Yesterday, 16 students and I embarked on an excursion to see the newest revival of Leonard Berstein and Stephen Sondheim's West Side Storyat the Palace Theatre on Broadway. The highlight of the show was the iconic, timeless and exquisitely performed reproduced choreography by Jerome Robbins. From this dancer's perspective, it's the main attraction of this new production. This show is not perfect so I won't reinvent the wheel by pointing out all of the technical flaws and numbers in which the vocal performances left something to be desired...but you can read all about them here. On a positive note, the lighting, staging and sets were great.
Unfortunately, Karen Olivo (above, center) did not perform the matinee. I was eager to see why she earned the Tony Award for her Anita. At the end of the day, a good time was had by all.
By the way, run to the nearest McDonald's and get yourself a caramelfrappewhich we enjoyed on the way back to school.It's right up there with Starbucks's frappacino. Seriously...take it from a certified foodie.
SOMEONE who shall remain nameless had two in a row!
A LOST recap: What a fitting occasion for my 100th post!
This was one crazy episode. The end is so near yet it seems so far what with everything that went on tonight:
Involuntary Pact
So according to Claire, what the Samauri and Jacob said is true in that once MIB talks to you, you're under his command. Is there any more "free will" once MIB has said "Hello?"
Interconnectedness
We witnessed several run-ins back in LA: Sawyer and Kate, Desmond and Claire, Ben and Locke, Jack and Claire, Sawyer and Sayid. I think this is the most of any one episode so far.
Whidmore wants Desmond back!
To what lengths will Whidmore go to retrieve Desmond from MIB? We know Desmond is of great value to Whidmore after the electromagnetic experiment.
Oh snap, it's Ilana and she looks great!
Last week she blew herself up. This week she's presiding over Christian Shephard's will.
The interesting thing here is that back on the island as well as in LA, she has some involvelment in bringing Jack and Claire together.
Leadership
It's weird to see Jack out of a leadership position.
Sawyer thinks quickly on his feet and pulls a plan together.
MIB seems to be making snap decisions...all in an effort to get on the Ajira plane.
The question is, did MIB know Sawyer made that plan to gather the Losties and take the boat to the sub?
Sawyer's plan seems just too crazy to work...
Sayid OK what's up with this guy? He was used by Ben as a sharpshooting hitman back in season 4 and now he's being used by MIB.
I wonder if his evil side is somehow at war with any sanity he may have left?
Sawyer
His humor and sarcasm are at a high...the Burt Reynolds comment about Lapidus and attributing Claire's transformation to "drinking Locke's kool aid." LOL
???
Will evil crazy jungle Claire thwart Sawyers plan?
Did Sayid kill Desmond?
OK this is very Harry Potter-esque. Is it Kate's true love that heals Claire and makes her put the gun down?
OK is this the only office building in LA? Everyone's there!
It's too quiet on this boat. Is something about to go down?
Jack
Jack's leadership and reasoning returns! He makes a lot of sense with his rationale to literally jump ship a-la Sawyer out of the helicopter because MIB probably doesn't want any of them to stay. What if he doesn't leave the island? And can any of the Losties be killed if they're on the list?
Sun and Jin
Sun's resilient baby survived the shooting.
Oh snap, seeing Jin cured Sun's English problem!
Who else thought the pylons were on and would harm Jin and Sun???
What a heartfelt reunion... [Although this moment does not rival the emotional impact of the Desmond/Penny phone call in The Constant from season 4.]
Hydra Island
Zoe, aka Evil Tina Fey has orders to detain the Losties while Whidmore's cronies try and blow up MIB from afar. OMG Whidmore is not playing with his long range bombs. There has got to be a Whidmore/Ben showdown coming up. The series should not end without one good face off between these two.
Next Steps
Will the question about the original Losties' mortality be answered in the next couple of episodes?
Hopefully not.
How will Desmond play into all of this?
Is the submarine even still there and is it in operable condition?
Does Zoe have orders to kill them all?
Does Whidmore value the Losties as much as he values Desmond?
What will happen next week?
Check out the latest cryptic trailer for next week's episode, "The Candidate:"
OK so Ms. Hristodoulou convinced me to make these so I'll be bringing them tomorrow.
Thanks again for the spanikopita by the way.
Ms. Moore and I were talking about the idiosyncrasies that go along with baking and how it's the luck of the draw with cupcakes...Sometimes they come out like muffins.
I mean, there are some non-negotiables, like ensuring that your butter, eggs and other wet ingredients are room temperature. Then there's baking time. In any case, drop by 239 to get yourself a cupcake. Last time they were gone by 3rd period.
[I am DVR'ing the season 2 premiere of Glee in another room.]
Finally, back to the island!
So we start with Dr. Candle narrating a biography of Hurley at a man of the year dinner.
Aww, it's Libbys grave. Hugo goes to have a talk with her letting her know everything that's been going on.
So we already know that Michael is dead since he comes to talk to Hurley, but is it him or MIB? I think it's MIB because when Isabella spoke with Hurley, she warned him and Richard that MIB must never leave the island.
By now we know this is just MIB trying to thwart the plan to blow up the Ajira plane.
Now I'm starting to think maybe Hugo wasn't crazy after all, he just had the ability to talk to dead people.
Oh snap, there'll be an appearance by Libby per the opening credits.
Is her name supposed to be Rosalita?
OK, good job of beating the audience to the punch not only with "Cynthia Watros" in the credits but the Rosalita thing that Hurley says.
Libby revealed that they know each other somehow...such as from the island.
Ilana said she's been training her whole life for protecting the candidates who may replace Jacob.
OH SNAP, Ilana went and blew herself up Dr. Artz style !!!
Sawyer's getting tired of Sayid and his covert operations.
