O Yeah!

Credit goes to my friend Nicole for the inspiration for the title of this post. Twice Thursday I sent her a text message about Lost. First one posed the following question.

Me: You watched Lost yet?
Her: O Yeah!

Second Message:

Me: Wasn't it amazing?
Her: O Yeah!

I think that pretty much sums up everyone's opinion about the episode "The Man Behind the Cutain". Really quite amazing what they pulled off in this episode. They even managed to, in retrospect, make the "Hurley Drives a Car" episode seem relevant, which may have been the writers' greatest feat.

But, I digress.

First off, I loved getting a back story on Benjamin Linus. He has become too important a character, as just an incredible villain, that a back story could only add to the depth of his nature. Going in, I wondered would it make him seem more or less evil? Would he be painted sympathetically or would his villainy be shown to be more dastardly.

Well, I think that the obvious answer to the first question is that seeing his back story showed him to be more evil than we might have imagined. I don't know about you, but I was starting to wonder whether he was truly evil or just "mis-understood." The writers have done a masterful job lately sewing those doubts into the viewers' heads. (And I guess some of those doubts remain.) But seeing him murder his father in cold blood and be complicit (at least) in the mass murder of the Dharma Initiative population pretty much erases those doubts. At least for me. Then he goes and lures John Locke to said mass grave and, after again insulting John's intelligence. puts a slug in his chest. Not the actions of a nice man. (Understatement of the day.) But, let me ask, knowing what he knows about the island's powers, and John's communion with the island; if he really wanted to kill Locke, wouldn't he have put more than one bullet in him? Think about that and get back to me. (My two cents: Expect Locke back.)

So, what was it about his past that made him so evil? Let's break down the back story a little, shall we? First off, I loved the opening scene that made it appear to us viewers (we viewers?) that Ben was being born on the island deep in the jungle. But as Ben's parents ran for help, they quickly emerged onto a busy road, apparently 32 miles from Portland. I figure that this is Portland, Oregon. One, I've been to Oregon twice and that forest that Ben was born in looked damn familiar, and two, Ben, Richard, and Ethan lured Juliette to the island from Miami, through Oregon, to the island. Perhaps the Dharma inititiative was based out of Portland, and later Ben's group used Portland as a mainland base as well. Note that Ben's mom died seven months into her pregnancy with Ben. Isn't that around the same time period in a pregnancy that women on the island run into problems?

Next we saw a very shy, quiet Ben Linus and his father Roger having disembarked from the submarine and being welcomed to the island by Mr. Goodspeed who represents the Dharma Initiative. I'd like to comment on the casting of Harry Potter as young Ben Linus. I loved it. Now we know why everyone on the islands has amazing magic powers, the island is really wizard school. Interesting details of the friendship between young Ben and Annie. Annie is super sweet and they seem to have a genuine bond. Knowing that few things are thrown in to Lost, I assume we will see her again at some point. How I do not know.

As Ben's father sinks into alcoholism and continues to blame his son for the death of his beloved Emily, Ben's like gets more and more miserable. When he starts seeing visions of his mom, he runs away to find her in the jungle. She tells him it is not time and that he must be patient. I think this is more fodder for the island being somehow connected to the afterworld. He wants to join her, but she say it is not time yet. Was she referring to him joining her in the afterworld, but not anytime soon? The same type of patience is required of Ben when he asks Richard to take him away from Dharma and back to Richard's people.

Then we get the purge. All those dead Dharma folks, including Ben's dad, who is killed with poison gas, by a very calm, cold, and calculating Ben, who comfortably puts on his gas mask, watches his dad die, and proceeds back to the Dharma camp where the others wait for him. Was his friend Annie killed in the purge too? Like I said above, I doubt it. Ben probably arranged to have her saved if she was still around. Ben has proven to Richard's hostiles, much the way he challenged Locke to, if he wanted to join them in the present.

One point on the scene in the cabin where we met Jacob. Michael Emerson's acting is just so good. I loved how he interacted with Jacob. Totally convincing. He brings so much subtlety and creepiness to his portrayal of everyone's favorite villian.

OK: Two more points on this scene. Did you see Jacob when you went back and watched it in sl0-mo? Looked a lot like Locke with hair to me. Hmmm.

What was that ashy substance that Locke was looking at on his way to the cabin? My guess: The residue of the smoke monster, who is clearly Jacob in another form. In other words Locke is the smoke monster. Cool, eh?

The side plot involving Naomi, and Jack and Juliet got interesting too. Clearly, things are coming together for a "crash survivors" vs. the "others" battle on the beach to end the season, reminiscent of the brilliant first season finale. Will this "Mother" of all battles be interrupted by a certain act of nature, which if you think of the time line, that is about to affect the Indian Ocean? Hmmm.

3 More Years!

ABC announced the other day that they would continue Lost for three more 16 episode seasons. I had mixed emotions when I first heard this but having read about the plan, and thought about it, I think a good decision has been reached.

To start, I was hoping that they would do two more seasons and then wrap it up. I thought that was about as long as they could sustain the show at a high level and be within a time frame that ABC would be happy with revenue wise. So, when I originally heard that there would be three more seasons, I was a little worried. But, by limiting the seasons to 16 new episodes, that will be shown in consecutive weeks, I think they have found the right balance. My hope is that the producers will make every effort to present 16 great episodes every seasons, no throwaways. For example, who among us could have lived without this year's two throwaway episodes, "Hurley Finds a Car" and "Nikki and Paulo Build a Sand Castle"? Answer: All of us.

So the questions we are left with are, how are they going to keep things going for three more seasons and how will they resolve all of the mysteries (too many to count) they have thrown out there at us? After watching the last 4 or 5 episodes, I have this to say. I have complete faith in the shows writers, producers, and creators, to provide us with 3 more great seasons that will keep us in inevitable suspense as they unfold and that we will remember long after the series final in May of 2010. (By the way, party at my house that night. If you are reading this, you are invited. Will let you know the details as we get a little closer, but please save the date.)

Why do I have such faith? Well, I guess its because the show has been so great for the first three seasons, and there is so much to build on. The key in my opinion to a successful series like Lost, is the strength of the characters. No matter how good a concept is for a show, a lack of interesting, diverse characters that drive the drama would still manage to sink it. Lost has more than its share of fantastic characters. There are plenty who have been on the show from episode 1, but the genius of the casting and writing is how they have brought new characters in. (with the obvious exception of Nikki and Paulo). Think about how much Mr. Eko added to the show. And what about Ben Linus and Juliette? Apparently Ben was not supposed to be a recurring character and was to be limited to only 3 episodes. The writers saw what they had with him though and smartly kept him on and developed him. Can you imagine Lost without him? And Juliette has added a lot to the show too. Who among is not intrigued by the mystery of her allegiance and how it will play out?

So, in summary, I think there are enough mysteries to be solved and great characters to develop to keep the show going strong until May 2010. I really hope my faith is not mis-placed.