Austin Improv

arthursimone wrote:boooooo!

whyyyy?

Rachel wrote:

arthursimone wrote:boooooo!

whyyyy?

Way to completely discount Sayid's bad-assedness!!

arthursimone wrote:boooooo!

ditto.

I just feel the first 3 seasons were full of great characters that we invested in only to see them cut down by violence or accident to underscore the absolute danger of the situation.

Now I feel that the band of heroes has flattened out and that they're just going to be dealing with a series of narrow escapes from here on out without any real consequences.

Kinda like the continuing Star Wars novels; they were cool at first, but then even the most die-hard fan has to ask "how many times are Han, Luke, Lando and the gang-of-buddies going to single-handedly save the galaxy?"

Aw, I disagree. Narrow escapes? They're building towards some kind of big war that Widmore was talking about. This episode did a good job of getting straight why Kate and Jack returned to the island, and why Sawyer stayed. In the big picture of resolving the mysterious epic conflict of the island, I don't think it's a big deal that Sayid didn't kill Ben. Like I said, maybe some part of Sayid was not so convinced that he's a killer, and wanted to give little Ben a chance. Maybe that's a little sappy, and maybe it's not the perfect character choice for Sayid, but Ben was going to survive, anyway, as Miles explained.

Also...

Jeff wrote: or maybe... the island... something something?

I was right! The island something something!

/end lost apologist transmission

I just realized something kinda disappointing... Ben won't remember the circumstances leading to his transformation. That could easily mean that he won't remember being shot by Sayid. In fact, it must mean that, right? So that means that it won't be a relationship issue (such as Sayid being a father figure who turns against him) that causes his monsterfication-- it'll instead be a plot circumstance that causes it-- namely, the circumstance of Jack refusing to contribute his masterful surgeon skills. I'm sad now. I want Ben to remember.

The effect of Sayid's action on Ben's psyche is not as relevant as the fact that Ben was put into Richard Alpert's hands, and effects of that (as Richard said) will be irreversible. That's your turning point.

Jeff wrote:I just realized something kinda disappointing... Ben won't remember the circumstances leading to his transformation. That could easily mean that he won't remember being shot by Sayid. In fact, it must mean that, right? So that means that it won't be a relationship issue (such as Sayid being a father figure who turns against him) that causes his monsterfication-- it'll instead be a plot circumstance that causes it-- namely, the circumstance of Jack refusing to contribute his masterful surgeon skills. I'm sad now. I want Ben to remember.

I really hate how explicitly the show handled that conundrum. It's as if the writers were going over things and someone said, "Well, wouldn't Ben remember Sayid shooting him?" Which lead to, "You're right. Let's have Hurley start an argument for the sole purpose of pointing out that potential problem. Then, let's have Richard Alpert make sure to say that Ben will lose his memory."

I do like the neat little twist with Jack's refusal essentially pushing Ben into an evil lifestyle. It's an interesting way to reify the "whatever happened, happens" mode of thought. However, I think it would have been even better if Ben did retain his memory and was just playing games with Sayid the entire time.

Oooo Alamo Village shows LOST in HD now....



--
peter rogers @ work | http://hujhax.livejournal.com

The flight attendant made sure to tell me that it's a federal crime to tamper with the smoke detectors. I think it should be a federal crime to tamper with ANY part of the plane.
      -- ze Frank

I almost peed my pants when Ben called Widmore from the docks...and everything that followed.

Including the awesome image that closed the scene. Wow....

Not sure what I think about the judgement...

Though I LOVED seeing whatshername again....

Best episode so far - terrific character turns for both Ben & Locke and great work by the actors.

Kathy Rose Center wrote:Best episode so far - terrific character turns for both Ben & Locke and great work by the actors.

Gotta agree with you. I think I clenched my fists a couple of times.

I love Dead is Dead. What a great episode. The humbled look on Ben's face at the end is the most sincere he's looked since he saw Alex die. And Locke seems to be in top form as a human being, for the first time in his life. I thought that towards the end of the episode, and then that thought seemed validated when Alex told Ben that he must do everything Locke says.
And what do y'all think's up with this "what lies in the shadow of the statue" business? Something very sinister is afoot!
And I loved that cave drawing of the smoke monster confronting Horus. At least, I suspect that's Horus.

Jeff wrote:and then that thought seemed validated when Alex told Ben that he must do everything Locke says.
And what do y'all think's up with this "what lies in the shadow of the statue" business? Something very sinister is afoot!
And I loved that cave drawing of the smoke monster confronting Horus. At least, I suspect that's Horus.

No... Anubis.

Anybody watch last week's clip-based episode? Was there anything new or worthwhile in it? I bailed after the second commercial break.