TV Club: A virtual couch for viewers who sit too close to the screen.
  • Lost: season 6, episode 1 & 2

    “LA X”

    February 2, 2010 - 11:02p.m.

    So… where were we? Ah yes: BOOM. And then white. And then…

    Well, that’s what we’ve been waiting to find out for the last eight months, right? What’s after white? A clean slate? The ultimate triumph of ...

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  • Lost: season 5, episode 16

    "The Incident" 

    May 13, 2009 - 11:05p.m.

    “I guess it just needed a little push.”

    In homage to Lost’s most time-travel-y season, this review will be skipping around chronologically, with a segment-by-segment recap interspersed with immediate reactions and thoughts in retrospect.

    Segment one: A man in white weaves in front of a fire, then ...

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  • Lost: season 5, episode 15

    “Follow The Leader”

    May 6, 2009 - 09:05p.m.

    “Let’s just say love can be complicated.”

    All season long—and for much of the last three years on the Lost timeline—the show’s official hero Jack Shephard has been acting anything but heroic, and has been more or less sitting around, sometimes peacefully and sometimes ...

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  • Lost: season 5, episode 14

    “The Variable”

    April 29, 2009 - 10:04p.m.

    “For the first time in a long time, I don’t know what’s going to happen next.”

    “How did you get back here?”

    Well, that’s what we'd all like to know, isn’t it? When Daniel Farday opens tonight’s episode of Lost with that question to Jack, he’s asking specifically about how the ...

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  • Lost: season 5, episode 13

    “Some Like It Hoth”

    April 15, 2009 - 10:04p.m.

     welcome to the circle of trust
     
    In last week’s podcast, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse implied that tonight’s Lost, “Some Like It Hoth,” would offer a little levity before the impending darkness of this season’s final four hours. Heck the title alone—with ...

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  • Lost: season 5, episode 12

    “Dead Is Dead”

    April 8, 2009 - 10:04p.m.

    “I’ll be outside.”
     
    I love origin stories.
     
    The very first issue of The Uncanny X-Men I ever bought was #138, in which Scott Summers stands over Jean Grey’s grave and reflects on the entire story of their love affair, as threaded through ...

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  • Lost: season 5, episode 11

    “Whatever Happened, Happened”

    April 1, 2009 - 10:04p.m.

    “Then your theory is wrong!”
     
    Two weeks ago, when I peeked ahead at Lost’s upcoming episode titles (and the character flashbacks associated with them), the only one that didn’t immediately interest me was this week’s episode, the Kate-centered “Whatever Happened, Happened.” I ...

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  • Lost: season 5, episode 10

    “He’s Our You”

    March 25, 2009 - 09:03p.m.

     those hippie cars can be dangerous
     
    Carlos Castaneda’s book A Separate Reality tells the purportedly true story of Castaneda’s apprenticeship under the Yaqui mystic Don Juan Matus, from whom he learned—with the help of psychedelics—to “see” the secret energies that flow through ...

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  • Lost: season 5, episode 9

    "Namaste"

    March 18, 2009 - 09:03p.m.

     “Nama-what?”
    Ride, captain, ride
    On your mystery ship
    Be amazed at the friends
    You’ve got there on your trip
    Ride, captain, ride
    On your mystery ship
    Be aware of the things
    Others just might have missed
    -The Blues Image
     

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  • Lost: season 5, episode 8

    “LaFleur”

    March 3, 2009 - 10:03p.m.

    whatever happened, happened
    Here's something that popped into my head after last week’s episode, and something which I don't think has been properly picked over by Lost mythologists: Why are there two islands? We know that Hydra Island moved along ...

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  • Lost: season 5, episode 7

    “The Life And Death Of Jeremy Bentham”

    February 25, 2009 - 09:02a.m.

     an english jurist, philosopher, and legal and social reformer
    “We’re all convinced sooner or later, Jack.”
    -Benjamin Linus
     
    Prior to this past two weeks’ one-two punch of “316” and “The Life And Death Of Jeremy Bentham,” Lost has aired Jack episodes and Locke episodes back-to-back three times. It ...

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  • Lost: season 5, episode 6

    “316”

    February 18, 2009 - 03:02p.m.

    Can I show you something in a loafer?
     
    Last year, writing up the terrific Season Four episode “The Shape Of Things To Come,” I wrote:
     
    Here's the acid test for whether you can get in the groove with tonight's episode: Can you handle Locke saying, with ...

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  • Lost: season 5, episode 5

    “This Place Is Death”

    February 11, 2009 - 03:02p.m.

    this will feel familiar
    There are two recurring storytelling gimmicks that I’ve always liked on Lost. One is The Big Split. Early in Season One, we learned that the castaways were stranded on an island with “Others”... and the factionalism didn’t end ...

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  • Lost: season 5, episode 4

    “The Little Prince”

    February 4, 2009 - 03:02p.m.

    "You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed"
     
    As rewarding as Lost’s back-and-forth storytelling style can be, it does have its limitations. Ever since Jack shouted “We have to go back!” to Kate at the end of Season Three, we’ve been watching him and the rest ...

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  • Lost: season 5, episode 3

    "Jughead"

    January 28, 2009 - 02:01p.m.

     Tu Stultus Es
    Last week I complained that for all the propulsive action in the first two Season Five Lost episodes, the emotional undertones felt a bit forced. Well, “Jughead” went a lot more smoothly, because it was anchored to the one relationship ...

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  • Lost: season 5, episode 1 & 2

    “Because You Left” / “The Lie”

    January 21, 2009 - 03:01p.m.

     remember her?
     
    How many times during the first two episodes of Lost’s fifth season did you gasp? Chuckle? Sit on the edge of your seat? Scratch your head? And here’s the real question: Was it enough?
     
    After a stellar fourth ...

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  • Lost: season 4, episode 13

    "There's No Place Like Home, Part 2"

    May 29, 2008 - 07:05p.m.



    A year ago, Lost's third season ended with Jack making two phone calls. Off the island, in a flash-forward, he called Kate, and told her they had to "go back." On the island, he called Charles Widmore's freighter ...

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  • Lost: season 3, episode 17-22

    "Through The Looking Glass," etc.

    May 23, 2008 - 12:05p.m.



    Two years ago, in a blog post called "The Perils Of Serialization," I wrote, "There are some things that television will always do better than movies, such as building characters and plots over long stretches of time, and playing out ...

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  • Lost: season 4, episode 12

    "There's No Place Like Home, Part 1"

    May 15, 2008 - 10:05p.m.



    Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse have said in recent interviews that this two-part, three-hour finale–of which we have now seen only a third–is going to be more action- and plot-oriented than prior finales, with less in the way ...

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  • Lost: season 4, episode 11

    "Cabin Fever"

    May 8, 2008 - 11:05p.m.



    Which of these belongs to you: a vial of sand, an ancient book of laws, a compass, a Mystery Tales comic book (featuring the story "The Hidden Land"), a baseball glove, or a knife? A word of caution: Don't ...

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