Lost- There's No Place Like Home, parts 2 and 3

WOW! That was the best season finale they've ever done. Lots of action and great character moments. All kinds of plots are put together, and they answer plenty of questions (as well as add new ones).

Part one had Ben and Locke at the Orchid Station, where they plan to move the island. They are followed by Keame, the Boatie who killed Alex. Ben tries to kill him, but Keame mentions that the boat will explode if he dies (he's the timer). Ben kills him anyway, to Locke's horror. Ben informs Locke that whoever moves the island can never return to it.

Meanwhile, Hurley, Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Sayid, and baby Aaron are in the helicopter with Frank the pilot. Jin, Desmond, and Michael try to keep the explosives from detonating, but they can't do it. The helicopter runs out of fuel and lands on the boat just as time runs out. The boat explodes with Jin and Michael still on it.

Ben leaves Locke in charge of the island. He uses the station controls to move the island. It disappears just as Frank is getting ready to land the chopper. They crash...but hours later, they are picked up by a boat. It's Penny Widmore, the daughter of Ben's enemy and Desmond's true love. They have a happy reunion, and Jack begins to plan the story of the Oceanic Six- so that those left on the island will be safe.

The very end is another flash forward. Jack sneaks into the funeral parlor from last season...and opens the coffin. Ben suddenly appears, and tells him that they have to go back. All of them, including the man in the casket. The camera pulls back to reveal the body of John Locke!

That was just amazing! I never would have guessed that it was Locke in the coffin. That was a surprise, and asks new questions to be answered next season. How did he get off of the island, and what happened after the Oceanic Six left?

There were so many great character bits. When the helicopter needs to drop weight in order to stay in the air, Sawyer volunteers himself. To everyone's horror (especially the audience's!), he jumps into the ocean. Amazingly, he is able to swim to shore...It was so great to see Sawyer get to be the hero (instead of Jack- yawn...)! The look on Kate's face had me feeling sorry for her for a second. Just a second...:p

Walt appears- he's grown quite a bit, and he is somewhat annoyed that none of the Oceanic Six has visited him, or told him what happened to his father, Michael. Hurley tells him that their rescue story was a lie. Later, Sayid comes and breaks Hurley out of the hospital.

Michael and Jin desperately try to save the boat. At the end, they can do nothing. Michael begs Jin to leave and go with Sun...but it's too late, and Sun gets hysterical when the boat explodes. In another flash forward, she is shown meeting with Mr. Widmore...to tell him that Ben is off the island too. So that's another set up for next season...Sun avenging Jin.

My favorite T.V. love story gets a happy ending (for now)- Desmond and Penny have a lovely reunion. "I'll never leave you again..." Next season, he's going to have to protect her from Ben.

Finally, in a dream, Kate is visited by Claire, who tells her not to bring Aaron back to the island. That will bring some Jack/Kate conflict next season for sure...

At least now we know why Jack went a little nuts in the future- Locke visited him, and Kate, too- to tell them all of the terrible things that happened after they left- and that Jack is responsible. So there will be some interesting questions for next season- What happened? How and why did Locke leave the island, and how did he die?

Despite the new questions, I think Lost is really coming together. All the little bits and pieces are making more sense as the show goes on. I'm definitely sticking with it until the end!

Quotes-

Locke: You just killed everyone on the boat!
Ben: So?

The way he delivered that one word...*shudders* Ben really is one of the best T.V. bad guys.

Desmond (to Jack): I'll see you in another life, brother.

Hurley: Checkmate, Mr. Eko. (he had apparently playing with Eko's ghost!)

Can't wait for next season. I hate having to wait until January!

Of the season finales I saw this year, that was probably the best- then Torchwood and House. All three had me sniffling...pretty big death count this year. Jin, Michael, and Locke on Lost (and likely Claire, too, from earlier); Owen and Tosh on Torchwood; Amber on House. So that's pretty much it for my shows this year (except for Doctor Who).

T.V. for me this year: Good, but because of the Writer's Guild strike, I didn't get enough of my favorites, especially House. I've lost all faith that Law and Order: Special Victims Unit can be great again. Lost continues to amaze, and I became a Torchwood fan with just a few episodes. Because BBC America got the show late last fall, it was like a full U.S. television season- 26 episode of Torchy goodness! I'm really worried about next year. Also, I got hooked on Doctor Who. Not a bad thing!

Last Lost tonight!

2 hours of it. I hope it's good.

I watched The Andromeda Strain on A&E this week. I wish I hadn't bothered. It was a little bit boring, and the writers tried too hard to make it more contemporary- in the original Michael Crichton novel, all of the doctors were white men. In the miniseries, two are women, one is black, one is Asian, one is gay. They tried to get a little bit of everything in there....other attempts to make it more "2008"- references to Homeland Security and Weapons of Mass Destruction. It really doesn't work too well. Plus there's a tacked on relationship between two of the doctors that falls flat. Finally, the whole subplot of the reporter trying to break the story was useless and could have been cut with no effect on the story. Bleah. Stick with the book, or the original 1971 movie!

