MADNESS!

That's right, the most wonderful time of the year is finally here -- and it has nothing to do with Christmas. Instead, the present that we get is hours upon hours of college basketball. And Gus Johnson, the best play-by-play guy in sports. Yes, it's sad that our beloved Orange aren't in the field of 65, but that won't stop me from skipping class to plop down on my sofa and watching basketball from noon to midnight.

For those, like my fellow blogger, who could care less about Xavier averting an upset this afternoon, there is Lost Madness, which is run by the Washington Post. Their bracket is made up of Lost characters, and they're down to their Final Four. Go here to cast your vote.

In case you missed it, the cast of Battlestar Galactice appeared on Letterman last night to read the Top 10 list. Clearly, the audience didn't have a clue what the hell the show was, but any fan will get a kick out of it:



Back to basketball. Lost recap tomorrow!

Playing Catch-Up: Lost and The Wire

Again, I apologize for how late this Lost recap is. I spent most of my weekend at the Carrier Dome -- first, sleeping in my tent to assure my place in line, and then watching my team implode down the stretch and throw the last remnants of their NCAA Tournament hopes out the window. I haven't been too quick to recover.

In happier news: Lost, Season 4, Episode 5. "My Constant"

To borrow from another deliciously mind-blowing show: what a mindfrak that episode was. Connecting us back to last year's Desmond time-traveling episode, "Flashes Before Your Eyes," this episode wxplored some of the larger questions about the island. Is it some kind of wormhole? Why does time move differently on the island? Why do some people experience these side effects when traveling to and from the island?

We pick up with Desmond, Frank, and Sayid as they make their escape from the island via heliocopter. Des freaks out midway, as his consciousness is jumping back and forth through time, making present-day Des think it's 1996, and 1996-era Des believe that the present is a very vivid dream. This concept of consciousness time-traveling was explored by a young Oxfrd professor named Daniel Faraday, and present-day Faraday directs Desmond to seek out his past self in order to restore his mind completely to the present, or else he'll suffer a massive brain hemorrhage and die. Wow, this just sounds ridiculous when you actually type it out. I swear, it kind of made sense while I watched.

Suffice it to say, 1996 Desmond gets help from 1996 Faraday, but not before learning that being exposed to the electromagnetic radiation from the hatch implosion probably gave him his future-seeng powers. 1996 Faraday tells Des he needs to find a constant -- someone he can connect to in both 1996 and 2004. Naturally, he picks Penny. Trouble is, back in 1996, he has just broken up with Penny and she wants nothing to do with him. He has to beg her for her phone number, which his 2004 self remembers and dials from the freighter's phone. A touching phone conversation follows, (Finally, finally, finally!!) during which both Penny and Desmond express their love for one another and they promise to find each other again. I cried, of course.

We also get an answer (possibly?) to Daniel's memory problems from last week. He experienced some side effects as well, but he has written in his journal that Desmond is his constant. So maybe now, he'll remember everything? And, Ben's spy on the boat: totally Michael. How are they even going to make that a surprise? I mean, Harold Perrineau is back in the main credits.

The Wire, Season 5, Episode 9 "Late Editions"

Now, for the super-depressing part of the program. We've arrived at the penultimate episode of The Wire. The entire episode was a fitting microcosm for the entire series: good things happen, but then bad things happen that threaten to undo (and eventually will undo) all of the good things.

The police get on the resupply for Marlo's entire organization, and they move on it, arresting almost everyone, including Marlo, and grabbing 120 kilos of heroin. Michael and Snoop are the only characters we care about not included in the round-up.

Lester goes to Daniels to tell him the good news, but of course doesn't tell him the whole story. Daniels calls Rhonda and asks her, "Are you sitting down?" Her suspicious, "Why?" was a bright moment in the episode. Carcetti calls a press conference and puts the dope on the table, while Snoop, Michael, and some lackeys watch from Michael's house.

In jail, the Stanfield crew (Marlo, Monk, Chris, and Cheese) look for someone to blame, and they note that Michael is not sharing their cell. This is bad news for Michael, especially since they now the police had just recently brought him in for questioning. Chris vouches for his protege, but he's not willing to bet his life in jail on it. But it doesn't really matter for Chris, anyway. Bunk's DNA sample will keep him in jail whether or not everyone else stays.

Lester and McNulty have a scene on the traintracks. The scene is exceptional for two reasons: McNulty is too depressed about extracting himself from his serial killer that he doesn't take the booze Lester offers, and two, Lester mentions Shardene! I knew she was still around! Lester is drunk and happy and wants to go home to his woman.

