"Jon & Kate," minus me

Note to American media outlets:
Please, please, please stop telling me to care about the reality show "Jon & Kate Plus Eight." Really. I'm sick of not being able to check my e-mail without seeing a tease on Yahoo for some "shocking" story about the troubled Gosselin spouses and their poor, unfortunate, oversized brood. I have seen umpteen blog postings about tonight's "special" episode, in which there will be some big announcement. What will it be? Divorce? Separation? Moving the show to Tuesday nights?
I don't know. I've not seen one episode of this series. And, for a long time, it seemed OK that I'd never watched it. But, over the past few months, countless stories and blogs have told me that I HAVE to care about this saga. I've been told that I must care about the growing animosity between Jon and Kate, which, I guess, is increasingly visible on screen. I've been told that Kate is a monster, and that there's video of her being cruel to her children. I've also been told that her haircut is stupid.
Why am I being told this? Why is the fate of Jon and Kate and the eight of such great importance all of a sudden?
Yes, it's sad that a highly visible couple with children is having problems. I feel bad that their marriage isn't working out. I feel bad that their many, many children will probably be scarred forever by the combination of their parents' tense relationship and the omnipresence of cameras in their life. But I don't need to hear about it every minute.
In fact, I don't need to hear about it at all. There's a reason why I avoid "Jon & Kate," and most reality shows in general. I like living in my reality-free bubble. I do not appreciate constantly having it punctured. So please, stop telling me to care. Stop bombarding me with "news" about the Gosselins. I don't care. I'm allowed not to care. Leave me alone.

