>: 83 BECAUSE YOU LEFT
And we're back.
I would say best opening episode of a season since the beginning. They always manage to do a pretty excellent opening scene (even though Hurley’s chase last time wasn’t quite as much thunder as usual, the only big deal being the universal shrug at the first utterance of the phrase “Oceanic Six”), but then it tapers off somewhat. After the genius Desmond/Mama Cass bit, we had to wait another two weeks to see our first orientation tape, but the truth is, after such a long wait, I usually feel just the least bit let down when we hit those four letters at the end as it takes a couple of weeks to ramp everything back up (biggest example was that incredible Juliet opening for 3.1, the plane crashing, Ben sending Ethan and Goodwin in undercover in a matter of seconds, tapering off to . . . who’s Jack’s wife cheating on him with? (and what was the point of that, unless it’s still relevant, which I can’t imagine that it is, hope not, at least)(don’t let the door hit you on the way out, Julie Bowen).
But.
All of which to say, not only did this one deliver an insane opening scene, the quality remained high. Let’s break down that first bit: opening shot of the clock changing to 8:15 with immediate allusion to the Swan’s timer/alarm, and yeah it wakes up an unspecified fella who pushes the button like a good boy and is married to an Asian woman. He heads to the turntable for a bit of Willie (his third appearance of the series, I believe), and what a brilliant way to set up the season with all the time-shifting, as Faraday tells us, “like a record skipping.” Dude fixes a bottle (which, aside from freaking us out over here at our place as we’d just spent the past hour feeding the kid and trying to get her to go to sleep and stop soaking up the insane energy that her father was just streaming into the room, lots of pacing [and for that matter, the kid and I have listened to a fair share of Zeppelin and McCoy and, yes, RED-HEADED STRANGER on vinyl in the past month, so just weird all around], aside from that, let’s not ignore what the baby tells us: that pre-Incident [one presumes] on-island newborns were viable and carried to term with no ill effects for Mother). So, we still don’t know who the guy is, but then everyone gasps when he says his first line and turns around to start filming the Arrow orientation tape. But “there’s somethine wrong!”, aside from his name being Chang and not a candle-derivative, there’s initial drilling beneath the Orchid and a worker just convulsed himself to death. He catches a ride in Ben’s dad’s/Hurley’s VW bus, but I don’t think that’s young Roger “Workman” driving. I love how Chang’s (you know, he’s always going to be Marvin Candle to me, I remember he showed up for like five minutes in one of those Eastwood WWII flicks a couple years back and afterward I could never dial back into the movie, just wanted to know what the hell was going on with the DI) demeanor shifts by the time he hits the elevator for the ride down so that by the time they hit the bottom, he’s pretty much rocking full-on Bond mad scientist mode. Seems to be running the DI, at least day to day, at this point. And we get Ben’s frozen donkey wheel on sonar, how long’s it been there? But, of course, the kicker of the scene (and the two episodes, as far as I’m concerned) is Faraday just striding in undercover carrying a tank of something, bumping into Candle, even. What could his agenda be for being then? He goes on over the course of the episode to make a point to communicate that you can’t change the past, but he either changes his mind about that or figures out that he’s responsible for some pivotal island nonsense in the first place. Anyway, it’s a fascinating kernel to throw in at the end of the first scene of the season, can’t imagine it’s going to pay off until May sometime.
(and all right, wow, here on Saturday night, I've just found this video they played at Comic-Con this year, glad I didn't see it beforehand, but it's fascinating after this opening scene, particularly in light of the cameraman's voice...)
And we’re not even to the title yet!
Right back to Bearded Maniac hanging out with Ben and Dead Locke. Sorry to see the beard and pills go. Was a little surprised that they flashed back to the finale in such detail, it’s not like we hadn’t all watched it SEVEN TIMES to get ready. Anyone? Anyone? The “Three Years Earlier” title was also a bit strange. All of a sudden, they're not going to give us credit for knowing when everything is? The sound of a wave was always good enough for me. So, did the island move at the end of 2.23, when Desmond hit the failsafe? Same white flash. But then cutting to Locke, in the rain as ever, beautiful moment.
Ha, Frogurt’s actually wearing a red shirt even on the raft, can’t believe I missed that the first time through.