Snoop tells Michael that someone needs killing, and advises him not to bring his gun, one will be provided for him on the way. Something about this makes Michael suspicious, so he watches Snoop and figures she's setting him up to get killed. So on their way to the job, Michael makes Snoop pull over, pulls out his gun, and after some small talk, ("You were always a smart kids," "You were never one of us," "How does my hair look?") Michael kills her. Whew! And...now I'm rooting for a character to kill others to preserve hs own life. Michael knows that killing Snoop just made him a wanted man, so he takes Bug out to the county to live with their aunt. There are a pair of heartrending good-byes, and while I'm glad Bug may have the chance to grow up away from the game, he doesn't have either of his big brothers to rely on. Michael distances himself from Dukie, and drops him off in an alley with the junkman, condemning him to a life of...what? Drugs? Stealing? He's the next Bubbles, isn't he? I just can't take that thought.

Marlo meets with Levy, and the latter wants to know who would have snitched -- because, see, Lester can't reveal that he had a wire, so they're going for the wire now and saying that they had a tip before, which they used to move on the Stanfield operation. Levy is a wee bit suspicious, so he sends Herc to do some digging. And Herc, who apparently can't get enough praise from either Levy or his former cop buddies, digs around a bit and reports back to Levy that there are rumors of a wire, but all of the money went to McNulty's serial killer. You can practically see the wheels turning in Levy's head. He knows something isn't right.

Meanwhile, Carcetti is flipping out because crime hasn't decreased, and his stupid chief-of-staff tells Daniels and Rawls to get creative with the stats, because he needs the drop now. Which, God. I want to like Carcetti, I really do. But he has passed the point of no return this year. Norman is too good for him.

At the paper, St. Gus is subtly checking into Templeton's stories. He finds that the story about the marine is BS, and so is the quote from Daniels in the original piece about his promotion.

Finally, Kima can't take McNulty's bullshit anymore, so she pays a visit to Daniels to tell him the truth. He, in turn, tells Rhonda, and with one quick trip to evidence control (Hello, Det. Polk!), they realize McNulty is full o'crap. The stage is set for everything to collapse. Guess we'll find out if it does in a week.

Quick Hits:

Michael K. Williams' name is still in the opening credits. Tear.

The legend of Omar keeps growing, even in death. Michael and Spider were discussing how it was three machine-gun wielding killers that finally took him down, not tiny Kenard.

Namond made it out OK, all the way to the debate team. At least we got to see Bunny again.

We get a call-back to "evacuated," when McNulty examines a dead homeless guy and lectures Christensen on the meaning of the word.

Fletch is still hanging with Bubbles, who has been sober a year now, and who finally opens up about Sherrod's death.

Lester turns Clay Davis and find out that it was Levy who has been leaking stuff from the district attorney's office to his drug-dealer clients. Maybe, just maybe, Lester can hold this over Levy's head long enough to keep him from squealing about the illegal wiretap. It's probably too much to hope for, but it's there.

Here we are: one week away from the ending. I wouldn't even know where to begin any speculation, so I won't start. There will be plenty of time for predictions in the week to come. Look for some special finale-week coverage on the blog. As for the actual finale, it's not being offered OnDemand, and on Sunday, neither Allie nor myself will be able to watch the show. (She'll be out of the country, and I'll be in a rented house without HBO for spring break). Needless to say, this is causing great amounts of stress here at TCB HQ. We may be bringing in a guest blogger, and probably resorting to any means necessary to watch the finale ASAP. Stay tuned.

Desmond photo from Entertainment Weekly

Michael photo from HBO

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.

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.

Links, Etc.

The Lost recap will be a delayed a bit this week, because as soon as the episode ends tonight I will be heading over to Gate E at the Carrier Dome to camp out for the Georgetown game. And yes, I know the game starts at noon on Saturday. But sacrifices must be made. It's Georgetown.

Here are some post-strike plans: from NBC, we learn that Heroes and Chuck won't be back until next season. The Office and Scrubs will be back in April, though the fate of the series finale of Scrubs is still up in the air. Friday Night Lights...well, reference Allie's post below. Keep the 'Lights' on, NBC. I'm begging.

ABC has renewed Dirty Sexy Money, Private Practice, Grey's (duh), Lost (duh), and Ugly Betty, among others. Money and Practice won't be back until next fall, but the others will film at least a few more episodes before the end of this season. It has also announced that starting in April and after a mid-season break, Lost will air in the plum post-Grey's timeslot, Thursday nights at 10.

In other Lost news, co-exec producer Carlton Cuse spoke to Ausiello (Alli'e fav) about his plans for the remainder of the season. Among the highlights: we're only getting 13 of the 16 promised episodes this season. (Boo!) But those three episodes will be incorporated into the final two seasons somewhere. (Yay!)

Battlestar Galactica Season 4 premiere: Friday, April 4th. That is only 50 DAYS from now. And only 380 days after the Season 3 finale.

Lost, Grammys, Etc.

Since this weekend has been absolutely crazy, I haven't had time to put up a full Lost recap. Suffice it to say, Lost is back in big way this year, and hopefully we'll get the full 16-episode season if the strike wraps up soon.

