* One of the recappers this morning (I think it was the TMZ blog), noted that "perhaps no show in history has had more riding on its finale than "Lost"." And I couldn't agree more, in many regards.
Look it, I watch way more television that is healthy for you ... but there are very few shows that reach what I call "cigar show" status. Meaning, the sole objective I look forward to, the only thing I want to do that night, is sit on the deck with a cigar and a cocktail and watch a new episode of the show.
There's really only six shows that have hit that status for me:
1. "NYPD Blue". My unquestioned favorite show of all time. But its ending / final episode was completely predictable. Season twelve was all about the final redemption of Andy, culminating in him becoming the new squad commander. I still loved the final season, and really liked the finale ... but there wasn't really any drama involved, like so many other finales of "Blue".
2. "The West Wing". Another great show that constantly delivered classic episodes ... with a totally predictable finale. Once Santos won the election, the last few episodes were nothing other than cleaning up loose ends, and inaugurating Santos as President. The only "drama" in the finale was over whether President Bartlett would pardon Toby, and everyone knew the answer would ultimately be "yes".
3. "The Practice". Technically, it did have a "what the bloody hell?!?!" finale, where Bobby quit the firm, gave up on his marriage to Lindsay, and basically said "screw it, I'm done" with life as he knew it. Only, ABC turned around and stunningly renewed the show for one final (really good) season. And for that season / series finale, again, absolutely no drama whatsoever. Partly because the main character on the show at that point (Alan Shore, played brilliantly for so long by James Spader) was spun off onto its own show, "Boston Legal".
4. "Friday Night Lights". Has not yet had a series finale, as season four is currently airing on NBC, and season five is currently filming. But to its credit, the season three finale was a complete bombshell (Coach fired?!?!), and the season one finale wasn't shocking, but has some legitimately chilling, goose-bump inducing moments (the halftime speech is almost as good as Pacino's pre-game rant in "Any Given Sunday". Almost).
5. "Swingtown". Oh what could have been, had CBS given it any support at all. Still, one of the best short-lived shows ever. With a completely non-shocking ending that the show did a great job of building to over the course of its one season.
And 6. "Lost".
I absolutely love that we're barely 96 hours away from the final episode ... and I have absolutely no idea how this thing is going to end.
Take some moments from last night, for example, that opened up a ton of questions in my mind ...
(Spoiler alert for anyone who hasn't seen the episode yet / "jump ahead to next huge space with no words if you don't care about "Lost" breaker begins now):
1. After Desmond and Hurley bribe Kate and Sayid out of prison, thanks to some help from a shady cop fans of the show will instantly recognize, Desmond then notes to Kate, "we've got a concert to go to". Uuh, which concert is it? Is it Jack's son's performance referenced in the opening scene? Is it Miles' father's museum's concert that he was trying to get Sawyer to go to him with? Is it Charlie's Driveshaft performance at the Widmore dinner referenced in "Happily Ever After" earlier this year? Or is it something yet to be introduced?
2. Now that Ben is "Island-aware", and I believe after two weeks ago that Locke is as well, at least sketchily (muttering "Push the Button", "I Should Have Listened to You" after Jack saved his life when Desmond ran him over), how does this dynamic work in the sideways world? Will Locke remember it was Ben that killed him in the Island timeline? And on the Island, is Ben conning Fake Locke by going along with his plans at this point, or is he truly so driven by hatred of Widmore than he'd join with Fake Locke? (My guess is neither, actually. I think Ben is the one who has to kill Fake Locke. He killed Jacob. He killed the real John Locke. I think Ben has to finish the task, and he knows it, which is why he's "joined up" with Fake Locke. Oh, and getting to kill the guy who in essence killed his daughter, that was just sweet revenge. Karma's a b*tch Chuckie).
3. The line Desmond uttered to Hurley after the prison break -- "she's not ready yet", about Ana Lucia. So does this mean only certain Losties can gain "Island awareness" in the sideways world? Does this mean that some won't? Or can't?
4. Where the hell is Lapidus? I'm missing Captain Chesty dammit. Did he actually die in the sub explosion? Or did he reach shore (as I hope he did; Frank is too damned funny to let him die so pointlessly) and just was MIA last night.
5. Most curious of all to me in the Island timeline, though, is Fake Locke's decision to "destroy the Island" as his last way of escape. Is it possible that (and yeah, this one hit me after about 2 1/2 bottles of shiraz, what can I say, I was thirsty last night), is it possible that the flash-Sideways and original-Island timelines are NOT linked? I'm not sure how that works, since the Island is in 2007 right now, and the sideways should be in 2004, and we're starting to see the two worlds bleed together, slowly yet surely. But was detonating Jughead to open the season actually how the season will also end? That everything on-Island so far this year was a damned dream in Juliet's head that lasts only a few seconds, like Desmond seeing the Sideways world open up only lasted 2 seconds in on-Island time, but 50 plus minutes off of it? Damn this show, its too freaking addicting.
