Lost: "Stranger in a Strange Land" (Feb. 21-07)

RE-CAP: Flashback: Jack gets tattoo from girlfriend in Thailand.  Jack is angry.  Jack gets beaten up.  In the "present" Jack agrees to help Ben with his recovery, Jack saves Juliette.  Sawyer and Kate argue.  Karl is weird.  Karl goes off to "rescue" Alex.

 

Episode Rating:  Good.  The Juliette storyline surprised me with the amount of drama it kept.  Other than explaining his tattoo, though, was there a point to the Jack in Thailand story?

 

The "Others":

 

Okay, this has been something I've been trying to work on for a while...  What do we know about the others?

-  The live on the main Island and work on "Alcatraz."

-  They have a true society of a sort.  Not only that but they appear to be a society with a high degree of shared purpose.  We don't know what it is, but its important enough to them that they are prepared to kill to protect it.  When its not threatened, they apparently would find this behaviour unacceptable.

-  Part of protecting their work/true purpose is that it must be concealed.

-  Ben's authority is absolute, except for "Jacob."  That said, they have some degree of self government (as we see through Juliette's "trial" even though Ben overrode it).

-  Their purpose is something about bio-medical research.

-  They don't appear to be directly tied into The Dharma Initiative (the hatch people).

-  Their research may be on the Island because of the Island's mysterious powers.

-  Until the Swan Hatch "imploded" they had communication with the outside world.

-  Their appears to be both widespread support for Ben's authority.

-  Jacob is still actively giving them direction and is known to them (not just Ben).

-  They are able to accept new members into their society (like the flight attendant from the flight.)

 

I have no idea yet how to sort out how the plane crashed by accident, thank you, Desmond. Then suddenly Jacob's list is generated (with Sawyer, Kate, and Michael's names on it?).  The only possible explanation would be that Ethan and Goodman's intelligence back to Ben as they got to know the Tailies and the Fusies was then fed to Jacob.  Makes "sense" I guess.

 

QUESTION:  Who is your favourite "Other"?  Leave a comment to let me know.

 

B

 

Leaning Barn with Dog B&W Feb 18-07 DSC1168

Leaning Barn with Dog B&W Feb 18-07 DSC1168
Originally uploaded by Binky

Field Feb 18-07 DSC1172

Field Feb 18-07 DSC1172
Originally uploaded by Binky

Girls Hiking in Field Feb 18-07

Girls Hiking in Field Feb 18-07 DSC1162
Originally uploaded by Binky

It was a nice day for a hike.

B.

10 Years Ago Today

Song Quote:

 

“Gigantic, gigantic, gigantic,

Our big big love, our big big love”

\

Gigantic by The Pixies

 

Q:  What’s with my sudden out pouring of romantic feeling?

 

A:  It was 10 years ago today that Super Mom and I got engaged.

 

Happy anniversary, my love!

 

B.

 

Lost: "Flashes Before Your Eyes" (Feb. 14/07)

First some housekeeping: In retrospect, I was probably too critical of last week's episode. Maybe I was still a little angry over the 16 week break... Also, as many of you know Rouseau's daughter's name is Alex and the Other/Dharma Initiative guy who was killed was named Danny Pickett (I think).



Tonight's episode was great and quite reminiscent of Lost at its best. Basically, the two threads were 1) Charlie and Hurely try to figure out what's going on with Desmond when he saves Claire from drowning. He knew she was drowning from a mile away. 2) A really interesting Desmond alternate flashback develops. From the moment he used the fail safe key, he went back to the last few days he spent with Penny before joining the army (where he is eventually court-martialled and sent to prison).



After a creepy intervention by a ring sales woman, Desmond again fails to ask Penny to marry him and becomes resigned to his eventual fate on the island. At the end of the episode, both threads come together when he admits to Charlie that he sees flashes of his life, past and future and that twice now he's acted to save... wait for it... wait another second... CHARLIE! But, he thinks that Charlie will die, though because fate makes "course corrections" when he messes with it.



Overall, not bad! Creepy.

Lost Returns: Season 3.5

I have this thing I do to see how much I'm "into" a TV show or a movie
I'm watching. Basically its simple- if I become "zoned" enough that I
really stop looking around the room, I'm really "into" something I'm
watching. I'm really engrossed in it and entertained by it.

