Sat, Mar 8th, 2008
12:00 Lost
01:00 Hunter
Lost. Season 4, Episode 6. Lost is a mainstream hit. Yet, many of it's defining elements are the things that normally prevent a show from succeeding with the masses. First off, it is science fiction. That's a big No-No. Secondly, it tends to be very confusing (such as with Episode 5 which had Desmond boucing around in time). Third, and last, most of it's episodes offer no kind of resolution. That's frustrating to the average viewer. This particular episode is built around a mission for Juliet (which means the episode is more self-contained than most). However at the very end of the episode, she chooses not to carry out her mission as instructed. Instead, she lowers her gun and kills nobody. It's very dramatic. But leaves the episode open-ended in many respects.
Yet, despite all of these "negative" points, Lost is a huge mainstream hit. I suspect that this is because the show largely tells very human stories. Stories that easy to relate to. Even if most of Episode 4 mean little to the average viewer, they cannot help but be interested in the love story between Jack and Kate which is played out in a couple of key scenes. Episode 5 (the best ever episode of Lost?) was a total mess to the average viewer, but it boils down to a very romantic moment at the very end. A phone-call call between two people who have been searching for one another for a very long time. Even if much that happened in the previous hour mean little to you, you could not fail to be a bit touched by that ending.
And this episode is very much a portait of a lonely woman. She pines for companionship, seeks it with the wrong man, fends off the advances of another man (also very definitely the "wrong man"!) and ultimately reveals her feelings to Jack. Who, I strongly suspect, is another wrong man for Juliet.
Despite all it's sci-fi elements, ingrained in the concept of Lost is a strong human element. Something vital to it's widespread appeal. Lost is lucky that it lends itself so well to these type of stories. The first season of Airwolf was the best. It was a dark show. Tales of espionage and international intrigue were the order of the day and, while critics and fan were impressed, the viewing public stayed away. CBS ordered the producers to "domesticate the show" for the second season, so new types of stories started to appear in an effort to raise the ratings. Stories of corrupt small town sheriffs, drug addicts, hijackings involving regular characters, singers-in-peril and whatnot. By season 3 the show was operating under a "More Heart Than Hardware" credo and stories now had little to do with the helicopter anymore: lost children, custody battles, paraplegic Vietnam veterans, and sundry other emotional rubbish.
Lost doesn't need to be tinkered with. It's central concept is the people. And the lives of those people. And that element, I think, more than any other has made it the huge mainstream hit that it is today.
Hunter. Season 3, Episode 2. I don't like this episode. I don't like it for two reasons. I don't like the way the show tries to pretend to us that the Hunter-McCall partnership is over forever. And I don't like the way Hunter acts as if the Hunter-McCall partnership is over forever. Looking at it from the perspective of a writer this is false drama, and lazy writing. We learn at the very end that McCall was kept in the dark because the new captain wanted it that way. And that is the only explanation that is ever given. So, the raison d'etre for the entire episode is the whim of a minor character? That's pathetic.
Looking at it from the point of view of a fan, this is a horrible way for Hunter to treat McCall. I love Hunter (passionately) for several reasons. And one of them is the strong bond of friendship/partnership/trust/love between the lead characters. It shines out in almost every episode. It was even evident in the early stages of the pilot. And you can see it at the end of this episode when Rick confesses why he had to do what he did. It's almost redeems the episode in my eyes. But it doesn't. It just sucks.
Story-wise, this is a fairly strong episode. The story, however, is buried under all the "change partners" nonsense. The cops-as-hitmen story is good. And Hunter always excels at telling more than one story. So, we also get the story of the intended victim, the crime he committed and the people that he pissed off. It's a good story (told is a small number of scenes). But good story or not: I don't like this episode. C+
Lost, Hunter
