Catching up
Apr. 27th, 2008 06:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chaniI'm having troubles with my Internet connexion lately.
First off, a very happy yet belated birthday tofishsanwitt. I hope it was great!
Secondly, two quick "reviews" of Lost and BSG. Spoilers under the cut.
First off, a very happy yet belated birthday to
fishsanwitt. I hope it was great!Secondly, two quick "reviews" of Lost and BSG. Spoilers under the cut.
Lost rocked. So did Sawyer who was Super Swayer in that eppy.
I love that he was playing Risk with Hurley and Locke, then I loved how all the anonymous ones got killed but he avoided all the bullets, how he wanted to save Claire, how he did save her and called her sweetheart later...and finally how he was ready to fight for his beloved Hugo and his curly hair! Super Swayer!
Ben in the desert was pretty cool too...
Lost is obviously turning into Ben show. I can't help liking the character despite the smirk they insist on putting on his face every time he played and outmanoeuvred someone (this time it was Sayid). Those smirks aren't necessary, the audience isn't stupid !
So we're witnessing a game party between Ben and Charles. Like gods playing chess, the humans being their pawns. It reminds me of one of Dan Simmons' novels, Clarion Comfort.
Ben says he can't kill Charles but obviously he believes he can kill Penelope...This must be a clue.
So is Ben's awakening in the desert while wearing a Dharma parka ( which called to my mind the two guys who worked for Penny at the end of season 2) or Ben's question about which year it was, and the title of the episode–"The Shape of Things to Come"– which happen to be the title of a H G Wells' book.
So basically we have Charles looking for the island, Ben looking for Penny who used to be looking for Desmond...Where's Desmond now and then?
Is Ben Charles' creation rebelling against its creator? Is the island a metaphor of Charles' elusive muse?
It would explain the "I know what you are boy" (I know this could be just echoing Ben telling the mercenary guy he knew what kind of man he was) . Ok I may have read too many Jasper Fforde's novels about Thursday Next...
I can't help thinking that Ben isn't real, that real characters got mixed with fantasy characters (including the Smoke Demon) in the Lost world.
I love that he was playing Risk with Hurley and Locke, then I loved how all the anonymous ones got killed but he avoided all the bullets, how he wanted to save Claire, how he did save her and called her sweetheart later...and finally how he was ready to fight for his beloved Hugo and his curly hair! Super Swayer!
Ben in the desert was pretty cool too...
Lost is obviously turning into Ben show. I can't help liking the character despite the smirk they insist on putting on his face every time he played and outmanoeuvred someone (this time it was Sayid). Those smirks aren't necessary, the audience isn't stupid !
So we're witnessing a game party between Ben and Charles. Like gods playing chess, the humans being their pawns. It reminds me of one of Dan Simmons' novels, Clarion Comfort.
Ben says he can't kill Charles but obviously he believes he can kill Penelope...This must be a clue.
So is Ben's awakening in the desert while wearing a Dharma parka ( which called to my mind the two guys who worked for Penny at the end of season 2) or Ben's question about which year it was, and the title of the episode–"The Shape of Things to Come"– which happen to be the title of a H G Wells' book.
So basically we have Charles looking for the island, Ben looking for Penny who used to be looking for Desmond...Where's Desmond now and then?
Is Ben Charles' creation rebelling against its creator? Is the island a metaphor of Charles' elusive muse?
It would explain the "I know what you are boy" (I know this could be just echoing Ben telling the mercenary guy he knew what kind of man he was) . Ok I may have read too many Jasper Fforde's novels about Thursday Next...
I can't help thinking that Ben isn't real, that real characters got mixed with fantasy characters (including the Smoke Demon) in the Lost world.
I have mixed feelings about Battlestar Galactica again. There's stuff I loved but also a general impression of being underwhelmed.
I think the Jesus analogy, with Baltar going into the temple, dealing with the Money changers, was too obvious, too heavy. And his final speech about love, the montage with the Kara/Sam on the Demetrius and Tyrol, didn't convince me. I'm pretty sure that all the Gaius/Jesus buisness is a way to mislead us and that Caprica will turn out to be the Christ eventually, but it wasn't very subtle.
