SueTube – Let’s talk TV with critic Susan Young

J.J. Abrams has long professed his love of “The Twilight Zone” and, while he didn’t write this week’s episode, you knew this had to have his stamp of approval.

Creator Damon Lindelof has said that some characters only exist to serve other characters, and that seems to be the fate of Nikki and Paulo.

On one hand, we had the little “Zone” homage about how this wicked couple pays dearly for their crimes. On the other, we have another view of the events that have unfolded since the crash.

But what I thought was the most significant scene was between Ben and Juliet in the hatch, monitoring Jack and plotting how to get Jack to do the surgery on Ben.

Paulo knew that Jack, Kate and Sawyer would be kidnapped by The Others. Interesting.

Nikki stumbles out of the jungle, falling down in front of Sawyer and Hurley

In any event, the episode ended in typical “Twilight Zone” fashion with the two getting buried alive – a just punishment for two murderers.

And now we’ll find out how Sawyer, and Charlie, will pay for their role in kidnapping Sun after Charlie confessed all to Sun.

Sun slaps Sawyer after finding out he is the one who kidnapped her.

Next week, Sawyer gets slapped with the reality of being selfish, while Kate and Juliet spend some quality time together.

The week after, Jack returns to the Lost tribe and brings Juliet with him.

I don’t trust Juliet, and I think she’s still playing a game on Jack with the help of Ben. But maybe that’s just me.

Let’s discuss.

I’ll get this out of the way right now: I’m enjoying “Lost” again, but “Heroes” is still my fav.

And why, you might ask?

Because on Monday, “Heroes” managed to cover so much territory, yet it never bogged down and never seemed crowded. And by the end, questions were answered and more questions popped up.

First, we get chills knowing Malcolm McDowell, Mr. Clockwork Orange himself, is the mysterious Linderman. We also discover that Mama Petrelli not only knows about her cheerleader granddaughter, but may have engineered her escape.

We also learned that good Ali Larter can sometimes overpower bad Ali Larter.

And just how cool was it when Ando came to save the day for Hiro? Or when Mohinder confronted Sylar when we all thought he was fooled – only to have the tables turned on Mohinder?

But the juiciest part for “Felicity” fans was seeing delightful Ian Gomez as Linderman’s curator.
You go, Javier Clemente Quintata!

Next week, Sylar and Peter face off in a fierce battle.

Which leads us to tonight’s episode of “Lost” and what-have-we-learned.

We got a little bit of frolickin’ fun on the beach, with Sawyer getting shut down on the nicknames. Luckily, it will just be for a week.

But more importantly, we learned that The Others aren’t from the Dharma Initiative, that The Others were on the island before Dharma and that the “Lost” writers sometimes feel like they have to hit us over the head with certain images.

Like the kitty-cat.

Yep, we saw the long, lingering shot of the cat when Sayid approached the house. We saw it again when the cat scratched the hidden trap door, tipping off Sayid as to where another Other was hiding. And we saw it again on the lap of the woman Sayid tortured in his flashback.

So did we HAVE to show the puddy-tat one more time as Sayid left the blown-up island building?

We get it. Cat significant.

Oh, and there are horses and cows on the island. And eye-patch guy isn’t all that nice.

Still, a good show and one I’ll be watching until the end.

Oh, and I loved the whole nickname bit with Sawyer, but my favorite line was when he said to Nikki (Kiele Sanchez) “Who the hell are you?”

Who indeed.

Berkeley native Rebecca Romijn has joined the cast of “Ugly Betty” as the mysterious woman behind the amsk who has been plotting to take over Mode Magazine.

We’re happy that Rebecca has joined a good show and that the uneven WB series “Pepper Dennis” is behind her. We think she’ll sparkle as the beauty with the heart of a beast.

And for those looking for a mini-poster for home/office, we offer this:

It was supposed to be a crazy ender, a tantalizing episode that would blow the roof off what we know about “Lost” and propel us into a new exciting season picking up next February.

Did anyone else feel the need to stifle a yawn?

Yes, it was interesting that Kate was married to the “Serenity” captain – Nathan Fillion – and that he was a Florida cop. She went by the name of Monica and, when she realized she was still a gal on the lam, she drugged him and ran away with their honeymoon Oceanic Airlines tickets.

She’s bounced back from that heartache, however. We know this because Sawyer and Kate consummate their relationship on this mini-season ender.

