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Thursday, March 29, 2007
11:06 am
92 Comments
This week we got something new. A show where half the flashbacks happened on the island and a timestamp on them to boot. We also got the long awaited backstory on Nikki and Paulo, the two newbies this season. For the last few weeks, the Lost boards have been buzzing with the news that Nikki has a seedy past as a stripper. It turns out the truth is much, much worse.
She’s an actress.
Oh and a murderess.
Old friends stopped by to say hello, Billy Dee Williams showed up and we got to see the first few weeks on the island from a different perspective. We learned that Paulo knew far more about the island and the Others than anyone else on the beach, but for his own reasons chose not to share what he knew. Bad Paulo!
The big surprise for me was that for once, we got an episode that completely shot down a theory that’s been floating around the net all season. More on that later.
Finally, we can all now stop asking “Who the hell are Paulo and Nikki?” The real question has to be “What was the point of Paulo and Nikki?” Surely there was a point.
More on murder, theft, betrayal, lies, spiders, one less Lost theory and a crap load of diamonds after the jump.
The opening this week is a shot of Nikki running desperately through the jungle. She stops to quickly bury something with her bare hands and then gets up and plows on through the jungle.
Cut to her being introduced at a strip bar as “Corvette”. Insert adolescent male “vroom vroom” noises and spanking jokes to taste.
She’s currently waiting tables at The Standard downtown. God bless day players!
As she dances, she sees a man walk through the club with a briefcase. She bursts in to the office just in time to see the case opened, revealing wads of cash being handed over to…Billy Dee Williams?
Lando The Lost
First “Jabba”, then the Old Wookie Prisoner Gag and now Lando Calrissian. This show sure knows how to make us geeks feel right at home. Sparkly bikinis and Star Wars.
An incredibly cheesy exchange between Lando (who we learn is Mr. LaShade and also “The Cobra” – hmmm…bad guy masquerading as a good guy…) and Corvette follows and then just like Han Solo before him, Lando shoots first.
(*Geek side note: Han really did shoot first, no matter how many times Lucas tries to CGI us into believing that Han and Greedo decided to settle their differences though a frank discussion of their grievances over a nice mocha chino.*)
Did she really say “Razzle Dazzle” before kicking the henchman in the face?
By this time, if you haven’t figured out that The Cobra and Corvette are characters on a really bad tv show, you really need to burn your Baywatch DVDs.
Sure enough, “Cut” is called and that’s a “Series wrap” on the show “Expose” for Nikki. The director/producer takes her aside and suggests that perhaps they could resurrect the character with some (not so) creative writing, but Nikki knows that she’s a guest star and what the fate of all guest stars must be. Her character is dead.
Is it just me or has Lost gotten into the habit of talking directly to the audience lately?
Then there’s the big reveal that she loves the man she’s talking to, a guy old enough to be her grandfather. They kiss.
Greybishop pauses his DVR to go have a shower.
Eeew.
Ummmm. . . too easy.
Sawyer is trying to improve his ping-pong game, going best out of five, and then best of seven against the island’s resident table tennis shark, Hurley.
As they play, Nikki stumbles out of the jungle and collapses. As Sawyer heads into the jungle to get help, the stripper/actress/molestee breathes one last word to Hurley.
“Dude. Nikki’s dead.”
“Who the hell’s Nikki?”
I almost expected Sawyer to break the fourth wall and wink at us.
(*Theatre buff side note: When a character in a tv show, movie or stage show talks directly to the audience, it is known as “Breaking the fourth wall,” which implies that we the audience suspend our disbelief and in effect become the fourth wall of the stage. In recent weeks, Lost has come very close to breaking the fourth wall, particularly with reference to Paulo and Nikki.*)
84 days ago, Nikki and Howie are having a meal together. Howie introduces Nikki to his new chef, Paulo. Apparently, back home, Paulo is the “Wolfgang Puck” of Brazil. Brazil…I wonder if Paulo plays chess or owns a parka?
It seems that Paulo heard that Howie was hiring and showed up at his office every day until he got the job.
I must say, I was surprised that Paulo was a chef. Somehow I just assumed he was a plumber.
Howie passes Nikki a homemade roll and when she removes it from the basket, there’s a bracelet behind it. As Howie explains that one day it will be a ring, not just a bracelet, he starts showing signs of heart attack. In moments, he’s gone.
Nikki rips open the dead man’s shirt and removes a key from around his neck.
“I would have loved it if you could have figured out a way where I didn’t have to eat the same food as him.”
Not just a bad actress with a great body. A bad person. With a great body.
Bonnie and Clyde head into a walk in closet and open a safe that contains stuff that is “Way off the books.” As they open the safe, Paulo tries to light an post murder smoke, but Nikki points out that ashes from the cigarette would be evidence and stops him before he can get it lit. Inside the safe, they find…a Russian nesting doll.
“Razzle freakin’ Dazzle.”
Do I hear more tapping on that fourth wall?
The Scooby Gang is gathered around Nikki’s corpse, discussing what might have happened to her. There’s no obvious signs of what might have killed her, so the idea of poison comes up. Sun suggests that they check the food supply to be sure. Doing his best Quincy impression, Charlie notices “gunk” under her fingernails.
Sawyer recounts how she stumbled out of the jungle, face planted and said something like “Plywood”.
Hurley thought it was “Power lines.”
As they discuss it, the big man realizes that it wasn’t “Power lines” but “Paulo lies.”
“Who the hell’s Paulo?”
Knock knock.
Hurley explains that Paulo is her husband or boyfriend. Sawyer wonders where Paulo might be, because if he lies, that’s probably a good place to start.
80 days ago, at the airport, Paulo reads an article to Nikki about the man they killed. He was found dead in his home, apparently of heart failure. They seem to have gotten away with it. Happiness and kissing ensue. Nikki notes that he’s chewing gum, so he shows her the nicotine gum he’s using to help him quit smoking.
Old friends Shannon and Boone show up in the lounge, but there’s no where for them to sit. Shannon’s bitchy whining draws Paulo and Nikki’s attention even before Boone asks if he can borrow their spare chair. When Shannon brow beats Boone into leaving the lounge, Nikki asks Paulo to promise that they’ll never end up like them.
Well….
On one hand, unless their parents get married to each other, there’s not much danger of that. Of course, there’s that pesky dying on Mystery Frickin’ Island similarity they might have to watch out for.
From the airport, flash forward to the first few moments after the crash. During the mayhem, Nikki searches frantically for Paulo. During her search, one of the Season 3 theories about her and Paulo is put to bed. For a while there has been speculation that somehow our resident time traveller, Desmond, had managed to change something in the past, which resulted in Paulo and Nikki taking the place of Rose and Bernard on the plane, explaining why the older couple have been so conspicuously absent all season. We see Boone killing Rose with kindness just before Jack rushes in and performs CPR just as badly.
So. No switcheroo. So where are Rose and Bernard anyway?
Just after she sees Boone and Rose, Nikki is stopped dead in her tracks and looks up at part of the plane wreckage. She seems to hear something. This maybe?
Hey, I remember this. . . this is back when LOST was a great show, remember?
Then all hell breaks loose as Mr. Darwin-was-SO- right backs his about to be hamburger ass right into the still running jet engine.
Seconds after the explosion, she finds Paulo and turns him over. Only it’s not Paulo, its a completely unexploded Dr. Leslie Arzt. He frantically asks Nikki if they survived and if he’s ok. You don’t suppose he thinks that he died and is in Limbo or Purgatory do you?
Knock, knock.
In my favourite scene of the week, Boone runs up to Nikki (slinky little flowered dress, no purse) and asks if she has a pen. If you recall, he’s looking for a pen to do the “Father Mulcahey from M.A.S.H. style Tracheotomy” on Rose. Nikki naturally gives him the “What the hell could you possibly want a pen for?” look and moves on.
