March 30, 2010 · 11:00 pm
“The Package”
March 30th, 2010
There are plenty of reasons to be apprehensive about “The Package.” It’s coming off of an epic mythology episode of romance and intrigue, it features a vague title that seems to refer to some sort of MacGuffin, and it has the unfortunate task of “filling in the gaps” in its flash sideways as opposed to telling its own story. Because we saw a small glimpse into Jin’s fate in “Sundown,” we can be fairly certain that the show will be colouring in the lines this week, and after a week when the show was willing to go off the page entirely it means that the show is facing an uphill battle.
Like the season’s weaker episodes, “The Package” struggles with a flash-sideways that proves completely inconclusive and an island scenario which feels like pieces moving on a chess board, but it ultimately works because it doesn’t feel like those pieces are being moved. When things stall in the episode, it feels like they’re stalling for a reason, and everyone involved knows why they’re making the choices they are. While things may not be moving as quickly as some fans want them to be, they seem to be moving faster than the characters were prepared for, and there’s a nice tension there which bodes well for the remainder of the season.
And, let’s face it: the reveal of just what “The Package” is was way too good for me to be too cranky.
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Filed under Lost
Tagged as Analysis, Candidates, Charles Widmore, Claire, Countdown, Daniel Dae Kim, Desmond, Dharma Initiative, Electromagnetism, Episode 10, Flash-Sideways, Henry Ian Cusick, Jack, Ji Yeon, Jin, Kate, Keamy, Korean, Language, Locke, Man in Black, Mikhail, Patchy, Plane, Pregnancy, Review, Richard Alpert, Room 23, Sawyer, Sayid, Season 6, Smokey, Submarine, Sun, Television, The Package, TV, Understanding, V, War, Yunjin Kim
January 21, 2010 · 11:53 am
“Rewind”
January 20th, 2010
Airing out of order, “Rewind” is either trying to complete the trains, planes and automobiles trifecta for Christopher Chance’s various missions or trying to simply put the show’s best foot forward in its second episode out of the gate behind American Idol. I’d be worried if it was the former as the show can only go so far when Chance is trapped on a moving mode of transportation with no chance of escape, but I think the latter is their primary goal here.
And it works really well, because the hour is certainly an improvement over the already solid pilot. Not only does “Rewind” feature one of the most extensive uses of in media res storytelling I’ve seen in television for a while, but it also taps into both the potential comedy and the potential mythology present in the series. It is a ludicrous hour of television from a physic perspective, but in terms of delivering action and suspense while maintaining a light-hearted sense of humour and revealing some deeper shades of Christopher Chance and the work he does the episode is quite successful.
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Filed under Human Target
Tagged as Bear McCreary, Casper, Chi McBride, Christopher Chance, Courtney Ford, Episode 2, Episode 5, FOX, Guerrero, Jackie Earle Haley, Mark Valley, Music, Plane, Rewind, Season 1, Winston
Cultural Learnings 