Episode 617/18: The End

Figured the finale deserved a better SPOILER ALERT system.

Speechless...utterly speechless. As Jack closed his eye in an amazingly poetic final frame and as the word LOST rose from a black background, Megan and I sat there absolutely speechless with tears rolling down our cheeks. "The End" was the most artistic and beautiful television pieces ever aired. You may think this is going a little over the edge, and that I absolutely have no life, but before the finale actually began I told Megan that it's going to be hard to imagine life without Lost. However, after this finale, I think I can. The finale (as I will talk about later on) really embodied everything this series is, and brought an awesome and fitting end for these characters.

I made a Lost cake for me and Megan's Lost finale party. Isn't it awesome? It was good too.

First of all, the finale pumped the volume up on the emotional level. It made every moment happening on the island incredibly important, and brought a close to a lot of the loose ends that needed fixing. For instance, Richard becoming mortal closed his story. Also, the Jack-Kate-Sawyer-Juliet love quandrangle was completely resolved with that iconic moment with Jack and Kate on the cliff and through Sawyer not remembering his life until he meets up with Juliet. Finally, the Jacob vs. MIB issue was resolved with the death of the mortal Not-Locke and the assumation of the island by a truly better and kind leader, Hurley. (YES!) On top of all of that, the revalation scenes in the flash-sideways (afterlife) world were specatacular. I could not stop crying through almost all of them. Jin and Sun were so cute and Sawyer and Juliet were amazing. The scene with Claire, Kate, Charlie, and the birth of Aaron was so incredibly powerful as well. All in all, this finale was everything I could have asked for in an end to this show.

There have been people online however who have had less-than-optimistic comments about the finale, and all of season 6 in general. They say that the season answered no questions and gave no resolution. Basically a lot of the comments have said that the writers took an easy out with having everyone be dead in the end. There have been a lot of people (myself included) who have defended the finale in all its glory. One commentor wrote, "I dare all of you to wikipedia 'McGuffin' and enlighten yourselves."

So this is what I dare of you now, blogosphere! Go ahead, I'll wait.

Okay, so basically a McGuffin (or MacGuffin, whatever you prefer) is a literary device used to motivate the characters, while the main plot is really happening. On Lost, the McGuffin is the Jacob vs. MIB struggle and everything that surrounds it. In other words, the island. It is the driving force that motivates the characters' actions but really the main plot is happening under the surface. The main plot of Lost is the people. It is how these people came together and helped each other to overcome the issues in their lives and "let go" as Jack's father said. In the framework of the show, the plot is the story of how all these flawed characters were really lost until they found each other. So even if "the light" wasn't explained (even though it doesn't really need to be, it's the source of life hence the island's magical ability to heal, the inability of mothers to give birth after the light had been tampered with, etc.), the main plot of Lost is still intact.

So those are my thoughts on the finale. I don't necessarily want to go into too much explaining because I really think the finale needs to speak for itself. Once again, I thought it was a beautiful end to an amazing show that I and many others have basically grown up with. I hope you have enjoyed watching season 6 and my Lost blog. Thanks for hanging in there and I would really like to thank Megan and Ashley for working so hard to catch up on seasons 1-5 so they could watch it for me. It meant a lot to have everyone on this journey together. Good luck to the future endeavors of the cast and crew of Lost! We'll miss you!

Namaste!

Episode 616: What They Died For

The summer is shaping up. I have started work and found it to be not as bad as first thought. I'm not actually dreading going there. Don't get me wrong, I really still don't want to go, but at least it's not immediate terror and despair that goes into the process. Meanwhile, the LI Theater Company along with the Special Olympics Caledonia County division in Vermont put on the "Special Olympics Showcase" which is a combination of the work from acting classes, student directors, and this year the Special Olympics kids. It was a great show and it revealed I think to a lot of people who came for the Special Olympics show but were sort of force fed LI Theater in the process the power of art and why theater is important. Bravo!

Also, I recieved my grades for this last semester and they ended up all being A's except for science. Go figure. This makes my GPA for the year a 3.88. Rock on! I'm so excited to start the new school year I can taste it, but hopefully when things really pick up for the summer it will go by faster. Please make it go by faster! Anyway, not having the internet is another problem seriously getting on my nerves, as you know. I've officially given up on all of my Facebook games (a tragedy, I know), and the only way I can communicate with my director this summer is through email. It makes things a little difficult.