Hurley found Ilana's bag of ash.
I'm disappointed and sad to see Ilana go. I thought she would somehow be connected to the ancient timeframe of the island, namely around when the staute was built. Bummer.
Back in LA, Desmond's on his mission to gather the 815 passengers. He tracks down Hurley in the middle of a depression-triggered fried chicken binge. Hurley's chance meeting with Libby is aligned with the whole other life thing.
MIB asked Desmond about Whidmore's intentions and is taking Desmond to "see something."
Love Ben's candor about how Ilana died. Again, this is what the audience is thinking.
Oh snap, Hugo blew up the Black Rock. It was a priceless antique!
Hugo tells Myles that [dead] Michael told him to blow up the plane.
Myles is experienced with talking to the dead. Hopefully he will inform Hurley that maybe every dead person isn't who you think they are, or were.
Hurley buys himself some time, literally, with Libby. She says that in her memory she was a survior in a plane crash and they liked each other.
This is similar to Charlie, Desmond and Penny from last week.
Libby says she's at the mental hospital voluntarily. She and Hurley plan a date. What would Eloise think of this?? She would probably would be very upset such as when she didn't want Desmond pursuing Penny.
Oh snap, it's young Jacob appearing in the bushes again! MIB angrily tells Desmond to ignore the boy.
Let's see if Hurley passes Richard's test to prove that he's talking to Jacob. Nope.
Ben and Myles go with Richard. Jack and Sun go with Hurley. Hurley looks like he was lying about being directed by Jacob. They're going to talk to MIB who will try to either kill them or turn them evil.
I am wondering how Sawyer has managed not to be turned evil up until this point.
Oh snap, Sun still can't speak English.
Hurley admitted he didn't see Jacob and Jack says he knows. Jack is remorseful over Juliette's death. Jack is finally taking a back seat with the whole leadership piece. Wow.
Hurley says he knows what the whispers are.
I think Michael is lying...saying the whispers are people who are stuck on the island and "can't move on." This better not be the writers' idea of a big reveal! Because that would suck. WHAT ABOUT WHEN THE OTHERS APPEAR RIGHT AFTER THE WHISPERS FROM THE LAST FIVE SEASONS???
OH SNAP!! Hurley saw flashes from their life on the island together when Libby kissed him...and Desmond was watching the whole time.
MIB was going to show Desmond a well he describes as "very old."
MIB asks Desmond why he isn't afraid...
Desmond says "What is the point of being afraid?"
MIB pushes Desmond down the well which I saw coming a mile away.
Hurley and the crew show up at MIB's camp.
Hurley's innocence is priceless.
I don't think we've seen the last of Desmond.
Why does MIB look so pissed at Jack?
In the parallel universe, Desmond runs over Locke as Locke wheels himself from Dr. Linus's school.
Huh??????
I enjoyed this episode better than last week's. I know lots of people thought last week was totally awesome. Next weeks episode is entitled "The Last Recruit" and it looks like it's gonna be INSANE! Can't wait.
It's very interestingthat they chose to show a flash of Sun's note asking Lapidus "Did we make a mistake?" in reference to going with Hurley.
Well if you don't know by now, LOST is the best show ever!
So I've been so busy with work plus my afterschool GED job and rehearsals for the play coming up, I didn't blog about this episode in a timely manner. So here goes:
After last week's episode in which we learned that Desmond was The Package, it only made sense that this one would be Desmond-centric. The twists and turns were aplenty in relation to the parallel timelines and what would have happened had 815 never crashed.
So some poor dude gets killed in the first few minutes when Whidmore insists on trying out his huge crazy flux capacitor electromagnetic thingamajiggy. Desmond is able to withstand the force and we get our episode...one in which he never met Penny, is a valued employee of Mr. Whidmore and Whidmore is married to none other than Eloise Hawking. Well, that would make her Eloise Whidmore.
And get this, Daniel Faraday, who is in turn Daniel Whidmore is their son. Daniel tells Desmond that Penny is his "half sister." What's that all about? This was definitely an episode that brought more questions than answers for me. Maybe I was tired when I watched or it was the anxiety of returning to work after a week and a half off...
Interesting points:
Charlie is released from jail into Desmond's care and tries to commit murder-suicide when Desmond sees a flash of "Not Penny's Boat" on Charlie's hand as he's trying to get Charlie out of the car. How they filmed such a comprehensive scene underwater I do not know. What a great show.
In the flash sideways, Desmond is Whidmore's right hand man, even drinking the very expensive scotch that Whidmore once told Desmond he was worth less than.
Whidmore doesn't seem to have a good handle on his mission. The question still lingers as to whether he's more interested in apprehending MIB or Ben. Or both?
Desmond survives the electromagnetic contraption and wakes up ready, willing and able to assist Whidmore with whatever his mission is only to be ambushed by Sayid who thwarts the game plan.
So that should make for a very good episode next week. But it's a Hugo-centric episode so we'll just have to wait and see what happens. It's sure to follow the lottery winning storyline, but will Hugo still be plagued by bad luck? In episode 4, he appeared to be A-OK, even describing himself as "the luckiest man alive." Will the bad luck start after 815 lands safely?
Desmond introduces himself to Penny who agrees to meet with him for coffee, but Eloise warned him not to pursue any visions he's been having because he's "not ready yet." Who knew she would be so central to how this is all wrapping up when we first met her as the proprietor of the pawn shop in London? Funny thing is, even then, she was trying to stop him from going any further with Penny.
Finally, Desmond is now going to try and gather up everyone from 815 and try to make sense out of what's happening to them.
Moving on:
The next few episodes should be jam packed with content, more answers and clues towards the finale. Episode 12 is titled "Everybody Loves Hugo." Can't Wait. LOST is the best show ever!
