(S02E21) “Chuck vs. the Colonel”

Will Chuck be returning next year? The jury’s still out on that one. However, I believe that if they can step up next season like they were able to do for these past few episodes, they could definitely start gaining back a little audience appreciation. I actually had to double check my TV listing to ensure that tonight’s excellent episode wasn’t the season finale, it was that good.

Orion has been saved! Better yet, the intersect is, once and for all, out of Chuck’s head. I mean really, why would they not save a little bit of that for the conclusion? Don’t worry, the finale will still be interesting. Seeing as the mastermind bad guy survived and is en route to Ellie and Awesome’s wedding, the spy drama is far from over.  More exciting than that, it appears as if the whole team will be fighting together on this upcoming mission.

It was so cute to see Casey struggle with his inner soldier in order to join Sarah and Chuck as they saved Orion. I almost wanted to shed a tear as he stood by  Sarah and informed the General that this whole time Sarah was acting for the better good of the country while undercover instead of actually acting on pure emotion as she saved Chuck. Ok, so I didn’t actually cry, but still, it was a touching moment. As was the slow clap Morgan received as he exited Buy More for the last time ever.

Now I must know, which was your favorite Chuck moment?

Jughead

First of all, having watched last week’s episodes with a fresh perspective, they were a lot better than I first thought. Now, on to this week…

There must be some kind of rule in the Lost world…Desmond-centric episodes are required to be awesome. The Season 2 finale “Live Together, Die Alone”, Season 3′s “Flashes Before Your Eyes” and Season 4′s “The Constant” were all spectacular episodes that focused on Desmond, and “Jughead” was no different.

First of all, I think Nestor Carbonell is about to break out as an actor. Sure, he’s been in stuff for several years, but between this and his role last year in Dark Knight, he’s poised to really explode. Richard is a fascinating character…I rank him up there with Ben as one of my favorite characters to watch. It’s interesting to see him in the early days of Otherdom…was he immortal then? Is he even immortal now, or is he just jumping around through time? Does he receive his mega-supply of eye-liner from off the island, or does he make it himself? Man, I hope they can answer all my questions.

We also had the revelation that Charles Widmore is a former Other…and a rather brutal one at that. In the “present”, it turns out that he hasn’t had contact with his daughter in over three years, and doesn’t even know that he has a grandson named after him (sort of). His gruff exterior seemed to maybe crack a little in this episode…he showed what almost appeared to be genuine concern for Desmond, but maybe that was more toward Penny.

The one thing I wasn’t much of a fan of was the hydrogen bomb. It just didn’t seem to fit in for some reason. I’m sure it will all tie in eventually, and will probably end up being the most awesome thing ever, but it just seemed out of place.

And as much as I LOVE Faraday…didn’t his proclamation of love for Charlotte also seem quite out of place, as well as Richard’s acceptance of it as a reason for them not being bad guys? I like Danny and Charlotte together, but that seemed jarring.

Despite these minor issues I had, overall it was another excellent episode. We’re actually getting some answers, even though in true Lost fashion, every answer brings with it two more questions.

Next week, we have “The Little Prince” in which “Kate discovers that someone knows the secret of Aaron’s true parental lineage. Meanwhile, the dramatic shifts through time are placing the lives of the remaining island survivors in extreme peril.”

Because You Left/The Lie

I’ll start this review by saying that I think Season 4 was the absolute best season of Lost so far…even better than the premiere season. It was consice (largely due to the writer’s strike), it had a very compelling plot…just an all-around fantastic string of episodes. So, I had some high expectations heading into a new batch. And this premiere did not quite meet them.

I’m not sure why. Maybe I’ve grown accustomed to the character-centric flashbacks. Every time I start to hear that “whoosh”, I’m generally prepared to delve into whoever is on screen’s backstory, and now we jump into one of at least six stories, which take place at any point in the Lost timeline. I guess it’s fine…it fits into the time-bending nature the show has taken on. And I know there’s a lot of story to tell and only a finite numer of episodes to tell it.

