L O S T / A L I A S
This is going to be another big one, mostly because this is the
biggest Wednesday so far in 2005 (also, it's the first Wednesday of
2005, but whatever). After three grueling weeks without, we finally
get a new Lost. To make the deal even sweeter, it's followed by a two
hour season-premiere of Alias (more on that later for the newbies and
skeptics out there). Needless to say, there's a lot to be excited
about. Let's get down to business.
Lost Episode Title: "Whatever the Case May Be"
Character Involved: Kate (Part II - Yes!)
TV Guide Description: Jack, Kate and Sawyer fight over possession of a
newly discovered locked metal briefcase which might contain insights
into Kate's mysterious past. Meanwhile, Sayid asks a reluctant Shannon
to translate notes he took from the French woman, a rising tide
threatens to engulf the fuselage and the entire beach encampment, and
Rose and a grieving Charlie tentatively bond over Claire's baffling
disappearance.
Brian's Deeper Meaning Guess: This one is pretty easy, I think. It's
really three-fold:
1. Whatever the case may be, referring to the newly discovered locked
metal briefcase in question.
2. Whatever the case may be, referring to Kate's crime and the "case"
involved with her being wanted by the law / bounty hunters.
3. Whatever the case may be, referring to Jack not caring what the
"case" or "crime" that Kate committed, because he hearts her anyways!
I'm wondering where this briefcase comes from - this can't be the
metal thing that Locke and Boone discovered last week because that
seemed to be huge and buried pretty good underneath rocks and mud and
stuff. Also, from the looks of the previews, I was sure this would be
a Boone and Shannon episode, since they seem to focus a lot on the two
of them. I guess it will likely be similar to how the last new episode
was Jack Part II even though the storyline really focused more on
Charlie and Claire. Which brings us to our discussion items:
1. Okay, let's check out the TV Guide description first.
a. Jack, Kate, and Sawyer fight over the briefcase. Okay, so perhaps
this is something that Sawyer has been hoarding for a while and Kate
just now sees and makes the connection to? (I would think that if this
was the case, it would be pretty easy for Kate to get it away from
Sawyer with her womanly ways) Was this something that the bounty
hunter was carrying on the plane?
b. Sayid asks Shannon to translate the French woman's notes. So Sayid
is at least confiding in Shannon about his encounter with CFL (Crazy
French Lady). Perhaps this is what puts Shannon into danger, which is
what looks like it happens on the previews.
c. A rising tide threatens to engulf the fuselage and entire beach
encampment. This would be a great way to get all the characters back
in one camp (the caves) to create new group dynamics / tensions (and
force Jack and Kate to hook up!) But since they've already been on the
island for a few weeks and this is the first time the tide has risen
so high, does this make any sense? Tides rise and fall on a daily
basis. Is the island sinking? Or is this more "magic" like how it will
stop and start raining instantaneously? (Note: I actually read that
they wanted to get rid of the plane debris on the beach to make
filming easier - this way they can use any part of the beach and not
have to worry about setting up a two story fuselage to film.)
d. Rose and Charlie bond over Claire's disappearance. So Rose is still
on that island! It's been a while since we've seen her last. I wonder
if this means that Charlie is out of his daze from last week - if so,
how much will he be talking? The obvious connection here is that Rose
thinks her husband is on the island and missing, much like Charlie
thinks Claire is still alive on the island and missing. We always
assumed that Rose was nuts, but what if she's not - and her husband is
discovered with Claire?
2. Now back to the last new episode, which was fantastic!
a. In theory, the abduction of Charlie and Claire could have been
carried out by Ethan alone, but I doubt it. Unless there was someway
that he "held Claire hostage", he would have had to overpower Charlie
to get him to come with him. Plus, did you see how Charlie was strung
up in the tree? There is NO WAY one man could do that. That's the work
of a lot of guys (with ladders or something?) So are these the people
encountered on the way back from Black Rock, as CFL put it? Do you
think there's a whole clan of them? Where did they come from?
b. What kind of super power does Ethan Rom have? He seemed almost
supernatural in fighting Jack last time (moving way too fast, being a
bit too strong). How did Kate not see him or hear him? It makes me
wonder about Kate. She didn't hear the screaming either when they were
chasing after them in the woods. It's weird.
c. So, let's say that Ethan is part of some "cult" on the island, why
do they want Claire's baby so badly? Is there some prophecy about a
baby coming to the island? Is there a connection with the psychic that
put Claire on the plane? Is all of this way off?
d. I'm more convinced than ever that Ethan is not Alex.
e. Did Ethan intend to kill Charlie? How long do you think he was
hanging there? You can only hang for like two or three minutes before
the lack of oxygen makes you go brain dead - but most of the time,
people who are hung die from their necks breaking. The thickness of
the ropes around his neck prevented this from happening - was that
intentional? They could have just used one rope...
