A Year and Change Later

I love Lost.  That is not a surprise.  It is easily my favorite show of all time: the characters, the intricate plot, the mythology, the Star Wars references!  I think in the past few years we have really come to see exactly how special the show is after many attempts to recreate it have fallen flat (See Flash Forward , The Event).

I got the entire Lost series for Christmas this year and have slowly made my way through all six seasons.  This blog entry is going to be a retrospective of the whole series, but through the lens of the finale (read my original review here)

"This is a place that you... that you all made together so that you could find one another. The most important part of your life was the time that you spent with these people on that island. That's why all of you are here. Nobody does it alone, Jack. You needed all of them, and they needed you"- Christian Shephard

That quote summarizes the entire series, and at the same time still makes me get a little misty eyed.  To me this quote reflects the true nature of the show.  It was never about the polar bear, or why they had to push the button, or what the Dharma Initiative was doing there.  It was about those people and how such an ordeal, such a brush with the supernatural, shapes them, molds them, brings out their true identity, makes them a complete person.  As Jacob said in the finale: none of them came from a happy life.  But all of the characters became better people.  Jack learned he doesn't have to fix everything.  Kate stopped running by becoming an adoptive mother.  Locke became the leader he wanted to be.  Hurley learned he was not some fat loser, but a loveable, caring, guy who can command people's respect.  Sun and Jin realized just how perfect for each other they really are.  Sawyer became more than a ruthless, selfish con-man.  

The Island was there to make these people whole and that is what the finale and the series was all about.  The sideways universe was a microcosm for the entire show.  When the characters had the big "reveal" in the sideways universe it was because they found that piece from the island that made them the good human beings they were meant to be.  Charlie had a substance abuse problem until Claire and Aaron came along, in both the real world and the sideways world.  Penny's love gave Desmond the motivation to make something out of his life in both timelines.  

My thoughts on the finale itself have not changed watching it again after a year+ later.  My thoughts on the series haven't changed much either.  Watching it in a much more compressed time frame does make me believe that they knew what they were doing from the start.  I saw a lot more connections and a lot more recurring themes that maybe did not have significance the first time around.  And if that isn't proof there was a final destination in mind from the beginning then this certainly is:

Entour-fail

I have a history of being disappointed with Entourage.  Last night's final season premiere is no different.  Per usual nothing bad really happened (almost).  Vince had a coke problem but avoided jail time and apparently became an even bigger star by going to rehab.  Drama's show is doing great.  Turtle is selling tequila (which you can buy!) and is still dating the very gorgeous Alex.  Even Billy Walsh is having a great time. 

While many like it that nothing bad ever happens, I believe it is a total failure of hammering home the message of the show.  When I watch it I see the creative team saying: friends stick together through the thick and thin; friendship is the most important thing.  Yet nothing on this show has tested their friendship.  The closest we've seen to characters being pulled in opposite directions is when Vince thought Medellin was good and E didn't.  This was the first time friendship and work mixed.  And it showed Vince had a surprisingly un-aware perspective on what makes a good movie.  They are trying to resurrect this storyline it seems for the final season, but the stakes aren't nearly as high and it doesn't feel nearly as organic.  For some reason Vince is mad a E for mixing work and friendship (I guess because he tried to stop his friend from doing coke because it hurt his professional image?).  But the big idea out of last night's episode was writing a made-for-TV movie about miners no one has ever heard of and a dog.  Seems like the exact same receipe for Medellin except Vince (who has shown little interest in the movie making process until now and little to believe he has the discerning eye needed to be a director) will direct instead of Billy, who like him or not has only had one flop.  This does not seem too interesting, especially since we know a) Vince has Airwalker to fall back on b) casted star Drama has Johnny's Bananas to fall back on and c) no one has ever hurt their reputation on a made -for-TV movie.