Other T.V. news- Actor/comedian Harvey Korman, best known for The Carol Burnett Show, died today at 81. Damn. I loved watching that show as a kid. :( Also, Alexander Courage, who wrote the theme for the original Star Trek series, died May 15 at age 88. Even people who never watched Star Trek knows that iconic theme!

Wilson's Heart- the review.

House and Wilson bring Amber to the teaching hospital to see what can be done for her. She is put on heart bypass to buy them time. House's memory begins to come back, why she was with him on the bus, what she was doing at the time. House undergoes a procedure that could kill him just to recover his memories. He finally remembers why she was with him- and that she had been sick with the flu. It turns out that the accident killed her kidneys, and that the overdose of her flu medication meant that nothing could be done. She is woken up to say her goodbyes, and dies in Wilson's arms. Meanwhile, House is in a coma because of his treatment.

Oh, jeez, that was so sad. Poor Amber. I didn't like her much, but that was not a nice way to go. Poor Wilson! I loved this episode. We get to see that House really is a human- he feels guilty because he was the reason Amber was on the bus (and therefore inadvertently responsible for her death) and that he survived and she didn't. His "I'm so sorry" to Wilson was truly heart-felt. And he was brutally honest to "ghost" Amber while in a coma- that he didn't want to go back because of his guilt, his loneliness, and because Wilson will probably hate him. The doclings get good stuff in, too- we learn a little more about Kutner's past and why he takes things so well ("things happen and you can't do anything about it"), Thirteen finally tests herself for Huntingdon's (she's positive! Yikes.), and after Amber dies, Taub goes home and hugs his wife. Finally, I loved the bit where Cuddy holds House's hand as he recovers, and Wilson turns away from him. That's going to be an interesting thing next season- the Wilson/House friendship, always strained, could be in serious trouble. Poor, poor Wilson! He just broke my heart, especially when he found Amber's note telling him where she was. Robert Sean Leonard and Hugh Laurie both deserve Emmys. A good end to a fairly good season.

Amber: "You can't always get what you want."

House: Wilson's Heart

I think I just ran out of tissues. That was so sad. I'm not quite ready to review, but I will say that it was a very satisfying season finale.

Wow. That's two season finales I've cried over. This one didn't top Torchwood's, but it came pretty darn close. I dread the end of Lost next week!

Not really television...

I do love You Tube. I have had so much fun looking up old commercials and clips of shows and old news bulletins. Last night I found a little animated short that scared me to death as a child- Bambi Meets Godzilla.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAVYYe87b9w

Splat! Poor Bambi!

Lost-There's No Place Like Home, part 1

Things are really starting to fall into place for this show. This episode was merely a set-up for the two-hour finale in two weeks, but it's a good set-up. The flash forward has the Oceanic Six returning home- they meet their families, give an uncomfortable press conference, and Jack gives the eulogy at his dad's memorial service...where he meets Claire's mother. She informs him that Claire was his half sister. Hurley starts to become unhinged. Kate tries to pass off Aaron as her own baby, Sun stands up to her father, and Sayid is reunited with Nadia. It's quite odd how the flash forwards have been going backwards all season!

Meanwhile, back at the island...

Jack and Kate go looking for the helicopter, and run into Sawyer and baby Aaron. He tells them that Claire has vanished. Locke, Hurley, and Ben reach the "Orchid" station, where Ben tells them that the island can be moved. (Yikes!) Ben gives himself up to Widmore's lackeys, for reasons unknown. Sayid goes looking for Jack. Daniel begins moving the Losties to the boat. Desmond and Michael discover that the electronics of the boat have been rigged with explosives...

I can see where this is going, and how the "Oceanic Six" came to be. It's pretty clear that the boat is going to blow up, and the helicopter is the only way out.

I hate having to wait two weeks for the finale! Who cares about Grey's Anatomy? :p

Reviews in this blog are considered especially heinous!

Law and Order: SVU- "Cold"

Ugh! What was that? That was a season finale? It should have been a series finale, if that's the best they can do!

So, Det. Lake investigates a cold case involving a rape/murder committed by cops. He shoots one of the cops dead, is shot himself, goes on the run. The other bad cop is caught and put on trial, and Casey withholds evidence in the trial. Mistrial declared, bad cop gets off, Lake kills bad cop, Casey is suspended. That's it. Couldn't they have been more original?

Other oddities- Fin calling Stabler a rat bastard? What the heck? Hardly a peep out of Benson tonight. She was the lucky one.

I hate Judge Donnelly. Poor Casey. Her career is over.

Lake, however, I never cared for. Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out, Chester!

Only bright spot last night- Munch had more than a few lines. There's not enough of Munch on the show anymore.

Is this really going to be back next season? There had better be some improvements, or they really should cancel it.