Cupid vs. Cupid

While the new version of Cupid has its moments, it's lacking one major component of the original: Jeremy Piven. What it does share with its predecessor is chunks of dialogue and entire scenes duplicated in both pilot episodes.

I guess you can't really accuse Rob Thomas of plagiarizing himself.

I Love You, Man

Hollie was absolutely right about this one: so, so funny.

Paul Rudd is perfection as the awkward, semi-wussified Peter Klaven. Actually, the entire cast is wonderful from Jason Segel as overgrown man-child Sidney Fife, Rashida Jones as Peter's super cool fiancee, Andy Samberg as Peter's gay brother and Jane Curtin and J. K. Simmons as his parents.

But the movie belongs to Rudd. Every facial expression, mannerism, reaction and line delivery is pitch perfect. A comedy about male-bonding could have easily degenerated into a raunch-fest of projectile vomiting and fart jokes. Actually, there IS projectile vomiting in this movie, but for the most part the humor comes from a sense of real authenticity.

Even Jason Segel's Sidney seems flesh and bone rather than overdone caricature. If Will Ferrell had played the part there'd be a scene of him running around in his underwear. Not so with Segel. He plays Sidney with a combination of arrested development and sagacious wisdom. The film, in fact, does a great job blending comedy with an honest, realistic and smart look at relationships.

Smart, funny, sweet--this is a classic!

In addition, I loved seeing shots of some of my fave L.A. spots throughout the film.

The New Place - Settled (almost!)

Pics of the place clean (pretty much) and organized (almost):



Living room - the futon sofa and armoire are new. TV stand and coffee table (leather!) were obtained via Craigslist. About $100 for both pieces!





Bathroom - I love the shower curtain.










Bedroom - I'm not fond of the layout, but options are limited.









Another view of the living room. I still have to finish organizing my office, but most likely I'll be working at the coffee table in front of the TV.




The internet connection was fixed on Friday evening. It was sheer misery dealing with Verizon but for one super-fabulous customer service supervisor, Pat Hennigan. Verizon needs to clone her--she is a rare thing in this world: a customer service person who cares about the customer and provides excellent service.

The Office - The Michael Scott Paper Company and Dream Team

The two episodes of The Office last night were not quite back-to-back. Amy Poehler's new sitcom, Parks and Recreation, was sandwiched in between. Although PnR featured the same mockumentary style and Jim Halpert's ex Karen (Rashida Jones), it doesn't quite live up to its predecessor's standards. Amy Poehler is pretty funny--I loved her line about dealing with an angry public: "What I hear when I'm being yelled at is people loudly caring at me."

Here's hoping that it will grow into its premise and be funnier in the future. I got more laughs in less than a minute watching these Roomba-riding kittens than 22-odd minutes of PnR:



Anyway, Michael's new venture had a shaky start. Pam shows up for her first day as a salesperson at the Michael Scott Paper Company perky as ever. "Apple started in a garage. We’re starting in a condo so we already have a leg up on Apple."

Michael on the other hand is overwhelmed and channels his anxieties into making mounds of French toast. He asks Pam what shape she wants hers in. "Square is fine," Pam replies. With Michael undergoing an egg-covered meltdown, Pam quickly diverts him by starting a list of do-able goals. Like song parodies.

I loved the interplay between Pam and Michael. Jenna Fischer was brilliant in both episodes.

Michael recruits Vikram from the telemarketing center and Ryan from his job at the bowling alley to complete his "dream team." Then the four head over to the Senior Center to hit up Michael's Nana for investment money. When her investment club rejects him, Vikram bails on the venture. Pam starts to get cold feet as well.

"I was just feeling impulsive--I should have gotten a tiny tattoo on my ankle!" she wails.

Michael calms her saying, "I do my best when people don't believe in me." He manages to get some office space (a closet under the bathroom actually) at the Scranton Business Park where he runs into his nemesis, Charles Minor. "The Michael Scott Paper Company is about to open a big ol’ can of whupass on the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company," Michael tells Charles.

Charles did not look pleased. Perhaps the catfight between Ali Larter and Beyonce has him worried. Oh wait, wrong story. That would be the impending catfight between Kelly and Angela. Or maybe Kelly and the new receptionist also named Kelly...

There's a power struggle between Pam and Ryan over use of the laptop or who should make copies. Pam, trying to change her image from receptionist to salesperson, refuses but confesses, "And the worst part is I like making copies!" Michael blows a gasket saying, "I don’t make copies I’m the boss. I make originals!"

The pancake luncheon (with square pancakes) is not a rousing success, although Pam manages to make one connection. Her cold feet get even colder and she tries to get her old job back from Charles--but that doesn't go well since the position has been filled. The bickering in the basement office takes its toll with Michael almost about to admit defeat telling Pam and Ryan, "I once had a dream I was eating a peanut butter and tunafish sandwich and it was delicious..."

As he's about the segue into how something that original seemed like a good idea can turn out to be a bad idea, Pam's contact from the pancake luncheon calls and places an order.

Meanwhile, Jim continues to struggle with being on the outs with new boss Charles with Dwight gloating, "Oh no, the new boss does not find Jim adorable!" When Andy's mirroring technique of pretending to like soccer scores him some brownie points with the unyielding Charles, Jim tries the same tactic saying he played soccer in school. This leads Dwight to up the ante by suggesting that Charles and Jim should play soccer together.

Jim admits: "I did play soccer in school. From second to fourth grade. I was on the orange team."

