Fringe: Same Old Story

Nina offered Olivia a job. She explicitly stated that Olivia’s quest for answers could be made simpler by the resources of Massive Dynamic. Nina then went on to flaunt the obvious power of the company in the U.S.A. and abroad. It is absolutely amazing that Walter Bishop is now the man in charge of such a powerful company. It is also somewhat mind blowing that Massive Dynamic has been so impotent in the face of the threat posed by Walternate.

Who expunged Peter’s medical records? One would think that a death certificate would be a fairly easy document for the FBI to obtain. Massive Dynamic would have the juice to hide something like that and considering the fact that Bell basically mutilated Walter’s brain maybe he felt he owed Walter one.

Broyles was more Broyles this episode. Thankfully there were no ridiculous “liaison” references. That said, he still does not know Olivia yet, he was surprised she turned down Nina’s job offer. Walter has seemed a bit off, yelling at Olivia and referring to her as a silly little girl. Maybe John Nobel was still trying to find Walter’s crazy sweet spot, or maybe Walter was flashing back to Olivia’s time as Olive at the daycare center in Jacksonville. Either way I’m glad they moved away from Walter as mostly irreverent and occasionally mean to mostly irreverent and occasionally inappropriately morbid.

I am so impressed that Fringe knew that Peter came from an alternate universe all the way back in episode two of the first season. That kind of foresight is extremely impressive for a series that many consider to be J.J. Abrams tiniest success.

Odd that the evil scientist in this episode worked with Walter. I’m glad they did not make a habit out of this type of storyline for the rest of the series. It would have been interesting to see Walter meet up with him so they could have a moment to get caught up. Of course now that I’ve written the last sentence I remember that the scientist was not captured and therefore the aforementioned meeting may have occurred later in season one.

No sign of August or the other observers as of yet. I’m sure they will show up shortly.

Fringe: Pilot

I am writing about this episode with an eye to the present of Fringe. I may reference events that have taken place in this series through the end of 2010. Also, I would like to thank my family members for reading my blog and purchasing Fringe season’s 1 and 2 for me as a Christmas present.

Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, I need to give some thoughts on my re-watch of the Fringe Pilot episode. Before I do that, however, I should probably admit that I was not a huge fan of Fringe early in the life cycle of this series. I thought that the science was too easy/magic, I thought the characters were too cute by half, and I was frustrated by what I thought were pedestrian story lines.

I was wrong. Upon review the Pilot holds up remarkably well. Every key piece of the series was placed with care in the very first episode. William Bell, Nina Sharp, Astrid, Broyles, Charlie, and the Pattern were all introduced in this episode and given enough screen time to note their importance to the series as a whole. As I continue to revisit early episodes in this series the major question will have to be whether or not “the Pattern” is solely the work of Walternate or if it is something that the series will have to return to after his story is wrapped.

The plane of gelatin skeletons were not as gross this time around as I remembered it originally. In fact, I initially felt it was so repulsive that I was seriously considering dropping this series due to what I thought was an unnecessary desire to shock. I do not remember where all the pieces eventually ended up tying, but the bad guy in this episode seemed a bit lacking. What was his motivation, money, fame, or fratricide for the sake of it? How did Agent Scott tie into all of this?

I do not have the resources in studying Fringe that I did with a show like Lost. The popularity of Lost afforded me multiple podcasts which all did episode summaries (sometimes running as long as the 42 minute episode themselves), not to mention the formidable Lostapedia. Fringe does not have the massive fan community Lost did, and if it does I have not tapped into it. This is why I have decided my Fringe re-watch is my top television priority for the next few weeks.

I am a science fiction fan, with the Syfy Network’s boneheaded mishandling of Caprica and SGU, the only shows that could have challenged Fringe for the title of best show on television have now gone the way of the Firefly. Memo to FOX, please don’t cancel Fringe!

Broyles was all wrong in this first episode. His personality adjustment could be explained away by saying that he had yet to invite Olivia into his Fringe team and upon noticing her almost superhuman talent decided to not be an ass to her. However, as I have discussed in season three, Broyles is a good man and he had no excuse for make liaison a dirty word.

What was with Agent Scott’s cryptic warning about Broyles to Olivia? “Ask yourself, why did Broyles send you”. I would like to say it was one more misdirection he was sending her way, but if I remember correctly he really did love her. It was almost shocking to see how much Olivia loved Scott. She has spent so much of this series miserable, distant, and cold that her sense of overwhelming joy with Scott in that bedroom scene was more Folivia than Olivia.

The only key series aspect missing in this premier episode was an appearance from an Observer. I’ll try to make a note when that happens!

Fringe: Marionette

Good for you Olivia. Of course you could not let everything out at the moment Peter told you, it is not your way. You need to process information, you need to deal with it. The scene at the end where you completely unloaded on Peter was poignant, beautiful, and heartbreaking. I wanted to cheer for your bravery at confronting Peter’s inability to see Folivia for who she was, but I was also devastated that you had to go through this terrible injustice with no one to comfort you. This is a science fiction television show, how did it make the audience care so much for the characters?

Other than the emotional catharsis at the end of the episode this week’s storyline was fairly weak. After wonderfully connected stories all season long the Frankenstein's monster stuff just was not doing it for me. On the bright side the episode was sufficiently creepy. My wife could not look at the television in quite a few tension filled moments.

I missed Lincoln and Charlie. I even missed the cab driver that inexplicably helped Olivia after she took him hostage.

The Observer is back! I almost forgot they existed. After the amazing drama that played out between Folivia’s universe and ours my view of the fiction of Fringe significantly narrowed to focus on the two worlds we became familiar with. The mere existence of two worlds necessitates the existence of infinite worlds (I’m sure there is a a sound scientific theory to back up my wild assertion).

If the pieces of Walternate’s doomsday device are truly as ancient as we’ve been led to believe it is plausible that in one of the infinite paths the history of planet earth has taken the people who built that device never used it. Therefore they continued and prospered, possibly becoming the beings we know as Observers. If the Observers are in fact decedents of an ancient race of humans 1.0 they must have vast knowledge of the workings of the universes which would explain their ability to seemingly phase in and out of our world.

Walternate feels as though only one universe can survive, which leads me to believe that his reality has not caught on to the Observer visits. Unless Observers can only safely travel to our dimension for some reason or another. I love Fringe, I don’t understand it, but I love it. Actually, I’m making an executive decision, Fringe is at the top of my list for a series re-watch. Quick someone buy it for me for Christmas.

Fringe: Entrada

Loved this episode. In fact, I’ve loved every episode of Fringe this season. It has simultaneously become the show I want to watch and write about more than any other show on television. While not directly related to this episode, I feel the need to lament FOX’s decision to move Fringe to Fridays. I’ve watched a lot of terrific programing die at FOX on Friday (Terminator: TSCC and Firefly spring to mind) and I hope that Fringe can somehow dodge that bullet.

Broyles was the star of this episode and it cost the character his life. I know I’ve said this before but you really have to commend Fringe on the creative direction it has taken. In what other fictional universe can you kill a character, then have that character lay himself to rest, all while somehow feeling the impact of his death? I spent my last post going on and on about what a good man Broyles was innately, genetically and it was his goodness that got him killed.

Brandon the scientist took a dark turn. Even Walternate seemed initially shocked with Brandon’s thought process, though he did eventually approve of it. If Broyles is innately a good soul what does that say for Brandon? Even Folivia for all the innocent murdering she did on this side seemed to really have warmed to Peter and wanted to do right by him.

Olivia does not give herself enough credit for escaping her very own hell dimension. Sure an apparition of Peter gave her the strength she needed to find her way out of mental prison, but it could have manifested as anyone, her niece would have been just as believable for the viewer. Admittedly not nearly as emotionally fulfilling or appropriate/inappropriate considering what/who Peter was doing. On an unrelated note, Walter’s discomfort with the Peter/Folivia relationship was extremely endearing.

If Broyles was able to trust Olivia and sacrifice himself to bring peace between dimensions, how long will it take before Folivia does the same? I’ll assume that she will take his place in the big chair now that she is privy to knowledge of the other side that no one else in Fringe Division possesses. I wonder what Walternate will tell Fringe Division about the death of Broyles. Most likely he’ll tell the team that Broyles bravely died in a Fringe event while reserving the really good lie for Folivia. Walternate will tell her that Olivia killed him.

Fringe: The Abducted

Olivia is an awesome FBI agent and an even more impressive human being. She was able to draw out key information from Chris while no one else in the Fringe division had the spine to even ask Broyles for permission to talk to him. She knew that the old man, plus young man, plus spinal tap equaled an anti aging concoction and even managed to impress Lincoln with her grasp of medical knowledge. On a side note, she memorized the path the patrols take around the harbor while she was fleeing for her life.

What is up with that crazy cab driver? He was totally fine with taxing the woman who cab napped him out into the middle of the Hudson River on a boat he had no knowledge of how to sail. He better be acting on behalf of William Bell’s estate. If he truly is an independent figure doing this out of the goodness of his heart, his character makes absolutely no sense to me.

When Olivia told the little boy that she was with the FBI it sounded odd to me and I did not know why. Her conversation with him in the hospital was a nice resolution for my tired brain.

My favorite parts about the alternate universe are the subtle distinctions between their world and ours. This week they quietly let it slip that in their United States of America there are three major political parties. I wonder which party President Obama belongs to in Walternate’s world.

Olivia made contact with Peter, but she was not able to will herself permanently home. It was similar to when William Bell brought her out of her car accident on what was seemingly borrowed time. Of course when she went back to our world after that experience she was placed back into the same space, at the same velocity, and only time moved without her. Of course Bell was doing the heavy lifting then and I am guessing that somewhat different rules govern her own transitions between worlds.