Actually Gaius' hippy sect, his new faith and his messianic bevahiour, make me want to worship the Lord of Kobols (nice wee statues btw), make me want the old gods not only to fight back but also to win because it would be more refreshing !
On the other hand I liked Gaius being still so himself and ill at ease with dominatrix Tory and especially when he told her "I prefered it when you cried"! And I liked him hiding and later saying that he's tired of being afraid.
I loved the Saul/Caprica scenes, because they're both Cylons but she couldn't feel he was one and she so wanted to be like him, that is human, and he so wanted to be sure he wasn't like her, that is a Cylon ! So sadly ironical.
I think that Michael Hogan's face was wonderfully expressive when he thought that Ellen!Six was talking about him as she mentioned the man she loved, until she said the name "Baltar" and ruined his little fantasy/hallucination...It sooo made sense. Six had been made to be men's fantasy. She's the archetypal blonde, and Ellen was such a fatal blonde too.
But I didn't like Ellen-with-a-Six-wig. It looked cheap and kinda lame.
That top the two actresses wore wasn't very flattering btw. They both looked so skinny, especially Tricia!
On the other hand I enjoyed the echo (but was it intentional?) concerning the wigs, given that Laura was wearing one too. Those wigs were a symbol of death. I liked Laura thinking of her own funeral and telling Adama "I want you to know what I like" but the final Laura/Bill scene was too much again. With that pairing it's a matter of finding the right balance.
I also liked the parallel between Baltar being beaten up(not sure about Head!Six holding him like an invisible spirit though) and Caprica punching Saul.
I also loved many little details, like Saul changing Nicky's diaper in the background (so unexpected and so great, my favourite bit) or Saul mentioning Caprica's request about seeing Hera Agathon (I just loved the fact he called her using her last name!); Tyrol grabbing the other Cylons' arm as if something inside of him was suddenly switched on; Gaius leaning onto Lee and holding his tie and Lee pulling his tie back (slashy metaphor?); Tyrol at the bar, hallucinating about Adama's speech, which echoed Tigh's hallucination about shooting him.
Also I missed Helo and Sharon, but that's a given.
I think the Jesus analogy, with Baltar going into the temple, dealing with the Money changers, was too obvious, too heavy. And his final speech about love, the montage with the Kara/Sam on the Demetrius and Tyrol, didn't convince me. I'm pretty sure that all the Gaius/Jesus buisness is a way to mislead us and that Caprica will turn out to be the Christ eventually, but it wasn't very subtle.
Actually Gaius' hippy sect, his new faith and his messianic bevahiour, make me want to worship the Lord of Kobols (nice wee statues btw), make me want the old gods not only to fight back but also to win because it would be more refreshing !
On the other hand I liked Gaius being still so himself and ill at ease with dominatrix Tory and especially when he told her "I prefered it when you cried"! And I liked him hiding and later saying that he's tired of being afraid.
I loved the Saul/Caprica scenes, because they're both Cylons but she couldn't feel he was one and she so wanted to be like him, that is human, and he so wanted to be sure he wasn't like her, that is a Cylon ! So sadly ironical.
I think that Michael Hogan's face was wonderfully expressive when he thought that Ellen!Six was talking about him as she mentioned the man she loved, until she said the name "Baltar" and ruined his little fantasy/hallucination...It sooo made sense. Six had been made to be men's fantasy. She's the archetypal blonde, and Ellen was such a fatal blonde too.
But I didn't like Ellen-with-a-Six-wig. It looked cheap and kinda lame.
That top the two actresses wore wasn't very flattering btw. They both looked so skinny, especially Tricia!
On the other hand I enjoyed the echo (but was it intentional?) concerning the wigs, given that Laura was wearing one too. Those wigs were a symbol of death. I liked Laura thinking of her own funeral and telling Adama "I want you to know what I like" but the final Laura/Bill scene was too much again. With that pairing it's a matter of finding the right balance.
