Lost, Season 4, Episode 1

"The Beginning of the End"

It’s back!! And as per usual, the season premiere introduces more questions than it answers, but by now, anything else would be disappointing. There are only 47 more of these to go, and I'm savoring every one.

At the tower

Picking up exactly where we left off, Jack gets ready to move the lostaways back to the beach for their rescue. Ben tells Rousseau to take Alex and get out of there, but she objects to him calling Alex “[his] daughter” and punches him in the face. Jack gets a call from the boat, and finds out that the sat phone needs to be reconfigured before they can be rescued. The guy on the other end wants to talk to Naomi. Unfortunately for Jack, Naomi’s corpse is apparently not a corpse, because she has picked up and disappeared. Rousseau, Ben, and Jack head off to follow what they think is her trail; but not before Kate finds another trail, sneakily takes the sat phone from Jack, and heads off in another direction. Jack and Rousseau quickly lose the trail and Jack realizes that he has lost the phone. Meanwhile, Kate has found Naomi, who is understandably upset about getting knifed by one of the people she’s supposedly trying to rescue. Kate manages to convince her that Locke is a crazy mofo who operates on his own, and Naomi stays alive just long enough to talk to her people and fix the phone so that the resuce can go ahead.

On the beach

Desmond gets back to the beach and tells Bernard, Jin, Juliet, Sawyer, and Sayid about Charlie’s final message. They argue about what it means and what to tell Jack, but Hurley is the only one demanding to know what happened to Charlie. They decide to head into the jungle to warn the others about the “rescue” boat. During their trek into the jungle, Sawyer shows some genuine compassion for Hurley, asking him if he’s OK about Charlie’s death. Hurley cuts him off pretty quickly and then when Sawyer goes on ahead, Hurley loses sight of the rest of the team and finds himself alone in the jungle. He wanders by Jacob’s cabin and when he looks in, we see a man in the rocking chair (who TOTALLY looks like Jack’s father, right down to the white sneakers he always wears) and then somebody looks right at Hurley (someone who’s definitely not Locke, because on freeze-frame, I could clearly see dark facial hair) and Hurley freaks out and runs away. He runs into Locke and they head toward the group meeting place; Locke has every intention of talking them out of going on the boat. They are not happy to see Locke - - who they haven’t seen since he defected to the Others camp in the middle of season three. While they chat, the group from the radio tower shows up and there are many happy reunions. Among this, Hurley has to go and tell Claire that Charlie is dead, and I cry over his death all over again.

In the middle of all of this, Jack shows up and immediately punches Locke (who’s doing pretty well for someone who just got shot) and then shoots him- except that the gun isn’t loaded. Locke says that he’s not getting on the boat and is going to the Others’ barracks for protection. After a lovely speech by Hurley about Charlie’s sacrifice, some of the lostaways head over to Locke’s side. Among those we care about, Hurley, Claire, Rousseau, Ben, Alex, Karl, and Sawyer (over protests from Kate) head off with Locke. Team Jack includes: Juliet, Rose, Bernard, Kate, Sayid, and Desmond.

It all ends with Jack and Kate greeting another parachutist, dropped in from a helicopter.

Flash-forward

We see someone lead the police on a car chase through Los Angeles, and when he is stopped and arrested, Hurley gets out of the car and tells the police that he’s one of the “Oceanic Six.” In the interrogation room, he seems to be having hallucinations, and after being questioned by Big Mike (Ana-Lucia’s old partner, and interestingly enough, Hurley claims never to have met her) Hurley heads back to his old mental institution.

His first visitor is Daniels from The Wire, (or Matthew Abaddon- in Hebrew, abaddon means "place of lost souls," associated with hell) who claims to be an attorney from Oceanic, but clearly has ulterior motives. He asks Hurley if “they” are still alive, and after Hurley freaks out, Abaddon slips out quietly.

Sometime later, he’s visited again, this time from a healthy-looking Charlie, who claims to be “dead and also here.” He proves to be a figment of Hurley’s imagination (or was he? Because Hurley’s fellow inmate also saw him…) but not before Charlie tells him that “they” need him.

