May 23, 2010: Lost Recap: The End

We’ve re-watched the Pilot episode, and the recap show, and we can’t put off the inevitable any longer. It’s a unique feeling to anticipate and dread the same event with such equality, but the time is upon us. We wanted all of our new episodes in a row, and they gave it to us. We wanted an end to horrible happenings like Nikki and Paulo, and they gave it to us. We wanted answers, and in the past season, they gave that to us as well. Now, as the curtain falls on what I can only assume (if you’re reading this), is a form of TV religion to you, we want closure. Would we get it?
114 episodes down, and one more to go. I’m sad to say these words…it’s time for “The End”

(For those of you that are unfamiliar with my recaps, please mouse over the pictures for captions underneath, and enjoy this picture of me in all of my Lost Geek-dom right before the Finale started tonight)
As we saw our final 'Previously on Lost' opening segment, we were reminded right away of Jacob's directions to Jack in 'What They Died For', telling Jack that the job of Island protector was his for "as long as you can." Many commenters last week speculated that this interesting choice of words foreshadowed a short reign for Jack, and that the finale would result in another change. I wasn't in this school of thought until I saw this segment to open the episode.

The episode itself opened with a fantastic scene transitioning between the Flash Sideways (FS) World, and the Island World, and also transitioning between characters, all the while interspersed with Christian Shephard's coffin making its way off of the Oceanic plane. We saw an opening shot of Jack in his office, then to his healing hands in the water on the Island; to Ben making coffee with his arm in a sling, then to him loading a pistol on the Island and looking at Flocke, which then cut to the real Locke in the hospital, saying goodbye to his wheelchair; from Sawyer the cop, to Sawyer on the Island tending to Kate's wound, and ending with Kate waiting in the car for Desmond. An absolutely beautiful scene, and all with no words spoken.

In the parking lot where random delivery guy is dropping off the coffin, Desmond appears out of nowhere to sign for it. The delivery guy, who was rocking a spectacular ponytail, asked Desmond, "Are you a priest or something?", and I loved how he answered with "Or something."
Then Desmond said something that was confusing at the time, but a hell of a lot clearer at the end, as he told Kate "No one can tell you why you're here, Kate. Certainly not me." So where the hell was 'here' supposed to be? At this point, only a few scant minutes into the episode, colour me confused.

On the Island, Jack had a conversation with the other members of the Final Four, explaining what Jacob told him about the heart of the Island and that, as he put it, "we need to protect it." No...it wasn't a team sport. It was pretty specific, this was your responsibility, not everyone else's. I didn't see Hurley or Kate or Sawyer drinking from the stream with Jacob last week.

Jack: "Jacob didn't say anything to me about Desmond."
Sawyer: "Doesn't sound like he said anything about anything."
Hurley: "That's kinda true, dude. He's worse than Yoda."

We returned from the first commercial break to find Hurley and Sayid at the Flightline Motel, which you die-hards will recognize as the same place that Anthony Cooper's con went down with John Locke, and where Helen found out that John had been meeting Cooper. Hurley had a great line in the Hummer on how Sayid didn't recognize the tranquilizer gun, which was interesting since he had two run-ins in the show with them in the past.

But the one thing that came out of this scene, which really set the emotional tone of the entire episode for me, was the pure unbridled emotion that we saw in Hurley's face the moment that he saw Charlie. And even though our little Drive Shaft Hobbit did his best to be antagonistic and confrontational, the joy that Hurley was exuding just couldn't be contained.
And the look on Sayid's face when Hurley dropped an unconscious Charlie in the back of the vehicle after sedating him...well, that was the first of many moments tonight that made me laugh out loud.

Back on the Island, Kate was asking Jack why he accepted the responsibility from Jacob. As he explained to her that the Island was all that he had left, and the only thing that he hadn't managed to ruin, I wondered if the Island stream cocktail from last week actually made Jack lose some of his self confidence when it appeared that he had actually gained a peace and solace that he hadn't had before. Kate echoed the words that Jack spoke to Locke in the FS World at the end of L.A. X, when she told him "nothing is irreversible."

As we cut to the well that didn't contain Desmond, and see Sawyer skulking around in the bushes, I had to point out that I found it a little inconsistent that our established 'near all-knowing' Flocke couldn't tell that Sawyer was spying on him from 15 feet away behind a single bush. I didn't think that Flocke, who knew who died and who didn't on the sub while he was standing on the dock in The Candidate, now was hoodwinked by what was, in essence, a situation straight out of a Spy vs. Spy cartoon. Although from a pure enjoyment standpoint, this scene got high marks for the swift elbow to Ben's face (and his ensuing groan), and the fact that Sawyer referred to Flocke as 'Smokey'.

But once Sawyer revealed to Flocke that they were no longer candidates (what is the deal with everyone just giving up info that puts them in danger in the last few episodes?), which implied that a new protector had been chosen to replace Jacob, didn't that make the rest of the Candidates expendable? It seemed like an obvious question to wonder why he didn't kill Sawyer on the spot, but now Sawyer, Kate, and Hurley were non-factors if Jack was the Protector.

Then Flocke addressed the situation that I brought up last week in my recap (albeit in the Comments section), if Flocke promised Ben the Island, and then declared he wanted to destroy it, then why would Ben help him? Flocke brushed it aside with a cavalier "I'm sorry if I forgot to mention the part about the Island being on the bottom of the Ocean."
What's that around the well? Dog tracks? Sounds like the return of our favourite Lost canine, which can only mean one thing...Rose and Bernard are back! Making their now annual once-a-year-Island-appearance in the Season Finale, the mystery of who helped Desmond out of the well was solved. (Many of you predicted this in the Comments section last week, and I didn't think it was going to be them. Wrong again.)

While they're not enjoying their morning coffee in Dharma Initiative Collector Mugs, or checking the fish traps (a nod to Jacob, perhaps?), they were living a simple life with no 'getting involved', and no 'drama'. Rose confirmed that they were travelling in time with no concept (or care) of how long it had been, or even what year it was. And Bernard was rocking a spectacular beard, wasn't he? Take that Mr. Friendly and your lame-ass glue on beard from Season 2...our resident dentist just blew you out of the water.
After breaking their rule to help Desmond, it all seemed fine and dandy as Des appeared ready to head on his way. But Flocke showed up with an ultimatum for Desmond...to come with him, or he would kill Rose and Bernard right in front of him, and 'make it hurt'. Even though Rose told him not to, we knew that Des would choose to go with Flocke when faced with that choice...you didn't really expect to see a violent end for Rose and Bernard in the Series Finale did you?

But here's the question I have. If Desmond understands what his purpose is on the Island, then why would he choose to save them? I understand the choice from a thematic and plot standpoint, but using logic...saving the world from a monster that will destroy it vs. saving 2 old folks who you shared a beach with for 2-3 weeks? Really? I understand that even if he said "Go ahead", he wasn't getting away from Flocke anyways, but the point is still pretty valid, I think.
On the outskirts of the Dharma barracks, Miles reported to Ben (via walkie) that he had found Richard alive. When we last saw Richard, he was being throat-chopped into the distance by the Smoke Monster, and when we last saw Miles, he was reportedly running through the jungle to get away from Flocke. Well then, why the hell did he come back to the Barracks, where he found Richard? I'm not even going to worry about, I'm just happy that Richard was still alive, as I steadfastly declared last week.

Back in the FS World, Sun is recovering from her gunshot wound almost as well as Kate was on the Island, and when Jin mentioned that a doctor was coming, I got a little giddy. And yes, I full-on fist-pumped when Juliet walked in the room, even though I was 100% expecting her to be in this episode. As I've mentioned in the past, isn't that part of the magic of this show, that they can put on screen exactly what you're expecting to see, and it still gives you that sort of reaction?
Cue the moment that gives Jin and Sun their 'awareness', as Juliet gives Sun an ultrasound, mirroring the same situation that happened on the Island in the Season 3 episode D.O.C. On a side note, for those of you that have become accustomed to my 'Mirror Image' examples in past recaps, I have decided to be extremely selective with the ones I choose for this episode, as we saw so many mirror moments triggering the 'Flashes.'

The scene with Sun and Jin becoming aware made it clear that everything comes back...happiness, pain, suffering, death. Because as we saw the happy moments between the two of them, we also saw the freighter explosion, and their deaths on the sub. As Juliet showed them the picture of the baby on the ultrasound, Jin said to Sun, "Did you see?", and I relished the double meaning of his question. And I did enjoy Juliet's face when they switched from Korean to English.

After fleeing the Flocke and Ben Well Party, Sawyer caught up with the gang again, and then found out that he was going to end up with them again, anyways.

Jack: "It doesn't matter if we find Desmond or he does, James. We're going to the same place."
Sawyer: "Then what?"
Jack: "Then it ends."

Which made me think back to the conversation between Jacob and MIB on the beach when we first met them, when Jacob declared that "it only ends once." And this was going to be that once. As they walked up the hill and the camera panned back, I noted this as Mirror Image #1: echoing the same shot (and similar situation) that we saw as the Losties travelled to the radio tower in the Season 3 Finale, Through The Looking Glass.

