Category: Television

Fringe – The Man From The Other Side


Spoilers Ahead

I gotta tell you, I’ve had what was going with Fringe completely wrong. I’d been thinking, along with the characters on the show, that there’s some sort of war coming. That might well be true, but there’s something else that’s going on. I can’t believe it didn’t occur to me until just now.

So, Walter grabbed Peter from a parallel universe when he was a kid, right?

Do you honestly think that the Walter from the parallel universe would just let that stand? He’d do everything, and I mean everything, he could to get Peter back!

That’s why the people on the other side are trying to get through to our side. Parallel Universe Walter wants to get Peter back.

It’s pretty likely that the “Secretary” on the bridge is Parallel Universe Walter.

Thoughts?

LOST – The Last Recruit – Notes and Theories


I’m not really sure how I felt about this episode. A lot of interaction between characters, a lot of getting people together, but other than that… well, it’s still more setup.

Just a few notes about tonight’s show:

  • I think it’s clear at this point that that reason Desmond hit Locke with the car was to be sure and get Locke together with Jack.
  • I have a hard time believing that when we saw Christian, it was always the Man in Black. After all, we did see Christian off the island – remember when Jack saw him while he was trying to fix that smoke alarm? I’m sure there were cases (like in the cabin with Claire) that he was disguised as Christian, but I just don’t think he was ALWAYS Christian Shepard.
  • So, just letting the Man in Black talk to you is the way he gets you over to his side? Really? Still, Claire sure seems to believe that Jack is part of MiB’s group.
  • Zoe showing up in camp was a surprise, and I think we all know that the thing they want back is Desmond.
  • Speaking of Desmond, I don’t think Sayid killed him. I think Desmond turned around Sayid’s desire to see Nadia and the ramifications of her finding out that he had to kill Desmond to get her back are why he didn’t kill him.

    Kinda weird that even though Sayid and Claire are beholden to UnLocke, they both did something he wouldn’t like. Kinda surprised that Claire got on the boat without shooting anyone.

  • Anyone else wonder why Sawyer didn’t walk to the jetty and get in the water there to swim to the boat, rather than jumping in at the beach?
  • Still kinda wondering how they’re going to get Sayid, Kate, and Sawyer together with the rest of them. Maybe at the hospital?
  • Ilana as a lawyer… That was probably the biggest surprise of the show tonight. I didn’t expect that at all.
  • Another episode with no mirrors.
  • Sawyer throwing Jack off the boat? Really? REALLY? That was just too weird.
  • I bet that Jack’s surgery is going to allow Locke to walk again.
  • Glad Jin and Sun are back together, but I thought that sonic fence was going to torch one or both of them.

Season 8 – 24 – 9 am to 10 am


Previously on “24”, we found out that: They choose new temporary directors of CTU by seniority (but we’re still happy Chloe is now in charge); They choose new presidents of fictional countries by marriage; They choose new plot lines by recycling old presidents; The sniper who killed Renee better be choosing his coffin, because Jack is going to be doing some recycling of his own.

The following takes place between 9 am to 10 am:

9:00 am – Jack tries to use his powers of staring to bring Renee back to life, but it isn’t working. A nurse comes in to take Renee’s body away, and I have to say it is the best acting Renee has done all season.

Jack wanders down the hallway and another nurse gives him some new clothes, with less blood on them, to put on. His phone rings. It’s Chloe.

Jack insists on finding the person who killed Renee. Chloe doesn’t know who did it, but does know the Russian mafia is involved. She’s reluctant to give Jack any information since she’s now in charge of CTU. She’s also pretty sure that Jack is completely capable of taking out the entire Russian Mafia with a shoelace and a butter knife, so she declines to tell him where he can get more information.

Jack knows they still have Bazhaev in custody, and he promises not to interfere with the overall CTU investigation. In Jack Talk that translates to: “I’ll only kill him a little bit if he doesn’t give me the information I want.” Chloe, who has known Jack for eons, believes this for some reason, and tells him where Bazhaev is currently being held – he’s in federal court downtown.

9:02 am – Ethan, who had a major heart attack a few hours ago, who was denied treatment by some White House staffers a few less hours ago, and who got out of surgery even fewer hours ago… shows up for work. This guy is the very definition of a workaholic. Mrs. President is shocked to see him.

Mrs. President tells Ethan that she decided to send ex-President Logan over to the Russian embassy to pick up some of those cool nesting dolls, and to negotiate a peace treaty while he was there. Ethan asks how Logan intends to do this, and like everyone else on the show, Mrs. President is completely stumped. She has no idea, and assumed that he was going to try to win them over by offering them a bunch of blue jeans and iPads. Ethan thinks this is pretty suspicious.