6. Who the hell is David's mother? I think after last night (and based on how the dude looks) we can rule out Ana Lucia. And its safe to say, based on the season premiere and the entire Sideways history to this point, that it isn't Kate. But that leaves ... Sarah? Juliet? Someone completely out of left field, like say ... Charlotte? (Which is an interesting choice, since it would drag Jack and Sawyer into another connection in the Sideways world).
Other stuff I loved about last night's episode that had nothing to do with creating questions:
1. Locke accepting the idea that every mistake can be forgiven. The scene where he wheels his way into Jack's office, starts rattling off the long, completely unavoidable list of coincidences that has occurred in the past ten to twelve days in the Sideways world ... and he utters something along the lines of "I can't fight fate any longer. I'm ready to get out of this chair". The man of faith ... accepting science as the solution to his problems. Just as at the same time ...
2. Jack accepts the "Candidate of Choice" position. (Loved Sawyer's response: "Like he doesn't already have enough of a God complex"). The man of science ... accepting faith as the solution to his problems.
3. The Ben scene in the Sideways world, with a completely classed-up, non-batsh*t crazy Rousseau and Alex. "You're the closest thing to a father she's ever had", and Ben, overwhelmed at realizing his importance in the Sideways world (remember, all he "had" was a dying father and his love for teaching history). While, I believe, at the same time, the Island world slowly seeping into his Sideways memory. Perhaps that's what overwhelmed him, realizing that "whoa, I'm the closest thing she has to father here ... because I was her father in another life". Gotta admit, that was a Nipsey Russell moment, definitely made some goose bumps appear, at least for me.
4. Widmore's "I'm always three steps ahead of you, Benjamin" putdown ... about 30 seconds before Ben just freaking offs him. Bang! Bang bang bang! And his absolutely stone-cold, not-an-ounce-of-remorse rationale for killing him. "You don't get the chance to save your daughter". Also loved Fake Locke slashing Zoe's throat. Of all the secondary characters this show has introduced this season, there are none I hated more than her. Horribly written storyline, awful actress, completely unbelievable portrayal. Glad she's gone.
(end spoiler alert / "if you don't give a sh*t about "Lost" you can start reading again here moment)
"Lost" is just about the only drama that's this much of a hit / following among the masses, that enters its finale completely unsure of what will happen next. "The Sopranos" had some intrigue ... but not as much as "Lost". Mainly because "The Sopranos" had their final battles / hits / showdowns in the two episodes preceding the finale. You had Dr. Melfi kick Tony to the curb. Johnny Sack croaked. Bobby bit the dust, Silvio was shot up, and Phil Leotardo finally was dealt with. By the finale, you had really only two questions left:
(1) would Tony die.
(2) what happened to that damned Russian that Paulie and Christofuh lost in the Pine Barrens?
In true "Sopranos" fashion, we got an answer to neither question. (I think Tony was shot and killed when the screen went black, but I'm in the minority on that).
Sunday night, "Lost" has so many questions left to answer, so many fundamental moments to sort through, that it'll be impossible to answer them all. And you know what, I'm good with that. I've never been into "Lost" for the mythology. I've always dug it because its the best told story on television. Ask anyone who knows me, I am not a scientific person. I don't care about religion, about psychology, about how things work. If you'd told me as recently as 2 years ago that I'd be addicted to a show whose core premise for an entire season was on the effects of time-travel on humans, I'd have said "yeah, right".
So kudos to "Lost" for making an unwatchable subject interesting as hell. The ideas of faith, religion, human psychology, science vs reason, pre-destination / fate vs free will / choice. All stuff I slept through growing up, I'm digging watching be told as a 33 year old. Who knew.
* Speaking of digging, how about that 0-2 hole the Magic are in?
A huge Steve's Site shout-out to Vince Carter. What a choke job at the line in the final 30 seconds.
(Also, sadly, since I'm rooting for the Celtics ... a huge Steve's Site shout-out to a guy I do actually like and root for, JJ Redick. Kid, that was a Chris Webber-esque brain fart on that final possession last night. Let's not have that happen again, ok? I like you too much to see you f*ck up a pressure situation like that again).
* Not much to say on the "Survivor" finale. The only one in the top three who didn't deserve to win, cruised to easy victory. Here's where normally you'd insert the "well, consider her life background, of course she layed around and did nothing for 40 days and expected to be paid for it" joke, but I like to think I'm above that. What, I'm not?
