My reflections on the Final episode of Lost.

For the past 6 years, Lost has captured my undivided attention with all it's intrigue and mystery. Now that the show has ended, I'm not sure how I feel about the way the End Game played out. From the initial plane crash to the revelation of the sideways flashes being some sort of Purgatory where all the characters meet before moving onto their next spiritual plane (aka Heaven?), Lost has managed to make Sci-Fi on Network Primetime TV cool again, which probably hasn't happened since Star Trek,( not that I was around when that happened, but can you name any big extremely successful sci-fi shows on network TV since then?). What I hope if anything, this show accomplished is that it creates a legacy to be carried on for years after. Being a serial that required every episode to be watched, Sci-Fi in Primetime show and succeeding, it deserves a legacy.

When the dust settled and we saw the show begin and end with the proper bookends of Jack's eye opening to the plane crash and Jack's eye closing as he dies (in the same location in the bamboo field with Vincent the dog no less), the finale executed a very poetic end to a beloved series. With the characters, we got closure as they found each other in Lost's personal non-specific religion's Purgatory. Kind of ironic that a long believed theory about The Island being Purgatory would be dismissed and come back as the reason we had a flash sideways universe. However, being that this is Lost, when we saw that all familiar logo (this time with a chime rather than the "boom" sound) we were still left with many questions unanswered. This is where the mixed feelings come into play. We were never told what made Walt special or why he had powers, never were we explained who built the temple and the statue, and we got vague at best answers for what the island was, what is the smoke monster, who the inhabitants before Jacob were, and what is the "light cave of goodness" really about. Furthermore, what was the consequences of detonating Jughead? The DVD is said to feature the island's unanswered questions, but a less-vague explanation to some of these questions would have been nice to hold us over. As my wife put it, maybe 3 more minutes with Christian would have put us at ease. I would like to think of this as Lost's way to create their own personal version of "Trekies", I can see us "Losties/Lostaways" debating the show for years after the finale.

In the end though, I liked the closure we got in the Lostverse afterlife. We saw our favorite couples finding one another again (Claire & Charlie, Desmond & Penny, Sawyer & Juliette, and finally Kate and Jack), it ended in a very "The Last Battle" way and for that the show ended with it's real purpose: showing us the love and lives of the main characters we grew with the last six years. Meanwhile the Island and it's mysteries are left in the air, as the show's MacGuffin.

For me, I view this as this generation's Star Trek. While i doubt we'll see a Lost movie, I really won't be surprised to see a spin-off down the line. There's a few open possibilities, such as Hugo & Ben's time on the Island or something during the Dharma years, and given the proper treatment, I think it may turn out decent, I'll give it a try. Should it happen? probably not, but it is a lucrative franchise with devoted fans, so in a few years, i totally see it happening. I'd want at the very least, a Lost theme park attraction, and why not? Harry Potter and Shrek gets one! I see a future of Lost collectibles, special edition DVDs, hopefully a Scene-It game, and a Lego set would be bad ass and please God make the Dharma Swan Station alarm clock a reality. I guess now I can understand how people became Trekies (even though i sort-of became a Trek fan recently with the new movie and such) because if there's every any Lost-cons I'm there geeking it up with my band of brothers and sisters who faithfully followed the show for 6 years.


Now that there's no more Lost, aside from having debates and discussions with fellow fans, or rotating the series at our home (like we do with LOTR) every so often, I will probably grow a grief-beard in honor of Dr. Jack Shepard (i'm almost there anyway). I'm a little sad to see it go, but like the show's characters "it was time to let go" and let it end. Plus it would really suck if the show became another ER where only 1 maybe 2 original cast members stay on while everyone else would be killed or wrote off. It was Lost's time, plus tired exchanges with people who haven't seen the show thinking it's just about survivors of a plane crash on a island vs our geeky over analytical conversations about what's happening would probably turn brutal and nasty if the show continued with both parties not being able to stand one another. Last but not least, I want to clear the record about Kate and Charlie. I actually liked them, but making off-color remarks about them verbally and on this blog were fun to do and I liked the mixed reactions for drinking the hate-kateraide. The only characters i hated were Nikki and Paulo...and Bai Ling. But they were responsible for ABC to finally say "Geeze make it stop..We'll give you a end date!! please no more!!". While I'll miss "water-cooler" talks about the latest episode (although i never once talked near a water cooler), or saying "Happy Lost Day", drinking when i see a "Jackface" and finally reading the transcript of the comic-con panels between seasons hyping the next season, I'm glad they got to end the way they wanted even if it generated mixed results.

