TheTVCritic.org Latest Reviews Feed

The Delivery

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:16:45 +0000

Synopsis: Jim and Pam's HMO will only cover them for two nights stay in the hospital and so she is determined not to arrive until after midnight. But as the working day wears on her contractions get closer together and Jim wants to take her in. She refuses and Michael rallies everyone to distract her. Once at the hospital she ends up in labour for over a day as Jim goes spare and Michael anxiously waits outside. Once the baby arrives she has trouble latching and Pam and Jim fret about that. Michael is bathing in the afterglow and tries to set Kevin up with Erin. Fortunately Andy finally asks her out instead. Meanwhile Dwight decides that he too wants a child and asks Angela to be the mother. He then heads to Jim and Pam's house to pick up her ipod but ends up staying to remove mould he finds in the kitchen.

Just a note to say normally I would review episodes separately. However I was unaware that "Niagara" was two episodes. I thought it was a continuation of the show's double length episodes from previous seasons. So for simplicity and continuities sake I am reviewing this as one episode.

The Good: TV comedies have approached the birth of new babies in a multitude of ways. Credit to The Office for trying something very different. Instead of the saccharine moments and warm shots of happy parents we get stress, madness, misery, discomfort and awkwardness. In some ways this was a startlingly real look at the process.

The focus on the lack of adequate insurance cover and the way that almost puts the baby in danger of being born in an office is a daring choice. As was the very real need at the hospital to kick Jim and Pam out when the time was up to free up space for new patients. Then we have Jim's very real feelings of anger and frustration at Pam's refusal to go to the hospital when she clearly needs to. He acted them well and the arguments the two got into once the baby arrived seemed believable too. As they are both ignorant of how best to look after a newborn, tetchy moments were absolutely going to happen. The montage of Jim practising how to put diapers on was a nice touch to show the preparation he had put in.

Dwight's desire to have a child too was a nice understandable consequence of seeing what Jim and Pam went through. Angela was clearly happy to consider getting back together while Dwight has apparently moved on and wishes he was doing this with someone he actually loved. That would be a very interesting story to explore further.

The odd joke hit the mark with Andy saying "speaking as a former baby" or Michael asking "what are the odds?" when he runs into Pam's mum at the hospital. Jim giving the camera a look after Pam claimed she hadn't had caffeine for nine months was perhaps the most subtle.

The Bad: The downside to this focus on real life problems or just the darker side of pregnancy is that the comedy suffers. Jim's very real distress and Pam's real fear leads to the first fifteen minutes feeling more uncomfortable than funny. It culminated with what should be a heartfelt moment as Jim reassures her that everything will be ok. But he has Michael (and Kevin) slobbering all over them trying to be a part of the moment. While it entirely fits Michael's character it stomps all over what should have been one of the big touching moments.

Later on we have the entirely plausible and somewhat horrifying situation where Pam breast feeds the wrong baby. Pam is presented as a real character and so we know her horror is genuine and therefore this isn't a fun moment. I guess the writers knew that bringing up the realities of a having a baby might well make their audience reflect on those realities rather than lose themselves in the comedy.

As the episode went on it became more and more like a sketch show which was the same issue with "Niagra" (604-05). Now I'm not saying that is a bad thing and often great sit coms are built around that idea. But what happened here was the very straightforward story of the baby being born was constantly contrasted with little gags and for me they failed far more often than they worked. The best example of this was Jim being uncomfortable with a male doctor helping Pam breast feed. It seemed like such a juvenile reaction for him to have when someone had finally come to help Pam with her distress. The tone seemed all wrong and I felt the joke had been put before the logical reaction of the character.

But that is not the only example. Michael and Dwight get into a frenzy of activity to help get Pam to the hospital in a hurry. Then the others realise it is five o'clock and Stanley insensitively insists on making them wait as he clambers into the elevator. Once outside Dwight pauses to point out where he saw a deer and tells Michael all about it causing further delay. Neither joke was bad in itself but it added to the sense that the jokes were hindering the serious plot and calling characters behaviour into question rather than enhancing the story.

Many jokes fell flat for other reasons. Andy was once more made to look completely pathetic by telling stories of childhood rejection by both his parents and his class mates. Kevin had an awful episode. His suggestion that they should shove spicy food up Pam's butt and "You will learn to love me" claim to Erin pushed him into completely implausible territory. To add to that Michael ends up crapping all over him by claiming he should have known he couldn't attract someone like Erin. Those kind of moments make the show unpleasant to watch.