Which brings me to my next issue. Man, there’s a lot of narrative. Heroes really fell bad into the pitfall of trying to cram WAY too much story into a season, and this episode seemed to do the same thing. You’ve got Locke’s journey on the island, everybody else’s journey on the island, Sayid’s story, Hurley’s story, then Sayid and Hurley’s story, Jack’s story, Jack and Ben’s story, Ben’s story, Kate and Aaron’s story, Sun’s story…whew, it’s exhausting. There have always been a lot of threads weaving through Lost, but it seems like there’s just an excess here.

I hate to gripe and gripe, because I didn’t not enjoy the episode. We got a lot of answers (assuming Faraday knows what he’s talking about) regarding the nature of the island and its time-hopping. The frequency of the jumps got a bit confusing pretty quickly, but I imagine that we’ll see it settle down soon, one way or another, since Faraday was deep undercover (literally) in the opening moments of the show, which I’m sure took some time to acheive.

I’m also interested in Ben’s off-island character. He’s still a scheming little bugger, but it’s obvious that he’s lost a lot of his hard edge now that he’s back in the real world. Michael Emerson still does a tremendous job, it’s awesome to watch him work.

As I finish up this review, I think I may understand why I was a bit let down. Lost has always required viewers to be engaged in the story. It’s never been “check your brain at the door” television. You have to watch…pay attention…and think. I think this episode kicked that up a notch. It’s almost like the past four years have been training for the real mindfreak that’s in store. I’ll probably rewatch it again this weekend ready to really take it all in.

All in all, it was a pretty decent episode. I’m SO glad that Lost is back, even if I admittedly may have set my standards too high.

Next week brings us “Jughead”, in which “Desmond goes in search of a woman who could be the key to helping Faraday stop the island’s erratic movements through time, and Locke discovers the identity of the unknown forces who have been attacking the survivors”.

Last season was very well done, and really took the show where it needed to go. It seems like since the creators decided when the show would end they’ve been able to pace things much better, and really bring out the best in the series.

Here’s hoping this season is as good as the last one. We’ll know soon enough. the show returns on January 21st.

The excitement for the next season of “Lost” continues to build, and ABC has recently aired another promo. This one gives us a glimpse as to what Jack and Ben are up to at the start of the season, and I have to admit, I’m very intrigued.

“Lost” is a show I often don’t think about when it’s not on. When the show gets into gear, however, it’s a very compelling ride. I’m looking forward to “Lost” in 2009.

Take a look….

Now, their new single “You Found Me” is being featured in the preview for the new season of Lost. While I don’t know that the song is as powerful as “How To Save A Life”…man, did that get me excited to get back into the Lost world.

Follow this link to snatch it up (in HD!) in iTunes.

More time-travel for Lost next year, it looks like. Jumping back from its Thursday night slot, Lost will return to it’s rightful place, Wednesday nights. The penultimate fifth season will debut with a three hour premiere on January 21. Much like Heroes did this year, the first hour will be a recap episode, followed by “Because You Left” and “The Lie”.

No word yet on where it will end up permanently, but ABC is expected to make an announcement next week about the Wednesday night lineup. Here’s hoping it’ll be Pushing Daisies, Private Practice and Lost.

I recently went back and rewatched the entire fourth season, and I can honestly say it may be even better than the first season. Yep. I said it. Hopefully, the creative team realizes that cutting out the fat leaves a much more fulfilling season, and that will carry over into season five.

So you could say I’m pretty excited about what’s to come. The titles for the first six episodes of Season 5 have made their way onto the internets, and, as usual, most of them make little sense out of context. 5.01 will, hopefully, show some of what happened on the roaming island because the Oceanic 6 left. And color me really excited for 5.06.

5.01 – Because You Left
5.02 – The Lie
5.03 – Jughead
5.04 – The Little Prince
5.05 – This Place Is Death
5.06 – The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham

Take a look…