Sadly, Jack had to see the post-nookie snuggle on a bank of monitors.

Yet Jack grew a set of huevos this episode to buy freedom for Kate and Sawyer. Or at least, that’s what he thinks he’s buying when he barters Henry Gale/Ben Linus’ life on the operating table.

We don’t know what we’re buying yet. But we do know that the “Lost” replacement “Day Break” just doesn’t cut it. “Criminal Minds” has always been a great show. Now, it might be my replacement show.

When “Lost” returns in February, the producers better amp up the action.

But in the meantime, here’s a few moments from last night’s “Lost.”

So my pal Jodie asked me this morning how she could find out where to buy Susan’s scrumptious little black dress from last night’s “Desperate Housewives.”

Turns out ABC has a great Web site where you can purchase not only featured clothes from the show, but also furnishing, paint and what-have-you.

And it’s not just “D.H.”

There’s a place on the site for almost every ABC series that allows you to dress, or decorate, like you were fresh off Wisteria Lane or hanging out at Seattle Grace.

Just go to the ABC store Web site pick out the Indigo clogs Lynnette wore to the store ($84.95, free shipping), or the Primp Bunny thermals Betty wore on “Ugly Betty,” (on sale! $54.99) or Meredith’s Theory Ivy Button Down Shirt from “Grey’s Anatomy” ($100).

Or you can see what Benjamin Moore paint color Susan uses. Or Bree’s Gloveables Pink Gingham Dish Gloves ($13.95).

It’s just all too much fun.

So we finally know for sure what the “monster” looks like: a big, angry black cloud.

What’s up with that?

We first spied the beast in Season 1, but it looked more like a shadow of something than a real something. Then, last season, there was the chilling encounter between Mr. Eko and the cloud when they came nose-to-nose.

But the cloud decided to attack tonight, just like it did when it killed the pilot in Season 1, snuffing out Mr. Eko. Eko whispered to Locke in his dying breath that Locke and the others were next.

(By the way, remember all the references to “black smoke” and its danger from Rousseau.)

Oh, and there was spooky eye-patch guy on the monitor in the Pearl hatch, who seemed to be peering back at the castaways.

But is all this enough to keep up the waning interest in “Lost”? Certainly, ABC must be regretting the decision to put in this “miniseries” instead of going full-bore through the month of November. “Lost” has been steadily bleeding viewers — viewers who apparently have moved over to CBS’ sophomore series “Criminal Minds.”
Next week is the final episode before “Lost” returns in February. In its place is the mind-numbing “Day Break.”

Win tickets to the Country Music Awards this Friday.

Yeah, yeah. We know it’s short notice. But, for those of you who are all doing things at the spur of the moment, here’s the moment and the spur to go along with it.

Answer these three trivia questions correctly and you’ll be included
in a random drawing for VIP tickets to the Country Music Awards held
Friday, Nov. 3 in Nashville.

You’ll have to provide your own transportation and lodging, but the tickets are valued at $350 a piece. If you don’t win, or can’t go, you can watch the CMA Awards at 8 p.m. Monday on ABC-Channel 7.

1. Who was Kenny Chesney married to for about half a minute?

2. What two Dolly Parton songs earned Oscar nominations?

3. What country singer currently stars in the movie “Flicka”?

Send your answers, along with your name, address and phone number to
syoung@angnewspapers.com. The drawing will be held at 3 p.m. Oct.
31, and tickets will be shipped overnight to the winners.

Good luck!

Last night was really strange, because I just finished watching “America’s Next Top Model” and switched over to “Lost.”

Except I didn’t think it was “Lost.”

It looked more like “Desperate Housewives.” I actually thought I was watching the wrong channel for a few moments, so I was kind of out of it at the beginning.

But it seemed to confirm that there was some sort of atmospheric disruption just before the plane crashed down.

I think the plane did breech some sort of electro-magnetic field. Remember the field went down when Desmond didn’t punch in the numbers?
What happens now with no one punching in numbers?

I have to say it feels a little odd being with The Others. It was creepy to watch Kate have to shower and slip into a sun dress before meeting with Henry Gale/Ben on the beach.

But did you notice the glass dome the camera lingered on? It covered Kate’s breakfast. Come on, how many meals come in a glass cover???

Ok, maybe that’s a reach.

And what’s up with the zoo? And the kid in the zoo? And Sawyer (and now Kate) in the zoo?