9:04 am – President Logan shows up at the Russian embassy outdoor buffet, and orders an espresso from one of the KGB agents. Novakovich tries to explain how sorry he is about Hasan’s death, but Logan isn’t buying it. It could be the huge smile on Novakovich’s face while he says it. He goes on to explain that he doesn’t think Hasan’s wife can do a thing to help the peace process, since there was so much opposition.
Continue reading “Season 8 – 24 – 9 am to 10 am”

How To Kill A Smoke Monster

About that Smoke Monster/Man in Black/UnLocke…. whatever it is.

We’ve seen that Smoke Monster for six seasons now. The only thing we’ve seen stop it was that sonic fence. All that did was stop it from getting into the Dharma compound. It certainly didn’t do enough to kill it.

We’ve seen the Man in Black, disguised as Locke, take a knife right in the chest. He pulled it out, and didn’t have a scratch on him.

So, how in the heck do you kill someone/something like that? Everyone who’s shot at him have ended up being picked up, slammed against the wall and killed.

You know what? I think I figured it out, and we’ve seen the answer repeatedly over the whole season.

The secret weapon is Jacob’s ashes.

Think about it… what do you think would happen if a big plume of black smoke came barreling down on Hurley and he tossed Jacob’s ashes right into the middle of it? I’m guessing that it would turn into a HUGE problem for the Man in Black, and would very likely kill him.

What do you think? Off base? Right on? Have any better ideas? Let’s hear ’em in the comment section!

edit: After reading the comments, I should point out that I’m talking about the ashes of Jacob that Ilana gathered after Jacob’s death, not the ashes that were used by Dogen or the ashes that were around the cabin.

LOST – Everyone Loves Hugo – Theories and Observations

Spoilers ahead

Another great episode, full of surprises!

First some of the things I saw:


  • Pierre Chang (aka. Dr. Marvin Candle) – the guy from the films that were first seen in the Hatch, was the announcer for Hugo’s award presentation. …And it sure seemed like that might have been a memorial service.

  • Good to see Michael again. And glad to finally get an official explanation for what those whispers were. I know most everyone knew the whispering was a precursor for someone dead appearing, but it was good to find out that they are “the ones that can’t move on”. Perhaps when this all resolves, they’ll be able to move on. I think it’s also likely they’ll eventually all help take down the man in black.

  • GREAT to see Libby. No real explanation for how the “real” Libby (as opposed to the “sideways” Libby) go into the mental hospital, and come to think of it no real explanation of how Libby started seeing the “other” universe. I really liked how they put that together.

  • Ilana blowing up was a shocker. If we go by the LOST mythos for when people die on the island (and Ben’s observation later) was “done” with what she had to do there. Perhaps she’ll be back to help as a ghost?

  • That spear Locke is carving… what is he planning on using that for? Anything? Maybe the stick is just a stick.

  • I thought it was interesting that Sayid admitted he didn’t kill Widmore’s people… I didn’t say this last episode when it happened, but maybe there could some good left in him?

  • Anyone know what that red book was that Hurley found in Ilana’s belongings?

  • I thought it was interesting to see that the Jacob’s ashes are now in Hurley’s possession. We’re going to be seeing more of that bag.

  • Wasn’t the guy behind the counter at Mr. Clucks a former actor on “Freaks and Geeks”? Sure looked like it.

  • Desmond meets with Hurley, and gives him a little push in the right direction to find out what’s was going on with Libby. Desmond’s order number “42” was a nice touch.

  • Does Desmond really think UnLocke is really John Locke?

  • Ben’s observation about Ilana and wondering what the island will do with everyone else is interesting too. Will they be killed? Let go, free to leave? Will they pull a Klinger and stay even though they’ve been desperate to leave?

  • The Black Rock blowing up… Sure didn’t see that coming.

  • I liked Hurley’s observation: “Dead people more reliable than the live people”.

  • There was an island on the chalk board at the mental institution.

  • A different kid shows up, and freaks out UnLocke. Are these kids that were originally on the island?

  • Why in the world does Hurley want to take everyone to see Locke?

  • Nice move by Richard trying to get Hurley to tell him that the island is a bottle. Speaking of Richard, now that Ilana blew up, Richard’s about the only one that knows what’s going on. Richard, Ben and Miles leaving…. I think it’s a mistake that they went off by themselves. It’ll probably end up getting them killed.

  • Jack’s observation that he’s supposed to “let go” was interesting. But, in true LOST fashion, they plant that seed of doubt when Hurley says, “unless you letting go gets us killed.”

  • Michael wants Hurley to tell Libby that he’s “very sorry”. Why haven’t we seen Libby yet? Has she been able to move on?

  • Good to see that Hurley and Libby got that date on the beach. When they kissed, all those memories came flooding back to Hurley. That’s probably the key thing to people remembering: Love.

