A Blog
Things on TV
I suppose it’s only fitting that Benjamin Linus, the man that has pulled all the strings on the Island and manipulated everyone into doing his will is, in a sideways reality not quite in control of what’s going on around him.
He’s under the thumb of a corrupt and uncaring principal. He eats TV dinners with his disabled father. And he chooses to hang out with Dr. Arzt. Hardly a man in control of his own destiny.
The main arc in tonight’s episode of 24 took place in a hospital, where Jack Bauer tried to lure a teenage suicide bomber out of an iron lung.
For most of the episode, Jack tried sweet-talking the kid (who looks like a dullard but somehow, in a manner of minutes, managed to sketch out the bomb wiring on the inside wall of his chamber) out of the iron lung, before bringing in the big guns: the kid’s mother.
At last, I thought, something to break the monotony of this episode. I thought Jack would pull a gun on the mother, aim it at her head and tell the kid he was going to watch his mother die. But no. Jack let the kid and his mother have a few moments to discuss things. Sure, Jack even busted out the “I give you my word” card for (what felt like) the first time this season, but nothing happened. I was convinced this episode was another waste of what could have been perfectly good TV, but then Jack ordered the mother pulled out of the room. And then Jack really went to work…
Last week on Lost, after being told that Kate was the one who took her son Aaron, Crazy Claire promised that she’d kill Kate.
In tonight’s episode of Lost, Sundown, Kate admitted to Crazy Claire that she did take and raise Claire’s son as her own. Crazy Claire glared and seethed from a hole in the ground in Kate’s general direction. As everyone with a clue vacated the Temple before sundown, fLocke attacked and laid waste to the Temple inhabitants (saving two in particular for someone else). Kate and Claire walked out of the Temple together following fLocke. During last week’s promo for tonight’s episode, we were promised answers. Here’s one question that I’d like answered in the wake of tonight’s Lost episode:
When will Claire kill Kate??
As I do every Monday night (during the season), I’d like to share some thoughts about 24.
No, not about tonight’s underwhelming episode (although we’ll get to that). But about 24 in general. I’ve been watching the show since the beginning hours of Day Two. I’ve been blogging about Jack’s adventures here at the Kingdom since the first hours of the awesome Day Five. I like to think I know the show. I also pay attention to my blog statistics. I don’t get thousands of visitors each day (more in the 20s or 30s each day), but I get a solid number of people each week who arrive at the Kingdom having searched for something 24-related. Taking some of these most popular searches reveals a lot about what interests 24 fans. Here are some of the most popular terms which have brought 24 fans to the Kingdom:
Quite an interesting list. Most of these are about Jack and the various ways he’s taken out bad guys or killed their lackeys. The ones that aren’t about Jack are about other, interesting main characters the show has had over the years. I can say that I have never gotten Web hit from any of the following (and we’ll only cover those plots from the time I’ve been blogging):
Unlike the previous list, I’ve gotten none (or close to none) Web hits from people searching for these terms (or similar items). Leading to the conclusion that not only are plotlines such as those on the second list not interesting, but people don’t want to find out more (or read more) about them. It’s understandable that 24 can’t feature 24 straight hours of Jack running around, killing people with staple guns, circular saws and other items you’d find in a hardware store. No, Jack is subject to the rules of real life and will get stuck in traffic.
The show needs supporting characters with plotlines to set up Jack, and occasionally, waste time. The thing is, in more recent seasons, those additional characters haven’t been worth paying attention to. The early days featured the Palmer family drama (which yes, was tedious in Day 3), compelling stories like the romance, break-up and re-romance of Tony and Michelle, and villains who you actually feared.
These days, the supporting characters are boring (or, as made popular by Kingdom fave Edgar) are killed off all too soon. The political plots are predictable re-hashes of what we’ve seen before. And the villains are cookie-cutter stereotypes who don’t even last long enough to get interesting. The two exceptions- Jon Voight as Jonas Hodges, who was Blofeldian in his evilness and David Anders as, well, he didn’t last long enough to get a nickname, much less have me care about his real name.
I can’t tell you who the villains are this season, except for some dude stuck in an oxygen chamber and his cronies hanging out in a diner. And I can’t tell you about a non-Jack storyline I care about. And I wish it weren’t that way.
I’ll continue to watch 24, more out of duty and the promise that Jack might do something awesome once every three or four hours. But it’s tough.
Now about tonight….
I’ve been saying for years that Ben Linus and John Locke should star in a buddy comedy of some sort. Looks like I’m not the only one who thinks this way:
Maybe Ben could get an eye patch of some sort to cover up that disfigurement.
Over the six seasons of Lost, Dr. Jack Shepard has undergone an amazing character journey. From an annoying man of science with meaningless tattoos, Jack has seen enough miracles and other amazing things happen on the Island to turn him into a man of faith who is somewhat tolerable. At least on the Island.
As seen in tonight’s episode of Lost, The Lighthouse, the off-Island/sideways Jack is still an unsufferable bore.
But he is a candidate.
At least once a season in 24, Jack Bauer will go rogue. Whether it’s to save a colleague, a family member, or to exact vengeance on a villain in a way the government won’t let him, Jack throws all rules aside and acts as a free agent. Heaven help those, good or bad, who get in his way. Usually, Jack’s rogue status lasts a few episodes, by which time, either Jack lets himself be taken into custody or the authorities realize Jack is right and get out of the way.
Well, in Day Eight of 24, Jack Bauer went rogue. And it lasted all of ten minutes.
I already thought Ben was in love with the Island, but I have to agree, there’s one side of acting that Michael Emerson hasn’t been able to show off yet:
Usually, I’m not concerned about the other shows on TV at the same time as 24. However, right now, it’s up against the Winter Olympics, and when there’s an event like snowboard racing, biathalon or curling, I’m torn between Jack Bauer and the games. Fortunately, tonight scheduled against Jack was the most useless of the competitions, figure skating, so my choice was easy.
I have a feeling though, that the producers of 24 thought more people would be into watching the Olympics, so they had Jack Bauer try his hand (or legs, as it were) at an Olympic mainstay, the paralell bars:
For some reason, I don’t think he got high scores from the Russian judges.
I’ve been blogging about Lost since Season Two, and I’ve waited for five long seasons to use that as a title.
It’s fitting though, that here in Lost’s last season, in what’s hopefully the very last Kate-centric episode, that I would be frustrated with an episode centering around my least favorite Island castaway. Kate seemingly has nothing to do with the larger Island mythology. I can see no discernible reason why two otherwise likable characters would dispel all rational behavior in favor of acting like a bunch of idiots while fawning over her. And most importantly, she’s not that interesting.
So in the third episode of Lost’s final season, we wasted an episode on Kate. But we did get one big question answered:
