Lost - The Constant

After finishing my post about Eggtown last week, I felt a bit bad about bitching about it, as I had managed to enjoy it even though it had not been perfect. I had considered editing it to make it a little less catty, and when I realised I had neglected to mention my biggest bugbear (that the shots of the Barracks featured no evidence of anyone other than our heroes living there even though Locke had managed to rustle up a convoy of panicky survivors to drink his Kool Aid), I figured I'd let it slide even though it irked me throughout.


Now that I've seen The Constant twice, I can safely say that the quality gulf between them was so large that I feel no further guilt, though to be honest that's as much because The Constant was a series highlight as it is due to Eggtown being below par. The latest mind-bending time-travelling adventures of Desmond were as great as hoped, though not for the reasons I expected.

Of course, I still had my fill of the cool WTF stuff that I love so much. Possibly the most startling moment came when we saw Charles Widmore bidding on a Black Rock journal put up for auction by the hitherto unmentioned Tovard Hanso, but this is only really interesting to Lost nerds, and is probably only a set up for something later in the series. That's if he shows up later. In my last Lost post I whined about Ken Leung disappearing from the show as he is signed to be in a play, but now it seems he's not the only one. Will Alan Dale's Grail quest ruin our show? If so, decorum prevents me from disclosing where I'm going to push that pram a lot.

So, it was cool to see Charles Widmore hunting down island memorabilia, and it was cool to see an episode that eschewed flashbacks altogether, with the show format replaced by a linear (to Desmond) narrative that just happened to move back and forth in time (though it's arguable that that is what the show has always done, in a manner of speaking), and it was way cool to see the scope of the show expand a little further, with the panoramic first shots of the freighter looking just gorgeous.


However, the meat of the episode, the stuff that made it so special, was the temporary pay-off to the Desmond-Penny love story. This has been building up for a couple of years now, and hopefully it will come to an even more satisfying conclusion later (i.e. one that doesn't involve any death, showrunners!!!!), but for now, this was exactly what we were after, and not just because Desmond never shuts up about her. Seriously, I'm amazed no one has thrown him into Room 23 for some serious reprogramming before now.

Desmond's desperation might have been a little wearing in previous episodes, but this week Cuse and Lindelof cleverly made his search for Penny a life-or-death quest through time, his life depending on finding her both in the past and the present. His consciousness zipping back and forth between two versions of himself, he sought her out in an effort to keep his mind rooted in time, a condition brought on by what I assume is his exposure to the electromagnetic forces unleashed when the Swan station imploded. That said, was the time travelling side effect triggered by the helicopter leaving the path Faraday gave Frank?


It certainly seemed like the storm blew the helicopter off course, even if it was by a few degrees. If this is the case, and if this is the same heading given to Michael in the season two finale, perhaps everyone on the island is similarly affected and irradiated, and all the hatch implosion did was temporarily unmoor Desmond's consciousness in Flashes Before Your Eyes. Perhaps all my conjecturising is futile, as it's not like we got all the answers we wanted this week (which is just fine for the hardcore fans).

Of course it also meant a return for Sonya Walger. I've never been crazy about the character of Penny prior to this episode, but it was good to see Walger back in that role again, after her appearances in Tell Me You're My Constant and Terminator: TSCC. In those she often comes off poorly, either as a baby-crazy beyhotch or second-best ladyfriend to someone still besotted with his soldier girl from the past, but here she got to be the spurned lover and the loyal soulmate hunting her true love across the planet. We've had hints of her proactive nature before now, so seeing her past fury at Desmond for deserting her was deeply unsettling at first.


As Desmond's brain approached boiling point, he found his true love in 1996 with the help of her evil dad, improbably enough, and got her phone number, despite her fears that he would just use it to start phoning her immediately, which was the last thing pastPenny wanted after being spurned so nastily on the South Bank of the Thames. Telling her he would call her in eight years, she turfed him out of her expensive London pad, and he disconsolately walked away, heartbroken by her rejection of him and probably convinced she was not going to wait around for his call.