The other day, someone asked me if I was adjusting back into home life from college for the summer. The answer was no, not really. It's hard to go from having so much freedom and the ability to do anything in Burlington to not having freedom and having absolutely nothing to do but work in Lyndonvillle. The only things keeping me and everyone else who has recently returned to Lville for the summer are the friends. Seeing everyone again, friends past and present, was amazing. We instantly all reconnected. Even my cats and I reconnected completely. Except for the other night. My cat Patches always sleeps on my bed, and I love that but sometimes she's in my way. So the other night when I returned home from the showcase I moved her and she got mad. She growled and ran across the bed and out of the room, snarling the whole time. Five minues later, she comes in to my room and slowly makes her way to my head and starts kneading her paws into my pillow and purring. Then she lays down and snuggles up next to me. I love my cat.

Anyway, it's time for the Lost blog. The last new episode before the series finale on Sunday! Oh, and before I forget, check this out: http://www.lost365.com/.

SPOILER ALERT! http://abc.go.com/ SPOILER ALERT!

It was like a total meet & greet with Jacob dude! Seeing everyone with Jacob was kind of weird because it sort of tied up the mystical and the realistic aspects of the show. It was done tastefully though, and not in a corny way. All I have to say is that I KNEW it was going to be Jack! Although, probably everyone knew it was going to be Jack, I mean he's the one that's dealt with his issues most in the show, and had the most complete character change from a man of science to a man of faith. Now this man of faith has to act because FLocke is going to destroy the island.

Speaking of FLocke (I really hope we find out his name in the series finale), he finally found Ben, Richard, and Miles and so did we. However, their plan didn't work out so well because now Richard is a little under the weather (or dead, who knows?) and Ben has joined FLocke's side after the death of Widmore (and Zoe, but we don't really care about her. She looks like Sarah Palin.) During that scene, it seemed to show the audience that the Widmore vs. Ben struggle isn't the central (or even necessarily important) struggle on the island. It appeared to show us that their blows were part of a personal vendetta, not anything actually having to do with the destiny of the island. It's all Jacob vs. FLocke man!

The final aspect of this episode I want to mention is Desmond and the Flash-Sideways. Desmond is like Jacob in the flash-sideways world in the way he is bringing everyone together. And it appears as if this concert (Charlie much?) is the key for getting them all together. How this is going to play out is beyond me, but I can't wait to see it. It seems as though Desmond is fulfilling his destiny because of what FLocke said about Desmond being the "fail safe." Hopefully this doesn't mean the death of everyone. That would be bad.

Can't wait for Sunday night! It all comes down to this. Everything we have hoped for, loved, and been inspired by is going to be finishing. Hope you have an epic Lost party!

Namaste!

Episode 615: Across The Sea

Hello everyone! How've you been? Things are going pretty well in this neck of the woods (literally). I got my license and now I'm all set and ready to go for the summer. Everything is worked out with my boss, with rehearsals, the license has been earned, and I'm also going to be singing in a quartet this summer (something I just found out). So that's my summer, how is yours going? I think it's time for another edition of the Lost blog!

SPOILER ALERT! abc.go.com SPOILER ALERT!

Sorry this is so late but not having the internet is really annoying. This episode was absolutely awesome but it sort of turned things on its head. At the same time, this episode connected all aspects of Lost and proved to the audience that the producers and writers knew exactly what they were doing from the beginning. The light under the island is the source of life, death, rebirth. In summary, it is an energy that contains all life. This is where the healing power of the island comes from. Jacob, as protector of the light, can harness this power (giving Richard the ability to live eternally and protect the candidates) just as F-Mom (Alyson Janney-love her!) used it to keep the twins from hurting each other and keeping them trapped on the island.

MIB built the wheel!