I also liked the parallel between Baltar being beaten up(not sure about Head!Six holding him like an invisible spirit though) and Caprica punching Saul.
I also loved many little details, like Saul changing Nicky's diaper in the background (so unexpected and so great, my favourite bit) or Saul mentioning Caprica's request about seeing Hera Agathon (I just loved the fact he called her using her last name!); Tyrol grabbing the other Cylons' arm as if something inside of him was suddenly switched on; Gaius leaning onto Lee and holding his tie and Lee pulling his tie back (slashy metaphor?); Tyrol at the bar, hallucinating about Adama's speech, which echoed Tigh's hallucination about shooting him.
Also I missed Helo and Sharon, but that's a given.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-04-27 06:30 pm (UTC)I liked how the characters playing Risk mirrors what Ben and Charles Whitmore seem to be doing. That confrontation between Ben and Charles was really interesting and started to get me speculating again. I somehow got a God and a Fallen Angel vibe from it. I haven't really thought it through, but the island is like a Paradise that Whitmore can't access anymore. I still don't quite understand the power balance between Ben and Charles - are they equals in this battle?
As to the time travelling - I'm beginning to understand how one polar bear ended up on the island and another one turned up in the desert. It seems like there's a portal located in a cold place with polar bears - hence the parka and the misplaced animals.
It was good to find out how Sayid comes to work for Ben in the future, more or less through his own volition because he believes Ben that Whitmore killed his beloved Nadia. Also, Ben calls himself Moriarty? Does that make Whitmore his Holmes?
no subject
Date: 2008-04-27 06:56 pm (UTC)I'm not sure Ben and Charles are equal but they seem to be mutually dependant. And it's more complicated than Good vs Villain for none of them is clearly good or bad.
BTW I noticed another connection with the Risk game. Sawyer won Australia, didn't he? Looks like Charles Widmore now switched from his English accent to an Australian one (I couldn't catch the difference but some English speaker fan did)...Not only he changed the rules but also his accent!
Also there was something weird about Alex' death, I can't really put my finger on it though.
no subject
Date: 2008-04-27 07:05 pm (UTC)Well, I still see Ben as a kind of arch-nemesis kind of guy, so that works for me.
Yes, it's clearly not a case of good vs. bad - at least not from the other characters' point of view. It's just a game, but with Alex' death and the change of rules it has become more serious for Ben.
Alex' death was weird, not only because it's the first time that one of Ben's strategies backfired on him. I think there was something off about the guy who shot her - he's extra creepy and I think he was going to shoot her anyway.
I didn't notice the accent change, but I wasn't paying attention - it's difficult enough as it is to keep up with all the characters and their names.
no subject
Date: 2008-04-27 07:13 pm (UTC)It worked when Ben was Locke's nemesis, but now he has grown into a much more important character, a bigger player.
To think that the character wasn't even supposed to be a regular! The writers changed their plan– or shall I say the rules? as well...
no subject
Date: 2008-04-28 08:16 am (UTC)But Ben sees himself as Charles' nemesis, doesn't he?
Possibly it's not the writers who changed the rules, but the network when the decision was made when and how to wrap up the series, but as I haven't really kept up with spoilers or network politics I might be wrong. That way, Ben is a stand-in for the writers.
no subject
Date: 2008-04-28 10:00 am (UTC)I have no idea who made the decision but I remember that Henri Gale wasn't supposed to live on Lost. They changed their mind during season 2 because of the actor and the audience's reaction, and then he bacame Ben Linus, got a backstory, and slowly turned into a pivotal character just as important as the original ones.
no subject
Date: 2008-04-27 07:18 pm (UTC)And I'm also missing Helo and Sharon. Didn't realize how much they added to the show. They give it a balance that is missing when they aren't in it.
no subject
Date: 2008-04-27 07:27 pm (UTC)As I said I may have read too many novels by Japser Fford, but I like the idea of some characters being fiction (or fantasy) within the fiction...and the supernatural stuff being a poetic licence, like that Jacob guy since Jacob is JJ Abrams' middle name!
Let's hope we'll see more of Helo and Athena next week.