Dwight throwing multiple weapons out of his car felt like an exaggeration too far. Throwing one out would have been a nice gag. Similarly Michael throwing the car keys out of the hospital grounds just seemed so irresponsible rather than a hilarious misunderstanding.

Finally we have Dwight deciding to remodel Jim and Pam's kitchen because he found mould. Now this in itself is not entirely implausible because we know Dwight is fascinated by property maintenance and is unafraid to cross social boundaries. But quite why he would personally go to all this expense makes no sense. He may end up charging Jim and Pam for the work but he should be miserly enough to know they won't. If he had only remodelled their sink the whole thing would have been possible instead of bringing in other workmen to help him take the whole room apart. It didn't help either to see a quick shot of him limply swinging a sledgehammer in a manner which would break nothing.

Seeing Andy and Erin together was a relief after the endless wait. Not the emotion the writers were shooting for I would guess.

Comic Highlight: Michael is glowing in his self appropriated glory after seeing Jim and Pam have a baby. He looks round the office for other single people he can fix up. He sees Meredith and says "You're obviously single." With no shame she announces to the office "You know it. I am never getting married." Then in interview set she adds with even greater pride "Like Clooney!"

That's what I said: The Office has lost control of its format and that is sad to see. The show has never had a good track record with its double length episodes but this suffered greatly from the serious scene-joke-serious scene-joke format.

But usually the writers get their touching moments spot on and what was missing here were the genuinely heart warming scenes. There were times when I wanted Jim to tell Michael and company to f*ck off and get out of his personal business. It seemed throughout that the comedy had the wrong tone or the wrong timing for this plot.

The Excelsior Acquisition

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 17:53:46 +0000

Synopsis: Sheldon is summoned to court on a traffic violation which he incurred whilst driving Penny to the hospital. The court date is the same day that Stan Lee is coming to the Comic Book Store to do a signing. Sheldon of course gets thrown in jail for contempt while Howard, Raj and Leonard have gelato with Stan Lee. Penny gets Lee's address out of Stuart and takes Sheldon round there to try and make it up to him.

The Good: The Big Bang Theory could run for years and years and now has the reach to pull in various celebrities to make fun cameos. While Stan Lee isn't the best here it does open your mind to the amazing possibilities on offer from all the different geeky worlds which the guys are into. Stan Lee's visit to the Comic Book Store is a plausible plot device to add further grievance to Sheldon's situation with Penny. There was also particularly good continuity, both with the use of the dislocated shoulder story (308) and mention of Sheldon's eidetic memory (305).

Sheldon has his moments as ever. He cracks a nice joke about Stan Lee's autobiography as well as his uniquely silly idea to get him to sign a copy of a Bat Man comic. His witness stand script for Penny to read led to a typically amusing exchange between the two. His rage at Penny was entirely justified and his use of the "the moving finger writes and having writ moves on" was very fitting and amusingly dramatic.

I did smile at the pathetic closing line from Stuart once he exchanges a date to his cousin's wedding for Stan Lee's address with Penny. He explained that he needed her there because this is the cousin he normally goes to weddings with. To make sure there is no funny business Penny asks if Leonard can come to. To which Stuart consistently replies "Sure what the hell...We'll tell people he's your cousin."

The Bad: Sheldon being in court and jail should have been a bigger deal than this. There are so many jokes which could be made and there was no time for them here. However I am sure they will revisit the scene in a future episode.

Seeing Stuart further reduced to a cross between Leonard and Howard is a shame. Even if they are going to turn him into a fellow geek (as opposed to the well adjusted guy he first appeared as in 220), why not give him a uniquely funny personality?

A couple of lines from Sheldon were misplaced. Particularly him telling a fellow jail mate that he was in his spot. His particular desire for the perfect place to sit is one that takes him a while to figure out (see 117). It isn't an arbitrary decision to always want the far left seat in any situation.

Comic Highlight: Raj pointing out Stan Lee's proclivity for goofy sounding character names (with the same letter beginning both first and last names) and then actually saying it to Stan Lee and annoying him. It was a very well researched running gag which didn't require much Marvel knowledge to enjoy.

In Conclusion: A fun story which was enjoyable throughout without being overly funny or interesting.

Hooked

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:42:03 +0000

Synopsis: Ted thinks he is about to score with Tiffany (Carrie Underwood) until she tells him she has a boyfriend. Ted’s friends explain how she is keeping him on the hook. We soon learn that Ted, Robin and Lily (with ex-boyfriend Scooter) are all guilty of the same thing. Barney is excited to learn that Tiffany is a pharmacology sales rep because that is the current “hot girl profession.”