Broyles is a good man no matter which dimension he inhabits. Olivia helped his son and he helped her by turning a blind eye to her obvious awakening. Of course, you could argue that Broyles’ discretion could bring about the end of his world at the hands of the woman he let walk away. However, I prefer to think that he realized Olivia was not the threat he was led to believe and he was able to recognize the goodness in her.

Peter you dumb love sick puppy. You never put the pieces together. Folivia confused Carey Grant for Ronald Fraking Reagan and you did not take that as a hint that something was amiss. The woman you actually love is trapped in an alternate dimension and you did not even notice until she had a janitor call to inform you. Minus 10 character points!

Thoughts on Fatherhood 7

Yesterday my wife approached me and said, “I have to go to Target for an eye exam, do you and the baby want to come?” I responded, “Not really” and then quickly added, “unless you want us to”. My lovely wife then said, “I want you to” and off we all went to Target.

We pulled into the parking lot, walked into the store, and instantly my wife ran away from the baby and I. My little one was in her travel seat which snapped into the kid carrier section of the shopping cart. This seemed a bit dangerous so I placed her in the cart itself which resulted in making me feel like she was safer, though empirically I have no evidence that is the truth. Placing my child inside the basket also had the unintended consequence of her being her invisible to casual observers.

As we strolled through the store I felt confident in my parenting abilities, well semi-confident as I was absolutely terrified she would start screaming which would lead a police officer to confiscate her from me. We went through the clothing department with little incident, save for her staring at the halogen lighting as if it were the most impressive thing ever created. We strolled through electronics and I watched her little head rotate to follow a 50 inch LCD TV as we slowly rolled by. Next up was the toy section and somewhat unsurprisingly, that was where we started to have issues.

We were next to the life sized Nerf weapons when she screamed, “Whah!” sharply and suddenly. I did my best to softly shush her but figured we should quickly relocate to another, less stimulating, aisle. In board games it happened again, “Whah!” I shushed, but nothing came of it, and I shushed again. Board games were about to send me to jail without passing go or collecting two hundred dollars so I rushed into more familiar territory, video games.

Though my child remained upset, the fact that Fable III was already out distracted me significantly and I blurted, audibly, not loudly, “awesome” upon realizing this fortuitous news. Oddly, it was at that point that I notice my child was quiet. While I was somewhat bemused by the fact that my little girl might be an XBOX fan at this young an age, I surmised that was not the calming factor as showing her the box of the game only served to upset her.

We moved into the candy and junkfood section of the store and at this point her little cry of “Whah!” was being complimented with a guttural, “Meh!”. Shushing did not work, the pacifier only served to annoy, and every timed to rubbed her forehead she angrily slung her head in the opposite direction. Again Target distracted me from my child when I noticed the insane amount of calories that were in a particular breakfast cereal I enjoy. This time I simply stated, “can you believe this?” to my child and she stopped making noise.

It was at this point I realized my child was made happier with the simple sound of my voice. The fact that my girl was responding, positively, to my voice made me a very proud poppy but the fact that it looked as though I was talking to a shopping cart made me slightly self-conscience. At first I tried to speak softly to her when no one was looking, but that proved to be too inconsistent to keep her happy.

I swallowed my pride and by the time I reached the pet supply aisle I began to talk my shopping cart with alarming regularity. I read names of products, lists of ingredients, and even remarked on whether our dog would enjoy the chewiness of various products. My child went from “Whah!-ing” to smiling broadly and even laughing occasionally. By the time we got to the vision center we were both having such a good time I was hoping my wife was not ready for us. Turns out that embracing my inner crazy person in a crowded store was a freeing experience.

The Event: For the Good of Our Country

Is it wrong that I was rooting for Sean to die? The way he got shot literally made me laugh out loud. The assassin somehow survived the explosion inside the house, crawled out to the roof top, climbed down to street level, and managed to shoot Sean in the shoulder. Sean then must have been eating the same spinach that his would be killer had consumed because with a bullet wound the managed to bait and disarm his attacker. All while his girlfriend cried and threw a rock.

Layla got her, strong character moment when she kidnapped a doctor and forced him to perform emergency surgery on Sean in an alley that was bisected by a river of urine. The sad thing is that this storyline was by far the strongest part of the episode.

I guess I should be happy that I called the Vice President’s involvement in the plot to kill Martinez in my thoughts on “Protect them from the Truth”. That noted, I simply employed the “he who smelt it dealt it” theorem of television prognosticating which as any TV snob can tell you is only slightly more respected than the, “never trust a man with a mustache, who is not Tom Selleck” theorem.

Sadly, as the VP had his “come to Jesus” moment, he also had a “diarrhea of the mouth moment” and managed to get himself killed before spilling the beans. On a side not I’ll try not to include the words diarrhea and beans in the same sentence again in the future. Why would the VP not have exited the building using the same secure means he used when entering?

The disappearing plane gag in the first episode was pretty cool looking and the building being sucked into a black hole was not a terrible effect either. However, every time they attempt to do something to people, make them look sick, age them prematurely or allow them to find the fountain of youth, I feel like the special effects wizards were all downgraded to house elves.

Fringe: 6995 kHz

My only problem with this episode is that the numbers were not, 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42. While I did notice an 8 and a 42 it was not the full Abrams connection I was looking for! That said, I am now positive that this show is by far the best “Lost” replacement I am going to get!

This episode marked a serious turning point for the series in a couple of key places. Folivia is slowly realizing that people (namely Peter and Walter) on this side may not be a blood thirsty as she has been led to believe. The success of Folivia in our world has led to Olivia’s expandability in the other universe. Astrid has come into her own as a character and a valuable part of the team.

With Folivia actively working against Fringe division, Astrid has transformed from Walter’s assistant to the person who cracked the most important mystery in the history of this series. It is an impressive journey for a character who I theorized was a figment of Walter’s imagination back in the days when she it seemed only existed as conscience for his crazier schemes. I find it interesting that her strength as a character is codes/patterns in both universes, did we have any indication of that before we saw her alternate?

Walternate’s machine is not his at all, it is a creation of people that evolved millions of years ago? It is another interesting twist on storytelling convention. Most shows would make the ancient technology alien in nature or placed their by time travelers. But Fringe is proposing that human beings lived before the dinosaurs and erased themselves from the fossil record because they created a vacuum that sucked their existence into a veritable black hole.

After discovering cortexaphan last week, I am disappointed with Walternate’s decision to discard Olivia so quickly. I guess that is the difference between he and Walter. Walternate creates to pursue goals while Walter creates because he is interested in what is possible.

Peter gets the “big dumb nincompoop” award this week. Olivia did not know the book store owner and could barely recall the string of numbers. She has a photographic memory Peter, why have no red flags been raised? More importantly, the Olivia he knows would never advocate the destruction of an entire universe of people.

I cannot wait to see how Olivia gets home. Her reunion with Peter will be... well bittersweet does not even come close to summing that up. The only good thing about Peter not figuring out that he is literally sleeping with the enemy is that Olivia as a character will become possibly the most bad ass female in the history of television. She is in another universe and may find her way home without the assistance of a single person. Even Buffy had to significantly on her friends when the going got tough.

The Event: I Know Who You Are

As I was watching this episode I could not help but be put off by the back story of Blake Sterling. He is the man he is because he had daddy issues, shocker (unless you watched Lost and then you know that all television characters have complicated issues with their fathers). We got the point that Blake and his old man had a strained relationship because he referred to Sterling Sr. as “Father”. Of course then to drive the point home we saw “Father” assassinate Blake’s wife in a move that felt absolutely nutty as a plot point.

How could they do such a wonderful job with Simon’s flashback and then go on to completely miss the ball with Blake the very next episode? While I’m complaining, did anyone else think the Martinez/Sterling “Beer Summit” was way too on the nose? I wish the creative forces of the show had the nerve to call the President character Obama.

Sophia as “mother” may be the most intriguing aspect brought up in this episode. Is she only Thomas’ mother or is she the mother of all of the 1%’ers? If she is the mother of all the aliens “The Event” seems to be borrowing liberally from the ABC series “V”. I would prefer Thomas to be her only child, it would make their relationship more important.

I was effectively creeped out by the little girls at the end of the episode. That is until they showed us their faces. It was at that point I realized that “The Event” is a terrible B movie masquerading as a slick modern television series. While on the subject of creepy, I guess we have to assume that the 1%ers are connected to the creepy old man. The flowers he was gushing about to his security officer happened to be in Thomas’ fortress of solitude as well. I doubt even Thomas would approve of the old man’s methods (or agree with his goals) so I am going to guess that he is the “man in the Midwest” Thomas did his investing through.

Sean and Layla had their own B movie moment as they ran out of a building as it exploded. Of course that was only moments after they met “exposition man” and seconds before they realized he and “crazy not stupid reporter woman” left them for dead on the rooftop. I officially hate their story line completely and have decided to start a “Kill off Sean and Layla” campaign. Of course considering the readership of this blog I’ll have to assume that the campaign will be a little lonely but I will persist, unless I forget I started it when I write about “The Event” next week.

Fringe: Amber 31422

Olivia has finally figured out that she is not who she thought she was, kudos! Considering she is taking anti-psychotics without Walternate’s knowledge, I would bet that they are the key to unlocking to the Peter vision’s she’s having. The more she takes the pills the more he appears and guides her in the right direction. I cannot decide if the Twin Towers as a key plot point in this series is cool homage or gross abuse of our obvious emotional connection to those buildings. That acknowledged, Olivia’s journey to the NYC gift shop was one of the coolest moments in the history of this series.

Peter better discover Folivia for who she is in the next episode. Then maybe we can finally do what is needed to bring our characters back together.