In every previous episode the flashbacks have followed a steady format, with whooshy music and a cut at the crescendo, but as this episode had linear flashbacks that were part of the plot, Desmond's timehopping went unheralded by editing tricks. We saw his jumps become more frequent, until he was skipping back and forth, waiting on the phone in the present, walking away in the past. After turning away from Penny's house he hops back from pastDesmond to 2004 to begin his call to Penny (thus making her prediction about his immediate calling come true, in a way), and in possibly the most poetic time travel moment since the final scene of The Terminator, future Desmond hears Penny pick up the phone, and in the past he realises that his terrible mistake in running away from Penny has been resolved.


Earlier tonight a colleague commented on how Lost is often misinterpreted as a clinical show with no real emotion behind it, and cited the season one finale with Sawyer telling Jack about his father as an example of how stupid that criticism is. That was a moving scene, and I'm sure if I had more time I could think of others. There's never been anything like this moment before, though.


While the Jack-Kate-Sawyer-Juliet quadrangle has its charms, and while Sawyer's longing has made me tear up before, Penny and Desmond's ill-fated love has been the most "sappy" arc on the show, sometimes veering too close to Hallmark sentimentality to convince me on an emotional level. It's a different story now. I have no idea where they're going with this arc, and I fear the worst (why else give Desmond a final book to read, other than to copy John Updike?), but this incredible finale obliterated all of my doubt. I cried a bit when I first saw it, and watching it again yesterday I was a blubbering mess. As Desmond said, it was perfect. Well done, Darlton/Cuselof. Well done.


I had a moment of worry in the middle of the episode, though, as did Canyon, who groaned audibly when the concept of The Constant was introduced. Coming so soon after talk of lasers and consciousnesses traveling through time, it seemed awfully soppy one, and more than a little contrived. However, it did inspire a burst of fanwanking from myself (that it makes sense that the human mind can take control of its reaction to time travelling), and an observation from Canyon that in the end it doesn't matter because it worked so beautifully within the episode and gave us some emotionally cathartic drama with Desmond's large-scale goal (find Penny) reduced to a break-neck race to save himself (and don't heartfelt old romantics often think that failure to pursue the object of their unrequited love is of more importance than anything else?).

I also like that as the scene cut back and forth between the two of them gabbling promises of love and fealty to each other, they finished on a moment of synchronicity, saying "I love you," at the same time. Throughout the episode there were other dualities. It was only a few minutes ago that I noticed pastDesmond has short hair thanks to the dress code of the army, and futureFaraday also has short hair (though he retains his beard), whereas futureDesmond, naturally, has long crazy hair, as does pastFaraday. It's all tonsorially topsy turvy!


Some of the characters have reflections or dopplegangers, though I'll admit they're a bit of a stretch. Juliet faced off against CS Lewis, snottily complaining about the rescuers' treatment of the islanders, conjuring up some classic bitchface in the process (this is the most we've seen Juliet do so far this season, so I'm grateful to Darlton and show director Jack Bender for giving us this).


It got thrown right back at her by CS, who not only has the same brand of caustic sarcasm when affronted, but has similar hair and a similar build (though of course pretty much every woman on the island, bar Rose, is as skinny as a rake, so that's not a surprise). Also, she's awfully keen on Faraday keeping his secrets from the castaways, which is how Juliet behaved in season three, convincing Jack not to reveal their Otherkilling plan to Kate.


A new character, Keamy was introduced on the freighter (the name seemed potentially relevant, but the only vaguely Losty name I could find on the internet was this mime and massage chap who performs a work called Namaste). Played by a former comedian called Kevin Durand, he did nothing to suggest evil, but it poured off him anyway. He seriously creeped me out, even as he calmly stuck Desmond in the sick bay with easy platitudes and an imposing physical presence (i.e. he is enormous).


Meanwhile, Desmond's consciousness was flashing back to his time in the army, being bellowed at by an imposing sergeant played by Graham McTavish, who was recently seen bellowing at everyone in earshot in Sylvester Stallone's gizzard-shredding insane-athon Rambo. Typecast much?


Jack Bender also made sure to frame Desmond and Minkowski in a similar way, in order to draw attention to the similarity of their fates. While Minkowski is strapped down like this...


...Desmond is similarly "bound" by duty in the army, with the blanket echoing the straps on his fellow time traveller. Don't forget, only fools are enslaved by time and space.