When the office goes out at lunch to all play soccer, Jim's lie is exposed when he ducks and lets the ball smash Phyllis in the face.

The best part of the show was the potential rivalry between Andy and Dwight over new receptionist, Kelly. Andy tells Dwight, "The last thing I want to do is step on your funk, man!" But their impromptu jam session turns into a weird version of Dueling Banjos (actually Andy was playing banjo, Dwight played guitar) when Kelly (the new Kelly) enters the breakroom and starts singing along to John Denver's Country Roads.

Although they initially attempting to impress Erin--upping the stakes in virtuousity with Dwight singing in German at one point--they end up impressing each other and remaining friends.

So funny.

LOST - Dead is dead

"Dead is dead," Ben says to Sun regarding John Locke's miraculous reanimation. "You don't get to come back from that. Even here."

But like most of what comes out of Ben's mouth, was that a lie or a fact?

As George promised, we had a lot of blanks filled in last night:

1. Ben's reason for killing John - It was the only way to bring the O6 together to come back to the island. He halted John's suicide in order to obtain critical information (Eloise Hawking, I'm guessing...). And then after getting said information, (in the best line of the night) Ben says, "Well, I just didn’t have time to talk you back into hanging yourself."

2. Alex's kidnapping - Younger Ben and young Ethan (who was much, much cuter than older Ethan) were tasked with killing Rousseau, but the discovery of baby Alex stopped Ben who kidnapped the baby and let Rousseau live. Widmore was unhappy with the outcome but Ben couldn't bring himself to kill a child--much like Kate and Sawyer couldn't let little Ben die.

3. Penny's fate - Ben was at the Marina to kill Penny as he gloated via cell phone to Charles Widmore. But Desmond sees him and demands to know what he's doing, so Ben shoot Desmond. He's about to kill Penny, but is stopped again by the appearance of a child--little Charlie. (Is this Benjamin Linus' personal Kryptonite? Little kids? And more importantly--how and WHY would Des and Pen SAIL to L.A. from London? That makes even less sense than a sentimental Ben...) As he delays in pulling the trigger, Desmond revives in time to save Penny (YAY!) beat the @#$% out of him.

That was even more satisfying than Sun whacking him in the head with an oar...

4. Penny was born to an "outsider" during an off island excursion by Charles Widmore. These dalliances were what got him kicked off the island. "You broke the rules, Charles," Ben tells him. Widmore didn't turn the donkey wheel, but left via sub--which begs the question: How did he know where John would end up exiting?

When Ben awakes to find John sitting at his bedside, he tells him that he came back to the island to be judged. "By whom?" John asks. "We don’t even have a word for it. But I believe you call it the monster," Ben replies.

Ben and John start to set off in one of the boats to go to the main island, but are stopped by Caesar who has put himself in charge. Thanks to Ben, Caesar is more than a little suspicious of John--but when he goes to draw his gun on John, Ben shoots him in the chest.

I didn't see THAT coming!

"Consider that my apology," he tells John.

When they get to the main island, they see the figure of a woman pass in the window of Ben's house. I thought it might be Alex or Claire, but it turned out to be Sun who was instructed by Christian to wait for John Locke if she wanted to see Jin again. She shows Ben the Dharma photo of the O6ers stuck in the 70s.

"You didn't know about this?" she asks the incredulous Ben. "Of course not!" insists Ben.

Lying or telling the truth? So hard to tell--although I have a tendency to believe that you know when Ben Linus is lying if his lips are moving. He certainly seemed to be playing both ends of the deck where John Locke was concerned.

Speaking of Locke, it was good to see him regain his mojo and the tables were definitely turned between him and Ben. He was totally in command in the exchanges they had with each other--which I've sorely missed. "Well, now you know what it was like to be me," Locke tells him as he takes charge and leads Ben and Sun to the Temple.

The three take a route underneath the Temple and Ben tells John, "I appreciate you showing me the way but I think I came take it from here."

Then he falls through a hole in the floor--reminiscent of John's fall down the well, or Alice's descent down the rabbit hole? John rushes off to find a way to get him out and Ben is left alone in a room filled with hieroglyphic covered tablets.

The smoke monster comes up through grates in the floor and surrounds Ben showing him flashes of his life--including Alex's death. Ben sobs and it seems like this might be his retribution--to re-witness his daughter's death--as the monster disappears. But then Alex reappears (most likely the smoke monster taking Alex's form just like Eko saw his brother...) in the "flesh."

Ben apologizes to Alex and admits that it was all his fault. Alex whales on Ben (First Desmond, then Sun and finally Alex...) and tells him, "I know you're planning to kill John Locke again." She/Smokey tells him that he'd better listen to and follow Locke from now on or "I will hunt you down and destroy you."

John returns with some rope to rescue Ben. "It let me live," a shaken Ben tells him.

Is this possibly a fate worse than death for Ben? To be forced to listen to and follow Locke?

Smokey sure has a sick sense of humor.

Back on the little island, Lapidus returns to find that Ilana and two others have guns and have taken charge. "What lies in the shadow of the statue?" Ilana demands of Frank. When he can't answer the riddle, she cold cocks him and tells her cohort, "Get everyone and tell them it's time."

Is this the "war"of which Widmore warned Locke? Sounds like Ilana was talking about the infamous four-toed statue...

Looks like next week's episode is all about Miles. That should be interesting!