Walternate seeks to bring balance to world by any means necessary. The Amber is a stopgap keeping his universe from ultimate destruction. The Fringe equivalent of sticking their finger in the dyke. If people have jumped back and forth between dimensions from both sides, why is only one being sucked into oblivion? Additionally, if the bank robber was able to create mini-black holes which required Amber plugging why has nothing Walter has done in our world needed the same treatment?

I am assuming that this will be one of the big questions answered at the end of this season. Otherwise it is an obvious plot hole, almost as big as bringing back a dead character by accident because episodes aired out of order.

Broyles knew that Olivia was not his Olivia and thus was willing to sacrifice her when the chips were down. Charlie and Lincoln believe she is their Olivia and forced Broyles to give them the time they needed to save her. I know I have said this before, but I really like Charlie and Lincoln and would love to see their participation in this series continue beyond this story arch.

Walternate discovered cotrexaphan in Olivia’s head. Of course he does not know what it is as of yet, but he must know it has something to do with her ability to traverse worlds. I have a bad feeling about what Walternate will do with the knowledge he now has. I feel like this show has something interesting to say about psychotropic drugs. Whenever a character has to do something superhuman Walter or Walternate simply doses them with psychotropics. It just seems worth noting.

The Polio outbreaks in our alternate universe are perplexing to me. Polio is a virus that was thoroughly researched by many people in our history and two effective vaccines were created in the 1950’s. How could the researchers on the other side not come up with similar results or at least create one of the two? Inconsistencies between the two universes should be caused by acts of chance, like the difference between a successful/unsuccessful assassination attempt, not the complete absence of human inquisitiveness.

Thoughts on Fatherhood 6

It was time. The baby had to get out of our bed and into her own. She just turned eight weeks and if that is not old enough to poop on the bowl it is certainly old enough to sleep in her own space. We did everything right. I gently bounced her to sleep whilst listening to Disney music through my iPod’s tiny speaker. The wife prepared the crib by removing all stuffed animals, blankets, and clothing. The baby went dutifully to sleep after approximately one and a half hours of daddy time and I carefully placed her in the crib.

This is when things started to trend downward. Almost immediately I realized I left my iPod in the room. This would have been OK but Pandora started to play the “Glee” version of “Don’t Stop Believing”, apparently “Glee” is musically similar to Disney, and it was rocking too hard for a child to sleep in that little space. I crept back in the room and the floor squeaked, I took another step and the floor creaked. Mercifully the room is tiny so I was able to quickly pick up the iPod and silence it. I snuck out of the room and, I kid you not, the floor squealed, “Time to make the donuts”.

Finally out of the room I closed the door with a gentle “click” and gasped a sigh of relief. I proudly walked down the steps and informed my wife of how easily I had put our child to sleep and as I got the last word out of my mouth we heard the baby screaming. This effectively removed the wind from my sails and I tagged out, allowing my wife to pick up the angry ball (sorry for the mixed metaphors).

My wife locked herself in our child’s room for the next 40 minutes at the end of which she emerged visibly tired but victorious. The baby was sleeping and it was time for us to follow suit. We entered our bed, which was now baby free, and celebrated our success in hushed tones. I whispered to my wife, “turn on the monitor, I want to see what our child looks like in night vision”. Considering I made her register for the expensive hand held unit I thought it was fair to be geeking out a little.

Unfortunately my technologically challenged better half could not figure out how to power the monitor on. After 30 seconds of watching my wife struggle, I wrestled the unit away from her and began banging on random buttons. I knew almost instantly that the monitor was busted but attempted to resuscitate it through all the usual means. I tapped the power button, held the power button, pushed and held multiple buttons at once, I even plugged the unit into the wall and tried everything all over again. When nothing worked I slammed it a few times into the bed post, but admittedly that was more of a stress relief than a troubleshoot.

When I finally decided all hope was lost I became nervous that we could not see or hear our child. I worried that she would wake up, feel abandoned and alone, and begin to resent us. My patient wife tried to allay my fears but had little success. I must have been convincing though because the second we heard “boo” from the babies bedroom we both jumped up and brought her back to ours. Everyone was sleeping in minutes.

We planned to return the defective baby device the next day but I had disposed of the box it came in, along with the receipt various other materials because it was super expensive and I assumed it would work. I gathered the monitor, the camera, and the power cords for each, placed them in a plastic bag and drove to Babies R Us. Expecting the worst my wife and I got our story straight on the ride over because confrontation makes me nervous. We decided “the story” should be the truth which was more or less; “this monitor is broken and it should not be, what can you do for us”.

Unbelievably, Babies R Us was receptive to our cause. The pleasant cashier looked at our Shoprite bag full of parts and ran down a check list of possible ways she could accept this as a return. “Do you have a receipt?” she asked with a broad smile. “We, I mean, I threw that out” I answered. “Did you pay with a credit card?” she helpfully inquired. “No it was a gift” I sullenly responded. “Oh, was it on your registry?” she excitedly questioned. “Well, yes it was” I quizzically replied. Unbelievably she then asked “Do you want store credit or an even exchange?” Before she could finish the statement, I screamed “Babies R Us for the win!” loud enough for the entire store to hear.

Ironically, even with the fancy new/working monitor our child has still not slept a night out of our bedroom.

Thoughts on Fatherhood 5

I was sitting on my couch this morning, baby on my lap, watching the “Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear” and having a fantastic time. The baby was happy, daddy was happy, and mommy was happy. Things were great until my lovely wife asked me if she could feed our wonderful child. I passed her the little bundle of joy and saw my wife’s expression changed from contentment to confusion.

“Why is the baby wet?” she asked me. “She can’t be wet”, I responded, “I’m not wet”. She gave me the once over and laughed, “Yeah you are you big dope!” My shorts were soaked, my shirt was soaked, and if I was wearing socks they would have been soaked as well. Rather than attend to myself I did the noble thing and unwrapped my soggy child.

I unbuttoned her outfit and noticed that the moisture did not smell like baby pee. I unfastened her undershirt and the smell of poop quaffed into my unprotected nose. I stripped my child down to her diaper and saw streaks of feces running up and down her tiny little body and when I removed the diaper I turned to my wife and “tagged” out. In the process of switching clean up crew captains my spirited child reached down to her waist and retrieved a handful of baby mud. My wife then rationally explained (she reads the blog) that it would take the two of us to deal with the unbelievably messy situation.

I feel as though I have done lot of complaining on the challenges encountered in my fatherhood experience thus far so I would like to change the pace a bit. In fact, things progressed significantly better from that point forward. After we removed as much of the poop as possible, considering how much of it there was, we decided it was time for an unscheduled baby bath. We ran the water and plopped her in the sink and the kid literally smiled from ear to ear.

She loves her bath time so much that I am beginning to think that she purposely saves her poop for hours on end. Therefore, by the time she has decided to unleash it upon the world the buildup is so massive that no diaper could possibly contain it therefore leading her to a bath. I know that would mean my child is some kind of poop/parent manipulating prodigy but I firmly and proudly believe it is possible.

If it seems odd to use the word “proudly” when describing my daughters bowel movement, consider all the other peculiar accomplishments we as parents ascribe to our littlest babies. We cheer for their burps and farts because they were able to move air out of their tiny gastrointestinal systems. We call our own parents and brag when our little ones sleep uninterrupted for more than 20 minutes. We wax poetic about how brilliant they are when they focus their eyes on a person or object. We count the seconds they are able to hold their heads up without assistance and then tweet their record times for the world to see (maybe that last one is just me).

The stars truly seem to align when my child looks directly at me and smiles. That moment is quite possibly the best feeling in the world and one I truly cherish every time my little girl makes it happen.

The Event: Loyalty

While this episode was not perfect it finally accomplished one important goal that all television shows aspire to: I finally care about one of the characters. To be fair I doubt all television shows write at the center of their story bibles, “Make the author of Sensyden’s Sounding Board care about our characters”, but I would like think television would be better if they did! Simon is interesting and I must admit I am a sucker for the undying lover at the bedside of his elderly companion I thought it was done well in this episode.

Speaking of this episode it would seem that Simon’s loyalties are with “his” people but also to the people of this world. He is a good man even if he is 1% genetically different than the rest of the men on this planet. He went back for the faceless FBI agent and radioed frantically for everyone to evacuate the building. However, Simon will always be loyal to the people he landed with in Alaska. The series would be a bit boring if he simply came out and gave away all the secrets of his people when the next episode airs. I do think he is going to have a few interesting conversations with the agent he graduated the academy with and that should make for good TV!

The Sean and Layla stuff feels like an entirely different series which is of inferior quality to the rest of the show. Between last weeks shootout and this weeks introduction of the “former journalist who’s been discredited because she got too close to the truth and happens to be a bit crazy from the life experiences she has had since her fall” I feel like their story is just one poorly done cliche. Even Sean’s desire to hide Layla followed by her insistence on staying in the fight could be seen coming from a mile away.

According to Simon, where he comes from “has no water”. Is that literal or do they simply not have large bodies of water? Have they completely tamed the planet and stripped it for parts? If that is true why would Thomas want to return so badly?

I had guessed that Thomas and Sophia were in a relationship and their reunion did nothing to prove or deny that assumption. Sophia was genuinely happy to see him if a little disappointed about the circumstances. Though for all her talk she was willing to escape with him down into the spider hole.

On an unrelated story note, I was thrilled that Simon did not get away with his impressive plan to dose unsuspecting civilians with the radioactive isotope. While is was great thinking on his part it would simply be too convenient for it to work and for him to keep his cover.

Thoughts on Fatherhood 4

I really should not complain about my recent lack of sleep. People who know me well can tell you that I have been banking excess sleep for approximately 28 years. Parents of children who had colic or were constantly agitated from age zero through two have a lot more valid issues to lament. For the most part, my child has been wonderful and simply prefers sleeping during the day to the night.

