Watching LOST for the First Time (Part 2.5)

Finished the first four eps of Season 3.  Will have more insights later.

Just a quick comment to make:

I HEART JULIET.  She is so badass and awesome and you totally know she's secretly tortured, but not in an annoying Kate way.  Not to mention, I don't even know why, but even though she totally emotionally tortures Jack in his little prison cell, I ship Jack/Juliet hard.  Maybe because they're both doctors.  Maybe because blondes look better with brunettes.  But probably because she's the first female character who manages to be both strong and sympathetic without venturing into being bitchy or self-indulgently emotional.  She's a woman, not simply a girl/love interest, and that's incredibly refreshing.

I know I shouldn't get attached to characters on this show after only four episodes, but I HEART HER, you guys!  And I know she's totally going to break my heart with her covert evilness with The Others.

P.S.  CHARLIE.  THAT MULLET.  TAKE CARE OF IT.  NOW.  PLZ THNX.

Watching LOST for the First Time (Part 2)

Just finished Season 2.

SPOILERS, obvi.

1.  Killing Everyone.  Seriously.  It feels like it's becoming a way to a) crudely shock the audience and b) keep the monstrous cast budget down.
2.  Charlie.  First of all, Mr. Eko/Charlie is totally Locke/Boone v. 2.0, only without Boone's beautiful eyes.  This does not bode well for Charlie.  What also doesn't bode well for Charlie?  Is that they seem to be confused about who he is.  He's a good guy or a bad guy depending on what the episode necessitates.  I found his almost creepy fatherly instincts cute, but after what he did to Sun, how can you really root for him and Claire?  Yeah, yeah, he threw out his heroin and started buildin a church, but his moments of goodness are always contrasted with relapses into vindictiveness.
3.  Jack's Dad.  I kind of love him and the fact that he is in practically every character's flashback.  He's such a boozy old man with such drunken angst!
4.  Ana-Lucia.  Moment she had sex with Sawyer to get his gun?  Loved her.  Still iffy on her emotional past, but her uneasy relationship with leadership on the Island was actually compelling.
5.  Sayid.  IS A BAMF.  Seriously.  He can always tell if someone's lying.  HE DUG UP A GRAVE TO PROVE HIS POINT.  I love him.  Almost a ridiculous amount.
6.  The Hatch/Button.  I like that the spiritual/sci-fi aspect of it is being toned down by a touch of realism with the energy reboots or whatever it is to explain the plane crash.  Also, I like the idea of having to find all the hatches to complete the Dharma puzzle.  It feels like a video game.  I mean, I doubt when all is said and done the "Dharma mystery" will have a satisfying conclusion (it already feels hokey), but it's okay for now.
7.  Michael/Walt.  Did the show not realize the kid was going to grow up a lot faster than the time passing on the island or something?  I mean, how can you spend so much time developing a kid who can summon birds or appear wherever and then just send him away?  I also hated how they completely vilified Michael's character with the killing.  It was unnecessary and felt out-of-character.  His super-crazy killing spree didn't feel earned.  Also, WHERE'S THE WALT/VICTOR REUNION?!
8.  Mr. Eko/Locke.  All of a sudden the show went from "lalala MAGIC ISLAND lalala" sort of philosophy into "SPIRITUALITY OOOH OHHH".  I don't know how I feel about this, but I've started to like Mr. Eko's utter awesomeness more than Locke's emotional meandering, so Eko might win me over to his side of parables, but we'll see.
9.  The Others.  Don't really get what the point of a spirit-gumed beard is.  Seriously sounds like too much effort to scare a bunch of rag-tag plane survivors.  Love the twist that Henry is the leader of them.  Also really enjoying the conflicted loyalties of Rousseau's daughter and I hope a reunion between mother and daughter is on the horizon.
10.  Desmond.  He has an accent, a star-crossed love (whose father is Alan Dale + accent!), and a tortured backstory.  He's totes cute.  He's coming back next season, right?  Like they'd actually kill someone in a non-senseless way.
11. Libby. SHE WAS CRAZY.  SHE OWNED A BOAT.  SHE HAD TONS OF HAIR CUT/DYE ISSUES.  Why didn't we get a flashback episode for her?  Also, how wasteful was it for her to encourage Hurley to destroy all that food?  Also, hypnosis.  Would not go to her if I needed therapy.
12.  Jack/Kate.  Is it just me, or do they make each other blander?  They're the LOST version of Finn/Rachel:  interesting when you take them apart, but together just a vacuum of boring, forced "chemistry".

