The Underrated Blog

Lost 4.2 - "Confirmed Dead"

Where to begin? As I was watching "Confirmed Dead" I began to get restless. I wanted to know who these people that have arrived on our island are, and the flashbacks were not giving me enough. I wanted a showdown. I wanted to know how Hurley gets off the island. I wanted to know so much that I found myself at the edge of my sofa, unable to breathe. Welcome to Lost.

In what could easily be referred to as a filler episode, the more I thought about last night's expose on our four Freighters, the more I liked the pace that this show has now taken. With no one Lostie flashback, instead we were given snippets of who our so-called rescuers are: a physicist who cries, a con-man who talks to the dead, an archaeologist, and a drunken pilot. There was little bits of fun material—was that Eko in those pictures at the dead guy's house? Have you called the Oceanic hot line (I have)—the story was really propelled by their adventures into the jungle to find the beeping locations. That beep was enough to make me nervous (Hello, type in the numbers) and some snide comments from our dear Sawyer and the look on Locke/Ben's face when Hurley mentioned Jacob's cabin were priceless.

And the big revelation, of course is, as Jeremy Davis so perfectly delivered rescuing is not their primary objective. What is? Ben. My thought is that Abbadon is Hanso/Dharma-related, funded by the Windmore's, and these are the four that they chose to kill Ben for his mass execution on the Island. Kinda makes sense, so it must be wrong.

But that picture up above? What a hottie.

What is up with the polar bear in Tunisia? I'm really hoping this all doesn't come down to time travel or else I'll be confused. My thoughts are just that this Island adventure was not the only one Dharma initiated.

How did this helicopter land so nicely if Frank Lapidus landed so far away? (notice the numbers too!)

I'd put money that Ben's mole on the freighter is most definitely Michael. Thoughts, ideas, theories? Leave them in the comments below!

Lost 4.1 - "The Beginning Of The End"

First of all—thank god this show is back on television. Secondly—thank god there are still creative minds out there that realize that some television viewers are smarter than a 5th grader. In last night's season four premiere Lost proved its accolades, by giving viewers one hour of jam-packed drama: laughs, tears, fears, and all that good stuff. The implementation of a flash forward, in my opinion, is pure genius. With such a serialized show as Lost, it was easy for viewers to become frustrated and bored. Now, the entire game has changed. The flash-forwards are so seamlessly intertwined in this epic odyssey that we are no longer wondering: will they get off the island? We know want to know is: why? and how? and what!? And so much more.

I'm beginning to think this season (whatever we get to see of it) will rest heavily with the theme of ghosts. If season one was all about the survivors, and two was about the hatch, and three finding out about the others, this season we'll be visiting by all the ghosts of our favorite folk's past, and wonder how they fit into our magical island. Are they dead? Sure. But are they real? That we don't know. As with any sort of paranormal being, there's always a purpose. We're set to find out what that is.

My two major questions from last night:

Is Christian Shepard (Jack's father) Jacob? Is he what Jacob has taken form in? Has he done that with Mr. Eko's brother, Walt, etc? Screen shot:

 

Who's eye is this? My first thought was Locke, but some people are saying it was Charlie because there was a hoodie.

 

I loved having Charlie back, even if he is still dead. I know some people hate his character, but I think he's adorable. In case you didn't catch it, that was Charlie when Hurley was "hallucinating" while the police was questioning him. In fact, he had a message, "They Need You":

 

Man. I need to watch this episode again. Feel free to discuss in the comments.

J.J. Abrams Is My Hero

I'm going to the Cloverfield MySpace party thingy tonight and am super stoked. Yes, it will be cool to sort of be part of Rob's surprise party (although I hope I make it out alive), but what is really getting me so excited is the fact there is a chance—perhaps a very small chance, but one nonetheless—that J.J. Abrams will be there. Among a few people in my life, he is most definitely one of my heroes. From my obsession with Felicity to Alias and Lost, if there's one thing J.J. Abrams makes you do, is think. Which isn't all that common in television and films these days.

So I was happy to watch this TED talk that J.J. Abrams participated in. Pretty interesting stuff. Who knows, maybe I'll get my own personal inspirational talk tonight. Probably not. Maybe it was just a flashforward.

LOST Season Four Trailers, Cloverfield

I cannot wait until this show comes back. Check out the trailer for Season Four; it's a nice little recap with a couple upcoming shots. February cant come soon enough!

Another one:

And while we are at it, check out the trailer to J.J. Abrams' Cloverfield. I hope two hours of hand-held cameras wont make me nauseas.

 

Pushing Daisies 1.1 - "Pie-lette"

At the beginning of each TV season, I'm always reluctant to take on a new series. Most new series that I end up liking will be canceled, and my schedule is already too busy that I have to watch most of my TV on a Saturday morning or Sunday night. So far this season, I'm keeping up with Californication, Gossip Girl, and Chuck. But after hearing the critical acclaim and knowing that a new show was being brought to ABC by the fantastic creator of Dead Like Me (was on Showtime, go rent it ASAP), I couldn't help but add Pushing Daisies to the increasing roster.

It's so charming. But having charm, especially on network TV is never a bad idea. I applaud ABC for green-lighting a quirky drama that is full of stylized color and dialog, taking a chance of what is looking like a  hit show. The feel-good nature of the fairy-style centered mystery could be too much for some to handle. But frankly, I'd take this show over some silly reality nonsense, or Housewives-esque knockoff. I think finally, our dear networks, are realizing that some of us are smarter than a 5th grader.

Check out the opening scene below. The first episode of the series is currently up for free viewing over at ABC.com.

Grey's Anatomy 4.1 - "A Change is Gonna Come"

Yawn. Is it just me or is this show getting really boring? I think every time someone new from Meredith's life is introduced on the show, a little part of me wants to change the channel. Maybe it should become a drinking game, or something. Thankfully the music in this week's episode trumped the actual story lines. There are too many interns. I can't follow.

Anyways, the music. Some typical indie pop from I'm From Barcelona and Miss Lily Allen to keep the show from getting too depressing, added with some more daring choices including KCRW and Perez Hilton darling Meiko as well as the wonderful Cinematic Orchestra. I guess I'll keep watching this show for the tunes...for now.

I'm From Barcelona - Oversleeping

Lily Allen - Knock 'Em Out

Meiko - Reasons To Love You

Cinematic Orchestra - To Build A Home