Delve deeper into the episode with the recap at Lostpedia, screencaps at Dark UFO and Liz Kelly and Jen Chaney's Dueling Analyses at washingtonpost.com.

A Customer Service Happy Ending

Recently my cohort Sara blogged about the impending iTunes increase. As such, I decided to make my purchases with my gift card before the price increase took effect on April 7th. Imagine my dismay on the evening of April 6th when a number of my song selections already carried the new $1.29 price tag!

I ended up downloading the tunes anyway, but wrote a note to iTunes protesting the unfairness of being charged the increased price prior to April 7th. I didn't expect much although I asked to reimbursed for the extra cost. That would have netted me 90 cents. iTunes gave me a THREE song credit.

How awesome is THAT?!!!

Here is my new playlist:

1. Feeling Good - George Michael
2. She Don't Use Jelly - The Flaming Lips
3. Young Folks - Peter Bjorn and John
4. Such Great Heights - The Postal Service
5. Maybe, Maybe - nico stai
6. Life is a Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me) - Reunion
7. Love Remains the Same - Gavin Rossdale
8. Paper Planes - M.I.A.
9. Stop and Stare - OneRepublic
10. Sex on Fire - Kings of Leon
11. I'm Yours - Jason Mraz
12. Psycho - Puddle of Mudd
13. Ball of Confusion - Love and Rockets
14. Vida la Vida - Coldplay
15. 1, 2, 3, 4, - Plain White T's
16. That's Not My Name - The Ting Tings
17. Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division

LOST: Dead is dead...or is it?

George gives us some more teasers to tantalize us until 9 pm tonight:

"Hello LOSTies,

"Welcome back to the land of the living" - John Locke to Ben Linus.

Kate's flashback episode explained quite a bit to us including her unraveling Jack's lies to Cassidy and Carole. One of the biggest answers came when Kate told Carole the truth and then proceeded to leave Aaron in the care of grandmother. Back in 1977, Jin brings a bleeding Ben back to the Barracks. Juliet starts to work on him since the doctor is at the Looking Glass station. But even she can go so far, as she needs Jack's help. As he did before, Jack flat out told Juliet that he wouldn't operate on Ben.

So instead of letting him die (after a conversation with Roger), Kate decides to take matters in her own hands. With Juliet's help, Kate takes Ben out to the jungle. She is later joined by Sawyer. In the jungle, they are met by a group of Hostiles, including Erik (a new, but important character). Sawyer demands to see Richard and gets his chance. Sawyer and Kate ask for the Hostiles to save Ben's life.

Erik puts up an opposition saying that Ellie (who is Eloise Hawking, Daniel Faraday's mother) and Charles (Widmore) wouldn't like it. After Richard says he doesn't answer to them, he takes Ben with one warning: that Ben will not be the same after he goes back, nor will he remember what happened to him. Richard then takes Ben to the Temple and opens the door to take him inside. Ben wakes up in 2007/8 to find Locke staring at him.

Some interesting points about the episode include Miles and Hurley's chat about time travel. The scene was written before the season started to explain time travel to the casual LOST viewer, in case they were lost. It's funny how the LOSTaways are the ones who make Ben the man he becomes. And that "Temple" keeps coming up again this season...and there is a reason why..I just won't tell you yet :)

On to tonight's episode "Dead Is Dead"....

Tonight we head on over to the Ajira crash in 2007/8 on Hydra Island. Time to catch up with Ben, Locke, Sun, Frank, Caesar, and Ilana. Ben's plan comes to fruition to Locke's destiny. Tonight is Ben's flashbacks. Aren't you loving the return of flashbacks??

Tonight, the blanks will be filled on: How he took _________ from ___________, did _________ know that Ben wasn't her __________, why was Ben bloody at the docks, and possibly what is __________. Between redemption and comeuppance, between a shocking revelation in Alex's bedroom and Ben/Widmore's rules...lies the story of a man, Benjamin Linus, who is about to face all his demons, fears, and actions. The judgment may just be what LOST fans have been waiting for since season 2.

Oh, two sides notes:

1) Has anyone seen "I Love You Man"?? Go see it, I loved it!! There is an awesome LOST shout-out from Paul Rudd!
2) Harold Perrineau (ex-Michael Dawson, LOST) debut's along side Amber Tamblyn (ex-Emily Quartermaine, General Hospital), Jeremy Renner (Doyle, 28 Weeks Later), Adam Goldberg (ex-Nick Rubenstein, Entourage), and Monique Curnen (Det. Anna Ramirez, The Dark Knight) on ABC's newest show "The Unusuals" tonight after LOST!

Another rec for I Love You Man! Guess that's what I'll be seeing this Sunday...

I'm looking forward to seeing how Ben got all beaten before the plane crash. Hopefully it had nothing to do with Desmond and Penny. Or if it did, that Ben ended up in worse shape than either of them...

Heroes - Turn and Face the Strange

The title of last night's episode comes from David Bowie's Changes. Despite Mohinder exclaiming to Hiro that Matt had changed, the only one changing was Sylar courtesy of his new shapeshifting power.

When Sandra first showed up to see Noah, I was sure it was actually Sylar in shapeshifting mode. Turns out that Sylar was being Danko. I loved his line to the albino midget: "You really ought to have that mole checked. You know the one I mean." Noah definitely doesn't buy that his nemesis is dead and, despite Angela's warning to leave it alone, he goes to the crematorium and pulls the spike out of "Sylar's" head and gets it tested for DNA.