Watching LOST for the First Time (Part 1)

I figure since most of you who have planned to watch LOST have already seen it, it might be fun(ny) to hear my thoughts of it as I'm in the throes of watching it for the first time.  You can laugh at what's wrong in my analysis or smile at thoughts that used to occur to you back in the day.  Or you can just be like, "Girl, stop ranting."  Any and all.
 
I just finished 2x12 "Fire + Water".

SPOILERS, obviously, if you haven't seen the series.

1.  Boone/Shannon.  My roommate said it best when she noted that "It's like they walked off the set of a CW show."  The thing is, either character on its own would have a compelling arc.  The wealthy son who has always gotten everything through nepotism on a quest to prove himself by his own merits alone?  The rich bitch learning to care about others and give back?  Both tried and true archetypes that have a lot to play with.  What brought it down was the creepy incest and the fact that together they brought the show down to teen drama level.  While I'm glad the show realized their mistake with these characters and took care of it (read: killed them off), I almost wish they had tried a little harder to fix their mistake instead of taking the easy way out.
2.  Jack/Kate/Sawyer.  First of all, I don't really like Kate.  She's sort of this very blank character who is inexplicably good at everything.  Most of all, I can't really appreciate her relationship with Jack.  Is it just me, or is it totally obvious that Kate and Sawyer should be together?  Kate has all these weird Daddy issues and from her backstory, she seems like a girl who wants to want a good guy, but always screws it up and ends up with a bad boy.  While Kate and Sawyer compliment each other--two people with a tragic family past that put them on the run--Jack is too lofty, too sensitive.  I think Jack, with his saving people complex, wants to fix her, but I think he can do better.
3.  Charlie/Claire.  STOP BEING CRAZY, CHARLIE.  You and Claire need to be cute in your makeshift family!  (Although I totally get how creeped out Claire is by Charlie's investment in her.  I think that might have been a little overdone.)
4.  Hurley. Needs to cut his hair and shave his side-burns pronto.
5.  Jin/Sun.  LOVE THEM.  Their backstory is still a little iffy for me (there are still holes in the development and degradation of their relationship), but now they've been reunited and they're totally functional working out their problems and being all in love again.  Plus Sun is easily my favorite female character and Daniel Dae Kim, despite his weird Alien face, has fantastic abs.  I LOVE FUNCTIONAL COUPLES, leading me to
6.  Rose/Bernard.  Yeah, it was only for a minute or so, but I was teary-eyed when they were finally reunited.
7.  The Hatch/Button.  Haven't decided if I think it's completely silly or an interesting twist.  I guess it depends on where they go with this Dharma thing.
8.  The Others.  I still don't get them.  I don't think you're supposed to, but they're scary all the same.  I want to know what they're doing with Walt.  I also want Walt and Victor back together.  It's about time for some answers.
9.  Sayid.  Is totally competent and I love him.
10.  Mr. Eko.  Is totally competent and I love him.
11.  Locke.  Wavers between between being existentially awesome and judgmentally annoying.
12.  Ana-Lucia.  I really didn't like her when she was introduced, but she's settled better with our survivors, so I might like her more now that she's not emotionally crazed and vindictive.
13.  Smoke Monster.  Oh, CGI.  You are your own greatest enemy.
I'm sure I've forgotten some thoughts, but I'll have more entries as I get further into the show.