) – It’s still hilarious after all the times I’ve watched it.  If anyone’s interested I did a little review of this episode back in September.  Check it out here. 9/10

3.  Parks and Recreation “The Set Up” (2×13) – Aziz Ansari said that this may be his favourite episode of Parks and Recreation yet and I think I have to agree.  Not only did we get a guest appearance by Amy Poehler’s husband Will Arnett as the uncomfortable date that Ann sets Leslie up with, but we also got the first episode in Justin Theroux’s arc and the supremely great Aubrey Plaza once again shined with some increased screen time.  Nick Offerman also continues to be balls out hilarious.  9/10

4.  30 Rock “Klaus and Greta” (4×09) – James Franco as himself and in love with human sized pillow with an anime girl on it.  Priceless.  Kenneth and Jack on a mission was also fantastic.  9/10

5.  30 Rock “Black Light Attack!” (4×10) – It was nice to see Danny again, and for Liz to get some action (in back to back episodes no less), but overall it just wasn’t as good as the previous episode.  The Jenna and Tracy stories really brought it down a notch or two.  8.5/10

6.  The Tonight Show – Late night talk shows don’t really belong in this list but the circumstances have been rather unique this week.  Conan moving to The Tonight Show resulted in him curtailing some of his more outlandish behaviour and that was a real shame.  However, with all the drama surrounding his probable ousting from the show this week it’s freed him up to do the type of comedy that he’s great at.  Not to mention the almost continuous attacks on both NBC and Leno have been a thing of beauty.  It’ll be a shame when Conan goes off the air and Leno returns to suck NBC’s cock and fondle their balls like the bitch he is.  8.5/10

7.  Better Off Ted “The Impertence of Communicationizing” (2×08) – The outtakes for this episode which were posted online during the week were far better than what was actually used, but it was a nice episode about following company mandates despite how illogical they may seem.  Better Off Ted does a good job of highlighting the bureaucracy of company life and this was another solid example of that.  7/10

8.  The Mentalist “Rose-Colored Glasses” (2×11) – I watched about half of the 1st season of The Mentalist and then gave up on it for no real reason.  I figured I’d give it another watch seen as how it’s doing really well in the ratings on Thursday against some good competition.  I can tell you it hasn’t changed at all since about the same point last season.  Simon Baker is still effortlessly charming as Thomas Jane and the rest of the gang are still D grade wanna be FBI Agents.  The show lives and dies by Baker’s performance and as long as Thomas Jane doesn’t become a one trick pony the show is at least mildly entertaining.  Other than that it’s just the current procedural du jour.  6.5/10

8.  Better Off Ted “The Long and Winding High Road” (2×09) -  Another good episode of Veronica using Rose as a tool to get what she wants.  I love it when they do that in the show.  Aside from that though it was a pretty average episode.  6.5/10

9.  Fringe “Johari Window” (2×12) – A pretty decent standalone episode which has been a rare thing so far this season.  I wish they’d get back to the mythology of the show though.  That’s where the real gold is.  And you gotta believe that Peter is gonna find out about being a double at some point this season.  There’s been too much of it so far for it not to be revealed.  6/10

10.  How I Met Your Mother “Girls vs Suits” (5×12) – A real letdown for the 100th episode.  There was nothing for Jason Segel or Alyson Hannigan to do and Cobie Smulders was left to be a jealous hot chick.  Plus there was more of that damn annoying mother teasing.  Either the mother is important to the premise of the show or she isn’t, but 100 episodes in should be far enough for her to be revealed by now.  If she’s important she should be in the mix by now, and if she’s not then introducing her doesn’t need to be some huge revelation.  I wish the writers/producers would just bite the bullet and cast someone already.  5.5/10

11.  Jimmy Kimmel Live! – Once again, another late night talk show appears on the list.  This time thanks to Kimmel impersonating Leno for an entire show.  Props to Chevy Chase for also making a minimal effort to appear as Conan.  6/10

12.  Fringe “Unearthed” (2×11) – Fox airing a previously unaired season one episode was just stupid.  Charlie Francis died early this season yet there he is in all his glory being a bad ass FBI Agent.  It made zero sense in the context of the season and I’m sure I’m not the only one who was confused when I first saw him on the screen.  Couple that with the fact that it was a very average episode and I get the feeling that Fox is burning off episodes so that the show can be dumped at the end of the season.  4.5/10

There was a photo of this from some magazine that emerged at the end December but ABC has now been gracious enough to release it for the whole world to see in hi-res.  There’s probably a mountain of hints tucked away in there somewhere, but I’m too dumb to have a clue.  I like it for the cool factor alone.

Only a shade over 4 weeks until the season premiere.  I can’t wait.

Click the image for an enlarged view.

Like everything on this site it’s for my own enjoyment but feel free to comment.

I didn’t get to watch a bunch of shows that I wanted to this week as the uni workload in preparation for my exams took all of my time.  Besides eating, sleeping, shitting and working all I did was study. Ah, I hate it so much.  I did see Trick r Treat though.  It was a cool horror flick.  Not that scary but cool.  I got a real Tales from the Crypt vibe from it.