Anyway, I’m not sure I want to be away from the core Lost group for as long. I’m only mildly interested in the Others. Some people think that The Others are the children of the original Dharma people, because those people would be much older than the people we are seeing on the island.

Then we have Jack obsessing on his former wife’s boyfriend. The producers have mentioned several times that his identity might be an important story point. But is it?

Jack sure seems to think so. But I got SICK of hearing Jack go on and on about it last night.

And there were too many darn commercials!

Any thoughts?

“Lost” co-creator J.J. Abrams says he knows what “Lost” is and what it isn’t.

“It isn’t a puzzle before it’s a character piece. It’s not a sci fi series before it’s a character drama and an emotional drama,” Abrams says in a phone interview today. “A lot of people put the facade of what `Lost’ is and put it first. To me, while I would say it is (a sci-fi thriller), it’s almost an anthology. What’s going on in the flashbacks is about who these people are.”

Abrams says in Season Three, a whole new group of people get thrown into the mix. We assume he’s talking about The Others.

“(Copycat) shows like ‘Threshold’ or ‘Invasion,’ while they had great promise, were all happening in response to (the success of ‘Lost’),” Abrams says. “But (the success of ‘Lost’) wasn’t about genre, that was secondary. It’s all about what really makes Locke tick and what has Jin gone through.”

Abrams says the creative team knew even before the pilot was shot that there would be a hatch and there would be a man inside the hatch.

“It wasn’t clear that this man was going to be involved with the people or not,” Abrams says. “The beauty of a good idea of that you can explore different versions. It was clear where we wanted to go in short term (with Desmond), then we cast the actor. Now, wouldn’t it be cool if (we did certain things with that character). That’s the fun of series television, if you are lucky (enough to stay on the air), is to continue to make those decisions.”

“Lost” show runner Damon Lindelof was quoted as saying he thought the 1986 graphic novel, “Watchmen” was the greatest piece of popular fiction ever written.

Which, of course, made me want to track it down.

Then another producer, whom I could name but then he would have to kill me, kept telling me the key to everything was in an episode titled “Special.”

That’s the episode in which Walt is reading a Spanish language comic book that shows a polar bear and a glass dome sitting over what looks like an arctic area.

On the “Lost” season ender, men sitting at an ice station record a disturbance on their tracking device. They say they missed it the first time (When Flight 815 went down?) but they think they have found “him.”

They call their employer, who happens to be the girlfriend of Desmond. The men tracking Desmond are in a polar region.

Where polar bears live.

So again we ask, “Does this explain the polar bear in the first
season?”

“Well, the Arctic is the only place where polar bears live,” producer Carleton Cuse said in our interview last July. “And polar bears will be back this season.”

Which brings us back to that season-one episode titled “Special.”

Before dad Michael tosses it into the fire, Walt’s turning the pages and we see a polar bear and, later, a dome-like structure with electro-magnetic symbols around it. The dome is surrounded by snow.

The illustration style bears an uncanny resemblance to the ones in the Hugo Award (Hugo. Get it? Hurley???) winning “Watchmen.”

There are scenes in “Watchmen” that involve sharks circling a raft much like a scene on “Lost,” the 1980s computer screens looking for input with the blinking cursor, and a bank of TV screens monitoring people’s movements.

In “Watchmen,” one of the main characters is Ozymandias. Think of
the stone foot in the “Lost” season finale and consider Shelley’s
poem “Ozymandias” and the poem’s description of “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone.”

The comic book character Ozymandias thinks he needs to change the world by whatever means necessary.

(The Others always refer to themselves as the good guys.)

Ozymandias believes he knows what’s best for the world. He’s willing to do experiments on people (think about the injections on “Lost” and what it has done to some people), or even commit murder (Oh, where do we start on “Lost’?), for the greater good.

Namaste that, baby.

He also happens to have a getaway in the Antarctic: a dome with a tropical world inside.

And the graphic novel centers on good and bad, belief in your own
potential and using psychic powers to achieve the ultimate goal (Think about Walt’s psychic powers and what The Others said when they let him go: They got more out of him than they could have ever imagined.)

There’s also a lot of talk in “Watchmen” about mankind destroying the world either by damaging the environment or through nuclear war.

Could this be what “Lost” has in store?

Ah, so many layers.

Or just a lot more chain yanking.

To read the entire article on “Lost,” check out Sunday’s centerpiece in the Oakland Tribune/BANG Newspapers Bay Area Living section.