Hurley’s final visitor at the mental institution is Jack, who is pre-grizzly man beard. Jack seems to be checking up on Hurley, making sure he “won’t tell.” Hurley is convinced that they made the wrong decision in leaving the island. He says, “I think it wants us to come back, I think it’s going to do everything it can—“

So, here’s what I’m thinking: the six (my guesses: Jack, Kate, Hurley, Claire, Aaron, and the dead guy--Michael?) lied about what happened, or made a deal to get off the island, and told the rest of the world that everyone else died. And they’re all feeling some degree of guilt about it, because I’m guessing that the people showing up now in the freighter are the descendants of DHARMA, and they’re going to do experiments on the people left behind.

But Hurley getting off of the island really threw me. If he went with Locke, what happened to make him get off the island? And why did he apologize to Jack for going with Locke?

My initial reaction was that the previews for this episode were incredibly misleading. There was no rescue, only another parachutist. Where’s the boat that the entire episode was spent obsessing about? I suppose I should be used to misleading promos from ABC by now. Other than that, taking the episode for what it was, I was pretty impressed. It kind of goes without saying that I’m practically counting down the seconds until next Thursday night.

The Truth Hurts

Last night, I swallowed my pride and watched FOX’s truly torturous “The Moment of Truth,” in which a person voluntarily gets hooked up to a lie detector and answers extremely personal – potentially life-ruining – questions in front of their family, significant others, and all of America. I swear I watched this for research purposes so I could report back on the blog. Really, I did!

The first person in the hot seat was George, who looked pretty darn upbeat for a guy who was admitting on national TV that he has a gambling problem, hit on his girlfriends’ friend, and helped someone smuggle something into the country. George walked away with $100,000, a big smile, and about half the dignity he possessed when the show started.

Next came Christie, a Miss America wannabe who thinks she’s hotter than her sister, says her mom is overweight, and had some kind of mysterious cosmetic surgery. Christie will grace our TV screens again next week.

I spent the entire show (or at least when I wasn’t covering my eyes and ears in second-hand shame for these people) screaming at my TV, “Why would a sane person do this to themselves?” Sure, there’s money involved ($500,000 to be exact), but that’s not that much money for all their putting at stake; they could end up with half a million bucks, but they could also end up divorced or fired.

I’m officially declaring this a low point for television.

Lost Preview, More links

By now, you may have guessed that Lost airs its season premiere tonight, and you may have been able to tell that I am pretty excited about it. In the last few days, I've practically worked myslef into a fever pitch, by frantically re-watching Season 3 and devouring every last bit of 'Lost' information on the Internet.

In that vein, here are a few final links before tonight's premiere:

Rave reviews from The LA Times, The Boston Globe, The San Jose Mercury, The Newark Star-Ledger, and USA Today. (Minor spoilers in each link)

And here are two interviews from two of my favorite castaways: Naveen Andrews (who plays Sayid) and Josh Holloway (Sawyer).

For myself, I think the thing I'm most excited about is the new timetable. We all know that there are only 48 epsiodes left, and the producers and writers can plan accordingly. That means no more episodes about Jack's tatoos, and now six episodes won't be devoted to watching Sawyer be tortured in a polar bear cage. Although I've long since given up on hoping for all of the answers wrapped up in a neat little bow, at least now they can work towards some kind of resolution. Obviously, I want to know what the hell the smoke monster is and why it makes mechanical noises and why it killed Eko and not Locke, but I trust these guys to tell me, in time.

The other big thing that I'm looking forward to is, of course, the flash forwards. It was a brilliant stroke by the producers to completely change the way we look at the show, and from what I've been reading, the new element adds a lot to the new season. Now, if the strike could end soon (before the Oscars, please) we might actually get our 16 promised episodes. If not, it's going to be a long, long wait until next February.

Less than 5 hours to go!! If I can calm myself down enough to type after the premiere, I'll have a recap up by tomorrow.

Lost Links!

In honor of Lost Eve (which should be a national holiday), here are some must-read links before tomorrow's premiere:

My favorite TV critic, Tim Goodman, has given the first two episodes a rating of Oh. My. God.

This list was made in the break between the first and second parts of last season, but most of the questions still apply. IGN's Top 50 Lost Loose Ends.