Later Sandra shows up to serve him with divorce papers telling him that their marriage is just a cover so Noah can go around shooting people--but this time it IS Sylar. Noah gets a clue when 1. the DNA report comes back as James Martin and 2. Sandra's signature on the divorce papers doesn't match.

Noah goes to "Sandra's" hotel room to confront Sylar--but this time it IS Sandra. A well-timed phone call from Lyle prevents Noah from making a huge mistake. Noah confronts Danko by pretending to be Sylar (it would have been really awesome if Danko had actually been Sylar) and gets him to admit that Sylar is posing as one of his agents.

Noah shoots the agent thinking Sylar's regeneration powers will prove his theory. But it turns out that Danko was setting him up and the agent is dead. Noah trains his gun on Danko and then makes his escape. Later, Sylar regenerates and when Danko makes a comment about the blood, he says "I squeezed out a little extra for show."

Back to Matt Parkman--although Mohinder insists that he's changed, Matt's revenge crusade fails when he can't pull the trigger. Literally. He manages to find Emile's Achille's heel in the form of Alena. But he can't bring himself to shoot her. He does manage to expose Danko's double life and wreck their relationship. But as Danko doesn't have the same lack of conpunction in trigger pulling, Parkman escapes being shot only by Hiro managing to show up and stop time in the nick of time.

Then Hiro reunites big Matt Parkman with his son, baby Matt Parkman and now big Matt has a reason to live again after Daphne's death. Another reunion took place in the desert at a place called "Coyote Sands." Or maybe it was "Coyote Sam's." I thought Angela called it "Coyote Sam's, but that sounds like a Looney Tunes character...

Peter and Angela arrive at the abandoned encampment and Nathan and Claire fly in to meet them. Noah shows up and Mohinder, who found evidence of the location in his father's notes, should be there soon. Coyote Sands (or Sam's), according to Angela, "is where our story really begins." She hands everyone shovels and tells them to dig. Nathan comes across a skull and asks Angela if it was anyone she knew.

"I knew all of them..." Angela replies.

Sounds like we've got the mass grave from the Dharma purge. Oh wait--wrong channel, wrong show.

The Television Chronicles

Since getting DirecTV, I've been exposed to television series I hadn't had access to prior. Here's a rundown:

1. The United States of Tara - While I wasn't overly impressed with Diablo Cody's Juno, I found this show engrossingly addictive from the get-go. It's an acting tour de force for Toni Collette who portrays a woman with multiple personalities but it certainly doesn't hurt that hottie John Corbett is on board playing Tara's long-suffering husband, Max. (Anyone else think Carrie made a HUGE mistake dumping Aidan in favor of Big?)

2. Mad Men - I have a number of friends who are really into this show. I'm not there yet. I'm sure it doesn't help that I'm coming into things midway through Season two, but it hasn't hooked me like USoT.

3. Damages - I watched the season two finale. It took a bit of getting into, but Glenn Close is exceptionally watchable.

4. The Real Housewives of New York - I know a lot of people count this as a guilty pleasure. I won't be one of them.

5. What Not to Wear - Speaking of guilty pleasures, I can totally understand why this show has a cult following. I wouldn't put it on the DVR schedule, but if it were on while I was flipping through the channels, I'd watch it.

6. The Tudors - I saw season one of this slightly different take on the life and loves of Henry the VIII. I missed season two which chronicled the rise, fall and death of Anne Boleyn--but that's the story that's most been told. It's still very watchable--mostly for the eye candy of set design and costumes. Gorgeous!

7. Cupid - This is network, but I had to catch this updated version of a show that definitely deserved a second chance. The original Cupid starred fast-talking Jeremy Piven and series-killer Paula Marshall. The reboot stars a doltish Bobby Cannavale and series-killer Sarah Paulson. I doubt this one will last even as long as the original and I'm sure I won't be as sorry to see it go.

Adventureland

After months of missing out on movies due to my impending (now completed) move, I finally got out and caught a flick today. I'd wanted to see Duplicity, but there weren't any good showtimes so I decided a comedy might fit the bill. It was between Adventureland and I Love You Man.

I should have gone with Paul Rudd.

Not that there was anything wrong with Adventureland, it's just that anyone expecting another raucous comedy from the director of Superbad, Greg Mottola, is bound to be disappointed. Adventureland has an aimless, meandering feeling--much like the situation of its protagonist James (Jesse Eisenberg).

After a family financial setback cancels his European summer vacation and puts his grad school future in jeopardy, James takes a menial job at a dumpy amusment park. Adventureland captures the cheesiness of the park atmosphere, but doesn't play it for laughs. The movie is more of a character study than teen comedy.

Although it was lacking in laughs, the cast did a fine job of communicating the emotional pathos of their characters. Eisenberg is fabulous as the earnest, awkward James, Kristen Stewart is luminous as the enigmatically wounded Em and perennial Apatow player Martin Starr as the intellectual Joel. Even Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig--who provide the movie's only comic relief as the owner/operators of Adventureland--were great.

There were the typical teen movie inclusions: barf scenes, crotch injuries, awkward erections and sex obssession, but Adventureland is more like Mottola's The Daytrippers than Superbad.

Even though I didn't get the guffaws I was hoping for, I was tickled to see Pittsburgh's Kennywood standing in as Adventureland. The production designers managed to make the venerable park look tacky and trashy--but the sight of the famed Racer roller coaster was a complete tip off for me.

