My Thoughts on LOST Finale

The Simpsons and Lost: Two great tastes that taste great together! There are a lot of thoughts going to be posted on the finale of Lost in the next few hours, days and weeks. In fact, there are a lot of reactions out there on the web already, mostly positive, but not all.

It was clearly, an excellent episode of television, cinematic in its scope, production and ambition and largely worked on these levels. But, Lost has always been a show that works on miltiple levels, a palimpsest of sort. One of the most obvious different levels of analysis of the text that is Lost is from the perspective of a character-driven narrative versus a plot-driven narrative. All meaningful entertainment has to have both, of course.

I would argue that the finale of Lost was more geared towards satisfying the viewers interested in character than plot (not that there's anything wrong with that!)

However, as a finale to a complex, popular and critically acclaimed television series it was not as satisfying as HBO's Six Feet Under's conclusion, but this is not surprising since the two shows were very different. But even if one tries to compare the finale of Lost to the seminal final episodes of other television series like SyFy's Battlestar Galactica, Stargate SG-1, Stargate: Atlantis, HBO's The Wire, J.J. Abrams' own Alias I would say that Lost's outshone all of them with the possible exception of The Wire.

So, while there was a lot more about the episode that I like than disliked, here are the main issues I had with the finale:

1. Two words: Dharma Initiative. There was no explanation about how the Dharma Initiative was founded, and what it's goals were. The producers did explain the creation of the stations all over the island during the series but there was never revealed a "grand unified theory" explaining what Dharma was all about and what they were trying to do with the Island.
2. Walt. In Season 2 and 3, a lot of the plot revolved around The Others and their obsession with kids and the mystery of why women who got pregnant on the island would die. This issue was never resolved in the series.
3. The egyptian statue of Taweret. There never was an explanation of why the oldest parts of the island have hieroglyphics everywhere and why they made a 200-foot statue of the Egyptian fertility god. I am glad they explained how the four-toed statue got there, but it is very disappointing that was all we got.

There are more questions, but these are the main ones that come to mind right now.

Another thought I had is that people are saying that the last image of Lost was that of Jack's eye closing (as he dies) which is a nice symmetry to the very first image of Lost which is of Jack's eye opening, but really the last image was of wreckage on the beach. If that is the wreckage of Oceanic 815, what time period does it belong to? 2007, three years after the crash and just seconds after Jack dies, or is it years in the future, or is it showing us that everyone died and there were no survivors (that was my initial thought but I have rejected that possibility becomes it nullifies all the action of the entire series as basically being a figment of Jack's imagination).

What do you think?

UPDATE 07:17pm 05/25/2010:
Apparently the images of wreckage shown during the credits were not part of Damon Lindelof and Darlton Cuse's script for the show and were added by ABC television executives worried about a harsh transition to the news. (hat/tip LA TIMES ShowTracker)

BOOK REVIEW: Neal Stephenson's ANATHEM

Neal Stephenson's Anathem was probably the most widely discussed science fiction book of the year in 2009. It was even reviewed in Nature magazine, one of the top scientific journals in the world.

Stephenson, the author of the seminal science fiction novels Snow Crash (see MadProfessah's review), Cryptonomicon and The Diamond Age has long been regarded as one of the pre-eminent fiction writers in the country, with all of his most recent works spending significant time on the New York Times bestsellers list. He has won (or been nominated for) all the top awards in speculative fiction such as the Hugo, the Nebula, the Locus, the Prometheus, the British Science Fiction Award and the Arthur C. Clarke award.

Anathem has actually not received as many awards or nominations as some of Stephenson's earlier works, with most (but not all!) critics generally showering effusive praise for this latest offering. It did win the 2009 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction novel, but was snubbed at the Hugo and Nebula awards, the most prestigious speculative fiction prizes.

