Wednesday , March 27 2024
I was wrong. I don't say that too often, but I was.

Lipstick Distresses and Lost Makes Me Say I’m Sorry

So, last night's season finale of Lipstick Jungle

Nico apparently felt bad that she was committing adultery while her husband was having a heart attack. Victory's response was that Nico should look to the future, not the past — she should be sure to do the right thing from then on.

I disagree.

Nico ought to feel horrible. Nico ought to be ashamed. Nico ought to be terribly depressed. She was cheating on her husband. She chose not to answer his call because she was in the arms of another man. She should absolutely correct her mistake in the future, but she should also feel like a terrible person for what she did. Obviously she should.

The producers of the series however don't want the audience to feel that way. We're supposed to be happy because Nico is moving in the right direction, plus, they keep bringing up the fact that her husband may, I repeat, may, have had an affair. That fact is supposed to completely alleviate Nico's guilt. The basic assumption on the part of the producers seems to be that two wrongs do in fact make a right. People should do unto others as was done unto them. Television shows don't need to have a positive message, they don't in fact need a message at all, but sending out the message that it's okay to jump off a cliff if everyone else is doing it is probably not a good idea.

There are some out there who will tell me that I'm missing the point. The point is not Nico's adultery. The point is not what these people are doing with their lives. The point, the show's whole raison d'être is the clothes – one ought to just turn down the volume and see what the folks are wearing. While the clothes may make the man, alone they don't make a good television show.

While I'm not sad that Lipstick Jungle will be gone for a while, I'm moderately upset that Lost is disappearing for a few weeks. It's just another bit of fallout from the writers' strike, and it'll be back soon, but it's still disheartening, especially as last night's episode didn't really advance the story at all. The vast majority of it was spent on what Michael did in between his departing the island and showing up on Widmore's boat. It's a nice bit of backstory to have, but I want more. That, however, is one of the show's hallmarks, it always leaves the audience wanting more.

And, I will now do something I find myself doing too often (at least twice a decade) — admit I was wrong. I stated on my radio show this past week that Aaron wasn't one of the Oceanic Six, that he couldn't be because he wasn't on the passenger manifest and the show wouldn't want to get into a discussion about when life begins. The tease for the rest of the season however informed me that I was wrong, that he is one of the famed Six. Thus, I apologize, I was mistaken. Look for my next apology in August of 2011.

About Josh Lasser

Josh has deftly segued from a life of being pre-med to film school to television production to writing about the media in general. And by 'deftly' he means with agonizing second thoughts and the formation of an ulcer.

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