Finally, she spots Paulo and rushes to him. The second she sees that he’s basically hale and healthy, she asks about the bag.
The Scooby Gang follow Nikki’s trail back into the jungle and come upon another corpse.
“I’m guessin’ that’s Paulo.”
He’s just like Nikki, no wound or evidence of trauma. Oddly, his pants are undone and one of his shoes is lodged in a tree across the clearing.
When Jin goes to taste the water from the bottle Paulo was carrying, Sawyer stops him and dumps the water. He’s thinking it might be poisoned. Hurley reminds him that the water is “evidence” and that Sawyer is contaminating the “crime scene”.
“Crime scene? Is there a forensics hatch I don’t know about?”
Knock, knock.
Jin cuts the conversation short before the CSI jokes can start to fly. He figures that the culprit is obvious:
“Monster.”
75 Days ago, Nikki is reassuring Paulo that “There’s no such thing as monsters.” Paulo, like Hurley before him, speculates that it might have been a dinosaur. “It’s not Jurassic Park, Paulo, it’s the South Pacific.”
She snaps Paulo’s focus back to the missing bag and their ill gotten diamonds. They have to find them before they get rescued, since they Coast Guard won’t wait around for them to find their missing luggage.
Just then, Ethan (You remember Ethan, right? Plumber, surgeon, corporate recruiter, kidnapper, brain-washer, spy, clothier…makes a helluva martini…) emerges from the jungle and suggests that the couple might find their missing luggage further inland, since the plane broke up over the island.
(*Lost fan WTF: Why would Other, Ethan, encourage these two to explore inland? After all, they might stumble on one of the hatches or Otherville’s sonic fence…*)
During the discussion, Arzt flies by yelling “Boone! Boone took the water.”
Just as the mob prepares to lynch Mr. Cheekbones, Jack returns and gives his signature “Live together, die alone” speech. Oddly, he makes no mention of tattoos, Volkswagon microbuses or secret hatches, all of which are vital to island survival.
Speaking of dying, as they carry the bodies to the rapidly growing island grave yard, Hurley is voicing his opinion as to what killed the couple voted “Most likely to make ridiculously good looking Island Children”. He figures it’s the monster, just like Jin.
“Locke said when Eko died, his last words were: ‘You’re next’ and Nikki and Paulo were with them. He was talking about them”
“He wasn’t saying ‘You’re next’ about them. He was saying ‘You’re next’ as in ‘You’re all next.’”
“Yeah, that’s not really better.”
Sawyer figures that the best way to find out about “Nina and Pablo”, the two dead “jabonies” is to start with the stuff in their tent.
(*Lost Fan Side Note: I guess that using nicknames on the dead doesn’t count against Sawyer’s “No nicknames for a week” stake.*)
(*Lost Fan Grin: Jin has this week’s best line: “Ja bone ees?”*)
57 Days ago, Nikki’s boobs ask Dr. Arzt for help in finding her lost luggage. She takes an interest in his growing collection of biological samples, particularly a spider, latradactus regina, the Medusa spider. A female of the species excretes pheromones strong enough to draw every male for miles. Charmed beyond all capacity for coherent thought, Arzt naturally agrees to help her boobs find their lost luggage.
Like I wasn’t going to use this screencap?
(*Geek side note: I could only find one spider variety with the name “regina” in it’s Latin name, “Pediana regina”, which is a spider of unknown toxicity and ugly as sin to boot…*)
Paulo seems a tad jealous of Leslie and his spiders. He brings up the fact that she slept with Zuckerman to facilitate their theft of the diamonds in the first place. She reminds him that she did that for them both. As they argue, they stumble on the infamous Beechcraft still lodged in the jungle canopy. Nikki suggests that Paulo climb up and check for a radio, but he balks at the idea of climbing up into a plane perched so precariously in the trees. Good thing too. Otherwise, Boone would have had to find some other damn fool way to die.
As they start crossing the clearing, Nikki spots the latch handle of the Pearl Station. They clear it off and open it. Paulo wants to go down and check it out, but this time it’s Nikki who balks. She figures that exploring a deep dark hole in the ground is at least as foolish as climbing up into the Beechcraft and it’s obvious that their missing bag won’t be in the hole.
As the Scooby Gang go through the deceased couple’s things, they find some of Dr. Arzt’s bug collection and a script for “Expose”. Hurley knows the show.
“It’s like Baywatch, only better.” Um…Hugo…nevermind.
He’s stoked to discover that Nikki was on the show and that LaShade is “The Cobra”.
“The Cobra is this big bad guy who’s identity’s been shrouded in mystery for four seasons.”
Knock, knock.
Along with bugs and scripts, the deceased duo had a walkie talkie. Sawyer figures that Nikki and Paulo were working with the Others.
48 days ago, Shannon and Arzt are confronting Kate about the case of guns that she and Sawyer found in the jungle. While Incest Girl and Boom Boom are concerned about something as important as a case of guns not being shared openly with the camp, all Nikki wants to know is just precisely where Kate found the case.
The two head to the Grotto of Love where Kate found the case and Nikki gets Paulo to do the hard part. Personally, I was hoping for a repeat of the Kate strip-down that we got the first time we saw the Grotto, but alas, it appears that Nikki’s clothes only come off when there’s a bigger audience than just Paulo. The chef dives in, finds the bag they’re looking for and since he’s no longer sure of his lady’s loyalty, when she asks if he found anything, he lies through his perfect teeth that he only found bodies, no bag.
Back at the makeshift cemetery, the Scooby Gang is discussing the possibility that the couple might have been working for the Others all along. When Charlie asks why then would the Others decide to kill Nikki and Paulo if they were working with them, Sawyer’s answer is “Who knows why those people do anything.”
Is there even a fourth wall left?
Hurley is skeptical. He reminds everyone that he was with the Others two weeks ago and they’re based on the far side of the island. Sun isn’t so sure since she was nearly abducted by them. Charlie and Sawyer looks just a bit nervous when she mentions that uncomfortable bit of business. Eager to change the subject, Sawyer draws his gun (??) and heads off to do a “Perimeter sweep” and see if he can see any sign of “Them”.
32 Days ago, Paulo is popping nicotine gum and digging a hole on the beach when Locke walks up and asks what he’s doing. When Locke realizes that Paulo isn’t going to tell him why he’s digging a hole, he offers up some friendly advice.
“Things don’t stay buried on this island. The beach is eroding. Winter’s coming, high tide. Whatever it is you’re hidin’, make sure you pick a spot that won’t wash away.”
Paulo does just that. The Pearl Station. He explores it alone and finds the perfect spot to hide the Russian nesting doll: The toilet tank.
Just as he’s getting ready to hide the doll, he hears voices outside.
“Who left this open?”
“Tom was down here a couple of days ago.”
It’s Ben and Juliette! They’ve come to the Pearl Station to take a peek at Jack. While they spy on him, they discuss how Ben is going to convince the good doctor to perform the surgery.
“I find out what he’s emotionally invested in and I exploit it.”
Turns out that Ben has already figured out a way to get Michael to bring Kate, Sawyer and Dr. Jack at the run.
On his way out, Paulo snags a walkie that the Others left behind.
When Sherriff Hurley asks Desmond if he might know anything about Nikki and Paulo’s death, he tells the big man that he saw Nikki yelling at Sawyer this morning. Hurley takes the info to Sun and Charlie to get the rest of the Scooby Gang’s opinion on the Sawyer situation. During the conversation, Vincent runs off with the tarp that they covered the bodies with.
After Hurley leaves, Charlie reveals his part in Sun’s abduction.
9 Days ago, Locke is leading a group to the Pearl Station to check out its computer in the hopes that it can help them find their people. He asks if anyone wants to come along, and Nikki immediately volunteers. Paulo is surprised, but she points out that he’s always complaining about not being involved and now’s their chance.