For the final time: Namaste

The Netflix expirement: part III

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The Netflix Experiment part II

After my last blog entry dedicated to the unexpected and unfortunate passing of Zoey cat, I felt that I needed something easy but fun to read to get back to the tone of the usual stuff I like to write about, plus it's a good first step to move on. I decided to reveal the results of my 2nd month of my 3 month Netflix experiment. Basically for Christmas, my sister-in-law got me a 3 dvd at a time, 3 month pass. Due to the live streaming and the overall convienience we've decided to go forward and continue the subscription when the trial runs out. Also these were pretty easy to do and gain quite a few comments when the posts go from my blog to facebook, so I'll probably do one of these every month. Anyway This time around didn't do as many classic movies as last month and I had more recent releases. In addition I took advantage of the streaming feature to have a few more titles. So here's what I watched in February:

Star Trek: First Contact- Since last summer when i realized the CW here played a lot of the classic Star Trek Episodes, i began to Tivo them. Then came the new Star Trek movie, and then once the classic Star Trek episodes abruptly stop, I found out around 3 am, Star Trek: The Next Generation reruns came on a different channel here. Then I found all the old "Kirk era" movies at blockbuster and bought them out. Needless to say, I turned into a nerd this last year. I'm sure I've seen most of this one on USA at some point and time, but this is definitely the best of the Next Generation movies and ranks just behind the new movie & Wrath of Khan . Plus the Borg is awesome. 5 of 5 Stars

Star Trek: Insurrection- eh it was an odd numbered Trek movie, didn't expect too much of it. But there was some highlights like Jean Luc getting his mack on the age-less chick and going rouge. But other than that it seemed a little undercooked. 3 of 5 stars

Star Trek: Nemesis - And this is where for the first time an even-numbered Trek movie sucked. It really wasn't as bad as I heard it would be, but (Spoiler Alert!!) it seemed they really wasted Data just for the sake of killing off a major character. However, like Spock, Data really doesn't die, instead he lives on in the form of his retarded brother B4. Also, for a Jean Luc clone, the antagonist really wasn't threatening in the least bit...maybe the Romulans should have cloned Worf instead, because it's been a while since we've had an evil Klingon antagonist (the last one just quoted Shakespeare a lot). 3 of 5 stars

Surrogates- This is probably the closest we'll get to having Bruce Willis in a Terminator movie. It wasn't bad, but I'm also biased b/c I like Bruce Willis a lot (my wife claims it's a man crush). The thing I think made me not enjoy it to it's full potential is probably due to the fact I already saw the Matrix before seeing this. Had it not been for that this could have been a really awesome movie. But none-the-less Bruce Willis vs robots is still not a wasted 2 hours. 3 of 5 stars

Ratatouille- Seen it before, I just wanted to see it again. By far my favorite of the Pixar movies. 5 of 5 stars

The Fountain- 3 words: "What the F?" I don't know what the hell happened in this movie. I can't argue it's a wonderfully beautiful and artistic movie but I don't have the slightest clue as to how to describe it to someone. Initially I assumed it was about a conquistador finding the tree of life which breaks into the conquistador timeline, the modern scientist timeline, and finally the super-space-monk-astronaut timeline. Sounds cool and simple, but then the crap hit the fan and super-space-monk-astronaut is floating around in the conquistador timeline and i think at one time he turns into a meteor or something and also the conquistador drinks the sap from the tree of life and turns into a flower patch. Even wikipedia (my source for explaining complicated movies) doesn't know what the hell the movie is about either. It does somehow manage to slow down and make sense for 20 minutes here and there so that saves it but still what the hell? It's random crap that makes no sense, but it's BEAUTIFUL random crap that makes no sense. 2 of 5 stars.

Moon- Another re-watched movie from the summer. I really liked it a lot. It's basically Cast-Away but on the moon plus throw in some really good sci-fi twists and that's pretty much what Moon is about. Plus Kevin Spacey voices the computer/robot (the "Wilson" of Moon). Also, David Bowie's son directed so that was kind of cool. 4 of 5 stars

Terminator: Salvation- Like Moon, I caught this last summer. It's definitely better than 3, but not quite at the level of the first two. There is a few cheesy parts such as when the Harvester, a 50 foot tall robot, somehow sneaks up on Chekov (aka Kyle Reese in this movie) without anyone hearing it. Seriously shouldn't this thing be shaking the earth every step it makes like the T-rex in Jurassic Park? Anyway it's still a pretty enjoyable movie and even CG Arnold shows up at some point. 4 of 5 stars.