The Good: The concept of being on someone’s hook is one many will relate to in some form. The story hasn’t been done a lot before in sit coms and so it was a slightly different variation on the dating plot. Throw in Barney’s thorough explanations for how bait works (complete with a girl falling off his trampoline) and the “hot girl professions” history and there were plenty of concepts to enjoy.

Barney of course carried the comedy with typical enthusiasm and a sudden slam of the hand on the table can be funny when given the right context. The teacup pig was a clever “prop” and suitably cute to provide the shaky training context for Lily to reject Scooter. It did lead to her telling the pig that nothing sexual would ever happen between them which Marshall quickly commented on. Henrietta played the part of geeky and in love with Ted really nicely. Carrie Underwood was fine in her role.

The Bad: The lack of good jokes is nothing new. Ted’s unintended proposal is as broad and lame as sit com humour can get. The writers also demonstrate their lack of imagination and realism with the way they explained the “on the hook” idea. Sure, Tiffany would enjoy a foot rub and chocolate cake. But did Ted and Robin then have to enjoy the exact same benefits from being the “hooker”? At least Lily and Scooter had a different hook relationship because it just felt lame and implausible that everyone milked their hookee for the exact same perks.

Lily and Marshall’s story was not good on a couple of levels. Scooter started as a rather tragic if silly character (120), but now they have rinsed and exaggerated all the fun out of him. He is beyond believable as the loser ex-boyfriend who is basically stalking Lily. Her character is undermined by having him work with her too. How can she be the voice of reason in the group and dish out good advice when she allows him to ruin his life because she doesn’t like to be mean? Then there was the joke where Marshall thought he was an actual scooter and encouraged Lily to ride him. The writers obsession with double entendres made Lily look way too dumb for not working out that Marshall had misunderstood something. To cap off this ill advised storyline Marshall then wussed out and didn’t want to hurt Scooter either. Again it undermined him as a sensible character and ended the story on a flat note leaving you wondering what actually happened in the end.

Comic Highlight: Marshall’s look of disgust when Robin said the following to try and justify her hookee status with cameraman Mik: “Dude, I’m a girl. Ok? Our girl parts are like a spider’s web. Sometimes you’re gonna catch stuff you don’t want!”

How I rate your episode: Middle of the road, enough going on to keep you hooked (anyone can pun) but not much quality.

Sundown

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 15:22:08 +0000

Present: Sayid demands answers from Dogen and they fight. MIB sends Claire into the Temple to deliver a message. Dogen sends Sayid out to meet MIB with instructions on how to kill him. Sayid fails to do so and MIB offers him the chance to get Nadia back. Sayid returns and tells the Others that MIB wants to leave the island and will take them all with him. Those who remain behind will be killed. Kate returns and talks to Claire. Sayid kills Dogen and Lennon and the Smoke Monster storms through the Temple killing those in his path. Ilana and company return to rescue Miles and escape.

Flashback: Sayid arrives at Nadia’s house where we discover she married his brother Omar and has two children by him. Omar is being threatened by a loan shark and asks for Sayid’s help. When Omar is taken to hospital, Sayid is picked up by some men. They take him to meet the loan shark, Martin Keamy. Sayid kills Keamy and his men and finds Jin tied up in his kitchen.

The Good: Sayid has always been one of the easiest to love characters on the show. If you can look past the relentless murder and torture that is. He is logical, he is reasonable and he always wanted to escape the island. He felt great guilt for what he had done wrong and yearned for a long lost love. He was also good at most things he put his hand to and kicked plenty of ass. What’s not to like?

On the island we see Sayid descend from his logic and morality into a kind of madness and selfishness. He kills Dogen and Lennon in order to gain for himself a return to Nadia’s side. His chilling “Not for me” comment to Ben was well acted and made it clear that like Claire, the “darkness” has taken control of him and he is no longer “our” Sayid anymore.

Off the island we see Sayid refusing to kill. His conscience seems firmly in control as he refuses to be with Nadia because he feels he doesn’t deserve her. His international travel may actually not be for oil companies because he claims he is trying to wash his hands of what he did in Iraq. He refuses to help his brother with violence and when he is angered to do so he doesn’t because of Nadia. It seems that she is the missing piece in his life. With her to protect and ask him not to kill he doesn’t give in to his darker nature.

