WTAL “Abandoned” Rewatch Podcast Details!

Hey LOSTblog.com fans! Tonight‘s episode we will be talking about is “Abandoned.” This is a Shannon-centric episode. The tail-section collides with the Losties this episodes. Shannon runs after an apparition of Walt and dies when Ana-Lucia accidentally shoots her. Dara will be talking with me as usual, as well as Lisa (@LostOnTheFringe). I’m very excited [...]

Yes! A LOSTblog.com TWEETUP in 2011!

Most of us have seen the pictures of the smiling faces at Comic Con in San Diego or on a set tours in Hawaii, and I for one have been pretty green with envy.

So we’d like to organize the first of the LOSTblog tweet ups somewhere in the middle. And by middle, I mean midwest. We have some ideas and people have already started showing interest. First things first. We need a date and a place. I’ve gotten several tweets voting for the Month of May and have heard whispers of Branson, Nashville, Memphis, St. Louis… but we are OFFICIALLY asking for your opinion as to where and when you’d like TweetUP to happen!

Bookmark this site so that you can stay current on all the discussion, and follow @LOST_TweetUP on twitter for any additional info.

Leave your preferences in the comments, tweet or DM us!

Jess & Erin

Pre-Hash: Abandoned

The feeling of abandonment can leave a lifetime of emotional scars. When you lose the ones you love and have to face life on your own, it’s often harder to face adversities. When losing a parent, family members can either band together to get through tough times or tear their relationships to shreds with selfishness [...]

More LOST Character Miis for Your Nintendo Wii

I've been having a great time working out with my Island friends (to see the Miis created last spring, click here) on my Nintendo Wii Fit, but I realized as I was jogging around the Wii Fit Island that there are a lot of characters missing from my sideways there.   Time to make some more.  Here they are, made to look the way I think they'd look in my sideways, all happy and getting fit on the island together.  If you'd like to add these characters to your Nintendo Wii Mii Plaza, so that they will show up in some of your Wii games, download the Check Mii Out Channel on the main Wii screen (it's free), then click on Posting Plaza.  Click on "Popular" at the bottom of the screen, then the magnifying glass at the bottom ("Search").  At the top of the "Set Conditions" screen, click on the arrows button on the top right (it says "Change" when you hover over it).  Then click the "Enter #" button and enter the number of the Mii you'd like to check out, and maybe add to your Mii collection.  Namaste!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="244" caption="Charlie 0441-6354-3765"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="244" caption="Michael 0512-132-6810"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="244" caption="Walt 5555-2075-7433"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="244" caption="Boone 9990-3434-6176"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="244" caption="Shannon 3248-8936-3903"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="244" caption="Rose 7348-7365-9782"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="244" caption="Bernard 2617-2918-0713"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="244" caption="Ana Lucia 6269-7179-3827"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="244" caption="Libby 5465-8060-8971"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="244" caption="Mr. Eko 6135-4400-0195"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="244" caption="Dr. Chang 4593-8234-9548"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="244" caption="Charles 3839-8630-8745"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="244" caption="Penny 449-9746-2400"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="244" caption="Cindy 7608-0494-7163"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="244" caption="Daniel 4781-2039-4575"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="244" caption="Charlotte 5275-7333-9852"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="244" caption="Miles 6923-4630-5631"][/caption]

Thanks to my good friend Kellie (@tvfan4life) for being my second pair of eyes.  Any shortcomings, however, are my fault alone, save for the limitations of the Mii program.  Tweet me a pic of your LOST Miis - I'm @Loster21.  Have fun, and Namaste!

Primeval Season 4 Episode 3 Review

Thanks to Simply Television for sharing this review by @Loster21:

So, did the rebooted series continue its upward trend in writing quality?  The opening sequence?  Absolutely.  The following ten minutes or so was worrisome but had potential, which was crushed by the horrible writing throughout the balance of the episode.  Infuriatingly horrible.  The kind of writing that at best has me sighing with disappointment, and at its nadir has me yelling at the screen, “WHAT?  WHAT?!!” 