"Lost" recap: We're off to see the Jacob

Last night's episode of "Lost" was perhaps the most head-throbbingest (no, that probably isn't a word) of the whole season. About three quarters of the way in, my husband turned to me, sighed and said lamented that the show always gets super complicated right before the season finale. Too true.
Yet, even with all the complicated time travel stuff, it was still a pretty solid episode, featuring the return of Sayid (everybody together now: Woooooo-hooooo!), the ever-increasing confidence of John Locke, the ever-increasing anxiety of Ben Linus, the growing complexity of the Jack-Kate-Juliet-Sawyer love quadrangle and not one, but two Richard Alperts. Oh -- and it looks like we might get to see Jacob sometime soon. Yay! With all this going on, it probably doesn't matter that all the time travel gobblety-gook gave me a migraine. Here are some more of my thoughts on this week's episode of "Lost," titled "Follow the Leader."
* We pick up where we left off, with Eloise shooting Daniel, only to realize that he very well could be her son. Turns out, Daniel is absolutely dead (for now. Sigh. You just never know on this show, which is getting to be a problem). Kate and Jack are found peepin' in the bushes, and the Others aren't pleased. But Ellie has some sense of what's going on. She remembers Daniel from when he told her to bury Jughead back when she was a teenager. Here's a question -- if she remembered Daniel, why was she so quick to shoot him? Well, regardless, she regrets her actions now, particularly after seeing that Daniel was carrying a journal inscribed with her handwriting. Desperate for answers, Eloise looks to Jack and Kate for help. Jack tells her of Daniel's plan to undo everything -- including his murder by his own mother -- and Eloise seems to be on board. Kate, not so much.
* About that. As much as I dislike Jack and Kate, I have no beef with the performances of Matthew Fox and Evangeline Lilly. Fox in particular does an excellent job of conveying Jack's desperation and arrogance. A perfect example is the scene between Jack and Kate in the Others' tent. Jack explains that, if Daniel's plan works, all their misery will be undone. Kate points out that, if it's all undone, she and Jack never will have met. He seems OK with that, and she's hurt. He points out that, ever since the crash, their lives have been full of misery. It's then that they have this crucial exchange.
Kate: It wasn't all misery.
Jack: Enough of it was.
Heartbreaking, and it poses an interesting question: would you be willing to forgo meeting the love of your life if it would save lives, and if it would save you a lot of suffering? Usually, I don't give a damn about the Jack-Kate relationship (or about any relationships involving Kate or Jack), but this scene put their on-again-off-again romance in a new light.
* OK, let's talk about what would have happened without the crash. Jack's reasoning, as usual, is flawed. Without the crash, Kate would be in jail. Locke would be in a wheelchair. Charlie would be addicted to drugs (but at least he'd be alive, so who knows what to think about that). Still, Sayid might have been reunited with Nadia sooner without the crash, and maybe, in that version, she wouldn't have been murdered. Ana Lucia would be alive. Also, if I recall correctly, Sawyer had some sort of emotional turning point after killing the man he thought was Sawyer (and quickly figured out wasn't). Without the crash, maybe he makes peace with his past, and gets to know his daughter. Or maybe he goes to jail for killing a guy in Australia.
I could talk about this for a while (I haven't even touched on what it would mean for the freighter folk), but let's move on to the present day islanders.
* Regardless of what the outcome would be, it appears that the Jack/Daniel plan doesn't work, because modern day Richard tells Sun that he watch Jack, Kate, etc. die back in the 70s. Sun is deeply dismayed. She's slightly comforted when Locke tells her he's going to fix everything. But then, there's something off about Locke and Richard, of course, notices.
"You seem different, John," he says. The beatific Locke replies "I have a purpose now." Richard is, quite reasonably, freaked out by this.
* I'm gonna dive into Richard a bit more now. So, as Ben pointed out, Richard is not the leader of The Others but a "sort of adviser." Who appointed him? The Island? Jacob? Was he just born a regular guy, and morphed into this strange, ageless guy? Or was he always special? Who is he? Why is there? And why does he always seem to pick men to lead The Others (I'm assuming Charles is the leader in the 70s, since we know he used to be the leader at some point. And if that's true, I'm a little miffed that it wasn't Eloise. She's just as tough as Charles. Why can't she lead? You know what -- let's form an Others female empowerment movement right now! Ok. End of rant).
*Quick discussion of Locke in the jungle with Richard and Ben. How did he know that he would be coming out of the jungle? And why did he tell Richard to tell that Locke that he had to die? I know the Island told Locke to do it, but why? Because it had always happened? And how does a freakin' island talk? What is UP with that?
* Great moment -- Richard offering Locke the bullet that was in his leg. Hee-hee.
* Richard and Ben both are dismayed that Locke wants to see Jacob -- and that he rallies the Others around this cause. Apparently, this is not behavior befitting a leader, and Richard is flummoxed, which he expresses to Ben. Ben smugly states that this is why he tried to kill Locke. That smug smile is quickly wiped off Ben's face when he realizes that Locke's pilgrimage to Jacob isn't about saving the 1970's crew, but about killing Jacob. What? Why? Locke, you don't even know Jacob! How could he have possibly pissed you off to the point where you'd want to kill him?
* Let me mention that I loved the scenes with Locke and Ben this week. For the first time, Ben has no control over a situation and the panic and horror on Michael Emerson's face was priceless. That last moment, when Locke reveals his "I'm gonna kill Jacob" plan, Ben's face is a mask of complete shock, and Emerson does that whole "Good heaven, I just released my bowels" look better than anyone.
* Quick shout out for the shot of Locke's army traveling to Jacob. It was absolutely beautiful and creepy at the same time. Good work, folks.
* Ok, back to the 1970s. Jack, Kate, and Eloise continue their mission, and Kate, dependably, starts whining and wants to bail. An Other tries to prevent her from leaving but is quickly shot by...SAYID! Yay! He's back, and he still, unfortunately, thinks Ben is dead. Kate reveals that she saved Ben and Sayid asks why. Kate is understandably taken aback and utters one of the night's best lines: "Since when did killing kids and detonating hydrogen bombs become OK?" As much as I dislike Kate, I'm with her on this one. Anyway, she leaves and gets caught. More on that in a second.
* I'm running out of time, so I'm going to skip the Others water Olympics (oh, and the rediscovery of Jughead), and discuss what happened in the Dharma camp. When Sawyer doesn't reveal Kate's location, even after being pummeled by Radzinsky, Phil hauls off and hits Juliet, hoping this will get Jim to talk. It doesn't. Eventually, Chang, realizing that this group is from the future (and that Miles is HIS Miles), intervenes and tells Rad and co. to load Jim and Juliet onto the sub. This leads to moment of tranquility between Sawyer and Juliet, as they realize they're about to be free. They exchange googly eyes and "I love yous" on the sub...then someone mentions they found another of the turncoats. Yep, it's Kate. D'Oh! Juliet looks absolutely miserable. Great work by Elizabeth Mitchell in that scene. I wanted to hug her.
* Also wanted to hug Miles, as he watches his father cruelly cut ties with his mom, because it's the only way to get her and Miles on the sub, and off to safety. The look on Miles' face as realizes that he father abandoned him to save his life is heartbreaking. Of course, Hurley realizes what seeing this must do to Miles and offers a heartfelt "Sorry, dude." Nice moment.
Well, that's all for this week. I might be late posting the season finale recap next week, due to a personal engagement, but I promise to offer thoughts on the episode as soon as I can.
That's it for me.

"Lost" recap: So Doc Brown WAS crazy!