Here's another list of questions from Deadbolt; specifically for the fourth season.

And another list of questions, from the LA Times.

I decided on my top 10 Lost moments, here's another opinion from IGN.

My favorite LJ on the web has her top 100 Lost moments. And also, some hilarious recaps.

A few weeks old, but still worth another read. Entertainment Weekly did an interview with Matthew Fox on the upcoming season. (Some spoilers)

Televisionary has an interview with Ben Linus himself.

The most comprehensive Lost site on the web is getting geared up for the premiere, too.

EW has a cheat sheet for tomorrow's premiere.

The Watcher just added an interview with co-creator Damon Lindelof.

Here's an A+ review of the premiere, "The Beginning of the End." (mild spoilers)

Tonight at 9pm, ABC is re-airing the Season 3 finale with "enhancements" (read: more time for commmericials!) I'll be watching SU basketball, so I guess I'll just have to settle for my regular old DVD non-enhanced version.

Tuesday is Top 10 Day: LOST Edition

In honor of this week's Season 4 Lost premiere, my top ten is my ten favorite Lost moments of all time. I had to cheat it a bit and add honorable mentions, because it is REALLY HARD to narrow down the ten greatest moments in the history of the show. I could make a list comprised solely of moments from last year's finale. Without further ado, (and SPOILERS up through last year's finale)...

Honorable mentions: "Not Penny's Boat" (Season 3, Episode 22 "Through the Looking Glass"), Jacob appears to Locke and Ben (S3, Ep20 "The Man Behind the Curtain"), Sawyer shoots Tom; "That's for taking the kid off the raft" (S3, Ep22 "Through the Looking Glass), The hatch lights up for Locke (S1, Ep 19 "Deus Ex Machina), "Henry Gale" is the leader of the Others (S2, Ep 23 "Live Together, Die Alone")

10) The Numbers are on the hatch. (S1, Ep 18 "Numbers")

9) Sayid kills an Other. With his feet. (S3, Ep22 "Through the Looking Glass") I know this didn't advance the plot in away way, shape, or form, but...he KILLED a man. With his FEET. The best 'Hell Yeah!' moment in Lost history.

8) Locke's dad shows up on the island (S3, Ep10 "The Man From Tallahassee") and James Ford kills the real Sawyer. (S3, Ep19 "The Brig") The scene in "The Brig," especially, was so emotionally intense -- when Sawyer slowly puts together the peices and Mr. Cooper just rips up the letter -- I think I held my breath through the whole scene.

7) The first polar bear attack. (S1, Ep2 "Pilot, Pt. II") When we really knew that this was not your typical tropical island. (In case the monster sounds hadn't already done it.)

6) Ethan hangs Charlie and leaves him to die. (S1, Ep 11 "All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues") Again, what an emotional wallop. The image of Charlie hanging in the tree just stuck with me. Plus, we knew the Others were bad, but now we knew they were murderous.

5) Locke was in a wheelchair. (S1, Ep4 "Walkabout") Even though this was long ago, the moment he rolls out from the table is still one of the best jaw-dropping moments in Lost history.

4) Michael kills Ana-Lucia and Libby. (S2, Ep20 "Two for the Road") No one liked Ana-Lucia anyway. But he just had to go and kill Libby, and right after she kissed Hurley, too.

3) The crash aftermath. (S1, Ep 1 "Pilot, Part I") With the opening of Jack's eye, we were off. What an opening 15 minutes.

2) The Others take Walt. (S1, Ep 24 "Exodus, Part II) "The thing is...we're going to have to take the boy" still gives me chills. The emotions in that scene, from hope to terror, and then Sawyer gets shot and the raft blows up, and Michael is just so distraught...this scene came very, very close to being #1. It would have, but for...

1) The flash-forward. (S3, Ep 22 "Through the Looking Glass") I mean, the whole finale was the greatest thing on TV since...ever. But when Jack (with grizzly-man beard) starts telling Kate that they "have to go back" I think I just about fell off of my couch. Literally, I fell off my couch. The realization of "holy crap, this is the future" changed the show and set up the final three seasons brilliantly. I love you, Cuse, Lindelof, and Abrams.