Ah, Kennywood...Good times, good times.

Adventureland--not so much. It was a good movie, not a great movie. Maybe with a little McLovin it could have been great, but as it is I'd have to say it's a rental.

Settling In

The armoire arrived yesterday, workers are coming to fix some outstanding issues today and except for a bit of organizing and cleaning up, I'm settling in to the new place.

Believe it or not, however, there are some things I miss about my old apartment:

1. Sunlight - it was much brighter than my new place. Of course, that means it got much hotter in the summer so I'll probably be loving the darkness come August...

2. Walkability - I can walk to the gym and work and (BONUS!) Trader Joe's at the new place. But I could walk to the gym and work at the old place--plus dozens of movie theaters, 2 CVS pharmacies, Westside Pavillion, Century City Shopping Center, 2 Ross stores, 1 Marshalls, a grocery store, the post office, my bank and a bunch of restaurants. Not so with the new place.

3. Rent Savings - I get to live in Santa Monica and have a separate bedroom, but I'm paying 50% more rent for the new place. I hope it turns out to be worth it!

4. Closet space - I had a fairly spacious walk-in closet at the old place. The new place has decent storage place but is severely lacking in hanging closet space. Consequently, I really had to pare down the wardrobe (not a bad thing...) and put the winter clothes in storage.

I'll post more pictures (with furniture!) this weekend...

LOST - Whatever Happened, Happened

Best moment of the show: Miles trying to explain time travel (and thus the title of the episode) to Hurley. "Time isn't a straight line for us anymore," says Miles. But after witnessing the exchange where Hurley gets Miles tangled up in his own theory asking why older Ben didn't remember that Sayid was the one who shot him as a kid, one gets the feeling that the LOST writers may be just as confused about the concept as Hugo Reyes.

I know I am...

Hurley did go all Marty McFly on us last night. I'm sure the Dueling Analysts over at Celebritology are beside themselves with glee...

Despite it being a Kate-centric episode last night, the biggest storyline was the conclusion of the fate of the young Benjamin Linus. Yes, we got to witness Anakin Skywalker as he crossed over to the dark side and became Darth Vader. Or that's the way it seemed to me when Kate and Sawyer bring the mortally wounded boy and hand him over to Richard Alpert to save his life.

"If I take him, he's never going to be the same again," Richard warns Sawyer and Kate. "His innocence will be gone. He will always be one of us."

Despite an Other's warning referencing Ellie and Charles, Richard takes young Ben to the Temple--home of the smoke monster.

The previews for next week seemed to indicate that Ben is due for judgement and retribution. Wouldn't it be a nice piece of karmic justice if the evil one got swallowed up by the smoke monster? I loved how last night's episode ended--with older Ben awaking in the crash victims bunker with John Locke waiting at his bedside.

"Welcome back to the land of the living," Locke says to him ironically.

Creepy.

But back to Kate: we found out what happened with Aaron and why she returned to the island. Despite speculation, Kate was not coerced in any way to return. She did return Aaron to his grandmother, Carole Littleton. But as she tells Carole, "I'm going back to find your daughter."

I've never been a Kate hater. But even the Katers must have teared up a bit as Kate said good-bye to Aaron, or admiration when she stormed out on Jack and went to donate blood for Ben, or felt a tinge at her selflessness in taking Ben to the Others as well as taking the blame alone and not involving Juliet. Very reminiscent of Sawyer's selfless act jumping out of the helicopter last season--although Cassidy, mother of his child Clementine, had a very different take on that.

"He was trying to get away from you," she tells Kate.

Whatever Sawyer's motives may have been, he did show up to help Kate with Ben. Although for Juliet, not Kate. Meanwhile Juliet vents at Jack for refusing to come to her aid and help save Ben. Jack told Kate earlier that, "I’ve already saved Benjamin Linus and I did it for you, Kate." He also muses that he's done fixing things--and that maybe the island just wants to fix things itself.

"I don't like the new you," Kate tells him. "You didn't like the old me, Kate," Jack replies.

But back to Juliet ,who lets Jack have a piece of her mind. "That's not Ben yet. He's just a kid!" she angrily tells him and asks him why he came back. "I came back because I was supposed to," Jack answers.

So if Jack HAD saved little Ben, is it possible his innocence would NOT have been lost and he wouldn't have grown up to be evil Big Ben?

Favorite line of the night - Miles in response to Jack, Kate and Hurley asking if they were under house arrest: "You’re all free to leave whenever you want…but I’ll shoot you in the leg."

As always, check out the recap at Lostpedia, the screencaps at Dark UFO and Liz Kelly and Jen Chaney's Dueling Analyses on washingtonpost.com.

LOST: You know that whatever happened, happened

George is back with some tantalizing teasers for tonight's episode of LOST:

Hello LOSTies,

"You were right about me...I am a killer"...And with that..BANG BANG...down goes Ben thanks to a bullet from Sayid. ABC even went to say it was "one of the most shocking moments in LOST history. But remember what Daniel said. "Whatever happened, happened"...Umm...wait..isn't that the name of tonight's episode? hehe..Yes...but before we get into tonight lets walk through "He's Our You".

