Tuesday, October 26, 2010

The Event: Season 1 Episode 6 - Loyalty

Hello Eventers!  Welcome back for another edition of Event Recapping.  Well, they went ahead and used the dreaded "A" word, didn't they?  I'm not really going to argue against it anymore but I will say that other theories floating around still may apply!  The episode itself was decent.  Some parts worked well, other parts....well....for me, some of the scenes that felt like they should be moving just seemed to fall flat.    But, for now, I'm going to try to not hold it against the show.  They moved the plot along, and it was nice seeing Sophia walking for a change instead of hanging out in a cell!   Let's head to the recap.

I guess this was the closest to a character-centric episode that we have seen so far.  We delved into the non-aging past of Simon Lee and also followed him in the current timeline as he tried to walk that fine line of helping the government, but helping his people at the same time.  Meanwhile, Sean and Leila catch up on what has happened since she was kidnapped and we get to some of those questions that we were wondering why they weren't asking!  Collier interrogates their captive, and the future newlyweds take a trip (yes, some traveling logistics hard at work again in this one!).    Time to dive in!

The Sean Walker Crew
Interrogating Carter
While Sean and Leila were catching each other up, Agent Collier spent some time with Carter trying to get some answers.  She really got no information, but some of his answers were interesting. 

  • He seemed pretty confident that she wouldn't be able to identify him by his finger prints.  My first instinct would tell me that he is a non-terrestrial.  2nd instinct would tell me that he just knows people in high places that have eliminated his identity.   And considering it would seem that this group is AGAINST the non-terrestrials for whatever reason, I have to go with option 2 for now.  But, who is to say there aren't 2 warring non-terrestrial factions here?  Autobots vs. Decepticons? Hey, why not? 
  • Carter is injured from his shot and fall to the ground so he and Collier seem to be playing a little game of chicken on who will cave first.  Ambulance vs. Answers. 
Sean and Leila
Sean and Leila have a chance to discuss everything that has happened over the past couple weeks.  Leila wants to know what has happened to her family.
  • First Sean explains the plane going from Miami to Arizona in seconds.   Sarah was finding it hard to swallow.  Don't worry we get to the bottom of things here as now we know what it felt like.  It felt like "SOMETHING" was moving them!   YES!!  Answers people!  (you know I'm kidding right?)
  • Sean then explains that some kind of "AIRCRAFT" were coming towards them and Leila's dad said they were not there to HELP them, so he ran to save her.   Interesting that he "some kind of aircraft".  I just thought they were helicopters.  Could Thomas have built a fleet of new-wave aircraft with his advanced technology background? 
  • Sean explains that the government is lying about the passengers and that is all he knew.  And of course, NOW he explains to her what happened to her mother.  Do we not think these conversations would have happened in the car ride to whatever motel they're staying at now?    Oh well, I know it's a TV show! 
  • So, Sean then has to break the news that Leila's mother was killed (he received the news via Michael Buchanan) and Samantha has been taken by the same people that took Leila.   This was scene #1 that was probably supposed to be pretty emotional.  And, I think it would have been if it happened RIGHT away instead of him waiting for Leila to ask the right question.  I know it had to be hard for Sean to bring it up and all of that.  But, it just seemed so contrived!  "What about my mom?  I tried calling her"  "um Leila, there is something I have to tell you."  And then maybe I would have been okay if Leila reacted in a way that was a little bit angry towards Sean from waiting so long to tell her.   But alas, like I said, just a TV show.  But I dunno, I expected more from a scene like this.  

  • Sarah spent like 5 seconds being upset about her mom and then moved on to Samantha.  Granted, in times of crisis, I'm sure you just gotta move on to who you CAN save.   
  • Leila, decides she wants some answers from Carter herself and goes in and starts demanding answers.  Carter again claims to know nothing.  Leila even goes as far as sticking her fingers into his leg wound Jack Bauer style!  He still ain't spilling.   Collier even demands the answer too.  Nothing. 

  • But Carter does mention that Leila should blame her father for everything.  He is no angel, they said.   Well what does that mean?  We find out soon enough.  
The Getaway
Sean and Leila have the usual TV fight of chivalry vs. the women's movement.  Sean wants to lock Leila away some place safe while he goes and plays hero.  Leila says, NO!  But then what happens next just boggles my mind.  Sean wants to clear his name and find Leila's dad and sister in the process and I'm sure he wants Collier's help in doing so.  So what do they do?  They decide to make a run for it, ditch Collier with Carter and take the car to Leila's parents house. 

  • Yes, Collier's ex-husband was coming to take Carter and put him in a secure location so someone is coming.  But WHAT???  They just left?  
  • And my favorite part of the scene is that the next immediate scene has them arriving at the Buchanan residence.  Now, last we knew they were in Texas.  I don't know where the Buchanan household is but I do know it was a 16 hour drive from wherever Sean and Leila went to college.  Are we going to assume that it was totally convenient that they were near Leila's house?   Or was this another case of an extended hours drive that happened in mere seconds on this crazy show?   I have to stop getting hung up on this stuff.  I have a feeling it will drive me insane on this show! 
  • So, while at the Buchanan house, they see the crime scene left pretty much untouched (minus the body of Leila's mom).  It's pretty grim.  But they head to Michael's office to find some evidence of why he might have been CHOSEN to fly that plane in Miami. 
  • They find some of Samantha's baby clothes and I think we're supposed to have another emotional moment. 
  • Then they find a folder full of some very interesting stuff in the attic.   Basically it all has to do with Alaska and possibly the Inostranka facility.  While they're looking into all of this, someone with a gun sneaks up behind them.  UH OH! 



