The TV Chick

It is very rare that I say this, but last night’s series finale of Lost was perfect. Does that mean I am left without questions? Of course not. But has Lost, in its 6 years of existence, ever left you without questions? No. When the final moment of Jack closing his eyes and dying happened, and the famous Lost text appeared across the screen, I wasn’t quite sure what this whole season meant. But if you listen closely to Christian’s (Jack’s dad) words, and ponder it a little bit, it all begins to make sense. The sideways world was a limbo of sorts — perhaps a purgatory (but not as dreary as that), where each character had to learn to let go. When they were ready, all their memories of the island would come flooding back. It makes sense that Jack was the last one to remember, because he was in a lot of ways, the protagonist or the narrator of this whole adventure (even if we didn’t hear his voice as the narrator).

Each couple that was meant to be together, wound up together. It could have been in the afterlife, or not, but they all had their happy ending. Claire and Charlie was one of the most touching moments. I loved when it all came back to them. However, Juliet and Sawyer were my favorite couple who reunited. I absolutely loved the reference to grabbing a cup of coffee sometime, that they made together when Sawyer held Juliet in his arms on the island. When I spoke to Elizabeth Mitchell a little while back, she said she was half satisfied with her ending. I think I would have liked to see more of Juliet but I understand what she also understood–is that it’s about everyone, not just one individual character. I also really loved at the end when Jack and Kate finally kissed (afterlife or limbo or not this was a great moment).

One of my favorite non re-uniting moments was between Ben and Hurley. We are led to believe that Hurley and Ben ruled the island together for quite some time. I adore this. Hurley has always been the heart of the show, the guy who points out the crazyness and tries to make sense of it all. He has been the audience voice for quite some time. It was fitting that Jack would make him the new leader if he didn’t survive. I would absolutely LOVE to see a Hurley/Ben spin-off but I digress. In my head, Ben and Hurley ruled the island with compassion, and both eventually left and passed the torch on. I don’t think my theory is far off.

The End was about Jack letting go, and being together with all of his loved ones after he did. They all died at some point, but I’d like to think Kate, Sawyer, Miles and Desmond all lived post-Island lives. I loved that Jack was able to see the plane fly off the island. There are fans/critics on both sides of the spectrum. Some people really hated the episode, or hated the last part of it. They wanted answers to every question. I knew that I wasn’t going to be told the purpose of the entire island and their whole journey. Whatever reason Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse would give us at this point would probably seem contrived. We all have our theories, and I think that’s the way it’s meant to be. As cheesy as this might sound, in my head, it was magic. Not the entire island and all the things that come with it, but the non-coincidental meeting of all these strangers, and time travel and where their lives eventually led them, is magic in my eyes. Because every week, I was given a chance to escape into this world of the unknown. And I am so thankful for that. Perhaps the purpose of the island was to give each person who was on it a real purpose in life. Jack didn’t die alone (I mean he did have Vincent), he came together in the end with all the people that cared about him.

Afterlife, limbo, purgatory, crazy Man In Black, Smokey, flash sideways, flash forward and back into the 70s, each character ended up with who they were supposed to be with, and in such a great way. (Also, any sighting of Ian Somerhalder on my TV is naturally a great one). Damon Lindelof posted on Twitter last night “Remember. Let go. Move on. I will miss it more than I can ever say.” Wise words from the show’s co-creator. I don’t know that I want to let go and move on right away, but I know I will miss it. For those upset that all their questions weren’t answered, were they ever in the entire 6 seasons? The show is at its core about faith, and that’s why it was such a fitting ending. Have faith that these 6 seasons had meaning and have faith that the creators knew what they were doing. Lost has provided some great and interesting discussion over the last 6 years, and I know it won’t end now. “The End” was a perfect tribute to characters I will sorely miss.

Critics are going to pick apart the season and the finale and overanalyze and I suppose that’s acceptable. I think they might want to listen to Damon’s words though. Was the entire series perfect? Of course not. But the finale was, and that’s all I hoped for. I am considering re-watching from start to finish to pick up on more implications and if I saw any of this coming. For right now, I just want to say thank you. Thank you, Lost, for transporting me to another world week after week and for ending things in such a great way. People may be hating the church scene but to me, it was like the goodnights of “Saturday Night Live.” Everyone appears on stage while music plays and they hug and wave goodbye. I realize that these two shows cannot be compared (but maybe it’s no coincidence that Damon is a huge SNL fan) but the end scene was a chance for everybody to let go and say goodbye. And after two and a half hours and lots of shed tears, we got our happy ending.

I want to hear your thoughts! What did you think? Did you love it? Hate it? Tell me your theories.

Elizabeth Mitchell is one of those actresses that has a way of drawing you in. On Lost, Juliet became such a beloved character that I would venture to say was probably just as popular as the Oceanic 6. She now plays Erica Evans on V, where she doubles as an FBI Agent and a leader of the 5th Column (the resistance movement against the Vs). Whatever the role she takes on, Elizabeth Mitchell is just brilliant. I recently had the chance to speak with her and we talked about the upcoming Erica/Anna showdown, the similarities and differences between Erica and Juliet and her favorite moments from filming Lost. (We even chatted a little bit about our golden retrievers!) And while she could share next to nothing about the way Lost ends, we talked about her time there and if she was happy with the way her story ended.

What originally drew you to the role of Erica?
Well, it’s actually really interesting because since I was a little kid, I wanted to play kind of a sci-fi hero protagonist woman. And that really was it. That was the initial draw, and it was basically kind of a childhood wish fulfillment — that sort of thing. Because that’s what I watched, and that’s what I love. And then as I started getting into it and my character started getting more interesting, I was like “Cool, okay this is cool.” So that’s what initially drew me to it. Actually, honestly that was it. I thought it would be a really unique and interesting way to spend my time. And I thought it would be really fun. I had been doing such deep, dark stuff, I thought that taking a little kind of a popcorn movie would be great. Not of course realizing that once I joined it, she would become twisted and dark. (laughs) But you know, that’s just me, that’s what I tend to do.