However, a few nights ago my child went away and was replaced by an alien sent to planet earth to perform sleep deprivation exercises on new human parents. She was fed, clean, gas free, and screamed until her tiny little head turned the color of a turnip. I guess sometimes babies are uncomfortable for the sake of being uncomfortable but the intensity of her discomfort was simply unbearable for my wife and I. After repeated attempts to feed, burp, and clean failed I searched my sleep deprived shadow of a brain for sleepless baby remedies that family and friends had offered up upon hearing we were having a child.

The first fix I remembered involved placing the baby on the dryer. Apparently the warmth and rhythmic noise does wonders for angst ridden babies. I grabbed the little screamer off my wife’s chest, picked up her car seat on my way down the steps, and made a beeline for the dryer. My child was obviously confused because as I strapped her into the car seat she stopped crying for the first time in what seem like days. Emboldened by the unexpected success I placed her on top of the dryer and spun it on.

Unfortunately, the baby was roused by the laundry room while I was quickly drifting into dream land. After I picked myself up of the floor I realized this was not a sustainable plan. Even though she was happy, I figured she would cry uncontrollably if her slick seat bottom slid off the dryer while daddy was counting sheep.

As I lumbered back up the stairs the baby immediately started to scream. I began to think about the properties that made the laundry room a viable sleeping place for my child and searched for a safer, simpler, analog. I passed the throne room and realized I what I needed was kept in there! My fussing child made it difficult but I managed to nab the hair dryer before we entered the bedroom.

The simple act of powering on the blow dryer did nothing to sooth my raging child. I was disheartened but hopeful that I could somehow crack baby code. I decided that the blow dryer was outputting a consistent rather than rhythmic sound and soon came up with a winning method. I blocked the air output from the nozzle with my pillow case and then pulled it away at half second intervals. Instantly my little girl calmed down.

My big girl however, began complaining about the intense heat being produced from overclocking the hair product. When I noticed red glow inside the machine growing brighter with every wheeze I forced upon it, it became clear that the blow dryer was not my answer either. The second I stopped, the screaming picked up without missing a beat.

Now hours into the marathon I was becoming desperate. I was begging for answers that would not come and it was then that I came up with my most ridiculous plan. I ran to the living room closet and retrieved my vacuum cleaner. I knew from my last experience that I needed to add a beat to this mechanical monster and I did just that. Tapping the hose as it sucked in air brought the baby sleep inducing noise I needed. Peace coupled with a groaning vacuumous percussion filled the air.

As did heat and about three weeks worth of dust and other household unmentionables that a sucking machine picks up in the over the course of doing business. My nose began to run, my eyes began it itch, and my throat felt as if it was about to close. Strike three!

I lay in bed, defeated, ears ringing with the sound of crazy baby noises blended with crazy electric percussion. As I was about to give into a good cry myself my exasperated wife turned to me and said, “You could try her humidifier”. “We have a humidifier”, I responded, but before I got an answer I leap from bed and raced to our child’s room. After locating the box I tore at it like a bear with a freshly caught salmon.

My groggy brain could not comprehend the photo directions, but thankfully the mechanical skills I inherited from my handy father kicked into gear and after around 20 minutes I managed to decode how the three pieces of this plastic paragon placed together. I filled it with water imagined how quickly and efficiently it would lull my child to sleep. When I returned to the bedroom what I found simply dumbfounded me, my wife and child were soundly asleep.

I climbed in bed content with the knowledge that the two most important people in the world were finally resting. Approximately 43 seconds later my alarm went off and I got dressed for work. Ironically, while the alarm finally brought the water works to my face, my girls stayed peacefully sleeping.

The Event: Casualties of War

It is never a good thing when a series pushes its action scenes to such an absurd point that I break down in a hysterical fit of laughter. Thankfully I did not get quite there, however, I did giggle audibly as the FBI agent pulled up in front of Sean and Layla and screamed “Get in!” After learning that suddenly Vicky had a heart of gold and seeing Sean and Layla make out for 20 minutes in the middle of a gun battle, that cliche line was too much to bare with a straight face.

On the plus side I am happy that Vicky was offing the bad guys, not Sean. If he went from being super nerd to Rambo I think I would have to be done with this series.

I would be happier if President Martinez was not a obvious analog for President Obama. Martinez has a strong and opinionated wife who tempers his rougher qualities. He has rich cultural ties to a country other than the United States, in fact, I bet people are clamoring to see his birth certificate! While the Inastrongka detainee population is not a perfect correlation to Guantanamo Bay President Martinez’s desire to release them only to have political reality smack him in the face echos our national conversation loudly. As are Martinez’s character traits, according to his adversaries, of being a good yet inexperienced man with high morals who waivers when faced with a tough decision.

I believe one of the reasons “The West Wing” was such a powerful piece of fiction was because it depicted a fairly liberal president while the reality of U.S. leadership was the exact opposite. In short, if “The Event” wanted to go for true drama they should have written the role of U.S. president more George Bush and less Barack Obama. That would have seemed edgy and made for fantastic storytelling.

Maybe I have seen to much science fiction but why is no one petitioning President Martinez to study the detainees? Last time I checked, we were fairly certain they were aliens and the only really good bit of science we have about them is that they are genetically 1% different than the human population of Earth. Where is the slimy, lab coated, mouth breather with a syringe lamenting the fact that the president will not let him/her attempt their somewhat risky experiment that might scientifically answer all the president’s questions, or make the detainees heads explode.

I have read more than my fair share about the Manhattan Project and I do not remember any scientist named “Thomas” working at Los Alamos. I absolutely hate it when writers give away humanities most impressive, amazing, and horrifying accomplishments and atrocities. As if it would be better if we did not take responsibility for our own decisions as a species.

Caprica: Retribution

Sir Arthur C. Clark once said, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” I would like to extend the good sir’s quotation one step further and say that any sufficiently impressive magic is indistinguishable from religion. Clarice Willow is attempting to spin Zoe’s magic into an afterlife that her followers can taste, smell, touch, and truly live eternally in, at least until the Cylons destroy the servers.

This was a bloody and depressing episode of Caprica. While I usually do not turn to this show for high comedy I expect a moment or two per episode that is not the emotional equivalent of beating puppies to death with kittens. Basically an appearance from Surge in which he offered Sam and Joe a glass of fruit punch while they were trying to get Daniel to more effectively blackmail a board member would have gone a long way to ease some of the tension.

What happened to Clarice’s plural marriage? I think the man she brought with her on the killing spree was one of her husbands, but why is she living in a cabin with Amanda?

Why would Clarice not kill Lacy unless she feels that Lacy can still lead her to Zoe. Speaking of, how are they going to show us that scene at the end of last week’s episode and not give us more of Zoe the Dead Walker this week. Two minutes in New Cap City is all I ask.

Why does the entire Caprican police department think Clarice is not worth investigating? How does the one guy who is on to her become a professional pariah because his partner does not agree with him? Considering the evidence he presented to Amanda I am appalled that he is unable to get his superiors to arrest Clarice, sure it is circumstantial but it would be enough to hold a suspect on Law and Order for at least 24 hours.

I was glad to see Amanda has put together all her Clarice Willow puzzle pieces now that the Caprican police officer showed her the picture on the box. I was completely thrilled when she grabbed a gun to kill Clarice. I am willing to reserve judgment as to whether or not I care that she will be a double agent for a rouge Caprican police officer.

This episode was presented in an extremely annoying fashion. What was with the repeated scenes and dialogue? At least when the board member killed himself they placed a commercial break between the scene retreads. It was simply unbearable when Amanda was shown reflecting on the conversation she had with the officer seconds after she had it.

Fringe: Do Shapeshifters Dream of Electric Sheep?

Fantastic episode of Fringe. As we get to learn more about the people and creatures from the other side it becomes clear that they are remarkably like ourselves. The shapeshifter Newton is of course the obvious exception, but he managed to lead a solitary life away from the charms of our world. Who knows how long his head was dismembered from his body before they came together at some point last season.

I find it odd that Folivia was Newton’s superior in the field. All the events that had to happen to bring him together, the fact that he was the agent that actually brought Walternate to this dimension, and that he seemed to be pulling so many strings at once made it seem like he should have been significantly more valuable to Walternate than Folivia. Yet, when Folivia handed him his, whatever passes for shapeshifter cyanide he took it with a smile on his face.

The police officer and Senator shifters were much more interesting than Newton on a character scale. Walter classified the shifters as something between human and machine but emotionally it would seem they are human. The Senator did not have to buy lemonade from those little girls, nor did he have to over pay for it, he did it because making those little girls happy brought him joy.

This was made even clearer when the officer did everything he could to make sure his family was not harmed. That boy must have been six or seven years old meaning the shifter was the nearest thing to a father he ever had. Shockingly the shifter was actually a good dad and husband, even if he saw himself as a monster.

How does Peter go from basically calling out Folivia, on being Folivia to sleeping with her by episodes end without finishing the conversation he started before Walter almost died? Actually I think the answer to my question was hidden somewhere in it. That acknowledged, it is more than a bit frustrating that Peter has not put all the pieces he has stated he has about the whereabouts of the actual Olivia together.

Two points for Folivia stating she was on the phone with Rachel. I’ll award four points to the Fringe creative team if that is how Peter finally catches Folivia as the spy she truly is. Knowing Folivia as well as I do, which is to say not entirely well, I am comfortable making an inference on her personality type. I bet she has been unwilling to make contact with Rachel since she has crossed over to this side. It would be too painful for her to see or speak with the sister she has buried in her reality.

When Peter finally gets around to talking to Rachel and realizes that she has not seen or or heard from her sister since the events of last season Peter can finally take care of business.

