Christian Piatt Blog

I know I’m a couple of days late posting, but my work on a new novel has taken precedent. Anyhow, here are my thoughts on the most recent LOST episode.

“Par Avion”  (I think I’m  remembering  the name right) was kind of like Raisin Bran;  it’s not my favorite, but it’s fairly satisfying and it helps keep things moving.  Let’s start with the positives.

Claire’s back-story was interesting, though not entirely a shocker. My secret hope was that the people subsidizing her mom’s bills were the Widmores, and that she had actually been run off the road by a Widmore Construction truck. Alas, it was more of a Star Wars, soap opera, “Luke, I am your father” moment. So she and Jack are half brother/sister, which is interesting, but not particularly compelling, at least at this point. I do like knowing a little more about her character, as the sense we get of her on the show to this point has been kind of two-dimensional. My hope  was/is that we would learn more that would help us  better understand Aaron and what’s so unique about him, but this was still worthwhile.

By far, the coolest part of the whole episode, which made the whole hour worthwhile, was seeing Jack playing football with Mr. Friendly/Tom. The question now is: did they brainwash him, or is he pretending to buy in? Or maybe something else happened, but keep in mind this is only days after their big blow-up, with him being left behind. Now all of a sudden he’s back on the other island, sipping mai-tais and rubbing elbows with the Hostiles. The other possibility is that there’s some sort of time/space distortion issue here, so that what we’re actually seeing is a Jack who has been there, happily cohabitating with the Others for some time. How this works out depends on the whole past/future dichotomies they keep throwing around lately.

If they don’t resolve that this season, at least a little bit, I may be compelled to throw my TV off a cliff.

The security fence was interesting, though this – not surprising – has been the object of discussion for all of the LOST fanatics online. Why would they spend so much money on a security perimeter that has such an obvious weakness? Is it only to keep animals in/out, and if so, ain’t it a little elaborate for that? Does it keep people in or out, or both? Maybe it’s only meant to slow people down, and not so much keep them out permanently. After all, they have weapons and the like, so if they were monitoring the perimeter, which they don’t seem to be doing currently, they’d know when there was a breach.

My biggest thing with the fence scenes was why they had Kate go over first. Someone had to be last going over, and if there’s no one else left to hold the back of the tree trunk as a counterweight, doesn’t it make sense to have the smallest person go last?  My wife pointed out, however, that the other actors are either likely too fat, big or old to actually do that scene, so Kate was the one filmed doing the stunt by default.

Here’s what kind of sucked about the episode:

A Claire flashback with nothing about Aaron should not be allowed this deep into the season. They dangled the Aaron story out there two years ago and have done nothing with it since. No fair. Too many loose ends gives the impression we’re on a wild goose chase, though it seems, with the last few weeks, that we’re getting somewhere again. I know this is trivial, but the note Claire attached to the bird, though sufficiently poetic and dramatic, was possibly the most impractical rescue note ever. Also, how in the heck are they going to keep it from getting wet? This is, after all, a sea bird. The first time it sits in the water, the note is toast.

Overall, these are minor gripes, and I found it t be a pretty solid episode. It appears Ben returns next week, and we FINALLY learn what happened to Locke to paralyze him.  About damn time, I must say.  It’s hard to believe we’re so far into season three already, but it’s definitely getting good the past month or so. Let’s hope they keep up the momentum.

Along with the “Flashes” episode, this was, without a doubt, the best of season three to date.

As a religion writer, I especially enjoyed the back-story for Sayid and the forgiveness he received for past wrongdoings, and to see how it affects his behavior now. Plus Sayid is just a bad-ass, so any time we get to learn more about him is interesting.

At first, I actually got fished in by Mikail’s (sp?) confession that he was the last of the DHARMA scientists. My head started spinning with all the debunked theories. But then it turns out he’s just a big, fat liar, which makes much more sense.

I was glad to see that they developed the story about the Flame site, which harkens all the way back to season one. This gives me some confidence that we’re actually headed somewhere. I was also pleased to see Klugh (sp?) show up again, though she lasted about as long as a donut in Hurley’s pocket. Again, this suggests that more of the remainder of this season will be spent developing some of the dozens of loose ends with which we were left last season.