1.  Parks & Recreation “Ron and Tammy” (2×08) – A nice episode which introduced one of Ron’s previously mentioned ex wives (played by the beautiful Megan Mullaly).  I find it a little odd that I hate Will & Grace so much yet enjoy Megan Mullaly in the guest appearances of hers that I’ve seen.  I remember her from an episode of Seinfeld as one of George’s girlfriends, from 30 Rock as a child adoption agent screening Liz, and then from this episode of Parks & Rec.  On the whole it was a pretty funny episode and it was great that Ron was the focus for once.  Not much Aubrey Plaza this week though which is a downer.  7.5/10

2.  Bored to Death “The Case of the Stolen Sperm” (1×07) – The show is really starting to hit it’s stride now.  More Zach Galifianakis and more Ted Danson (especially being involved in the cases) is a good thing.  I particularly liked the storyline this week linking into Ray’s sperm donations to the lesbians which I thought was just a simple joke in the episode it was raised in.  It was nice that it formed part of a future story.  Oliver Platt and John Hodgeman make great enemies for George and Jonathan.  It was also great to see the adorable Sam Bee (The Daily Show) in a tiny little role as one of the recipients of Ray’s sperm.  7.5/10

3.  How I Met Your Mother “Bagpipes” (5×06) – I absolutely loved Barney convincing Marshall that it was a good idea to tell Lily he didn’t want to do the dishes and that she should do them.  Ted arguing against Barney’s logic was just as great.  It was like the devil and an angel battling over him.  Aside from that though I thought the episode was somewhat average.  I like Barney and Robin together but the stories they’re coming up with for them are so average.  Aside from the Robin Sparkles based episodes Robin hasn’t had much good stuff over the course of the show, but Barney has been nothing but comedy gold.  It seems like this relationship is dragging him down into mediocrity.  I really hope that the 100th episode brings a much needed boost.  6.5/10

4.  Fringe “Earthling” (2×06) – Nothing mythology based this week but we did get a fairly decent standalone episode which brought to light some of Broyles’ backstory.  This was probably the most that he’s appeared in any episode so far.  Not much for Olivia or Peter this week either.  The ratings are also continuing to go down too.  I don’t think Fox will cancel the show before the end of the season, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they elect not to pick it up for a 3rd season if the ratings don’t show some improvement.  That’s a real shame because the show on the whole is very good.  6.5/10

5.  Dexter “If I Had a Hammer” (4×06) – When will Dexter be done with that fucking whining bitch Rita.  I’ve never hated her as much as I do right now.  She’s a prime example of why I hate the idea of marriage.  Trying to change someone and make them do all the things that they don’t want to do.  Why would anyone want to go through that kind of life.  Dexter’s situation is a little different because he’s pretty much forced to live that life in order to blend in and escape detection, but it just pisses me off so much that he’s changed his core self in the adoption of that life.  A couple of episodes ago he stated that he couldn’t lose them.  There’s no way he would have felt that way about anyone except Deb in previous seasons.  The one real bright spot of this episode was the development in the search for info by Deb about her father.  I really hope she discovers the connection between him and Dexter’s mother soon.  I don’t want that to be the cliffhanger for the season finale.  Something tells me it will be though.  Oh, and I’m over the Batista/Laguerta relationship too.  6.5/10

6.  South Park “The F Word” (13×11) – South Park encouraging kids to call bikies faggots is advice that I wouldn’t suggest be followed.  Bikies account for a great deal of drug dealing and as such are probably not to be messed with.  That much can be seen by their blatant law breaking in the incident at Sydney airport where a fight broke out between rival gangs in the departure terminal and they beat a guy to death with a metal bollard.  That being said, mocking them as they did in this episode was pretty damn funny, and it’s true that all the noise from those bikes does make them fucking assholes.  Still not a very impressive episode though.  5.5/10

7.  V “Pilot” (1×01) – Having a whining teenage kid complain when his mother says she wants to listen does not build sympathy for him, it just makes him seem like a fucking baby.  Call it the Kim Bauer effect if you will.  There was some stuff to like about the pilot but nothing spectacular.  I’m still mad that Elizabeth Mitchell left Lost to star in this show.  It’s been a while since I was truly blown away by a pilot (that being Lost).  For the most part every pilot since then has been OK at best.  5/10

To absolutely no-one’s surprise ABC picked up Flashforward for the remainder of the season.

Whilst I don’t hate the show, I’ve found little worth getting excited about, and the fact that both Dominic Monaghan and Sonya Walger star in the show means their presence in the final season of Lost is questionable.  That’s not a good thing.  I will concede that Flashforward has a great deal of potential, but the thinking that it’s a Lost replacement drives me crazy.  That line of thinking completely undermines the genius of Lost by assuming that creating a once in a lifetime show can be done anytime you want.