3. Other thoughts:
a. How about the symbolism of Jack saving Charlie, after Charlie saved
Jack during the cave in?
b. Did Locke know that he and Boone were approaching the metal tunnels
of the cult? Remember how he kept telling Boone to back because it was
late, but Boone refused? Maybe he was afraid they were getting too
close? Also, once they found the metal underneath, Locke kept hitting
it with his flashlight - that would be SUPER LOUD if you were inside
the metal below, and could serve as a warning sign to hide... The
thing is, up until this point, I was firmly back on the "Locke is a
good guy" side - now I'm back to "I have no idea."
c. The scenes for this week show Jack yelling at people (I think he's
going crazier and crazier as the season goes on), Kate and Sawyer
running through the forest (probably one has the suitcase and the
other is chasing them for it), and Shannon being carried away as Boone
looks on - is this Shannon and Boone coming face to face with the
monster? Is Shannon getting eaten? Since Locke was with Boone, is he
going to be there to somehow communicate with the monster like he did
when he first met it?
Okay, unfortunately, since it's been so long since the last episode,
that's all I can think of. I'm somewhat ashamed...
The good news is, there's plenty more Email to go! We need to hook you
on Alias, which will be immediately following Lost. Here we go...
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Alias Pitch:
Keen to jump into the fourth season premiere of "Alias" this coming
Wednesday but worried that as a new viewer you won't understand what's
going on? Don't panic. According to an interview with creator J.J.
Abrams, the two-hour opener will be easy for newcomers to follow -
"We're not going to have any reprise (of previous seasons). We're not
going to have any explanation...In no way is this first episode
imposing or convoluted".
The plan, at least for the earlier episodes of this coming fourth
series, is that more than a few of the episodes will be
self-contained. Like any show there's more rewards in it for the
long-term viewer but the strategy is at least for the opening few
weeks to make it easy for a new audience to jump into the show which
hopes to benefit from its post-"Lost" timeslot. Don't expect the show
to go all "CSI" reset each week style however, as the season goes on
"Alias" will move back into the larger schemes (essentially it's like
the show's first season all over again). "Hopefully, people will be so
invested in the characters that they'll enjoy the ride" says Abrams.
Indeed, already a few reviewers of the first half of the premiere
episode (which introduces Angela Bassett in a recurring role) have
been raving it's better than ever, "the first ten minutes of the
premiere are among the most exciting I've ever seen on TV" says TV
columnist Kristin from E! Online.
Alias Summary:
Okay, so now that I've sold you on why you should be watching this
show, here's a brief summary of the first three seasons of the show.
Brace yourself:
SEASON ONE
For those unfamiliar with the show, it essentially plays out like a
forty-five minute episode of James Bond, with plenty of high-tech
gadgets, flamboyant action sequences, and rapid-fire dialogue.
Alias, if you don't know, features Jennifer Garner in the role of
Sydney Bristow. Sydney is an agent for the CIA...or that's what she
thought. Turns out Syd is working for SD-6, a secret, nefarious
organization working against the interests of the United States and
other law-abiding nations.
Sydney discovers the truth in the first episode after SD-6 kills her
fiance. Determined to avenge his death and destroy SD-6, she
approaches the CIA with the plan of being a double agent - continuing
to work for SD-6, but all the while stealing intelligence and foiling
their plans for the CIA. Vaughan (Michael Vartan), a young, handsome
CIA agent, becomes Sydney's handler and she passes the SD-6 secrets on
to him.
Her father, Jack (Victor Garber), is also working for SD-6, but Syd
comes to find out that he is also a double agent for the CIA! To say
Syd and Jack have a strained relationship is to grossly understate the
situation. Syd, as she says in the intro to most episodes in Season 1,
hardly knows her father. Her mother (supposedly) died in an accident
when Sydney was very young, and her father has always been emotionally
distant.