Last night's half-season premiered of Lost partially succeeded by this
measure. I was entertained by it, but not totally "into" it. I was
left feeling it was pretty good and that if it hade been a first season
episode I might have thought much higher of it.

That said, last night was good, and if the writers handle things well
the second half of season three may regain er... "lost" ground for the
show. My big issue is that I feel like I've seen everything the show
has to offer. That's far from actually being true I realize, though.
Part of it may have to do with commercials. I watch enough "TV shows"
on DVD to have become a little spoiled.

Here's the re-cap of the show: Jack has just threatened to let Ben die
on the operating table, to force the others to let Kate and Sawyer go.
His plan goes well up until about the 13 minuet mark of the show when
the "meanest other" starts chasing them, clearly intent on killing
Sawyer. We cut in and out of this struggle and they are eventually
saved by Roseau's daughter, who it turns out is Ben's (step?) daughter.
Using her trusty sling shot (don't laugh) she helps them hide out in a
little Viet Cong-esque bunker. Her deal is simple: she let Sawyer and
Kate use her boat to go back to the main island if the rescue her
boyfriend and take them as well back to the Fusie Land.

The boyfriend is locked up in a setup that's some kind of homage to A
Clockwork Orange where he is being forced to watch film images meant to
program or (de-program?) him. By the use of a simple con game, they
overpower the guard and at the (very real) threat of Kate shooting him,
he tells them where to find the boy. They make it to the beach/boat
only to be confronted by the "mean other." He is about to shoot Sawyer
when he is shot by Juliette. They leave, but Juliette makes Roseau Jnr.
stay because her mother wouldn't let her go.

The other thread is in the operating room, inter-spaced with a whole
lot of Juliette flashbacks. In the end, Jack saves Ben after hearing
from Kate that she and Sawyer are safe (and encouragement from Kate).
Juliette's flashbacks are about her recruitment into the others.
Basically she is recruited to do medical research on fertility and
reproduction. Her ex-husband who knows of her shady research with her
own sister is conveniently killed by a bus, after she had let slip in
her interview that such an accident would be the only way she would be
free would be for him to get hot by a bus. In the present day, Juliette
has a private conversation with Ben and "apparently" they have an
agreement that she will help Kate and Sawyer escape (which will mean
that Jack will save Ben) and in return she will get to leave the
island(s) to go home. The episode ends with Jack pleading with Kate to
never come back to rescue him.

Highlights:
- Through the last scene and rescuing K & S, Jack has established
undisputed moral leadership of the Fusies.
- He becomes an almost Mandela-like leader-in-exile.
- Juliette's ex, getting hit by a bus was very sudden and dramatic.
- In an awkward moment, Tom (Zeke) attempts to introduce himself
formally to Jack. "I'm Tom, by the way."

Binky

River Scene Feb. 3, 2007

DSC01134
Originally uploaded by Binky

Eagle in Flight

DSC01135 cropped
Originally uploaded by Binky

This is one the two eagles in the previous picture, flying down river towards the sea shore.

B.

A Two Eagle Day

On Saturday afternoon we went to visit some friends who have the good fortune of living both closer to the water and in the woods. We were visiting for the girls to play on their very respectable outdoor rink- that was great. What was just as great was that while we were there we got to see two bald eagles in a tree across from their property. You can see them really clearly in the above photo.

B.

"Baby Bear"

DSC01072
Originally uploaded by Binky

"Baby Bear" is the take home project from Action Girl's Kindergarten Class. Every few weeks they each take him home and write and illustrate a story about what he they did with him during their night to care for him. Here he is building crafts out of popsicle sticks at our kitchen table.

B.

Action Girl's Bowling-Themed Birthday Cake- Jan. 28-07

DSC01102
Originally uploaded by Binky

Birthday Sickness Update and a Thought on Parenting

Thursday, Feb. 1st:

Action Girl is feeling much better today and was scheduled to go back to kindergarten today.

I had a moment of clarity while she was sick:

The essence of what can you expect as a parent may lie in the moment when you're shampooing your daughter's My Little Ponies' manes because her sister has thrown up on them... and it doesn't seem odd.

B.