ONLY 2 DAYS TO GO!

Photos are stills, and belong to ABC/Touchstone television

The Wire Episode 4 Reaction

My initial reaction to this action-packed episode was an open jaw and a whole lot of "omgwtf?!??!?!" But I guess with only 10 episodes to tell the story this year, the body count will be high, and it'll mount quickly. I can't believe there are only six episodes left.

Marlo has always been about the crown and amassing power, and he just took the final step towards securing it. Of course, with Omar coming for him, he probably won't be wearing it long. At least, one would hope. I'm worried for Michael now, though. If Omar thinks Michael carries weight in Marlo's organization, he doesn't stand a chance. Even as hardened as Chris and Snoop are, do they even stand a chance against an Omar hell-bent on revenge?

On the other side of the law (like Allie said, there are such great parallels on 'The Wire') we saw Daniels finally ascending to Deputy Ops, and Burrell getting kicked to the curb. Along the way, we FINALLY get a hint of Daniels' wrong-doing in the Eastern disctrict. Skimming drug money, huh? Well, since Narese hung on to that file after Burrell gave it up, I'm sure the information will be put to use at the least convienient time.

I think one of my favorite plot lines over the five seasons of the show has been the development and decency of Sgt. Carver. He's come so far, and has been one of the real bright spots on the show. His punishment of uber-asshole Colicchio was of course well-deserved, and seeing him stick to his convictions after last year's mess with Randy was awesome. And he even offered Colicchio an out (nice callback to the second episode of the show, when Daniels gives Prez an out for blinding the 14-year-old kid). Even though I generally detest Herc, he did good in agreeing with Carver here. Maybe there's hope for him, too.

Three more quick hits:

Most heartbreaking is, again, Michael: "I'm not paying you to be my mother." Is there any way his storyline gets a happy ending? Please, David Simon?

Another familiar face made an appearance this episode: along with our first glimpse of The Greek since the Season 2 finale, Johnny Fifty (Ziggy's car-boosting partner) was one of the homeless men Lester and Jimmy came across while "investigating." Guess things aren't going too well over at the docks.

Another thing I loved: Daniels, smiling in the Deputy Ops office. Way to go, Cedric.

New "Wire" Bosses

“The Wire” Season 5, Episode 4
“Transitions”

This episode was all about power shifts, and there were some major shake-ups in both the police and drug organizations. One of the best aspects of this show is how the “good guys,” the police department, and the “bad guys,” the drug dealers, parallel each other so closely. By the end of this episode, both the po-lice and the corner boys have a new head honcho to answer to. In my opinion, we have one (semi) good change and one VERY bad one. Here’s how it went down:

Burrell gets the boot. Carcetti finally makes his move on Burrell after bribing the ministers and Nerese into swallowing Rawls as acting police commissioner while Daniels is groomed in the deputy opps position. Burrell throws a hissy fit, threatening to Nerese that he will “do Daniels.” He pulls out “the file,” the mysterious document that Burrell has been holding over Daniel’s head since season 1. Burrell hints that “the file” contains evidence that Daniel’s squad in the Eastern was skimming drug money. This is the most detail we’ve heard about “the file” until now, but it’s pretty much what I expected would be in there. Nerese warns Burrell to go quietly, and promises him a full pension and a cushy government job if he lowers the volume of his hissy fit. He agrees and he is officially “shit-canned” at a lovely press conference where all the back-stabbers (Carcetti, Burrell, Rawls, etc.) smile pretty and shake hands.

“The file” is now in Nerese’s hands, which is ominous. She’s maneuvering to be the next mayor and I’m betting she uses this information to her own advantage somewhere down the line. I really hope she doesn’t, though, because Daniels looked so happy and proud in his new deputy opps office. Good for him; he deserves the promotion. Now all we have to do is live with Commissioner Rawls for six months… poor Baltimore.

But the citizens of Baltimore have much bigger problems than Bill Rawls – Marlo has officially taken over the drug trade. In the beginning of the episode, Marlo goes to Prop Joe for more help cleaning himself up and Joe takes him to see Levy, which leads to one of the episode’s funniest/most ironic moments. There sits Herc, who is now chatting it up with Prop Joe and Marlo – two drug dealers he was working to take down when he was police. Marlo looks amused and asks him how it’s going with the camera. Herc – not so amused – tells him that camera cost him his job.