Thoughts on Fatherhood 3

Recently I smelled poop. Thankfully it was the baby and not the dog that did it so I began the process of changing her. Shockingly, when I opened the diaper I found no poop, yet the smell persisted. I put her back together, picked her up, and felt the all to familiar wet spot on her bottom. After inspecting the diaper once more I could locate no signs of poop or peep. It was then that I removed the diaper and found a massive poop streak on her pajamas. However, since the diaper was securely placed on her butt, I have only one explanation, magic poop.

The wife, the baby, and I went up to my hometown to welcome home my youngest brother, Rob, home from his Coast to Coast walk ( www.coasttocoastforacure.com ). We picked up my other brother, Mikey, at my parents house and drove into the center of town. It was a wonderful celebration, with a police escort, and support from the local high school, firemen, and political figures. When all was said and done lots of money was raised for the worthy causes that Rob and his friend Anthony supported as they walked from San Diego to Nutley, NJ.

At the end of the celebration, the wife and I grabbed the baby, ran to the car, and drove back to my parents house. Our child was passed around like a football and was in desperate need of a bath. It was not until I carried the baby through the threshold of the house that I realized we had completely forgotten my brother Mikey and stranded him in the center of town. He took it pretty well.

At our child’s one month pediatrician visit we were nervous because she was getting a vaccine. The wife does not do well with needles going into her and it turns out having someone puncture the skin of our little girl is significantly more painful for her. That said, as we walked into the office things were going remarkably well. The baby was quiet and happy while other children ran roughshod over the office. A pair of twins were complaining about not getting what they wanted from the toy store, an eight year old girl bullied two younger siblings, and one little boy was inexplicably tearing pages out of a magazine and sticking them in his pocket.

Our little one sat comfortably in her car seat, taking it all in. After about 15 minutes she started to squirm a little and since I wanted to hold her anyway I unbuckled her and reached in to pick her up. What I found in that seat still haunts me today.

My hand instantly felt warm and wet. I pulled it out to see what I had discovered and to my horror found that my hand was covered in poop, which uncannily resembled German mustard in both texture and color. Fighting the urge to vomit and panicking a bit as to how I should proceed, I did the only thing that came naturally to me. I stuck my mustard covered hand in my wife’s face and awaited instruction.

She screamed, “pick her up!” and I complied, then I think she vomited a little bit in her mouth. At that point, instinct finally kicked in and I ran to the family restroom, which in a pediatrician’s office is basically the only restroom. It was then that I was able to do a little triage. Her outfit, cute as it was, went in the trash as did her poop covered socks and her headband which sported some mustard colored stains after I slide her outfit over her tiny head. Then my wife and I used an entire box of baby butt wipes all over her poop smeared body. To say the least it was my most trying experience I have had as a parent yet.

Thankfully my brilliant wife packed a change of clothing for our itsy bitsy poop machine! I pulled them out of the diaper bag, got distracted when I noticed a poop slick in the baby’s armpit and promptly dropped them on the bathroom floor. Obviously I was not going to dress my semi-clean baby in bathroom floor smeared attire, thus we went with plan C. Wrap her in a blanket and hope for the best.

By the time we were called in for our visit the shot was the last thing on our minds and the baby took it with minimal fussing. I’d apologize for beginning and ending this post with a poop story, but these are the experiences that scar me enough to necessitate writing therapy!

Caprica: Unvanquished

I know it’s been a while since the last time Caprica was on the air so I expected a little confusion going into this episode, but I must admit that I felt more than slightly lost as to how things were playing out on screen.

When we last saw Barnebus his operation was significantly disrupted by Clarice but now he is leading the brat pack version of Al Queda in a green house.

Then we have Clarice whose storyline significantly expanded the view we have gotten of the 12 Colonies thus far. Did we have any indication that an entire colony was under the control of the Church of the One? Based on the conversation between Clarice and the STO general, it would seem that Gemenon at this point in the series is governed by a monotheistic cult. This government is under threat of being toppled by the polytheistic rebels, internal strife, and weak leadership at the top. Side note, the execution at the hands of the STO was very Caesar on the floor of the Senate.

How did Amanda survive her jump off the bridge with only a broken foot? Why is she shacking up with Clarice? Was anyone else really happy when it seemed that Amanda would be dead, for good?

Zoe’s metallic body was destroyed when her truck blew up. Once the body was destroyed the chip became reprogrammable and Virgis was able to create a dumb Cylon army. Is this Cylon army being made to invade Gemenon? Why build an army if you do not plan to use it? Considering the people of Gemenon were literal believers in the pagan prophecies on the Battlestar Galactica, I’m thinking the STO might be the first victims of the Cylons.

The erasure of the chip thankfully did not kill Zoe, she managed to somehow escape into New Cap City where she is now one of two immortal beings. Tamara being the other immortal seems to have begun recruiting and branding players with her flower symbol. Zoe knows that Tamara is important, I wonder how she plans to use her.

What is up with Joseph Adama? He has completely given into his Turon mobster roots? What was the deal with the car bomb gag? He said he was trying to prove that Daniel was more humane than he was because he could not kill his own mother, but I think he was just messing with Dan. While on the subject of Turon mobsters, I would definitely have enjoyed this episode a bit more if Sam had a bigger role.

Why does Clairce think she can recreate the Zoe program? More importantly what makes her think that Zoe will help her bring eternal life to people that killed her human counterpart? I am betting that Daniel thinks he can re-create the program for the Turons because if his teenage daughter could do it, with enough time he must be able to as well.

Fringe: The Plateau

This episode is a bit of a conundrum for me to grapple with. On one hand it was a straight forward self contained story with limited relevance to the overall arch of Fringe. On the other, it took place entirely in a world we are unfamiliar with. This particular world is so foreign that pens have been completed phased out of use by ubiquitous technology yet they have not come up with a vaccine for smallpox.

While the overall story, man with unique ability goes on a killing spree, could have taken place in either universe it was fun to see it unfold in Folivia’s home turf. Charlie is no dummy, he knows how how government works, and is suspicious of Olivia. Side note, it is fantastic to have him back in the fold, even if it is not the Charlie we originally grew to love. Folivia’s boyfriend/tattoo pal seems to have more invested in the relationship than she does. She left him without saying goodbye and is making out with Peter on the other side. I like Agent Lee and hope he somehow continues to be a part of the Fringe story beyond this current storyline. What is going on with Astrid in this world? Was she mentally abused or altered? She is the exact opposite of the Astrid we know. Broyles on the other hand is pretty much himself in either universe.

I guess it is time to call fumble on the Charlie episode that aired after he died. The world that episode took place in was ours, not this one.

Walternate is a bad dude. When he said, “I still am a scientist, I just have a bigger laboratory”, I believed him. He is the puppet master putting all the pieces into play, and in that respect was a lot like this episodes antagonist. Too bad William Bell did not remove half his brain matter in this universe as well. At least now we know why Walternate is attempting to turn Olivia into Folivia.

The Event: Protect Them From the Truth

Sean is starting to grow on me as a character. He is hacker who turned his recreational attempt to hack the government into a legitimate career, the geek shall inherit the earth. I now understand why NBC paired this show with Chuck!

I would like to know, however, how Sean got in that trunk. The FBI car he was in exploded so that meant he would have had to have stolen an agents key less entry fob, located the car, and climbed into the trunk. That all had to be accomplished while the agent did not realize his key was stolen, otherwise there is no way Sean would have been able to release himself from the trunk at the FBI building.

It would seem to be obvious that Director Sterling is connected to the plot to assassinate the president. However, the evidence is circumstantial at best. Sterling is way too much of a red herring to be the series villain. The Vice President accused Sterling of the plot but, as an elementary student in the 1990’s would say, “he who smelt it, dealt it”. No one has more to gain from the death of a sitting President than the Vice President.

I wish I could say that I did not see the ending coming but I was thinking that the passengers were not dead last week. I understand that I would be a lot cooler if I bothered to mention that in my blog for last week’s episode. Chalk my oversight up to the fact that I have a 4 week old child and I am fortunate enough to have a wonderful wife whom attends to the child while her husband blogs about television.

The 1% seem a bit less menacing considering they did not kill a plane full of people. On the other hand they are not angels sent to save humanity from itself and obviously have an agenda. An agenda they were willing to kill one of their own to keep secret.

Thoughts on Fatherhood 2

I know I talked about poop in my previous “Thoughts on Fatherhood” posting but it has constantly been on my mind as of late. For instance, today she pooped and I changed her. The second I finished changing her she pooped again. After changing her a third time she made the most awful sound I had ever heard from an infants rear end. Assuming she pooped for a third time I unwrapped her only to find a remarkable lack of poop. It was at that point I swear she smiled at me and mouthed the words “got you, loser”.

People have told me, as far back I can remember, that babies cry. I really did not comprehend how true that statement was until the birth of my little girl. She cries when she is cold, she cries when she is warm, she cries when she is hungry, she cries when she is full, she cries when she poops, she cries when she pees, she cries when she farts (unless she is laughing at me), she cries when you are not pacing with her back and fourth while bouncing her head and butt at slightly differing speeds. No wonder people invented language, human expression through blood curling sobs induces untold amounts of stress.

After painstakingly attempting to keep my daughters name in-google-able I did a g-check this morning to see how it was going. Turns out my brother congratulating her on her birth at his website coasttocoastforacure.com officially broke her Google streak. Damn him and his good intentions/causes, damn him.

I have really expanded my Disney music repertoire as of late. Pandora is my friend because it makes my little girl so happy. I have even gone so far as to purchase music via iTunes, which is something I do on rare occasions (I’m more of an app guy). I knew the Lion King had spectacular music but I had no idea how much fun dancing to Lilo and Stitch’s Hawaiian music with my little girl would be.