MIB just wants to leave the island to see the world where he came from from. The only problem is, he is now trapped in some sort of limbo, a spirit between life and death. Smokey can form into life, and can destroy life, just as the light can but he is trapped on the island. It was so awesome to see this storyline finally come full circle with the clips from season 1. That was an amazing and powerful moment. I'm trying to remember which episode it was though, any ideas? To switch gears (not really), the light is also what the DHARMA Initiative was sensing and tapping into when they were building the Swan station, it is also the power that enables the island for time travel. Basically, the light is some seriousness. I only hope it is explained further in episodes. I think it will explain certain "special" people (Hurley with ghosts, Walt harnessing his power, the ghosts of the island), and all the "strange" things that happen on the island.

It all makes sense now! (Well, in a fantastic, sci fi kind of way.) Hope the episode tonight is just as brilliant (except without Sayid, Sun, Jin, and Lapidus)!

Namaste!

Synthesis

I just saw that I had reached the 90 posts mark on this blog. That's a lot of posts. It's been a long, but very enjoyable, first year of college and I wouldn't take back a minute of it. Thank you to everyone who helped me make it through, I couldn't have done it without any of you, and congratulations to everyone else who made it through their first year. Thank you to 308! Megan, Ashley, and Velvet: you guys are amazing. Thank you for filling my life with love.

To celebrate this year I decided to make a list of everything I accomplished and did this semester. Enjoy!

- I successfully kept a habitat of my own relatively clean and livable
- I kept old flames alive while making some awesome new friendships
- I found my way around the city of Burlington
- I bought a Rent poster
- I didn’t die after eating college food
- I earned a 3.94 GPA my first semester, and I didn’t fail second semester
- I managed to get Megan and Ashley hooked on Lost, while getting all of us hooked on Glee
- I managed to have my first two teaching jobs teaching workshops at the theater festivals
- I was in four productions at UVM (counting UPlayers stuff)
- I became a techie/tractor (whatever you want to call it)
- Music Makers put on four awesome concerts, and performed wicked cool Glee arrangements
- I was financially responsible
- I successfully pulled off a Sweeney Todd costume for Halloween (with Megan as my beautiful Mrs. Lovett)
- I had a very good first college holiday season
- I brought Megan to church for Christmas
- I filmed some short movies
- I went contra dancing
- I had (and fell in love with) Wings for the first time
- I discovered the wonderfulness that is Dobra Tea with Megan
- Megan and I defeated Spyro
- I got sick (and got better) multiple times
- I danced the Single Ladies dance in my director/professor/advisor’s house
- I worked
- I turned 18
- I painted a flat
- I went to my first dance clubs
- I actually enjoyed a history class
- I laughed
- I cried
- I survived my first year of college

Of course, there were a lot of things that weren't accomplished this year like making our own webisode adventures, or making a treehouse on a car and living in it, finishing our 308 movie list, or EVER meeting Velvet's family but then again there's always next year. I will still be posting this summer, it just probably won't be as often. Have an awesome summer, and I'll be seeing you!

Peace out!

Episode 614: The Last Recruit

It's been awhile since I've put out a Lost blog, since there was no new episode last week. Now there are only three episodes left. This is not boding well for me.

SPOILER ALERT! http://abc.go.com/watch/lost/93372 SPOILER ALERT!

This episode was a MAJOR tear jerker! I think this episode was made and put here just to kill people off. But I know that's not true. This episode did, in my opinion, exactly what it was supposed to do. It established Jack as the new John Locke basically, and as a new man of faith. It also reaffirmed and established Not-Locke as TOTALLY EVIL. I hate that guy. I've hated him since the beginning of season 6, so all those people who were like, "Oh...maybe he's not evil:" nope. He's evil.

So, because so many people died, (Which was Not-Locke's plan from the beginning according to Jack. He just wanted to get everyone in one place to blow them all up and kill them. I seriously think it's because he can't leave the island unless all the candidates are dead.) I decided for this post to sort of make a memorial to the beloved character who are leaving us...which are the foreigners.

Sayid - the self-proclaimed "bad man" who was completely a good man on the island throughout the first five seasons then died, came back to life, turned evil, and turned back to good only to sacrifice himself for his friends and the greater good. I can't belive Sayid is gone. Sayid was one of the best characters, and one of the classics.

Frank Lapidus - with the best last name ever, Frank Lapidus served as the comedic character for this entire season. We didn't really get to know Lapidus as well as we got to know the rest of the freighter team, but somehow I feel Frank served his purpose. Thank you Frank. (By the way, don't really know if he really is dead, he may have escaped which is what I'm hoping for.)



