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.

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LOST 6×17/18 (series finale) review HollywoodHubbub

Thanks to Collider for digging up this amazing fan made promo trailer for the series finale of Lost.

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.

[youtube width=600 height=360]Rz1yHmUW05Y[/youtube]

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A truly awesome fan made LOST trailer HollywoodHubbub

I just stumbled across this the other day and thought that it’d be perfect for my friend Peter who’s only seen a couple of episodes from the 1st season of Lost.  This gives him all the basic info needed so he can jump right in for the final season.  I don’t suggest he does this though.

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

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Previously on LOST – for my friend Peter HollywoodHubbub

Here’s the super cool Last Supper inspired promo for the upcoming final season of Lost.

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.

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Last Supper-style LOST final season poster HollywoodHubbub

There have been some great TV shows aired over the last 10 years and just like my film list I thought I’d try and highlight my favourite 15 shows of the decade.

The only prerequisite to consideration is that the show must have aired an episode in its first season some time in the year 2000.  That essentially means that any show which premiered from the 99-00 season onwards is eligible.  It also means that The Sopranos is ineligible because the first season aired entirely in 1999.

Also worth noting is that I’m only now just starting to work my way through the first season of The Wire, and I’ve never seen an episode of The West Wing, Six Feet Under, Battlestar Galactica, Big Love, Breaking Bad or Mad Men so none of them appear on the list.

Honourable Mention.  The O.C. (Aug ’03-Feb ’07)

I know The O.C. isn’t the best show show ever but it was probably my #1 guilty pleasure show for the decade.  A late 20s/early 30s guy shouldn’t really be watching something geared towards teenage girls, but the combination of hot girls, soapy drama and endless love triangles was irresistible.  I was hooked on this show from the minute I saw the pilot right to the very end.  The show had its ups and downs (1st season good, 2nd season average, 3rd season very poor, 4th season good), but it was pretty much always a fun show to indulge in.  And even if you hate this show any guy has to appreciate it just a little because it’s responsible for giving us the blazing hot Rachel Bilson and Autumn Reeser.

15.  Firefly (Sept-Dec ’02)
To be honest, I haven’t watched Firefly since it first aired, but I know that I really enjoyed it and that my love of Joss Whedon is unlimited.  Hell, I suffered through the first half of a very mediocre Dollhouse because of my faith in him.  It’s a shame he never learnt his lesson about partnering with Fox.  Maybe Dollhouse would of lasted longer if he’d wised up after Firefly was cancelled.

14.  Andy Barker P.I. (Mar-Apr ’07)
A second cancelled show, this time from the great comedic duo of Andy Richter and Conan O’Brien.  Richter plays the title character, an accountant who’s just opened his business in a strip mall and is mistaken for a private investigator, and Tony Hale from Arrested Development play a video store clerk who works in the same mall and helps him.  It doesn’t sound like much but with these two and some great cases, it was a very short-lived (only six episodes aired) but thoroughly entertaining show.

13.  John from Cincinnati (Jun-Aug ’07)
David Milch effectively shut down Deadwood to make this show and for that I hate him just a little bit.  The show deals with the appearance of a strange young man of mysterious origin (who may or may not be a Jesus like figure) and the effect he has on a dysfunctional family of professional surfers and their community.  Even though for the most part I have no idea what was going on in the show, something about it just mesmerized me and I was hooked from the beginning.  I don’t have to know everything that’s intended to be conveyed in a show to like it.  I like ambiguity.  Maybe that’s why I’m also a fan of Lost and Twin Peaks.

12.  Weeds (Aug ’05-Current)
I’ve only seen the first three seasons of the show but Mary Louise Parker’s supremely sexy Nancy Botwin and her pot smoking friends sure do make for great TV.  It was fun to watch her try and grow her empire whilst dealing with rival dealers, ATF agents, a bitch of a best friend, a caring but immature brother in law, and whining self-centered kids.

11.  Eastbound & Down (Feb ’09-Current)
Danny McBride on an HBO show exec produced by Will Ferrell is just about the best thing you could ask for in a comedy and Eastbound & Down doesn’t disappoint.  McBride plays Kenny “Fucking” Powers, a washed up pro baseball pitcher who returns to his hometown to take a job as a gym teacher, whilst all the time trying to get back to the majors and win the affection of his old high school flame.  A milder comedy of awkwardness as made popular by The Office, it succeeds mostly because of the delusional bravado of McBride’s Kenny Powers.