First, kudos for what I did like, after the opening sequence.  Loved the theatre, and all the sets and locations.  Loved the time travellers’ costumes and hair.  Loved the new creature – “arborial raptor” or “tree creeper” depending on your era - from a distance.  Also loved the sound the creature made.  Unfortunately the creature in closer scenes looked ridiculously like a person in a well-made lizard suit.

We were given some potentially interesting information from the Matt/Mystery Man conversation this week, who we learned is terminal.  I found what I felt were three key lines:

“You’re close now” (MM to Matt)
“Might be Phillip, might be Connor… Someone could be dangerous without knowing it” (Matt to MM)
“Was it worth it, your whole life just waiting?” (Matt)  ”Of course, think what’s at stake!” (MM)
 
Hmmm…. here’s hoping that the danger is something worthwhile.
 
The next scene with the time travellers was fairly well written; the “it’s what Charlotte would have wanted, she understood the rules” had a nice sense of mystery and promise.  Then WOW did the episode go shockingly and relentlessly downhill after that.  Matt ran into the anomaly after the woman, BUT FIRST TOOK OFF HIS TRACKING DEVICE.  Because… I’m sorry, there’s no credible reason.  Becker refused to believe that Matt had gone into the anomaly and continued to look for Matt in the theatre for an exceedingly long amount of time because… Matt knew the rules and wouldn’t do that?  Becker simultaneously didn’t want another team member to die but thought it best to leave a team member on the other side?  And this delay allowed us to experience such great lines as “this is Matt we’re talking about”?
 
And the whole ARC lockdown was nearly intolerable.  If it turns out that Phillip is being extra protective of Connor because he is secretly Connor’s father, I may have to start campaigning for the immediate cessation of filming.  I cannot fathom an explanation for why Phillip reprogrammed the system so that he was the only person who could stop the lockdown procedure.  He is meant to be brilliant.  Even if he intends to have every creature killed, it doesn’t explain why he would have made that change in programming at any point earlier than the last possible moment.  And some of the worst lines: “How long do I have, Jess?”  YOU WROTE THE PROGRAM.  “This could look really bad on my cv.”  HAR HAR, WHAT A LARF.  And Connor’s reply to Phillip’s potential reveal about New Dawn – “Now’s not the time for last words.”  The whole thing was just a mess.  To have that storyline concluded with Phillip calling Connor brilliant for being able to break through his unpenetrable firewall – BECAUSE IT WAS CONNOR’S SYSTEM AND CONNOR’S TRAP DOOR.  Connor wasn’t more brilliant than any other computer hacker, he just happened to have access BECAUSE HE BUILT THE ORIGINAL SYSTEM.  Really, what a phenomenal waste of writing.  Surely they could have come up with some better way to show the suspicious behaviour of Phillip and a reference to New Dawn than this.
 
Then there’s the woman, and the creature.  I’m meh about the Group of 15 who apparently spend their lives going through anomalies trying to find a way back home.  There is potential for something good there, but did we really need a whole new group to deal with, along with the mostly-new cast, new ARC, and at least two mysteries (Phillip’s whatever-he’s-doing and Matt’s whatever-he’s-secretly-investigating)?  Becker wants to turn her in – to whom?  Why would they not take her to the ARC?  Why wouldn’t at least certain hospital staff understand the issue about the anomalies?  If the ARC isn’t going to have a big enough medical staff to cope with injuries (presumed, since Matt took her to a hospital instead of directly to the ARC, WHERE A MEDIC IS ON STAFF, as we saw once the locked down room was opened in the ARC debacle.  The number of inconsistencies in all of this makes me think, with a shudder, that this will be the new fun in watching this show: How Many Easily Avoidable Inconsistencies Can We Find This Week?
 
One just has to laugh at exchanges like the one between the woman and Matt while trying to take down the creature: “Shoot it!”  “It’s out of range…”  “Shoot it!”  Hello?  IT’S OUT OF RANGE.  And hmm, why was Matt standing so close to the glass that the creature could obviously have gone through?  To make for a wonderful chance for the woman to save Matt, of course!  And how she did it was totally unclear.  And yes, let’s tie up the creature, it could never possibly escape… Oh no, it’s escaping!  What an eye roller.  I did, however, laugh out loud at the creature looking exactly like a piece of road kill.
 
