For fans of innovative, story-arc driven, genre blending television, there’s little argument that the two biggest names of the last decade are Joss Whedon and JJ Abrams. It’s a lamentable fact indeed that with the cancellation of both Firefly and Angel, Whedon has finally been driven off the idiot box (though into the open embrace of film, where he has been quite busy, especially in helming Serenity, Firefly’s transition to the silver screen, due to release this Fall).
Which leaves us with Wednesday nights as Abrams night on ABC with Lost and Alias now airing back-to-back.
For fans of both Whedon and Abrams, there is an intriguing trend of Whedon’s people making their way into the exotic world of Lost.
Exhibit A: Daniel Dae Kim, who plays the stoic Korean character Jin on Lost, also played recurring character Gavin Park on Angel. It should be noted that Kim shows surprising range between the two shows, as Gavin was a suck up lawyer working for the evilest law firm this side of hell (Wolfram & Hart) whereas Jin says little but emotes much through his frustrated, passive-aggressive actions and expressions.
Exhibit B: Drew Goddard. Who the hell is Drew Goddard?
Goddard, a simply marvelous writer, now spans the Whedon-Abrams divide by writing for both Alias and Lost. Goddard wrote some of the best episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (“Conversations with Dead People”) and Angel, and was responsible for last week’s episode of Lost, which was really an extraordinary hour of television (Sawyer’s abuse-revenge complex, Sawyer and Kate get strangely cozy, Sawyer has a run-in with Jack’s father at a flashback Aussie bar).
The episode stands out because there’s an emerging mystic/spiritual undertone beginning to take shape from Lost, a feeling that everything adds up to far more than the sum of its parts. There’s the sense that the characters were either summoned or drawn or forced onto the island by an outside force. Each character is deeply lost in some fundamental way, and the purgatory of the island (literally?) will test them, resulting in salvation, death, redemption, or madness.
Sawyer and Locke and Jack and Charlie and Claire and Kate are becoming unique and fascinating characters, part of a genre-mixed show of action and characters both.
Check out a fairly well written episode guide here if you’ve missed some episodes, like me. Just don’t miss any more!
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Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Scott Pepper
Don't forget that David Fury, one of the driving forces behind both "Buffy" and "Angel," is now a producer on "Lost" as well.
2 - Aaman
Lost is on the DVR-list, though I personally find it flawed. I'm not a Firefly fan. Angel was great.
Nice report
3 - Eric Berlin
Thanks Scott -- I knew there were a few other connections and were hoping people would check in with them.
Aaman - Perhaps you find Lost flawed because you haven't watched from the beginning and let the show grow on you? This is blessing/curse of strong story-arc shows as they tend to turn off viewers who come in somewhere down the line, expecting an entertaining one-offer, and get the short end of it as allusions are being made to earlier shows. Lost is especially subtle -- marvelously so for network TV -- and rewards close watching.
4 - Jim Carruthers
In addition to David Fury being a producer on "Lost", he has also written some of the episodes, in particular, "Walkabout" which had the John Locke flashback, one of the best eps so far at showing what you think you know is wrong. Fury wrote next week's most anticipated ep which has the Hugo Reyes backstory.
Fury wrote, directed, produced and acted on BtVS and Angel. He was the man who got the mustard out of his shirt in OMWF, and played Gregor Framkin in one of the best eps of "Angel". And he sings, too.
I'm sure we'll be seeing some of the other people from BtVS and Angel on "Lost" in the backstories.
5 - swingingpuss
Though I like to watch Lost but I think it falls way short when compared to HBO shows like Carnival or DeadWood even 24 does a better job of hooking it's audience.
6 - Nancy
J.J. Abrams is no Joss Whedon. LOST has become disappointing and I have watched it from the beginning. I don't find it to be as clever as anything Joss created. When Joss tells a story, he lets the audience in on what's going on. Joss doesn't alienate them and keep them guessing the whole season. LOST doesn't explain even simple things it just has stupid cop outs where characters say "Nevermind" instead of revealing things to one another.
7 - Eric Berlin
Abrams and Whedon certainly have different story telling styles, Nancy. I think Lost improves upon the very good (and occasionally great) Alias by adding depth, character development, and mysticism to an action plot-driven model.
Jim - Thanks for the David Fury bio, he's certainly got an impressive one. Do you happen to know if he sang the line about getting the mustard out his shirt in "Once More with Feeling?" Boy's got some lungs if that's him.
I'm not a musical kind of guy normally, but I must admit that I play the soundtrack to that show in my car now and then -- it's really great stuff.