I was a little confused by some things, though. Did Minkowski lose his memory too, or was that just Desmond and Faraday? Has Faraday been time travelling too? It stands to reason considering he has been exposed to a lot of radiation and has travelled through the disturbance surrounding the island. Does Desmond's appearance in the past mean his own memory has come back? It seemed likely, but again, it's hard to theorise about this as we don't have enough information yet. It also raises questions about Faraday's motivations thus far. Were the coordinates he gave Frank correct? And why do I not trust CS Lewis and think she's a bad egg? Perhaps the next episode will clear that up. I mean, clear it up as much as anything is cleared up on this show.

Further notes on this magnificent episode. If you're going to travel by plane and are at risk of crashing on a magnetised island, be sure to pack a pocket Sayid. That guy can do just about anything.


Good to see Marc "Ecklie from CSI" Vann playing a shady doctor, though due to the lack of computing power I have no way to get screen captures and YouTube clips didn't seem to find his presence worthy of inclusion in their library. So you'll have to take my word for it.

My favourite echo of the episode was Faraday telling Desmond that he can't change the future, which was the stern lesson given to him by Mrs. Hawking, Time Cop. At least this time no one got crushed by a building, Wicked Witch-style. I also liked Faraday bitching about the possible prank being played on him with, "Time paradox. How uninspiring." Another instance of Darlton playing with the audience and their critics. That said, as delightful as I found that, I screeched in frustration as Penny, mid-phone call, began to explain how her search for Desmond had involved some research when a burst of static covered her explanation. You teasing bastards! I take back my earlier praise.

When Minkowski died from the brain aneurysm, was anyone else reminded of Mikhail's "death" when he walked through the sonic fence? Will this death prove to be as temporary, or did they really cast Fisher Stevens just so they could kill him off straight away? Seems odd.


Or maybe it was punishment for playing the "comedy" Indian in the Short Circuit movies.


Not that he is entirely to blame, of course, but John Badham and Kenneth Johnson's careers aren't exactly in full bloom, and I'd like to think it's karmic in nature. And if you think I'm misremembering the horror of his "Oh dearie dear!" performance, Short Circuit 2 was on Five just a few hours before Lost aired on Sky One, and we watched a bit of it, our faces slack with horror. And that one didn't even have Ally "Best character in The Breakfast Club" Sheedy in it to make up for it! Pisspoor stuff.

When Desmond arrives in Oxford (nice of his time travelling to stop working during a long train journey from Glasgow), we see Faraday treating one of his students like total crap. For some reason that made me really happy, knowing that even a meek and put-upon physicist like him can be a pompous bully when necessary. I also noticed the campus for "Oxford" looks a lot like the monastery from Desmond's previous flashback episode. Were they filmed in the same place?


Pink laser! A nod to PKD's Valis, which I didn't pick up at first.


Of course, Philip K Dick was once hit by a pink laser fired by God (or a sentient satellite) and gave him the information that saved his son's life from a inguinal hernia. There are hints and tributes to Dick's work throughout the series; that super-relevant intonation "Only fools are enslaved by time and space" is derived from a Buddhist text, but it is reminiscent of some of Dick's writings. At least to me.

Loved the scary scene with the helicopter being buffeted by what looked like a bad storm on the way off the island. At last we see the rough ride we've been promised for so long.


The effects for this episode were supervised by Mitch Suskin, taking over from Kevin Blank, who appears to be working on other stuff following Blankscreen's superb effects work on Cloverfield. A quick IMDb check shows Blank worked on Tsui Hark's Legend of Zu, which is on my to-watch list. Cooler than that, Suskin worked on Predator and Poltergeist. In my capacity as an effects nerd, I am impressed.

Sad to see Sayid and Frank not getting on, especially with the bitchy comment from Frank about phoning Baghdad. Don't be a dick, dude. That said, even though we've not spent much time with him, it seems in keeping with his character that he would be a bit of a reactionary ass about such things. So yay for fleshing Frank out realistically, but boo to the jerkiness. More Frank awesomeness soon, please.

Apologies if this sounds bitchy, but what was up with Desmond's eye?


I really thought it was an effect of some sort, like a contact lens, to show that his brain was distorting due to the time travelling, but I don't think it is. Perhaps I should look back on previous episodes and see if there's anything else at play there.


It's like Steve Bell's cartoons of Tony Blair or something.


There's no need for that.