Did Rose say she was back at church, when she ran over to Bernard in such a panic? Eko’s church? I’m curious to know.
Wasn’t worried about Daniel for a minute, after THE CONSTANT, he’s got a lot more to do, even without the opening scene (and that video, that's freaking me out the more that I think about it).
Jin’s still listed in the cast. Does that mean they’re going to use that cheat of him not being in the last shot when the freighter blew?
The list of guest stars put me down, opening with Rose and Bernard who, no big deal, but then dropping Widmore, Richard, Ethan, Penny, serious stuff. Ha, all capped off by industry heavyweight Sean Whalen.
And Kate, still able to pick up and run on a moment's notice, great long shot of her packing, I liked the frame of it.
Shirtless Sawyer definitely cracked me up as soon as we saw him after the title, well before they started referencing it. You’ve got to love the Faraday bitch-slap. Explain yourself!
And Locke can’t get shed of that damn Nigerian plane! So, at this point was the island off the west coast of Africa a few years back, just a little while after Eko’s boys took off? Yeah, we didn’t need to actually see a Virgin Mary statue, got it. Enjoyed the black smoke coming out of it, thought the Monster was going to return. Also thought Locke was back to a cripple for sure this time. That daffy bastard.
Has any beloved character in the history of television returned more times postmortem than Ethan Rom? This appearance was a little light, but I’m awfully sweet on how he handled himself with Claire and Juliet back when. A bit deus ex machina to have the flash hit just as Locke fails to convince Ethan not to kill him, but I guess we are back at the plane, after all (non-acolytes, check the title to 1.19, said plane’s first appearance!)
Sawyer’s post-flash “Great” is pretty much a reprise, down to the shot, of Charlie’s “Terrific” before the first-ever commercial break.
Wonder if Sun was calling Kate in that first shot of her. How do any of the O6 get the “Wait just a moment” treatment from anyone at any time and not just start running?
Enjoyed Widmore’s “I will be respected, Sir,” to her. Man, what is her game? Does she really want to kill Ben or just setting Widmore up? I remember googling Widmore Labs after maybe 2.16 when the name showed up on Sun’s pregnancy test. Come quite a way since then.
Oh I miss you, Bearded Jack. Take some pills and walk into traffic. It does my heart good.
You have just got to respect Sayid’s use of balconies, lamps, frying pans, and kitchen knives in a fight. I’m betting that the only people that ever get sent after him never get a full dossier workup because, come on, who wouldn’t flee to Mexico when faced with completing that assignment?
And how about the balls on that guy who, when confronted with the specter of Hurley in his bathrobe on the balcony holding the gun, ACTUALLY TAKES A PICTURE WITH HIS PHONE and then runs back through the parking lot. I feel like I would dive over the dead assassin underneath the ledge as a knee-jerk, photographic evidence b’damned.
So Richard, looking like not immortal at all just a very experienced time-jumper. He gives Locke that compass back from the boyhood Dalai Lama test last season (4.11). And wow, it actually points North, they don’t sell those at Sears Roebuck.
John’s going to be “moving on soon”, any chance that’s not a Dark Tower shout-out?
Are we going to stay unstuck in time on-island all season long? I certainly hope so.
And the return of the Hatch! What a joy, though I thought we were going to get to play around inside one last time. Wonder if Daniel’s appeal to Desmond is the beginning of him realizing that you can work around the rules. And, honestly didn’t think we’d see Desmond or Pen for this entire season, that felt like a Goodbye last time out. Wonderful, of course. And Faraday’s got a mother to hunt down. Potentially serious meeting, there.
Loved this premiere. Of course, it was only 53 minutes long with commercials and onto the second episode before the end of the hour. I can deal with that.
Guess I need to shave. Might have popped some pills if I'd realized that this was my last evening to play along. Bearded Jack, you and Season One Locke and Mr. Eko, you were always the best.