Fringe: The Box

I am amazed with this show. Every episode raises ratchets up the intensity of the battle between worlds. I thought I would be bored with the Folivia story line almost immediately. It had been done previously in this series with the fake Charlie of season two and it seemed they squeezed all the drama out the doppleganger from another dimension they could.

I was wrong, however, because the fake Charlie was in fact a fake Charlie. Folivia is Olivia, just raised under different circumstances in a different world. In the great child rearing debate, Fringe seems to be throwing in for nurture. As proven when Folivia killed the deaf man with almost no remorse.

Two points for the Fringe creative forces for erasing Folivia’s tattoo. That two second scene made this storyline much more plausible. That noted, I would have liked to see how she got Peter out of that apartment without him seeing the blood seeping into the living room.

Walter is now the sole owner of Massive Dynamic, which changes things considerably. It remarkable how the depiction of that company morphed from evil empire to the most significant defender of this world over the course of this series. It’s almost as dramatic a turn as Wolfram and Heart made on Angel. Will Massive Dynamic change Walter or will Walter change Massive Dynamic? I am guessing that for now, Walter will leave Nina in charge of the day to day operations.

I would like to compliment the Fringe creative powers on creating a wonderful villain for this series. Walternate and the world he inhabits are familiar enough for us to emphasize with, different enough to serve as a cautionary tale, and fictional enough as to not offend, alienate, or smear any nationality, religion, or ethnic group. Fringe is not “us against them”, it’s “us against us”, and it makes for fantastic drama.

The Event: To Keep Us Safe

Aliens? Some people hear “extra terrestrials” and check out. I however just got a lot more interested in this series. I guess the question at this point is, what the marketing material has been pointing us towards all along, “what is the event”? A disappearing plane, the existence of aliens, the fact that they are genetically 1% different than humans, the odd detail that the President of the United States seems to be Cuban, I doubt that any of these are the event.

I believe the event is something that will happen in the future of this series. In fact I think the event will be the revelation that the people who landed in Alaska in 1944 are humans from the future of planet earth. I know that seems to be the exact storyline of the USA show “The 4400”, but I also know you didn’t watch that show and NBC is banking on that.

The 1% people on the outside seem to be radicalized, while the 1%ers that have been imprisoned for 60 years apparently value life. Why kill everyone on that plane, were they responsible for the hijacking to begin with? The man in the middle is their man on the inside officer Simon Lee. While it was clear he was involved with the 1%ers after his conversation with Sophia in the pilot, the scene where he pulled the tube out of his arm was pretty cool.

I thought Sean and Leila were the weakest part of the first episode, and while I am not completely warmed up to them as a couple the scene they shared in the pool five years ago brought me to a place where I was almost in their corner.

I hate to compare “The Event” to “Lost” because it is kind of like comparing Alexander the Great to Ulysses S. Grant. They operate on different economies of scale. That said, why does this show feel the need to tell us the exact time and date of every flashback. “Lost” kept us guessing and that was half the fun.

Supernatural: Exile on Main Street

If I had to describe this episode in one word it would be “odd”. Everything felt too easy, too simple, nothing seems earned. Dean went to hell and he spent the better part of a season dealing with it. Sam went to hell and his “recovery” happened completely off screen. Grandpa Campbell died when Dean went back in time yet he magically is pulled down at the exact time Sam is dragged up.

What could be important enough to the players in heaven or hell to put the Winchesters back into play? They killed the Devil and they spoiled the plans of the angels so who would bring them back? I would get it if it was Castiel, but only if he brought back Sam. There is no need to bring grandpa back as well, especially if he was happy upstairs.

Grandpa Campbell already has a secret he is keeping from the Winchester side of his family. Why capture the Djinn? Sammy seems to have completely accepted his extended family and has proven he is morally flexible, so why keep him in the dark? If I had to guess granddaddy knows what brought him back, why it brought him back, and what he needs to do to stay back.

Is Castiel gone this season? That would be a shame, it’s bad enough we are not going to see the prophet Chuck, considering he was God and all. It also seems odd that a new female character would be introduced that is related to Sam and Dean. Speaking of odd why would trained hunters accept two ghosts into their ranks? I’m thinking that the Campbell’s are not who they say they are.

It’s going to be hard to get psyched about the next big bad considering the last one was the Devil himself.

Fringe: Olivia

It would seem that Fringe is my favorite show of the 2010 fall season. The strength of this episode combined with the passing of Lost and the absence of Caprica has made Fringe the most important appointment television on my DVR (appointment DRV is kind of like jumbo shrimp, I know).

Olivia has been medically transformed into believing she is Folivia with apparently no way of getting back to her universe. That said, I believe her new friend the cab driver with the heart of gold will help her find her way once again. He had no real reason to help her as much as he did considering she would have been locked up with ease if he turned on her. He most certainly did not have to toss his cab’s geo-location device out the window. He also stuck around after she told him to go which leads me to believe he either believes her or he is somehow connected to the real world.

Folivia, on the other hand, has settled in to Olivia’s life without incident. I wonder when she will meet her “sister” and “niece”. That should have some effect on her desire to end our world. That and Walter’s good nature compared to Walternate. I did not know I cared so much about the Peter/Olivia relationship until Folivia kissed Peter on the steps of the capital building and I felt completely robbed.

Speaking of Peter, if he and Olivia are having an intimate relationship, how long before Peter notices her discreetly placed tatoo? How long before Peter realizes she is not the woman he fell in love with? Knowing Peter it should not take too long, he is a genius after all.

Anyway, Fringe is back, and I’m excited!

Thoughts on Fatherhood

My lovely wife and I recently had the most wonderful experience of our lives as we welcomed our first child into this world. From the moment I met her (in the delivery room, which may require a blog post of its own) I knew my priorities had completely changed for the better. Unfortunately this means less time for coherent blogging. So in place of a well written and edited essay I give you a rushed and random report that paradoxically took me two weeks and three days to compile.

The other night my little lady woke up screaming around 3:30 in the morning. Being the super Dad I am I picked her up and noticed she had peed through her diaper, night shirt, and sleep sack (operator error, I poorly placed the last diaper on her tiny body). In an effort sooth her and get my wife some much needed sleep, I took the baby to her bedroom and began changing her. She must have realized I wanted to help her feel more comfortable and she quietly allowed me to get her out of her wet clothes and diaper. Once stripped down the baby immediately began screaming again and I felt obligated to calm her. I swooped her off the changing table rocked her back and forth and felt the tension melt out of her. Unfortunately, that was not the only thing that melted out of her. Turned out that she pooped all over my lower half and still had enough in the tank to cover fully a square foot of the hardwood floor.

Should I give my child a digital identity? Her name is unique enough that the very act of using it on my blog would make her instantly Google-able. Would she resent me in 15 years if the first thing a new boy learns about her is the fact that she pooped on her Dad when she was less than a week old? Should I sign her up for a Gmail account? Does she need her own Twitter feed, example tweet, “woke up, cried, ate... I love boobs, took a nap, plan to repeat that for a few more days”.

She’s already all over Facebook which means Mark Zuckerberg believes he legally owns the right to her life story should it be made into a movie. Should I make her a profile and friend her, only to give her the reins on her tenth birthday, maybe fifteenth, or twenty-first birthday. If I friend her now, that means I have the keys to her profile, especially if I link it to the aforementioned Gmail address which I can then create a backdoor into if I ever need to spy on my child even after I give up control of the profile.

I loved the Lion King as a child and even though my baby can’t even focus long enough to look directly at me that doesn’t mean I can’t expose her to the most amazing Disney music ever. I would like to warn all future parents however not to listen to the “Circle of Life” while rocking your baby. I’ve had to seriously battle the overwhelming urge to lift her up by her little arm pits and point her towards the sun every time the music hits its crescendo! That’s not even considering the amount of grape jelly I’ve rubbed into her head in the shape of a lion during the break!

Glee is Dead!

Glee is dead (not the emotion, the show). It hit its proverbial high note in the first half of its inaugural season and more or less declined in quality on a weekly basis after it came back from the mid-season break. I cannot point to any specific episode or moment when the show began to falter but I know it happened. At some point Glee went from being a show with a story that spent a good portion of its airtime on music to an iTunes promotional vehicle that has less of a plot than your average Puff Daddy music video (is he still relevant, should I have gone with Justin Beiber).

Even though the ratings keep climbing and it seems to be the scripted spiritual successor to American Idol this show has fallen off a cliff when it comes to quality and it is only a matter of time before the viewers notice that a night of Rock Band is just as musically fulfilling.

I mean, I’ll keep watching it, but still...

Political Thought

I was sitting in my comfy chair (it’s more of a couch really), pondering politics (as is often the case), pipe in mouth, (it was actually a Blow Pop) when Governor Chris Christie of NJ popped into my head. Christie is a Republican governor in a blue state, that Tea Party Conservatives have yet to label a RINO (Republican In Name Only) which makes him a bit of an oddity in the party. Whether or not you agree with the governor you must admit that he is an executive that seems to be getting things done in the state of NJ by using his Bully Pulpit to its maximum value.

The National Republican party is in disarray. Its leading figures are a relic of the past, Newt Gingrich, executives that failed to ignite passion in the base in 2008, Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee, and a woman that 55% of the population is certain has some kind of mental deficiency, draw your own conclusion. Republicans are in need of a fresh face who can capitalize on Tea Party energy while not alienating people that do not identify with their radical philosophy.

It seems to me that someone will soon recruit Chris Christie to run as the 2012 Republican Nominee for President of the United States of America. The governor does have a few drawbacks, he’s been in office less than a year, he has every union the government touches ready to run him out of the state at the end of a pitch fork, and his demeanor, at least from what I have observed, is more akin to that of a porcupine than politician. That said, those drawbacks have all proven to be good things in the eyes of the Tea Party.