Also, Jim: Who is Hugo Reyes? I'm terrible at placing character names with faces.
8 - mike hollihan
Nancy, I think you're missing the point. A lot of the folks on the island still think/hope they're going to get rescued. Why should they "reveal" to strangers?
I think Locke is the only one so far who understands that they are there for a reason, and he's readying himself for whatever is to come, in his way. Sawyer and Kate are beginning to understand; Claire and Hurley are getting closer.
Aren't Wonderfalls and Point Pleasant also connected to Whedon?
Another show that produced a swarm of great writers and producers was, oddly enough, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Aside from Twilight Zone, CSI, and Battlestar Galactica, you can find them in a lot of other shows you'd never suspect.
9 - mike hollihan
Eric, Hugo Reyes is Hurley, the "fat guy" with the wild mop of red hair who's made saying "Dude" an art form. The character is loosely based on Harry Knowles of Ain't It Cool News fame, whom the actor slightly resembles.
10 - Joel Caris
Nancy--Personally, I think that Lost has just been getting better and better. It's really moving lately. I agree that Abrams isn't as good as Whedon, but Lost is an amazing show, though it does follow the Abrams trend of throwing out a whole lot of strands then taking a long time to tie them up--and creating new strands while doing it. It can be a little frustrating at times, but it's also quite addicting.
Eric--Fury did indeed sing the line. Also, if you didn't know, the woman getting the parking ticket is Marti Noxon, who was a major presence on the show, wrote some great episodes (as well as a couple of bad ones, including the notorious "Willow is a junkie and crashes the car" ep from season six) and was showrunner throughout season six. She also sang her own lines.
Mike--Wonderfalls was run by Tim Minear, who also ran Firefly and who was an Angel writer before moving over to Firefly. He wrote some great eps on Whedon's various shows. He has a new show coming out on Fox (I can't believe he's giving them a third try) that's called The Inside. It could start airing as early as March.
As for Point Pleasant, the above-mentioned Marti Noxon is an executive producer on the show.
11 - Eric Berlin
Thanks Mike and Joel. It should definitely be noted that Minear, Fury, and Noxon are all powerhouse TV people in their own rights.
I was actually surprised by how much I liked Season Six of Buffy, Joel, as I expected the inevitable decline. The Willow as witch/druggie thing did get a bit over-the-top though, I'll admit.
Mike - Very cool about Hurley and Knowles (If you'll notice, I link to Ain't It Cool News quite a bit). I can't wait for Hurley to get more screen time on Lost -- great character.
12 - Joel Caris
I've come to really appreciate season six, though I still think it's the worst season. But for Buffy, that's still some damn quality television. However, the thing that they were going for of being lost in your twenties is quite familiar for me, so I liked it. I just think it wasn't done as well as it could have been. The metaphors started becoming direct comparisons, which ruined it, like in that episode Noxon wrote. And the season just wasn't as funny or entertaining as it should have been, even though it was meant to be depressing, as well. I think the show just became lost when Whedon started focusing on Firefly and Noxon wasn't able to hold it together the way he always did.
I still appreciate the season, though, and it brought some classic episodes. There's the musical, of course, which is one of the best eps ever. Tabula Rasa, right after the musical, is a classic. And I thought the last few shows of the season were amazing, particularly the season finale. The season had its problems, no doubt, but I don't think it gets the credit it deserves, either.
13 - Eric Berlin
Joel - You think the seventh season is better than the sixth?
I'm starting to think that the sixth season is better than the fifth and perhaps the fourth because it is so dark and strange. The Scoobie gang is really in shambles for most of the season -- each character becomes increasingly estranged from those they always relied upon. The exploration of these themes in the musical episode is what really makes it special.
Angel really picks up on this level of writing as the characters on that show have mature and complex and often conflicting feelings toward one another. Mega-shame it was cancelled after Season Five. It deserved at least two more, in my opinion. And Firefly? Don't get me started...
14 - Joel Caris
I still haven't been able to figure out how much I like season seven, even though I've watched it twice. I tend to give it the edge over season six, but it's quite close. I might need to rewatch the entire series straight through to figure it out.
My problem with season six isn't the theme and the storylines, as those were great. My problem was the execution. I thought the ideas they were working with were awesome but that they never executed nearly as well as the other seasons.
I definitely wouldn't put it above season four or five, both of which I thought were magnificent. Seasons six and seven, in my mind, are a good notch below seasons 2-5. As for the first season . . . well, it was nothing amazing, but it was a fine introduction to the show and the universe.