In the FS World, Locke is being prepped for surgery when Jack comes in and they have an interesting conversation about Jack's confidence in the fact that the surgery will work. When Locke questions his confidence, Jack responds with another great dual-meaning line, "Well, there's always the chance that I could kill you." Damn, I love these writers.

Newsflash! Richard has a grey hair! That's right, the Ultimate 5 O'Clock shadow apparently is now aging, presumably due to the death of Jacob. Looking back on the deal that Jacob made with him, it seems like a pretty raw deal if it's nullified when Jacob dies. He did say to Miles, "I realized I want to live", which I'm calling Mirror Image #2: echoing the line he spoke to Jacob in Ab Aeterno when Jacob was treating him as his own personal dunk tank volunteer.

Miles and Richard then took the outrigger from the dock, and as they teased the fact that a storm was coming, didn't you expect to finally see the other half of that outrigger scene in the rain that we saw last year? Sorry, too bad...just one final tease from Damon and Carlton. As they paddled through the debris from the sub, they also stumbled across a floating Lawnmower Man, aka Frank Lapidus, who I also insisted was not dead.
As they hauled him up into the outrigger, we got what I am referring to as Mirror Image #3: echoing when Bram and Ilana transported Frank from Hydra Island after the initial Ajira crash, as Frank laid in the canoe prone on his back in both instances. And as the three of them discussed their plan, why did no one think of just flying away instead of blowing up the plane before??

Flocke's group and Jack's group finally met up in an old-fashioned duel-type of atmosphere, with one faction cresting a hill and bracing for conflict. Just when I thought it was going to be one of those fantastic standoff scenes, Kate lost her freaking mind, grabbed Sawyer's gun, and started firing at Flocke. I was scared for her, because I had postulated in the past that Flocke responds once fired upon. (Remember how Richard yelled at everyone at the statue to not fire on him?)

Typical Kate, though, wasn't it? Impulsive, hot-headed, and 'think first, ask later'. Desmond and Ben hit the dirt as Kate fired away, and Flocke simply strolled past her, advising her to save her bullets. Then, Jack and Flocke came face-to-face in their inevitable (verbal) standoff, and after Flocke declared that Jack was "the obvious choice" (foreshadowing, and a knowing nod to the die-hards once again), we got this exchange:

Jack: "You think you're gonna destroy the Island."
Flocke: "I think?"
Jack: "But that's not what's gonna happen."
Flocke: "Well, what's gonna happen, Jack?
Jack: "I'm going to kill you."
Flocke: "How do you plan to do that?"
Jack: "That's a surprise."
Flocke: "OK, let's get on with it."
Wow, ramp up the awesome factor. That scene was fantastic.

I'm not going to take any real space on this, but in the FS World, what 98% of the Lostiverse was predicting came to fruition when Juliet was revealed to be both Jack's ex-wife and David's mother. I haven't been this shocked since Tiger Woods had a press conference admitting his extramarital affairs.

Back to the Island and what can only be described as the most awkward group walk ever. At the mouth of the bamboo field, Flocke, Jack, and Desmond carry on alone, but not before Hurley tells Jack, "I believe in you, dude." At the entrance to the Cave of Light, the light is noticeably fainter than when we saw it in Across The Sea. Just before entering the cave, Desmond enlightens Jack:
"This doesn't matter, you know? Him destroying the Island, you destroying him. It doesn't matter. You're going to lower me into that light, and I'm going to go somewhere else. A place where we can be with the ones that we love. And not ever have to think about this damn Island again. And you know the best part, Jack? You're in this place."

Jack responds with a curt: "There are no do-overs. What happened, happened. All of this matters." At this point, I was starting to believe him.
The awkwardness of the most unlikely tag team in Lost history continued as Flocke and Jack lowered Desmond down the waterfall. It was weird watching the teamwork of the two of them, and I started to note that this was a mirror image of when they went down to the hatch for the first time...but then Flocke made the comparison for me. Oh, what the hell, I'm still calling it Mirror Image #4. "Just like old times", Flocke said.

Jack took umbrage with that comment and snapped back, "You're not John Locke. You disrespect his memory by wearing his face, but you're nothing like him. Turns out he was right about most everything. I just wish I could have told him that while he was still alive."

Flocke insists he is right about Locke, and Jack says that they'll just have to see.

It's the ultimate pissing contest.

Ironically over a waterfall lit with yellow light. My apologies for the imagery.

Then the camera pans down the waterfall in a shot virtually identical to the final shot in the Season 1 finale, as Jack and Locke peered down the hatch. Mirror Image #5.

Once Desmond is at the bottom of the cave, he sees skeletons (?), and a pool with channels heading outward (to the Temple perhaps?). As he enters the pool to pull 'the cork', we see his unique resistance to electromagnetism as he fights off the effects. As the light goes out and the cave goes dark, the Island rumbles, and Flocke proudly proclaims his victory to Jack, "It looks like you were wrong."
But as Flocke leaves the cave, he is attacked from behind by Jack, and as we see Flocke realize that he is bleeding, Jack throws his words right back in his face, "Looks like you were wrong too." Clearly Jack's plan was to let Desmond extinguish the light since that would be the only way to physically kill Flocke. A good plan that seemed like it was destined to end right outside the cave until Flocke remembered a lesson taught by his mother when he was only minutes old...the time-honoured 'grab a rock and bash them in the head' plan of attack.

On Hydra Island, the Pilot, The Ghost Whisperer, and the (Formerly) Ageless Wonder found themselves face-to-face with an angry Claire. As they were communicating with Kate via the walkie, we got Mirror Image #6: Kate listened through the walkie as shots were fired into the sand on the beach, presumably killing her allies, just as Jack listened on the walkie as shots were fired on the beach in the same situation in Through The Looking Glass.

I'll wrap up the concert in a rapid-fire format: Juliet left David with Aunt Claire, who she just met (mother of the year), Charlotte was the hottest wake-up call service in history, Charlie actually wore eyeliner (unlike Richard), the gang sat at Table 23 (the numbers!), Desmond smirked as he asked Claire and Kate "Do you two know each other?", Eloise asked Desmond not to take Daniel, and Drive Shaft's music has the same effect on Claire as raw sea urchin.

The only major situation coming out of the concert was the birth of Aaron, mirroring the Island events, and bringing Charlie, Claire, and Kate all to full 'awareness' status. It was an emotional scene, and lots of kleenex was used in our house. The only thing that was missing, was Charlie calling Aaron 'Turniphead'.
But I have to step outside of the parameters of this recap for just a moment and say, as a red-blooded male who thinks Evangeline Lilly is one of the most beautiful women on the planet...how on earth did it take 115 episodes to get her in a little black dress? Ok, back to the episode...

...and to the ultimate confrontation. Jack and Flocke...on the cliff...in the rain. I expected Flocke to chuck that knife at Jack like Locke did into Naomi's back in Season 3. But no, it was a head-on collision, and a running punch from Jack that looked like something out of a Mission Impossible movie. The wall crumbled, Jack got stabbed, and just as we saw Flocke ready to plunge his knife into Jack's throat...Kate saved the day with a well timed shot, and the deliciously snide comment, "I saved you a bullet."

Then Jack gave us Mirror Image #7: as he kicked Flocke off the side of the cliff in the exact same manner that Flocke kicked Jacob into the fire in the foot of the statue. The Island Protector and his nemesis, only the roles are reversed. In a vicious drop, Flocke met his end on the rocks below, and the sound editing team deserves an Emmy for the disgusting crunch we heard as he landed.
A beautiful transition to the hospital in the FS World, and a nurse telling Jack 'Nice work Dr. Shephard", as Locke is being wheeled out of surgery. We get the explanation on the neck wound (as was suggested by many readers last week), and John Locke waking up early, wiggling his toes, and triggering his own flash.

Sawyer was in the hospital as well, and after being told by Jin and Sun--with knowing smiles--that they would "see him there", he ran into Juliet at the vending machine, and we got the expected 'We can go dutch' scene we've been expecting since L.A. X as they both had their respective flashes with each other. "It worked", she told him, echoing her words that we heard via Miles regarding the bomb. I give credit to Josh Holloway, who I've never been a fan of, for the pure emotion in this scene. Fantastic.
Back on the Island, Jack explained that he was going to have to go back and turn the light back on. I won't refer to this one as a mirror image, but it's the same situation that we saw with the Frozen Donkey Wheel. Just as Locke had to go correct it after Ben turned it, Jack has to go undo what Desmond did.

Kate pleads with him to leave it and let the Island destroy itself, but he insists he has to finish it. As he convinces her to leave on the plane and take Claire home to Aaron, she says to him "Tell me I'll see you again", and his silence speaks volumes. They exchange 'I love you's, and I was emotional. Call it cheesy, call me schmaltzy...I can take it...but I've been a Jater since day one, and I've always felt that Jack and Kate belonged together. So this final exchange between the two of them validated that it was the right thing all along, and I'm happy it ended that way.

But man, talk about an awkward boat ride with Sawyer right after that, huh?

Sawyer called Miles 'Enos' (again, like on the Dharma Security team), called Hurley 'Bigfoot', and in my personal favourite, called Frank 'Chesty'. Just squeezing in a few more nicknames before it ends, huh Darlton? Personally, I prefer Frank 'The Walkie Talkie Chucker' Lapidus...what the hell was that about?