Sayid's flashback showed us him as a young kid protecting his scared brother by killing a chicken. Late we would see him end his jobs against Widmore when he kills Ivan Andropov. Sayid shoots him dead in a building called "32 Oldham Pharmaceuticals". This is ironic, because it would be Oldham who administers the laced sugar cube during Sayid's interrogation on the island. After leaving the docks, Sayid ventures off to a bar in LA and gets tipsy with Ilana, who turns out to be a bounty hunter hired by the family of Peter Avellino, the italian guy Sayid killed in "The Economist". But here's the kicker...an Italian family hires her to take her prisoner to Guam?? I call shenanigans...there's more than meets the eye to Ilana. Ilana is currently on Hydra Island in 2007 with Ben, Locke, and Caesar.

Back in 1977, Radzinsky continues to freak out over Sayid seeing the plans for the Swan station. After watching Ben get whopped by Roger, Sawyer gives Sayid one more chance to follow his plan : that Sayid wants to defect to DHARMA in exchange for secrets and protection. Unfortunately, Sayid does not want to continue the lie, so the mob takes him to Oldham, DHARMA's torturer. After succumbing to the meds, Sayid tells them about both plane crashes and 3 stations (the Swan, Pearl, and the Flame). He also goes on to mention the "Purge" of 1992, when Ben betrays DHARMA and kills everyone.

Amy leads a passionate plea to kill Sayid. Hurley tells Kate about Sawyer and Juliet. Juliet and Kate come to a civil understanding over Sawyer and Juliet's relationship. Kate figures out that Jack knew all along. Just as Sawyer is about to confront Kate, a burning DHARMA van comes barreling through DHARMAville. As the DHARMA peeps start helping their own, Ben frees Sayid and begs for Sayid too take him with him. After knocking Jin out, Sayid shoots Ben.

And now on to tonight's episode "Whatever Happened, Happened"....

In celebration of Aprils Fool Days, some of these may or may not be true...hehehe...

1) You will see what became of Aaron.
2) You will learn what Sawyer whispered to Kate in the helicopter.
3) Miles begins an affair with Pierre Chang's wife.
4) Hurley wants to get all Marty McFly on you.
5) A star from Tyler Perry's "The Family That Preys" will begin a role called Erik.
6) Horace starts to believe the LOSTaways aren't who they say they are.
7) The hostiles confronts DHARMA.

Oh and just to let you know about the rumor that M. Night Shaymalan directing the series finale..that's the producers April fools on you...or is it??

Okay, for those of us acting under the assumption that Miles is Pierre Chang's son, does the possibility of him having an affair with Pierre Chang's wife mean he might be his own father?

Yeah--that would be seriously twisted...

This is when you know you're really, really tired...

I have to say that after moving and cleaning and dealing with all the assorted @#$% that goes with it, I'm exhausted. Actually, I'm beyond exhausted. The light from exhausted would take 30 billion years to reach where I am.

And as if the aching muscles and zombified energy level weren't enough of a clue, I got another reminder this morning:

I've always had nightmares where I'm taking out my contact lenses and each eye has a seemingly unending amount of lenses on them. I keep popping them out (the benefits of rigid gas permeables...), one after another after another.

Silly dream, huh?

This morning I actually put my right contact lens in my left eye. Doh! Then I pop it out and put it in my right eye. Then I take the left contact lens and also put it in my right eye. I discovered this when I couldn't see clearly and figured I'd gotten a smudge of something on the lens. Popped it out and realized that I had two lenses now stuck together.

Getting them unstuck was quite a challenge.

This (and other assorted events transpiring over the last couple of weeks) would be quite humorous if it were happening to somebody else...

Heroes - Into Asylum

With its oversized cast, I've found Heroes often splits the storylines into groupings of two. Like last night's episode had Nathan and Claire hiding out in Mexico, Peter and Angela seeking sanctuary in a church and the oddest pairing of all: Sylar and Danko.

If they had a creepy psycho contest, who would win?

For me it's Danko hands down. The albino midget makes Sylar look positively normal.

Sylar makes Danko an offer he can't refuse, "I think we should pool our resources." Assisting him with tracking down the person who killed his agents, Sylar leads Danko to a shapeshifter who delivers a head in a box.

Ironically, David Fincher never let us get a glimpse of the head in a box in Seven and yet we get to see one on prime time TV. Go figure.

Hunting down the shapeshifter at a club, Sylar spots him sitting in a corner with an attractive female. Sylar picks him out immediately because he's shifted into Danko.

"Why me?" Danko asks.

Why indeed...

After watching the shapeshifter put the moves on the lovely lady, Sylar observes, "He's a better you than you."

The shapeshifter disappears into the crowd and Danko and Sylar split up to find him. Meeting back up again, Danko tells Sylar he lost the quarry. As they exit the club, Sylar starts to pull a gun on Danko but Danko wheels about and shoots him first.

Then the REAL Sylar shows up all worried that Danko killed the shapeshifter. But he's still alive and primed for Sylar to steal his power--which Sylar does without slicing open his head per Danko's request. Thusly, Danko is able to pass the dead body off as Sylar and put up a big "win" on the board.

Noah didn't seem all that convinced, however.

So Sylar now has the power to take other powers, lie detector, electricity, regeneration and now shapeshifter. He's got some other powers as well, but he's pretty much unstoppable now with the shapeshifting and regeneration, huh?

In our other pairings, Angela and Peter make amends as do Claire and bio-Daddy Nathan. Although Claire is initially upset with Nathan when he admits he has no idea how to straighten out the mess he created. "Last night you said you were going to fix everything," Claire says accusingly. "I was drunk," Nathan replies.

"You're supposed to be Superman," Claire sniffles.