Meet the Truth seeker?
The woman does not want Sean or Leila to read the file in their hands.  Sean shows another bid of heroism by luring her in to give her the file and then slamming her hand against the wall.  Yep, the hand with the gun.  Pretty gutsy move there Walker!   

  • Okay, so does everyone know there is a website sponsored by NBC and the writers of THE EVENT called truthseeker5314.com?  I have had it at the bottom of my site since the first week of the season, so maybe you saw it down there.  Anyway, there has been rumors that this person would make an appearance eventually on the show.  The person has been very interested in the cover-up of Flight 514.   Actually a pretty decent site.  I haven't followed it closely, but the times I have looked at it, it compliments the show very well.
  • Anyway, I think the fact that this woman, Madeline Jackson, is a former journalist and is ranting about a bunch of conspiracies and tells Leila that "I don't lie.  I never lie." ....it seems like they're hinting that she certainly is the Truth Seeker.  I think she even mentions she runs a website. 
  • Madeline is a bit loopy but she probably is on to some things.  2 years ago, apparently Michael Buchanan contacted her about a flight that he was piloting to Anchorage, Alaska.   Weather forced him to divert and by accident he stumbled upon the facility in Inostranka.    Michael had stumbled upon the site that Madeline had.  But the site has been wiped out of existence because "THEY" didn't want anyone to know about it.   Well, this truth seeker site has been updated recently so I guess it's not the same site she's talking about.  But it's too coincidental for it not to be related. 
  • Anyway apparently the forces that want this information secret are much more powerful than the government, according to Madeline.  Michael knew too much so they took him.  
  • She tried to avoid telling them the punchline to all of this but then gave up and told them that it's their funeral.  She explains the 1944 crash in Alaska, the detainees in a prison built "especially for them".  (maybe that's why they can't escape)    Then she says what they are:  EBEs - Extra-Terrestrial Biological Entities    And then the word we never thought they'd actually say on the show: ALIENS!!!! 


  • Okay, well they have peaked my interest enough in their story that the simple answer of Aliens has more complexity to it now.  So, I'm not disappointed.  One could say they told us as far back as episode 2 so this shouldn't be a surprise!  But, I think we still want to know where they came from and what they're doing on our planet, why they were wearing the 40's attire in 1945 if they were only trying to go home, etc...  And of course...what is THE EVENT!?
So now Sean and Leila know about the aliens.  How are they going to react to this information?  Are they going to meet back up with Collier or hang out with this nut with the answers?  Time will tell! 
 
Simon Lee's Back Story

So the story told in Simon's little backstory is all too relevant in the resurgence of Vampire stories in TVand Film.   The immortal falls in love with a mortal.  Well, this is a little bit of a twist on that story, thanks to Thomas!   

1954
I guess at some point after 1945, Simon went on to go and make a life for himself.   He changed his name to Mason and fell in love with a woman, Violet.  Interesting points. 


  • There is no water where Simon came from and he seems to love it.  Don't really know what to say besides that!  Seems important to note for future reference though. 
  • Thomas has found Simon once again.   He tells Simon it's time to move on.   It seems that the crew has been moving from one place to the next every so many years to not draw suspicion on the fact that they do not age.  Thomas is still on his power trip about being in charge of getting them home and tells Simon that it is not an option for him to stay.  He isn't even allowed to say goodbye to her.   

2000 (Ten Years Earlier from Present Day)
Simon and his buddy just finished their training in D.C. and are going to celebrate.   We find out Simon requested to be stationed in Alaska (at Inostranka).  But who else did he stumble upon but Violet, 46 years older than she was the last time. 


  • Why she is in a nursing facility in D.C. instead of California (where they she and "Mason" lived) is anyone's guess.  She is suffering from Alzheimers and Simon uses this to his advantage for his cover.  But clearly, he has not fallen "out of love" with this woman.  Violet cannot understand how he looks exactly the same as he did. 
  • He does visit her later with a Sunflower he had promised her nearly 50 years prior.  He apologizes for leaving and that if it were up to him he would have married her and had children with her.  She tells him that it WAS up to him.  OUCH!  

And thus we have a little story behind Simon's conflicting feelings for humans vs. helping his people vs. being allegiant to Thomas. 

Tracking Sophia

When last we left this story, the President had agreed to let Sophia go in exchange for an antidote for the Flight 514 passengers.  He also secretly stashed a tracking mechanism in Sophia's food which would remain in her bloodstream.   They were hoping it would lead them right to Thomas.   Enter SIMON. 
  • Simon informs Thomas of the issue and comes up with a plan of his own.  They lure Sophia to a coffee house and then Simon mixes in more of this tracking stuff into the Coffee Creamers and Flavors and what not.  Before we know it there are a couple dozen people being tracked instead of just Sophie.  Gotta admit, this move was pretty ingenius!  Of course, the fact that Simon didn't anticipate the consequences was kind of ridiculous. 



  • One of the Executive Branch goons figures out the fact that they have a leak when he notices some more of this tracking material missing.  Blake Sterling orders an immediate radiation test of all of Simon Lee's men including Simon. 

  • Simon tells the guy that he'll administer the test himself but Simon needed to be tested too.  Before you know it, he hits the guy over the head with the briefcase and stuffs him in a trunk.  COVER possibly blown! 

  • Simon informs Thomas and Thomas insists that it's time to "move on" again.  
  • Meanwhile, Blake and his crew have spotted Sophia on a traffic camera.  They eventually track her down to some warehouse which is where Simon is heading as well.  All of his men are a few minutes behind.
  • Sophia and Thomas have their first meeting in 66 years.  She says that they definitely need to talk about everything he has done but for the moment she is happy to see him.  It was hard to gauge in this moment if there is any romantic feelings or some kind of Sibling/Parental thing going on.  But it seems like there is some history there regardless.  Stay tuned! 