I would have liked to see Angel continue, without a doubt. Season five was incredible. But it did end on a high note, if nothing else. As for Firefly, I agree. Don't get me started. I'm going to think not about the cancellation, but of the impending movie. And hopefully all the sequels. Or--dare I even dream--a reemergence of the series (as huge a long shot as that is.)
15 - Nancy
I don't get Abrams so I may be missing the point but the show can be whack! Come on, it's ok to torture Sawyer in that one episode. They have no problem killing people. They introduce people and barely mention them afterwards like the French woman. Why didn't they try to look for Claire? That bugged me a lot. There are so many things else I could write. There are other things that urk me and I would nice if the writers could throw some interesting stuff out there for viewers like me. I am still hoping to be pleasantly surprised by I doubt I will be.
16 - Eric Berlin
Nancy: Regarding the torture / killings: The characters are regular people who are trying to survive amidst bizarre and sometimes horrific circumstances. They're not boy/girl scouts, and they're not Marines. They make choices and do what they need to do to survive, which means making tough ethical calls and also making lots of mistakes.
As for the French woman, she's mentioned often enough, along with allusions to there being other people on the island. Her story tied in quite well last week as both Sayid and Sawyer heard whispering in the jungle (which was super creepy... and I loved it).
17 - Eric Berlin
Joel - Season Seven is the only one I haven't watched straight through. What I have seen I found to be well underneath the normal quality of the show (the little Buffy squad seemed... annoying) but watching it from end-to-end is the only real way to get a sense of it.
18 - Joel Caris
They tried looking for Claire for awhile, and then there was nowhere else to look. If you're stranded on a huge island with not paths or trails and someone is kidnapped, where are you going to start looking if you don't have the kidnapper's trail to follow? I mean, they really didn't have anything they could do.
And what Eric said on the torture/killings. And what killing are we talking about here? The guy who kidnapped Claire? I thought it was explained pretty well why Charlie did that and, frankly, while not the smartest idea, I can't blame him either. I certainly don't feel sorry for that guy.
Now, the stuff with the French woman doesn't bother me--and they have mentioned her a few times--but I can understand your frustration with them not trying to track her down. It's a debatable point, but it is a point.
19 - Joel Caris
Eric, season seven does work better when you watch it straight through. There is some real downtime in the middle of the season, though, and the slayerettes do get a little annoying. But it sure does have a bang up ending.
I could probably go either way on which of six and seven is a better season. I think the execution in season seven was a bit stronger than six, but that six was dealing with better storylines.
20 - Eric Berlin
Yeah, what I saw was definitely mid-season downtime mode.
One line, however, has stayed with me for a few years now. The slayerettes are all freaked out and having a group meeting to figure out what to do. Suddenly the lights go out, and everyone starts screaming. Right before break, one of the girls says, in a perfect teenaged self-conscious pitch, "I think I'm freaking out."
Hilarious.
21 - Joel Caris
Yeah, there was quite a bit of good funny in season seven, which is something I missed from season six.
Have you seen all of season seven, just sporadically, or have you not seen some of the episodes? Do you have the DVD set?
22 - Eric Berlin
I've seen Seasons 1-6 straight through, but have only caught 7 sporadically here and there on FX. It's on my Netflix list, but I'm about ready to change DVD services as they've been so slow lately (this is a big deal to me, by the way, as I've loved and championed Netflix for years).
23 - Joel Caris
I think you'll appreciate season seven more when you get a chance to watch it straight through. There are some great moments in it. But it may still remain your least favorite of the seasons. It was a serviceable ending to the series but it certainly wasn't its peak.
That sucks Netflix is giving you such trouble. I've heard some other people complain, but I haven't had any real issues myself. Every once in awhile it takes them an extra day to send out a movie, but it doesn't seem to be any more frequent than it was in the past.
Do any of the other services have distribution centers near you? I've heard a lot of the other services still have long ship times because of fewer distribution centers. But then it all depends on where you live.
24 - Eric Berlin
I live in California and have, until recently, received super fast service (2-3 days). For the last month, though, it's been simply awful, with each disk taking 2-3 weeks turn-around time.
I abhor Blockbuster, but I'm seriously considering switching over to their new service: it's about $2 cheaper and they include two free "in store" rentals per month. Not bad if they can get my disks back to me within four days.
25 - Joel Caris
Weeks?? That's insane. Typically, I send a disc, it arrives the next day, and my new disc arrives the day after that.
Does it say why the disc is taking that long? Is that time in the mail or does a disc arrive and then they take a couple weeks to send a new one?
Man, I'd be switching too. That's a waste of money.