The premise of the show is that Jack and Syd, sometimes working
together, are trying to destroy SD-6 from the inside. The main
plot-line in Season 1 is that SD-6 wants to collect as many artifacts
of Milo Rambaldi as possible. Rambaldi is a 15th century architect who
may have been a prophet. As Vaughan would say, "think Leonardo Da
Vinci crossed with Nostradamus". The hunt becomes a race with another
group for these items, headed by the mysterious "The Man."
In the course of the season, Syd also discovers that her mother was a
KGB agent and that she is very much alive. Her mother only married her
father as part of a KGB plot, and then left him and Syd by faking her
own death when her mission was over. The season ends with Syd finally
coming face to face with "The Man". A tied up Syd watches the figure
come into the room and utters "Mommy?"
SEASON TWO
The search for Rambaldi artifacts remained the central plot point in
Season 2. However, the main event of the season occurred halfway
through, in an episode that followed the Super Bowl, that changed the
Alias world forever. After accessing security codes on an airborne
server, the CIA raids all SD cells simultaneously. In a single hour,
SD-6 was no more, Syd was no longer a double agent, and the show
became focused on the "Spy Family" of Jack, Syd, and Irina. Irina
(Syd's mom) has a ton of knowledge on the subject matter, so the CIA
takes her into custody and uses her for information throughout the
season. Also, the destruction of SD-6 finally allowed Vaughan and
Sydney to become romantically involved (as there was no danger in
someone from SD-6 seeing the two of them together)! However, the rest
of her personal life is pretty much destroyed. In addition to her
fianc� being killed in the first season, her best girl friend Francie
has been murdered and her best guy fried Will has to go in the witness
protection program - all of the people close to her have suffered
because of her spy job, through no fault of their own.
The season ended with a HUGE cliffhanger, with Syd waking up on the
streets of Hong Kong, two years in the future, with no memory of the
previous two years.
SEASON THREE
The third season is basically divided in two: the first half dealing
with Sydney's attempts to find out where she'd been for such a long
time. The second half focuses once more on the relentless pursuit of
the sacred Milo Rambaldi artifacts, which may hold the answers to
Sydney's destiny.
When Sydney comes back to the CIA, she is shocked to find out what's
happened in those two crucial years. Her father, Jack (Victor Garber)
is being unlawfully held in prison due to his questionable methods of
trying to track down his missing daughter. Her mother is in hiding
(and never appears all season, ex except via written communication
with other characters). Her arch-nemesis, the shifty monster Arvin
Sloane (Ron Rifkin - former head of SD-6) has been granted a full
pardon by the government for his role in bringing down over a dozen
terrorist cells and is the head of a charitable group. We still do not
know if he is truly good or bad. Most shocking is that her former
lover, agent Vaughn is now happily married to the National Security
Council's CIA liaison Lauren Reed (Melissa George).
The new evil enterprise this year is the Covenant. This terrorist
outfit is determined to collect the Rambaldi artifacts, which are
extraordinarily powerful devices that hold the key to Sydney's fate,
and the fate of the world. The CIA must stop the Covenant from solving
the equation of Rambaldi's endgame, so Sydney and her team attempt to
capture these priceless gems and figure out their true meaning before
the Covenant can get their hands on them. We find that Vaughn's wife,
Lauren, is also working for the Covenant and is pure evil (also having
an affair with a high up Covenant member, Mr. Sark).
The season wraps up with the Rambaldi artifacts leading to Sydney's
long lost half-sister, Nadia - an Argentinean spy who was imprisoned
in Russia. Nadia's subconscious held the key to the last Rambaldi
artifact. The season finale ends with Sydney killing Lauren, whose
dying words direct Syd to a safety deposit box. The final scene of the
season shows Syd reading a piece of paper from this box with a shocked
look on her face. Her father, Jack enters the room and says "You were
never supposed to find out about this."
So there you go. Again, none of that knowledge is necessary to start
watching the show now - but if you're curious what the show is all
about - that's it! (I would highly recommend sitting down and watching
the DVDs, as the show is incredibly fun, exciting, and engrossing.)
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