Jin and Sun - Are you SERIOUS!? This was where I started crying. They just get reunited, Jin has never met his daughter, and now they are dead? I guess neither of them are the candidate along with Sayid. In a way, I sort of felt like their story had closure. They were over their problems with each other, they had Ji Yeon, they found each other again and reaffirmed their love, Jin learned English...they sort of reached everything that they needed to. It would have been nice for them to have lived, get off the island, be with Ji Yeon, and live happily ever after, but we don't necessarily do that on Lost now do we?

They will be missed, but with three episodes left, hopefully the pain won't last long. In my opinion, Jack is the candidate as this episode has shown us. In "The Substitute" when Not-Locke sees the boy in the jungle and the boy says, "You can't kill him." I think he's talking about Jack. There's something to think about. This episode was incredibly powerful, and I look forward to what's next.

RIP Sayid, Frank, Sun, and Jin.

Namaste

Dear Computer

If you are reading this, then you must believe that there is some hope to keep our relationship alive. I am so sorry for the way I have treated you. Yesterday when I said all those horrible things, I didn't mean them. I was angry and those empty threats to throw you out the window or smash you with a sledgehammer meant nothing. I'm so sorry that you fell off the bed twice yesterday and that I kept you up until 3 a.m. working on my english paper. I'm so sorry I did that to you. You didn't deserve any of that.

I feel hopeless because I feel like I'm losing you, and it's all my fault. Some of the things you have done lately have made me very upset, and I can only think that I have caused this anger in you. You block me from the internet, send me false virus warnings, you say horrible and mean things, you wouldn't turn on yesterday when I needed you.

We need to stop this back and forth struggle. We both need to sit down and hash out our feelings. It would extremely beneficial to this relationship that I truly do not want to lose. We've had so many good times together, and done so many things. Remember when you came with me to Florida? How about all those episodes of Lost we watched together? I promise I will treat you better...if you will have me.

Once again, I am so very sorry. Please, call me when you're ready. I'll be sitting by the phone.

Yours forever (or until you won't turn on anymore),
Ryan <3

It's Okay To Be Sensitive

Thursday morning I walked out of my dorm to find a tiny little kitten sitting on the walkway. I had seen this kitten before wandering around; I think one of the people who live in the apartment complex next to my dorm owns it. The kitty did have a collar, only the tiny thing was sopping wet and looked like it had been out there all night. It also looked like something...or someone...had scratched the poor thing. It looked like it had dried blood on its snout. I started talking to the kitty, and bent down to pet it. It cried out to me and started rubbing up against my leg. I felt SO bad, but I had to go to class. I figured if it lived in the complex next door, then it would get back. After all, I had seen it around before. On my way up the hill to class, however, I started to feel really bad, and almost started crying because I did absolutely nothing to help the poor kitten.

I promise, this is going somewhere.

On another note, I completely finished my flat! It's toes awesome! :)

Thursday night we all wanted to go out for the very last time this semester. I accidentally left my ID in my room. My UVM room. So, twenty minutes and a very fast run later, I made it to the club. This is all because I don't like to carry my wallet all the time. I hate the way it feels in my pocket. I don't know, I just don't like it. Also Thursday night I auditioned to be in the UPlayers Caberet Night (which is tonight). I got in with my totally awesome sappy song "We Kiss In A Shadow" from The King And I. Hooray for Rogers and Hammerstein!

Yesterday was the honors dinner for the theatre at UVM. It was a really touching event. Everyone was basically crying, people were getting awards, parents were proud, and food was to be had! It was a really great occasion, and I was so happy to have been a part of it.

Last night and into this morning we packed up 308. The walls were blank and the place was extremely barren. This morning we were all talking on the couch when Megan said, "Wow...it really echos in here now." Yeah, it does. It was a really sad time, and the group hug didn't make the sadness any better. 120 days without each other. 4 months without the awesomeness that is our love. Bye guys, have an amazing summer.

Here's the conclusion:

Some people think I'm way too sensitive. Just these events here basically prove that. But you know what, if I wasn't sensitive, I wouldn't be the same person I am now. And I like the person I am today. So I'm going to continue being sensitive, if you don't like it then tough.

Peace out!