Neverwas- This was a movie I've never heard of when it came out, but I did see it when I worked at Hastings and wanted to give it a try sometime. This movie goes to show that Ian McKellan is freaking awesome no matter if he's a mutant, wizard or crazy old man. It did end a little differently than I expected it to (I expected a Narnia-esque fantasy ending), but it was pretty good none-the-less. 4 of 5 stars.

Pee-Wee's Big Adventure- I've seen this movie several times and had to make Stacey watch it. Plus I thought this movie was freaking awesome in the old days but also a lot of movies I thought were awesome back then turn out retarded nowadays (like Cabin Boy). So I needed a rewatch. I also had the urge to see it after Paul Ruben's made a few Tonight show appearances and it still holds up today as a comedy gold mine. 5 of 5 stars.

Spartacus: Blood and Sand- This actually isn't a movie, rather this is a new show on Starz. After having tons of promo material at work for this new show, i decided to see the first two episodes. Basically it's 300 as a tv show, but toss in a little softcore porn (they are Romans after all), the modern profanity that was in Deadwood, and the most ridiculous CGI blood imaginable and that is what this show is like. Story-wise, it's pretty good, but the CGI blood looks like they employed someone that is still learning how to do CGI and there are SO many times in the span of 2 episodes where way too much of it is shown to "Army of Darkness" levels, but I think unlike Army of Darkness they were being serious about the blood. 2 episodes of that and I was done, I could care less what happens now, the crap CGI ruined it for me. As for the cast, the only noticeable people in this show are Lucy Lawless (who shows a few years too late what exactly was under all that warrior-princess armor) and the guy that played Johnathan from the Mummy movies. Everyone else seems to be 300 rejects. Horrible, but if you're into campy stuff you'll like it. 1 of 5 stars.

Brick- Seen it already, mostly rented this for Stacey to see. I personally liked it a lot, especially since I enjoy the Raymond Chandler hard-boiled detective stories which this movie plays into. This 2nd viewing of it made me realize that Claire from Lost has a small role in the film. Pretty cool and hip. 4 of 5 stars.

The Invention of Lying- This could have been one of the funniest movies I've seen in a while. But about a hour into the movie, it takes a hard left turn and becomes an Atheist platform movie. Personally I didn't care about that part, nor was I offended, it's just a movie (I love Tarantino movies but they don't make me want to rob banks or anything, so the Atheist sub-plot wasn't going to convert me) . I think it would have been funnier had it been a minor detail and the movie stayed more focused on the romantic comedy portion of the film. A movie about a world where no one can lie (except Ricky Gervais' character) and where there's no imagination ("movies" are historians reading books) and people say exactly what's on their minds was enough to carry on the film without the whole Atheist subplot (which was a little worse than the robot subplot of Rocky 3). 3 of 5 stars.

Fletch- Never seen this classic before. I think i like this better than the vacation movies honestly. 4 of 5 stars.

Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist- Pretty fun movie, Micheal Cera in yet another awkward teen role, no big surprise there. 3 of 5 stars.

Hornblower: The New Adventures- Before dating Stacey, I never heard of Horatio Hornblower and Ion Grufford was just the guy who played Mr. Fantastic. She got me into this mini-series and I've enjoyed watching them. These are pretty good for a mini-series and it's a bummer that A&E won't be producing any more. This would make a great big screen series should they ever go forward with it. 4 of 5 stars.

Zoey: In Memorandum

Author's Note: Usually I do a lot of fun/silly notes on this blog, but for the first time in a long time I wanted to drop a serious entry. In the book "Me Talk Pretty One Day", Author David Sedaris, mixes the funny with the sad. Inspired by his essay "The Youth in Asia" where he recounts a few family pets and their lives, I found it fitting to throw in an inspired serious entry between my LOST fandom and movie/pop culture/ random complaining entries. Plus, I think this is my own personal way to deal with the loss of a pet. So this really is more for me than anyone else, but if you happen to read this, I promise my next entry will be funny.