Lost - Eggtown

I tell you, not having a computer at home has made this very difficult. My beloved screencaps, which I take so much pride over, have had to be taken from YouTube, so the quality is a bit poo, but then to be honest this was far from my favourite episode. I had great difficulty mustering much enthusiasm for it, not helped by guessing what the twist ending would be as soon as I saw Kate giving Aaron the stink eye when Claire suggested she hold the baby. That is what I hear is known as "foreshadowing", which sounds like "flawshadowing", a word that, according to the Shades of Caruso dictionary, means, "Pointing out that something is going to happen later in a story either with some shaky writing or a sledgehammer-subtle visual". This is a genuine word. I didn't just make it up.


It was an especially disappointing episode as it was co-written by the hugely talented Elizabeth Sarnoff, who has previously worked on Deadwood and some of Lost's best episodes, including The Man Behind The Curtain. However, she did also co-write Stranger in a Strange Land, possibly the worst episode of Lost ever, so let's hope she only writes one of those a season and now Eggtown is out of the way we're back to the usual superb standards.

Sarnoff worked with another writer this week, a chap called Greggory Nations, who previously worked on Nash Bridges and apparently wrote the Lost show bible, which must have been a frustrating and time-consuming experience. On the production side of things, we were treated to the return of Stephen Williams and Cort Fey, who last shot the incredible Confirmed Dead. That was a visual tour de force, but this week was comparatively restrained, either because of the nature of the script, or because the shooting schedule didn't allow for more time to be expended on it.


This week was primarily about Kate bartering for information and freedom, either through trades or trickery. Hurley and Locke came off worst, with Miles and Ben doing fairly well with their own trade-off (Ben will give a tantalisingly exact amount of money to Miles so that he will keep his mouth shut, possibly by killing other characters, including C.S. Lewis). That theme was reflected in the title, which appparently referred to trading in the old West. That said, the definition was listed as fact on Lostpedia, and repeated around the blogosphere, but now it's missing from the Lostpedia page altogether. This was what it said, as far as I can recall:

Egg-town is a pejorative term that refers to the days of bartering during the Great Depression. A traveling salesman would have to barter his candy or tobacco or shoelaces for different commodities. A poor exchange would be for eggs, a relatively common item that was also highly perishable. Nobody wanted to trade for eggs from a traveling salesman because they had their own, so the salesman who accepted an egg in exchange was forced to accept a bad deal. Salesmen would tell each other things like, "If I were you, I would stay away from Bogart. That's an egg-town." Of course, salesmen often didn't trust each other, and it was likely that one salesman would lie to another about the quality of a town's customers to keep them for himself. Invariably, the second salesman would venture into Bogart only to find it truly was an egg-town. He was either persuaded to not visit a town that had good customers or was tricked into visiting a town that could only offer eggs. The term "egg-town" represents a deal with undesirable outcomes in either case.

That they have taken it down makes it seem like it might not have been true, or was a joke. Detached from the possibly genuine meaning, calling a place an egg-town sounds fake, like saying, "You wouldn't want to invest in that company. Those are pickle-juice stocks. They'll just quack your portfolio into a zinc-box." Of course, I could be wrong about this.

Whatever the meaning (many think it has to do with the eggs Locke brought Ben prior to killing the island's last chicken -- in which case, why wasn't the episode called "The Last Chicken"?), it was a Kate-centric episode, and much as I don't want to join in with the usual internet shrugging whenever the show concentrates on her, I often find it hard to give a damn about her and her woes. This has nothing to do with Evangeline Lilly, who I think is just fine in the part. However, she obviously has considerable charm and liveliness outside of her stinky Kate garb, as shown when she was interviewed by Letterman recently. Her tales of failing to travel to China due to oblivious disregard of international visa laws charmed his horrible white socks off, and us too. Why doesn't she get a chance to shine like that in the show?

To be honest, there are only two times she interests me. Firstly as an action lady, kicking ass and taking names, as shown here in a murky screencap of her knocking the shit out of a padlock while Miles watches in bemusement behind her.


Secondly, as a member of the Kate-Jack-Juliet-Sawyer quadrangle of loaded looks and occasional lust. This aspect of the show has often annoyed fans, but I started to enjoy it in the third season, mostly because I love Sawyer and was happy to see him receive some attention from the islander of his dreams. I still get choked up during the scene when he nearly gets killed by Michael Bowen and she pleads for his life.


