L O S T. CAN. WAIT.

The Pens Can Wait

Tonight's Pens game promises to be a nerve wracking tug of war, and let's face it, the evil Caps might prevail (unlikely). What I AM sure of is that tonight at 9/8 c (maybe a little bit later if you are TiVoing the show and watching it after the game) is that the LOST finale will be epic. Check back with us sometime tomorrow with the results of our running diary.

L O S T can wait.

These nut crunching games don't show their face often...

EMPIRE Magazine: Stars Help Celebrate 20 Years

Empire Magazine, turning 20 this year, is celebrating the milestone with all kinds of fanfare. They've been getting assists from big time movie stars all year to help bring in the birthday with style. Recently, they even snagged His Holiness of Modern Film, Stevie Spielberg to be their editor for a big commemorative issue. Well, now they've gone and gathered Hollywood's best for a photo shoot that makes movie geeks everywhere drool. The magazine's website gives you a "a taster of Empire's exclusive, star-studded shoots paying tribute to some of the most iconic moments in movies of the last 20 years." You only get a sneak peek at 9 of the 27 total portraits, but some of them are duds (Cruise, the Potter kids, Atonement idiots, etc). Two that I've posted here are solid gold. The third is solid black and gold. Enjoy. And GO PENS!



The rest of the portraits can be found here:

http://www.empireonline.com/20/birthday-portfolio/default.asp

Ranking Previous LOST Finales

...in anticipation for "The Incident." This was tough, all have been great.


4. S4 - There's No Place Like Home Parts 1 and 2

I'm not as big on S4 as the Top Ten management, but this was still a great finale to a very solid season. On island, Locke and Ben make their way to the Orchid as the Oceanic Six head to the freighter. At the conclusion, Ben will turn the donkey wheel that will lead to the island moving and setting in motion the time-skipping conundrum. The freighter explodes killing Michael and supposedly Jin, and the Oceanic Six makes it off in Frank's helicopter. The flash forward centers around the Oceanic Six off-island. Shock value and cliffhanger endings are essential in finales, and this certainly delivers. The episode concludes with Jack visiting the funeral parlor from the S3 finale. We find out that the man in the coffin, Jeremy Bentham, is actually Locke.











3. S2 - Live Together, Die Alone

Michael leads his band of Losties toward the Others' camp in order to get Walt. Jack, Kate, and Sawyer are captured by the Others who are led by Henry Gale. In the hatch, Locke tries to prevent Eko from pushing the button. Desmond uses the fail safe key, and the hatch implodes. The best part of this episode is the flashback of Desmond, LOST's second best character, his background, on and off island, is epic. The final scene is a bit of a letdown with Penny doing some island-searching, otherwise, a great conclusion to an underrated season.




















2. S1 - The Exodus Parts 1 and 2

I was curious how S1 was going to end. It needed a solid conclusion and yet leave something for loyal fans to look foward to for S2. "The Exodus" pretty much delivered on every level. It seemed like Sawyer, Michael, Walt, and Jin were going to be rescued until the "Others" took the boy. The flashbacks surrounded the Losties just prior to the crash. It was a great way to wrap up the season. The explosion and stare down the hatch of Jack and Locke, LOST's two main characters, was a great final scene. S1 set the tone for this five year tv experience that has probably been the most fruitful in my tv viewing life.













1. S3 - Through the Looking Glass

I almost put "The Exodus" first, but it is really tough to beat this. Losties versus the Others, the possibility of being rescued, and a surprise flash forward all rolled into one great episode. "Through the Looking Glass" is filled with great scenes, Sayid breaking necks, Locke killing Naomi, and Charlie's death at the hands of Mikhail name a few, but the S3 conclusion is all about the flash forward and especially its revelation in the final scene. I agree that at its worst, S3 had some of the most horrid episodes/moments/characters in LOST history, but at its best, S3 was nothing short of incredible. The second half of S3 is, in my opinion, the top group of episodes throughout the entire series. "Through the Looking Glass" is TV at its finest.

L O S T - Pre-Finale Rankings

I've never been a huge fan of the time travel angle. Though previous Desmond episodes played around with the concept in a cool way, I never imagined that behind the scenes, the L O S T brain trust was preparing us for a complete overhaul of the show that would result in three things: (1) Lindelof and Cuse "congratulating" each other for being such mega-geniuses, (2) me wondering what happened to the show I went bananas for in the first two seasons, and (3) a Hugo-sized brainfart from my sister that still leaves her disinterested in the L O S T universe to this day.

The repeated time hopping antics of this season's first few episodes really bugged me, but I was glad to see that once things settled into their respective eras, the mind-blowing episodes returned. In the past, all of my power rankings were built upon what a character had done up to that point. Example: Jack's dominance in season 1 (and 2, and kinda 3) was enough to keep him on top of my power rankings throughout his weak season 4.

Well I'm here now to say that Whatever Happened, DIDN'T Happen. No longer am I taking into account previous seasons. These power rankings will only hit on season 5 actions (sorry Jack, we'll always have the caves).

L O S T Season Five (TOP TEN):

1. Dr. Pierre Chang - he came off as cryptic/annoying in the orientation videos, but there must be something about Asian men on this show. Following in the footsteps of Jin, Miles, and Mr. Paik, what started as annoying has developed into pure Made-In-China/Korea awesomeness. Chang's smart ass remarks to the Dharma underlings have all been priceless, and his transformation into a caring father who buys into the time traveler's story caps an already impressive run for him. Highlight: His back and forth quiz with Hurley. I didn't want to believe he was number 1, but the truth is right now I'm looking forward to his scenes more than anyone else's (besides Jacob maybe).