While the group explores the hatch and tries to determine if any of the equipment can be salvaged, Paulo retrieves the diamonds from the Russian nesting doll, flushing the toilet to cover the fact that he took a shit load out of the toilet.
At the cemetery, Hurley confronts Sawyer about his argument with Nikki. Sawyer explains that Nikki wanted him to give her a gun. Turns out that he wanted to follow the lead of the dirt under Nikki’s nails and see what it turned up and that’s why he didn’t tell the group about his run in with her. He figures that anything that is important enough to bury when you are moments away from death must be pretty special. He tosses Sun the diamonds to prove that he had nothing to do with the couple’s death.
12 hours ago, Nikki asks Paulo if he realizes that Thanksgiving was 2 weeks ago. Paulo reassures her that they’ll get rescued. He has a new way of looking at things, like the bag with the diamonds. All that money might have torn the two of them apart. After he leaves, Nikki finds the nicotine gum that was in their luggage and realizes that the bastard has been lying to her murderous face all this time. She heads immediately for Sawyer and the stash of guns she thinks he has. She finds Sawyer deep into Agatha Christie’s mystery “Evil Under the Sun”. He refuses to give her a gun, mainly because she seems pretty ticked off and nothing good ever came of the combination of an angry woman and a 9mm.
Agatha Christie will tell you that it just ain’t that simple to stop a woman bent on killin’ somebody.
“How ’bout you go stick your head in the ocean and cool yourself off.”
“Thanks for nothin’.”
“And who the hell are you?”
Knock…oh, nevermind.
At the cemetery, with a “Thanks for nothin’” of his own, Sawyer closes Nikki’s eyes for the last time and sets to work digging the grave for the couple.
Sun stops by and tells him what Charlie told her.
“You gonna tell Jin?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because then we’d have to dig another grave.”
She leaves him with the worthless diamonds and a solid slap across the face.
(*Sun fan side note: Was I the only one who read serious attitude in her walk away wiggle? Awesome.*)
Yep, she sure looks preggers. Based on the inexplicable growth and through the magic of LOST island,
I suspect HURLEY is carrying her baby!
Hurley conducts a brief memorial for the fallen couple.
Sawyer tosses the diamonds into the grave.
8 hours ago, Nikki leads Paulo into the jungle. When they are in deep enough, actress Nikki drops the facade and tells Paulo that she knows he has the diamonds because she found the nicotine gum that was packed with them. She tosses one of Dr. Arzt’s Medusa Spiders at him and it bites him as he kills it. The Medusa Spider’s venom doesn’t kill but it does paralyze. Paulo will be unable to move for about 8 hours and his heart rate will drop so low that even a doctor would have a hard time finding a pulse.
Quick, who am I?
“Alas, poor Yurik, I knew him Horatio.”
She searches the rapidly fading Paulo, removing his shoe and tossing it away. When she doesn’t find it there, she tries the next logical spot and undoes his pants. Lo and behold, along with his Brazil Nuts, the diamonds.
Umm, hey. you know what.. . .he totally gave me the diamonds.
Yeah, ohhh look, Im paralyzed also. search me next. SEARCH ME NEXT!!!
As the paralysis takes hold, he tries to explain that he did it because he was afraid of losing her over the diamonds. Riiiight.
Of course, Nikki forgot about the hormone that the female spider produces that brings the males running. Right up her leg. Hey, if I’m a male spider, that’s where I’m going too.
Was that Smokey we heard as the Spider Cavalry rode in?
She gets bit, and now we return to that opening scene of her running through the jungle and furiously burying the diamonds before crashing onto the beach where Hurley and Saywer are playing ping-pong.
Not “plywood” or “power lines” or even “Paulo lies”.
Nope.
“Paralysed”
The grave gets filled in and just before the first shovelful hits her face, Nikki’s eyes snap open.
Yeah, no clever caption. . . just this would really suck. Major suckage.
No one notices and they continue to fill in the pit until it’s completely covered.
So, for all the Nikki and Paulo haters, they’re gone.
Of course, like Locke says, “Nothin’ stays buried on this island.”
In the greatest ironic twist I can imagine, I almost hope they do come back, because if they don’t they were pretty much pointless.
92 Comments
This episode was pointless. During all of the flashbacks that happened on the island, I kept thinking “Damn, this show used to be amazing.”
Yeah this episode was pretty pointless, but I liked all of Sawyer’s “Who the hell are you’s” heh…
I was hoping someone would see them move though… being buried alive.. damn.. that’s a terrible way to go. Actually I was more hoping they’d see Paulo move and not Nikki….
several things:
- from the beginning, and on through this episode, I can barely keep myself from yelling at the tv when paolo and nikki are on… who ARE they? this was their flashback show and I STILL don’t have any idea.
- How great were Sayid and Shannon together back in the day? awww.
- I’m with Abby, every flashback made me want to go re-watch the first season. And I loved all the Boone/Shannon/Artz participation… so have nikki and paolo been hangin’ out this whole time, like did they shoot those during season 1? Or bring shannon back? or just photoshop them in? Hmmm.
- Ethan probably told them to go inland so they could get taken (but probably not because they are def. bad people and so probably are not on “the list”), or, perhaps, so they could find the pilot in the plane, but maybe that already happened… my timeline is fuzzy.
- The first episode was so good. I’m just repeating.
- getting buried alive would suck.
- so there must be a point… which, besides the weirdness of them knowing about all this stuff (plane, hatch, etc) before anyone else and not telling, I can’t figure out. Buuuut lando calrissian is a traitor, turn in luke and han to darth, maybe we’re supposed to be matching these people up here. I mean… Jack is Luke and Sawyer is Han, right? With Kate as Leia? Am I digging too deep? Because it pretty much works, with the triangle and the attitudes… so we gotta figure out who the new lando is. bad guy masquerading as a good guy, obvi there’s another other in the midst, I think we all suspected that… unless it’s juliet, who’s turning all good. ooh, I kind of like that.
- where ARE Rose and Bernard? I keep asking that and everyone’s just like “oh they’re not important anymore”.. but they’re important to me!
Remember all the cigarettes Locke and the others found in that hatch later on…was Paulo spending a lot of time there watching Jack, Locke, etc? And then who provided the cigarettes? It seems that Paulo would have told the group about the hatch/walkie talkie if he did not have any other agenda. Nikki, however, didn’t want to be rescued until she found the diamonds. With the whole Ethan interchange, I think Paulo, if not both of them, were working with the Others.
LOVED seeing Sawyer dig that grave. Very out of character though that he would have thrown those diamonds in the grave. They most certainly will be dug up by someone. Also, wasn’t he introduced to Nikki and Paulo in the last episode or two? He keeps asking who they are, but with only 40 or so people and having been there over 80 days, you would think everyone would know everyone. A little far fetched in that aspect.
Great review and I love the side notes/ reminders.
Ethan was probably trying to lure them into the jungle to make them easier to kidnap. The Others were big on the kidnapping in the beginning.
I agree that Sawyer’s “Who are you?” comments towards Nikki & Paolo are very fourth wall & that’s what makes them funny. But I don’t think any of the other things are fourth wall at all. Everyone (well, at least the main characters) knows that there’s more than 1 hatch & that the Others did weird (possibly pointless) things when they took Kate & Sawyer – so I don’t think either of those comments would be weird for him to say.
I think the writers have already confirmed that the swooping black smoke was just a CGI mistake during one of their podcasts.
I wish the writers didn’t introduce Sun’s pregnancy so early. It’s been about 2 weeks island time (someone else can do the exact math, I’m too lazy) since she discovered she was pregnant, so she’s probably about 6 weeks along. She won’t be showing for a while & it kind of makes you forget she’s even pregnant. One or two little morning sickness comments isn’t holding my interest in that storyline.