Zoey entered our lives just a little over a month ago. A friend of Stacey's was looking for a home for her since Zoey didn't quite get along with her bunnies. We weren't looking for another cat, but we decided after weighing the pros and cons to take her in. Not so much because we wanted another cat, but mostly so that our cat Gilbert could have a playmate that wouldn't mind his sneak attacks as much as we did. Within a few days, the two were great friends (that's all they'd be since Gilbert is neutered and didn't care so much about her looks). We'd occasionally be woken up by the playful hoots between the two cats who decided playtime would begin once the lights go out rather than during the daytime when they would take a 2o hour nap instead. The impact of introducing Zoey into our lives was immediate. Our arms and legs would no longer bear evidence of a Gilbert mauling and we were able to get a collection of funny and cute pictures of the two together.

With no name besides "Kitty" or "the cat", we decided to pick a name for her and even reached out to our facebook friends to help pick a name between "Zoey" or "Isis". She technically would be known as "Madeline" at the Denver Dumb Friends League, but her previous owner and us did not enjoy the name so much. So we compiled a list of possible names. We had a few fun and pop culture inspired names like "Petra" or "Ripley" were eliminated earlier. It was a close call but in the end the name "Zoey" became the winner. The name Zoey, by the way, came from the TV show Firefly. She also subsequently earned a few nicknames in her time. Zoe-bot was a common one for her, and I likened to calling her "Ol smokey-face" due to her gray face. Had she lived longer, several more would likely follow as we call Gilbert several things depending on the mood of the week, that's just how Stacey and I roll.

Zoey fit into our family rather quickly. Soon she would give "nose kisses" to us when parting or greeting and sometimes for no reason at all. And like Gilbert, she was intrigued by the mystical world of the shower. She was a little more adventurous about trying to enter the "magic rain-box" and even got a quick splash or two when we decided to turn on the shower head. After that experience, she'd hold off her investigation into the shower until after it was used and the water was off. She was a quick learner, she also picked up on the fact that when treat time came, we liked to make the cats do a small "trick" and put their front paws on our knees before being rewarded.

Zoey often would like to engage in long conversations with us (usually whilst doing her crazy "exorcist kitty" head spin). We didn't have much to talk about really, but she did like meowing "answers" to us. Since she officially became a part of our family, we bought her a kitty bed and new collar. When Stacey would have to go to work she often enjoyed exploring the balcony while I'd wave goodbye to her, but since it was too cold we had to compromise on cold nights by having the fireplace going. She would often be found sleeping in front of the robust fire I started, I believe this was a fair compromise to her.

Although she wasn't as mischievous as Gilbert, Zoey often found her way into mischief. With her being so tiny and light, she found that she could stealthily jump on top of the fridge without us knowing until something would move, or Gilbert would express his jealous meows "to tell on her". She was also responsible for our impromptu pillow barrier in front of our couch after she had a expedition not under, but INSIDE the couch, causing one major headache rescue mission for Stacey and I.

Zoey became sick on Sunday and threw up her food from earlier in the day, in the past Gilbert would do the same thing but we were recommended to not feed him for 12-24 hours, then try a small amount of bland food. So we did this and Tuesday it seemed she started to show signs of recovery by playing with Gilbert. That night she even tried to sleep in bed with us...which we allowed until it became uncomfortable. By Wednesday she seemed extremely bad and would not eat at all despite what was offered to her, that night she slept between Stacey and I all night long. Thursday we took her to the vet where it was discovered that she was in really bad shape and we elected to try to save her by paying for an overnight visit and an IV line. The outlook seemed very grim and it was doubtful she would make it throughout the night. Knowing that in all likelihood, that she would probably die overnight, Stacey and I did a few farewells to her before leaving. Zoey managed to survive overnight and shortly afterward the vet gave Stacey a call saying that Zoey is getting worse and needed us to approve euthanasia and invited us to say our goodbyes. I was unable to go to work due to running a few minutes late and not knowing if I could afford another "late occurrence" following the snow delays the week before. I didn't want to take a chance so I called in absent (better a day's pay cut than a permanent one). On the way home Stacey phoned me and told me the news and I met with her at the vet office. After having Stacey sign the paperwork for the euthanasia , the Vet brought Zoey in to spend a little time with us before having to euthanize her. She was heavily sedated and swaddled in a few blankets to keep her warm and comfortable. We didn't want to spend more time to delay the inevitable but we both sadly held and caressed her assuring her that we love her and will miss her. She would just stare up at us, which I believe she knew that this was our farewell to her. I didn't want to stay for the actual euthanasia, so I said bye to Zoey and despite her heavy sedation, she managed to lift her head high enough to give me one final "nose kiss".