Regarding Locke, can someone please get that man some Ritalin???  He has less impulse control than my three-year-old son. We know he has a thing for games, but for crying out loud, if he doesn’t stop pushing buttons – or for that matter stop stopping pushing other buttons (see imploded hatch) – he’s going to cause the whole place to melt down.  Clearly the whole island is set up in ways to keep outsiders/hostlies from taking it over, so it’s entirely likely if Locke gets his hands on the wrong button, he could send the whole place up in a plume of flames.

Maybe at some point down the road, will curiosity kill Locke?  I know, he’s a great character, but would it be justice?  He’s a hero sometimes, then such a screw-up at the next turn. Let’s say you read it here first: Locke dies, though not likely this season.

The bit with Hurley, Sawyer and the ping pong table, though entirely unnecessary, was a fun addition. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon?  Avalanche? Sawyer gets all the best lines.

Am I alone in not missing Jack at all? Can they leave him on the other island a while longer, pretty please?

Next week promises to be equally interesting.  It looks like we get to learn more about the island security system. We can only hope this promises the return of the smoke monster, and maybe some answers about what it is. It also appears we’ll learn more about Desmond, who is quickly becoming the most compelling character since Eko (sniff sniff, we miss you Eko. Come back soon).

My take is that, if they keep up this type of show for the rest of the season, they’ll keep fans’ interest, and all will be forgiven for the mediocre start.

Six and a half more days till the next show….

In most cases, I agree with the consensus on The Fuselage fan site about each episode, but this time, I don’t seem to. Most people strongly felt last night’s Lost episode was good to great. I think this has more to do with returning to the beach and focusing on Hurley, a character most everyone likes, than the overall importance or quality of the show.

I too am glad they returned to the beach. A too enjoyed learning more about Hurley, and listening to him “dude” and “awesome” his way through an hour. However, what did we learn of any importance? Kate’s partnership with Rousseau was so telegraphed in last week’s preview, it might as well have been sponsored by Western Union. We now know Hurley doesn’t believe there’s a curse, and thankfully Charley didn’t die, but seriously, we can’t be washed of the significance of the numbers that simply, can we?

It definitely was better than last week, but nothing close to the Desmond-centric “flashes” episode. Is it too much to expect that level of quality, intensity and significance every week? Maybe so. However, I feel like if HBO can do it week-in and week-out with Sopranos, Deadwood, Six Feet Under, Rome, etc., network TV can do it with one show. For those poised to argue the difference is HBO’s liberty with F-bombs and boobage, please see the entire catalog of crappy horror films in the past couple of decades. Profanity and nudity don’t make a good show. Consistently high-quality writing, combined with a strong overarching storyline make good TV.

Back to Lost: We’re now deep into season three, and we seem no closer to any answers about:
The smoke monster
The numbers (I think Hurley’s “revelation” is a red herring)
Dharma/Hanso/Widmore/Mittelwerk
What are the Others doing there?
Where’s the “other” group of others, ie, the hut-dwellers?
What about Adam and Eve?
What about the plane? The hot air balloon? Black Rock ship? how did they get there?
What about Penelope Widmore’s search crew, who supposedly saw the magnetic disturbance at the end of season two?
Where did Walt and Michael go? If that isn’t resolved or revisited, I’m going to hurt someone.
Now we have the Clockwork Orange station where Karl was held. What’s going on there?
Who the heck is Jacob?
How baout the four-toed statue?

And so on, and so on. The writers have a responsibility to tie up some of the existing loose ends before introducing new ones. I think they risk the lingering sense of a wild goose chase if they don’t offer some resolution, and I really hope they focus on some of the greater mythology in the near future.

Next week’s looks promising, though I say that every week.

All that having been said, I did enjoy the show last night. I just didn’t feel like it got me any closer to understanding some things I have wanted to know for upwards of a year now. There’s a fine line between being mysterious and being dull and disjointed. I can only hope we’re not heading toward the latter with Lost. If so, my hope is they’ll end it after three years and count their losses. However, if they can bring some of the big-picture storyline stuff back in and make us feel like we’re going somewhere, there’s plenty of opportunity to continue for seasons four, five or more.