I think the spider (which Lostpedia says is fictional, by the way) is going to end up playing a bigger role in the show. Maybe one of the main characters will be bitten by one or something. Otherwise Nikki & Paolo seem absolutely pointless. Yes, this episode was entertaining & the buried alive thing is shocking – but they didn’t introduce any new info.. except for the spider. The Lost writers have maintained that Nikki & Paolo do play an important role in the Lost story & that’s the only connection I can think of.
But with no coffin for air, it may be a little too late…
I did feel bad for those two as I realized that they were in fact having the flashbacks themselves, and therefore were aware that everyone thought they were dead and that they were being buried. How traumatic is that!?!
air hell! the weight of all that sand is bound to crush them. it had better.
i like the idea that all of the cigarettes in the hatch might have belonged to paolo.
did we only see him get the walkie talkie to explain why the losties now have it? i’d like to think this was important to the plot. i’m still a little perturbed about the seemingly pointless backstories of shannon and boone. i’m sure they’ll come into play…
great job, greybishop! i now look forward to reading your recap more than actually watching the show.
Let’s not be such whiners, hmm? If the sidenotes and other comments are so bothersome to you, don’t read these recaps! As far as calling them “pompous,” dude, this is a glorified BLOG. All blogs are self-important, indulgent, and to an extent, yes, pompous. I think you’re just being mean though!
And GreyBishop, don’t you dare change for one narrow-minded reader. I spend every Thursday impatiently waiting for my Lost recap, and I appreciate the extra time you spend researching facts and theories.
Wow…I didn’t realize this comment section was only for ass-kissing and sucking up comments. If you’re gonna be putting your work out there for everyone to see, you should be able to take some criticism no? I didn’t follow this dude here like most others commenting and have been a fan of this site for a couple years now. I’m bitter that all of my favorite recappers are basically gone, it sucks.
And Mrs Shepard – the world is a mean place in case you haven’t noticed. You don’t know me, yet you’ve called me a whiner, mean and narrow minded, I guess you just proved MY point.
That said, I’m afraid my time at TVGasm has come to an end with this recap. There has to be other sites that don’t annoy me so much. Until now I have just been too lazy to search.
Save the “good riddance” comments and keep dishing out praise for Graybishop’s AMAZING recaps so his ego gets fed.
TVJUNKIE
i thought this episode was GREAT! very “memento”-esque. even though it didn’t seem to advance the plot by much, i’m sure these events will have some significance about 1.5 seasons from now.
GB, loving your recaps, and i actually do agree with you and also picked up on the “fourth wall” references. but…please scale back on the direct side notes and commentary as they kind of come off as patronizing.
this is a pretty intelligent bunch, and subtle digs and quips really do go a long way in getting your point across (as well as being entertaining).
thanks for getting the recap up so fast!
The reason Nikki and Paolo are important and buried in the same grave is they are the skeltons Adam and Eve that are found in the caves from season one. Some how time and space is shifted on the island.
SIGH. For someone who is so “over” this site, it’s interesting how quickly you came back and checked this comment section. And wrote such an…emotionally heated response.
And yes, you’re 100% right, the world is a mean, shitty, shitty place, but, um, does that mean you really have to contribute? Especially on such a light-hearted website like this one? And how am I being mean by saying that you’re being mean? Errr…?
I will agree with you on another point: I have followed this site for years and really miss some of the other recappers.
One more thing: this is a place for ass-kissers. It’s also a place for people like you, who want to critique. It’s for everyone. Just like you said, if you’re gonna put something out there, you gotta be able to handle the criticism, no?
Yeah, the episode was a little pointless, but it was certainly fun to watch. I got goosebumps at the end. And next week, catfight! I hope Kate kicks Juliet’s ass.
Also, while do enjoy GB’s recaps very much, I agree with Gillian – not all of that stuff was fourth-wall breaking. Even if it had been, the “knocking” was really annoying. I felt the exact same way about the shark circling comments in a previous recap. The side notes are informative and funny but are a little distracting so maybe if there were fewer of them I would like them better. Eh, everyone’s a critic, huh? It was a better recap than I could write.
Wow.
A writer can only hope that his writing can stir up discussion and fire people up. This week’s ‘cap seems to be doing just that.
To those saying the nice stuff, thanks, I appreciate it.
To those giving honest criticism of the recaps, I appreciate that too. Really.
These 8 weeks have given me a much better ability to accept and embrace criticism. An important skill for a writer to learn.
I’ll be honest and tell you that my writing style won’t change dramatically one way or the other because of the praise or criticism. I write the way I write and Lost just lends itself to a detailed and overanalysed style.
I do take both criticism and compliments into consideration at least a little though. I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t.
I’m sorry if some of you feel that my “side notes” are pompous or annoying, but as I stated before, I put them in brackets and italics so you can see them coming and skip them without missing anything directly important to the recap.
I do try to keep the side notes to informative things, like “the fourth wall”. The concept is something I’d been aware of but never had heard formally defined until recently. I thought that there might well be others who would appreciate the reference and information.
I suspect that was the one “side note” that people found most “pompous”.
As for the folks who are saying they just plain don’t like my writing, that’s their absolute right and I have no problem with them telling me.
I wish those who are unhappy with my recaps all the best and hope that you will find your way back here one day.
And you’re right. The world IS a mean place. If you can’t take a knock, knock joke…
What a freakin pointless ass episode. Who else wnats to band together, find the producers and smack ‘em across the head? Ooooh, or even better, tie them up and force feed them raw squid until they answer some of my questions like: 1) What the eff happened to Michael and Walt?? What, you think if you completely obliterate any mention of them in any episode we will just forget they existed? Uh-huh, not gonna happen. 2) What. The. Crap. Is. THE SMOKE MONSTER???
3) And what is…aww screw it. I have about a billion questions.
Oh, and yes, the sidenotes and gleeful screenshot captions are a tad out of place at times, but I like that GB has put them in italics so we can skip them if we want. What cleverness!! I guess, if I want something different, I better go write my own damn recap, right?
Oh, and TVJUNKIE and Mrs. Shephard, you guys are great. Keep it coming. I definetely hear the next round bell dinging. In this corner, we have the angry tvjunkie who is putting his foot down and never returning…and in the other corner we have the “don’t be mean!” chick…:) It’s all in fun, people! Isn’t that what this section is for ANYWAYS??
Hey liked the review GB. Side notes are great fun and amusing.
Personally, loved this episode. Yes, maybe it didn’t answer much of the main characters story lines but it added bits and pieces and was very entertaining. Buried alive. How can you not love it.
greybishop, please stop being so damn diplomatic. it’s exactly what doesn’t make you human.
that being said, good recap. i like the “fourth wall” reference. i, too, was positive that sawyer was going to look right into the camera and flash his pearlies.
Boyman -
Sorry dude, just my nature. I believe in survival of the fairest.
But, just for you, I’ll restate:
I’ll continue being diplomatic, boyman, and if you don’t like it, life’s a bitch, wear a fuckin’ helmet.
;o)
i was reading on a website that rose and bernard are still on the island but that the people who play them are doing other things and that they will be back(maybe?) next season. same thing goes for Michael and Walt, i guess the producers were thinking about bringing michael and walt back for the season finale but harold par(dont know how to spell his last name) didnt want to do it this season.
other than that, your recaps are really good!! i enjoy reading them and i tend to find the sidenotes informative!! keep up the good work and i look forward to reading more from you!!
While this episode won’t end up in the Lost hall of fame, I think it had some good qualities-nod to the past, explanation of inexplicable developments (ie who the f*ck ar nicki and paolo) and some central character intrigue-after ages w/o their regular presence, I appreciate sun, jin, sawyer, hurley and even charlie.
