Lost Season 4, Episode 4

"Eggtown"

Five down, one to go. Now that we know the identity of five of the Oceanic Six (because Aaron counts, right?) we can examine the ridiculous amounts of new information and new questions this episode delivers.

First, what happened to Claire? From Kate's roommate in Otherville to...what? Giving up Aaron to Kate? Did Claire meet some kind of grisly end on the island? Is that why future Jack is clearly uneasy about going to visit his half-nephew? Is Claire still alive, just trapped on the island?

Secondly, in Kate's flashforward, which depicts her trial for her pre-island crimes, we see Jack take the stand as a character witness. He tells the jury that only 8 people survived the crash, and Kate acted like a hero in the crash aftermath, dragging people to safety and saving his own life. So now we know their lie. I think the true burning question this season will leave us is: what happened to the people left behind on the island, and what happened to make the Oceanic Six to lie about it?

Back on the island, Locke has assumed control over his group, without much flexibility, to mask his internal self-doubt. He's holding Ben in his basement and Miles in the boathouse. Kate wants to go talk to Miles, but Locke won't let her. Naturally, Kate won't take no for an answer, so she tricks Hurley into telling her where Miles is being held. She gets in to see him, and apparently wants to know if she's still considered a fugitive back in the real world, but Miles won't tell her until he gets to see Ben.

Kate teams us with (or "uses") Sawyer to distract Locke long enough to get Miles down to Ben's cell, where Miles demands $3.2 million dollars from Ben to keep his employer from finding out that Ben is alive. Given that he's currently imprisioned, Ben asks for a week to gather the money. And the more clues we get here, the more I start thinking that Ben is some kind of international criminal mastermind. I mean, he can just give away $3.2 million?

Anyway, Kate gets caught by Locke with Miles outside of Ben's cell. Kate is banished from Locke's colony, and Miles gets a grenade in his mouth with the pin removed. Which probably sucks a whole lot, if you think about it. He can't go to sleep!

And Kate, upon hearing of her banishment, goes and hangs out with Sawyer in his bedroom. And, like all straight women with a pulse, she cannot resist the power of a shirtless Josh Holloway, and they start making out. The morning after, we find out that Kate is definitely not pregnant, which Sawyer is happy about. Kate doesn't take his reaction very well, and announces that she's going back to the beac. Sawyer (rightly) calls her out on her bullshit, saying that he'll just be there waiting until she gets mad at Jack and comes crawling back to him. This earns him a slap in the face, which...for Christssakes, Kate. What the hell is wrong with you? Jack is whiny and obnoxious, Sawyer is at least funny, sarcastic, hot, and obnoxious. Make up your mind, I'm getting sick of the triangle.

In other news, Daniel and Charlotte play a memory game, and Daniel...has no short-term memory? Or something?

And also, the helicopter never got back to the boat, according to Regina on the frieghter. Uh-oh. I have a feeling it's got something to do with the time differential between the island and its bubble and the outside world. But next week's ep is Desmond-centric, so I'm sure we'll see what happens there.

I have to say, this season has hooked me into the show as much as I was during that exquisite first season. The new structure has me counting the minutes until the next show.

Project Runway Reunion Special: People like Christian!

“Project Runway” had its reunion episode last night and while I wish – like all other reality shows – they would’ve skipped this filler hour and gone right to the finale, we did learn some interesting things during the special.

The most interesting of them all: people really like Christian! Christian, in all of his squeaky-voiced, over-quaffed, “fierce”-spouting glory, won the title of fan favorite. I will give you that he’s extremely talented, but fan favorite? Couldn’t it have gone to someone a little less obnoxious?

My favorite of the night was Jillian for saying this of Mr. Fan Favorite: “That squeaky little voice could be like nails on a chalkboard.” Now that’s fierce.

In other news:

- Kevin is not gay, even though the other designers tried their hardest to convert him during the season. Loved Tim Gunn saying, “If Project Runway didn’t turn you gay, nothing will.” Oh, Tim!

- Ricky succeeds in holding back his tears after they show a montage of him crying a million times throughout the season

- Carmen does cry, but we barely remember her anyway so we’re not so sad

Linking it Up

Watching the aftermath of the 19th (!) Democratic debate, I need to see some happier things...

For Allie and anyone else who watches Gossip Girl, someone has developed a drinking game for the show.

Here's another blogger's list of the best villans on TV. I think they made an apt choice for #1.

Could it be? The 'Lights' are staying on after all? Variety has a piece about NBC exploring a partnership with another network to keep the show on the air.

In other FNL news, the dashing Taylor Kitsch has been cast as Gambit in the upcoming 'Wolverine' movie.

For those 'Wire' fans out there: they'll have to update this t-shirt soon, if Tommy gets his way. And here's an interview with Beadie Russell herself.

Because I'll be tuning in to the new season, here's the lineup of the new Dancing With the Stars cast. Is it just me, or won't Kristi Yamaguchi and Mario have huge advantages, as both have dancing in their backgrounds?

Seriously? Boston Legal and CSI are among the smartest shows of all-time?

The biggest idiots in television, the Parents Television Council, have decided that an edited Dexter is too offensive to them. What morons.

The Wire, Season 5 Episode 7

"Took"


The serial killer calls again: McNulty, Lester and Sydnor team up and use a voice modulator to call Scott and follow it up by sending him a picture of Larry. Scott understandably wigs out, and the resulting fallout sends both the Sun and the BPD into a tizzy. The police department finally turns on the faucet of money, and now McNulty's got more manpower and resources than he knows what to do with. Most importantly, though, he gets a tap for cell phone pictures. By the end of the episode, Lester starts receiving the pictures: they're clocks. Since the time of the clock never corresponds to the actual time, we've finally found a code that can stump Lester. At least for now, anyway.

