There were two big stories in the third season finale of 'Lost' - the flash-forward game changer, and the death of Charlie Pace, our Crossover Hall of Famer for this month. The musician, drug addict, and grifter, who found his calling as a family man with Claire and her baby Aaron, willingly gave up his life to fulfill Desmond's vision. In order for Claire and Aaron to be rescued, Charlie had to flick a switch to stop a jamming signal... and then drown.
Much has been made of whether or not Charlie had to drown. He succeeded in stopping the signal, but he could have sealed the communication room's door from the outside before Mikhail flooded the chamber. I think he wanted to make sure that it was locked from the inside so that nobody could access the room and resume the jamming signal.
Of course, he only had a moment to think this through; not enough time to realize that somebody in diving equipment could still get in with underwater torches and cutting tools. And while he was trussed up by those two Other-bitches, Bonnie and Greta, Charlie accepted that he would die after all in order to make sure the prophecy came true. It was a sacrifice he was willing to make for the two most important people in his life.
According to Spoiler Queen Kristin of E! Online, this will be a major issue of angst for Desmond in the fourth season. She quotes Damon Lindelof as saying:
"Desmond will have to deal with the aftereffects and the guilt of [Charlie's death]. He will question whether or not Charlie would have made this sacrifice, had he not told him that was what he was going to do? He will question the role he played in Charlie's death."
We've seen in the past that if people obsess or become fixated on something long enough on that Island, ultimately it comes to them. Charlie wanted his guitar, he got it. Jack wanted to find his father's body, he saw Christian Shepherd walking through the jungle. Ben told Locke that the Island was like a magic box which would give you whatever you wished for.
So what if Desmond's obsession ends up keeping Charlie Pace around, even though his body lies a-mouldering underwater? Perhaps others will be able to see him, perhaps not (Hurley comes to mind, especially after the episode "Dave".), but he could be a continuous presence who haunts Desmond. The future visions may have stopped with Charlie's death, but visions of Charlie might still continue.
He would be sort of the Island's version of "Lost Ghost: Coast to Coast".
In interviews after the finale aired, just before Herrs Lindelof & Cuse went into their self-imposed radio silence, the producers talked about the necessity of Charlie dying after establishing that it would have to ultimately happen because of the visions.
Damon Lindelof: "I think the audience and the character and even Dom as an actor would feel ripped off if we did not fulfill the promise of Desmond's premonition."
They also talked about the fact that they would miss working with Dominic Monaghan, but they didn't come right out and say they wouldn't be working with him again.
Carlton Cuse: "The irony of 'Lost' is that a lot of characters work a lot more once they're dead. Charlie could exist in someone else's flashbacks. Look, the Island is capable of conjuring up things from people's pasts. It is entirely possible that Charlie will appear in the show again. We've actually talked a lot about it, but to say more about that right now might blow the element of surprise."
For his own part, Monaghan danced around the subject about coming back to the series. When asked in an interview for Entertainment Weekly, whether he had "any desire to come back, be it in flashback or in some other trippy form", he replied:
"That's not really a question for me. That would be a question for Damon. I don't have that luxury of hindsight. If he would say hypothetically, 'Okay, Charlie's going to go, but halfway through Season 4, we're going to bring him back in a flashback that is awe-inspiring,' I would be all ears. But if that's not part of his master plan, I wouldn't want to put him under that type of pressure."
"Some other trippy form".... I get the feeling the interviewer was thinking along the same lines as I was.
I've said this before, and it's become sort of a mantra when it comes to 'Lost', but "whatever happens with this show, I'm in it for the ride." The possibility of Charlie returning to the series on a regular basis as a specter is an intriguing one, but if it doesn't happen, so be it. More than likely we will see him again on the show in somebody's flashback or dream sequence, perhaps also as one of the whispers heard in the jungle.
But who knows? Maybe in someone's flash-forward as well?
Just sayin', is all, Dude.
BCnU!
Toby OB
Saturday, June 9, 2007
CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOG
My birthday conveeeeniently fell on my days off, so I went up to the family cottage on The Lake. (As far as I'm concerned, there's only the one!) And while we waited for some other siblings to show up, my brother and I watched "The Last Waltz".
Bill was putting together a train set for our nephew when I told him to take a look at Neil Young and tell me what he might be doing today. He looked up and immediately started laughing as he got it too.....
I'm just sayin', is all.......
BCnU!
Toby OB
Bill was putting together a train set for our nephew when I told him to take a look at Neil Young and tell me what he might be doing today. He looked up and immediately started laughing as he got it too.....
"Geico is so easy to use, even Neil Young can do it."
I'm just sayin', is all.......
BCnU!
Toby OB
"They got it now, Robbie."
Neil Young
"The Last Waltz"
Neil Young
"The Last Waltz"
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
THE BIRTHDAY HONORS
Practically since I first started the TV Crossover Hall of Fame, I've also chosen new members from an "honors" list. These were TV characters who were shy of hte official requirements (3 different TV appearances to their credit), but for one reason or another deserved the "accolade". The first such inductees were Suzy MacNamara, Ann Sothern's character from 'Private Secretary', who was involved in the first TV crossover (with 'The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour'), and Ernie Kovacs, the first great artist of the new medium.