Nathan trades his watch for the necklace Claire pawned and the two walk off into the sunset--most likely to meet up with Peter and Angela...and Angela's sister, whoever that is.

The End of the Streak

When I started this blog, I made a commitment to post something, anything everyday. And I've been able to keep that up even with a demanding full-time job. I would have loved to continue that streak--even as bone-tired and brain dead as I've been with the move this weekend. Unfortunately, my Verizon wireless broadband is useless to me right now as my new apartment doesn't have a working phone jack.

Let's hope that situation gets corrected posthaste...

The Office - Two Weeks

Just so you know, "monsters.com" does not make growling and roaring noises, although Jim's aggravated "It's MONSTER, singular," said to an unmotivated Michael was the funniest line of the episode for me.

Everyone was amazed at the news that Michael had quit Dunder-Mifflin. As he recounted the story in excruciating detail to the rest of the office, Pam remarked, "He finally has a story we really want to hear and he knows it."

Michael comes up with the dubious idea to start his own paper company called--drumroll please!--Michael Scott Paper Company. His efforts to recruit Jim, Andy and even sycophant Dwight are unsuccessful. Pam tries to talk sense into him but Michael insists, "This is a dream that I've had since lunch."

New boss Charles catches wind of Michael's plan and has him escorted out by security. Even Toby misses him. Andy muses ,"The whole office seems darker." To which Phyllis replies, "Andy, he's gone. You don't have to kiss his ass anymore."



Michael sneaks back into the office, slithering along the floor to try to convince people to join his new venture. "Come on down and let's crawl out of here together!" he implores his former staff.

Charles catches him and Michael makes a defeated retreat--until Pam decides to join him.

With no receptionist, Charles appoints Kevin to cover phones and puts Stanley in charge of productivity. Other than Angela and Kelly--who continue to mack on Charles--no-one seems to like the new boss. Wonder how long until there's an office-wide mutiny?

LOST - He's Our You

Whoa.

That was one helluva a ride. There has been speculation regarding the death of a major LOST character. Was anyone thinking it would be Ben?

What will we do with no more smarmy, slippery, slithery Benjamin Linus?

I shudder to think.

So if Sayid killed the 12 year old Ben in 1977, does that mean the Ben that Sun whacked over the head with an oar last episode disappears? Does this mean the Dharma genocide never happened, Alex was never kidnapped from Rousseau and wasn't killed by Keamy? I guess it would also mean Juliet never came to the island, too...

My mind reels.

The title of the episode did refer to Sayid--but not in reference to Ben. Instead the recalcitrant Sayid is brought before Oldham. Sayid asks Sawyer, "Who is this man?" Sawyer's reply: "He's our you." One might have expected a gruesome torture session to follow--and indeed when Sayid was bound to a tree, it was reminiscent of how he dealt with Sawyer in season one. A little payback or karmic retribution?

Not exactly. Instead of being knocked about, Sayid is given some sort of hallucinogenic truth serum. Under the influence of the drug, Sayid reveals his name and when asked why he was handcuffed, he answers "Because I am a bad man."

He then goes on to tell the Dharmites what he knows about their stations--even the purpose and name of the yet unbuilt Swan--which freaks Radzinsky out. But the whole crew is freaked out when he tells them, "You’re all going to die you know. You’re going to be killed." If that weren't enough, when asked how he knows this, Sayid responds "Because I'm from the future."

This leads Oldham to declare, "Maybe I should've use half a dropper."

The flashbacks to this Sayid-centric episode gave us a bit of insight to our favorite ninja spy dude: Sayid as a young boy killing a chicken (with his hands, not the patented breakdancing move) by wringing its neck; Sayid killing some Russian guy for Ben; Sayid doing his Habitat for Humanity thing when Ben shows up announcing that John Locke is dead and that Hurley is in trouble.

That scene provided the episode's best line:

Sayid: How did you find me?
Ben: I looked.

Sigh. Ben will be missed...

Anyway, Sayid asks Ben why he thinks he would want to kill the guy stalking Hurley. "It’s in your nature, it’s what you are. You’re a killer, Sayid," Ben replies. "I'm not who you think I am. I don't like killing," Sayid counters.

Back in Dharmaville, despite Sawyer's passionate dissent, there's a vote to take care of the Sayid problem by killing him. Sawyer is coerced into making the vote unanimous, but goes to Sayid with a plan to have him escape. Sayid refuses telling Sawyer, "...now I know exactly why I’m here."

The circumstances that brought Sayid back to the island are revealed. After the unhappy reunion of the Oceanic Five at the marina--where Sayid tells Ben, "If I see you again it will be extremely unpleasant for us both," Sayid meets the lovely Ilana at a bar. At first I thought that comment meant that maybe Sayid was the one who beat the @#$% out of Ben, but that was not the case.

Sayid asks Ilana if she is a professional. Yeah, that's an effective pick-up line. Ilana obviously doesn't take offense, because later she and Sayid are making out as they stumble into his hotel room. As Sayid starts to remove her boot, she kicks him in the face and then pulls out a gun.

Talk about a mood breaker...

Turns out Ilana is a bounty hunter hired by the family of Peter Avellino (remember golf course guy?) to bring Sayid back to Guam and to justice. When Sayid sees the other members of the Oceanic Five at the airport, he asks Ilana, "Are you sure we're going to Guam?"

For a moment I thought when Sayid witnessed Ben being abused by his father, Roger, he might have a different perspective on the morally-challenged head Other. But instead he allows Ben to plans his escape which is accomplished via the diversion of a van set on fire and crashing into one of the barracks.