There are two characters who seem to have bad things happening.  E's engagement with Sloane ended because he wouldn't sign a pre-nup.  First of all: good for him.  Second: either way I don't care.  He can get back with Sloane that's great.  He can not.  That's great too.  The series has always tried to paint E as some sort of hopeless romantic who deserves some sort of happy ending.  I don't see it.  He is just a power-hungry, just as manipulative, just as ruthless as everyone else in the business (he threw his fiance's godfather out of his own management firm!).  He also has always been a terrible boyfriend: work always came first, which is why Sloane dumped him in the first place.  Most of his relationship misery is self-inflicted, so while it would be nice to see him break the self-sabotaging cycle, it's not something I am particularly invested in.

This leads me to the one, the only storyline I care about: Ari.  Yes, Ari is the ultimate in ruthless, manipulative, and deceitful.  Add in a serious anger problem.  But there is one thing Ari is that you really have to respect: a family man.  You can tell that his wife and kids mean the world to him.  The hurt in his eyes when Mrs. Ari told him she was seeing someone else was a true emotion (which this show has deftly stayed away from mainly due to the talent, or lack there of).  I am really rooting for the Gold family to get back together.  It may end up with Ari walking away from the business, but that is a sacrifice I would love the show to make if it really is about sticking together.

Also, it really hurts the show that Scott Caan has quickly become not only the second best actor, but the second most interesting character.  I just can't wait to see what quirky stuff he is going to do next.

All that being said: I've seen 7 seasons already; I'll be sticking around for the last 7 episodes.

In Defense of "Treme"

A lot of people have recently bashed HBO's latest David Simon series "Treme" as a plotless, plodding project designed to keep the creator of the greatest series ever, "The Wire," happy (See Pappademas).  I can see where the drama focused on the recovery of New Orleans after Katrina would seem that way.  But the people who believe that just don't get it.

Simon and company do an excellent job of art imitating life in every project and "Treme" is no exception.  In fact I would argue the show takes that message to heart as it shows the recovery of a devastated city.  Life is not full of plot twists and fake-out endings; life moves along at it's own pace.  And for a community of musicians, chefs, lawyers, teachers, etc. in a city that is slowly picking itself up off the canvas that pace is not going to be any different. 

Many will argue that you don't watch a show to see a pace of life you live every day because let's face it, most of us live boring, uneventful lives.  But by taking what feels like a much more life-like pace the writers of "Treme" are able to expose much more human moments.  The problem is that you really have to know the characters and know the story to really feel the full force of those moments.  You have to know how passionate Davis is about music and all the frustrations he has felt with the limitations of his talent to appreciate his final performance with yet another band he started that outgrew him.  It's these little very, very human moments that make this series more than just some way to placate the great David Simon. 

Found here

I can understand the frustration of those who thought that this would be "The Wire: New Orleans."  But I am certainly glad it isn't.  "The Wire" was great, don't get me wrong.  But so often was there a feeling of hopelessness, a feeling of evil always winning, of the corruptibility of man that it was a very dark series.  "Treme" has those moments no doubt: suicides, drug addiction, murder, rape, political corruption, government ineptitude/indifference, police cover-up/laziness, but the series does not hinge upon those things like "The Wire" did.  It chooses to focus much more on the strength of the community and the positive moments, like a father and son finally coming to appreciate what each one does for a living and creating something great together.

Father and Son play Jazz Fest

 

I can also understand the frustration of all the musical and cultural interludes.  But again I say to them: that's the point.  New Orleans is a very culturally rich city, and music and food top that list.  Simon wants us to really absorb the culture.  That's why every week we get to hear Antoine Batiste play a few gigs, or Annie T sit in with some famous musicians.  It is why so much gets done in restaurants whether it be Nelson's business deals or Janette's life as a chef in general.  I have never been to New Orleans but this show does such a great job of portraying the culture I feel like I have about as much of a sense of the city as someone could ever hope to without actually going there (it probably helps that I love music in general as well as many of the acts that have shown up on the show).

I would strongly recommend the show to anyone, especially someone who enjoys live music.  But my recommendation would always be start from the beginning and focus on the characters not the plot.  "Treme" is a marvelous study of people in a tough, tough situation.