Well, I like it!
Good, I’m glad. Thank you!

What do you think makes V different from Lost or any other shows you have been on?
Well Lost was really its own world, and so completely unique in the way they went about doing things. Because of Damon, I think, and his tricky little intricate mind. But I actually think that V for me is different because it’s an action-adventure sci-fi show. Whereas Lost was really — I guess you could call it sci-fi, but it was really just this unique hybrid of all kinds of wonderful things. But I just think V is kind of — or what I was hoping for at least — was kind of a shoot-em-up, sci-fi, us-against-them kind of thing and of course, it’s turned into all kinds of wonderful murky shades of gray which is even more interesting, really. Those were my kind of hopes. I kind of wanted to be Han Solo, you know, that kind of thing. So we have one of those now. I think I really do best as the kind of tortured critter who walks around trying to figure everything out. (laughs)

Erica is very suspicious of the Vs for good reason. Do you think the 5th Column is going to gain more followers as the show goes on?
I do think they will, and a lot of it has to do with faith. The whole show I think — it’s so funny, people went political with it, which I thought was great, because I love hearing what people think about things. But to me, it’s all about faith — blind faith for them. It’s about having faith in something. And really, the faith is here, but the Vs are bad. You know, there’s only been a few instances that she can actually pinpoint to say this is true. But her overall feeling is one of such tremendous evil coming her way that she’s taking it on faith that that’s what this is and she’s doing everything she can to stop it. So I believe more and more people will start to feel that way, and things will start to get scarier and scarier. And of course, we as the audience know that Anna is up to no good. But as far as the human race goes, she’s pretty good on paper, as they say. (laughs)

What don’t we know about the Vs that we might find out soon?
Well, I mean, the fact that Anna has all those teeth is pretty cool. I guess we’re going to find out a little bit about the baby which is super super cool. And I think that’s going to be really fun. That’s something I didn’t get to see that I just read about. So I’m very excited to see how the Val and Ryan thing goes.

Yeah, the baby with the tail.
Yeah! How cool is that?! I think we’re going to find out more about what their agenda is, and what their capabilities are. And a little bit more about what they possibility might need from us, and why can’t she just take it peacefully? Why do they have to take it with such force? Obviously, they want something from us that we’re not really willing to give up, or else they wouldn’t be so sneaky about it. I mean, I don’t think Anna’s being sneaky just to be sneaky, that’s just a waste of time. But you never know. (laughs)

And talk a little bit about Erica’s relationship with her son, Tyler. Is she ever going to talk some sense into him?
No I know! It’s really funny, because I was just reading one kind of little review which I don’t usually do because I feel like it can get in your head a little bit. But there’s a couple people that I read, and I’m like “Oh, okay,” because they usually have a pretty good understanding. And one of them was like, “And then he put on the jacket. And that’s getting old!” And I thought well, it is actually, if you think about it. So I don’t think it’s the jacket that keeps her from talking to him, I think it’s the fact that if he knew, and he’s such a kid, I don’t believe he would make good choices with his knowledge, if that makes any sense. I think that any more knowledge that he has, puts him in more danger. And she’s just, she’s completely lost. But I love their relationship. It’s such a teenager relationship. He’s just a long streak of misery. And she basically kind of puts up with it. She’s obviously not a good mother. I mean, anyone who comes home and downs three fingers of vodka is probably not a good mom. (laughs)

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As opposed to my Best of the Decade list which contained moments and episodes from the decade, this list will be less extensive because I didn’t want to limit myself to 5 best shows of 09. Keep in mind, this is in no particular order!

1.  Parks and Recreation: I did not enjoy this show in its first season. It was always all about “the pit” and getting rid of the pit. I adore Amy Poehler, but her role seemed a bit too Michael Scott-esque to me. However, whatever happened during the off-season was fantastic. Season two has been hilarious. The pit has taken a secondary role, and each character has had a chance to develop and grow. I didn’t care for Andy in the first season, but he has become one of my favorites. I think this show deserves a ton of recognition for really stepping up its game. It is a show I look forward to every week.

2. Lost: This past season has been phenomenal. Time changing, Dharma goodness, Hurley’s hilarious questions…it’s all been great. The creators are brilliant, and I have faith that they know exactly what they are doing and that the series finale is going to blow our minds.

3. How I Met Your Mother: This year has had such great episodes as The Playbook and The Front Porch (I will never forget how hard I laughed at suitjamas). While this show can have its up and downs, every episode makes me happy. And any excuse to watch Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris) wax poetic about his “bro code” and “lemon laws” is great in my opinion.

4. The Office: Season 5 started off (in ’08) with the Jim and Pam proposal, and ended on a pregnancy. And season 6 had one of the best episodes of The Office ever with the Jim/Pam wedding. It was perfect in so many ways–hilarious but also showed us what we have been wanting for 6 years. I may have watched the boat scene upwards of 10 times. The show is at its best truly brilliant, and it has been a great season thus far. I can’t wait to see more.

5. Party Down: This show on Starz Network has garnered quite a following for itself. Created by Rob Thomas (of Veronica Mars fame) it stars many of his VM colleagues, and is truly fantastic. It is a hilarious and wonderful portrayal of a catering company in Los Angeles, and its employees who clearly want to be more than just cater waiters. It returns for a 2nd season in 2010, where Kristen Bell will be back, and Megan Mullally joins the cast. This is a show you must see! Catch up with it on DVD before season 2 begins.

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