Marlo also makes his move with Spiros and The Greek, telling them cryptically that he needs an “insurance policy.” Though Spiros originally refused, The Greek stepped in and – in equally mysterious wording – agreed to some sort of deal. Marlo also secured a rat in Prop Joe’s organization – Joe’s nephew, Cheese. Last week, Cheese ratted out Butchie to Chris, and this week Marlo rewarded him by serving up one of his enemies on a silver (bound and gagged) platter.

Marlo’s final move was on Joe himself. In a shocking turn, Marlo and Chris appear at Joe’s house to remove him from “the game” permanently. Joe pleads with him (“But I treated you like a son.”) and offers his final proposition: that he’ll disappear from Baltimore and the game forever. But Marlo – as cold-hearted and malicious as ever – tells Joe to close his eyes and gives Chris the order to shoot him. The last sound we hear is the gun shot ringing, and the lost image is Marlo’s cold, remorseless face.

I literally jumped off my bed and gasped during this scene. I had really come to like and respect Joe’s character. Sure he’s a major drug player, but he played fair and he had a code. I had extra love for Joe this episode because of his genuine sadness over Butchie’s death and the nice note he sent with his flowers. I’ll really miss you, Joe!

In other plot developments…

One of the hoppers plays a “crappy” trick on Officer Colicchio on Michael’s corner. Colicchio takes his anger out on a horn-friendly citizen, who is trying to pass the scene in his car. We later learn the man Colicchio beat up is a model citizen – an elementary school teacher making his way to an after-school program to help troubled youths. After Colicchio refuses to cook up a nicer version of the story to placate the brass, Carver writes him up for excessive force. Colicchio calls him a rat, but Carver takes it and stands up like good po-lice. Even in earlier seasons when Carver was bashing heads, there has always been a glimmer of hope for him, and he’s finally starting to live up to it and come into his own.

Lester and Jimmy, on the other hand, are up to no good. They’re trolling the streets for homeless men to use in their fake murder case. They ask a patrol cop friend of Lester’s to tell them about any homeless DOAs and after one false alarm, they find the perfect body to mutilate into a false murder. Lester is doing something with teeth that is making me nervous, so I’m not sure whether I’m looking forward to finding out what he’s cooking up.

Omar is on the war path, vowing he is going to “work” whoever killed Butchie. He attacks Slim, and finds out that Joe wasn’t behind it and that it was strictly a Marlo operation. Consequently, Marlo’s people must go.

On the Baltimore Sun front, Templeton gets rejected from a job at The Washington Post, Gus’s only seasoned cop reporter has one foot out the door, and everyone scrambles to cover Burrell’s firing and Clay Davis’s grand jury appearance. Finally, the good senator is getting what’s been coming to him for five seasons. And so far, it’s only been a “love tap” as Lester says. I’m sure there’s much more excitement on the way.

SAG review, Links, What to Watch Tonight

Last night, the Screen Actor's Guild honored The Sopranos three times over (for drama actor, actress, and ensemble). 30 Rock almost swept the comedy side, too, but the ensemble prize went to The Office, which I wasn't expecting and was really excited about. Here's a great site for all kinds of Office SAG coverage. My predictions crashed and burned on the TV side (I was only 3/6) but I only got one wrong on the movie side (Ruby Dee over Cate Blanchett, which....no comment).

Some links for your Monday morning:

Battlestar Galactica Season 3 is FINALLY coming out on DVD. In March.

Speaking of The Office and BSG, is it possible that NBC shows could be coming back to iTunes?

For Allie: Spike is coming back to TV, on BBC America's Torchwood.

TNT will be re-airing Bones, starting this Tuesday. With nothin new on, maybe this will be the kick I need to start watching the show.

And, last but not least, What to Watch tonight:

ABC has a new Dance War at 8, FOX has a repeat of The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and NBC has a new American Gladiators.

All four major networks, and the news networks all have State of the Union coverage starting at 9. If you're not into watching Congress stand up and clap for an hour and a half (or if you simply can't listen to the President for longer than 10 mins), pickings are pretty slim.