FS Jack gets his own flash with Kate at the end of the concert, and Island Jack heads back with Hurley and Ben to go into the cave. I've long maintained that Hurley is the heart of this show, and has been for 6 years, but the scene in front of the cave as Jack explained to Hurley that it was him that needed to protect the Island...it was proof. The heart of the show at the heart of the Island, and his innocence refused to let him believe that he couldn't find a way to not let Jack die. Jack ended this by telling Hurley the same thing Hurley told him at the same spot, 'I believe in you."

The ceremony transferring power from Jack to Hurley (as was predicted by many of you last week. Damn you're good.) said a lot. It was the third ceremony we saw, and all 3 were slightly different. The one common thread was the drinking of liquid, and I would suggest that the key element in all 3 ceremonies was simply the pure belief that this ceremony did what they believed it did. Jack did no chanting as Jacob or his mother did, he just gave Hurley a drink of dirty stream water in an Oceanic water bottle. How fitting.

Down in the cave, before Jack completed his role, and played the ultimate game of Perfection by popping the cork back in the pool, he solidified his sacrifice by saving Desmond.
Jack: "Go home to your wife and son."
Desmond: "What about you, Jack?"
Jack: "I'll see you in another life, brother."

I still need to sum up the final 15 minutes, and make my closing thoughts, and it's ridiculously late as I'm writing this, so I'm going with some bullet points for the next few items:
- Hurley became Jacob (Jack), Ben became Richard, and the others left on the plane.
- I wish Kate and Sawyer would have looked at each other on the plane and said "Good thing we built that runway."
- Where is Desmond?
- The final scene outside the church with Terry O'Quinn and Michael Emerson made me realize that I'll likely never see them on screen together again. That is a travesty, those two were absolute magic together.

Now, let's talk about the last 15 minutes, and the big reveal, because this is what the major topic of conversation is going to be coming out of this episode. I'm not going to break it all down, just give you my initial thoughts on what it means.

I was plugging along in this episode, loving everything I saw, and then when Christian showed up and started explaining to Jack, I wasn't sure I was very happy with what I was hearing. I loved the way it was presented, but I wasn't sure how I felt about what it meant.

Upon further consideration, and another viewing, I'm very happy with the end. I'm of the mindset that the FS World was the 'afterlife' for our Losties, and as Christian explained, a world that they created to find each other. The Island was not purgatory, and what happened there, indeed happened. But the Flash-Sideways world wasn't real...and once they made the connections they needed to make, to form this afterlife community with each other, that was their own closure, and they just needed to wait for each other to be ready...to 'let go'.

Desmond was acting as the Shepherd of this group, leading his flock (neither pun is intended, honest) to come together in full awareness of what this all meant...full understanding. We were given hints, many of them in this episode:
- Desmond describing himself not as a priest, but "or something".
- Desmond telling Kate what 'here' was.
- Locke saying to Jack before surgery, "See you on the other side."
- Desmond speech to Jack at the mouth of the cave about it not mattering.
- Desmond asking Kate after her flash with Claire if she understands.
- Jin and Sun telling Sawyer "See you there."
- Locke telling Jack he doesn't have a son.
I'm sure a lot of people don't like the ending, but I do. Maybe I'm wrong in my analysis...I've been wrong before, but I think I am understanding what I saw, and I'm at peace. I loved the imagery of everyone in the church together.

And the final scene of Jack laying in the bamboo field and being joined by Vincent before seeing the Ajira plane fly overhead and closing his eye...beautiful. Just beautiful.
So that’s it.

It’s over.

“The End” in so many ways.

I’m not sure where to go from here. As I mentioned in the past, I came late to this party, and recapping this past season has been an unbelievable pleasure for me. What started out as a small project for me and a few friends has blossomed into something beyond my wildest expectations. A very special thank you must go out to DarkUFO for allowing me to be a part of this unbelievable community of fans and friends. And an even bigger thank you to him for the countless hours and tireless effort he has put into making this community the fantastic place that it is. Words aren’t enough, my friend, and I was thrilled when you announced that this site would continue on after the Finale. Your legacy deserves a very long shelf life. My words of praise with neither be the first nor the last.

As I mentioned in my Ode To Lost earlier this weekend, I’m considering recapping the show from the very first episode, with the new perspective of having seen the Finale. I’m not sure if I will, but I’m bouncing the idea around. I want a reason to keep writing…and to maybe keep this show alive a little longer. Call it selfish, but while I’m ready for the story to end, I don’t think I’m ready for a world without these characters just yet.

If I decide to recap the old episodes, they will be posted here,so I hope you’ll come along for the ride. (And if DarkUFO wants them posted there as well, I’d be only too happy to have them there) Many of you have come to the site already, joined as Followers, and also added me on Facebook, and that has been very flattering. Feel free to add me or send me an email if you ever want to chat about Lost, or anything else.

And now, I’m afraid I can put it off no longer. I’m trying every way I can to NOT type that last sentence and say good-bye…but it’s time. It’s been a hell of a ride. And I’ll miss it.

So Thank-You. Good-Bye…and for one final time…Namaste.

I think I'm ready to let go.

Sean Furfaro.

May 22, 2010: Two Hilarious Lost Videos to Tide You Over Until The Finale

May 21, 2010: An Ode To Lost

As I thumbed through my 2004 TV Preview issue of Entertainment Weekly, I was reading about a bunch of new shows that were premiering in the fall. There was the Friends spinoff featuring Matt LeBlanc and Drea De Matteo (also both featured on the cover); a new incarnation of the CSI Franchise set in New York; a new show about a bunch of housewives who lived on the same street; a legal drama starring James Spader; a medical drama about a cranky doctor with a cane…and this show about a plane crash on an Island.
I was reading the synopsis, which include the sentence ''There are going to be things that will be just left of normal on the show, but the reason you'll care is because you get invested in the characters", and I thought to myself “How the hell is that concept going to be able to last a full season?” Plus, it was starring the guy from Party of Five, the guy from Millenium, and one of the Hobbits..so I wasn’t optimistic. I just passed on by.

I was flipping around on September 22, 2004, and saw that the 2-hour premiere of Lost was on in a few minutes, so I decided to tune in. I watched the opening sequence on the beach, with Jack running around, a guy getting sucked into the engine turbine, and all sorts of craziness going on.

“Too busy”, I thought…and switched the channel.

That’s right. You heard that right. So, I’m letting you in on my little secret…

I didn’t watch the first season of Lost.

Yes, that’s correct. Me! Super Lost-geek…Mr. ‘Don’t you dare call me or text me during Lost’…Mr. ‘write a 4,000 word recap right after the episode’…didn’t watch the first season.

But a lot of friends watched it, and raved about it. I would catch a few minutes here and there as I was flipping around on Wednesday nights, but never enough to really follow what was going along. “Oh, an Iraqi guy who is a torturer?”, I thought to myself, “Isn’t THAT unique?” And why the hell did he have a British accent?
Then one night I caught the last few minutes of a recap show, highlighting the story up to that point, and the closing image of John Locke looking into the hatch piqued my interest. I went into work and asked one of my co-workers, Larry, what it meant. He explained that he didn’t know yet, and that the show was getting better and better every week. He recommended again that I watch it, and since he and I had similar tastes, I figured I would give it a shot. But with the serialized nature of the show, and the new trend of TV on DVD, I committed to not watch any in that first season, watch the DVDs in the off-season, and then pick it up in Season 2 if I liked it.

So after the first season ended, I got the DVDs for Labour Day weekend in 2005, and planned on watching as much as I could over the course of the weekend. I figured I could fit it all in before Season 2 premiered two weeks later. Little did I know just how addictive it was, and ‘one more episode’ didn’t seem that bad at 3 in the morning. Eventually, I had watched the entire first season…all 25 episodes…over the course of that weekend.

And I was hooked.

I watched on Wednesdays at 9, Wednesdays at 10, Thursdays at 10, and Tuesdays at nine. It bounced around like a rabbit trying to stay out of Ben Linus’s satchel. But every time it changed slots, it meant a new routine. When it aired on Wednesdays, which was my regular poker night, I would generally get home between 1 am and 2 am. Having recorded it while I was gone, I couldn’t wait until the next night to watch it…we were all going to be talking about it at work the next day. So I would have to stay up that extra hour, to make sure I watched it before I went to bed, regardless of how late it was.
When the switch to Thursday happened, I was thrilled, because I had a viewing routine on Thursday night. I would head to my girlfriend’s house to watch Survivor and CSI already, and now Lost was on right after, so it would work out perfectly, other than having to drive home at 11 pm. Keep in mind that this was before I was writing recaps on the blog, so that wasn’t an issue. Then back to Wednesday (damn it!), and then finally off to Tuesday for Season 6. Lost was the utility infielder of mid-week television viewing.

As I devoured the recaps online every week (Erika, Vozzek69, Doc Jensen, Robz888, Luhks, Anna, and many others), I started writing my own late in Season 5. It was very fulfilling, and the response was overwhelming. I’m sorry I came to the party so late, and I wish I would have started much earlier. I’m actually considering going back and re-watching each episode from the beginning, and recapping them along the way…I haven’t decided yet. I know I’m not the only one to discuss doing that (or even do it in the off-season), but I’m thinking it might be a good way to keep up the writing that I’ve been enjoying so much.