  • The building starts to fall apart and Thomas has already come up with a backup plan for their escape and heads for some kind of hatch.  Simon is catching up to them, but doesn't seem very thrilled at Thomas's plan.   Nor does Sophia.  Simon asks for Thomas to call it off and he says it's too late.  (call it off?  interesting)  Sophia tells Simon that he needs to come with them.  But, Simon, thinking about that other time he had to move on, refuses to do it one more time.  And it would seem he refuses to sacrifice the lives of all of these humans.   He runs back, calls for an evacuation of the building and helps some an injured agent escape with the help of his his friend from 10 years before.   The BLUE LIGHT, that we saw at the plane's disappearance is seen again as the building shakes.






  • Simon is able to get everyone to safety except for possibly himself and then we see the entire building collapse. 




We are left with Simon's friend yelling for him at the site of a large crater where a building and a hatch once was.  That crazy Desmond and his Failsafe key turning.  He never learns!! 
'


Yep, almost forgot my LOST reference this time around!  Sorry about that.  Anyway, that's all we have for this episode.   I know the recap made me seem like I didn't enjoy it.  I did enjoy it.  But, there are episodes where I find my eyes rolling more than others.  This was one of them.  With each episode that passes, I'm becoming pretty certain we're not dealing with an Emmy-caliber show here.  But, that doesn't stop it from being entertaining or from me wanting to know where it's going to go.  So, I'm on board for the foreseeable future.  Let's see where this ride takes us!   No episode next week folks, but we'll be back for an all new adventure on November 8th (already annoyed at NBC for what they showed in the previews but I won't talk about it to save from slightly spoiling).  I look forward to your comments and hope you enjoyed my ramblings as always.  See you in a couple weeks! 

END CREDITS
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Screen shots were provided courtesy of NBC, my TiVo and my Mac.     

32 comments:

Kelly said...

i think the recaps are better than the show, hahaha!
anyway, here are my two cents:
first off, HOORAY FOR MADELINE! sorry, i just love paula malcolmson :) she's on Sons of Anarchy right now (and so was hal holbrook, looks like he'll be in next week's episode of The Event, yay).. too bad she had to deliver to the news about the aliens though. ugh. but like you said, it was already hinted at so i guess it's not too bad.
and i totally had the same reaction with the whole drive to leila's house.. seriously? they just happened to get there that fast? and they left collier???? WTF?!?!
seriously, as much as people may have rolled their eyes and said, "COME ON!" when watching Lost, it's not half as bad as this show. i mean, at least they could always go the route of "hey, this is an island of mystery, of course this stuff could happen".. haha. i think the writers of The Event think we're dumber than we are.
the simon/mason storyline was definitely hitting close to home for me. but it didn't do what i think the writers wanted it to do for me. probably because of things going on in my personal life with my ex who left me (who just happened to call me during the airing of the show, and i called him out on a lot of b.s., lol!).. i mean, poor violet- once she said that she waited for him i actually got emotional! he couldn't even send her a letter? what a jerk! sorry, i know he's an alien and all that but she deserved an explanation of some sort.. how about, "hey, i joined the peace corps".. ANYTHING.. i didn't fall for his "if it were up to me" bit, and i loved that she answered that it WAS up to him. sorry, i just can't feel bad for simon, writers!
anyway, that being said.. i will still watch the show because it's still interesting to me. there was some quote that i read yesterday from the science consultant to Battlestar Galactica: "I made the claim that to get most of the things that you see in the show, at a confidence level that's good enough for science fiction, your goal is to create more 'Oh, Wow' moments and fewer 'Oh, Please' moments"
this show is definitely walking that line, but i'm sticking with it for now

Mike V. said...

@Kelly - Why thank you, you are far too kind!
That's cool about Paula Malcolmson and yeah I've heard Hal Holbrook has a pretty significant role (which by the credits 2 weeks ago, we determined he is some kind of man in charge for the Vicky/Carter group). btw...I believe SOA will be on my "To Do" list for NEXT summer!

The Alien thing - yeah, I don't know what else to say about it. I guess the only thing I would say is, if it is going to be so obvious, why not say the word ALIENS until the 6th episode? Did they want to make us look stupid after theorizing that long that it could be something else? Or is there more to it? I guess we'll see!

Glad I'm not the only one questioning the logistics on this show. I thought 24 stretched a few things (even Fringe), but this is just crazy!

Ouch on the EX stuff, I won't go there but that's cool that you can relate to the Simon stuff. For me, I wanted to feel the emotional resonance of the scene but something just seemed to be missing there. I guess because they were trying to get us to buy into this big relationship between "mason" and Violet after about 60 seconds of footage and then he is all broken up about walking out on her. I dunno...I, yet again, hate to compare to LOST but I think the acting and writing leaves something to be desired on this show. Just think about Desmond and Penny...they really weren't on screen for too much of the 6 year run but the actors just SOLD IT and the writing/editing etc...was incredible. That reminds me...one thing the EVENT doesn't have that LOST, FRINGE, ALIAS and any other JJ Abrams production DOES have? Michael Giacchino. Right there is the major difference to why LOST will probably never be touched as the gold standard. And I can still proudly say that I went to the same high school and was probably in the same music program as him lol

Nice quote on OH WOW vs. OH PLEASE! This show definitely needs to add a dash of WOW! But, of course I'm sticking with it....for right now there is not much else to turn to!