Anathem is a big book, about big ideas. Here is the summary from the book jacket:

Anathem, the latest invention by the New York Times bestselling author of Cryptonomicon and The Baroque Cycle, is a magnificent creation: a work of great scope, intelligence, and imagination that ushers readers into a recognizable—yet strangely inverted—world.

Fraa Erasmas is a young avout living in the Concent of Saunt Edhar, a sanctuary for mathematicians, scientists, and philosophers, protected from the corrupting influences of the outside "saecular" world by ancient stone, honored traditions, and complex rituals. Over the centuries, cities and governments have risen and fallen beyond the concent's walls. Three times during history's darkest epochs violence born of superstition and ignorance has invaded and devastated the cloistered mathic community. Yet the avout have always managed to adapt in the wake of catastrophe, becoming out of necessity even more austere and less dependent on technology and material things. And Erasmas has no fear of the outside—the Extramuros—for the last of the terrible times was long, long ago.

Now, in celebration of the week-long, once-in-a-decade rite of Apert, the fraas and suurs prepare to venture beyond the concent's gates—at the same time opening them wide to welcome the curious "extras" in. During his first Apert as a fraa, Erasmas eagerly anticipates reconnecting with the landmarks and family he hasn't seen since he was "collected." But before the week is out, both the existence he abandoned and the one he embraced will stand poised on the brink of cataclysmic change.

Powerful unforeseen forces jeopardize the peaceful stability of mathic life and the established ennui of the Extramuros--a threat that only an unsteady alliance of saecular and avout can oppose--as, one by one, Erasmas and his colleagues, teachers, and friends are summoned forth from the safety of the concent in hopes of warding off global disaster. Suddenly burdened with a staggering responsibility, Erasmas finds himself a major player in a drama that will determine the future of his world--as he sets out an extraordinary odyssey that will carry him to the most dangerous, inhospitable corners of the planet... and beyond.

One of the main problems of the book is that it is packed with so many ideas that it is somewhat exhausting to read. Stephenson is a demanding writer. He has compared his work to television shows like The Wire and Battlestar Galactica (two of my all-time favorites) in that they require the viewer to commit their attention for a long time for a payoff that is all the sweeter due to the delayed reward.

Unfortunately, that strategy requires the audience to be entertained during the journey and the destination itself has to be worth the trip. While I was writing this review I was thinking about Iain Banks' Matter, which was released around the same time as Anathem and which I reviewed earlier this year.

I must say that I enjoyed Matter more than Anthem, probably because the latter is nearly 50% longer (900 pages versus 600 pages), but also because Matter is more engaging--it's funny. Anathem is wry, and funny in its own way, but the sense of humor is very cerebral.

It is that intellectual stimulation which makes one glad that one has completed the journey (read the entire book) but I'm not sure it's somewhere one would want to visit again.

TITLE: Anathem
AUTHOR: Neal Stephenson
PLOT: A.
IMAGERY: A-.
IMPACT: A-.
WRITING: A+.

OVERALL GRADE: A (3.93/4.0).

My Favorite TV Shows of the Decade 2000-2009

Here is my Top 10 list of my favorite television shows from the last decade, broadcast sometime from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2009.

1. The Wire. Probably the best drama on television ever. Sadly, because it was set in inner-city Baltimore and centered around the Baltimore Police Department undercover detective operations (thus the title) it limited its appeal. Each of the five seasons concentrated on a different aspect of life in Baltimore: (Season 1) drug/gangs, (Season 2) unions, (Season 3) , politics/elections (Season 4) the school system, (Season 5) the newspaper/local media. If you watched it once, you were hooked (except for Season 2). Highlight: the instrumental music which plays over the end-credits, Michael K. Williams as the openly gay gangster thug Omar Little, "Hamsterdam" the failed attempt to legalize drugs in Baltimore and the story arc of the quartet of 13-year-old boys who are the focus of Season 5.
   