My initial thoughts are that tonight’s LOST episode, “Stranger in a Strange Land,” was as weak as last week’s was good. It’s annoying enough when they have an episode dominated by sappy relationship stuff, but this one was overflowing. When the sappy strings hit toward the end with Juliet and Jack on the front of the boat, I expected Jack to lean over the edge and yell, “I’m king of the world!”

Please.

Positive things first. Desmond’s “Flashes” episode last week was awesome. I love the little tidbits about determinism and how revisited patterns may not fall right into place, but the universe has a way of “course-correcting.” This lays all kinds of groundwork for possible overarching themes. However, given that the creators have said there’s no time travel involved, I’m not sure what’s up. It was definitely a mind-twister though to have Desmond going back to past times, yet still remembering things that hadn’t happened yet. It’s the best of Lost when they grapple with reality, perception and the link. More please.

so, what did we learn tonight?  Jack got a tattoo from an alley lurking ink goddess voodoo chick doubling as a wannabe prostitute. Never mind that he’s a fierce pragmatist, yet wants a mystical seer to ink him for life with his aura. Never mind that he’s in Thailand, meanwhile she puts Chinese characters on his arm (the two languages aren’t even historically related). Never mind that the translation the Sherriff of the Others told him that his tattoo means something it doesn’t actually say (his tat is real, and is taken from a poem written by Chairman Mao circa 1925, and refers to eagles flying and the like). True, the symbols on his arm are Chinese, but it doesn’t fit with his back-story in Thailand.

I know, I’m nerding out like some crack-head trekkie, but dammit, they require a lot from their viewers, and episodes like this just don’t do it justice.

what else did we learn? Kate boinked Sawyer because she felt bad he was going to die. Kate feels bad for leaving Jack behind. Karl feels bad for leaving Alex behind. Jack feels bad because Juliet is now donning the Others’ equivalent of the Scarlet “A.” Great, everybody feels bad, and we learned nothing of importance.

The introduction of the second set of others was interesting, but we already knew that was coming. Why could they not have shown some of Juliet’s trial instead of pouring on the pathos with all the relationship nonsense?  Now that would have been interesting.

I’m still keeping the faith. Next week looks great, though I was pretty excited about tonight after the “Flashes” episode. Seven more days, and I guess we’ll know.

I’m such an unbelievable nerd, I’m almost ashamed of myself.

If you’re interested, you might enjoy checking out the interview I did this morning with three LOST podcasters. They each have posted the interview on their respective sites (links can be found on www.christianpiatt.com on the “Interviews” page) and I’ve also posted the direct link to the feed if you want to go straight to it. You can also subscribe to at least one of the podcasts via itunes if you use that, so it will download to your MP3 player. Again, check out my personal site for links.

In the near future, I will be doing a similar interview with Lostcasts (www.lostcasts.com), one of the biggest Lost podcasts in the country, so I’ll be sure to alert you when this interview is up and ready.

Let me know what you think.
Peace,
Christian

Well, well, the creative team wasted no time in plot development during this episode. It appears, based upon the reatings on the Fuselage website, that most fans found this to be an excellent episode, and I tend to agree, with a qualification or two.

First off, the brainwashing scene was great, smacking of Kubrick’s Clockwork Orange. I played that scene twice over at 1/4 scene to catch all of the snippets on the screen. I’m not exaclty sure, however, how this kind of experiment fits in with what we now know about DHARMA. We know that DHARMA stands for “Department of Heuristics And Research on Material Applications.” Heuristics is a particular learning model wherein the students learn through direct experience. However, brainwashing would seem to go very much against as heuristic learning system. Maybe it was a means of control or torture, unrelated to the greater initiative. At any rate, it was way cool.