  • When UnLocke and Desmond made it to that well, it was a foregone conclusion that Locke was going to dump Desmond into it. And if you saw the previews, you know that it didn’t kill Desmond. UnLocke also said that it wasn’t the only well on the island.

    Also good to see that UnLocke is a little unnerved that Desmond isn’t afraid.


  • Jack sure looked surprised when he saw UnLocke, didn’t he? And Sun was disappointed not to see Jin.

  • And what about Desmond slamming into Locke in that wheelchair? Wow! The ramifications of that…geesh. My very first thought after seeing that was, will that accident get Locke to walk again? Second, maybe that was Desmond’s way of getting Locke to have a near death experience so he could see himself on the island. Harsh. Third, maybe the Locke we’ve been seeing in the “sideways” world isn’t Locke at all. Maybe that’s really the Man in Black, who’s taken over as Locke in this world and Desmond really was trying to kill him?

  • The preview for next week looked great too. I loved they used the Gene Wilder chant from “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”. Sure looked like Sayid was headed out to shoot Desmond, didn’t it?

  • Finally, did anyone notice Hurley looking into a mirror in this episode, as so many others did in their episodes?

    • So, what did you think of this episode?

Season 8 – 24 – 8 am to 9 am


Previously on “24”: We saw Lady Gaga drive away with Omar in the back of her car; We witnessed Cole’s attempt to become a Scanner to blow up Dana. It wasn’t working, but he did have the right facial expressions down cold; Dana got an immunity agreement, which is now as endangered as a cupcake in the middle of a kindergarten class; Omar went to great lengths not to be on the show again; Finally, we saw a number of things resolve (kind of), except for that weird smell in the heating ducts at CTU.

The following takes place between 8 am and 9 am:

8:00 am – Mrs. President gets a phone call from Jack, who gives her an apology: He wanted to kill a lot more bad guys, and save more heads of state. Jack has a wire hanging from his ear while he makes this call, but everyone is too scared to tell him about it.

In the hallway, Samir is relaxing on a gurney, with a not so relaxing Jack Bullet in his shoulder. They’re going to transport him for questioning. At least most of them want to do this. Someone no one recognizes as “The New Guy” waits until everyone looks in the other direction and tries to give Samir a Botox injection. He completely misses and sticks the injection in Samir’s neck instead. Realizing his mistake, he makes a quick exit, stage left.

While he’s headed down the stairs, he encounters Renee. She looks at him for a second and seems to recognize him from…somewhere, but she’s not quite sure where. She realizes it must be from those Brooding Seminars she’s been taking, and then she goes upstairs to meet with Jack.

8:02 am – Renee tries to console Jack by telling him the number of bad guys he personally shot, but it doesn’t do any good. Jack talks to Cole and tells him that he and Renee are headed home where there are (usually) a lot less terrorists.

8:03 am – Tim tells Mrs. President that the delegates have arrived, and she goes off to meet them. While this goes on, Novakovich tells Minister Jamat that he sure is sorry that Hasan died. Oh, and that he sure bets Jamat is happy that Hasan died, even though Novakovich is sorry. Jamat realizes he’s talking to a crazy person, and leaves.
Continue reading “Season 8 – 24 – 8 am to 9 am”

LOST – Happily Ever After


SPOILERS AHEAD

Now, THAT was a good episode!

Finally we get a peak at the endgame might be in LOST. Charlie, who apparently had a hallucination of Claire, figured out that something wasn’t quite right with the world. Desmond experienced it too and ended up finding Penny, and from here on out, at least in the sideways world, he’s going to try and round up people from flight 815.

Some thoughts:

It was great to see Fisher Stevens back as George Minkowski… only this time as the chauffeur. I really like that actor. Good to see Penny back too.

I thought Eloise’s insight that Desmond had what he always wanted, the acceptance of Charles Widmore a pretty big reveal. Does that mean that in this alternate timeline that all the 815ers have what they always wanted? I think the jury is still out on that one, because in some cases I think it’s obviously true: Hurley, for example, thinks he has the best luck in the world. Sawyer seems to be on the straight and narrow… at least as much as Sawyer could be. Kate… well, not so much at this point. Definitely not Sun and Jin.

Pretty wild about Daniel Faraday being a musician, eh? I thought it was pretty convenient that he was able to explain the equations leading to the nuclear weapons “I think I already did it” so rapidly, so that was kind of a let down, but a good shove for Desmond in the right direction.

I did you catch the reflection this episode? Desmond saw his in the glass door of the police station as he approached it.

So, with this latest blast of magnetic energy, and passing out and all that. Did “regular” Desmond just pass out in the jungle in Sayid when we saw the sideways Desmond talk to George in that limo?

What the heck does Charles want Desmond to do?

What in the heck is going on with Eloise? She always seems to know exactly what the heck is going on, no matter what the timeline is. How in the heck is she doing that?

That’s it for now. What did you think of tonight’s episode?