Following Ab Aeterno

A conversation between myself and my flatmate, shortly after Ab Aeterno.


ME: I love Jacob giving Nemesis the White Rock.
FLATMATE: Wait, what was the name of the ship Richard arrived on again?
ME: The Black Rock.
FLATMATE: *raises eyebrow*
ME: ...?
FLATMATE: Let it sink in.
ME: ... ... ...
ME: ... OHMIGOD COOL!


I don't know how I have made it through five and a half series of this you know.

Review: Heroes 412, Upon This Rock

"He thought he was losing his mind when the moss and the flowers started growing in his footsteps."


Thanks to www.chevronone.com for all screencaps

Now I doubt that Heroes reviews will be as regular as Lost reviews, nor as extensive, but I couldn't let this episode slip under the radar. For a note I would like to add that I gave up after the second series of Heroes, and didn't pay any attention at all to the third. I agreed for a friend to watch the new series, and I can do nothing but recommend it, even if you gave up just like I did. Excuse me just breezing through key points here. In this episode we have continuation of Hiro's arc, and despite Hiro and Ando often providing the comic relief I am more than certain that this storyline will eventually break my heart. However:



I am SURE that we need a Heroes/X-Men crossover comic. Heroes 412 also brings us the next part of Samuel's ongoing mission, as Sullivan Junior tracks down his next "person of ability".



A major point to understand: we know of my love for Richard Alpert, right? Now that love is very almost equalled by my love of Samuel, so much so that I am actually willing to throw all logic to the wind. He's meant to be a bad guy, isn't he? He's going to try to kill people, or blow stuff up, or destroy a city, isn't he? Well this humble blogger is consciously choosing to believe every manipulative word that comes from that silver-tongued carni's mouth. Every word he speaks is magical, and I hate to say it but up until recently I have been so struck by Samuel that I completely forgot about Sylar. THERE, I SAID IT. And besides:

Carnival compass:


Island compass:


Not that I would ever use that to write crossovers featuring Jacob, Richard, Esau and Samuel. What? Stop looking at me like that.



Every bit of this scene (Emma's siren-song in Central Park) was downright beautiful. From Samuel's words ("Make your prayers into song") to Ian Michael's anxious approach right down to the colouring of the whole thing, absolutely fantastic. All apart from this:



Because I really have had enough of the tedious magic cello thing now. Great concept, but I'm fed up of the glowy-glowy.

And finally, we joined the Mister Bennet, Claire, Peter and Mama!trelli to Nathan's funeral, which I admit was a lot more touching than I thought it would be. I think I am actually growing out of my disdain for the Petrellis now.

THE LO-DOWN
Clone-clone-cloney man stalking Claire (YAWN): -50
Emma getting refused her place: -10 (sad times)
Samuel visiting to make everything better: +30
Ando finally catching on to Hiro's clues: +50
The Central Park Scene: +1,000
Claire losing faith in the carnival/Samuel...: -100
... and gaining it again in the valley: +400
Every damn thing that Samuel says in the entire episode: +1,200
TOTAL: 2,520

(yes, that DOES make this episode three times greater than Lost's Ab Aeterno. I question myself sometimes too, don't worry) I'm actively putting off the moment that Samuel does something bad. The carnival warms my heart to a ridiculous extent. It feels like home. Gypsy blood yo ^-~

- Break

REVIEW: Lost 6x09, Ab Aeterno

Thanks to theloveumake.com for all caps not stamped

So these week's offering of Losties comes in the form of Ab Aeterno, an hour dedicated almost solely to Richard Alpert, Jacob and Jacob's Nemesis/Esau/Smokey/MiB/et cetty rah (with an added shot of Ilana, not that that scene got us anywhere spectacular). From the second we heard who this episode focused on we knew that this was going to be a major episode, a major episode. Even for those of us NOT entirely obsessed with The Ageless Wonder With The Magical Arms (such people I do not understand), we knew that it was going to be important. Important. So did it deliver?

Yes and no.



We were treated to our first full flashback episode of the season, which proved the highly popular theory of Alpert's arrival to the Island on the Black Rock. Hell, we were even given the answer to what happened to the rest of the statue! What this episode was lacking was anything remotely shocking. We found out about the mortal life of the man who doesn't age! We found out how a ship could land in the middle of a jungle! We found out how a regular man can suddenly live forever! And yet none of this seemed at all remarkable.