So Episode 2, entitled "Confirmed Dead" introduced us to the Boaties, a rag-tag group of four from the freighter whose plans for the Lostaways and the Island haven't exactly been made clear by the end of the episode. We meet Daniel Farady, the bumbling and emotional physicist; Miles Strom, the angry ghostbuster; Charlotte Lewis, the anthropologist who found a DHARMA collar on a polar bear in the Tunisian desert (!!); and Frank Lapidus, the pilot who was supposed to be piloting Oceanic Flight 815. In a flashback, we learn that Frank pretty much knows that the "remains" of Oceanic 815 that were found aren't authentic.

Other people who know the remains aren't authentic include Matthew Abaddon/Daniels, who may or may not have something to do with the faux remains to begin with. We see him talking to Naomi, coaxing her to take on the "high risk, covert operation in unstbale territory." So who planted the plane under the ocean? Why are they trying to cover up the existence of the 815 survivors? And since we know that six people got off the island, how do they explain the fake remains?

Those are a few of the questions one can ponder while watching the Grammy's tonight. I'm watching out of morbid curiousity, because Kanye is favored to win the Album of the Year (right? I mean, who else did anything noteworthy in music last year?) and if he doesn't win, I'm sure there will be an amazing temper tantrum thrown.

Check back for 'Wire' recaps and reactions later tonight and tomorrow.

My half of the Tuesday Top Ten

These top 10 lists are hard. I needed to get Allie’s input to make my final cut. Here’s my top 5, in order:

5) Sex and the City Season 6, Pt. II (Series Finale) “An American Girl in Paris, Part Deux”
I still bawl with happiness every time I watch this episode. Carrie (finally) realizes that Alek and Paris are all wrong for her, and she leaves him...just in time for Big to come into the hotel and sweep her back to New York. Sam tells Smith that he means more to her than any man she's ever known, Magda tells Miranda what we already know: that she truly loves Steve, and Charlotte and Harry get their baby. Oh, and Big's name is John. The finale's joy hasn't dulled in four years, and now we can look forward to the "extra" finale in four months' time when the movie comes out.

4) The Office, Season 2 “Casino Night”
We're a bit too young to remember 'Cheers' and Sam and Diane, so when our generation wants an unrequited love story that pulls at our heartstrings, we turn to Jim and Pam. For two seasons, we watched Jim pine over the engaged-to-an-asshole Pam; and Pam, for her part, spent quite a bit of time flirting back. It all came to a head in the second season finale, when Jim confessed his love to Pam, only to have her say "I'm sorry you misinterpreted things..." But just a few minutes later, as she talks to her mom on the phone, Jim comes in and kisses her -- and she returns the kiss. It was a perfect moment...at least until the third season, when the writers spent an entire season keeping them apart.

3) Battlestar Galactica, Season 2 “Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II”
Really, all three BSG finales could have made my list, but this one does because of the sheer balls-out audacity of Ron Moore to skip his show ahead an entire year near the end of this episode. But before that mindfrak, we had Roslin trying to rig the election, but she gets caught by Adama and we welcome in President Baltar. The first thing the new leader does is have sex with Gina, who then goes and blows up herself and the Cloud 9. Then we flash forward a year, and most of the fleet has settled on the surface of New Caprica, Lee is fat, he and Starbuck aren't speaking, Starbuck is married(!) to an ailing Anders, Adama has a mustache and the Galatica is empty. And then the Cylons show up. President Baltar offers up the surrender of mankind and the centurions move in. Holy crap. How did this come in third?

2) Lost, Season 3 “Through the Looking Glass”
I've said enough about Lost this week, but just to recap: this finale re-invigorated the show after a semi-lackluster season. It introduced an exciting new element in the flash-forward, and of course, a whole bunch of new questions. In addition, we bid a tearful farewell to Charlie, Hurley and his magic bus saved the day, Sayid killed a man with his feet, Sawyer shot Tom, and oh, yeah: they contacted the rescue team. Who may or may not be an actual rescue team.

1) Battlestar Galactica, Season 3 “Crossroads, Pt. II”
I couldn't pick just one BSG finale, so Season 3 made the cut, too. Even though it's been an entire year since Sci Fi actually PUT THE SHOW ON THE AIR, the twists and turns of this episode have stayed with me. First and foremost: the identity of four of the final five cylons are revealed (to the tune of "All Along the Watchtower"), and they're people that we know. I mean, Tigh's a cylon?!? Seriously? Meanwhile, Gaius is acquitted, Dee leaves Lee (thank the gods!), Roslin's cancer is back, and in the middle of all of the chaos, the Cylon fleet attacks. Lee sheds his lawyerly suit and gets back up in the air, only to witness the return of Starbuck to the land of the living (is she a cylon? only in Lee's head?). As if her resurrection wasn't enough, she tells Lee that she's been to Earth, she knows where it is, and she's going to take the fleet there. And then we spiral out and we see our Earth. God, I miss this show. I want it back, yesterday.

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.

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