2. Lost. I started watching Lost from the very beginning because I was a huge fan of his first television series Alias, starring the amazing Jennifer Garner. I was immediately taken in by the huge, multi-ethnic, talented cast and the sheer suspense of the story. I was always more interested in the dramatic aspects of the show instead of the character aspects of the love triangle (or is it a rhombus?) between Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Juliet. I will be very sad when the entire series ends in May 2010 but I am confident that the writers know exactly what they are doing and have been planning this ride for at least a few years, if not from the very beginning. Highlight: The 4th season finale when suddenly we realize we will not only be seeing flashbacks from the past but flash forwards from the future and that the entire story is an enigma wrapped around a riddle involving time-travel.
   
3. Six Feet Under. A family drama about dysfunctional people who run a funeral home in Los Angeles where the patriarch is killed in the first 5 minutes of the pilot? The conceit of Alan Ball's show was that there would be a different, quirky or sad death in the first 60 seconds of each episode. But the glue that held the show together was incredible acting from Lauren Ambrose, Peter Krause, Michael C. Hall as the three adult siblings and their mother, played by Frances Conroy. The guest stars were legendary and always a delight. Highlight: the final three minutes of the show, featuring a coda depicting the deaths of all the major characters set to the song "Breathe Me" by Sia Fuller is the single best conclusion to a television series, ever.
4. Alias. Prior to its debut for what seemed like months all around Los Angeles appeared images of some attractive girl in a bright pink wig with the words "Alias" and the the time and channel. For some reason this sparked my curiosity and was immediately hooked by the central character of a strong, smart female character played by Jennifer Garner and her two impossibly attractive male co-stars, played by Michael Vartan and Bradley Cooper. However, it was the central, complex, intricately woven mythology of the show which made my buy the DVDs and stay with the show through to the disappointing conclusion, when its creator, the now-famous J.J. Abrams, was off working on his next big thing, which turned out to be a little show called Lost. Highlight: Lena Olin as Jennifer Garner's mother Irina Derevko, who shoots her daughter in her very first scene.
5. Battlestar Galactica. Two words: incredible acting. The acting ensemble headed by Mary McDonnell as the President and Edward James Olmos as Commander Bill Adama at some points took your breath away. Calling it a remake of the chintzy late 1970s television series (which itself was trying to appropriate popularity from Star Wars) with the same name does not do it justice. The visual effects were excellent, but always used to forward the story, which was all about survival of humanity itself, after 99.99% of all known human life was extinguished in a nuclear holocaust by cybernetic individuals who are indistinguishable from their victims. Highlight: the Cylon attack at the beginning of the series, as well as the reveal at the very end of the series that the entire series actually took place in humanity's prehistoric past, not our distant future.
6. Sex and the City. How could any gay man not include this delightful HBO comedy about the lives of four women who metaphrically represent gay male archetypes in New York City? Starring Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) as The Writer, Samantha (Kim Cattrall) as The Slut, Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) as The Best Friend and Charlotte (Kristin Davis) as The Prude Sex and the City was appointment television for almost half of the decade. The writing was always strong, and it was impressive how many arcs they could get into each 25-minute episode. Highlight: the sheer zaniness and sincere sexuality of Samantha and the matter-of-fact depiction of urban living and gay life.
   
7. The Venture Brothers. How best to describe this cult cartoon from Adult Swim on Cartoon Network? The Venture Brothers are Hank and Dean Venture, who are the sons of Dr. Rusty Venture, an ethically challenged super-scientist who is the son of another Dr. Rusty Venture who was also a super-scientist cum superhero. Other characters include Brock Sampson, an ultra macho bodyguard who kills anyone who threatens the Ventures with impunity and without remorse, The Monarch, Venture's arch-nemesis, The Monarch's wife Dr. Girlfriend who inexplicably has a deeper voice than Brock and Dr. Orpheus, a mysterious magician who rents a room at the Venture compound. You really just need to watch it to understand it. Suffice it to say that it parodies any and every superhero and supervillian trope you have ever seen, while simultaneously being hysterically funny and always entertaining. Highlight: The accompanying music to Dr. Orpheus (voiced by the incredible Steven Rattazzi) whenever he practices magic and the overall story arc which explains the lack of parental empathy Rusty feels for both Hank and Dean.
8. The West Wing. For political junkies, before the rise of the political blogosphere The West Wing was our fix. By depicting the inner workings and relationships involved in the West Wing of the White House, (especially under a Democratic President) with such verisimilitude and vivacity, creator Aaron Sorkin's show made politics cool and a fun escape from the dreariness of the reality of the Bush Administration. Highlight: The rapid fire dialogue between Allison Janney's CJ Craig and Martin Sheen's President Jedediah Bartlett.
   