….. thus the controversy continues…
I enjoyed this episode in that it was like an old “Alfred Hitchcock presents” nasty funny little nugget, with that ending. Just like I enjoyed the straight “monster” episodes of the X-Files while I couldn’t give less of a crap about the “mythology” ones. But it bothered me because I feel like we are being jerked around by the writers. They decided this island didn’t have enough pretty people so they threw in a few new ones, and when viewers started getting tired of the new, crowded, apparently directionless Lost, then they started killing them off without having given them anything of note to do in the whole time they were there in the first place (really, what did Ana Lucia and Libby contribute to the show anyway except for the way they died?) It sucks. But then again, I’m all for getting back to the original cast and sticking with them, because this island is getting fucking crowded.
This is GREAT.
The first two or three weeks I found myself really dreading a negative post here, but now I see that either way, its a reaction.
Technically, that’s a tick in the plus column on the webmaster’s hit counter.
I think I’m going to open a new blog and invite all the negative posters over to fill it up. I’ll post some defensive retorts, and a good time will be had by all. Maybe a flash game of Drop the Anvil on GB.
Now where was that Ads by Yahoo sign up page…
Hey, Greybishop! Another great recap this week. I have to agree that the whole Nikki & Paulo storyline was, ahem, pointless…..
Yes, we did glean a little bit of new information. Yes, it was pretty cool seeing Sawyer drop those diamonds into the grave. Yes, we are finally rid of two characters that most of us didn’t like!
But, this episode left me scratching my head. It’s the only Lost episode that has come close to disappointing me. Why didn’t the writers just send them off for a swim and let their bodies wash up on the beach…..? Done! Talk about something else for an hour….. It was just, um, strange!
Now, will somebody please keep Vincent from digging them back up!
When the comments are more about the recapper and his fans (cult) there’s something definitely wrong.
I don’t think this show lends itself to arrogant recapping. I think that would rest squarely on your ego. I’ll step back now and let your friends continue to stroke it for you.
I feel like the writers decided to mess with the audience, and this was their episode to do so. They were like, “ok, you guys don’t like Niki and Paolo? We’re going to write them both as despicable pieces of shit and then we’re going to bury them alive. But at least they were hot, hot people. And look, you got backstory, a mystery, and a conclusion all in the same episode. Now shut the fuck up. But keep wondering if/how this is all going to fit in later… IF it has ANYTHING to do with ANYTHING.”
I thought this episode was hard to watch. I felt tested by the writers. FINE, crazy Lost writers, YOU WIN, I’ll keep watching. Obviously.
To be honest, for those who are posting about my “fans”, up until Lady in Gray posted, I’m sorry to say I didn’t recognise a single handle. None of the previous posters “followed” me here, to the best of my knowledge.
Anyhow, if you can’t beat ‘em, let ‘em beat you.
For those who feel the need:
http://ihategb.blogspot.com/
You’ll find a nice, free flash game I knocked together at a “create your own flash” site. It’s basically “whack-a-mole” but you get to “Smack-a-GB” instead. I haven’t even had time to add any ad support, so you can click away without benefitting me at all.
It seemed to me that some of the posters really took a personal dislike to me, so this is for them.
You can also leave all the anonymous nasty comments you like. I’ll try to bask in the negativity at least once a day.
Have fun.
Anonimous
Do I perceive a tad of jealousy of GB’s recapping abilities? The only thing you do is whine and bitch about how you miss J-Unit, B-side,etc. Get over it, they are gone, and on their place are very funny, witty writers. If you don’t enjoy this side, then don’t come here. Believe, we won’t miss you.
greybishop,
enjoyed your recap again. i, for one, DO appreciate all your side notes. The fourth wall theme didn’t click as well for me, but i fully appreciate your effort in putting together a tight and detailed recap.
your asides are what make the recap unique, and not just a boring retelling.
i just think it’s highly entertaining to read and comment (wish i put this much energy and enthusiasm into my day job!)
google found me the Sydney Funnel Web (atrax robustus) spider as well as the brown recluse (loxosceles reclusa) and black widow (latrodectus mactans) spiders which can all cause paralysis, among other problems. but none seems to specify the “8 hr and then back to normal” window.
i agree that the alleged medusa spider may have a role in a future episode…
i find it highly amusing how there are enless extras who are suddenly being featured on the show.
anyone else notice that following the cute sun dress and hot bikini, Nikki seemed to wear the same skimpy tank top and hot pants for the rest of her time on the island?
OOO since everyone is on a lets give the recap crits…
I do have some complaints.
When talking about the flashbacks.. I wish you would say…that it’s the flashback you’re talking about.
Instead you just sort of run right into it.
You really don’t write for the folks that missed the episode, so they won’t know exactly when a flashback is taking place.
Am I making any sense? lol
I actually do like most of your sidenotes though. Very informative.
I did however find the whole “knock knock” thing very annoying in this recap.
Really other than that.. good job!
I loved the “Lando the Lost” comment. Clever.
I’m not sure, but I think you forgot to mention the fact that Charlie admitted to kidnapping Sun. I haven’t read it a second time, but when you brought up that she confronted Sawyer, I was thinking, “he never mentioned the whole Charlie thing. Oh well.
And either they are going somewhere with a reason behind this episode, or they just killed off the characters because people didn’t care for them. But I think since we got such a HUGE reveal last week (Locke losing his legs), we should cut them some slack.
The side notes are what make each recappers take on the show unique. Anyone can do a dry recap of this show but to throw research and extra theories are what keeps people coming back.
Knock knock!!!
A very odd episode, but enjoyable I thought. It’s nice to finally know why the plane was in a different place. It’s nice to see Arzt, Shannon, Boone, and Ethan again.
What’s not nice is reading endless fan theories about Desmond changing the past and N+P weren’t there originally. Guess what, the producers didn’t hire every actor to appear on the show in time for the first episode, get over it. And shutup about Jack’s dad being alive because he must have gotten bit by a Medusa Spider, I don’t know where to begin with that one.
I don’t mind so much that N+P may not play a huge role in the island mystery, it was a fun ride. I do hope they are alive though, I don’t want Hurley and Sawyer to accidently kill two people.
I’ve enjoyed your recaps a lot. Add one more happy customer.
Anyway, I actually liked this episode as a stand alone episode. It didnt move the story along but it put me in mind of a Stephen King short story or something. Just a creepy side story that entertained me for an hour. After the last two eps I’m satisfied that the show is going somewhere again so I didnt mind.
I really do miss Rose and Bernard.
some side notes ARE informative, and i’m sure GB’s intentions are to be informative (not so much patronizing). but it’s not necessary to spoon-feed the readers every little thing. i guess it’s a fine line between being witty enough but not having your remarks go over everyone’s head. it reminds me of how in every early laguna beach recap b-side used to always include an explanation of why he called kristin’s sidekick “roz” instead of her real name.
after about the fifth recap, it got really annoying and we had to tell him “we GET it already. now knock it off and get back to making snarky comments that we can laugh at!”.
i think we all could benefit from a little constructive criticism from time to time, but the anonymous, nasty comments aren’t exactly going to encourage a recapper to make the suggested changes. this recapping thing looks a lot easier than it is. hell, sometimes just writing a comment that captures clearly what i’m trying to say is hard enough!
changing subjects, up till this point i think the lost writers have shown us over and over again that they have some kind of brilliant master plan for this show¦..so, even though they frequently throw us for a loop, i’m going to hold onto the belief that somewhere down the line there’s going to be an episode that puts this one into perspective. then once again, we’re all going to be like, whoa this show is freaking BRILLIANT!
hopefully this will happen sometime soon. (does anyone else think that the diamonds and the guy that nikki and paulo killed might tie in to the widmores or the hanso foundation somehow?)
babeblue
i thought i was going to HATE this episode since it centered around nikki & paulo, but i actually liked it.
during season 1 i was wondering what the other survivors were doing while jack and locke were leading. one guy was looking for bugs, others were looking for diamonds, blah, blah, blah… and that a-hole found the hatch, saw the others, and didn’t tell anyone??? that makes no sense — and i hope will be addressed again.
anyway, i liked seeing their point-of-view, not the best ep, but entertaining, as usual.
i like the side notes.
if jack is luke, sawyer is han, and kate is princess leia . . . who the f&*% is darth vader?