The end of the story could well determine what these flash sideways really are. Sayid decides that he needs to kill Keamy and his men in order to free his brother from their extortion and then he finds Jin tied up in their kitchen. The hook of seeing Sayid now intimately connected to Jin’s story is a good hook. It’s the first proof that our characters will interact with each other in a meaningful way in the flashsideways. It also makes you wonder whether what Sayid did was justified. He killed three men in order to prevent a greater injustice. Does that justify what he did? Sayid’s story has always been about his search for redemption and whether or not he gets it in the flashsideways is key to understanding what it is that we are seeing unfold.

On the surface then Sayid’s story was satisfying. It had real intrigue as he essentially dies on the island while facing a familiar scenario off it. And add to that some terrific scenes. He and Dogen have a wonderfully choreographed fight. Then Sayid had another well acted and written scene with MIB (see The Unknown) where MIB converted him to his side. We also got Dogen’s backstory which explained the baseball, the torturous test he gave Sayid and information on the way Jacob recruited him. Nadia and Sayid’s chemistry was good as usual and painted a plausible picture of what their lives were like in the new universe.

Martin Keamy was excellent as he always was, though this time he played grinning mobster rather than straight shooting mercenary. His death was very interesting though, again implying that in this universe everyone gets their just desserts. Keamy was a thug who used his gifts to exploit and spread sorrow. In both worlds he ended up dying by the sword he lived by, so to speak. Again it seemed to reinforce the sense that justice was being done, sideways style.

The Bad: The problems with this story come from old fashioned Lost writer vagueness.

Remember that when the survivors arrived at the Temple (602) Dogen ordered them to be killed. They had done nothing wrong, they simply weren’t supposed to be there and so these Others were happy to gun them down. Now we have a situation where no one will kill Sayid. Dogen implied that Sayid had to take the poison willingly (603) in order to die. But that doesn’t seem to be the case here where Dogen has to stop himself from slitting Sayid’s throat. Sayid then walks outside where men with guns are and no one does anything.

Those are the facts and they leave uncomfortable questions. If Sayid could be killed anytime, then why didn’t Dogen have him shot? The only answer which makes sense is Dogen’s conscience troubling him, what with the baseball falling off the table etc. But if his conscience is so easily bothered then why did he order the survivors to be murdered?

The real answer is obvious. He ordered them to be killed in order to make the Others seem threatening and show how important these candidates were. In this episode Dogen’s conscience is playing up because it would be inconvenient if he had just killed Sayid when he had the chance. It’s lazy writing because a more plausible set of excuses could easily have been created.

Things get worse though for the way the Others are written as we go on. Sayid announces that Jacob is dead, that MIB is leaving the island and will take anyone with him and that those remaining in the Temple at Sundown will be killed. What happens next is that a bunch of Others including Cindy conclude that they are no longer safe and they leave and end up following MIB toward his next destination.

Again, those are the facts. However they raise another heap of questions for which there are no good answers. I have long complained that there is no explanation given for the Others’ behaviour. By that I mean, we don’t know what their religious belief is, we don’t know what they do everyday on the island, we don’t know how much each Other is told or believes.

So Cindy tells Lennon that Jacob being dead is her reason for no longer feeling safe in the Temple. Who does she think Jacob is? Does she think he is an immortal being? If so how did he die? How can he die? Shouldn’t his death be the most shocking and horrifying thing she has ever heard? Clearly she had to be converted to become an Other and leave behind her life back in the real world. So for her to state this reason for leaving seems pretty unconvincing.

More than that though, does she not know who MIB is? Dogen says he is evil incarnate. Does she not know that? Does she not know what the smoke monster is? To actually end up following him seems crazy. She seems like the most gullible person in world’s history to have gone from following one immortal being who has just died to following a dead passenger from Flight 815 who also happens to be a smoke monster. If she had shown absolute terror and fear of him at the episodes end that might have sold her thinking a little.

Then there is the question of what is protecting the Temple from MIB. It would seem Jacob was protecting them because news of his death sent everyone into an ash dropping panic (602). But then why didn’t the ash work when smokey arrived? Then Lennon claimed that Dogen was the one keeping MIB out. If that was true then why wasn’t he better protected? Indeed why wasn’t that explained to everyone to prevent them from panicking.

Sadly there doesn’t seem to be a good answer to all these questions. Remember that Juliet lived with our survivors for years and yet we know nothing about the Others from her. You would have thought Sawyer might have asked her a few questions during those long nights in the Barracks. But when he was at the Temple he showed no signs of knowledge. It seems like the writers never bothered to give the Others a cohesive ideology or belief system which if true is a deep shame. The result is that the Others look like props rather than real people and that undermines what was otherwise a dramatic and action packed story.