9. ER. I know, I know, everybody else stopped watching the show years ago. The show limped to an end after nearly 15 years on NBC this year. When ER debuted the country was still in the first Clinton administration! But what kept ER on my list of shows to watch every week for over a decade was the brutally consistent level of excitement and adrenaline combined with a constantly changing array of compelling characters. Highlight: The relationship between Noah Wylie's Dr. John Carter and Eric LaSalle's Dr. Peter Benton and the depiction of physically challenged Dr. Kerry Weaver by Laura Innes.
   
10. The Daily Show/The Colbert Report. This was the decade that brought us the twin joys of Jon Stewart and The Daily Show and Stephen Colbert and The Colbert Report. Both of these "fake news" shows did such a good job of skewering the important current events of the day that many surveys report that significant portions of Americans under age 30 get their take on the news from either Stewart or Colbert. Highlight: So many! "Truthiness." Samantha Bee. John Hodgman. Senior Black Correspondent.
    

And since I couldn't just mention only ten television shows for an entire decade, here are more (not in any order) that should not be forgotten, as well as a few more to keep your eye on in the future.

Honorable Mentions: Survivor, Family Guy, The Simpsons, Desperate Housewives, The Closer, Entourage, 24, The Real World, Frasier and The Office.
Potential, but too soon to tell (but things look good so far for these being on the 2019 list): Glee, True Blood, Stargate: Universe, Damages and Flash Forward.

Greatest Quotes From 'The Wire'

Black LGBT Images in the Media Panel Next Week

There will be an interesting event held before the NAACP Image Awards next week highlighting the under-representation of Black LGBT images in the media. Cue the press release:

On the eve of the 40th NAACP Image Awards, the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) will host a forum on the infrequent intersection of African American and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) images in media, and the importance of these stories being told, particularly in the wake of California’s Proposition 8. The panel will explore the historical under-representation of these images, the ongoing advocacy efforts to promote the telling of these stories and the professional issues and challenges facing openly gay African American artists.

The Screen Actors Guild LGBT Actors Committee and the Beverly Hills-Hollywood Branch of the NAACP will co-sponsor the forum on Wednesday, Feb. 11 at 7pm at the Screen Actors Guild James Cagney Board Room.

Confirmed panelists include:
Willis Edwards, Member, National Board of Directors, NAACP; Vice Chair of the NAACP Image Awards
Deondray Gossett, Writer/Producer/Director, “The DL Chronicles”
Maurice Jamal, Writer/Producer/Director, “Dirty Laundry,” “The Ski Trip”
Sonja Sohn, Actor, “The Wire”
J. Karen Thomas, Actor; Founding Member SAG LGBT Actors Committee

Moderated by:
Rashad Robinson, Senior Director of Media Programs, GLAAD

“For the first time we have five openly gay individuals and multiple gay-themed projects nominated at the NAACP Image Awards,” said Jasper Hendricks, NBJC Director of Field Operations. “We are hopeful this historic achievement will begin to break down barriers to openly LGBT arts and entertainment professionals in getting roles and jobs in the industry. We need to continue to highlight our successes and this forum will be a part of educating the media and the industry as to the issues LGBT people face.”