10.  Pushing Daisies (Oct ’07-Jun ’09)
Yet another show cancelled too soon.  The show centered on the pie-maker Ned (Lee Pace) who could bring dead things back to life with a touch, but if he touched them a second time they went back to being dead for good.  Ned helps P.I. Emerson Cod (Chi McBride) solve crimes in quick fashion by bringing the victim back to life, asking them what happened, and then touching them again.  Along for the ride is his childhood sweetheart Charlotte Charles (Anna Friel) who he brought back to life but refused to touch again.  Their romance is made all the sweeter because they can never touch each other.  The show has a fantasy visual unlike anything else on TV with hyper-real colours saturating every episode.

9.  How I Met Your Mother (Sept ’05-Current)
It’s currently the best “standard” sitcom on TV (meaning of the 3 camera + laugh track sitcoms it’s #1) thanks to the appeal of all five cast members and some truly fantastic storylines.  The standout is clearly Neil Patrick Harris as the womanizing Barney, but everyone is given a pretty equal opportunity to shine.  The only real negative to the show is that the gimmick of Ted describing to his kids how he met their mother somewhat hinders the enjoyment of the show because “the mother” is almost constantly hinted at or teased but hasn’t ever appeared.  Couple this with the fact that we know every time Ted gets into a relationship and it’s not revealed that the girl is “the mother” then we know that the relationship is not going to last.

8.  Undeclared (Sept ’01-Mar ’02)
The second of Judd Apatow’s “failed” attempts at TV, this time focusing on a group of five freshmen at college, is just as good as Freaks and Geeks and serves as a great introduction to Jay Baruchel and Carla Gallo, plus also featuring the likes of Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, Kyle Gass, and David Krumholtz.  Add to these some great guests/cameos from Adam Sandler, Allen Covert, Amy Poehler, Will Ferrell, Fred Willard, Ben Stiller, Martin Starr, Jenna Fischer and Ted Nugent.  That’s one hell of a list.  Just like Freaks and Geeks it’s disappointing to be left with barely one seasons worth of episodes (17 in this case), but the episodes are so good it almost makes up for the tiny sample size.  Almost.  I’d love Judd Apatow to return to TV but I think he’s moved well beyond it now and so have just about all the the actors and actresses he cast in both Undeclared and Freaks and Geeks.

7.  The Office (US) (Mar ’05-Current)
I’ve never seen the original UK version so I can’t comment on which is better, but it started off pretty slow in the 1st season with people saying it stuck too closely to the UK blueprint.  There was definitely a shift during the second season to much better stories and dynamics within the office.  The Pam and Jim romance has always been great with standout episodes being “The Dundies”, “Casino Night”, “The Job, Part 2″ and “Fun Run”.  Michael Scott can at times be a total and complete prick, like in early season 6 when he screws with Jim, but this is often tempered by other things.  I like the awkward humour but when the writers have Michael go out of his way to seem vindictive I can get turned off the show pretty quickly.

6.  Freaks and Geeks (Sept ’99-Jul ’00)
Great because of the examination of the social divide in high school, the early 80′s setting and the fantastic young cast featuring James Franco, Linda Cardellini, Busy Philips, Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, John Francis Daley, Martin Starr and Samm Levine.  Plus it featured Tom Wilson (Biff from the Back to the Future trilogy) in a recurring role as the gym teacher.

5.  30 Rock (Oct ’06-Current)
To think that before this show aired I was only mildly interested in Tina Fey and thought that Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip would butcher 30 Rock.  What the hell did I know huh.  The show catapulted Fey into stardom and made her an object of nerd lust everywhere, and despite somewhat average ratings the show has garnered a shit-ton of awards every season it’s been on the air.  All the success of the show is well and truly deserved.