I would say best opening episode of a season since the beginning. They always manage to do a pretty excellent opening scene (even though Hurley’s chase last time wasn’t quite as much thunder as usual, the only big deal being the universal shrug at the first utterance of the phrase “Oceanic Six”), but then it tapers off somewhat. After the genius Desmond/Mama Cass bit, we had to wait another two weeks to see our first orientation tape, but the truth is, after such a long wait, I usually feel just the least bit let down when we hit those four letters at the end as it takes a couple of weeks to ramp everything back up (biggest example was that incredible Juliet opening for 3.1, the plane crashing, Ben sending Ethan and Goodwin in undercover in a matter of seconds, tapering off to . . . who’s Jack’s wife cheating on him with? (and what was the point of that, unless it’s still relevant, which I can’t imagine that it is, hope not, at least)(don’t let the door hit you on the way out, Julie Bowen).
But.
All of which to say, not only did this one deliver an insane opening scene, the quality remained high. Let’s break down that first bit: opening shot of the clock changing to 8:15 with immediate allusion to the Swan’s timer/alarm, and yeah it wakes up an unspecified fella who pushes the button like a good boy and is married to an Asian woman. He heads to the turntable for a bit of Willie (his third appearance of the series, I believe), and what a brilliant way to set up the season with all the time-shifting, as Faraday tells us, “like a record skipping.” Dude fixes a bottle (which, aside from freaking us out over here at our place as we’d just spent the past hour feeding the kid and trying to get her to go to sleep and stop soaking up the insane energy that her father was just streaming into the room, lots of pacing [and for that matter, the kid and I have listened to a fair share of Zeppelin and McCoy and, yes, RED-HEADED STRANGER on vinyl in the past month, so just weird all around], aside from that, let’s not ignore what the baby tells us: that pre-Incident [one presumes] on-island newborns were viable and carried to term with no ill effects for Mother). So, we still don’t know who the guy is, but then everyone gasps when he says his first line and turns around to start filming the Arrow orientation tape. But “there’s somethine wrong!”, aside from his name being Chang and not a candle-derivative, there’s initial drilling beneath the Orchid and a worker just convulsed himself to death. He catches a ride in Ben’s dad’s/Hurley’s VW bus, but I don’t think that’s young Roger “Workman” driving. I love how Chang’s (you know, he’s always going to be Marvin Candle to me, I remember he showed up for like five minutes in one of those Eastwood WWII flicks a couple years back and afterward I could never dial back into the movie, just wanted to know what the hell was going on with the DI) demeanor shifts by the time he hits the elevator for the ride down so that by the time they hit the bottom, he’s pretty much rocking full-on Bond mad scientist mode. Seems to be running the DI, at least day to day, at this point. And we get Ben’s frozen donkey wheel on sonar, how long’s it been there? But, of course, the kicker of the scene (and the two episodes, as far as I’m concerned) is Faraday just striding in undercover carrying a tank of something, bumping into Candle, even. What could his agenda be for being then? He goes on over the course of the episode to make a point to communicate that you can’t change the past, but he either changes his mind about that or figures out that he’s responsible for some pivotal island nonsense in the first place. Anyway, it’s a fascinating kernel to throw in at the end of the first scene of the season, can’t imagine it’s going to pay off until May sometime.
(and all right, wow, here on Saturday night, I've just found this video they played at Comic-Con this year, glad I didn't see it beforehand, but it's fascinating after this opening scene, particularly in light of the cameraman's voice...)
And we’re not even to the title yet!
Right back to Bearded Maniac hanging out with Ben and Dead Locke. Sorry to see the beard and pills go. Was a little surprised that they flashed back to the finale in such detail, it’s not like we hadn’t all watched it SEVEN TIMES to get ready. Anyone? Anyone? The “Three Years Earlier” title was also a bit strange. All of a sudden, they're not going to give us credit for knowing when everything is? The sound of a wave was always good enough for me. So, did the island move at the end of 2.23, when Desmond hit the failsafe? Same white flash. But then cutting to Locke, in the rain as ever, beautiful moment.
Ha, Frogurt’s actually wearing a red shirt even on the raft, can’t believe I missed that the first time through.
Did Rose say she was back at church, when she ran over to Bernard in such a panic? Eko’s church? I’m curious to know.
Wasn’t worried about Daniel for a minute, after THE CONSTANT, he’s got a lot more to do, even without the opening scene (and that video, that's freaking me out the more that I think about it).
Jin’s still listed in the cast. Does that mean they’re going to use that cheat of him not being in the last shot when the freighter blew?