Which brings us to the worst writing of all.  Matt TAKES THE WOMAN HOME.  She desperately wants to return to her group, but heck, let’s just wait until tomorrow.  And better yet, we’re all in danger while Ethan’s out on the loose, he’s a homicidal maniac, so by all means, LET’S LOOK FOR HIM TOMORROW.  If we go now, we might be able to find him more easily, and send you on your way home, missy, so yes, LET’S JUST WAIT. 

Honestly, just abysmal, and that poor writing completely overshadowed everyone else’s fine efforts in this production.  Please oh please, someone tell the writing staff that it’s okay to do better.  We, the viewing public, are ready.
 
No favorite lines, obviously.

Primeval Season 4 Episode 3 Review

Thanks to Simply Television for sharing this review by @Loster21:

So, did the rebooted series continue its upward trend in writing quality?  The opening sequence?  Absolutely.  The following ten minutes or so was worrisome but had potential, which was crushed by the horrible writing throughout the balance of the episode.  Infuriatingly horrible.  The kind of writing that at best has me sighing with disappointment, and at its nadir has me yelling at the screen, “WHAT?  WHAT?!!” 

First, kudos for what I did like, after the opening sequence.  Loved the theatre, and all the sets and locations.  Loved the time travellers’ costumes and hair.  Loved the new creature – “arborial raptor” or “tree creeper” depending on your era - from a distance.  Also loved the sound the creature made.  Unfortunately the creature in closer scenes looked ridiculously like a person in a well-made lizard suit.

We were given some potentially interesting information from the Matt/Mystery Man conversation this week, who we learned is terminal.  I found what I felt were three key lines:

“You’re close now” (MM to Matt)
“Might be Phillip, might be Connor… Someone could be dangerous without knowing it” (Matt to MM)
“Was it worth it, your whole life just waiting?” (Matt)  ”Of course, think what’s at stake!” (MM)
 
Hmmm…. here’s hoping that the danger is something worthwhile.
 
The next scene with the time travellers was fairly well written; the “it’s what Charlotte would have wanted, she understood the rules” had a nice sense of mystery and promise.  Then WOW did the episode go shockingly and relentlessly downhill after that.  Matt ran into the anomaly after the woman, BUT FIRST TOOK OFF HIS TRACKING DEVICE.  Because… I’m sorry, there’s no credible reason.  Becker refused to believe that Matt had gone into the anomaly and continued to look for Matt in the theatre for an exceedingly long amount of time because… Matt knew the rules and wouldn’t do that?  Becker simultaneously didn’t want another team member to die but thought it best to leave a team member on the other side?  And this delay allowed us to experience such great lines as “this is Matt we’re talking about”?
 
And the whole ARC lockdown was nearly intolerable.  If it turns out that Phillip is being extra protective of Connor because he is secretly Connor’s father, I may have to start campaigning for the immediate cessation of filming.  I cannot fathom an explanation for why Phillip reprogrammed the system so that he was the only person who could stop the lockdown procedure.  He is meant to be brilliant.  Even if he intends to have every creature killed, it doesn’t explain why he would have made that change in programming at any point earlier than the last possible moment.  And some of the worst lines: “How long do I have, Jess?”  YOU WROTE THE PROGRAM.  “This could look really bad on my cv.”  HAR HAR, WHAT A LARF.  And Connor’s reply to Phillip’s potential reveal about New Dawn – “Now’s not the time for last words.”  The whole thing was just a mess.  To have that storyline concluded with Phillip calling Connor brilliant for being able to break through his unpenetrable firewall – BECAUSE IT WAS CONNOR’S SYSTEM AND CONNOR’S TRAP DOOR.  Connor wasn’t more brilliant than any other computer hacker, he just happened to have access BECAUSE HE BUILT THE ORIGINAL SYSTEM.  Really, what a phenomenal waste of writing.  Surely they could have come up with some better way to show the suspicious behaviour of Phillip and a reference to New Dawn than this.
 