Other special honorees have been due to their multiversal presence, like Bilbo Baggins of "The Hobbit" and the Pigeon Sisters of 'The Odd Couple' (played by the same two actresses on stage, screen, and TV). Some were chosen who had the three required appearances but not officially under the character's real name (like Dr. Loveless of 'The Wild Wild West', who also appeared in 'Get Smart' under the alias of "Mr. Big", in 'Amos Burke, Secret Agent' as "Mr. Sin", and as "The Clown" in 'Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea'.)
Some actually did fulfill the requirements, like Mary Richards of 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show' and Faith Yokas of 'Third Watch', but I had my own reasons as to why I wanted to give that extra special showcase.
For the year-long celebration of my half century on your planet, each month had an inductee that better fit the honors list. But that year, the motto was: "What I say, goes."
At times, I got carried away with the honorifics, some at Christmas, some in connection with other inductions, but I've pretty much settled down to just once a year on my birthday. And this year, since Inner Toob is running a mini-themed salute to 'Doctor Who', the birthday honors list salutes Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart, formerly in charge of the British division of UNIT until he retired to teach math at the Brendon School.
The Brigadier is a recurring character in 'Doctor Who' with the distinction of interacting with the first seven incarnations of the Doctor. (There is some qualification to this. The Brigadier met the First Doctor in the anniversary special "The Five Doctors" when the Time Lord was played by a different actor. And he met the Sixth Doctor in the 'EastEnders' crossover special "Dimensions In Time".)
The Brigadier also showed up in a related project called "DownTime" with fellow inductee Sarah Jane Smith (May, 2007). This was a direct-to-video project and it could be argued that it should not be part of Toobworld proper. For that reason, it was decided to grant Lethbridge-Stewart the honorary status to avoid any argument.
His photograph can also be seen tacked to the roof-beam in Sarah Jane Smith's garrett office in the pilot for 'The Sarah Jane Adventures'. I would not be surprised if he made a return appearance via that series once it finally airs.
In keeping with the tradition of filling in the blanks of the Toobworld Jigsaw Puzzle, the Great Link, the Tele-Mosaic, with wild theories and suppositions, it's my belief we saw Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart in another TV show, albeit under a different name.
In an episode of 'The Avengers' entitled "Mission... Highly Improbable", Nicholas Courtney played a young British military officer named Gifford. While investigating the disappearance of a diplomat and an experimental armored transport in 1967, Gifford was miniaturized and flushed away down into the sewer.
The episode makes it appear that Gifford would have eventually perished from that fall through the grate, but I'm proposing that he survived. Perhaps it took several weeks for him to maneuver through the sewer system until finding rescue. (Perhaps he met a clan of "The Borrowers" while down there who could have helped him.) It could be that Gifford had been declared dead, and since his unique situation would have brought him under the scrutiny of 'Torchwood', they may have decided it would be better if the world continued to believe him to be dead.
Outfitted with the new alias of "Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart" (chosen perhaps because of its British... redolence), Gifford might have been installed into the British division of UNIT to act as a liaison for the Torchwood Institute. And that would have led to the beginning of his official relationship with the Doctor in 1968.
I say "official relationship" because it's another contention of mine that he met the Doctor while a young boy during World War II. From that episode of 'The Avengers', we don't learn Gifford's first name, so it will be my contention that it was Ernest; and as a young lad he was known as Ernie.
During the years of the Blitz, Ernie lived on the streets with other children under the guidance of a young woman named Nancy. And it was during one particular siege that they got the chance to have dinner with a mysterious man who called himself the Doctor. This Doctor and his companion Rose were able to solve the mystery of "The Empty Child" and reunite Nancy with her son Jamie, while at the same time neutralizing the threat of the Tula nanogenes.
(The older boy in that episode, Jim, might have been a better choice, age-wise, but the nose throws it off.)
This would add the Ninth Doctor to the list of those incarnations that the Brigadier has met. He doesn't appear in the TV movie from 1996 which was the sole appearance in Toobworld by Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor, but with rumors that more tele-flicks may come of his adventures there is always hope. And before David Tennant's tenure as the Tenth Doctor is finished, there's always the chance that Nicholas Courtney may return to reprise the role.
After all, K-9 and Sarah Jane Smith have returned during the Tennant seasons; even the Macra, for crustaceans' sake! So why not the Brigadier?
And so for the Birthday Honors Salute for 2007, I'm pleased to announce that Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart has been inducted into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame.
CREDITS:
'Doctor Who'
'The Avengers'
"Dimensions In Time"
"DownTime"
'The Sarah Jane Adventures'
BCnU!
Toby OB
Other special honorees have been due to their multiversal presence, like Bilbo Baggins of "The Hobbit" and the Pigeon Sisters of 'The Odd Couple' (played by the same two actresses on stage, screen, and TV). Some were chosen who had the three required appearances but not officially under the character's real name (like Dr. Loveless of 'The Wild Wild West', who also appeared in 'Get Smart' under the alias of "Mr. Big", in 'Amos Burke, Secret Agent' as "Mr. Sin", and as "The Clown" in 'Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea'.)