Christie is at the height of his popularity. He is riding a wave of anti-incumbent, anti-government, anti-everything that, in my humble opinion, should be cresting soon. He has stated more than once that he has no problems being a one term governor and it is my belief he will be, one way or another. By the time he goes up for re-election the new governor smell will have worn off. The population of the Garden State will see him as the man that eviscerated its ability to effectively govern on the issues of education, public safety, road maintenance, child protection, poverty relief, and a host of other areas (not that I have an opinion).

If Christie has national aspirations (and what governor does not) he needs to make big moves now, while the majority of New Jersey’s population still supports him. Republicans are looking to have a real chance against President Obama in 2012. Therefore, they need a candidate with recent work experience (FOX News commentator does not count) and a proven track record in places they tend to consistently not win.

If Christie is forced to resign his governorship as a result of overwhelming campaign responsibilities that is just something the state of New Jersey will have to deal with.

Red Dead Redemption: Return of the King

I just finished “Red Dead Redemption” and I must confess it felt a lot like I was watching Peter Jackson’s “Return of the King”. The experience overall was simply fantastic, but the ending seemed to drag forever.

At one point I actually ejected the disk from the XBOX and declared to my wife “I beat it, I guess”. However, I did not see credits roll so I got on the Internet and googled “I think I beat Red Dead Redemption”. This led me to a handy Gamespot forum which informed me I did not. Around six hours after I beat the big boss “bad guy” I stumbled upon the hidden (at the very least hidden from me) final mission and after four of five attempts I beat the game.

“Red Dead Redemption” is an excellent game. Riding a horse through the vast game space and hunting is a simple pleasure. Additionally, fun, off main story, missions pop up randomly as you ride. Stopping a thief, saving a man from a pack of wolves, having your horse eaten by a cougar and only your reflexes to save you from its fate are some of the most memorable moments I have had in gaming in a long time.

The main story is fun, if meandering. You will meet various characters that add, humor, depth, sorrow, and spunk to your “Redemption”. Some characters are more memorable than others and sometimes you are forced by them to do some terrible things.

Which is where my major problem comes into play with “Red Dead Redemption”. Everything regarding the main story of this game is a forced choice. There is no good/evil when it comes to playing out the plot points that the writers came up with. If you want to progress in the game you are required to deal with everyone and do exactly what they say. After playing games like “Fable”, “Fallout”, and “Mass Effect” simply going along with what an immoral NPC tells you to do feels like a major oversight.

That said the game does employ an “Honor System” whereby you can be respected or feared by the populous. But that system only applies to how you behave while wondering the country side. If you kill a man you are docked honor, inversely, if you save someone you are awarded honor points. Unfortunately event the most “honorable” player is forced to help completely immoral characters.

Mini-games range from fun to passable. I loved hunting/skinning animals and taming wild horses. I was perturbed that the horses I tamed I could not sell for profit (or at least did not figure out how to do so). I also really enjoyed playing poker and blackjack. I never bothered with five finger fillet, dice, or horseshoes. I tried a movie once and walked out after twenty seconds.

In the end, I must say that I really enjoyed the overall package of “Red Dead Redemption” and cannot wait until the next installment.

The Pillars of the Earth: Anarchy

In my unending quest to seek out high quality television, which streams on Netflix, and I have not seen I found myself searching through the new series from the Stars network. The obvious first choice was Spartacus: Blood in the Sand. Generally speaking I am a sucker for anything ancient Rome so I checked it out.

Over the course of three months I was able to work my way through as many episodes. It was gratuitously brutal, needlessly sexual, and most importantly had no one to root for or care about. By the time a gladiator cuts the face off another and shows it to the crowd as a prize in the The Pit I knew without a doubt that Spartacus was not a show I was going to get into.

Reviewing my “Instant Que” I came across The Pillars of the Earth a TV show based on the book by the same name with the author of said book’s name prominently displayed in all the promotional material. I decided to check it out considering The Pillars of the Earth is a book I have been meaning to read for a while.

While Anarchy did not make me a super-fan of this story it certainly piqued my interest. Characters were introduced and explained. The story had a clear narrative and never left me bored or questioning the progression of events. Most importantly the violence served the story as opposed to Spartacus where, as far as I can tell, the story served the violence.

The cast is impressive. Ian McShane who you know from Deadwood, but I enjoyed him in Kings, plays an ambitious priest. Donald Sutherland plays an Earl on the wrong side of a civil war before it starts. While the rest of the crew seems to be more than up to the task of carrying an interesting tale to conclusion.

Which brings me to my next point. The Pillars of the Earth is being advertised as a mini-series event, which means it should be able to tell the story of the book in a satisfying way. It also means the creators of the show will not feel the pull to needlessly pad this series with superfluous filler.

Inception: What a Concept

I want to start this post by saying “Not since The Matrix have I viewed a film so unique, engaging, and thought provoking”. Unfortunately, that type of statement is so iterative that I feel I would be doing the movie a huge disservice. Therefore I will simply open with, Inception what a concept!

It is at this point in my thought process where I usually say something like, “spoilers to follow” but in all honesty I am not entirely sure that what I got out of that movie will be what you might. As I left the theater I was already arguing with my wife about how the movie ended, what was real, and what was not. This is most certainly a movie that demands repeated viewing.

However, before I get a second look at this film I would like to lay out what I believe to be the three possible explanations for the course of events in this movie.

The first and most simple explanation would seem to be that Mal was right and the world Cobb “lived” in was in fact a construct of his own mind. Therefore when Cobb went four layers deep at the end of the movie he was in reality at least five dreams in. This would be supported by the fact that the top was not pictured falling at the end of the movie. Additionally, Cobb seemed to float between locales in the “real” world as easily as he did in the dream. Finally, how could Cobb’s father be a professor in Paris and raise his children in L.A.?

The second way events may have played out would have simply been that the real world was real but Cobb got stuck in the limbo state when he went back to save Saito. We saw Cobb spin the top many times during the course of the movie and the only time it was not depicted falling was in the last scene. Cobb’s children were wearing the same clothing he had visualized them in throughout the course of the movie and they appeared to not have aged a day.

Finally, it is possible that Cobb succeeded and his wife was wrong. Saito woke from his 50 year limbo state and immediately dialed his contact at the US State department to clear Cobb of his crimes. While the top did not fall as the credits cut onto the screen it was wobbling and could have fallen over.

I certainly have my favorite explanation, but I would love to hear what other people have to say about this movie! Which path do you believe is the one that accurately describes the course of events? I would like to end on three words which alone would have made this movie worth the price of admission (steep as it was), “floating fight sequence”!

Avatar: The Last Airbender

I am not anti-cartoon. I watched an obscene amount “Dragonball Z” in college, I love Pixar movies, and I firmly believe “The Lion King” represents a high point in cinema. But I have not bothered to tune into Nickelodeon since the days of “Double Dare” and “David the Gnome”. Therefore when “Avatar: The Last Airbender” first aired it managed to stay clear off my radar.

This was a mistake I began to remedy last summer when I managed to view the first season thanks to the magic of Netflix. I saw, over that summer, a series which had a tremendous heart and a wonderful story. I also found myself more than a little annoyed by the over the top characters, simplistic world view, and the imitative deference shown to Japanese anime.

I was not opposed to continued viewing, but I was not compelled to do so. Therefore I let an entire year slip before diving back into the story of Aang, Sokka, and Kitara. I noticed that the entire series was streaming on Netflix, in preparation for the abysmally reviewed movie no doubt, and decided to give season two a try. Suddenly I was hooked.

The characters came to life, the story grew up a bit, and the series as a whole really gelled together in a unique and engaging way. Sokka was a character that I could not stand in season one, but by the end of the series I was rooting for him more than almost anyone. Zuko had a character evolution nearly equal to that of Wesley from the Buffy/Angel universe. Kitara went from being a the plucky sidekick who needed protection to the plucky sidekick that arguably is the second most powerful person in the series. Aang was fun, but I would have to say that I found him the most uninteresting of our core characters.

A spark of brilliance that came early in season two was the introduction of Toph, the blind earthbender that “sees” with her feet. Toph is a wonderful depiction of a strong self assured female that I would be proud to have my future children model themselves after, minus the nose picking. It is possible that the existence of Toph is what made me go from casual viewer to ravenous consumer of this series.

I will admit that “Avatar: The Last Airbender” takes some getting used to. It is likely that the first season was just as good as the second and third but I simply did not “get” the show until I had spent enough time with it. I reluctantly concede that watching this show with my wife was a bit embarrassing as I am sure she could not see the brilliance of this epic series from the out of sequence episodes she sat in from of while surfing the internet. It did not help that each episode has an orange “Nickelodeon” tag plastered prominently above the opening credits.

Do yourself a favor though and check this series out. If you have a little one to watch it with they act as wonderful cover from your family and friends snide and uninformed remarks. If you do not have a child willing to watch this series with you do it anyway, you will be happy you did!

Benjamin Linus: Tussles with Disney's Best

Last Friday I was driving home from work when I received a frantic phone call from my wife (which I answered via my headset). "Where are you?" she gasped. "About five minutes away" I responded. "Hurry, come right to the backyard". Then I heard the cell phone shut off and I was stuck alone in my car with my thoughts. Obviously I was a bit distraught over the myriad of possibilities that I might face as I stepped foot into my backyard.

Maybe the roof collapsed and she was taking pictures for the insurance company. Perhaps a giant sinkhole formed and was threatening to suck my entire yard into a bottomless abyss. An even worse scenario my mind conjured up had a fallen tree which pinned my wife and dog underneath it. Maybe she lit the fire pit and flames had unexpectedly engulfed 3/4 of my dry yard.