But hey, did anyone hear about the 2nd BSG spinoff that will deal with the 1st Cylon War? I just don't see how I'd be missing that one! :-)

Thanks for the comments Kelly and sorry for going off on tangents in my response!

MJ said...

I'm sure Simon figured the gov't would know someone on the inside was helping, but probably didn't think that it would be on his hands residually, so figured it would buy him more time than it really did.

Maybe I'm a sucker but I was moved by Simon and Violet. He was very upset when he saw her, and still very much in love with her. The actor did a great job. I've watched alot of the Highlander show and they dealt alot with being an immortal and the negatives of what it really means to never age again.

Yeah, shook my head too when the got to Leila's parents house so fast, but whatever.

David S said...

I had the same reaction as you all when Sean and Leila left Collier and than arrived at the parents' house. A real Huh? moment.

I thought the Simon/Violet scenes were touching and well acted, although I also agree with Kelly that Simon's excuses don't bear up under examination. "Hey, I joined the Peace Corps" - absolutely hilarious! Good point comparing it to Desmond/Penny. (I also agree with Kelly that the recaps are more fun than the actual show!)

I still think there is a possibility that Sophia etal are not Aliens - Madeline was presented as sort of crazy - she could be wrong about it.

Mike, I'm so glad you mentioned Micheal Giacchino - I have the soundtrack from all the Lost seasons (the last one just came out) and it's so amazing how you can relive the show through the music alone.

Mike V. said...

@MJ - Good point on Simon. He just seemed so shocked that it came back to him! lol Yeah, I can't discredit Ian Anthony Dale (I think that's Simon's real name)...he did a good job. I'm really not sure what my problem was. It could be the mere fact that I have been watching TV on my small Kitchen TV until I get my new DLP lamp for my big screen! I dunno...having full surround sound with a 19 inch HD screen just doesn't immerse you in the action you know!? lol
Indeed...whatever with the Leila's parents house thing....nature of the beast I guess.

@David - See my comments above about Simon/Violet scenes. There's a chance I overreacted but I dunno...I still feel like something was missing. (i.e. to make me care more!) And thank you guys for feeding my ego about the recaps! So far, as the anon poster mentioned last week...we don't have much to work with so I'm relying on comedy to get us through them! lol

I agree that Madeline does seem pretty nuts...although she definitely had certain facts absolutely accurate (like the 1944 aircraft crash, the Inostranka facility, possibly Michael Buchanan's involvement etc...) I still like the idea that the "ALIENS" could be evolved humans from the future (possibly who have moved to another planet so technically are aliens)....it seems like a stretch, but apparently X-FILES did it! Right AUSW?
As for Giacchino...yeah his LOST music is pure brilliance (among his other memorable soundtracks)...if Abrams and Lindelof are the Speilberg/Lucas's of this generation....then Giacchino has to be the John Williams! I have season 1's soundtrack...but there is a cd that just came out (not available everywhere so you need to look around for it) that is JUST the soundtrack for the final 3 episodes. I think that's the one I want! I just wish it was on iTunes so I could use some of my credit! lol

Mike V. said...

Speaking of LOST (I mentioned this on the LOST blog comments), my LOST Encyclopedia arrived in the mail yesterday! Stay tuned for eventual LOST blog updates if I deem them necessary!

Bryan said...

Count me as one that is VERY interested in anything you have to share from the LOST encyclopedia!

AUStarwars said...

Personally I thought the episode was intelligent and well done, except for the leap in time when Shawn and Leila suddenly arrived at her house, and they simply left their best chance of “clearing Shawn’s name”…but this gets to the only thing I DON’T like about the show so let me get that out of the way first.

To me Shawn and Leila are clearly the “Sun and Jin” of the show, which if you ever read my comments that means that basically I am fully willing to turn off the show at that point because personally I am not the “everyman” type..I don’t watch these types of shows to care about people that mirror everyday life, I want the presidents, the CIA directors, the “aliens”, the FBI agents, etc. Any time you involve these “normal” folks, nothing good can come of it…and I don’t really care about their relationship, their families, etc…the only thing I care about is that he was a big WoW player lol…now that being said, if they somehow become “important” which by definition they have to or else their WHOLE arc is literally useless..which wouldn’t surprise if it was, and was just a shoddy attempt to bring us into the lives or ordinary people affected by these “Events” (no pun intended)..

i called the “woman with a gun is a Lone Gunman type conspiracy theorist (ask my roommate!)”

Now back to the parts that I really care about, the “aliens” and the government..i thought the “Red Dawn” tracer in the food was just funny (hadn’t commented on that last time) and if you don’t get that, you weren’t born in the late 70s, early 80s…but I thought the way that Simon dealt with it was actually very clever and I actually said to my roommate “wow that’s a clever way of doing it”..in the end he gets caught, which again shows intelligence by the show, but overall it was quick thinking in a tough situation..I thought the past of Simon was very “Highlander-esque” but very well done, and brought to light the true conflict that is occurring between the visitors and humans and highlights their desire to fit into society…a conflict of whether their desire to “go home” is real for all involved..clearly setting up a future “faction split” (one led by Simon, and another by Thomas)

AUStarwars said...

Now what I really felt was interesting were all the little hints dropped about the origin of the visitors..all the references to Angels..which may just be a red herring, but I took the time to do some research and found the following (all from Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallen_angel), based on the comment “You’re an Angel…furthest thing from it”:

A fallen angel, in Christian theology, is an angel who has been exiled or banished from Heaven. Often such banishment is a punishment for disobeying or rebelling against God (see War in Heaven).