2. Ben Linus - Delegated to the Other's bench at the end of last season, he's doing a bang up job of sticking around. He used to be a man with answers, now he's just along for the ride. But he's been an architect of this season's events and something tells me he's got one last ace up his sleeve to be played next week.

3. Locke - Maybe I'm dwelling too much on last night, but Locke has finally settled into his leader role, he's stopped whining, stopped asking questions, and stopped cooking everybody meals. The Boar Hunter returns, and that's enough for the 3 spot.







4. Richard Alpert - I thought last night would give us some answers on his origins, but the only morsel thrown at us was: He's an advisor, and he's been that for a loooooong time. No Shit! We kinda figured. Is he an eye-lined immortal or just a master of time travel or just Mayor of Gotham? How does he never age? Maybe he was born with it, maybe it's Maybelline?

5. Christian Shepherd - His appearances are few and far between, but he knows when to bring it hard. There are some guys like Malkin who can turn on a button that sends them into overdrive. Then there are guys like the original Doc who just don't know how to turn that button off. Oh, and say hello to his son for him.



6. Hurley - Same typical, fat, funny Hurley as always. We'll take it.


7. Charles Widmore - His best moments are when he's old and bitter. But even the young Chuck Dubya keeps things interesting. Fleshing out his character and his motives vastly improved on the mean-father-of-your-girlfriend bit part he started out as. And though Old Eloise is gross (grosser in Yes Man), young Ellie was hot. High five that.


8. Horace Goodspeed - Besides having his balls taken away from him last night, he's been solid in That 70's Episodes.





9. Dan Faraday - an idiotic death isn't enough to make me forgot how his brain held the plot together in the first episodes, and how he delivered a great going-away party (unlike Ana Lulu, Eko, etc). And you gotta appreciate a beard this time of year (JACK YOU SUCK).

10. Jim "Marc-Andre" LaFleury - How did this happen??????????????????????

TV: LOST - Follow the Leader

Would it even be possible that, after a thrilling Pens victory in OT, I could be disappointed by an episode of LOST? I could probably watch a Sun flashback episode and still love it, that's how great I'm feeling. Nonetheless, 'Follow the Leader' rocked and here are some of my quick observations from the episode.

SUN is here....why?
Ok, ok, we get that Sun and Jin are going to have a teary reunion that makes us all believe in love again. But seriously, has she done anything this year? Hell. No. I love that Locke doesn't give a shit about reuniting her with Jin.

- "I watched them all die."
The symmetry of Richard Alpert going on Island adventures with Locke while also going on past Island adventures with Jack was lovely. Alpert's crazy revelation that he watches Jack and co. die in 1977 is mind-boggling for the following reasons. Suppose Jack blows the bomb and that's how Alpert knows they are dead. Are they really dead? Or did they create a new timeline and are living pretty?

-Wiping the slate clean.
I get a little annoyed when Jack and Kate talk of fixing the future. Their sole motivation for blowing the bomb is that Oceanic 815 won't crash and Boone, Charlie, and everyone else are safe and go on to live their lives. Obviously, blowing the bomb has bigger repurcussions than that. If the Island blows up, it can be argued that no such plane ride will even exist. If the bomb blows, Widmore doesn't go off the Island to create Penny, which means Desmond never sees Jack at the stadium, etc. etc. I get a headache every time I think about this stuff.

"I'm gonna kill 'em."
Locke is awesome. Kill Jacob? What does that even mean? Is that even possible? Will the Great Christian intervene? Also, doesn't it kind of suck that the story is so focused on Jack changing the future... a future that includes Locke trying to kill Jacob? Jack's mission makes Locke's story irrelevant. This is part of the reason why I still believe the 'Whatever happened, happened' theory.

Ben and Jacob -
If Ben hasn't seen Jacob, which Locke believes (Ben's look didn't dissuade him of that), then how could Ben have grabbed ghost Jacob by the shoulders in Season 3?

"What year were you born?"
With the exception of Locke's final line, this was my favorite scene of the episode. Don't mess with Pierre Chang. This side character continues to climb the power rankings with every episode he's in. In fairness, Hurley didn't stand a chance matching wits with the good doctor.

On the other hand...
Radzinksky continues to suck more and more with each episode he's in. How dare he try to usurp Horace's power! What a stupid face he has. I'm glad he pulls a Kurt Cobain.

Speaking of sucking...
Kate is terrible. Just terrible. LaFleur better-dealed her for the infinitely more attractive Juliet, and Jack pretty much tells her that he regrets ever knowing her, saying their relationship was full of "misery."

Question:
The previews show Sawyer, Juliet, and Kate on the Island. How and why does the sub get turned around? If the sub docks, does that mean Charlotte and Baby Miles don't get off the Island, because that would also change history?

FINALE NEXT WEEK!
I will be doing one of my epic running diary's for the Season 5 finale. For those who care at all, I did one for the Season 3 finale. But first, it's time for some predictions.

1. LaFleur will definitely kill Phil
2. Yep, the bomb will blow.
3. Ben and Sawyer will die.
4. Locke will kill/become Jacob, much like Tim Allen in the Santa Clause.
5. Kate will continue to Suck.
6. JACK WILL TALK TO CHRISTIAN!!!!!!!!!!!!
7. Somehow, Miles will stick around in the 70s with his pops.
8. We will have a cameo from a deceased 815er (probably Charlie)
9. Jack changes history, so guess who Locke sees when he goes to see Jacob? You guessed it. The doc. A twist that would make Lindelof cream in his pants.
10. The last scene of the episode will be in the new, altered timeline. I like the idea of Jack's eye opening to a new Bizarro Island.