Then there’s the woman, and the creature.  I’m meh about the Group of 15 who apparently spend their lives going through anomalies trying to find a way back home.  There is potential for something good there, but did we really need a whole new group to deal with, along with the mostly-new cast, new ARC, and at least two mysteries (Phillip’s whatever-he’s-doing and Matt’s whatever-he’s-secretly-investigating)?  Becker wants to turn her in – to whom?  Why would they not take her to the ARC?  Why wouldn’t at least certain hospital staff understand the issue about the anomalies?  If the ARC isn’t going to have a big enough medical staff to cope with injuries (presumed, since Matt took her to a hospital instead of directly to the ARC, WHERE A MEDIC IS ON STAFF, as we saw once the locked down room was opened in the ARC debacle.  The number of inconsistencies in all of this makes me think, with a shudder, that this will be the new fun in watching this show: How Many Easily Avoidable Inconsistencies Can We Find This Week?
 
One just has to laugh at exchanges like the one between the woman and Matt while trying to take down the creature: “Shoot it!”  “It’s out of range…”  “Shoot it!”  Hello?  IT’S OUT OF RANGE.  And hmm, why was Matt standing so close to the glass that the creature could obviously have gone through?  To make for a wonderful chance for the woman to save Matt, of course!  And how she did it was totally unclear.  And yes, let’s tie up the creature, it could never possibly escape… Oh no, it’s escaping!  What an eye roller.  I did, however, laugh out loud at the creature looking exactly like a piece of road kill.
 
Which brings us to the worst writing of all.  Matt TAKES THE WOMAN HOME.  She desperately wants to return to her group, but heck, let’s just wait until tomorrow.  And better yet, we’re all in danger while Ethan’s out on the loose, he’s a homicidal maniac, so by all means, LET’S LOOK FOR HIM TOMORROW.  If we go now, we might be able to find him more easily, and send you on your way home, missy, so yes, LET’S JUST WAIT. 

Honestly, just abysmal, and that poor writing completely overshadowed everyone else’s fine efforts in this production.  Please oh please, someone tell the writing staff that it’s okay to do better.  We, the viewing public, are ready.
 
No favorite lines, obviously.

Staying Lost After Lost - ...And Found

This episode wasn't rich in clues at all.  But it did blatantly show us the con.  It was Jin/Sun-centric.  Sun loses her wedding ring.  Jin is on the other side of the island with the Tail section and Mr. Eko and they are looking for Michael.  Ana-Lucia is headed with Sawyer and the rest of the tail section to the main Losties camp.  A lot going on... but what really mattered?

This episode was really creepy when I first watched it.  Flipped out Ana-Lucia, dead Goodwin, the Others' feet.  It was so scary!  Who are the Others?  What did they do?  Where is Walt?  It was soooooo creepy!  But in true Lost fashion - back there in the flashback you have the amazing love story developing between Jin and Sun.  Just reminding me that Lost is not about those Other's feet.  It's a giant love story that conned us into being hooked with the creepiness.

I guess the biggest thing that stuck out to me this episode and I had it in my notes but my beautiful podcasting co-host, Dara, made it a little bit clearer to me.  Locke says to Sun, that he's basically "found" since coming to the island and it's because he stopped looking.  I have to say that I don't agree with him here.  He isn't found when he is talking to Sun here.  He isn't found at all.  Maybe in the flash sideways when he is walking into the church.  But he is always looking for something to make him not feel so worthless.  And possibly at this moment he was feeling found but it ends when he finds the Pearl station.  And he was feeling found probably when Widmore heals him up when he flashes to Tunisia but ends when Ben kills him.  That's the tragedy of him.

I really don't have much to say about this episode, really.  Lost was a love story.  And they threw us off completely with creepy stuff.  I couldn't see it then.  But I see it now.  There are many couples in this show, Jin and Sun are the first solid couple we get to see.  And while they may be slightly boring, they do show us what I think is one of the realist love stories ever.  And nothing else matters in this story but love, really.