OK, here's my real thoughts on it.
1. Parvati should have won. She played the best game from day one.
2. I'd have been fine with Russell winning.
3. Russell guaranteed he'd lose when he took Sandra over Jerri. Nobody on that jury was voting for Jerri. And if it comes down to the "lesser of two hated players", between him and Parvati, I think the jury might have gone with him.
4. I hate Rupert more than any reality show contestant ever. Come on Indy 500 fans, boo the hell out of this tool in 10 days when he continues to milk his 15 minutes of fame by riding around in a pre-race pickup convoy in that hideous tie-dye shirt, thinking people like him. Got news for you pal: nobody likes you. Or at least nobody I know.
* A few other random thoughts to close out the Wednesday posting.
1. The D Bowe "older players hired women for us on road trips" story. Uuh, this is a story? I'm stunned -- absolutely stunned -- that professional athletes would seek out the comforts and pleasures of spending a night or two on the road with hot women who want nothing more than to try to have crazy good sex and (hopefully) get knocked up to draw a child support check for the next twenty years. We've never seen that happen before.
2. Of course, now that the story is up at kansascity.com, I suspect we can expect Senator Bartle to call for a boycott of the Chiefs, because after all, consentual sex or the implication thereof between two legal-age adults is the greatest evil facing our society.
3. Speaking of Senator Bartle and my disgust of anything affiliated with him ... kudos to Mike Hendricks this morning, a brilliant rebuttal in the Star to Senator Bartle's insane campaign of the last few months. I'm not a big Mike Hendricks fan for the most part, but he absolutely knocked the damned ball out of the park this morning.
4. Some blog I was reading this morning, linked out of SI.com I think, had an "update" on the Top 50 Draft Busts in the NFL. I only counted two Chiefs on there, but both are a doozy. At number 39, Trezelle Jenkins is now the owner of a (wait for it ... wait for it ...) Harold's Chicken Shack in Ferndale, Michigan. Wait, a fat, overweight, unmotivated offensive lineman now owns a chicken shack? No ...
Even better, at number 35, Mike Elkins has launched a career in country music. You can check him out at www.mikeelkins.com apparently.
5. Rain today ... rain all day tomorrow ... rain Friday morning ... and then 84 and sunny Saturday, 85 and sunny on Sunday. Might want to have the sunglasses on if you're around me this weekend; I'm still pretty pale white, and I'll be damned if I'm letting two sunny days in the mid 80s go by without trying to get a tan.
6. Congrats to the Washington Wizards on winning the NBA Draft Lottery. How they can drag pulling three ping-pong balls to the top of the hopper into a half-hour show of riveting television, I have no idea. But the NBA manages to do it every spring.
7. Also, congrats to Knicks F Wilson Chandler for being indicted for having not one, not two, not even three ... ok, I'll give you one more guess ... nope, not four ... five! Five freaking baggies of weed in his car last night, when he was stopped in Queens for not having his lights on at 11:30pm. Even more incredibly, major ups to the Queens PD, who not only simply ticketed Mr. Chandler ... he wasn't detained! He was free to go! How the hell does that happen? You have two plus ounces of weed on you, and the cops let you walk?!?! (frank sinatra voice) I want to be a part of it, New York! New York!
Plus, the reaction of his uncle is hysterical. "I didn't think he messed with that stuff". OK, first of all, what person in their 20s doesn't smoke at least occasionally? Or hasn't at least tried it once or twice? Other than the devoutly religious and/or no-fun police, of course. And secondly, Wilson Chandler's employer is the National Basketball Association. You know, the sports league where Charles Oakley once asserted that "60 to 70 percent of the league smokes". And that quote is from a decade ago. You really think that number's gone down in the last few years?
The NBA: Where Amazing Continually Happens!
8. On the shock-o-meter, the Nets new owner firing head coach / former GM Kiki Vandeweghe lands somewhere between "Steve opens cold Shiner Bock" and "Steve smiles at 97 and sunny degree forecast". Let's hope this guy knows what he's doing. I mean, he has mob ties (allegedly) for God's sake. In Russia! You really want to be coaching a 10-33 team come next January? That could get ugly. Plus, its not like they don't know what to do with the bodies up there in the swamps of North Jersey ...
9. Finally, congratulations to the voters of Pennsylvania, for sending long-past-his-expiration-date-for-usefulness Senator Arlen Specter into retirement last night. In case you missed the Chris Matthews-esque reaction of fellow MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow (whose show I enjoy immensely), here's the clip. The money shot, so to speak, starts at the :19 mark. Sometimes, you just have to laugh at what passes as serious, credible journalism in this country nowadays ...
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