I made a B-line to my car where I cried for the first time since Stacey and I were going long distance with our relationship 2 years ago before moving to Colorado. I was done for the moment when Stacey came back out. I was assured that Zoey went peacefully and didn't have any convulsions or show any pain. Being a student at a Vet Tech school, Stacey was asked if she'd be interested in attending Zoey's autopsy. She was able to attend and immediately got into "work mode", so to everyone and later, my surprise she was able to go through it without crying. Which is good, since she'll have to deal with this sort of thing after she's done with her program and this was a good test for her. The autopsy would reveal that Zoey had abnormally small kidneys, which she was born with. Because of this defect she was not able to handle things most cats could, the non-toxic flower we noted she chewed on from a bouquet I got Stacey for Valentines Day could have been too much for her, making it one of several possibilities. This was comforting to know, since she was born with this, she would have inevitably been in this position later in life or have suffered a chronic kidney disease. We also realized that in all likelihood we'd probably have not been able to save her anyway as she died of (or was dying of) acute renal failure and we did and paid for everything we could to possibly save her. In the end, hard as it was, I was glad to say goodbye to her, rather than get a voicemail and immediately having to deal with customer's complaining about a 2 dollar increase in their bills for the rest of the day.

Although she was with us for a month, Zoey was a major part of our family and we were glad that her final month she had a playmate and enjoyed her final days before growing ill. She leaves behind a void which will be very hard to fill and will be missed.






Zoey Bagby
Dec 22, 2008- Feb 26, 2010

The Netflix Expirement

So for Christmas, my sister-in-law Stephanie got me 3 months of Netflix for free. Having never used the service, I've decided that this would be the best way to catch up on my "To watch" list. So here's a few reviews of movies that I finally got to see (some are old, some new).

The Third Man (1949) starring Orson Welles
Harry Lime isn't too far behind Charles Foster Kane in my book! This movie is extremely close to topping Kane in quality. Set in Vienna post WWII, this thriller/mystery is worth watching. Although Welles doesn't show up until well into the last 1/3rd of the movie, when he's onscreen it's awesome. The rest of the cast are entertaining as well. This is one that definitely stands the test of time. 5 of 5 stars

Blade Runner (1982) Starring Harrison Ford
This one has been on my list for a very long time, so naturally I made it part of my first batch. Sadly I wasn't captivated by it as expected. I liked the storyline, but just something about it didn't just click with me, which makes me sad. However I do believe that part of the reason is that I've seen references in movie magazines and such that make reference to the is "Deckard really an android?" question, and I guess i was expecting a "I am Tyler Durden" moment instead of the subtle moment at the end of the movie. However I do plan to give it another try eventually to see how i ultimately feel about it. 3.5 of 5 stars

Ghost World (2001) Starring Thora Birch and Steve Buscemi
I've seen this one before, but Stacey hasn't and for some reason I brought it up a few days before setting up the Netflix account. It's a pretty fun independent comedy (with Scarlett Johansen before she became a big name) and I didn't know until recently it's based on a graphic novel (probably b/c the ones i read are about superheroes and stuff and not teenage girls facing post-High School Life). 4 of 5 stars

UP (2009)
Freaking Pixar! They know how to make cartoons for all ages, but they also know how to make you sad. The first 10 minutes of this movie were so depressing. But with that said, this is a toss-up with Ratatouille as my favorite Pixar movie. 5 of 5

Extract (2009) Starring Jason Bateman, Mila Kunis
The last good Mike Judge movie made was probably Office Space, so it was nice to see his workplace humor and memorable character form show up in this movie. The whole plot of the movie is about sexual frustration basically and we all know that's freakin hilarious right? What i loved about the movie though is the guy who played Champ on Anchorman plays probably the most annoying neighbor ever , it was one of those characters that you want to stab in the neck with a pencil, but yet probably the best part of movie (just like Milton in Office Space). However long-hair and bearded Ben Affleck and Mila Kunis were pretty annoying so that knocked a few points down. 4 of 5 stars

Day That the Earth Stood Still (1951)
This movie had the Blade Runner effect on me. I expected myself to like it but it just didn't do wonders on me like I was anticipating. For the time it was made, i agree it was pretty good, but it just didn't captivate me like i wanted it to. 3 of 5 stars

RocknRolla (2008) Starring Gerard Butler
This took a bit of time to get into but then it becomes a lot like Snatch. Although not as good as Snatch, it was still pretty cool. Guy Richie once again makes a invincible Russian antagonist which makes me now think Russians just can't get killed no matter how many times shot or ran over. This is supposed to be the first of a trilogy but with Sherlock Holmes doing pretty good, I'm not sure we'll see "The Real Rocknrolla" anytime soon or at all. 4 of 5 stars