It would have been nice if Sayid had snorted at the idea of a scale which can judge the goodness or badness of a person’s soul. But I suppose that qualifies as nitpicking after time travel and resurrection.

The Unknown: I almost put this in “The Good” but once more felt like I couldn’t. But it seemed like Sayid’s inability to kill the MIB was a crucial part of the story. I still believe that the MIB is a bad guy. In this episode he helps turn Sayid back into a killer and then kills a bunch of people himself for example. If that is correct then Dogen’s attempt to kill him was an important plot point.

Twice Dogen made a big deal out of Sayid not letting MIB speak to him. I thought what followed was superbly written, again if that is true. Sayid heard that familiar smokey sound and prepares for the worst. He is of course shocked to see the dead John Locke standing in front of him and pauses for too long. He allows MIB to say “Hello Sayid” before plunging Dogen’s dagger into his chest. MIB of course turned the situation around on Sayid persuasively arguing that Dogen simply wanted MIB to kill Sayid for him. MIB played the devil in the desert (where he tempted Jesus) asking for Sayid’s obedience in exchange for anything he wanted. He managed to persuade Sayid not just to deliver a message but to murder Dogen himself. Perhaps someone else, like Jack, might get to MIB before he speaks and kill him once and for all. If so then that detail was very nicely placed here because MIB’s words were persuasive in sowing doubt about whether MIB really is “evil incarnate.”

Dogen’s backstory raised a particularly interesting question about Jacob and MIB too. He claims that Jacob asked him to come work at the Temple in exchange for saving his son’s life. We haven’t heard of Jacob making such explicit deals before. We have only seen him ask for help from Hurley (517) and Ilana (516) and nudge other people. This deal of course sounds exactly like the deal MIB offers Sayid. Were the writers just drawing a direct comparison for effect? Or were they further sowing seeds of doubt about whether Jacob really is a good guy?

Dogen also claims that MIB wants to destroy every living thing on the island. That sounds exactly like what Keamy was on the island to do under instruction from Charles Widmore. Another important plot point that seems to have been forgotten.

Best Moment: I thought Sayid seeing Locke and stabbing him just too late was a great moment. Especially as Sayid was soon persuaded to ignore the significance of it. If that is how MIB died then this moment was even better written than it appears now.

The Bottom Line: Despite the weight of my criticism about the presentation of the Others, this was a very enjoyable episode. All action, good developments in the flash sideways and big ones on the island. The plot moved forward a long way and Sayid essentially died here.

The question is whether the writers are going to disappoint fans too much with what they are presenting. This episode implies strongly that huge questions about the Others will be ignored in favour of telling more simple stories about each character’s redemption or fulfilment. If true then those stories will need to be extremely satisfying in order to make up for the disappointments.

The Colour Yellow

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:50:45 +0000

Synopsis: Lisa looks into her family tree but can’t find any noble Simpsons among her ancestors. She looks in the attic and finds the diary of Eliza Simpson who tried to help a slave escape to the North in the 19^th century.

The Good: This is a straightforward story with no distractions which is good to see. The way the story is continued through various diaries, films and cook books is typically convenient but helps keep the plot moving.

The jokes are average but consistent throughout. Homer’s reaction to discovering his ancestors owned slaves was amusingly misplaced “For once the Simpsons were in management!” Old Colonel Burns was just like his descendent complaining about the new dance craze called ‘The Waltz.’ The host of children impersonating Obama was a fun shot and I imagine pretty realistic. I quite liked Abraham Lincoln offending Marge but defending himself as ‘Honest Abe’ and Grandpa claiming that Mabel Simpson kept her last name so that she could “keep all her monogrammed table linens.”

There was also Lisa’s walk through the attic which showed a bunch of items from previous episodes going back all across the history of the show. A nice nod to those who like continuity.

The Bad: Lisa being denied the chance to read the diary and then immediately reading it in front of the family in the next scene felt like time wasting. In general you might well ask what the point of this story was. It felt slightly derivative as the same discovery of African-American lineage was made on Family Guy (314), with better jokes sadly.

Best Joke: In classic satirical style, Homer explains to Lisa that “Quit while you’re ahead” is the family motto. Marge even points to a sampler she made of it which happily reads “Quit while you’re ahea.”

The Bottom Line: A decent episode, though not particularly memorable.