See the question here has always been the concept of “Satan” as a fallen angel who is inherently “evil” or just the concept of Free Will vs. “Destiny” (ordained by G-d)..now im not here to wax religiously, but it seems to be a motive for the show and would make a lot of sense..there is a popular belief that X-Files followed a similar logic: The Black Oil (and the “aliens” that were a result of it) was inherently evil, and the forces that worked against it, represented in various ways on the show, were the agents of “G-d”..so it would beg the question as to where Science Fiction meets Theology..

So if we look into it further…

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, angels were all created as good beings, but some decided to become evil.[4] Angels do not need faith as they already have the knowledge of celestial things, which means their action constitutes unforgivable sin.[5] Matthew 12:32 clarifies unforgivable sin as meaning that the sinner is not forgiven in "this age or the age to come." For most Christians this would not mean that those who have committed this sin may be redeemed after the passage of two ages,[6] since "the age to come" is usually interpreted to mean an eternal period after the eschaton. A minority tradition espoused by Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Gregory of Nyssa teaches that the Devil and fallen angels will eventually be saved.[7][8]

Remember the lines about how “they are doomed already anyway”…many take this to mean that time travel is involved, but if you were a fallen angel waiting to be redeemed, and the one way to do so would be through the ultimate fall of man, this would also fit..

And here we have the best interpretation:

The apocryphal Book of Enoch explains that a group of rebellious angels "left their first estate" (heaven, or the sky) and came down (fell) to Earth to marry human women and have children with them. Jude makes mention of these angels in the New Testament:
“ Jude 1:6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. ”

Due to the disastrous results of this forbidden intermingling, many have come to view the word "fallen" as denoting a fall from grace,[citation needed] though it seems that the original meaning was simply to descend from the heavens.

See we see “fallen angels” as not representing “evil” but just wanting to “leave home” of their own free will (you know that place with no water)..

I mean we don’t think Thomas is called “Thomas” because he isn’t doubting right? Or that Sophia isn’t named Sophia because she doesn’t represent Wisdom right? Or that Simon isn’t representing either the brother of Jesus or the second son of Jacob and Leah right? I mean they just made those names up right? Right…..;-)

Sorry to be so long..hope it made some sense…

Mike V. said...

@AUStarWars - Well, you definitely get extra credit for being able to get all of THAT out of what we have seen so far. Well done! Whether it ends up being accurate or not, it's definitely some quality thought and analysis. Personally, I have yet to become invested enough to start thinking about if there really is another layer of complexity to the story they're telling. I hope that you are right that there is!

Let me start my response by stating this: Sean and Leila do not equal SUN AND JIN! First of all, Sun and Jin were not the "EVERYMANs" of LOST! If anyone was an everyman, it was Hurley! But his character evolved into a lot more as we all found out. Now you may have been bored by Sun and Jin, I personally found their story pretty interesting and was amazed how how invested in subtitles I became....but I do not think there is any possible way to equate their story to Sean and Leila...unless you count 3 seasons of looking for each other as 5 episodes of Sean trying to rescue Leila. Nope, I'm not buying it. That all being said, when rewatching LOST, I do dread the Sun and Jin episodes the most...but I enjoyed them upon first viewing! lol

I agree that it wouldn't hurt to add another layer to the Sean/Leila saga..I do think it's fine that they are uncovering this big plot as they're trying to rescue the Buchanan family. But the biggest rumor going around is that Sean might possibly be the spawn of a mixed species marriage. And since we know he had a rough childhood, they definitely could elaborate and make Sean that complex and important character. But we'll see if they go there. I do think the Sean story is necessary on this show. I do like the government stuff, but I think the show would get pretty boring if that's all it was about. I'm sorry but 24 would have been a DRAG if all we saw was the political discussions and decisions and didn't have Jack Bauer running around and torturing terrorists in all new fantastical ways! And in no way am I calling Jack Bauer a "NORMAL FOLK" but it's a similar division of storylines.

I totally agree with you about the tracking device....I thought it was a really crafty way of handling Sophia's escape. I was quite impressed with what they came up with.
I never watched Highlander but I can imagine how it was a similar concept. I totally agree that the Story that they told there was important to highlight what these Non-Terrestrials really want and the "faction split"....funny that you mention Visitors since V has a similar story going on. (Vs living amongst the humans and not interested in world destruction!) I thought the STORY was good....I just wasn't buying the execution of it. But like I said, I'm in a minority on this one. (And btw...I fixed my DLP! So I'm back to big screen viewing!)
I will admit that for ONE SECOND when Violet said "are you an angel?" I thought that it could be a clue to what they really are...but this was right before or after Truth Seeker was screaming ALIENS!!!!! But yeah...the farthest thing from it line might suggest that he USED to be an angel. It's all good thinking and obviously, a discussion that I enjoyed speculating about before. (btw...the second after that one second I was thinking of THE PHANTOM MENACE when little Anakin asked Padme in that annoyingly squeaky voice).

So, if we're going to go with the ANGEL thesis, I must ask what James Kirk asked in the 2nd worst Star Trek movie of all time...."What does GOD need with a starship???" Do we accept a breed of Fallen Angels that fly in AIRCRAFT, have advanced technological skills and use electromagnetism to MOVE things from point A to B? Hey, it's a High Concept Suspense Thriller so I guess anything is game....but the question is...will the audience buy into such a crazy concept?

Mike V. said...

Oh yeah, and nice analogies to Doubting Thomas, Simon and Sophia names. Brings back Lost-ian memories.