Observe & Report (2009) Starring Seth Rogen
A few funny parts, too many parts that aren't and try too hard. 1 of 5 stars

The Wrestler (2009) Starring Mickey Rourke
Bravo! Mr. Rourke. It doesn't take long to see exactly why Mickey Rourke was nominated for an Oscar. Great storytelling. 4.5 of 5

Bottle Rocket (1996) Starring Owen & Luke Wilson
Thanks to this movie we were introduced to Wes Anderson and the Wilson Brothers. Not nearly as good as Rushmore or Life Aquatic, it's still pretty fun to watch. 3 of 5 stars

Miller's Crossing (1990) Starring Ethan Coen
This was one that Stacey and I were split on. She hated it, I very much enjoyed it. I really think i've seen this before, but it's a fun Italian mafia vs Irish mafia flick. Fun as a movie it is, I'm pretty sure when people with machine guns are shot, they probably won't stand around shooting the gun for 30 seconds in every direction....but it's funny. 4 of 5 stars

Green Street Hooligans (2005) Starring Elijah Wood
Pretty much Fight Club in England. it's a decent film and some good fight scenes show up. Do hooligans really hate journalists though? That's the only thing i sort of scratched my head over. I thought they'd hate people on opposing teams a lot worse. 3 of 5 stars

Ronin (1998) Starring Robert De Niro
I love Robert Di Niro. And he's probably the only thing i liked about this movie. That and the car chase. Could have been cooler but then again I may be expecting too much after seeing Heat.
3 of 5 stars

A Scanner Darkly (2006) Starring Keanu Reeves
This was pretty interesting and it's the second Phillip K. Dick movie I watched this last month. Filmed and then animated over, it was a interesting watch. The movie itself was alright and Robert Downey Jr. was awesome anytime he was onscreen. Although the movie was alright, what's really cool is the story behind the story it's based on. This was Phillip K. Dick's semi-autobiographical story about living in LA during a time he was pretty heavy into drugs. The excerpt at the end of the movie lists people "who were punished entirely too much for what they did" that lists people who died or suffered permanent damage b/c of drugs came right from the book. Pretty cool and makes me want to read it. 4 of 5 stars

Haven (2004) starring Orlando Bloom
The cover of this DVD makes it look like another "Crash" and the film kind of steers that direction, however a lot of sloppy editing kind of ruins it. 3 of 5 stars

Away we Go (2009) Starring Jim from the Office!
Pretty much a grown up version of Juno which substitutes weird made-up slang, hamburger phones and cross country running training for a weird Maggie Gyllenhaal, and a bearded Jim from The Office. 4 of 5 stars

Getting "Lost" again Pt 5 of 5

It has finally come to this, the massive 103 hour project of re-watching Lost seasons 1-5 before the sixth and final season have officially ended for me moments ago with just a week to spare. So here is my last entry with a look back at season 5. Remember to read this blog on http://bradsasylum.blogspot.com so that you can see it in the way I want it to be read (pictures look better, no cut-off sentences by facebook, ect)

Overall, Season 5 was probably my personal favorite season, Season 4 was good and sometimes I feel that season 4 may be the better of the seasons, but with all the sci-fi elements mixed into Season 5, I'm pretty sure it's my favorite most of the time. It begins a little confusing enough with all the time traveling shenanigans but it comes into it's own once the time traveling stops during the time of the Dharma Initiative (aka the group of people living on the island before the crash that Ben Linus & the others wiped out, they also built all the hatches on the island).
So lets kick off with what i consider my favorite episodes of Season 5

"Jughead"- Within a few moments of this episode Daniel Faraday (aka Twitchy) goes from a Swiss cheese-memory addled physicist to a major power player (although his rocket test in season 4 was pretty important). We learn that Charles Widmore was an other, "Jughead" is introduced, and Richard Alpert looks the same in the 50s as he does in 2008 (He's totally going to be revealed as a Highlander.) Present day we learn that Desmond named his son Charlie (aww) and that Oxford pretty much covered up Faraday's time travel experiments after he went from rat testing to human testing. Plus as a bonus, I'm pretty sure one thing i missed the first time around or didn't read into was when the Others first catch Faraday & Co. Ellie asks Faraday "You just couldn't stay away could you". Naturally, I assumed with the jumping back and forth through time they'd encounter the Other's at an earlier time to prompt her saying that, but not the case as they only bump into the Others at a later time period, so I'm thinking crazy ol Faraday has done this dance before, hence why he was crying at the Oceanic 815 crash discovery footage on his TV and not knowing why, or even why he knows so much about the Island.