“This year’s nominees for the NAACP Image Awards demonstrate significant progress at a time when LGBT African Americans continue to be underrepresented in the media and those representations are often based on stereotypes,” said GLAAD Senior Director of Media Programs Rashad Robinson, who will serve as moderator of the panel. “We hope that through open dialogue with industry leaders at forums like this, we can continue to open doors for stories and images of our lives and our communities. These stories – when told in a fair, accurate and inclusive way – have the power to change hearts and minds.”

WHAT: “Knocking Down the Door: Black LGBT Images in Media”

WHEN: Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2009; 7pm – 9pm

WHERE: Screen Actors Guild
James Cagney Board Room, First Floor
5757 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036-3600
PARKING WILL BE VALIDATED

RSVP ESSENTIAL: entertainment@glaad.org

Tragedy on "The Wire": Everybody gotta wait!

Oh no! The long-awaited final 95-minute episode of the seminal HBO series The Wire will be broadcast next Sunday and for the first time, those of us with HBO on Demand will not get to watch the episode a week early! I saw the penultimate episode of the fifth and final season last Tuesday and it is a doozy (read Entertainment Weekly's recap here).

Mad Professah will definitely be in front of the TV next Sunday watching the final episode of The Wire, with a handkerchief!

New Haaz Sleiman Movie: The Visitor

Mad Professah first noticed actor Haaz Sleiman in Maurice Jamal's The Ski Trip but first blogged about him during his stint as "another improbably handsome muslim terrorist" on 24 last season.


During previews for the movie Persepolis I saw an ad where his dazzling smile is features in the trailer for The Visitor, an independent film starring Richard Jenkins (the father in Six Feet Under) as a college professor who travels to New York City and finds an immigrant couple (played by Haaz Sleiman and Hiam Abbass) living in his apartment. The film was written and directed by Thomas McCarthy (who also wrote and drercted the indie hit The Station Agent), and was presented at this year's Sundance Film festival. Thomas McCarthy plays the ethically challenged reporter Scott Templeton on the current (and final) season of The Wire. Mad Professah applauds MCarthy for casting Sleiman in his second feature film and looks forward to seeing more of this talented (and improbably handsome) actor in the future! (hat/tip IMDb.)

WGA Awards Announced: The Wire Wins

The Writer Guild Awards were announced the same day the word started to spread about the writers' strike coming to an end.

Yesterday The Wire won the WGA Award for Best TV Drama Series (beating out fellow HBO show The Sopranos) while No Country for Old Men and Juno won WGA Awards for Adapted Screenplay and Original Screenplay.

'The Wire' Returns On January 6th!

The best show on television, The Wire, is starting it's fifth and final season of 10 episodes on January 6th. (Actually if you have Time Warner Cable you can see the first episode on HBO On Demand starting January 31.)

The Wire has been one of Mad Professah's favorite television shows since discovering the second season by accident. I immediately bought the first season DVDs and devoured the entire 13-episode season in a weekend in order to catch up on the back story as the second season unspooled.

Here is a promo for the 5th Season

In addition to this vieo, the producers have released some cute "prequel" videos prior to the start of the final season, mostly for cultlike fans to enjoy, since if you haven't seen the show before you won't really understand their significance.

Damages & The Wire Gets Some Award Season Love

The F/X television show Damages was one of my favorite guilty pleasures during the summer and early fall. It has recently been renewed for two more seasons and is now starting to be named in the end-of-year award nomination lists.



At the Golden Globes, Damages leads all television series with 4 nominations. It received nods for Best Television Series--Drama, Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series--Drama (Glenn Close), Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made For Television (Rose Byrne) and Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made For Television (Ted Danson).

At the Writers' Guild of America awards, Damages was recognized for Best New Series.

Interestingly, another one of Mad Professah's favorite television shows, The Wire, received two WGA nominations: Best Dramatic Series and Best Episodic Drama (for "Final Grades" the Season 4 finale). The Wire returns to HBO on January 6, 2008. This will be the 5th and final season for the Peabody Award-winning television series.