(i suppose charlie and hurley must be c3po and r2-d2.)
greybishop, i think your recaps are fine. you do yourself no service by responding to the criticism. it makes you look pompous and petulant. this is a freakin’ tv-show recap–it’s just not that big a deal either way. i appreciate that you and others are willing to do it, and even after the ‘retirement’ of b-side and j-unit, tvgasm is still the sharpest, most clever tv site around that i know of.
most of the complaints you are getting derive from the knee-jerk reaction of folks who are used to b-side/j-unit or, for lost, edhill, who was writing the recaps when there was still a lot of weird stuff and clues to be dissected (maps, literary references, dharma/hanso websites, etc.), so a lot of the bitching you are getting i think just comes from the fact that ‘lost’ has sort of hit a plateau in terms of the number of clues and hints that are being disseminated. also, now that tvgasm has really become established, it’s been discovered by trolls who just like to be assholes and don’t comprehend irony or subtlety or the pleasures of snark.
i’ve been disappointed with the show this year, but i think they’ve been holding out on us and it’s going to finish strong. i have much more confidence that ‘lost’ will regain its momentum now that the producers have announced that they’ll be bringing the series to a close (i.e., they can finally stop beating around the bush and pull back all the proverbial curtains).
a couple of points:
if paulo and nikki’s paralysis slowed their breathing down such that their pulses were undetectable, they can probably live without oxygen for quite a while (like those stories you occasionally see about someone being drowned in icy water and then resuscitated after 15 or 20 minutes w/o brain damage). ditto the pressure of the sand–they won’t need to breathe immediately; thus it’s possible (however unlikely) that they could be saved (although i doubt even vincent the wonderdog could dig them up in time by himself). i think they’re probably done for, but what if, say, half an hour later, sawyer changes his mind and comes back to dig up the diamonds . . .
secondly: it seemed to me that the big points in this episode were:
a) people on the island other than our core group of survivors have encountered the others, the hatches, and other stuff that we’ve thus far been led to believe is only known by jack, locke, sayid, kate, etc.
b) sun now knows about sawyer and charlie’s dirty trick.
c) sawyer and charlie–both of whom have since experienced personal growth that has made them less alienated and self-interested–were forced to confess their past deeds, which could later impact the level of trust placed in them and/or their willingness to continue to be ‘good guys.’
i liked the episode, chiefly because most of it took place on the island. while i was annoyed that nikki and paolo’s story didn’t really advance the larger plot much, at least it wasn’t yet another repetitive episode with flashbacks that merely restate what we already know about jack, sayid, kate, etc. i also think the ’4th wall’ stuff was kind of cool, as i can imagine the writers sitting around wondering how on earth they’re going to live up to the unrealistic expectations of this show’s fanatical core audience.
Loved the Hamlet reference.
#15 lostboy
I don’t think they are the skeletons adam and eve, because the skeletons weren’t found buried in sand. Moving them wouldn’t fit either, since no one cared enough to do that.
I just thought of something else to. If paulo was the first one to get bitten shouldn’t he be the first one to wake up, yet nikki ended up being the first one.
And just to throw my opinion of the episode, I didn’t like it, but now I regret the writers killing of Nikki, she would have been the hottest on the show.
Paolo was bitten on the neck closer to the core of his nervous system. Nikki was bitten on the ankle. Plus I think being bitten by the female spider probably has longer lasting more powerful venum? Just a guess really.
Those who think Jack’s Dad didnt’ die cuz he was bit by this spider – are we to conclude those spiders also live in Australia? Seems to be a stretch to me. Then again it’s a stretch to think Artz would know everything there is to know about “UNDISCOVERED” spiders.
As for going to some blog site to criticize GB. I dont’ care about your own site. I come to TVGasm because I like TVGasm. I critisize because I am not impressed with the way you behave towards your readers in your recaps and in your comments.
B-Side and J-Unit were funny without putting down their readers. That’s why they have such loyal and devoted fans.
Razzle freakin’ dazzle great recap, GB!
***sidebar: Can’t wait to visit the hatin’-on-GB site (rough crowd here…sheesh, what a bunch of player haters!)-NOT!***
Thanks for the info on the 4th wall and knocking on that-I never heard of it before. Pretty funny!
All I know is while being buried alive has to be the FREAKIN’ scariest thing ever, I couldn’t stop blinking when the sand hit Nikki’s eyes…holy retina scratch going on there!
i was annoyed, too, that artz seemed to know quite a lot about “undiscovered” spiders. my husband suggested perhaps artz’ spiders were similar in appearance to “discovered” varieties that artz was familiar with. i think that’s probably reaching a bit. who knows? maybe artz wished he knew all about the islands fauna. :p
i feel you, hirotalksalot- the writers totally pulled a “there! you happy now!” with this episode. The truth is, they really ARE just too soap-opera-esque in thier looks… when i look at them i just keep feeling like i’m watching Days of our Lives or the OC or something, and it wierds me out.
Someone probably will go and dig up those diamonds during the night and end up ressusitating (sp?) one or both of them, although i honestly don’t want them to survive. thier death gave me a good, creepy story to think about and that’s really all i want to know about them. I hated Ana Lucia and practically applauded when she got her ass shot. And the fact that they hired Bai Ling for an episode dissapoints me to an astounding level. It’s just so L.A./gross! They have so many quality characters already around, and they should focus more on them! (but no more jack/kate/sayid stories!)
I have to admit, though, that these past three episodes have suprised me. For the first time since the beginning of the third season, I haven’t been pissed off by the storyline! It almost scares me- I’m not ready to give my trust back to the show just yet, after the dissapointment they put me through for so long, but oh how i want to.
i was thinking that paolo probably really is dead during the burial scene b/c he would have gotten bitten numerous times when the male spiders came, versus nikki who hauled ass after getting bitten by only one spider.
Wow.
A girl takes a sabattical for a bit and look what she misses!
I ain’t gonna lie…I love it. LostBean, I see some things never change. There is a section when you are making a myspace profile where you are supposed to list your “heroes” and my neice who is 15 years old wrote something along these lines:
“I don’t have any heroes right now because to me a hero is someone that learns from their mistakes and I don’t see anyone in my life doing that and they just make the same mistakes over and over”
Ponder that.
Anyway, I am grateful that my most favoritest Lost recapper is taking care of bid-ness elsewhere. No offense GB, but while endearing to some, your writing stylings don’t do it for me at all.
And really, some of your “groupies” really make you look bad (I’m talkin to you LostBean)
Jinger writes (or her niece writes):
“I don’t have any heroes right now because to me a hero is someone that learns from their mistakes and I don’t see anyone in my life doing that and they just make the same mistakes over and over”
whaaaaaaaaaaaat? she didn’t list you as her hero? hmmm-odd.
GB – I didn’t “follow” you over, but did always love your insightful comments on another site, so I too am a “fan”.
I don’t understand the bashing. If you’ve already seen the show, and don’t want any extra info, why are you even reading the recap?
I also think there is a lot more to this episode than a wrap up of these characters. I doubt they brought back Shannon, Boone, Artz, etc, just to kill them off. Like the commenter above, there probably is a tie to Widmore. Again, I think there is a significance to the cigarettes in the hatch and Paulo’s nicotine gum. The walkie talkie and how Paulo may have used it. The list goes on. There’s a lot more to this episode than many are giving the writers credit for.
Love the show. I haven’t been this interested in the details of a show since X-files. What other show on television gets everyone so worked up and has you begging for another episode every week? How can you even complain??