This week on "Lost" we learned a bunch of important things about time travel. First, if Ben is alive in the future, then it's impossible for Sayid to kill him in the past. Because, somehow this is the way things always were. Sayid always shot Ben. The Six always came back. The future island people always joined Dharma, blah blah blah. That means that, despite what Hurley believes (and what Doc Brown so convincingly told us in "Back to the Future"), Sayid shooting Ben doesn't mean that the people Ben brought back to the island will slowly start to evaporate with the help of poor, 1980s-era special effects.
We learned these very important facts during a conversation between the two great scientific minds of our times, Hurley and Miles. As always, the "Lost" folks found a way to make a subplot that was almost entirely exposition entertaining and informative at the same time. Basically, Hurley served as the audience proxy, desperately trying to get a handle on what it all meant. Miles was a stand in for the show's writers, trying to explain, and generally making Hurley feel like a moron. Until, of course, Hurley asked the same question we've been asking since the first time Ben brought Sayid a sandwich: how come Ben didn't recognize Sayid when the two met again years later?
Miles can't answer that. Luckily, the writers did answer it in last night's episode. Due to Jack's sudden decision to get all Locke-like and let the island sort things out for itself (more on that later), Mini Ben is at death's door. With the island's only surgeon flaking out on her, Juliet decides to go to The Others for help. Kate and Sawyer end up taking Ben to Richard Alpert, who tells them that, if he helps, Ben won't remember anything. But he'll also lose his innocence.
Ah. So that's how Ben became Ben. And it's why he doesn't recognize Sayid later. Does this mean we won't see Sayid on the island again? Or does it just mean Ben won't see him? I'm thinking he did recognize Kate and Sawyer. Maybe that's why he held them hostage later. I also think he recognized Juliet, which is why he became all obsessed with her.
Sigh.
In spite of all this head-spinning mumbo jumbo, this week's episode was, like last week's, basically a return to the season one format of using flashbacks to explain a character's actions. This week, we learned how Kate ended up on the plane. While her scene with Claire's mom was touching, I wasn't really that surprised by Kate's actions. Most careful viewers have guessed all along that Aaron is with Claire's mom. I was a bit surprised that Kate has gone to look for Claire. Apparently, her guilt about taking someone else's child -- and leaving Claire behind -- has gotten the better of her.
Anyway, here are some more thoughts on episode 11 of season five, "Whatever Happened, Happened."
* Is it just me, or does Horace make a really unconvincing Tommy Lee Jones? When he started calling for a hard target search of every Dharma station, jungle tree and polar bear cage (I'm a paraphrasing, of course), I kind of just wanted to laugh. Maybe it's the long flowing hair. At any rate, despite the best efforts of the Dharma-ites, Sayid is long gone. We don't see him for the whole episode.
* Once again, "Lost" takes a character that we should hate -- Ben's dad -- and makes him sympathetic. Roger is genuinely nice to Kate, and shows real remorse about his treatment of Ben. When he realizes that Ben stole his keys and helped Sayid escape, he's genuinely heartbroken, and I felt really bad for Roger. I know, I'm a sucker.
* What's up with Jack's new direction? Though it has been foreshadowed over the past few weeks, we finally saw Jack dump his old savior complex for good. He refuses to save Ben, pointing out that, according to Miles, it's impossible for Ben to die. Kate points out that maybe Ben lives because Jack saves him. Jack isn't having it. The island has a way of working things out, he says. Oh, he and Locke are SOOO going to be BFFs if they meet up again!
* Another nice moment in the Jack transformation: Kate says she liked the old Jack better. Jack reminds her that that isn't really true. Nice.
* The Kate flashbacks mostly bored me, but I was intrigued by a few things. When Kate takes Aaron to see Sawyer's mark/old flame/baby mama, Kate's singing "Catch a Falling Star." We know that that's what Christian used to sing to Claire when she was little. It's one of the two musical cues in this episode, the other being good ol' Patsy Cline, who always pops up in the Kate flashbacks. This time, it's Patsy singing "She's Got You" -- a great song, but, personally, I prefer the Dean Martin cover, "He's Got You."
* The other thing that intrigued me (Ok, mostly it kind of made me laugh) was that the woman who finds Aaron in the supermarket is clearly supposed to look like Claire. And she does look like Claire -- if Claire had been assembled by Picasso. Seriously -- didn't her face look sort of crooked or something? Odd.
* Even though I don't like Kate, it was sad to see the parting between her and Aaron. Moms (even fake moms) leaving kids behind always gets me.
* Back to the island. Why did that one Other tell Richard that Ellie and Charles wouldn't like him helping Ben? Has someone else undergone this same treatment with disastrous results? What happened?
* Nice transition from Richard and Ben entering the Others' secret hideaway to grown-up Ben waking up in the future and seeing a very much alive Locke at his bedside. I always coo about the perfect work by Michael Emerson and Terry O'Quinn, but come on -- they deserve it. The expressions on their faces in this scene are perfect. Ben totally looks like he's going to crap himself. Fantastic.
* As an aside, I just switched from satellite to cable a week ago (didn't want to. Had to. Long story.) and we have this crappy new DVR that always cuts shows off in the previews. So I only saw a little bit of what's ahead next week. Arrrgh!