HBO starts its new show, In Treatment, tonight at 9:30. And FX is showing The Italian Job at 8. That wasn't such a bad movie. (I'm stretching, because there is really nothing else on.)

SAG Awards Preview

The Screen Actors Guild Awards air tonight at 8pm on TNT and TBS. Since the Writer's Guild is not picketing this show, all of the actors will actually be able to attend without crossing picket lines. If (God forbid) the Oscars were picketed and/or reduced to a press conference, this event becomes the only awards event to actually take place with the stars.

<--- Completely gratutious Clooney picture.

Here's a preview of what to expect, along with my complete shot-in-the-dark predictions.

Drama Ensemble: Boston Legal, The Closer, Grey's Anatomy, Mad Men, The Sopranos

This category is actually fairly easy: Boston Legal is a joke, Grey's really went downhill fast last year, and I don't think The Closer is actually a serious contender. So, the actors could go the way of the Emmys, which honored The Sopranos with the best drama award and a ridiculous tribute, or the way of the Golden Globes, which honored the up-and-comer, Mad Men. I think the actors are looking to pay tribute to "the greatest American TV drama ever" (or so some say), and they'll honor The Sopranos.

Comedy Ensemble: 30 Rock, Desperate Housewives, Entourage, Ugly Betty, The Office

Again, I don't think this one's too hard either. Entourage didn't have a great season, Ugly Betty is last year's news, The Office is last year's winner (and had a rocky start to this season), and Housewives has already won twice. Meanwhile, 30 Rock is riding a wave of critical adoration. That's my pick.

Actor in a drama series: James Gandolfini (The Sopranos), Michael C. Hall (Dexter), Jon Hamm (Mad Men), Hugh Laurie (House), James Spader (Boston Legal)

This is a tough one: Laurie won last year, but he gives amazing acceptance speeches, and he still carries his show. Hamm just won the Golden Globe for this role, and Hall is long overdue for some kind of recognition for his incredible work as serial killer/good guy Dexter Morgan. But my hunch is that the actors will right the wrong of the Emmys, when everyone and their dog thought that the 'James' honored that night wouldn't be Spader, but Gandolfini.

Actress in a drama series: Glenn Close (Damages), Edie Falco (The Sopranos), Sally Field (Brothers & Sisters), Holly Hunter (Amazing Grace), Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer)

I don't watch any of these shows, so here's a complete stab: if this is going to be a night to honor the Sopranos, Falco will complete the sweep. But I don't think they'll get all three, so I'm going with Sedgwick, who's been nominated three years straight now.

Actor in a comedy series: Alec Baldwin (30 Rock), Steve Carell (The Office), Ricky Gervais (Extras), Tony Shalhoub (Monk), Jeremy Piven (Entourage)

I think the only one you can rule out is Carell, who has already has his turn. Baldwin won last year, but Jack Donaghy is one of the best characters on TV right now. I don't get it, but apparently, Ricky Gervais is really funny, and since his show just went off the air, maybe they'll honor him. Jeremy Piven wins everything when he's in the supporting categories, and Ari Gold was the only watchable thing about Entourage this year. And then there's Shalhoub, who, despite me never being aware that his show is still on (when does it actually air?), seems to sneak up on people and win random awards. Total toss-up, but I'm going with Gervais.

Actress in a comedy series: Christina Applegate (Samantha Who?), American Ferrara (Ugly Betty), Tina Fey (30 Rock), Vanessa Williams (Ugly Betty), Mary-Louise Parker (Weeds)

Though I'd love to see Syracuse alum Williams win, this is Tina Fey's award for the taking. And seriously, who doesn't love Tina Fey?

Those are the TV categories, and in case anyone cares, I'm predicting Daniel Day-Lewis, Julie Christie, Javier Bardem, and Cate Blanchett for the movie awards, with No Country for Old Men taking the top prize, best ensemble. For the complete nominees, go here.

I'll check back in tomorrow night to survey the carnage of my predictions. Also coming tomorrow night/Monday morning: Allie's recap of The Wire, Episode 4, and my reaction to that unbelievably intense episode.