In a sense I suppose that this could actually be quite the skill, taking the truly otherworldy themes and making them so very very ... worldly. And I will confess that it is only in retrospect that I started to frown upon this episode - whilst I was watching it, I was well and truly absorbed.



Now we know I'm always happy to see Alpert in any episode ever, but I really must praise Nestor Carbonell's acting in this episode. I was admittedly worried about how he'd handle a whole episode as opposed to just a couple of enigmatic scenes, and I'll admit that I didn't expect it to turn out so well. It did. And someone else who deserves a major shout-out is this gentleman:



I really and truly fell for Titus Welliver/Esau in this episode, which is both good and bad. On the good side, I really never realised how much I liked his acting. On the bad side ... Jacob's girl through and through. And the more enigmatic Esau becomes, the harder it is to convince myself that Jacob is the right one to side with after all.



I wasn't a fan of Jacob in this, I was quite taken aback by his sudden and rather overreacting aggression, and not liking Jacob makes me a sad reviewer :(

All in all I just spent most of this episode being startled by how similar 1800's!Richard and Lord of the Rings Aragorn look o.o


=


Y/Y??

THE LO-DOWN
Giggling!Alpert! +1,000
Prison Priest denying Richard his redemption...: -20
... and then taking away his Bible!: -100
"I see the Devil!!": +80
Alpert watching his wife die at home, and then watching his DEAD wife die again: -200
The shouts of "WHAT COLOUR IS HIS TOP?? IS HE WEARING SHOES??" when we first see Esau: +20
The shouts of "WHAT COLOUR IS HIS TOP?? IS HE WEARING SHOES??" when we first see Jacob: +30
Aggressive!Jacob: -800
"I am in Hell, I know that I am in Hell.": +20
Jacob running the Island's Job Centre!: +300!
Jacob's gift to Esau: +20
Esau giving Richard the necklace at the end: + AND -80. I don't like siding with him.
And the killer line, "Tell him his English is magnificent", because in that whole really touching scene, that line nearly broke me: +500

TOTAL: 820

All in all another tear-jerker of an episode with some unexpectedly brilliant acting, and more answers given than questions.

Be sure to drop some feedback, and don't forget to swing by next week for The Package!

- Break
Highlight of the Richard Alpert Party: an hour after the episode finished, my flatmate - a newly obsessive Lost fan - coming out with the words "So, which one is Richard Alpert?"

The Richard Alpert Party!

Something you might have known had I been doing this longer is that I have a rather enthusiastic love for Richard Alpert (the choice words "rather enthusiastic" can be left open to interpretation). The excitement as soon as I found out the focus of this week's episode of Lost has been virtually tangible around me, and that's not just because it's about the Ageless Wonder - I genuinely believe that this is going to be one of the most important episode we have ever seen on the show. And so I ask this of you: what better way to celebrate than with the first (hopefully more than) annual Richard Alpert Party!

Of course my eagerness for the party wilted a bit when I was asked what exactly a Richard Alpert Party would consist of, but so far I have laid down the basic rules:

Richard Alpert likes to make boats in bottles:



So WE shall have boats in bottles too.



Another very important rule is dress code. We operate on a smart-casual look, but Jacob The Rules do require all sleeves to be long, and subsequently rolled up.



BUT



Do you really want to make Richard Alpert sad? Really? And besides, the man has magical arms, and I trust them to save the Island, and the survivors, and the non-survivors, the sideways timeline, and in fact anything that does or does not need saving.



See?

And as for the final point ...



Well, I'm above the joke.



It's old and childish to boot.



So I'm not going to say another word on the matter.




If you have any more suggestions for the Richard Alpert Party, send them our way! And if not, I'll see you on Friday for Ab Aeterno, and Break Time サワゲ's first review!

- Break

Welcome!

Welcome to Break Time サワゲ!
Perhaps I like sharing opinions. Perhaps I like blogging nonsense about things I love. Perhaps I just like the sound of my own voice. This journal will end up full of mini-reviews of new things I need to be paying attention to. Music videos, albums, games and films, TV, books, you name it and it'll appear.
Of course I can guarantee that there will also be relative amounts of whining/cheering/generally rambling on certain topics too (because you know when you have those moments on Silent Hill when you're so glad the nurses can't climb over windowsills and suddenly SHE'S CLIMBING OVER THE WINDOWSILL!! ?)

No one is good at introductory posts. That is a fact. In fact, 87% of people claim to be uncomfortable writing their first blog entry. That isn't a fact, but a made-up statistic. Do you see how this blog is going to go? So as such, I shall bid you adieu until next time!

- Break