As fallout from McNulty getting excess overtime, the other dectectives start approaching him on the sly and asking for a few hours to cover their other cases. He agrees, in part because he's pleased they're doing police work (not of the fake kind), and because I think he's really starting to feel guilty about how broad this thing has become.

Omar is still hobbling around out on the streets, calling out Marlo. He runs into our old Season 1 Barksdalie, Sevino, and Sevino ends up with a bullet in his head. Then Omar, who just seems increasingly desperate for revenge at this point, robs Michael's corner. And if we're scared for Michael's life, Michael's even more scared, refusing to look at Omar, lest he be recognized from the shoot-out at Monk's apartment.

As for those actually doing legit police work, Bunk has Carver bring Michael in for questioning in connection with the murder of Bug's father. Michael, naturally, is too smart to say anything incriminating.

Carcetti raises $92,000 in one morning for his gubernatorial campaign; too bad his day had to be ruined by news of Larry's kidnapping.

At the Sun, it's the same old "liar, liar, pants on fire" dance between Scott and St. Gus, with Scott churning out one self-serving piece after the other, with both Whiting and Klebanow there to back him up. Meanwhile, a whole bevy of reporters has been assigned to cover the serial killer case and the homelessness issue. Fletch gets to go out on the street to find some homeless, and runs into Bubbles at the soup kitchen, who informs him that there aren't actually a whole lot of homeless in soup kitchens.

In other news, Clay Davis has acheived something remarkable: he has overtaken Levy and Herc as my least favorite character. He hires a high-powered attorney, gets up on the stand, and begins to cry (literally) about how he was just stealing money to help out the po' folk in his district. The jury eats it right up, and Bond's slam-dunk conviction (and his mayoral dreams) go up in flames. It never bothered me so much when Stringer or Avon got away with their crimes, but I just cannot stand the thought of Clay Davis, obvious crook, staying out of jail.

Quick Hits:

Loved Dukie's dance moves. And that he's looking for an actual job.

Excuse me for being shallow for a second, but: can we have more of Lance Reddick in tank tops? I mean, we haven't had McNulty shirtless in awhile, so is that too much to ask?

Kima & Elijah's moment at the end of the episode was adorable, especially after watching her struggle with her furniture all day, which led to the line of the episode, "What brand of scotch are you using?" From McNulty, of course.

And, I've already seen Episode 8 (the wonders of OnDemand), and I have to say, I don't envy Allie for having to write the recap...to say the episode packed a bunch would be the understatement of the year.

Lost, Season 4 Episode 3

"The Economist"

In a word: Whoa. In a few more: this season is the greatest thing since...season 1.

First things first: we have a new member of the Oceanic 6 club: dear old Sayid. And in his post-island life, he's an assassin, who falls in love with another assassin in order to get to her boss, but she shoots him first, but then (cause he's Sayid and could beat up Chuck Norris with both hands tied behind his back) he shoots her and kills her, and it turns out he's actually working for BEN. And Ben wants him to kill MORE people, who are apparently all connected somehow. Crazy.

But back on the island, there are hijinks when Sayid goes off to fetch Charlotte, because Frank won't leave the island until she's safe. Kate and Miles travel with him, and they head to the barracks, where they know Locke & Co. are located. And indeed, the Locke party does show up at the barracks, but not before they make a slight detour to try and find Jacob's cabin. Ben rightly supposes that Locke is looking for instructions on his next move, but all they find at the site of the cabin is some kind of salt/sand/gunpowder mix on the jungle floor.

When Sayid, Kate, and Miles arrive at the barracks, they find Hurley tied up and shoved in a closet. Hurley tells them that Locke was heading for Ben's house. As they look around, Sayid finds a secret passage behind a bookcase (like Narnia!) and finds Ben's secret lair. Passports, thousands of euros, traveling suits: it appears to me like Ben frequently travels off the island for as-yet-unknown purposes.

So it turns out Hurley was lying, it was really just a set-up for Team Locke to capture Sayid and crew. Sawyer and Kate have a nicce heart-to-heart, and he reminds her that if she goes back, she'll likely find a jail cell waiting for her. Come to think of it, so will Sawyer -- he killed that guy at the seafood stand. He basically asks her to stay on the island with him and play house. Awww. (SKATE FOREVER, WOOT!)

Sayid trades Miles for Charlotte and heads back to the chopper, after telling Locke that he's going to get on the boat and figure out what the Boaties are all about. He and Charlotte get back to Jack, Frank, and Daniel. By now Desmond and Juliet have also shown up. Sayid tells Jack Kate decided to stay with the other group (a.k.a. Sawyer). Jack looks...displeased with this news. Teehee. Desmond wants to get on the chopper, and with Frank and Sayid, there's room for one more. Charlotte stays to do some experiments, so they take Naomi's body back. We fade out on the chopper heading out over the water to...what? Safety? More danger on the freighter?

Three epsiodes in, and the questions I most want answered right now are:

What's up with time on the island? Daniel's experiment with the rocket showed that there's at least a 31 minute difference between the island and the freighter. But what does it mean?

Who is Ben, really? Why is this strange group after him? How did he get off the island? Why is Sayid working for him in the future?

Now that we have 4 of the 6, whoare the reamining two? Are they Kate's "him" and the guy in the coffin shown in last year's finale? This is the real stinker: why didn't anybody but Jack want ot go to that funeral?

Even though I want answers, I know they're not coming right away, and it's stupid to assume that they will. If anything, this season has convinced me that the producers actually do have a plan, and with the given end date, they are executing it. I've learned to take the show as it come and not get hung up on the minutae of the twists and turns.