Jack asks Sawyer what is going on and his response is, "Three years, no burning buses. Y'all are back for one day!"

When Ben shows up to let Sayid out, Sayid notices his broken glasses. "My father was a hard man as well," he empathizes. "If I let you out, will you take me with you?" Ben asks Sayid. "Yes Ben, I will. That's why I'm here," Sayid answers.

As they are making their escape, a Dharma van shows up and Jin exits. Sayid lies and tells him that Sawyer let him escape. When Jin tries to confirm that with Sawyer, Sayid flips him and takes his gun.

Ben is impressed by his ninja moves, but Sayid tells him, "You were right about me. I am a killer," and shoots him in the chest.

As I said before: Whoa.

For more insight into "He's Our You" check out the recap at Lostpedia, the screencaps at Dark UFO and Liz Kelly and Jen Chaney's Dueling Analyses at washingtonpost.com.

Coming Attractions

Before the showing of Sunshine Cleaning, several trailers piqued my interest. Here are some of the coming attractions I'm looking forward to:

500 Days of Summer - Stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel in an offbeat anti-romcom. Love both of them and the trailer looked great.

Management - Steve Zahn and Jennifer Aniston in yet another offbeat romantic comedy. Say what you like about Aniston, she does good work in indie flicks like The Good Girl and Friends with Money. This looks like another opportunity for her to shine. Also features Woody Harrelson.

Away We Go -Directed by Sam Mendes, this quirky ensemble piece is more Juno or Garden State than American Beauty. Fabulous cast headed up by John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph includes Allison Janney, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jeff Daniels and Catherine O'Hara. The trailer was hysterical...take a look:

LOST: HE'S OUR YOU and you are too

Here is George's latest insights on last week's episode as well as a few hints on what's coming up for us tonight. I'm wondering if the title "He's Our You" means that the captured Sayid needing to be rescued by his people is the LOSTies version of Ben aka "Henry Gale"?

Anyone else have any ideas?

Hello LOSTies,

"My name is Ben"

Wowsers! Sayid and Ben meet (more on this tonight). Jack and Pierre meet and Jack gets to be a Workman (more on this tonight). Jack and Kate found out about Sawyer and Juliet. But this pales in comparison to the introduction of Radzinsky!

Radzinsky was working the Flame when Jin busted in asking about the Ajira crash, not knowing Ajira crashed in 2007. Radzinsky was shown also piecing together the plans for a new, upcoming station...The Swan.

The Swan WAS the station in Season 2, where Radzinsky (who would kill himself in the Swan after drawing the map on the blast door), Kevin Inman (Sayid's capturer in Iraq who would later be killed by Desmond), Desmond, and the LOSTaways would press that darn "EXECUTE" button every 108 minutes. The Swan's timing is based also around the events of "The Incident", which as I mentioned last week, is the fabled occurrence on the island that would make it required to press the button every 108 minutes and would lead to women not being able to have babies on the island.

In other DHARMA news, Phil grew suspicious of Jack when he said "James," not "Jim" when speaking of LaFleur. Juliet saved Kate's skin when Phil could not find her paperwork. The group took their 1977 class photo with Jack, Kate, and Hurley. Also, Sawyer pointed out that Daniel was no longer with them, so something must have happened between 1974 (when Horace found Sawyer and the group) to 1977. We also find out the Amy and Horace are Ethan's parents.

Back in 2007, Frank landed the plane on the runway that Kate and Sawyer were helping build in season 3 when they were captured on Hydra Island. Unfortunately, the co-pilot died, but several people survived including Ilana, Caeser, Ben, Locke, Frank and Sun.

Ben is followed by Sun who clues her in on his plan to get back to the main island to find his people. Sun knocks him out and Frank joins her to get there. They arrive at night and walk up to the abandoned processing center where they meet Christian, but not before hearing Smokey in the trees (well at least Smokey is still there in 2007). Christian tells them that they have a long journey ahead of them.

But what you might not have caught is a now controversial scene. In that scene where Sun, Frank, and Christian are talking a woman is clearly scene standing behind Sun. Is it a crew member that accidentally got into the shot or is it part of the story??? ABC has declined to comment, though I'm sure we'll find out soon.

Here is a screenshot:

And now on to tonight..."He's Our You".

Sayid is our focus for the evening. He's now captured as a "Hostile," yet he isn't one. Funny, Ben is becoming one since he's met Richard in the jungle. Ben may have his own ideas when it comes to Sayid. It's almost as if this was a separate reality, but it's really happening. Ben may be able to help out Sayid...but there maybe something Sayid will have to give up.

Meanwhile, Sawyer starts his plan to get Sayid incorporated into DHARMA, continuing his long con. Sawyer has a selfish reason, but also is trying to keep the LOSTaways safe in DHARMAville. One person you will meet tonight is Oldham (played by William Sanderson (ex-EB Farnam, Deadwood; Bud Dearborn, True Blood). Oldham is DHARMA and he ties into the title of the episode quite nicely.

Also tonight, watch for another Workman to appear in DHARMAville. Juliet offers some words to Kate. Also, there is a FLASHBACK!!! tonight involving multiple countries and a child that is in danger.

In the end, will Sawyer's con go as planned or will it blow up in his face? Will Sayid conform or will he be tortured to admit the truth? And with this much lying..is someone close to cracking??