And now that it’s coming to an end, I look back on the past 6 years as a fantastic journey. It was frustrating, it was rewarding, it was joyous, it was emotional, it was heartbreaking, it was mind-challenging, it was funny, it was poignant…it was just plain awesome. I’m not sure as television shows go, I would place it as high on my all-time list as The Wire, or Sports Night, or Homicide: Life on The Street, or maybe even Six Feet Under…but as for as ‘event viewing’ goes, and something that held me captive for that long, Lost is #1 by a long shot.

I saw fish biscuits, smoke monsters, spinal tumors, sonic fences, time-traveling bunnies, and Bad Robots.

I learned about The Black Rock, The Hanso Foundation, Mittelos Bioscience, the Hoffs Drawlor funeral home, The Valenzetti Equation, Tawaret, nanobots, the Panopticon, and having “a constant.”

I saw polar bears, boars, spiders, horses, a dog, and that god damn Dharma shark.

I craved Apollo Bars, Dharma Ranch dressing, MacCutcheons Whiskey, and 3-piece dinner from Mr. Cluck's Chicken Shack.

I visited Swans, Orchids, Pearls, Lamp Posts, Hydras, Flames, Tempests, and the Looking Glass...oh, and also Room 23.

I listened to Mama Cass, Petula Clark, Patsy Cline, Three Dog Night, Geronimo Jackson, and Drive Shaft.

I noted countless references to Star Wars, Star Trek, and The Wizard of Oz. And was re-introduced to half of the cast of Deadwood.

I met some people with some very famous names, like Locke, Rousseau, Hume, Bentham, Burke, Bakunin, Faraday, Hawking, Alpert…and even C.S. Lewis.

I travelled to the South Pacific, Australia, Korea, England, Nigeria, Tunisia, Scotland and Portland, and many others, all the while knowing full well that I was looking at Hawaii.

I heard “Dude”, “Brotha”, “Son of a Bitch”, and WAAAAAAAAAAAAALT!!!!

I played golf with Hurley, ate imaginary Peanut Butter with Charlie and Claire, pushed the button with Locke, planted a garden with Sun, and built a raft with Michael.

Plus, now whenever I see a Volkswagen van, I can associate it with something other than the Libyan terrorists from Back To The Future.
I lived alongside all the other die-hards on various message boards and websites. There were Jaters, and Skaters, Purgatory Theorists, “Where are Rose and Bernard?” junkies, questions about Vincent, "Richard Alpert is Ra the Egyptian Sun God" (with eyeliner) arguments, and those who insisted that Aaron was the answer to everything. And my personal favourite, all those people who said "I think that (insert random background character from newest episode here) was actually (insert character no longer on Lost)" No, none of those people were Cindy, and for the love of GOD, every black woman you see is NOT Mrs. Klugh!

I mourned the loss of Charlie, Eko, Daniel, Michael, Sayid, Jin, Sun, and Juliet.

Nikki, Paulo, Zoe, Frogurt, Caesar, and Charles Widmore…not so much. Those ones actually made me a little happy.

Ilana, Dogen, Lennon, Charlotte, Libby, Danielle, and Alex…I wish I had been able to learn more.

Boone, Shannon, Ana Lucia, Tricia Tanaka…shrug.

I absolutely lost my breath seeing two Portugese guys in a snowy shack, the words "Not Penny's Boat", and "Kate, we have to go back!"

And I did it all while I was flashing back, flashing forward, and flashing sideways!

So this is it…”The End.” Everything ends at some point or another, doesn’t it? You break up with your high-school sweetheart…your favourite basketball player retires…the cereal you ate as a kid doesn’t get made anymore…maybe the lead singer of your favourite band dies…or your version of TV religion comes to an end.

Maybe I should have written this post after the Finale aired, but I wanted to say these things before it ended…while it was still there, still living and breathing, still a relationship that I feel with the characters on the show.

I truly believe that the Finale will be fantastic, and I will feel happy and fulfilled at the end. My expectations are high, and I refuse to lower them.

And even if I’m not…I’m thankful for the journey.

May 18, 2010: Lost Recap: What They Died For

"I want you to have the one thing that I was never given. A choice."
"What if none of us chooses it?"
"Then this ends very badly."

An interesting choice of words because one thing that Lost is definitely not doing is 'ending badly.' This episode packed a half-season's worth of fantastic moments into one hour, and it didn't feel rushed at all. That may be the most impressive thing of all. So much to to talk about...so let's find out "What They Died For."

Previously on Lost, we got reminded full-on of the emotional impact of the 3 deaths in "The Candidate" 2 weeks ago. I mentioned in my recap last week that I liked the decision of making us sit with those deaths for 2 full weeks before continuing the story, and with this 'Previously' segment, we were taken right back to that emotional meltdown of an episode.

This episode started off in the Flash Sideways (FS) World with Jack sporting a new cut on his neck, echoing back to one of the opening scenes in "L.A. X", as he examined the scratch on his neck in the airplane bathroom. He had a look on his face that he was perhaps suspicious of the 'coincidence', but nothing concrete.

As Jack sat down for breakfast with David over a bowl of Family Size Super Bran, David talked about his upcoming concert that night. We learned that his mom was also going to be there, making me think that we're finally going to find out who it is! Alas, it was just a tease. They were soon joined by Auntie Claire, who made no mention of going to the concert with her newfound family...but that was probably only due to the fact that Jack got a call from an 'Oceanic Airlines' (wink wink, nudge nudge), that might as well have said, "We found your Dad, brutha!" Yes...Desmond is back in the FS, playing his version of chess with our FS Losties.

On the Island, we saw the aftermath of Kate's gunshot wound as Jack sewed her up on the beach, giving us Mirror Image #1: Jack sews up Kate's wound on the beach, just as Kate sewed up Jack's wound in the Pilot episode. Right down to the placement of them on the beach, this scene was virtually the same, with the two roles mirrored. I expected Jack to give the 'Count to 5 when you're scared' speech again. (Get used to the Mirror Images, there's a lot of them in this one.)

But NOW we're going to talk about Ji-Yeon? I know it was just a way of acknowledging it since, as poignant as Sun and Jin's death scene was, they didn't really come across as Parents of the Year not mentioning their daughter. But then puffy-eyed Kate went from weepy to angry in a split second as she made it clear she wanted revenge for their deaths.

Kate: "We have to kill him, Jack."
Jack: "I know."

Back in the FS World, Desmond is sitting in his car watching John Locke, mirroring the exact same scene that we saw when Scotland's Worst Driver ran down our favourite wheelchair-bound substitute teacher. I didn't think for a second that we were going to see him run down Locke again, even after he started the car when John wheeled out into the road.

But in swooped Dr. Benjamin Linus to save the day, and seriously...how wrong does that sound? He even said "I won't let you hurt Mr. Locke again!" As he confronted Desmond, he got a swift punch in the face, which was pretty awesome. As I pointed out a while back that it had been a while since we saw Sayid snapping some sucker's neck, it's been even longer since we saw Ben get the snot beaten out of him.

As Desmond pounded on him on the ground, I was just about to chalk it up to another Mirror Image, but the show did it for me, as Ben flashed back to the dock after shooting Desmond and the fight they had (both of which ended with Ben's arm in a sling). Now Ben has joined the ranks of the 'aware'...or at least the 'near-aware'...as he flashed between the two realities.

I had wondered how long it was going to be before we saw the adventures of Ben, Richard, and Miles, and we were re-introduced to this trio on a sarcasm-filled walk back to the Dharma Barracks. As they arrived, Miles was apparently hearing/feeling something, and Ben, in his best 'teacher' voice (a nice touch coming right out of the FS scene) said, "Is there something you want to share with us Miles?"

We were then reminded that this was the spot that Alex was killed, and we learned that after Ben left, Richard buried her there. So obviously, Miles was hearing something from Alex, and I wish they would have expanded on that instead of just giving us a reminder of the daughter war between Widmore and Ben for a key scene later in the episode. It reminded me of how powerful a scene it was when Keamy killed Alex. (And for those of you that are Kevin Durand fans, make sure to see him as Little John in the new Robin Hood movie.)

Inside the house, and inside Ben's secret room (more answers!), we learned that the crazy drain contraption we saw last season in "Dead is Dead", was indeed how the Smoke Monster was summoned. Or as Ben put it, "“That’s where I was told that I could summon the monster. That’s before I realized that it was the one summoning me.” That was a great line, but not as good as the following exchange between Richard and Ben:

Ben: "Are we looking to cripple the plane or blow it to hell?"
Richard: "Blow it to hell."
Ben: "Then we'd better take it all."

Is this a redundant mission now, to blow up the plane, or is the plane still in the plan for Flocke?

After emerging from the secret room, they ran into Zoe in the kitchen (what was she doing, looking for a snack?), and I screamed "Kill her!" along with 98% of other Lost viewers.

She did not get shot, and we then saw the inevitable face-to-face meeting between Charles Widmore and Ben Linus. The last time we saw these two face-to-face, Ben was standing at the end of Charles' bed in "The Shape Of Things To Come." This has been a long time coming.