Oh boy, someone’s off their meds (again, I’m talkin to YOU lostbean)
About Arzt knowing all about an undiscovered spider- He said he discovered several new spiders. He then started talking about the Medusa Spider. He never claimed to have discovered it.
A much, much larger leap of faith is that the specimen spider survived in a tiny plastic bottle or whatever it was for several weeks without anyone taking care of it. It seems unlikely someone else started taking care of Arzt’s insects after his demise.
isthisawkward: I’m glad you are with me on both the writers messing with us and the awkward hotness of Niki and Paolo. I agree that the last 3 episodes have been different, which does make me want to keep watching.
Do you wonder, though, if the last few storylines aren’t pissing us off because we’re not getting very many “new” mysteries? If that is the case, where is this show headed? I’m going to keep watching, though, that’s for sure.
I miss the old recappers too, and am not a big fan of a lot of the changes that have occured here. That being said, I still enjoy GB’s recaps and don’t think that it’s too hard to poke around the site for the recaps that I like and try to avoid TB posts as best I can (especially since the site is … you know … free!).
I thought that this episode stunk. I’ve always thought that a bad episode of Lost was better than a good hour of almost anything else, but that’s sure not true here … this would have been bad as an episode of Lost, an episode of CSI, or an episode of ‘According to Jim’. If you look at it as a throwaway, timefiller episode, which i normally don’t mind if it’s entertaining, this was still a stinker. I mean, the plot was straight out of a cheesy B-movie. If you enjoy that, more power to you, but that’s not why I watch Lost. The meta, 4th wall stuff, is not that big a deal to me, but in this case, it just seemed to emphasize the pointlessness of the episode. And a character-driven episode is fine, if it’s someone we’re interested in, but who really cares about N&P, aside from Nikki’s smoking hotness? And this episode didn’t make me care about them in any way (especially Nikki, who just looks like a manipulative, gold-digging murdering bitch). And let’s not even mention that Paolo seeing Ben & Juliet in the pearl hatch in no way fit’s in with the show’s established continuity.
And really, what was the point of Nikki and Paolo anyway? They were introduced totally clumsily, were given nothing to do except take screen time away from the characters that we really want to see. I still think that the show is great, but I see a disturbing trend of plot arcs that just seem to be dropped for no reason. Example 1: Nikki and Paolo. Example 2: Libby’s backstory. They introduce her, set up all these hints through backstories that she’s somehow incredibly important, and then kill her off, no explanation of her past. Example 3: Sawyer and Charlie kidnapping Sun. They set up this elaborate con where Sawyer grabs power among the Losties, and Charlie starts to head down a very dark, maybe even villainous, path. And that goes … nowhere. Within 3 or 4 weeks, Sawyer’s back to being the wisecracking redneck, Charlie’s back to being all schmoopy with Claire. Sun’s discovery this week looks to me to be a tieup of that dangling plot thread. So, what was the point? Final example: Walt’s powers. Throughout the first season, we’re given suggestions that Walt has some sort of special abilities, that made the Others want to take him (they even touched on it at the end of last season). But on Wednesday, Ben and juliet’s conversation makes it seem like Walt was taken only so they could manipulate Michael … so he was never special all along? WTF?
I know that I’m really be reading a lot into some of this stuff, and that they may come back to these plot threads in the future. But I just find it to be a little bit worrisome, is all; for a show that prides itself on having everything planned out, it’s concerning that maybe they’re making it up as they go along…
BTW, some of the old recappers can still be found at a website that, if I mention, might get my post strikken from the record. Sounds like squid reason refacements not pom…
Greybishop -
I appreciate your recap because, as always, you get things that I don’t. Thanks on the 4th window info, never heard of that before!! I wasn’t crazy about this particular ep but I love Lost and I’ll be right there watching next week and for as long as it is on!!
Actually – it’s the 4th wall not window. Picture any movie with Woody Allen where he turns to the camera and addresses the audience – when he does that he’s breaking the 4th wall. It’s an old term that dates back to the earliest movies and TV.
When Sawyer asked Nikki and Paolo who they were that was not really breaking the 4th wall, but it was a little nod to the audience.
Don’t let them bother you Greybishop. Some people are incapable of anything but complaining. You’re doing fine.
Good recap. Good episode considering I couldn’t care less about these two going in to the episode. I figure they’re not dead, but who knows on this show. Part of me thinks that the Russian guy is still alive too.
Ugh -
Thanks for the clarification. I am unfamiliar with the term be it wall or window. And I’ve never seen a Woody Allen film, but I get what you are saying. There were a bunch of “nods to the audience” in this ep.
silly, silly posters.
There are multiple Darth Vaders; Locke’s father, Jack’s father, Jacob, your momma, my momma.
Season one had it’s share of clunker junk episodes too.
Bashing each other is childish (not to be confused with child-like, big difference). Grow up.
Show us your tits not your glaring insecurities.
okay, i should be doing a lot of other things, but i was thinking about lost, of course. did we get a clear view of nikki and paolo’s grave? was it in the “graveyard”? did we see how far inland? we know locke’s comment about things not staying buried on the island blah, blah but he also mentioned the tide…
i doubt there is much of a chance for either of them, but maybe we’ll get to see their corpses float by in a later episode.
Good job, Greybishop. I didn’t mind the fourth wall b/c basically, what else could you say about this episode? There weren’t a lot of moments that were ah-ha moments (maybe later on though). Maybe the smoke monster is millions of spiders that come together like a Bugs Bunny cartoon and paralyze the Lost characters and don’t actually kill them (EKO!!! HE WAS REALLY ALIVE! DIG HIM UP!). Ha. Anyway, don’t listen to the Greybishop haters; he is always entertaining and always bring something new and fresh to each recap.
in thinking back to the episode where sawyer wants his “stuff” back…paulo walks by with one of sawyer’s magazines and a roll of T.P. was that the writers giving us one of those nods because i know MANY of us couldn’t get over him walking out of the bathroom in the pearl hatch, stating the plumbing worked, and so we dubbed him “poopy paulo.” so, when he walks by sawyer with the TP, i can’t help but wonder if the writers “heard” us and had a little fun with it.
Oh, and I loved Sun’s walk away from Sawyer. It was FIERCE, as Tyra Banks would say. Work it, baby, work it! Razzle Dazzle!
lol @ whatever.
Well that put me in my place.
greybishop, i did first see your posts on the mag site, and was happy to see you now recap lost here. i enjoy your musings and all the bruhaha that goes on on in here. keep up the fun attitude and as bette midler once said, “Fuck ‘em if they can’t take a joke”
the “4th wall” references got to be a little too repetitive, and maybe a little misplaced. like the “razzle dazzle”–or maybe i didnt get with what that had to do with the audience.
to be fair though, the previous writers of these recaps had a similar style. they were full of witty comments, or “patronizing” attitiudes. it’s just this recap that kind of went overboard with the 4th wall mentions. i like the italicized info–like the one about the quantum physics.
to address the Libby comment–the actress who played her, had her own show starting up on CBS. there was no way they could keep her. just one of those unforutunate occurances. with the person who played eko, i believe he initially stated that he wouldnt like to make a long-term commitment to the show.
#74 – Just google the former writers – you’ll find what you are looking for.
I enjoy the re-caps. My only complaint is not even with Greybishop, but with the person that adds the captions to the pictures. Please do a proof-read before adding your caption. Lots of grammatical and spelling errors. Otherwise they’re usually pretty clever.