4.  Deadwood (Mar ’04-Aug ’06)
A show more about how times change, people progress and communities build than a traditional white hat vs. black hat western.  It features extremely rich dialogue which is sometimes poetic, often profane and nearly always confusing, and has a look and feel that you’d expect more from a Hollywood production than a TV show.  Absolutely everyone in the cast is fantastic but the standout it clearly Ian McShane as Al Swearengen.  I’m kinda bummed that creator David Milch hasn’t followed up on his promise of a couple of TV movies to finish the story now that John from Cincinnati is over but three seasons of a show as great as Deadwood shouldn’t be sneezed at.

3.  Veronica Mars (Sept ’04-May ’07)
Season 1 was damn near perfect as a season long murder mystery about the death of Veronica Mars’ (Kristen Bell) best friend Lily, her sheriff father’s pursuit of one of the most powerful men in the country, his firing from the sheriff’s department and her subsequent ostracism in high school.  As a girl who’s able to straddle both sides of the social divide she helps her classmates solve problems whilst all the time trying to find the real killer of her friend.  Season 2 upped the ante by having two consecutively running season long mysteries, both of which were very dark, with the season culminating with one of the best season finales ever which rewarded viewers of the first season in a way that pretty much no-one expected.  Season 3 was still great but Fox decided that they didn’t want season long mysteries as this may deter new viewers from jumping in and decided that a couple of mysteries broken up in the season would be better.  It wasn’t.  Add to that the introduction of some pretty shitty characters and the change from the high school setting to the college setting and the third season was a letdown.  There were still flashes of greatness and Kristen Bell continued to shine as the cute but clever Veronica Mars, but it simply wasn’t up to the same quality as the first two seasons.  There have been continued rumours of a movie which would extend the story but I think too much time has passed since the show went off the air for that to happen now.

2.  Arrested Development (Nov ’03-Feb ’06)
The absolute best comedy of the decade and along with Seinfeld it could arguably be the best comedy ever.  The cast is top to bottom excellent and the guest stars and cameos that the show brought in over three short seasons is equally impressive.  There’s layer upon layer upon layer of jokes that demands repeat viewing and doesn’t aim for the laugh track crowd like lowest common denominator shows such as The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men, Frasier or any other high rating but shit sitcom.  Add to this the fact that the show rewards fans by including constant in-jokes and references and it becomes clear why it’s regarded so highly by anyone who takes the time to watch it.  A damn dirty shame that it was cancelled by those fucking asshole executives at Fox.  One small consolation is that because of the diehard love for the show a movie is set to start filming during the first half of 2010.  Hopefully this means a release sometime in late 2010 will be possible.

1.  Lost (Sept ’04-Current)
Felicity was good, Alias was better, but Lost made J.J. Abrams into a fucking God.  And with good reason.  The dense mythology and piecemeal way in which the details are sometimes fed may turn off viewers but there’s simply no denying how compelling the show has been on an episode to episode and season to season basis.  Starting off with an already huge cast, the show has added more and more as the seasons have progressed with all but two of them (Nikki and Paulo) being near perfect.  The addition of Ben Linus would have been enough by itself but there’s also been Richard Alpert, Horace Goodspeed, Mikhael, Radzinsky, Desmond, Penny, Mr Eko, Miles, Charlotte, Daniel, Frank Lapidus and probably a ton more I’m forgetting.  Aside from just a few stumbles (like the overly long time spent with Kate and Sawyer locked in cages at the beginning of season 3) the show has been an example of near perfect television.  Add to that the fact that it was able to reinvent its entire story structure thanks to the brilliance of the season 3 finale and you’re looking at not just the #1 show of the decade but arguably the #1 show of all time.  It still makes me laugh when I think that people were saying Heroes was a better show.

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The top TV shows of the ’00s HollywoodHubbub

Looks like that writers strike didn’t affect Lost as much as I thought it would.  I figured when the writers strike cut into the scheduled episodes of Lost that they were gone for good and I’d still only see 16 hours for each of the remaining seasons.  Thankfully another hour has been added to Lost’s 6th and final season taking the total to 18 hours.

I’m simultaneously excited and upset that there’s only 18 hours remaining on one of the top 5 shows of all time.  I wish the show could go on forever but I’m not naive enough to think that it could possibly keep up this sustained level of excellence.  Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse did the right thing in getting a concrete end date and it just builds the excitement for what they have in store come February 2010.