"LaFleur"- I love everything about this episode. Sawyer finally becomes a leader without Jack or Locke getting in the way. Being the skillful conman he is, Sawyer is able to safely con his way into the Dharma Initiative where he, Juliet, Miles, Jin and Faraday spend 3 years with pot brownies, Geranamo Jackson playing on the airwaves and that paranoid Crazy Bastard Radzinsky. Plus Sawyer gets to shack up with Juliet for 3 years, who's considerably much better than Kate, thus making Sawyer the character who gets laid the most on Lost (Juliet, Kate, Ana Lucia, and pretty much everyone he conned pre-crash, including his baby-momma Cassidy, who is also Kate's friend...i wonder if Kate ever told her?)


"The Variable"- After being gone for a good portion of the season Faraday returns to the Island on a mission beginning with wanting to know how in the Hell the Oceanic Six were able to return to the Island in the same time period they are living in. Faraday then goes off the rails and decides that whole business of "whatever happened, happened" is a crock and decides that he can prevent Oceanic Flight 815 from ever crashing by detonating "Jughead" (whom he instructed the Others to bury), which would create a chain of events that will domino effect to the point where 815 never crashes, so the frieghter never comes, the smoke monster never gets explained still, and everything is cool and people won't have to die (which sucks b/c that means Artz, Nikki, Paulo, Boone, and Frogurt will get to live on to annoy the piss out of everyone.). Daniel's plan was great and everything except for the part where he goes into the Other's camp to get killed by his own beastwhore mother. We also learn Widmore is Faraday's dad. Worst.Parents.Ever.


Season 5 VIP
This is probably the easiest choice in this series of blogs, hands down Sawyer owned season 5. We saw him go from a scavenger, conning, sort of a jerk survivor to a much more mature character. His years as "Jim LaFleur", Dharma's chief of Security were probably his best. Secondly, he beats the bloody hell out of Jack in a fight I've waited 5 seasons for. Don't get me wrong I like Jack, but he has moments where he needs a beating and Sawyer was there at the right place at the right time to deliver. No other character except Faraday came close to shining as bright as Sawyer this season.

Re-evaluated Characters
Ok it's painful to admit, but I didn't find Kate annoying this season. It took me 5 long seasons to admit that. I really can't find a reason to not like her this season (and trust me I tried). Other seasons she would get caught by the Others, having her longtime boyfriend killed in police shootouts, and she poisons Captain Mal from Firefly (who's a cop she married while on the run, which makes her a helluva master of disguise or makes Nathan Fillion's cop a idiot). Anyway she turned out to be a decent person after leaving the island and taking care of Turnip-head (aka Aaron) as her own child since Claire's MIA, she also takes care of Sawyer's daughter, and even makes Jack happy...but then also helps create my favorite lost character "bearded pill-popping depressed Jack" when their engagement is called off.

Also I found Crazy Bastard Radzinsky to be worse than that weasel Phil (I purposely capitalized "crazy" and "bastard" as this is a more fitting first name than "Stu"). Initially Phil annoyed me but second time around Crazy Bastard Radzinsky was a lot worse. As weasel Phil is just annoying and an inconvenience mostly, Crazy Bastard Radzinsky is crazy, stubborn, and mean. I think I liked him more when he was just a blood splatter on the ceiling of the hatch. I did however cheer when Phil got skewered in the season finale.


And Now For Something Completely Different.....
That's it for this blog series looking back at Lost. The season begins next Tuesday and so far from promotional pictures this final season should be fun and we'll see a few old friends along the way. Plus I'm glad it's starting now with the whole Conan vs. NBC/Leno mess, it'll be good to see quality TV that won't get pulled off the air by airheaded executives....even though they may have Lost: The Next Generation when they start to miss the ratings in a few years, but as far as the castaways we know and love now, it's better to end now than to be a watered down show after a few seasons and for that I'm happy. With a week to spare, there's a ton of special features on the DVDs that I've been wanting to get to so now I'll have time to watch bloopers, deleted scenes and the "Mysteries of the Universe- Dharma Initiative" sounds particularly interesting.
Anyway below is how I think this is the best way to end this blog series.
Remember to drink when you see a "Jackface"!