Speaking of LOST...I'm an hour into my digestion of the LOST Encyclopedia. I'm loving it! Still not ready to write up a LOST blog posting yet, but I thought I'd share that little blurb!

AUStarwars said...

I think the Star Trek VI thing is a good parallel, and a good call..and i think the general concept was "what is our definition of a god compared to our definition of a supreme being in a sci-fi setting"...to continue that analogy it is like "Q" and his "people" in TNG...sure they are basically omnipitant, but are they "gods"..well certainly if they showed up in 2010 we would say "yes you are a god" (if not "G-d" himself)

its a classic example of what i call "does Science Fiction exist in the Sci Fi universe"..like do the characters not watch/read Sci-Fi in the made up worlds of the shows the participate in?

its like the whole X-Files thing..Mulder always thought it was "little Green Men" (and many times he was right), but Scully was always there to show some scienific proof as to why the thing occurred..though by definition whenever it was some "mutated animal species" that was sasquatch or the Lock Ness Monster, you had to think "are our definitions of mythic creatures outdated now that we have scientific proof to show otherwise"

its like in Flash Forward how many of the "everyman characters" assumed that the whole Flash Forward was The Rapture, but then as the FBI started to figure out the larger picture, you would have assumed that was debunked (we'll never know :(..and imho was the worst part they missed, that was a show i thought actually needed MORE everyman stories lol)

thats why i think that they are our current definition of "Fallen Angels" but since we really only have a 5,000 year old book to define them, i would say that "Aliens" are a more realistic way...both terms are going to be equal sides of the same coin..its a matter of point of view (you will find that many of the truths we cling to are true..from a certain point of view..OBI WAN)

know what i mean?

Mike V. said...

@AUSW - How dare you insult one of the even numbered Trek Movies as the 2nd worst Star Trek movie of all time! Clearly, I was referring to William Shatner directed debacle of Star Trek V! (had to love Spock, Kirk and McCoy singing a round of "Row Row Row Your Boat" though)

Very interesting point with bringing up Q from TNG. And yes, if something like that showed up in 2010, you could be right...maybe that is how he/it would be perceived. LOL on your "does sci fi exist in sci fi"....Obviously, on LOST it did because they referred to Star Wars, Star Trek, Back to the Future, etc... all of the time!
I see what you're saying though with the point of view thing...even if that classic "point of view" line was a classic case of George Lucas making up Star Wars as he went along! "We'll just let Obi-Wan explain this as a ghost!" Fortunately, making Vadar Luke's father was awesome...but Luke and Leia siblings after they made out on Hoth? yikes... Anyway back to my point (or your point rather)...I see your point that both Angels/Aliens terms could play out here.

I'm not ready to give up that there is more at play here with these so-called aliens. I want to believe there is more!

AUStarwars said...

Lol my bad, its AUStar WARS...not AUStar TREK lol..VI was the one with Worf right?

Mike V. said...

hmmm...yeah I think worf was in that one. It was the "Undiscovered Country" with the cloaking while fired klingon ship and the peace conference.

Anyway...I have always preferred SW to Trek as well...but I dunno...the reboot was pretty darn awesome!

Anonymous said...

I also thought that the detainees could be angels. This episode had two references to angels. Carter said that Leila should blame her father for everything. He is no angel. Violet asked Simon if he was an angel. Simon replied he was far from it. I thought at the time that these could be clues to the identity of the detainees. Then we have crazy journalist Madeline Jackson saying that the detainees were EBEs (Extra-Terrestrial Biological Entities).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel states Angels are messengers of God. Other roles of angels include protecting and guiding human beings, and carrying out God's tasks. Angels are beings created by God, but immortal and thus superior to humans.
According to the Kabalah, there are four worlds and our world is the last world: the world of action (Assiyah). Angels exist in the worlds above as a 'task' of God. They are an extension of God to produce effects in this world. After an angel has completed its task, it ceases to exist. The angel is in effect the task. This is derived from the book of Genesis when Abraham meets with three angels and Lot meets with two. The task of one of the angels was to inform Abraham of his coming child. The other two were to save Lot and to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.
The detainees seem to have some sort of mission to accomplish. They will not tell the humans who they are or why they are there. Perhaps their mission is The Event.
Dee

Mike V. said...

@Dee - Good point bringing up the fact that Carter said that Michael is "no angel' as well. I agree, these could all be little clues that if there is an eventual reveal, we could go back and see that they were plotting this all along. And hey, I'd be all for it. Keep selling ALIENS and then throw the twist about something that could be viewed at as ALIEN to us...but it could be something even more than that. Interesting thoughts on the Kabalah and the Old Testament references as well.

We had pondered the whole Angels thing a couple weeks ago all in relation to that they could be there in preparation for the END OF THE WORLD (which would obviously be the biggest EVENT of all time! lol)....It definitely would be an interesting twist however they would decide to execute it.

AUStarwars said...

Dee, thanks for adding to the theory!

I really think the key line to all of it is when Thomas said a couple of episodes ago something to the effect of "they are all doomed anyway"..which many take to mean they are from the future, but I really think means "they are all devoid of redemption" (ie. damned) in the eyes of whoever they were ORIGINALLY supposed to serve..Thoams certainly seems to want to get "Home", which in the Dante version of "Hell" is similar to Satan weeping that he was seperated from G-d, not that he was doomed to eternal damnation, to Dante being devoid of G-d was eternal damnation, and the fact that Satan was once the "right hand man" and now can no longer be, is what drove him insane...to me Thomas seems the same way, but Sophia and others like Simon seem to be discovering if mankind is "worthy of salvation"..i believe they purposely came here to help mankind escape their fate, something like the Rapture..