As Charles started asking questions, and Richard sang like a canary on their plans, did you see Ben's face? That was pretty entertaining. Then we got the story we had all been wondering about Widmore. Jacob had indeed visited him after the Freighter blew up, and summoned him to the Island. I'm sure that some of you were convinced at this point that if Jacob went to Widmore, and as he declared that he had seen "the error of my ways", then he must be good...as many commenters have suggested. I wasn't fooled for a second, and as I've said all along, remember that this is the man who ordered Ben to kill Alex when she was a baby...there's no way they would ever expect us to accept him as a 'good' character. Never.

Back to the FS World, where we see Ben and Locke together at the school. As Ben explains to Locke that he "saw something", he also tells him that Desmond told him he needed to help Locke "Let go", which is what Jack told him at the hospital. John calls the LAPD, which leads us to a transitional scene at the police station as we see Miles getting ready to go to a concert with his father. Presumably, this would be the same concert where David is performing. Is it father & son night at the recital hall? (Pierre & Miles, Jack & David, maybe Dogen and little Dogen?)

At the station, we see Desmond ask to see Sawyer (I'm not calling him Ford in the FS World), and then confess the hit-and-run on John Locke, and the beatdown on Dr. Linus. As he is taken to his holding cell, we see him walk in and flash that Desmond smile at someone in the cell.

It's the Black Tank Top of Death...Sayid, and as he looks downward on him, I'm calling this Mirror Image #2: Desmond looks down on Sayid with an opportunity to save him, just as Sayid looked down into the well at Desmond with an opportunity to save him a couple of episodes back. Oh yeah, Kate's in the next cell, too.

Walking through the jungle back on the Island (Kate recovered remarkably quickly from her gunshot wound, didn't she?), Sawyer realized the full effect of his actions on the sub.

Sawyer: "The bomb on the sub? You said he couldnt kill us."
Jack: "I've been wrong before."
Sawyer: "I killed them, didn't I?"
Jack: " No. He killed them."

As much as Sawyer constantly gives Jack hell for everything he does, the good doctor still bails him out in this conversation. He knows full well that he wasn't wrong, but he still tries to make Sawyer believe that it wasn't his fault. He knows the guilt of having death on your hands (Juliet, Michael), and he doesn't want it for Sawyer.

Out of nowhere, Hurley sees Young Jacob, who brazenly insists on the ashes that Hurley has in his pocket...the ashes that Ilana took from the foot of the statue where Jacob burned...the ashes of Jacob. When Hurley is reluctant to hand them over, Young Jacob snatches them away and runs...and Hurley gives chase. Did anyone think Hurley could catch him?

As Hurley came across Jacob among a bunch of red flowers, I felt a queasy feeling in my stomach. I neglected to mention the red flowers in last week's recap at the mouth of the cave when the Smoke Monster was 'born', and relay it back to the other instance of the red flowers in the show (Eko's meeting with Yemi), all of which had preceded the appearance of the Smoke Monster.

So after seeing them in this scene, I said out loud "No!", because I honestly thought I was about to see the death of Hurley. And with my mind being where it was at the time, I did not believe that Jacob was actually him...I was sure it was the MIB trying to set up the Losties to get all in one place again. Even the explanation of the burning of the ashes signifying the 'end of Jacob' made sense...

But I was wrong.

As we learned later, it was indeed Jacob, but why the red flowers? Was it just a fear-inducing moment for die-hard Losties like me? Did any of you think the same thing? And why did he appear as young Jacob to Hurley? As an unfamiliar face, instead of just as himself?

Flocke disembarks from the dock and sees Widmore's outrigger loaded with cases still. Remember that back in the barracks, Widmore instructed Zoe to get their stuff out of the outrigger and then sink it, signifying that he knows the end of the story plays out here, and he no longer needs the outrigger to travel between Islands.

Miles decides that he doesn't want to stick around and hide, or stick around and face Flocke, so he decided to just...run away? If Miles ends up dying as he's off hiding in the jungle, or we never hear from him again, I'm going to be pretty pissed. It's bad enough that we have to assume Frank is dead, but now Miles is gone? Why did we develop these characters just to have them go out with a whimper. At least Ilana blew up!

While Widmore and Zoe hide in the secret room, Richard and Ben decide to meet Flocke head on. As they head outside, I'm calling this Mirror Image #3: as Richard and Locke survey the scene of an empty Dharma Barracks, it mirrored when Ben returned after the Purge, and he and Richard slowly surveyed the same scene (minus all the dead bodies of course).

Tika-tika-tika...here comes the Smoke Monster. And there goes Richard. I'm not going to call this one a Mirror Image, but I have to point out that Flocke sure does enjoy nailing Richard right in the throat.

Then Ben sits on the front porch, and I am going to label this Mirror Image #4: as he emerged from the Barracks house and waited for Flocke/Locke to appear, it mirrored the same scene in "Dead is Dead", when he did the same with Sun, declaring "what's about to come out of that jungle is something I can't control."

Then we hear Seductive Flocke's sales pitch to Ben, which essentially was "Kill everyone for me, and you can have the Island." Ben then gives up Widmore in a flash, telling Flocke where he was inside. Remember that whole "Charles killed my daughter" thing? Payback's a bitch, and it's on it's way to the secret room.

OK, I'm just going to be honest and say that I didn't really groove off of Ben's new attachment to Danielle in an intended 'love interest' kind of way. Just too weird. I do, understand, however that we had to see this scene to remind us of Ben's fatherly instincts with Alex (in both worlds) to set up what we were about to see coming up.

What did we really learn, other than they were having Coq Au Vin for dinner, and that Ben looked like Napoleon? (Essay Topic: discuss Ben and Napoleon and the concept of "The Island" as an exile) Not much, but this whole section had some pretty good lines in it:

"Why would someone want to hurt you, you’re like the nicest guy ever."
"After everything you've done for my daughter, a ride is the least we can do."
"We insist. Even if we have to kidnap you."
"You're the closest thing to a father that she's ever had."

The last line made Ben cry, just as he did after the death of Alex on the Island. How many of you figured out that this was going to be the episode where Ben got his revenge? Hands up, please.

Cut to the FS World, where we see Ben and Flocke enter the house, and prominent in the camera shot is a picture of Alex as a young girl. As Flocke goes to enter the secret room, Ben declares "I want to see it." And when Flocke opened the door and flicked on the light, Charles and Widmore were standing there helplessly. They looked rather pathetic. And the smug "Sorry, Charles" from Ben couldn't have helped.

Then, all of my unhappiness over Zoe not being killed earlier in the episode was forgiven as Flocke unsheathed his dagger and slit Zoe's throat in one swift motion. This vicious death was, in my opinion, a nod to all the fans that hated her almost as much as Nikki and Paolo...and on their behalf, I say 'thank you.' Flocke explained to Charles, "You told her not to talk to me and that made her pointless." I actually laughed out loud at that line.

Then, the bribe came, as Flocke promised not to kill Penny if Charles would spill everything to him. And as Charles gave up every piece of information except for one, Flocke motioned him closer so that he could whisper it in his ear. In an incredibly tense approach, Charles began to whisper the final point in an effort to protect Penny, and then...BANG!
"He doesn't get to save his daughter."

Brutal. Vicious. Cold-Blooded Murder. And we all loved it, didn't we? Try to tell me again that Charles Widmore is good.

Ben is back.

The main piece of information that Charles gave up was Desmond's purpose, "because of his unique resistance to electro-magnetism." He then indicated that Desmond was there "as a measure of last resort", which was how the Fail Safe Key was referred to in the Hatch. You can see the recognition in Flocke's eyes when he hears it, as Locke would have known about it. So, while Desmond turned the Fail Safe Key in the Hatch, he now IS the Fail Safe Key.

In the FS World, Locke visited Jack again, and we saw a conversation with the two of them that made it clear that Locke was ready to now become the Man of Faith once again. As he sat there with Jack, Locke gave us Mirror Image #5: as Locke said to Jack, "Maybe this is happening for a reason", it mirrored Locke's legendary line from "Exodus: Part 1", when he said ""Each one of us was brought here for a reason." Coincidence vs. Fate once again.

The Final 4 (Jack, Sawyer, Hurley, and Kate), came to a clearing where they found Jacob, who they could now see...and the answers came flowing fast and furious in the coming scenes.

"Come and sit down and I'll tell you what they died for", Jacob told them, "I'll tell you why I chose them, and why I chose you. And then I'll tell you everything you need to know about protecting this Island because by the time that fire burns out, one of you is going to have to start doing it."

Jacob explained what happened with MIB, and how he was responsible for creating "The Smoke Monster". He went on to say that they were all chosen because they were flawed, and alone in the real world, and that they needed the Island as much as the Island needed them. He also explained that the crossed-out names on the wall were 'just a line of chalk in a cave", and that Kate was still an eligible candidate, but he had excluded her since she became a mother. Does this confirm that Jin was the Kwon on the wall? Sun was a mother, and even though Jin was technically a father, he was alone on the Island having never met Ji-Yeon.

He explained the Cave of Light, and how it had to be protected, and then we got what summed it up absolutely perfectly, which is why I chose it as the opening for this Recap:

"I want you to have the one thing that I was never given. A choice."
"What if none of us chooses it?"
"Then this ends very badly."