Learning more baout Juliet was a wonderful way to learno more baout the Others in general. We now understand that she came there as a recruit, but that she’s been held against her will for much longer than she planned. We know she’s a fertility expert, which could connect her to theories about DHARMA being involved in life extension, or perhaps developing intranatal syrums to combat major outrbreaks of some kind. Maybe the apocalypse anticipated by the Valenzetti Equation has something to do with a scenario like in “Children of Men,” where rather than killing people on a massive scale, they are rendered sterile?

That’s my new theory and I’m sticking to it.

Oh, and seeing Ethan walk by in the hall of juliet’s apartment was a definite double-take moment. How long had they been spying on her???

On to the lame stuff.  The whole ex-husband-getting-hit-by-a-bus thing was so telegraphed, it might as well have been sent by Western Union. And though it was reasonable for him to die, it’s pretty much cliche to have a guy get hit by a bus. Why not have a giant smoke monster drag him away, screaming?  Come on now. As to the “coincidence” of Juliet suggesting the very thing would happen implies many htings, but I’ll wait to persume too much. Clearly, Desmond had some psychic mojo working, but I thought it had something to do with an island experience. Perhaps folks drawn to the island have these special abilities already in them, and osmething baout the project helps them unlock their existing potential.

But I digress…the bus thing was dumb. Point made.

I enjoyed getting to see more of Alex, and to catch her bantering with Sawyer. However, do we really need another sappy romance?  I know, I’m such a guy, but I was just hoping we would be relieved of the Jak-Kate-Sawyer triangle, when now they dump another one on us. My two cents is stick to the greater mythology, keep the big story moving, and make sure the back stories of characters help us tie together some of the several dozen loose ends we have yet to reconcile.

Overall, I think it was an excellent beginning. less than perfect, yes, but well worthwhile.

Only six more days until another episdode; that may be the best thing of all. No more waiting!

Last night’s episode was another good one, although I found it a little more confusing than the others this season.

Locke’s sweat lodge scene was excellent. It was very creatively portrayed, and tied back in to Locke’s spiritual quest on the island. It was the beginning of his new enlightenment, of sorts. Also interesting was that he built the sweat lodge within the framework of the church Eko and Charlie are building, thus merging multiple faith traditions in a sense. In doing so, he acknowledges it as holy ground, and as a place appropriate for communicating with the island.

I enjoyed Locke’s back story, although I had a hard time pinning down the timeline of when his time in this compound took place. Was this after his experience with his dad and subsequent loss of his romantic relationship, or was it a flashback. He looked pretty young and had hair, so I’m inclined to think it was earlier.  But the point was he continues/continues to seek ‘home’ and ‘family’ in any context, and also that he’s no killer, even if he fancies himself a hunter.  He’s basically good. I think that will be important down the line as the lines continue to blur between good and evil, and I think this dynamic will be especially poignant with respect to the others.

Now, about the head guy at the compound – James I think – wasn’t that Mr. Friendly from the Others?  That kind of blew my mind, although I’m not sure how it all connects together yet. One thought I had was that perhaps this ties in to the many open questions we have about the Others on the island. Could it be that, after revolting against Dharma, they set up a remote drug-growing business on the island?  This could explain a few things (stay with me, as I know it’s a stretch):
*It would explain the reason why they want to stay isolated from the world, even if they do have contact with it and can go back and forth.
*It would explain how they have the funding to create their little utopian society, without being subsidized any longer by Dharma.
*The tropical climate is perfect there for growing drugs.
*They evidently have scientists in their midst, who would know a thing or two about biology and chemistry.
*It would be an interesting connection, to have Locke eventually connect face to Face with Mr. Friendly, and realize he is trying with the Others to re-create the utopian compound community they once had before, as shown in last night’s episode.

If this is the case, I think the big revelation in this mini-season COULD be that Locke discovers the Others, and ultimately decides to join them.  He’s already decided never to leave the island. I think in the end, the Others have more noble aspirations, like capturing the healing properties of the island in some formula a la Ponce de Leon, but dealing in drugs could be seen as a means to an end.