Mike V. said...

AUSW - He actually said "they're going to die anyway"...and we weren't sure if he was referring to the passengers of 514 or the human race in general. We also didn't know if he was referring to the fact that they may be immortal vs. human race is mortal.

Kind of changes the meaning from if you think he said DOOMED! :-)

But I do like the idea that getting home could be getting back to heaven or whatever. Interesting idea!

I know one thing....we'll know we are all "doomed" if Nick Cage shows up in a trenchcoat out of the ocean fresh from his mourning of losing Meg Ryan! Sorry, had to do it...the whole "Angels envying Humans" angle made made me think of that crazy movie lol

Candidate said...

Just wanted to drop by and chime a hello to you all. I recently have just watched the first 5 episodes in one sitting for the first time (The Event) Just read all of the recaps and comments which was a great way to spend most of the day. I like the show and think it's good T.V. Great Lost references Mike and other fun tips o the hat. Good Times...lol! Paula M. has been working overtime lately. Kelly mentioned her in Sons Of Anarchy. Don't Forget Caprica too which runs at the same exact time as Sons. So just so you all know Titus W is also in Sons and other Deadwood/Lost alumni AND I thought I saw a bearded Hurley in a cameo shot that said our favorite one liner "Dude!" Can anyone confirm if this was him?? It looked just like him in biker gear. It's pretty easy to warm up to these characters in SoA and might be worth recapping from time to time. The Event may want to use some of the writers on SoA for The Event to help us like or love the characters a little more. The Event uses dark and at times grey scale background colour schemes making it even more difficult to like anyone other than Sean. Sort of a cold feeling overall or lack of warmth which bleeds into the characters personalities. Of course I like Leila cuz she is just smokin' and not terrible at acting. I'm gonna continue to watch The Event and will look forward to your recaps so thanks again Mike. BTW I am still enjoying s3 of The Clone Wars which is better than s1 and s2 May be worth recapping??? Caprica s2 is getting better and check out a brand new show Terriers . it's worth watching. Heroes has been rerunning on G4 network which I've never seen before. That's the show that is totally rocking my world right now. My encryption is Elias

Mike V. said...

Hey candidate! Welcome to the new blog! Is that really Trixie from Deadwood and Lost? I thought it looked like her but figured she was occupied with Caprica (which was just cancelled an hour ago btw)

I'm on my phone so will comment more later but 2 things:

Heroes: so sorry that I wasn't able to warn you before you got involved with that show. It's going to get really good and the you'll be nothing but disappointed from the season 1 finale onward to season 4 (which doesn't have am ending). Wish I had better new for you but that show was a mess!

Clone wars: I never have kept up with it but I've heard s3 had been great. Maybe one day I'll watch it all but it's a big commitment!

Glad you're on board for recaps and I'll catch up with the rest later!

Mike V. said...

Okay I'm back! So, I haven't watched SOA yet (but I think it's on next summer's "catch up" slate) but I checked IMDB...it looks like Jorge Garcia has not done anything since LOST yet. I looked up Paula M as well and it doesn't show her as a guest star on The Event. But it also doesn't list a cast name for the Truth Seeker for that episode or whatever her name was. I'm sure it's her.

But yeah, Caprica has been officially canned and no new episodes will air as well. I just deleted the 8 episodes I had to catch up on. I'm excited for their next spinoff effort about the 1st Cylon War. Definitely GOOD TIMES!

As for Clone Wars, yeah...I did shell out some bucks to see the first 2 episode (aka THE MOVIE) in the theater and I have tivo'd every episode but I usually end up deleting them. I saw some of season 1 but never could keep up with it. I think if my Cartoon Network channel had an HD version, I'd be more inclined to watch it. I'm sure the show looks great in HD. So maybe some Blu-ray rentals in my future. Looking forward to the Live Action Star Wars TV show if Lucas ever gets that thing up and running. But it looks like it's a ways off.

With THE EVENT, I agree that they need to flush out these characters a bit more. I have to keep reminding myself that it's only been 6 episodes and they did start doing some background diving on Simon, and I'm sure more are to come. Hopefully, it will humanize some of these government goons! In the words of Axel, all we need is just a little patience!

MJ said...

I read about your Caprica, my sympathies ! I never did watch it, probably won't watch the BSG prequel either. Depends on who is attached or running it.

You def got to catch up to SOA this summer, now that you already did Breaking Bad. And - for non-scifi enjoyment you and your wife should check out the british version of Coupling. If you like HIMYM, and Modern Family and liked Friends and Seinfeld you will love this show !

Anonymous said...

I agree that there is a need to flush/flesh out the characters of The Event TV series.
When the EBEs (Extra-Terrestrial Biological Entities/aliens) “aircraft” crashed in the Alaskan wilderness in 1944, the US government captured 97 of them and detained them at a prison facility at Mount Inostranka. In Russian, Inostranka (Иностранка) means female foreigner, but it doesn't mean alien in science fiction sense of the word. Alien in the science fiction understanding--little green men from another planet--is expressed in the Russian word Чужой (Chuzhoy). If you wish to be absolutely clear about meaning, you would use the word Внеземная (Vnizemnaya), which means extraterrestrial.