Then Jack made the choice we all knew he would, he confidently volunteered to be the Island protector, and Jacob took him to the water, chanted as his mother did 2000 years ago, and gave him directions to the Cave. Now he would be able to find it near the bamboo field where he originally landed on the Island. I thought it was pretty significant that we watched Jacob wash his hands, cleansing himself of the Island and his responsibility to protect it.

Last week, there was a lot of talk that "Across the Sea" should have been placed earlier in the season, but after seeing tonight's episode, it was clear that it needed to be third from last, and right before this episode. We needed to see the cave, the ceremony between Mother and Jacob ("now you're like me"), and the creation of the Smoke Monster to fully understand what happened tonight. It was perfectly placed.

Sawyer: "And I thought that guy had a God complex before" (OK, that was pretty funny.)

It's getting late, and I'm on the verge of rambling again, so I'll try to sum up the great Armored Car Escape (which was awesome!) as quickly as I can, in bullet points:
- I thought Kate and Sawyer talking through the jail cell 'cage' was going to trigger a 'Flash' to the Dharma bear cages.
- I loved Desmond's calm demeanor laying the plan out.
- I wish I wouldn't have seen Michelle Rodriguez's name in the opening credits, or the Ana Lucia reveal would have been pretty good, but I am happy that she wasn't revealed as David's mom, which would have been pretty disappointing.
- Hurley driving up in the Hummer looked like it was straight out of CSI Miami.
- "You didn't tell me Ana Lucia was going to be here." Hurley knows everything! This is great!

I will, however point out Mirror Image #6: when Desmond gave Kate the dress, it mirrored the scene on Hydra Island when Ben gave Kate the dress. And as Desmond declared "We...are going to a concert", it became apparent that this is the location (not John and Helen's wedding as so many people predicted) where everyone and everything will come together in the FS World.

Ben: "If you can turn yourself into smoke whenever you want, why do you bother walking?"
Flocke: "I like the feel of my feet on the ground. It reminds me that I was human."

As Locke and Ben look down into the well where Desmond was supposed to be, we see Mirror Image #7: an almost identical camera shot of the Season 1 finale when the Hatch door was blown open and they were looking inside. Interesting to think that in theory, Desmond was down below in each scenario.

Flocke didn't seem surprised that Sayid didn't kill Desmond, but what was with that rope? Who put it there to help him out? It wasn't Sayid...he told Jack that Desmond was still in the well. Was it someone else? Maybe Frank? What's your theory?

And the last thing we learn before the Finale Event on Sunday night, is that Flocke intends to use Desmond to destroy the Island. Damn...Sunday is going to be awesome.

Body Count: Zoe, Charles Widmore, presumably Jacob when the fire goes out, Richard?

I thought this was an incredible episode. Let's be honest, though, they could pretty much parade flying donkeys on the screen and I would probably rave about it, but this was a fantastic hour of what is turning out to be my favourite season of the show.

A quick note regarding last week’s recap for “Across The Sea”. One of the things about writing my Lost recap immediately after the show ends, is that I haven’t fully been able to wrap my head around what I just saw. Sure, I could wait until the next day, but I like to make my mark with immediate reactions. If that puts me off the mark sometimes…well, I’m ok with that. Last week for instance, once I read the Comments section, my eyes were opened a lot to some options I hadn’t really considered. Sometimes you guys are just one step ahead of me.

Again, thanks for reading, for commenting, and for those of you clicking through and exploring my blog (http://sfurfaro.blogspot.com/) as well. You can also add me on Facebook, where new blog posts get posted there as soon as they go up.

As far as the Season Finale is concerned, I will be writing a full recap, and it will be going up in the hours after the finale airs. I have committed to stay up and write it immediately after the episode, as I have done all season. I realize that this means a late night/early morning, but I will have it up soon after “The End.” And since Monday is a holiday…I can simply sleep all day.

I look forward to your Comments.

May 17, 2010: Now THAT'S A Hail Storm!

Words can't even describe how unbelievable this footage is from a storm yesterday in Oklahoma. Watch it all the way through. (Thanks to Matt for sending this in.)

May 16, 2010: Survivor Recap: Finale Night

Finale night for Survivor is always a big night, so as I settled in for the final episode of Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, I couldn't help but think at the unpredictability that was still in the air with 5 people remaining heading into tonight. Assuming Colby could ever come close to winning a challenge, there was logic behind all 5 of them possibly winning the game. (Reminder: don't forget to mouse over pictures for captions underneath.)

The one thing that I hate about a Survivor Finale is the unnecessary 7-10 minute recap on the season to start the episode. I understand that you want to set it all up, but it always takes far too long.
But after the recap, we saw our Final 5 competitors back at camp after the last vote which saw Rupert eliminated and the legendary "menacing glare" he shot on the way out (see above). Russell was upset about the fact that Sandra played an Idol without telling him, and she correctly pointed out that she didn't report to him. "He wants to micro-manage the whole tribe, and unfortunately I'm not the kind of person you can micro-manage."

Then, after Sandra refused to back down to him, Russell set his sights on Parvati, insisting that she knew about the Idol. First of all, it was a redundant argument, because even if Parvati did know, what did that matter? He was just looking for somebody to rant at. And second of all, Parvati actually had no idea. As I mentioned in my recap on Thursday, that was apparent by the look on her face when Sandra sprung up to play the Idol. If you don't believe me...check out the picture below.
And despite his 'Roll Over And Die' speech back at camp, which morphed into one final desperate attempt to stay in the game, the first Tribal Council was painfully obvious that we were going to see a 4-1 vote, and Colby join the jury. The only interesting thing coming out of that Tribal Council was the fact that Coach looked like he just came from the Country Club.
And then, we were subjected to what is always the worst part of any Survivor Finale (or season, for that matter), the Fallen Comrades montage. And even though my eight-year-old son turned to me excitedly and said "This is always the best part", I had to sit through a mind-numbing eleven minutes of this garbage before they finally torched it all in a ridiculous-looking creation that looked like something out of a Lego Indiana Jones video game.
For the final immunity challenge, this was one of the rare times that it wasn't an endurance challenge, which surprised me after Jeff Probst's ominous warning at the end of Tribal Council: "I encourage you...try to get a good night's sleep. You're gonna need it." I really enjoyed this challenge, and the final moments to get the immunity necklace were incredibly tense. It's Parvati...wait, it's going to be Jerri...No, it's Russell! And at the end, after Jerri declared "That was fun. Very fun.", I laughed out loud as Sandra responded, "No it wasn't. It sucked. It was awful."

The second Tribal Council saw Colby arrive looking like he just stepped out of a Dockers ad, and Sandra making a smart move telling the Jury that Russell told her that no one will vote for her in the final. It came across very innocent, but it was definitely by design, and a good move. Then Russell and Parvati started talking about their relationship and alliance, and Russell's ego got in the way of him staying composed. He got upset at the notion that Parvati protected him, and instead of just smiling and agreeing, he got annoyed.
The funny thing about this is this is exactly what happened to Danielle 2 weeks ago...at the hands of Russell. So just as he caused Danielle to lose her cool, now he's on the other end of it, and unable to reign in his emotions because he isn't being given enough credit for something he wants to be validated for. Proof that he can dish it out but he can't take it. It was interesting to watch Russell say that he can beat everyone in the final vote, but it was becoming painfully obvious that he couldn't beat anyone.

In a surprise move, we saw Jerri get voted out, because Russell assumed that he would get her vote on the Jury. And on paper, you would think sitting beside 2 former winners would be a pretty smart move, but at this point, it was far too late for Russell. Although he continued his maddening trend of spelling people's names wrong as he wrote them down at Tribal Council. Jerry? Really? Come on!

As we saw the Final 3 enjoying their celebratory feast before the Final Tribal Council, we saw an awesome moment where Sandra burned Russell's hat, which was a nice coincidental spin on what Russell did last season, burning his tribemate's socks. And I wondered at the time if Russell was just learning what happened to his hat as he sat in the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York, waiting for the reunion show to start (we learned later that indeed was the case).
But the confusing thing that came out of this segment was Russell sitting hilltop in his camera confessional, saying that "last season, I brought 2 people because I thought I could beat them...because they were the weak players...and I didn't." Here's the thing that doesn't add up: When Russell filmed this season, he did not know that he had lost Survivor: Samoa to Natalie. The season had not aired yet. So for him to make that comment, he either had to be told of the votes, or there are some serious shenanigans going on. I can't be the only one that has spotted this! I demand answers!
In the final Tribal Council, we saw Parvati refer to Russell as her trained pet dragon, and then the Jury took over with their questions and comments:

Colby - A wasted question about Parvati's strategy. But man, has that dude lost weight.
Coach - Didn't actually ask a question, and instead chose to take his time to talk about himself.
Amanda - Another wasted question. She was just happy she wasn't answering questions again.
Courtney - Gushy Gusherson...Courtney loves Sandra. We get it. She's loyal.
J.T. - Acknowledged good game play without being bitter. But lost my respect when his question to Parvati was "How do you think you done?"
Danielle - Gave Russell a chance to apologize (although I doubt it would have had an effect), which he did not take. But she did sum up Russell's game better than anyone else has in 2 seasons when she said "It's clear that there's been a lack of skill in your jury management."
Jerri - Was undecided. Called out Russell for turning on her, and then Parvati told her about Russell's insistence that he would have had Jerri's vote.
Candace - Chastised Russell for his "dirty lies" that went "too far" and "hurt people". Um...what? Then told Parvati that she seemed "like a spouse in a bad, abusive relationship." At this point, I came to realize that Candace may actually be insane. And have you ever heard of a "good" abusive relationship? Didn't think so...
Rupert - Seethingly gave the Hero Speech to Russell who he described as "Disgusting." Emplored the Jury to vote for Sandra.