(source = The Hollywood Reporter)

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LOST discovers another hour HollywoodHubbub

Revealed at last

EPISODE TITLE: “The Incident”
WRITTEN BY: Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse

WOW.  Where the hell do I begin with this review.  Every year it’s the same problem with a Lost season finale, there are some questions answered but a whole heap more raised, and the end of the episode leaves fans screaming at the TV wanting just one minute more.  I found myself yelling at the TV on more than one occasion, specifically when Jack was holding the bomb over the hole, when Illana showed Lapidus what was in the box but not the audience, and the final flash to white after Juliet smashed the rock against the bomb.

I’m glad that Jacob was finally revealed, however I thought he would be because of comments Michael Emerson made in an interview, but it was still something which had been brewing for years now.  The opening scene between Jacob and the man in black was great, and it brought back memories of the backgammon game between Walt and Locke, the black and white stones which were found on Adam and Eve in the first season, and the discussion between Ben and Widmore at the end of season four where they hinted that they couldn’t kill each other.

One of the aspects of this season which I have enjoyed so much was the development of Locke into a bonafide leader, someone who commanded respect and didn’t just seek it.  He had transformed from a man who was constantly making poor decisions and seemed out of his element into a man who knew everything and feared nothing.  It’s because of this that I’m just a little disappointed to know that the Locke who’s walking around the island now is not the real Locke, but is in fact the man in black.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited for the introduction of a character who’s sure to be a central player during the sixth and final season, but in reality this means that Locke really is dead and that if/when he comes back he’ll most likely be the same insecure person he always was.

I personally found that the segments involving Jack and the 1977 gang fell pretty flat, with the only significant parts being the great confrontation between Sawyer and Jack where I honestly thought one of them was going to die, either by the others hand or by Juliet or Kate, and the scene where Sawyer loses Juliet.  That scene between Sawyer and Juliet was especially moving and I honestly didn’t expect it to be, because I haven’t really bought them as a couple for the whole season.  I guess it just goes to show the acting chops of Josh Holloway and Elizabeth Mitchell.

Illana and her crew are another aspect of this season which I haven’t been interested in, and whilst they haven’t felt completely tacked on like Nikki and Paulo, they also haven’t been seemless introductions like Miles, Farraday, Charlotte and Lapidus were.  Just like Jacob and the man in black, they’re almost certainly going to be major parts of the final season, but until then I’m not too interested in their story.

So what happens next?  Did the bomb reset everything or did it actually cause the problem?  Is Jacob dead?  Is Sayid dead?  Is Juliet dead?  Who’s the good guy, Ben or Widmore, Jacob or the man in black?  I have the utmost confidence that Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse will answer these questions and many more, it’s just painful that I’m going to have to wait until January 2010 for them to start doing so.

FINAL GRADE:   A-    (I had to knock off a little because I just wasn’t interested in the Jack gang)

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LOST 5×16/17 season finale review HollywoodHubbub

Who's the leader?

Only next weeks double episode to go, and then no more Lost until January 2010.  That’s a hell of a wait, so these remaining 3 hours had better be good.

With that in mind, I hate to say it, but I’m actually disappointed after an episode of Lost.  That’s not to say that this episode was particularly bad, just not what I expected it to be.

See, there had been rumblings in the last few weeks that this episode, titled “Follow the Leader“, was going to be a Richard Alpert-centric episode.  So naturally I got my hopes up and was ultimately let down.

I guess a fitting parallel would be how I got my hopes up about Star Wars: Episode 1 and was let down by the final product.  It’s no fault of the show, after all, I was the one who decided to read up about upcoming episodes in order to find out who the subject of each one was, but I’m nonetheless disappointed.  The funny thing is, there’s no real reason for me to be disappointed in it, other than it not being entirely Richard-centric, there was actually a decent amount to like.

Pros:

• Phil growing some balls
• Sawyer and Juliet in the sub, only to be interrupted by Kate
• The underwater swim into the tunnels
• Sayid’s reappearance
• Locke’s newfound confidence
• “So I can kill him”

Cons:

• Kate’s attitude
• Not enough Richard/no Richard story
• Sawyer and Juliet leaving on the sub
• The fact that it was a moving-the-pieces episode in preparation for next week

Final Grade: B-

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