"What You Want Natalie?" -- Lost, V. Mars, and more

Damn, great night of TV last night.

First of all -- LOST:

This episode was mostly great for one reason -- the brilliant acting of Terry O'Quinn as Locke. The man is simply uber-talented - he imbues John Locke with a quiet humanity and inner demons that makes watching his performances simply a joy. Like I've said, I've been a fan of the actor since his understated turn as Peter Watts on Millenium. While O'Quinn doesn't quite have a presence the caliber of the great Lance Henrikson to bounce off of on Lost, he does have the good firtune of playing one of the coolest, most complex, and most interesting characters to be seen on TV in a while. So while an analysis of this show sees yet another foray into Lost's typical meandering techniques of having little actually happen - it stalled for time, had tons of red herrings, and never quite revealed anything (as usual!), who really cared - as this was a really, really entertaining episode. Still, even the most diehard Lost fan has to admit that it was a bit of a cop out to IMMEDIATELY contradict last week's cliffhanger by having Henry Gale assure us that his chilling statement to end last week's episode was only a joke. Then, we end this week's ep with pretty much the EXACT SAME cliffhanger - Henry Gale is an Other! Dun dun dun ... Only Lost could get away with that type of backpeddling. But on the plus side, as I was saying - the conflict in the hatch as the doors sealed shut and the timer counted down to zero was exciting due to the great acting chops of the players involved. And the flashbacks, featuring the always enjoyable Katey Segal, were typically great - heartfelt, moving, great stuff. All around, this was an exemplary episode of Lost thanks to the great stuff they do with their characters and the great cast. Plotwise, as a self-contained episode this had some good conflict, some good tension, but still suffering from Lost's usual decompression. But yeah, great stuff overall - it's episodes like this that remind one that this show actually won an Emmy for Best Drama. My grade: A -

VERONICA MARS:

Wow - this may have been one of the all time great single episodes of the series. Just great stuff, and one of the best, msot biting performances yet from series star Kristen Bell - she needs to be in consideration for a Best Actress Emmy, after this ep I am finally convinced of that. In an ycase, how could one NOT love an episode that featured the actors behind Arrested Development's George Michael AND Maebe in supporting roles. Both are really talented young actors, and it was awesome to see them in different roles here, and both did a great job. We had the return of Veronica's ex-boyfriend Troy from season 1, who has always been an entertaining character. And multiple TAZER shots. Niiiiice. Great stuff with Logan and his continuing problems. Excellent main plot, cool subplots with Kieth Mars and the sherriff. Just an amazing episode all around that crackled with sharp dialogue and witty banter. If this is a sample of what A Veronica Mars set on a college campus would be like, then I say bring it on. Because in one episode, the show just did for the dark underbelly of college campus life what it always does for high school - turn it into a a shadowy, noirish dangerous place begging for someone like Veronica to expose its resident cheats and crooks and con-artists. Awesome ep - please, watch this show, soon to be on Tuesdays, so we can get that third season. My grade: A+

- What else?

OTHER STUFF:

- A lot of interesting debates going around these halls about how to handle the so-called "viral" spread of NBC-Uni content like SNL's Lazy Sunday or Natalie Portman rap sketches. Both were everywhere on the net following the oriinal SNL airings - but should we crack down on this or simply bask in the net-generated buzz? I definitely have my opinions - what do you guys think?

- Speaking of net-generated buzz, how 'bout this Snakes on a Plane phenomena? It's amazing - we're in an age where a whole generation is being entertained by small bites of internet content - pop culture parodies, satires, subversive humor .... So is this the first full-length movie to really take advantage of this new pop culture paradigm? The first movie spawned of the age of YouTube and MySpace? Will be VERY interesting to see how this one does in the box office. I know I'll be in line, if only to see Samuel L. Jackson PISTOL-WHIP some dude with a freaking snake, as seen in the sublime teaser trailer currently all over the web.

- Speaking of movies - anyone seen the Superman Returns cover of the latest Wizard magazine? Holy schneikies - TERRIBLE. Please lord let this movie not suck.

- Hmmm ... PEARL JAM is coming to LA in July ... any interested parties?

- I can't wait to finally hear CHINESE DEMOCRACY. It's only been 500 years in the making.

- Damn, why isn't THANK YOU FOR SMOKING playing anywhere nearby?

- I finally ordered a new cell phone - and am getting it essentially for free thanks to Verizon's new every two deal. Yep, it's two years later and my current cell phone completely sucks. The battery now only lasts like half an hour for some reason and it's about to fall apart. Literally. For like 5 months now the whole back panel is only attached thanks to the magic of scocth friggin' tape. That new phone cannot get hear soon enough.

- WTF? Why is it, how is it, that the DMV nearby me is open only on the third Saturday of every month? How can they do that? Why should one have to take off from work just to go to the DMV? Why do DMV's suck so badly? And guess where I'll be on the third Saturday of April? That's right, in Bloomfield, CT! So if I happen to get pulled over (please God no) before I get my new CA license, I will tell them that I work unlike most people in LA and therefore am waiting for the third Saturday of the month to go get my CA license. Man, I wish I had done this research BEFORE i got pulled over last time- I would have had plenty of ammunition with which to chew out that cop.

- The weekend draws ever closer ...

- Back to work. Back to the grind. Back in the saddle. So long, for now, until the next time.