Some actually did fulfill the requirements, like Mary Richards of 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show' and Faith Yokas of 'Third Watch', but I had my own reasons as to why I wanted to give that extra special showcase.
For the year-long celebration of my half century on your planet, each month had an inductee that better fit the honors list. But that year, the motto was: "What I say, goes."
At times, I got carried away with the honorifics, some at Christmas, some in connection with other inductions, but I've pretty much settled down to just once a year on my birthday. And this year, since Inner Toob is running a mini-themed salute to 'Doctor Who', the birthday honors list salutes Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart, formerly in charge of the British division of UNIT until he retired to teach math at the Brendon School.
The Brigadier is a recurring character in 'Doctor Who' with the distinction of interacting with the first seven incarnations of the Doctor. (There is some qualification to this. The Brigadier met the First Doctor in the anniversary special "The Five Doctors" when the Time Lord was played by a different actor. And he met the Sixth Doctor in the 'EastEnders' crossover special "Dimensions In Time".)
The Brigadier also showed up in a related project called "DownTime" with fellow inductee Sarah Jane Smith (May, 2007). This was a direct-to-video project and it could be argued that it should not be part of Toobworld proper. For that reason, it was decided to grant Lethbridge-Stewart the honorary status to avoid any argument.
His photograph can also be seen tacked to the roof-beam in Sarah Jane Smith's garrett office in the pilot for 'The Sarah Jane Adventures'. I would not be surprised if he made a return appearance via that series once it finally airs.
In keeping with the tradition of filling in the blanks of the Toobworld Jigsaw Puzzle, the Great Link, the Tele-Mosaic, with wild theories and suppositions, it's my belief we saw Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart in another TV show, albeit under a different name.
In an episode of 'The Avengers' entitled "Mission... Highly Improbable", Nicholas Courtney played a young British military officer named Gifford. While investigating the disappearance of a diplomat and an experimental armored transport in 1967, Gifford was miniaturized and flushed away down into the sewer.
The episode makes it appear that Gifford would have eventually perished from that fall through the grate, but I'm proposing that he survived. Perhaps it took several weeks for him to maneuver through the sewer system until finding rescue. (Perhaps he met a clan of "The Borrowers" while down there who could have helped him.) It could be that Gifford had been declared dead, and since his unique situation would have brought him under the scrutiny of 'Torchwood', they may have decided it would be better if the world continued to believe him to be dead.
Outfitted with the new alias of "Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart" (chosen perhaps because of its British... redolence), Gifford might have been installed into the British division of UNIT to act as a liaison for the Torchwood Institute. And that would have led to the beginning of his official relationship with the Doctor in 1968.
I say "official relationship" because it's another contention of mine that he met the Doctor while a young boy during World War II. From that episode of 'The Avengers', we don't learn Gifford's first name, so it will be my contention that it was Ernest; and as a young lad he was known as Ernie.
During the years of the Blitz, Ernie lived on the streets with other children under the guidance of a young woman named Nancy. And it was during one particular siege that they got the chance to have dinner with a mysterious man who called himself the Doctor. This Doctor and his companion Rose were able to solve the mystery of "The Empty Child" and reunite Nancy with her son Jamie, while at the same time neutralizing the threat of the Tula nanogenes.
(The older boy in that episode, Jim, might have been a better choice, age-wise, but the nose throws it off.)
This would add the Ninth Doctor to the list of those incarnations that the Brigadier has met. He doesn't appear in the TV movie from 1996 which was the sole appearance in Toobworld by Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor, but with rumors that more tele-flicks may come of his adventures there is always hope. And before David Tennant's tenure as the Tenth Doctor is finished, there's always the chance that Nicholas Courtney may return to reprise the role.
After all, K-9 and Sarah Jane Smith have returned during the Tennant seasons; even the Macra, for crustaceans' sake! So why not the Brigadier?
And so for the Birthday Honors Salute for 2007, I'm pleased to announce that Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart has been inducted into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame.
CREDITS:
'Doctor Who'
'The Avengers'
"Dimensions In Time"
"DownTime"
'The Sarah Jane Adventures'
BCnU!
Toby OB
Sunday, June 3, 2007
TOBY IN TOOBWORLD
I was kind of dozing off today while watching 'The Lawman' on the American Life Network, when I heard Adam West say:
"Toby, I'd like you to meet Marshal Dan Troop."
If I really was in Toobworld, everything would go blurry around me just before that point and the dream sequence would begin.....
West was playing Doc Holliday; not a bad portrayal considering the liberties taken with historical fact back in the fifties on Television.
Oh.... And Toby was a little girl.....
BCnU!
Toby OB
"Toby, I'd like you to meet Marshal Dan Troop."
If I really was in Toobworld, everything would go blurry around me just before that point and the dream sequence would begin.....
West was playing Doc Holliday; not a bad portrayal considering the liberties taken with historical fact back in the fifties on Television.
Oh.... And Toby was a little girl.....
BCnU!
Toby OB
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