I have to say, it was a weak Final Tribal Council, and I can't believe that Russell didn't go with the logical argument, which would have been "I'm sitting here with 2 people who have already won a million dollars!" Again, I don't think it would have made a difference, but it's still a shot.

Voting was anti-climactic, as we saw 3 votes for Parvati, and 3 votes for Sandra. We saw Courtney give a virtual Fist Bump, and Candace rant again about morals and values. (has she ever seen the show before?) And then we saw Probst give his same old speech and we cut to the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York (which is now very interesting to see since I've actually been there.)

And as Jeff Probst read the votes, I knew it could go either way. And when Sandra was declared the winner...I was furious. Let's leave Russell out of the equation completely, and just compare Sandra to Parvati. And there's NO comparison at all. Parvati should have won 9-0...but here we are subjected to another bitter jury that votes based on who they don't want to win, more than who should win. Just like last season, and just like in the first All-Stars season when Amber was given the $1 million over Boston Rob. Three deserving winners...and I would submit, the three greatest players in the history of the game...and all three got screwed by a bitter jury.

The wrong person won. Plain and simple.

The reunion show was weak, and predictably consisted primarily of Russell complaining. Yes, he has a point, but he's now crossed the threshold into 'Bitter Asshole', and I can't get behind that.The worst thing that someone can do when they are right is to come across like a jerk so no one wants to hear your argument. He was painfully bitter...and the reunion show was very awkward because of it. Did you notice that Parvati had a pendant around her neck that was a gun...and the gun was pointed in Russell's direction? (see below - click to enlarge)
Not much else happened of any significance: Rob offered to kick Russell's ass on the Island (and refused to shake his hand), J.T. tried to burn the evidence of his dumb move, Erik now had a freaky-ass mohawk, James apologized to his mama, Coach rocked some Dragon Slayer Bling, we met Baby Rob-N-Amber, Randy looked like a Conehead, Tyson looked like a woman, Jerri wore too much makeup (which was a shame, because the last few episodes, she was looking pretty fine), and Russell won $100K in the fan vote. But let's look on the bright side, at least it wasn't hosted by Bryant Gumbel or Rosie O'Donnell, like it used to be. (Remember when Rosie just gave everyone a car? What a joke.)

But Sandra won. And that was honestly a travesty. My faith is being tested with this show.

Overall, I thought this was a pretty good season. I’m not sure I would put it at the top of the All-Time list, but it’s definitely in the top 3. It was a season of great characters, great moments (Rob starting fire by hand, Russell giving Parvati the Idol at Tribal Council, Parvati giving away TWO Idols at Tribal Council, Danielle losing it, Survivor’s first ever catfight), some boneheaded moments (Tyson eliminating himself, J.T. giving Russell the Idol, and our introduction to ‘banana etiquette’), great challenges, and overall great TV. Plus, the fact that Russell continues to find and use (and be given) Immunity Idols has led the producers to re-evaluate how they use them in the future. It’s a game-changing situation, and you can thank Russell.

Players like Boston Rob, who never had to factor in things like Immunity Idols, had the deck stacked against them. But keep in mind that a player like Russell had only 21 days between his two seasons, and he still made it to the end once again. That’s damn impressive. This guy is in your face, confrontational, threatening, and a liar, and everyone knows it…but he has still never been voted out of this game. Not even Amanda can say that anymore.

So what did you think? Should Sandra have won again? Was this just another bitter jury of All-Stars, like when Amber ridiculously beat Rob? And should Coach get his own show? (I know most of you hate him, but I’ll say again, he’s great TV.)
Thanks for reading my recaps this season. The increased number of readers has been a nice surprise. I hope that you’ll come back and read my non-Survivor posts. For you Big Brother fans, I will be recapping the new season this summer, so keep an eye out for that. And of course, with Survivor: Nicaragua coming back in the fall, I will be doing nightly recaps again, on the night the episode airs.

Feel free to bookmark me, and come back. If you’re so inclined, join on the sidebar as a ‘Follower’, or add me on Facebook, where new posts go up immediately.

For now, I’m going to call it a night, but not before heading out to buy a spiffy new blue shirt, because Jeff Probst is just so damn stylin’!

May 16, 2010: It's Not A Trap!

(From Bonnie Burton at starwars.com. Originally found in The Star Wars Craft Book.)

It's not a trap! By reusing a paper lunch bag, you're recycling while making a cool puppet of Admiral Ackbar from Return of the Jedi. Have fun making other character bag puppets from the Star Wars universe. Experiment using colored paper bags, construction paper, fabric and even fake fur.

What You Need:
•2 small brown paper lunch bags
•Craft glue
•Large googly eyes (optional)
•Black, cream, white, gray, yellow, and light brown felt squares

How to Make an Ackbar Bag Puppet:

1. Lay one of the paper bags down with the folded end of the bag face-up on your work surface. Fold down and glue the bottom corners of the bag, to make a rounder face. Cut the bottom of the other bag off and tape to the bottom of the bag for your puppet to give Ackbar a tall and poofy head.

2. Glue the large googly eyes on the far sides of the head. Or if you prefer, cut out two med-sized brown felt circles, then two slightly smaller yellow felt circles and even smaller black felt circles. Glue the black circles onto the yellow circles; and then onto the brown circles to make a pair of eyes. Glue on either side of the bag head.

3. Cut two small black ovals and glue them right above the bag fold for his nostrils. Cut out thin strips of light brown felt and glue underneath the fold. These will be Ackbar's fleshy bits that hang from his mouth.

4. Trace the outline of the bag on the white felt. Cut out two pieces and glue them on the front and back of the bag as Ackbar's tunic. Make two rolls of white felt for the arm sleeves. Cut beige squares and glue together. Cut slits for fingers. Sew to sides of the puppet. Don't forget to cut out a small square of gray felt to make his command insignia badge, and glue it to his uniform.

May 15, 2010: "You Know What You Need For Your Boy, There..."

This morning we were out for a drive, and we saw that there was a big garage sale at the local Legion. So, my girlfriend and Lucas and I decided to drop in and have a peek, and it was exactly what you might expect. Old trinkets and knick-knacks, glassware, plates, cutlery, and all of the usual suspects.

It was interesting because it was like stepping into a time warp. I saw computer monitors that looked like they might have first been used with a Commodore 64. There was an old set of skis, and a set of golf clubs where the woods were still actually made of wood. Cassette tapes, ancient cooking books, badminton rackets...it looked like 1978.

I saw more VHS tapes than I care to remember, including a number of 1992 Toronto Blue Jays World Series Champion tapes, and...I'm not making this up...a VHS entitled "Torvill and Dean: Ice Dancing Seminar Highlights." And if you wanted to watch the magic of Ice Dance over and over again, there was a VHS rewinder.
And all of these things were ridiculously overpriced for a garage sale. Seriously, if I'm going to buy a VHS rewinder (and I'm not), I sure as hell am not going to pay $5 for it. There was a pasta set with one large bowl and 4 small bowls that I expected to be on sale for about
$5-10, but the crudely written price on the shorn piece of masking tape said "$27.50"! Plus, there was a dollar store poker set in a metal case that should have cost no more than $10 brand new, but was listed at $40.00.

It was all kind of laughable, until we walked by this old man at a table near the back. I don't even know what he had for sale in general, but when we walked by, he piped up. Now let me preface this by saying that he was about 80 years old, was wearing a plaid shirt, fishing hat, and vest. He looked like a character from a Red Green sketch (international readers click here to get the joke).

So as we walked by he leans forward and says "Hey!", to get our attention. We stopped and he gets this eerily creepy smile on his face, like something you would see in a Stephen King novel from some mysterious character telling you that you had to stay away from something. He then says "You know what you need for your boy, there?"...and proceeds to lean forward and say, excitedly, "A Jackknife!"

Man, how times have changed.

I had a jackknife when I was a kid. I had it in my fishing kit. But I can't fathom for the life of me how I would ever get one for my son now. And I don't think that he needs one, as this old codger was trying to tell me.

Parents, am I wrong? Am I just an overprotective dad, or am I right in my assessment that eight-year-olds don't need weapons?

May 13, 2010: Survivor Recap

Tonight is the final regular Thursday night episode of Survivor before Sunday night's 3-hour Finale. Will Russell join with Rupert and Colby to create an old fashioned Boys vs. Girls showdown? Or will the Villains stick together and vote out Colby or Rupert, knowing that if either of them make it to the Final Tribal Council, they will surely win?