Another thing that damaged my potential affection for the character came early on, when we found out she was on the run from the law. It's a horrible cliche in TV and film that if we're going to side with a character who is a fugitive, they either have to be innocent, or guilty of one of the "lesser" crimes (car theft, or self-defence murder). A friend could never enjoy Con Air, as even though Cameron Poe killed a man defending his pregnant wife, it was still murder, and he couldn't get past it. It doesn't bother me anywhere near as much (and certainly didn't affect my love for Con Air, which is a classic half-spoof/half-full-on actioner filled with flights of absurd genius), but it can be very obvious. In the first season, Kate was shown doing some incredibly stupid and reckless things, getting the love of her life killed and robbing a bank just to get a memento of him back, but her first crime was left unexplained. I suspected it would be something to do with killing someone who abused her, and it struck me as a reasonable way to have her be a fugitive but still be accepted.


However, it turned out to be a horrible cliche, and a total non-surprise, and smacked of a lack of imagination, as if her character hadn't been fully thought through. Her flashbacks have been less revealing than anyone else's, featuring only the odd cool moment (her "good dad" knew Sayid in Iraq!). This meant I was less than invested in her flash-forward, and if the big moment of the episode was the shocking reveal of her "adoption" of Aaron, then that got spoiled too, so we were totally onto a loser.


Even worse, the trial scenes were rushed through so fast that they were littered with illogicalities. Though I was glad to see Big Love's Shaun Doyle defending Kate, he seemed to get her off with some bizarre tactic that involved going on and on about being a hero. Never mind the fact that she was involved in at least two deaths and a bank robbery. Never mind that she spent years on the run. Never mind that the US Marshall escorting her died in the 815 crash (that really doesn't sound at all dubious). She looked after a bunch of people on the island. And we only have Jack's word for it! No testimony from Hurley or Sayid, though that might be because Hurley is in an institution and Sayid is hunting The Economist, and the sixth survivor (if Aaron counts as number five on that list) is hiding until the forthcoming reveal. Also, I didn't like her hair during the trial. She looks better with it down. [/catty]


While watching it, we were incredulous that the prosecutor asked Jack if he loved Kate. Would that really be a question during a big murder trial? "Do you have noogy-oogy-boo-boo feelings for the defendent? Remember, you're under oath!" It struck us as silly, but thinking about it now, knowing that apparently the prosecution only had one bit of proof up their sleeve (Kate's mom's testimony), and the defence only had one thing to exonerate Kate (Jack's shifty testimony), I guess they really needed to crush him with some hardcore legal manoevering. Even so, it was a weirdly awkward moment in Lost history.


Good job Kate's mom finally tried to revoke her Lost-Gupta status by changing her mind, although seemingly doing it so she could see Aaron was a bit of a screw-up. The character has long annoyed me. I might not like Kate's backstory much, thinking it the least fleshed out of all the Lost characters still living (let's not get into the Shannon/Boone stuff), but it did have that frisson of featuring some rare mother issues in a show so dominated by father issues. Sure, Kate had those too, but her mother was particularly nasty, so seeing her soften in this episode was a welcome change. Beth Broderick played the hell out of her short scene, showing a mixture of contrition, indignation and bemusement. Kate's rejection of her was all the more affecting for it.


In the past few weeks I've tried to look at the visual choices made by the directors, but this week, as I mentioned before, was rather muted. That said, while going over the YouTube clips, I noticed a lot of third-person shots throughout Kate's scenes. Sometimes it was subtle...


...and sometimes it took over the frame.


I guess it's to do with Kate's connection with those around her, especially the men in her life. For a lot of the episode she is trying to figure out if getting off the island is a good idea or not, and so is doing her own thing. She needs Sawyer's help, but it's her plan, and she gets what she wants, though perhaps she isn't going to be too happy about what she finds out. Not to mention having to put up with Miles's lame come-ons.


Nevertheless, while she's seeking an answer to her questions, Jack in the future and Sawyer in the past try to (benevolently) impose themselves on her, and as such crowd her in the frame. She acts reluctant to let them in, but she is in the frame too, just to show her complicated feelings for the men.