The US government did not know 18 able-bodied EBEs eluded capture and have been among the humans for 66 years. The 97 detainees have held their silence as to who/what they are and what they were doing in Alaska despite lengthy imprisonment and torture. Whether these beings are angels or EBEs (aliens), it has been determined that their DNA is 1% different than humans. The government knows that the detainees do not age as humans do. The government must know that the detainees have “special abilities/powers” because the facility in which they are incarcerated has additional security measures. The facility was built in 1944. What exactly these additional security measures/features are has not been divulged to the viewers of the series. We do know that the facility is rigged to exterminate all the detainees with lethal gas.
The escaped EBEs seem to monitor themselves and keep a very low profile. Thomas told Simon aka Mason that Mason had to move on and not remain in one place because his girlfriend, Violet, may start to notice that Mason was not aging. It is possible that the EBEs are not “allowed” to marry humans and have children. We were shown a clip of Vicky executing an entire family and burning the house down. She spared Adam and is raising him as her own son. This could be because the EBEs staying in one place would blow everyone’s cover or maybe the government could force the EBEs to talk by torturing their human/half-human loved ones.
I would not be surprised to find out that Christina Martinez, the First Lady, is an EBE and that David Martinez, her son, is a human/EBE hybrid. That might explain why Flight 514 was sent to kill the president, the First Lady and their son at the Presidential retreat in Florida while the son was having a birthday party.
Just some thoughts on the series.
Dee

Mike V. said...

Thanks MJ! Although, I don’t need sympathies. I was only like 4 or 5 eps in and I could go either way with it. I deleted all of the episodes lol I heard David Eick is the Exec Producer/Creator of this one.

I have seen a couple episodes of British Coupling. I watched the American one and it wasn’t THAT awful but the British one was funny. Not sure if I’ve mentioned it enough, but FRIENDS was my obsession before LOST. In hindsight, that may sound crazy but that show still cracks me up on a consistent basis. The wife and I have been trying to get back to do a 10 season marathon one of these days ever since we got married…but there is so much good TV we’ve been trying to catch up on! Lol

BTW – Modern Family was HYSTERICAL last night. Spidey Mitchell, American Accent Gloria, Cam’s worst Halloween, ….all of it was awesome! And I believe HIMYM was top notch this week too.

@DEE – Interesting information about Russian wording for Aliens. I agree though that they’re being very careful with how they use the words for these non-terrestrials. It could be because they’re hinting that there is more to them…or it could be that they don’t want us to get the “little green men” stigma in our heads when they’re trying to tell a different story all together.

Good thoughts in paragraph 2. I have also mentioned before that Christina might be “ONE OF THEM”. Didn’t think too much into it…just thought the story of their meeting through their Mother’s chance reunion after 30 years was a little shady and thought it might be a good twist. The kid being a hybrid is an interesting idea too….as is Sean Walker possibly being a hybrid. We have to think that even if Procreation with the humans was frowned upon…that over 66 years…this had to happen once, twice or a few times!

We shall see!

AUStarwars said...

http://popwatch.ew.com/2010/10/28/battlestar-galactica-blood-and-chrome-david-eick/

Candidate said...

Hey Mike. great Axl Rose quote. good one. I've gotta find out who that Hurley look alike was. I did a search as well and came up with nothing. Jorge may have done that bit uncredited...i find that hard to believe actually but this "Dude" guy looked just like him but in biker get-up.
The next Star Wars. I saw some artwork on that and it looks really awesome...the artwork does anyway. Paula rules mt T.V. right now...the lovely Trixie. Happy Haloween weekend

Anonymous said...

I can't believe no one commented about Simon going into that warehouse before anyone else got even close to it. The President and others saw it and didn't think it odd that he was there so early? And the reason no one got too emotional on the scene with Leila and Sean is because the girl portraying Leila is ABSOLUTELY AWFUL!!!! She can't even act up a few tears when she finds out her mother is dead, or sees the blood all over the floor? I also thought the same as the rest of you about the time it took to get to her parents' house. And the "special effects" of the building falling all around Simon and other agents were pathetic. Given all that, I'm still interested in the story line and will stick it out for at least the next episode. Sorry so late in posting -- I've been in Belize so I just watched my DVR shows today! Cajun QT

Mike V. said...

@Cajun - I still am gonna give Sarah Romer (sp) some slack on her acting chops. That scene could have all been in the direction and script. But, we'll see if I stick with that thought over the next couple eps! Good point with Simon getting there early. I did think about it being odd when I was watching it, but I guess I kind of just forgot about it after all of the explosions, implosions and blue light specials! lol I didn't think the special effects on the implosion were too bad. I think it's awesome that we can even have a scene like that take place on a weekly TV show thanks to advancements in technology. Sure, it won't look as awesome as a multi-million dollar blockbuster movie's effects....but given the resources this team probably has....it looked pretty darn good.

No problem on the delay...you had 2 weeks to respond on this one! :-) And hope you had a good trip!

Anonymous said...

You are right, I'm probably being too critical and am comparing to another GREAT show that is no longer on the air! FYI, I finally got hold of Dexter Season 3 - watched the first disc yesterday. Loved the episode where he went after the sex offender eyeing up his daughter! In the meantime, I'm eyeing up Jimmy Smits! Cajun QT

Mike V. said...

Eh...you're just stating how you feel! I fell into the same trap watching this episode. My expectations for certain things were just too high and then I got stuck comparing it to LOST...and I really don't mean to. They are 2 separate entities. But as someone has recently told me...it's like going through a bad breakup (having LOST leave the air)... The EVENT could be classified as a "rebound" in that analogy. Not fair to the EVENT....but it makes sense that we may unfairly judge The Event because of it! lol

Mike V. said...

Whoops..forgot to talk about Dexter. Glad you got the disc! Enjoy season 3! In my opinion, it was the weakest of the seasons (including the current one airing, so far)....but it was still really good! There is plenty of cool stuff going on. It's just hard to compare once you've seen the amazing run season 4 had from start to finish!