As far as Expose goes, I think all the people complaining about how Nikki and Paolo were wasted as characters, and how they were given all this screen time leading up to this episode, just to be killed off, are missing the point. Don’t you think that they were introduced as characters for the sole purpose of killing them off in this episode? Isn’t it better to kill off characters that we hardly knew/cared about, than 2 of the people we’ve known since the beginning? The writers had a cool concept for an episode, but 2 people had to die in the end. Rather than losing 2 established characters, they brought in 2 new ones, knowing they would be killed in this episode. And I hardly think they took up any precious screen time away from anyone else leading up to this episode. What did they have, 10 lines of dialog between the two of them all season? With that being said, I think they are definitely dead, and will not be coming back. If they did somehow survive, that would diminish the power of the end of the episode and then, yes, it would be a waste of an hour. As it is, it was a very clever and witty stand-alone episode.
My only question is how this all fits in with what the exec producers claimed in their podcasts about how Nikki and Paolo will become iconic after their episode airs. I can only guess that it was a “red herring” like the gay character they keep talking about.
i just saw the funniest thing on msnbc about this epi. totally spot on
-bb
***********
TALES FROM THE CRYPT REDUX
“OK. So here’s how I imagine it. It’s 1992, and two writers at FOX are talking.
1st: So, what are you working on?
2nd: Another script for Tales From the Crypt.
1st: You don’t sound too excited about it.
2nd: Well, you know, the show’s been on for 6 years now. And how many times can you write the same ironic revenge story, anyway?
1st: Caught in a rut, eh?
2nd: Yeah. It’s another ‘couple kills the rich old guy and steals his fortune only to get it in the end by being buried alive’ story.
1st: God, how many of those have you done?
2nd: I don’t want to think about it!
1st: Look. Why don’t you ditch that script and help me out with this thing I’m working on. It’s a show that parodies the seventies.
2nd: Tell me more!
CUT TO 2007, ABC NETWORK
JJAbrams: This show will be the death of me.
Writer: I told you that it was getting too complicated.
JJAbrams: Well, THAT won’t keep the execs off my back. They’re screaming for a new script, and I don’t know where to go. I need a week or so to sort things out.
Writer: Time for some ‘filler’?
JJAbrams: Yeah, but it’s gotta hold the audience. We’re losin’ them, you know.
Writer: Look. I have an idea. It’s a little strange, but bear with me.
JJAbrams: Pitch it to me, baby!
Writer: You know that extra couple you threw in this year, the South American guy and the blonde?
JJAbrams: Yeah. The audience needed some new faces. I never knew what to do with them, though.
Writer: This is what you do. Build an episode around them.
JJAbrams: How?
Writer: [whispering] I have this old Tales From the Crypt script I took when I left FOX. They never used it. We’ll just throw in a few ‘Lost’ situations and people. It’s perfect!
JJAbrams: Tell me more! ” –Richard
i guess that the rhyme didn’t work … so try m*i*d*s*e*a*s*o*n*r*e*p*l*a*c*e*m*e*n*t*s*.*c*o*m.
or, just PM me on the forums.
Hey, hasn’t the actor who plays Paulo been refered to as “the Spanish Tom Cruise”.
Dude, Wednesday’s episode was just a solid episode of television. Did these folks really not have a good time because significant plot points weren’t revealed? This season, though disjointed, is still very entertaining.
Thanks for the “other website” link, dumbanddumber. But an important note for everyone: and i hate to totally sound like a tvgasm kiss ass, but that other website doesn’t even have this weeks lost recap yet. F*ck all that! With such a cushy ass job, (watch your favorite show and then write about it) I have no tolerance for a recap posting any later than two days after the episode airs. SO…in closing, until that “other website” gets their shit straight, I’m a stick here…but the info is greatly appreciated anyway.
oh, and p.s., i love that u set up a hate site for you…except i can’t help but wonder who is such a farkin loser that they would spend that much time and energy on something so negative!!! Let me know if people are actually taking the time to log on and hate…I am just very curious.
but good recap, anyway. for those who don’t like it…go write your own!
Sorry, I meant for this part to be directed to Greybishop:
oh, and p.s., i love that u set up a hate site for you…except i can’t help but wonder who is such a farkin loser that they would spend that much time and energy on something so negative!!! Let me know if people are actually taking the time to log on and hate…I am just very curious.
You may have a point, Beatriz, except that I don’t think that most bloggers do it as their actual ‘job’.
And reading or plugging another site’s recaps isn’t meant as a slam against GB … I enjoy both…
Eds caps are still around at midseasonreplacements.com
If you long for the traditional snark of a Lost recap, go there. If you’re into a geekier perspective on LOST there is TVg.
For other shows, you can never have too many laughs at either or both places.
MYL
I just visited the I Hate Greybishop blogspot and I am sorry to say that I spent about fifteen gleeful moments playing the whack-a-gb game. It’s frightfully addictive.
(WARNING!!!! “KISS ASS” comment coming!)
Even though I had such fun playing the game, I in no way “Hate Greybishop” or want him to stop recapping. Partially because people get so riled up by his “writings” “bloggings” (whatever you want to call it) and leave the funniest comments.
Ahh yes, dumbanddumber, I realized my mistake shortly after I had posted. I feel very silly thinking that these guys would get paid for what they do. But that would be a great gig!
In any event, it still doesn’t change my opinion. Any longer than a day or two, and I’m looking somewhere else for a recap.
“But, just for you, I’ll restate:
I’ll continue being diplomatic, boyman, and if you don’t like it, life’s a bitch, wear a fuckin’ helmet.
;o)”
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA LOVE IT.
I for one am glad to see that the rumors that mention of the other website will be squelched have turned out to be false…
Jack’s father is Darth Vader… Claire, I am your father
Random thought of the morning
Hmmm, speaking of dramatic irony, did it strike anyone else as ironic (in the non-dramatic sense) that the very technique of directly addressing/winking at your audience that “Greybeard” complained that the writers of Lost took too far in this episode, is precisely what numerous readers of this Blog complained that Greybeard was doing in his blog with his repetive “knock knock” comments???
Hmmm, speaking of dramatic irony, did it strike anyone else as ironic (in the non-dramatic sense) that the very technique of directly addressing/winking at your audience that “Greybeard” complained that the writers of Lost took too far in this episode, is precisely what numerous readers of this Blog complained that Greybeard was doing in his blog with his repetive “knock knock” comments???
I don`t think,that the storyline was pointless…maybe you can`t see a point,but this does not mean anything…
8 MILLION DOLLAR in Diamonds…pointless??
I don’t get that fourth wall stuff? Is that important?
Just wanted to say that to whoever wondered whether they shot all that first season stuff with Nikki and Paolo, they didn’t. And one of the things that signposted this? The godawful wigs that Shannon was wearing. Seriously. Shocking.
OK – so I hope someone actually responds to my question instead of just waiting for another stupid argument to erupt…
Does anyone think that by Sawyer and Hugo burying Nikki and Paulo alive, that would have it appear as though they are murderers, albeit through manslaughter? Think about it, whenever a “murderer” on the island comes to terms with what they’ve done, even if they don’t repent (i.e., EKO), the island kills them?
OK. This is my latest theory…
What if the plane really did crash. These people are all in some kind of coma. When they wake up (or die) they die in the collective dream which removes them from the island.
This would explain why some of the episodes are character specific and don’t make a lot of sense overall i.e Hurley’s Van, Nicki/Paolo. Also it would explain the abrupt disappearance of some characters.
This would be a mind fuck on the same lines as the one that Dallas pulled off. Or maybe I just think about this stuff too much. LOL
MYRA, I hope your theory is incorrect. That would be very, very, VERY disappointing to me….
I have confirmation this series will end with Bob Newhart waking up in bed with his wife from the old series and it was all just a dream.
MYL
I actually loved this episode. And I can’t believe someone dissed Sayid’s flashbacks. His and Locke’s are usually the most interesting.
If you’re gonna kill anyone kill Charlie and Claire. Though since we now know that she’s Jack half sister, she won’t die.
Yeah, I found Charlie totally annoying until he and Hurley started hanging out together. They make a funny team!
madeyoulaugh — I think that’s a best case scenario for the end of the series. And I’m only half kidding.