In one scene, while she is alone in the frame, ostensibly visiting Sawyer to discuss the outcome of their plan to get Ben and Miles together, we can see her reflection in a mirror behind her, together on the bed with Sawyer. It's as if we're seeing what's in the back of her mind (i.e., some sweet island sex with her hott bad boy).


Of course, by the end of the episode she pushed Sawyer away and leapt on his relief over her non-pregnancy so she had an excuse to leave (not to mention Locke banishing her from the Barracks in an echo of Juliet's branding and shunning by the Others). Well, that's one reading. The other is that she wanted to be with Sawyer, but on her own terms. Sadly, he didn't see it that way. That certainly seems to be the case with Jack in the future, so obviously besotted with her but unable to do what she wants out of some unknown reticence over her adoption of Aaron. These hott men just won't let her be herself, and she's willing to be alone if necessary, and by the end of the show the only male sharing the frame with her is Aaron.


So, in retrospect, a frustrating episode, mostly treading water while setting up future episodes with Sun and Jin, showing Faraday suffering from a mysterious case of amnesia, and giving Ben something to do other than be tied up and sarcastic. I didn't hate it (it's an impossibility), but it didn't fire my imagination the way Confirmed Dead or The Economist did. Oh well, I don't expect every episode to be a masterpiece. It was still worthwhile, and Kate still had her good moments. For a start, she has finally removed the stinky clothes that have been dominating the screen every time she appears. Canyon was most pleased by that turnout. Also, she did get to be a badass (when the show started I often thought of her as Spock to Jack's Kirk, but that didn't work over time). I love that she is meant to be easily as tough (if not tougher) than the guys around her, and the most startling moment of the whole episode came as she reacted to Sawyer's snide taunting with a vicious backhand that knocked him across the bed.


He made a few good points, even though he was being unnecessarily spiteful. To be honest, the show is definitely featuring much more violent behaviour from our heroes, and the internets are buzzing with talk that the castaways are now far worse than the Others ever were. If it's not Hurley turning on his friends, Jack attempting to shoot Locke, everyone kicking Ben around as if he were a sneaky football, and Kate knocking Sawyer's hair flying, it's Locke turning into a pure psychopath by putting a grenade in Miles's mouth, a WTF moment that is running the risk of being purely absurd.


Hopefully that grenade is fake; otherwise Locke is crossing a line. Of course, the news that Miles won't be around in the last five episodes due to Ken Leung having other commitments makes me mad enough to look the other way on this. To quote Carlton Cuse:

We have one actor we very much need who is doing a play and another actor doing an HBO series. But we also have some opportunities. Nestor Carbonell, who played Richard Alpert last season, was on Cane. But now we'll be able to use him. Another unforeseen advantage is that we'll be able to respond to confusion the audience might have about the season so far.

Yay regarding Carbonell, but it sucks that Miles won't be around. I totally understand Leung's need to find work, though. This is mere frustration that this excellent character won't be around. Rumour has it the other missing actor will be Sonya Walger, who will be off obsessing about babies on Tell Me You Are Available To Finish Filming Lost Please.

Anyway, I'm still freaked out by Locke's utter craziness this week. I bet he killed the damn chicken out of fury. I'll even bet he'd named the thing Ben, and tore its head off in frustration. To make things worse, Locke's attitude to Miles' predicament was obnoxiously blase. He pissed me off with his little ring flip.


Man, just because Ben is being particularly accurate with his little barbs of disdain doesn't mean Locke can get away with being a jerk of this magnitude. That said, Ben sniffed at Locke bringing him a copy of PKD's Valis, saying he had already read it. Dude! That's a total masterpiece! It rewards further reading, and you should know that, you pouty douche. I'm conflicted!

Still, we get a break from the island violence and PKD-snubbing tonight, with the broadcast of The Constant. I saw a quick clip from it on YouTube while looking for these clips, and it looks like the most fascinating and headbending episode ever. Watch out for Minkowski's first appearance. It will drive the internet wild with speculation and worry over Desmond's fate, if it hasn't already. Speaking of driving people wild, we very nearly had a wardrobe malfunction in Eggtown. Sawyer was being more open than usual while wooing Kate in his bedroom. If you know what I mean.


It's at times like this that you really miss being able to get HD screencaps. I can imagine I just disappointed a lot of Sawyer fans with that crappy and frustrating image.