Lighthouse

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 23:57:53 +0000

Present: Jacob gives Hurley specific instructions on how to get Jack out of the Temple and where to take him. He also tells Hurley to motivate Jack by saying "You have what it takes." They run into Kate who continues her search for Claire. Jack admits he was broken and returned to the island hoping it would fix him. They find a lighthouse which has the names of all the candidates at each degree of a circle. When it focuses on Jack's name he can see the house he grew up in. He is furious that Jacob has been watching him and smashes the mirrors on the lighthouse. Jacob tells Hurley that he got them away from the Temple to protect them from a bad man coming there. Meanwhile Claire brings the wounded Jin and Other Justin to her camp. She helps fix Jin's leg while asking Justin where Aaron is. Jin tells her that Kate took Aaron but she kills Justin anyway. Jin decides to lie and tells her that Aaron is at the Temple. The Man in Black arrives and Claire claims he is her friend.

Flashback: Jack has a teenage son, David, in this reality. They don't get on well and Jack discovers that Claire is in his father's will. David goes missing and Jack finds out that he is at musical tryouts playing the piano. David admits he didn't want Jack to see him fail. Jack realises he has put the same expectations on David which Christian puts on him. He says David could never fail in his eyes and says he only wants to be a part of his life.

The Good: This flash sideways story is the most explicit message from the writers that what is going on here is the happy ending which these characters have been striving for. It's madness to predict anything with this show but it is the emotional journey which makes the most sense and Jack's story was more directly satisfying than either Kate or Locke's. We will doubtless see more of both of their stories, but at this stage Jack's story is addressing the core issue of his character.

Jack was the hero of the show from the opening shot of course, leaping out of the jungle to save the day. But we soon found out that what drove him to excel was a burning desire to win his father's approval and to some extent to surpass him. The scene where Christian told Jack he didn't have what it takes (105) always stood out as a bizarrely insensitive and on the nose statement from a father to a son. But it certainly helped explain why Jack was so intense and so determined to always fix problems himself. Jack's daddy issues continued to haunt him when he left the island (410) to the point where he turned into his father (323). An addict who was kicked out of his profession he realised he had become the man who he thought he had surpassed. As he admits here he came back to the island to be fixed. His foolishness in believing a nuclear bomb could solve all his problems has led him back to an angry, frustrated place.

From this context the flash sideways is showing us Jack finding a way to deal with his issues in the most positive way possible. Once he realises that he has managed to make his own son feel the way he once did he stops. In a genuinely heart warming scene which I thought avoided cheesiness he apologises and says his son could never fail in his eyes. The acting and writing were key. David was excellent throughout, playing awkward intensity which seemed exactly what Jack's son might have ended up like. But he played his joy at Jack's words very nicely, holding back tears and seeming content without any hugging, kissing or I love yous needed. In essence this was Jack finding a way to get over the burden his father had placed on him because now he won't become Christian, he has managed to free his son from what he had to deal with.

It has now become clear that the producers are mirroring Season One with their choice of characters to receive the flash treatment and Jack's story here echoed "White Rabbit" very loudly including an actual ceramic bunny (with the house key under it). He and Hurley revisit the caves (which Jack found in that episode) and although it is Hurley who sees him, Jacob is playing the role of Christian's ghost leading them where Jack needs to be next.

Jack has always been one of the strongest characters on Lost. Though his intensity and disagreeable nature have cost him many fans, he has remained a consistently interesting character whose stories receive genuine attention and depth. Something which really came together here was how Jack's daddy issues connected to his failed relationship with Kate (410). Of course his paranoia and anger played a part in that (and are clearly still issues as he smashes the mirror) but there is also the issue of him playing father to Aaron. Here we see David has a copy of the Anotated Alice which he read to Aaron. It gives you a new perspective on his issues and how perhaps he fretted over what kind of father he was going to make to Aaron. In the "present" Jack says he would make a horrible father and tells Hurley that he wasn't "cut out" to make things work with Kate. Clearly in this new reality Jack is finally becoming the man he wanted to be.

And if this new reality is created because of his time on the island then the flash sideways is definitely fitting into the overall theme ofLost. Which is of course that these people were brought to the island to improve their lives. We get the very explicit clue regarding Jack's appendix scar which he is having trouble remembering. Clearly this indicates some melding of what happened to our characters on the island to what is going on in this new reality. I do admit that I am choosing to see this storyline as a positive affirmation that the producers are moving the show in this direction. I can't prove anything.

The piano playing was good continuity too as we have seen Jack play several times (120, 313).

Hurley finding Shannon's inhaler is a fun piece of continuity (from 108 but also funny to those who pay attention to Lost's annual visit to Comicon). His speculation about Adam and Eve's origins is acknowledgement of what many fans speculated during season five's time travel arc. It's certainly interesting and encouraging to see that mystery addressed if not answered. I was glad Hurley asked Jack why he came back to the island, it was about time.