Returning back from last week's Tribal Council, Parvati was still stunned that Danielle was voted out. Jerri immediately owned up to the fact that she flipped her vote, but the two of them quickly got to work on how to make sure things still ran smoothly with Russell until the last two Heroes were gone.

And in the winner of the 'Most Obvious Statement Of The Season' Award, Parvati told Jerri that "Russell uses scare tactics." James' mumbo-jumbo comment about Colby being 'Superman in a Fat Suit' was a distant second. (And on a side note, I'd like to personally thank the person who arrived on my recap last week by Googling "Colby sucks at challenges". You and I should be friends...email me.)

Parvati then racked up her second award of the evening, the 'Innocent phrase edited to look dirty so that Survivor producers can continue to make me look like a promiscuous tart' Award, when she said "I still need to get Colby and Rupert off."

But you know what was interesting about this whole time back at camp. It was the first time in the game thus far that we've seen Parvati rattled. She's been coasting along flirting and laughing, and completely running the game, handing out idols and winning challenges... seemingly cruising her way to the end. But you could see on her face that Danielle's elimination had her concerned.

Oh man, I forgot about the "loved ones" episode. I know some people love it, and I used to as well, but I'm sick of it now. I had actually forgotten up until tonight that we hadn't seen it yet this season, but sure enough, here we go again. The Loved Ones Challenge was once again brought to you by the Sony Palm Pre, and the product placement was even more obvious than in previous years. Just listen to what Probst said:

"In addition, you'll be taking with you, the Palm Pre by Sprint. Now you have the confidence to know that whatever great memories you make during this once-in-a-lifetime experience, will be safely recorded on the very easy-to-use Sprint phone. I know it's worth playing for."

And...cha-ching! Thank you very much, Mr. Sprint executive, I'll take that pretty little check and tuck it right into the breast pocket of my spiffy blue shirt. Who's ready to play?

The challenge itself was frustrating to watch, as I kept yelling at the loved ones to use their hair and clothes. Finally Jerri's sister and Russell's wife caught on (and Melanie actually was spitting water into the trough as well...that's commitment to the task!). I thought it was absolutely hilarious watching Colby, who has arguably been the weakest Survivor all season in challenges (and yes, I'm including Courtney), get so frustrated with his brother for not performing well. Irony, thy name is Donaldson. I'm surprised that the first thing he said to his brother wasn't...How's Mom?

So Jerri and her sister won the challenge, and when choosing which of the others to take with her, she went all Spice Girls and chose Parvati and Sandra. Politically speaking I thought at the very least she would have taken one of either Rupert or Russell considering they had their wives there, and it was Rupert's anniversary! Come on, Black Widow...have a heart!

But Girl Power ruled, and Russell was pissed, staying fully in the game and instead of telling his wife how much he loved her before she left, instead ranted about Jerri, "She's in trouble now. She screwed up." You're a lucky woman, Melanie.

And just when I was starting to note that it seemed odd that Sandra had an uncle there instead of her husband or one of her parents, she tells us that her husband is in Afghanistan, and that her mother died a week before she left. Have I mentioned how much I hate the Loved Ones episode?

So off they went to the Blowholes, which is arguably the most promoted thing in the last 2 Seasons of Survivor (except for the Sony Palm Pre...see sales pitch above). It was admittedly pretty awesome, but we've seen dozens of shots of it in the last 2 runs of the show. Seriously, I'm starting to think that everywhere has the blowholes, and it's an anomaly if you can't see them.

So the boys were left back at camp and supposedly formed the second coming of the He-Man Woman Hater's Club, which meant that Russell and Rupert agreed to it, and Colby stood off in the distance wishing he could watch the end of Treasure Island. Rupert had some trepidation, saying "I want to trust him, but he's a villain." Newsflash, Cap'n Tie-Dye, with the Heroes down 4-2, if you want to get to the end, you're eventually going to have to align with a villain.

I was, however, skeptical of Russell's pitch to them, simply because he targeted Parvati as the one he wanted out. I don't actually believe he wanted Parvati out. Say what you want about Russell, that he gets to the end and doesn't really think of the endgame, but I think he has to realize that his best chance of winning would be to be sitting next to someone who has already won the million dollars in a previous season. That can't be lost on him, can it?

Rupert snapping and sawing and crushing and throwing...and pretty much acting like an angry giant except for stomping around saying "Fee Fie Fo Fum!"...was pretty funny, and it brought out the angry side of Jerri, which we haven't seen for a while. Although as she ranted about not wanting to live with him any longer, I kept thinking...it's day 36 of 39. Now is when you snap? (and yes, I realize they were on different tribes prior to the merge.)

At the Immunity Challenge, I was thrown for a loop from the get-go because...and make sure you're sitting down...Jeff Probst was NOT wearing a blue shirt! That's right, the King of the Dimples went with a white shirt for this, and it obviously affected everyone. I thought that the challenge was tailor-made for Colby to redeem himself, but before I could even write that note down, he was out after only 15 seconds (Reminder - Google: "Colby sucks at challenges"). 17 minutes later, Parvati had won another individual Immunity.

I have to point out, if you're on that Jury, how can you not give Parvati the $1 Million if she's there at the end. Constant winning in terms of challenges, smart game play, smart alliances, great social game, and that spectacular move of giving away TWO Idols which sinigle-handedly preserved her alliance, which is why she is where she is now. This girl knows the game, and may now have to be considered as the greatest ever.

I loved the schoolyard antics of the individual conversations and ratting out of each other back at camp. Sandra went to Rupert, Rupert went to Russell, Russell went back to Sandra, and then we got the following exchange:

Russell: "Sandra."
Sandra: "What?"
Russell: "Are you with me or are you against me?"
Sandra: "I'm against you, Russell."
Russell: "OK."
Man, with all the lies and political BS that goes on in Survivor, that was refreshingly direct and honest, wasn't it? Say what you will about Sandra, but she certainly is blunt.

At Tribal Council, thankfully the Blue Shirt returned and all was right in the Universe. The jury returned as well, featuring a newly "hot" (according to Parvati) Danielle. I was hoping that Coach would have worn his 'Dragons' shirt again like he did last week, since I found out what it meant since the last episode. Words can't even describe the awesome-ness, so just watch the video.

Did you notice that Rupert, Sandra, Parvati, and Russell were all considered as voting options at one point or another during this episode? Not Jerri, and not Colby, who just sulked on the end log at Tribal Council, trying to remember a time when he didn't suck.

Since it was the final day that Sandra could use the Idol, it was obvious she would use it. She would have been a fool not to. But I loved how she did it:

Jeff: "If anyone has the Hidden Immunity Idol..."
Sandra: (jumping up) "Shall I let you finish?"
Jeff: (trying not to laugh) "No need."
Sandra: "I would hate to go home with the idol in my bra."

One of the downsides of writing my recap immediately after the episode is that I have limited access to images from the show so early after it ends. I wish that I could get screen captures of both Rupert's face and Parvati's face when she played the Idol. It was awesome.

So Rupert the Friendly Pirate walked the plank, but not before stopping and sending a 'Shiver Me Timbers' dagger-shooting glare at Russell. Obviously, he thought that Russell misled him to vote for Sandra knowing that she had the Idol and that it would lead to his downfall. Wrong.

And as Rupert gave his exit interview, declaring "Maybe I'm not destined to win Survivor", we saw that Russell stayed true to the Villains and didn't flip, and the vote was 4-2 for Rupert. The Idol played by Sandra was unnecessary, but still awesome.

I wanted to mention something last week, but forgot to. I read in one of Jeff Probst’s blogs from this season that the way that Russell has found Immunity Idols over the past two seasons, that they are going to be changing the ways that they are distributed in future seasons. I’m not sure if that means that they’re just going to be hiding them better, changing the ways in which tribes (or players) get hints, or broader changes.

Here’s my suggestion. During a reward challenge, after the team wins, and just before they leave on their reward, Jeff says “Wait a second” and pitches this deal to them. You can go on/receive the reward, or you can take this hint to the location of a Hidden Immunity Idol. But whatever you don’t choose, the other team receives.

It would work for Tribal challenges before the merge, although the hint would likely have to be for an Idol contained in a common area (perhaps right there where the challenge just took place…imagine the mad scramble!) But it would be even more relevant and crucial after the merge, when individual Immunity is so valuable. I think it’s a great way to make the Survivors decide what is more valuable to them: the reward, or the possibility of an Immunity Idol.

So who do you think will take home the Million Dollars on Sunday Night? Here's my quick takes on the remaining 5.

Parvati: The one to beat. If she's there, she wins. Period.
Sandra: If she can win an Immunity challenge, I think she has a shot. Otherwise she is out 4th or 5th
Jerri: If she's sitting next to Russell and Parvati, a bitter Jury may give it to her since she's not the Devil, and hasn't won a Million already. I see her sitting in the Final 3.
Russell: Can't win with how many people he has burned already. I see him sitting at the end, and once again not winning. Finale night will again be difficult for him.
Colby: If he wins the next 2 Immunity Challenges, he wins. Which means...he has no chance. (Remember when Colby was awesome? Remember? Geez.)

I will be doing a FULL Finale Recap on Sunday night. Look for it shortly after midnight ET.

May 12, 2010: Lost: Jacob & MIB's New Game