I pulled in front of the house, slammed the car into park, and ran into the yard as quickly as I could (with a pinched nerve in my neck). My wife then instructed me to run into the house and lock Benji in his room. I did a brief once over of the yard and surmised that their was no sink hole, fire, or fallen tree. I ran into the house and locked Benji in his room.

Benjamin secured, I went back to my wife who told me that she caught Benji using a chipmunk as a chew toy. She managed to dislodge Alvin from Benjamin's jaws and trick the pup into the house. But during the scuffle she lost sight of the little woodland creature and feared him dead. I cautiously went back to the scene of the crime and found zero evidence of the scuffle.

I decided the chipmunk had survived but I did not have proof until just a few minutes ago.

My wife and I were sitting in front of the TV streaming "Arrested Development" through our XBOX on Netflix (it's not important to the story, but I still think it's so freaking cool to do this) when the dog ran into the living room. He was soaking wet, it had just poured outside, and did the traditional dogie wiggle which coated the living room in a light mist. I looked the pup in the eye, in order to yell at him, when I noticed a drenched fur ball hanging from his mouth rapidly kicking its little feet.

My wife must have noticed it also because she let out an inhuman shriek, got off the couch and then hopped up onto a different couch. Then she roared, "Drop it Benji"! Oddly enough, our dog complied dropped the mouse with a soaking splat on our living room floor. Mickey then ran in circles on our rug for around five minutes until I was able to trap him with a drinking glass and a rubber tire. Benji watched the whole scene with an expressive dogie face I can only describe as amusement.

I then took my mouse outside and deposited him in my front yard. He promptly ran away proving that Benjamin Linus does not kill furry little animals, he simply captures and toys with them.

FlashForward: Future Shock

Everyone's FlashForward's basically happened, more or less how they were foreseen. Mark was in a shoot out with the masked three stars, Olivia and Lloyd were in bed, Nicole fought for her life, Wedeck was in the stall, Vreede forgot something in the building and needed to go back for it, Keimko and Bryce met in the Japanese restaurant. Also, the entire world blacked out for an undetermined period of time, again, and saw events as far as five years into the future.

Considering this was a series finale I have decided to write its epilogue in order to send FlashForward out "right". You can call it fan fiction if you want, but please do not not call me a fan. Demetri's flash forward had him ascending to the presidency. As president Dem makes terrible decisions and then decides to publicly confess to them at an ill-advised moment, say like an election year. Zoe's flash forward shows her as the most respected lawyer in the world. She spearheads a case against Demetri's White House which ultimately leads him to the previously mentioned "bad decision". Perhaps Jericho is behind the former FBI agents rapid rise to the political top.

Aaron does not have a flash because he and Tracy died in Afghanistan minutes after they wake up from flash 2.0. Apparently Jericho's reach is further than expected. Mark obviously did not flash because he mercifully died in the explosion of the FBI building. Sadly Janice was kidnapped and killed by the kabal behind the flash forwards. Only because every good finale kills off at least one character that was actually likable.

Stan and his wife have a flash of themselves sitting on a beach in the Florida keys. It turned out that Mrs. President used him to get his friend to resign and then gave Stan a nice retirement package.

Olivia and Lloyd are having their second baby in the flash 2.0. They are happy, except for the fact that Dylan was kidnapped minutes after the flash on the 29th of April. Gabriel is 100% recovered from his torture, though still extremely quirky, and somehow became the series lead. The "he" adult Charlie is referring to as being "found" is not Mark, because he is deader than a door nail. They found Dylan, who has, though a series of unfortunate events come to believe that his father has abandoned him. Dylan has become Dyson Frost 2.0.

Simon leads a promising career as chief science officer in the Noh cabinet. The next president will more than likely keep him on the new team.

FlashForward: Countdown

Mark Benford must die. Not because it makes sense narratively and not because it would make for riveting emotionally charged television. Mark must bite the big one simply because he is a miserable human being with a deficit of redeeming qualities. I will shed no tears for Mark if he does not make it out of this series alive, but I may cry a bit if he does because I will have been robbed of the only satisfaction I fear this series has in store for me.

Let us take stock of our characters positions relative to their flashes. Olivia and Charlie are going to ride out the flash on a beach? Something tells me they will be back home in time for their futures. Dylan and Lloyd are waiting for Olivia and Charlie to return so Dylan can have a cookie while his father roams topless around the house. Meanwhile, Mark is sobering up in a drunk tank. Hopefully he stays there long enough to stumble to the FBI where he can be killed. Janice is on her way to the particle accelerator, but she just grabbed her stomach as if something was wrong with the baby, perhaps she needs to get an ultrasound.

Wedeck is at the FBI which makes it likely that he will need to hit the toilet in that building, but I believe he will be too nervous to read the paper. His wife saw an adopted son, but we have not seen her since the one episode she was in and I fear that she is a dropped plot thread. The President is well on his way to resigning in order for his Vice President to take the oath of office. Aaron's daughter just died which means his flash was wrong, maybe he is on his way to D.C. to assassinate the president who obviously had a hand in the Jericho debacle.

Simon and Demetri are wild-cards because one did not flash and one could not flash. Hopefully together they can make something interesting happen.

Nicole confessed to Bryce that she knew the whereabouts of Kimeko. Which sent him running into the arms of Kimeko. No wonder she wanted to keep that a secret. Bryce is a jerk, maybe he and Mark should end of together.

Fringe: Over There (Part II)

Olivia is in serious trouble, I cannot believe how broken she was after what seemed like less than a day in captivity. Alivia (I know it doesn't have the same je ne sais quoi as "Walternate" but it will suffice) on the other hand managed to make contact with the mirror typewriter in record time.

I am fairly certain that Alivia will not be working for Walternate in the long term. I would have to assume that 10 minutes with her new niece will make Alivia a staunch supporter of our universe. I wonder if we will be spending a significant portion of Fringe season three with Alivia as our main character or if Walter and Peter will figure her out sooner. If their track record with Charlie's doppleganger is any indication it may not be until season 10 when someone notices that something is off with their good friend.

I loved all the little touches that made Peter's home dimension so different than our own. The picture of Walternate and an aged John F. Kennedy being my favorite touch.

I know William Bell has the numbers of stars in the universe multiplied by an overpowered nuclear bomb's worth of energy in his body, and he's crossed between worlds in the past, but Olivia was supposed to crack open the door home, not him. He should have noticed something was up right away when she was not pulling her weight. Maybe he did and then he exploded.

Peter and Olivia had their first kiss. It seems like it may be their last one for a while. I really liked this episode but my enjoyment of it was hampered by the fact that this was the first episode of television I watched since the series finale of "Lost" and nothing compares to that ending. Nothing.

Lost: The End

It seems obvious now. The flash sideways are in fact purgatory but the action on the island was real and important. One of the first theories I ever considered about Lost, way back in season one, was that the island was purgatory. When I heard the executive producers of Lost swear that the island was not the afterlife I took them at their word and dismissed that notion completely. I am extremely thrilled I did because my refusal to believe anything on the show was after death allowed my brain to create a blind spot for it even though the entire concept of "flash sideways" not "alternate dimension" now seems to scream "dead people".

I would like to clarify however, that what happened on the island really did happen. The events we have witnessed over the last six years on and off the island were the actual lives of the characters we have grown to love. What they did on the island mattered and had an impact on the course of the island's history and possibly the world. The only after life(s) depicted on screen were those shown over the course of season six as "flash sideways". If you do not want to take my word for it review the scene with Jack and Christian at the end of the episode.

I would now like to take stock of exactly what happened at the conclusion of this series. Desmond was able to stop the heart of the island by draining the flow of water and light. Once the power was off, all of the "special properties" ceased to have an effect and Smokey was no longer immortal or powerful.

Since the rules no longer applied, Un-Locke was able to stab and mortally wound Jack. Thankfully that was only seconds before Kate shot and killed the Nemesis who was no longer under the protection of the islands magical properties. Jack made Hurley the newest Jacob (as predicted) and re-corked the bottle before dying in the spot he first showed up on the island. As the light left Jack's eyes Kate, Sawyer, Claire, Miles, Frank, and Richard flew away on the Ajira plane. Hurley made a deal to share some responsibility with Ben who in turn convinced him that he was now able to make his own rules and send Desmond home to his wife and son.

Characters like Michael, Walt, Ecko, Ana Lucia, Cindy and the kids were not in the Church because they were not ready to move on or perhaps they had already moved on. More significantly, the most important aspects of their particular lives did not revolve around events on the Island. Their lives were not as interconnected to the core group of characters and therefore they did not need to show up at that particular church.

Ben decided to stay behind because even though he knew the truth he was not ready to move along. This in spite of the fact that he most likely lived a long and prosperous post-series life as Hurley's, Richard Alpert. Widmore, Eloise, Chang, Miles, Charlotte, Frank, and Daniel most likely had their own departure scheduled from the flash sideways.

Bernard had such a knowing conversation with Jack in his office because he was aware like Desmond that he needed to move on. He found Rose prior to getting on flight 815 so it stands to reason that they both knew where they were and what was happening.

While some questions remain: Why was Walt so important, why did the light create the Smoke Monster, what was the Man in Blacks name, who raised Jin and Sun's baby, why could the others not give birth on the island? None of that truly matters anymore.

When it comes down to it I can say without any disclaimer that I loved the finale of Lost. Not only did the action on the island come to a satisfying conclusion but the flash sideways provided the perfect sense of lasting peace that I usually find missing in such epic stories. This series did such a marvelous job wrapping up key questions without pandering to the audience in such a way to give them every answer formatted nicely into a check list, even though that is what some people thought/think they wanted.

While this series is over I feel I have no written my last words on Lost. Eventually when the dust settles and I have checked in with some other opinions brain may need to work out a few more puzzles with the written word.