Claire's "darkness" is an intriguing story. The idea that the Man in Black has been protecting her and perhaps advising her would explain why the Others haven't just gunned her down for attacking them. The Aaron substitute was really creepy. I thought Jin did a good job throughout his time with Claire demonstrating his conflicted emotions. I liked the way he told her simply that Aaron was three. It was an interesting way to have him try to help her realise that time has moved on and he isn't her lost baby anymore.

Seemingly the candidates all get assigned a number of degrees on a circle. That circle is on a seemingly invisible lighthouse which Jacob uses to watch people in another reality. Well that answers how people are assigned numbers I suppose.

The Bad: Claire's story did not satisfy me and re-watching I realised why. The acting isn't convincing. I have very rarely said this ofLost so I hope you won't think I am picking on Claire or Justin but their confrontations felt unconvincing and forced.

Justin seems an unfortunate piece of casting. The producers have specialised in superb casting throughout the show and the Others have benefitted particularly. From the arrogant Charles, the friendly Tom, the creepy Klugh, the mysterious Abbadon, the brute Danny and so on. They each had a clearly defined idiosyncrasy which made them in some way compelling to watch. Justin just seemed generic and perhaps that was the writings fault though he seemed to over emote and annunciate. At the very least he showed little sign of relatable panic or cunning which took away from the tension of his scenes.

But sadly Claire just wasn't cut out to play crazy. She had none of the loneliness and sorrow which Rousseau conveyed nor did she seem particularly threatening. I felt her emotions seemed very manufactured with her boiling frustrations not carrying the weight and fear they were supposed to generate. I could see what the producers were aiming for with the key moment when Jin told her the truth about Aaron. We were meant to see her refuse to accept that the last three years of her life were a lie. That her only friend had been lying to her. That she had killed people for no good reason. But it didn't have the gravity it needed. It gives me no pleasure to conclude that the depth of emotion such a character called for was beyond her range.

She was not aided by the scripting which was on the wrong side of the Lost scale of avoiding obvious questions and deliberately speaking equivocally. "Who's your friend" Jin asks simply - "My friend" she kind of nods back. Um, great. Not to mention that she didn't ask him any questions, like where he's been, where everyone else is or what he is doing back on the island? Yes I know she is crazy or dark now but that wasn't adequately written to cover these obvious points.

I was also slightly frustrated by Kate and Jack wishing each other luck. Do they have a plan to get off the island? Do they have a plan to meet up again in the future? It reminded me of the lack of communication which went on when the Oceanic Six decided to return to the island last season. It would still be nice if someone attempted to be honest and point out how scary it is to be stuck on a mysterious island and not know what to do next.

Jack's hyper rage which led him to smash up the mirrors just happened too fast to be a convincing moment. I believe Jack would be that angry, but it didn't seem like the result of his simmering dissatisfaction, it felt forced because of the speed at which it took off. It also appeared as if the writing was trying to mirror Jack smashing up his father's coffin from "White Rabbit" but the same frustration level hadn't been established.

It's also typically annoying that he doesn't address the clear insanity of a mirror on an apparently invisible lighthouse which can show a picture of his house back in the States. You would think a normal person might be curious and check out those numbers and names a little closer. A double frustration because then Hurley surely would have seen his numbers and got excited over this potential explanation for the curse which plagued him.

The Unknown: The appendix scar should be another key clue, like the cut on Jack's neck (601) which lead up to the explanation for how this new reality is created. Dogan, like Ben is off the island leading an apparently normal life. Which of course makes you wonder again what happened to the island in this reality? You could speculate over who David's mother is but I don't think that was the point of the story. What did Christian leave Claire in his will? Presumably this will lead to the family reunion which has been building since season two (220).

Claire's obvious similarities to Rousseau once more asks the question of whether Danielle was also touched by darkness. It still seems like she wasn't because unlike Claire she was reasoned with time and again. But we do need to know the connection between Christian and Locke and at what point and in what way the Man in Black became Claire's friend. And indeed how she became "infected" as well.

Who is "Wallace" the name at 108 on the dial? I assume the lighthouse was only visible when Jacob wanted it to be. Is there someone really coming to the island or was that entirely fabricated? Kate's surname was not crossed out on the dial which is interesting; she is not one of the numbers though.

Best Moment: Jack telling David "I just wanna be a part of your life." I thought that scene was really effective at showing Jack's emotional journey from son to father. David's overly intense facial expressions paid off handsomely here because his look of happiness came across as authentic and understated. Jack was very good as ever. For me it was a scene which communicated one man's story but also sent a message about the direction of the whole show. And that is one of Lost's great strengths.