Finally, the cave scene was pretty interesting. Lots of skeletons in there, one of which had a Dharma logo on its clothing. It looked pretty rugged, though, and that combined with the toy truck he found suggests that this was a group of the ‘Other’ Others we’ve suspected exist. Remember a while back where we’d see the feet of adults and kids wandering through the jungle, all of whom looked pretty rustic and dirty. My theory is that these Others were actually the subjects used in the research experiments conducted in the cages. I think maybe their escape has some connection to “The Incident” referred to in the training videos with Dr. Marvin Candle/Wickman. Perhaps they escaped, and many were hiding out in this cave. They could have been killed by the bear, or somehow trapped their purposely by the Others. I think there are still some of them wandering around, and at some point Locke or one of the survivors now being held by the Others will have more contact with them.  I think this is how we will really find out what the Others are up to.

Just a note to let you know my book, “Lost: A Search for Meaning,” is up for sale now online.  The publisher said this morning that the books may be done at the printer as soon as two weeks from now, so hopefully pre-orders now won’t have to wait very long for their copies.

You can purchase directly from the publisher at the following link:
http://www.cbp21.com/ProductDetail.asp?ProductID=2834

This is cool not only because you help out a smaller publishing house by buying direct, but they also offer a 20% discount.

If you feel more comfortable with Amazon, you can go to www.amazon.com and enter “Lost: a Search for Meaning” or my name (Christian Piatt), and it should pull up. Today, the book summary, endorsements and cover art were not showing up for some reason, but it will order just fine.  Although it’s a little more expensive this way, it does help to boost my sales ranknig, which generally leads to more sales. Personally, I don’t care how people get a copy, as long as they read it!

You may also have the book ordered at any bookstore. If they have a hard time finding it, let them know that Ingram, Spring Arbor and – I believe  – Baker and Taylor (three of the biggest book distributors) all are carrying it.

Please let me know if you have any problems with any of these. If you’re in my local area, I’ll have copies too. If you have any other questions, feel free to drop me a line. I’ll post another note when it’s officially available. Keep in mind this is a pre-order situation, so it will take 2-3 weeks (if all goes well) before you get it.

Thanks,
Christian

I’ve gotten formal approval from the editor to place a free chapter of my upcoming book on my website in PDF format for download.  I submitted the final changes today, so as soon as they make these last corrections and get the whole thing converted to PDF, I’ll post the chapter.

I’m open to suggestions as to which chapter to post.  I can only do one, but let me know which one you’d want to read most.

The chapter titles are:

1. Numbers and Symbols
2. Light and Dark
3. Saved…from What?
4. Others
5. Faith and Reason
6. Fate and Destiny
7. The End is Near
8. Purgatory

Let me know your preference. Once I get the files, I’ll post it on www.christianpiatt.com.

Peace,
Christian

I spoke with the publisher today, and they are very excited about the book.  they are fast-tracking its publication, in fact. The final edits will be done by the end of the week, and I’ll give my final sign-off on their changes next week.  They are pushing to go to print by the end of September, with a release date of late October.

Whew!

Perhaps one of the best things about this schedule is that, if they stick to it, the book will release during the “Lost” mini-season in October/November. This certainly will help its visibility.

I am both excited and terrified by the buzz at the publisher about my book. They are putting everyhting behind it, and are hopeful it will not only be one of their best sellers, but perhaps that it will be their best selling book ever, according to my editor.  No pressure there! But it is exciting to hear each level of the publishing house getting excited about the project as they read it over.  I’ve already presented a second book proposal to them that will be reviewed later this week, however they may wait to see how this first one does before making another commitment.

I’ll keep everyone posted as I know more.  I should have a cover to share soon, although I have not figured out how to post photos on this site yet.  anyone who knows, help a brother out! Also, once I have a firm release date, I’ll post that ,as well as a date for the interview on www.lostcasts.com.  If you don’t already know about this podcast and you’re a Lost fan, check it out. I think they have somewhere between 20,000 and 25,000 fans and growing daily. Good stuff.

Finally, I’m working through the details with the publisher to post a FREE chater of the book on my site, www.christianpiatt.com.  Once that’s sealed, I’ll let everyone know.

Enough for now.
Peace,
Christian Piatt