LOST and birthdays
Just a quick comment on the Lost finale last night, with a disclaimer up front.
Disclaimer: I am no one's expert on Lost. I watched the first two seasons closely and then bailed out halfway through S3 due to extreme boredom with Kate and Sawyer in a cage and Jack in the brig. I tuned in again at the end of that season to watch Charlie's big finish and was mildly intrigued by the flashforward finale, but not enough to make me pick up the show again in S4. I caught the S5 finale last spring one night when Marc was working late, and then the S6 premiere under similar circumstances, and started watching spottily then. Then this March I got this horrific cold and was home alone for about five days out of one week and did a selected rewatch of S1, remembered how much I liked the show then, and put an alarming, confusing, period of time into catching up with Seasons 4 and 5 on Netflix while watching S6 as it aired (and catching up on missed eps out of order). It was not the ideal way to view this show--talk about a scramble in my head. But anyway, I was well invested again by last night.
That said, my one big observation/comment:
On a meta level I kinda love that Hurley ended up as the Island's Protector. I'm sure he was one of the most likely choices in fan theory, and I myself had narrowed my guess down to him and Jack. So last week, when Jack stood up, and Hurley said "I'm so glad it wasn't me," I was fine. And then last night, when I was griping at the TV (with Marc--who's never watched an episode of the show--listening in and laughing at me) about how Jack manages to hike and fight and all after having been brained with a rock and stabbed, and it occurred to me--exactly when the writers and director wanted it to--that Jack might not survive and that's why Hurley stayed, because it's going to be Hurley in the end, I was all "Oh, awesome!" (Again, just like the writers and director wanted me to.)
And part of my reaction is just because Hurley is awesome and so very different from Jack, but just as big a damn hero. (I just dug out of Hulu the early S3 Hurley episode where he gives Charlie that fantastic motivational speech that ends with "Sometimes you gotta look Death in the face and say 'Whatever, man!'" Hurley and Al Swearengen, I tell you what. Best pep talks ever.)
But the other part of it is because of something I read in TV Guide last week or the week before (pretty sure it was TVG, maybe EW). It was a "the writers reveal their top ten Lost moments" feature, and Cuse and Lindelof noted the time-travel conversation between Hurley and Miles in Season 5's "Whatever Happened, Happened." They said they'd started to understand that the audience was confused by the time-travel storyline and its details and rules, and that they wrote that scene to very directly address those issues, using Hurley because he has always represented their audience. They acknowledge that it's a very meta moment--more so than they usually write--but that it works so well because a) it's funny as hell and b) it helped situate things in a pretty natural way--after all Hurley's just been chucked back in time and that's confusing and would make a person ask some questions.
Anyway, coming off of the Supernatural finale (which I also loved, btw), I have been thinking a lot about the relationship between the writer/creator and the audience, and what I really love about the Lost finale is that they gave over care of the Island and its future to the audience. It's like they said (and I'm sure I'm taking this a step or several farther than they actually intended):
"Want to know all the secrets of the Island? Want to know what happens to the survivors, or to Hurley and Desmond and Ben? Want a better/fuller explanation than Jack's dad gave in the church? YOU WRITE IT. You're in charge now. Now you're like us."
That was awesome.
In other news, yesterday while I was away from the Internetz and left my phone in my other purse, two of my favorite girls had birthdays! liptonrm and dodger_sister! Happy birthday(s)! Huge, cuddly, bordering-on-inappropriate hugs to come in person on Friday night. I hope your days were good, despite recent setbacks. I love you both to tiny, smishy little bits.
Okay. Work now.
Disclaimer: I am no one's expert on Lost. I watched the first two seasons closely and then bailed out halfway through S3 due to extreme boredom with Kate and Sawyer in a cage and Jack in the brig. I tuned in again at the end of that season to watch Charlie's big finish and was mildly intrigued by the flashforward finale, but not enough to make me pick up the show again in S4. I caught the S5 finale last spring one night when Marc was working late, and then the S6 premiere under similar circumstances, and started watching spottily then. Then this March I got this horrific cold and was home alone for about five days out of one week and did a selected rewatch of S1, remembered how much I liked the show then, and put an alarming, confusing, period of time into catching up with Seasons 4 and 5 on Netflix while watching S6 as it aired (and catching up on missed eps out of order). It was not the ideal way to view this show--talk about a scramble in my head. But anyway, I was well invested again by last night.
That said, my one big observation/comment:
On a meta level I kinda love that Hurley ended up as the Island's Protector. I'm sure he was one of the most likely choices in fan theory, and I myself had narrowed my guess down to him and Jack. So last week, when Jack stood up, and Hurley said "I'm so glad it wasn't me," I was fine. And then last night, when I was griping at the TV (with Marc--who's never watched an episode of the show--listening in and laughing at me) about how Jack manages to hike and fight and all after having been brained with a rock and stabbed, and it occurred to me--exactly when the writers and director wanted it to--that Jack might not survive and that's why Hurley stayed, because it's going to be Hurley in the end, I was all "Oh, awesome!" (Again, just like the writers and director wanted me to.)
And part of my reaction is just because Hurley is awesome and so very different from Jack, but just as big a damn hero. (I just dug out of Hulu the early S3 Hurley episode where he gives Charlie that fantastic motivational speech that ends with "Sometimes you gotta look Death in the face and say 'Whatever, man!'" Hurley and Al Swearengen, I tell you what. Best pep talks ever.)
But the other part of it is because of something I read in TV Guide last week or the week before (pretty sure it was TVG, maybe EW). It was a "the writers reveal their top ten Lost moments" feature, and Cuse and Lindelof noted the time-travel conversation between Hurley and Miles in Season 5's "Whatever Happened, Happened." They said they'd started to understand that the audience was confused by the time-travel storyline and its details and rules, and that they wrote that scene to very directly address those issues, using Hurley because he has always represented their audience. They acknowledge that it's a very meta moment--more so than they usually write--but that it works so well because a) it's funny as hell and b) it helped situate things in a pretty natural way--after all Hurley's just been chucked back in time and that's confusing and would make a person ask some questions.
Anyway, coming off of the Supernatural finale (which I also loved, btw), I have been thinking a lot about the relationship between the writer/creator and the audience, and what I really love about the Lost finale is that they gave over care of the Island and its future to the audience. It's like they said (and I'm sure I'm taking this a step or several farther than they actually intended):
"Want to know all the secrets of the Island? Want to know what happens to the survivors, or to Hurley and Desmond and Ben? Want a better/fuller explanation than Jack's dad gave in the church? YOU WRITE IT. You're in charge now. Now you're like us."
That was awesome.
In other news, yesterday while I was away from the Internetz and left my phone in my other purse, two of my favorite girls had birthdays! liptonrm and dodger_sister! Happy birthday(s)! Huge, cuddly, bordering-on-inappropriate hugs to come in person on Friday night. I hope your days were good, despite recent setbacks. I love you both to tiny, smishy little bits.
Okay. Work now.