Getting "Lost" again Pt 4 of 5

In my continuation of my look back at "Lost" I have now finished Season 4 of Lost (didn't take nearly as long and still one of the better of the seasons). Again, I must remind you that if seeing on Facebook please go to my blog's homepage at http://bradsasylum.blogspot.com/, the reason being that all the cool pictures I pick and so on, show up much, much better on the actual site.

So looking back at Season 4 the gameplan changes for our Lost castaways as "Rescue" comes. From Hurley being arrested in present day LA saying he's "One of the Oceanic 6" to Locke moving the Island, this season was pretty consistant in quality, there were no B-squad special episodes like Nikki and Paulo's episode featuring Artz, Shannon & Boone, nor were there any episodes dedicated to Jack's Tattoos, everything was straight-forward. Now that Darleton had a end date, they could move foward and not have to stall anymore and the result was a great season.

Looking back at Season 4, here is my top 3 picks for the best episodes of Season 4:

"The Constant"- Without a shadow of doubt, this is probably the best episode of Lost to date and resides at my personal favorite episode. Centered on Desmond, this episode followed our favorite Scott as he becomes unstuck in time transferring between the present 2004 and 1996. Very reminiscent of "All Good Things...." (aka last Star Trek: The Next Generation episode) this one is a classic and also mullet Faraday is a classic too. Plus crazy confused Desmond is awesome!


"The Shape of Things to Come"- Everyone's favorite lying salamander-esque villain Benjamin Linus is in full geared bad-ass mode in this episode. Was it just me or did this feel like a Indiana Jones feeling episode with the globe-treking that Ben does and the Smoke Monster filling in as the God Storm at the end of Raiders of the Lost Arc. Plus we get to see Ben and Sayid team up and that was pretty awesome. But what really should be worth noting is that Ben does have a heart when his "Daughter" Alex gets a metal slug in the brain from Keamy.

"Cabin Fever" - Locke, Ben and Hurley go searching for Jacob's cabin, but to be honest everything in this episode doesn't hold a candle to the flashback meeting between child Locke and Richard Alpert in what should be a recruiting attempt. I firmly believe that this moment will play out really big in season 6. Richard shows John a set of items including a compass, a vial of sand, a baseball glove, a book of laws, a comic book and a knife apparently belonging to Locke in a past life. It would seem Locke chose the sand (from the island?) and the compass correctly, but instead of choosing the book of laws as the scene (and most likely Richard) suggests should be the right option, little Locke picks the knife causing a hasty exit from Richard. Also worth noting is that Christian Shepard appears in this episode for the first time not in a suit suggesting that "Cabin Christian" may not be Christian at all (my guess is that it's the "Man in Black", who appears to be Jacob's enemy).

*Bonus* "Ji Yeon"- Lost knows exactly how to pull a sucker punch. This entire episode made us believe that Jin & Sun made it off the Island together since it showed Sun about to give birth and Jin making a mad dash to get a present before going to the Hospital. But it turns out that the Sun story was a flash-foward while Jin's was a flashback with the episode ending with Sun and Hurley "visiting" Jin.....AT HIS FREAKING TOMBSTONE!!!


Season 4 VIP(s):
To be perfectly Honest I could see a few people at this spot. But the two that stood out most this season was Ben and Sayid.
For Sayid, he secures his place as the man to go to when you absolutely, positively have to kill some bad guys. His flashfowards are intriguing as he starts killing off possible Charles Widmore associates at the order of Ben. Later we see him busting Hurley out of the mental institution. On the Island, Sayid teams up with the Others to rescue Ben and to take out Keamy and his men.

Ben on the other hand is hard to turn down and deny the honor of being a standout this season. But after seeing he somehow can summon the smoke monster, that makes him awesome. Also he shoots Charlotte (who's a bitch pretty much) and that was awesome, but she had a bulletproof vest. Also we learn that in the grand scheme of things everyone is Ben's bitch even when he's handcuffed and getting the crap knocked out of him. Finally you know you have a good character when his "I wasn't telling the full truth" moment never ever gets old and anyone that can take out armed guys with a collapsible baton is awesome.

PS: I wish they had more drug-riddled Jack, I think that's when I best enjoy the character. The first disk menu on the DVD for this season has him soaking in all his craziness with maps of islands and such...it's glorious.



That does it for my look back at Season 4. Just one more season to finish before the final season begins!