The list of guest stars put me down, opening with Rose and Bernard who, no big deal, but then dropping Widmore, Richard, Ethan, Penny, serious stuff. Ha, all capped off by industry heavyweight Sean Whalen.
And Kate, still able to pick up and run on a moment's notice, great long shot of her packing, I liked the frame of it.
Shirtless Sawyer definitely cracked me up as soon as we saw him after the title, well before they started referencing it. You’ve got to love the Faraday bitch-slap. Explain yourself!
And Locke can’t get shed of that damn Nigerian plane! So, at this point was the island off the west coast of Africa a few years back, just a little while after Eko’s boys took off? Yeah, we didn’t need to actually see a Virgin Mary statue, got it. Enjoyed the black smoke coming out of it, thought the Monster was going to return. Also thought Locke was back to a cripple for sure this time. That daffy bastard.
Has any beloved character in the history of television returned more times postmortem than Ethan Rom? This appearance was a little light, but I’m awfully sweet on how he handled himself with Claire and Juliet back when. A bit deus ex machina to have the flash hit just as Locke fails to convince Ethan not to kill him, but I guess we are back at the plane, after all (non-acolytes, check the title to 1.19, said plane’s first appearance!)
Sawyer’s post-flash “Great” is pretty much a reprise, down to the shot, of Charlie’s “Terrific” before the first-ever commercial break.
Wonder if Sun was calling Kate in that first shot of her. How do any of the O6 get the “Wait just a moment” treatment from anyone at any time and not just start running?
Enjoyed Widmore’s “I will be respected, Sir,” to her. Man, what is her game? Does she really want to kill Ben or just setting Widmore up? I remember googling Widmore Labs after maybe 2.16 when the name showed up on Sun’s pregnancy test. Come quite a way since then.
Oh I miss you, Bearded Jack. Take some pills and walk into traffic. It does my heart good.
You have just got to respect Sayid’s use of balconies, lamps, frying pans, and kitchen knives in a fight. I’m betting that the only people that ever get sent after him never get a full dossier workup because, come on, who wouldn’t flee to Mexico when faced with completing that assignment?
And how about the balls on that guy who, when confronted with the specter of Hurley in his bathrobe on the balcony holding the gun, ACTUALLY TAKES A PICTURE WITH HIS PHONE and then runs back through the parking lot. I feel like I would dive over the dead assassin underneath the ledge as a knee-jerk, photographic evidence b’damned.
So Richard, looking like not immortal at all just a very experienced time-jumper. He gives Locke that compass back from the boyhood Dalai Lama test last season (4.11). And wow, it actually points North, they don’t sell those at Sears Roebuck.
John’s going to be “moving on soon”, any chance that’s not a Dark Tower shout-out?
Are we going to stay unstuck in time on-island all season long? I certainly hope so.
And the return of the Hatch! What a joy, though I thought we were going to get to play around inside one last time. Wonder if Daniel’s appeal to Desmond is the beginning of him realizing that you can work around the rules. And, honestly didn’t think we’d see Desmond or Pen for this entire season, that felt like a Goodbye last time out. Wonderful, of course. And Faraday’s got a mother to hunt down. Potentially serious meeting, there.
Loved this premiere. Of course, it was only 53 minutes long with commercials and onto the second episode before the end of the hour. I can deal with that.
Guess I need to shave. Might have popped some pills if I'd realized that this was my last evening to play along. Bearded Jack, you and Season One Locke and Mr. Eko, you were always the best.
posted by rb at 5:26 PM
1 Comments:
I hadn't seen that video either. Besides Farraday's voice that is Charlotte's hair on the left side of the frame every now and then. I hadn't considered the Chang baby and its implications on the island.
Frogurt will always be that guy from the Got Milk campaign that was on the radio trivia game and couldn't answer that Alexander Hamilton was killed in a duel by Aaron Burr because of his peanut butter sandwich and lack of milk.
And I have been watching The Tick (live action) lately so Richard Alpert still has the suave lilt of Batmanuel in his voice to me.
Who says Anna Lucia wasn't real, as real as Jack's dad or Dave or Jacob or Libby or anyone else who shows up mysteriously. It was real enough for Hurley.
Great episode, wonderful recap. It is good to be back to the island.
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