The Bottom Line: A tough episode to assess. The Jack story was strong but the Claire one was not. The episode also contained some of those irritating Lost moments when no one will say the obvious. But the bad parts of Claire's story were mostly aesthetic. Where as the best part of Jack's story were seemingly crucial to the development of the overall story. So the episode may not have hung together as well as it could but it felt like a step in the right direction.

Extra-Large Medium

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 14:45:50 +0000

Synopsis: Chris and Stewie are lost in the woods and Lois fears for their lives. She visits a psychic who reassures her that things will be ok. Chris vows to Stewie that if they survive he will ask out a girl from school called Ellen. Once they are saved Lois continues to seek advice from the psychic and so Brian gets Peter to act like a psychic to demonstrate how fraudulent they are. Of course Peter soon believes he really does have psychic powers. Stewie encourages Chris to ask Ellen out and prepares his for his date. Ellen, who has Down Syndrome, is mean and demanding.

The Good: In modern Family Guy terms these are two pretty good plots. It was nice to see the entire episode hang together and not involve random sequences. The story started in the woods which led to Lois’ visit to the psychic and once they were rescued Chris and Stewie continued the bonding they had started in the woods.

Lois and Brian’s reactions to the psychic were understandable and consistent. And there’s definitely humour in Peter then getting involved, missing the point entirely and claiming to be psychic himself. I thought there was a nice mix of him both sort of believing he actually had a gift and just using it to gratify his selfish desires. His demands to touch the female members of a man’s family and to get free medical advice from a doctor were fun ideas. The final punch line with Joe wasn’t particularly satisfying but at least it brought the story to a conclusion in a way which means he won’t pretend to be psychic anymore.

Chris and Stewie teaming up was a nice change of pace. It would be nice if Stewie had a more consistent moral code where a story like this could tap into his actual brotherly love. As it stands part of me was waiting for Stewie to just stick it to Chris in some way. But he didn’t and instead he encouraged Chris to take action on his feelings and made him presentable for his date. I’m not generally a fan of musical numbers on Family Guy because they don’t seem to serve a purpose. But I will give this one its due, it was a well written song, with a catchy show-tunes style with some good animation. It was also strictly related to the plot and didn’t involve any other characters in an implausible manner. Like Peter’s story, Chris date didn’t end on a very satisfying note but it did set him back on his path and didn’t offend me.

The jokes were the usual mixed bag which you often get with a large number of flashbacks. But sometimes the simplest jokes are enjoyable to watch as with the snail riding on a turtle’s back “Slow down! I wanna get there but I wanna get there alive!” Or the Italian American guy caliming to be brave in a theoretical situation which was amusingly strictly theoretical. Stewie has a bunch of lines which may amuse some but the simple gag of him digging a hole to fit his massive head into was the kind of self referential joke I think works for anyone.

Flashback ratio (good-medium-bad): 2-4-1

The Bad: As soon as Ellen was revealed to have Down Syndrome you knew something offensive was coming. In the end the moral of the story was apparently that even people with this condition are just people, capable of being jerks like everyone else. But don’t let that or the presentation of Ellen as sociable fool you. If Family Guy was interested in political correctness then they wouldn’t have made several jokes about Ellen not knowing her own strength while hugging things or had her say “My dogs are mooing today.” If I were Sarah Palin I would let this one go, her name check was offensive but it would do more to help her if she pointed out the other sins of this show before that one.

A couple of jokes didn’t work for me and could have been tweaked. To have a joke about Spock winning the lottery and just have him tell everyone to “suck it” seemed tame. There are so many other jokes they could have made that that one was pretty generic. A very simple joke was having the local authority spokesman claiming he was optimistic of finding the boys while Joe ordered policemen behind him to look for corpses. But instead of some subtlety which would have made it an easy laugh they went to a wide shot which made it way too obvious. Peter’s Costello routine seemed a bit derivative too, there’s just something about stealing someone else’s joke to be your episodes punch line which annoys me.

So Chris understands Stewie now? I know, no one but me cares.

Best Joke: Peter puts on his own psychic show and hires a hotel conference room to do it. If you think about the kind of business seminars and shows of this nature which take place in hotels maybe you will see why I laughed at this exchange between two men in the audience
Guy 1: “That was amazing!”
Guy 2: “I’ve never seen a bad show at the Marriott.”

The Bottom Line: Better than usual, two plots that you can enjoy.