Good episode. Nice to see why Michael is so paranoid about losing Walter again, and where Walt's lack of rapport with Michael came from. The bit with the dead bird also seems to be another clue that his reading that issue of Flash with the polar bear and the one that attacked in the pilot were connected, and that bad things happen when Walt gets angry with them.

Though if he caused his mother's death, that raises the question of he didn't off his dad. Is Michael immune because he's his father?

Michael's car accident was incredible. I literally gasped when it happened. I'm guessing that it was a mannequin, and that the creators disguised the use of it because a couple passes between the camera and Michael the instant before he gets hit. Well done!

Great ending, too. I notice that they didn't clearly show Claire's belly, which means we may find out in the next ep that they somehow took her baby.

Yeah, the car accident was very well staged.

From the looks of the preview, it seems they'll be repeating Solitary.

I'll have to check the tape, but I want to know the issue of Flash he had. I'm sure I have the comic somewhere (but not the Spanish version).

Me, I was trying to figure out who the artist was from looking at it. I'm not sure, but it looked a bit like Jim Califiore.

Ha, I almost expected Michael to ask Walt who the artist was...

The whole family dynamic depicted rang false for me. If Walt's mother, after ten years, still wanted Michael to be the father, I don't think she would have kept his letters (with drawings and photos) from Walt. Even with many separated and divorced couples, parents allow their children to keep in contact with their fathers by phone at least. The scene where Walt didn't recognise, or even suspect the identity of his father, seemed more of a dramatic plot device than a realistic one. In an earlier ep, Michael is shown to be harboring quite a bit of racial hostility towards the Korean couple. For a man with such a mindset, I find it hard to believe that he wouldn't express any resentment towards his wife's white husband (such resentments are a staple of talk shows). Although, it is perhaps best to move on from that point. I don't think anyone would find racial tensions to be a pleasant subplot for a family show.

The bit with the comic book picturing an island with a polar bear was a bit heavy handed. Did anyone notice that the book also featured a brown big-brained alien? Is this a hint of things to come? As an artist (now with a pencil), will Michael draw Walt a new comic? This is also the second time "psychic" powers have been associated with a character (earlier, it was with Claire).

...and what's with Boone, has he now become the island's punching bag?

Luigi Novi: Though if he caused his mother's death, that raises the question of he didn't off his dad. Is Michael immune because he's his father?

Walt caused his mom's death? I don't think I caught that. When did they imply that?

Pretty good episode. It took me a second to figure out that the box Michael was looking at in Australia was his drawings. It was pretty interesting that Michael lied to Walt about Brian, but pretty understandable.

Next week's Solitary? Good, I need to see the end of that one.

Rona: If Walt's mother, after ten years, still wanted Michael to be the father, I don't think she would have kept his letters (with drawings and photos) from Walt.
Luigi Novi: She didn’t want Michael to be the father. That was indicated to be a lie on Brian’s part.

Rona: In an earlier ep, Michael is shown to be harboring quite a bit of racial hostility towards the Korean couple. For a man with such a mindset, I find it hard to believe that he wouldn't express any resentment towards his wife's white husband (such resentments are a staple of talk shows).
Luigi Novi: First, Michael clearly told Walt that he only made that remark about Koreans because it was in the heat of anger, since Jin had just tried to kill him. Second, just because he might harbor such feelings about Brian (and we don’t know if he did) doesn’t automatically mean that he’d express them. Lastly, this isn’t a talk show, nor does Michael come off as the type of trash that appears on those shows.

Rona: Although, it is perhaps best to move on from that point. I don't think anyone would find racial tensions to be a pleasant subplot for a family show.
Luigi Novi: I wasn’t aware this was a family show.

Josh M: Walt caused his mom's death? I don't think I caught that. When did they imply that?
Luigi Novi: I can’ t be certain because of how vague the show deliberately keeps things, but his mom got sick in the scene where Walt was angry at them for ignoring him, wasn’t she? From this I sorta wondered if he was being implied to be the cause.

HEADS UP, people!! This show is using the annoying new strategy of running it long (past the hour mark) for up to a few minutes. If you're taping it, be sure to add on at least five minutes to your taping time!

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Quote:

HEADS UP, people!! This show is using the annoying new strategy of running it long (past the hour mark) for up to a few minutes. If you're taping it, be sure to add on at least five minutes to your taping time!

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Why the heads up now? They've been running over for practically the entire run of the series.

Just because you knew about it doesn't mean the rest of the world did...

And the practice was only recently Jeered by none other than TV Guide. I just thought my timer was off by a minute or so and that's why I kept missing the ends of the episodes.

Good thing I've started taping Alias.

Just because you knew about it doesn't mean the rest of the world did...

Well, I've certainly been hearing enough ••••• ing about it on other boards for the last several months to make it seem that way.

And your own reply shows it's not new. If TVGuide is jeering it, it must have been going on for a while.

So again, not new, why bring it up now? Apparently your answer boils down "it's new to me". Fair enough.

The bit with the dead bird also seems to be another clue that his reading that issue of Flash with the polar bear and the one that attacked in the pilot were connected, and that bad things happen when Walt gets angry with them. - Luigi Novi

The dead bird, and his adoptive father's reaction to it, made me think of the Twilight Zone episode with Billy Mummy ("It's a Good Life") as a little boy with magical powers, making this yet another link between Walt and wish-fulfillment.

The comic is another link. Judging by the cover, The Flash comic also features Green Lantern... a superhero who can will his magic ring to create anything he wants.


Though if he caused his mother's death, that raises the question of he didn't off his dad. Is Michael immune because he's his father? - Luigi Novi

Unlike the kid in the Twilight Zone episode, Walt does not seem to be aware of his "powers" (if that's what they are).


The whole family dynamic depicted rang false for me. - Rona

You're really something, Rona... when the show portrays the characters' negative aspects, you sarcastically remark, "What a lovely collection of humanity on the island." When they portray the characters' positive attributes, they ring false.

To each his/her own, but it sounds to me like you don't want to recognize anything positive about the show and its characters... so why watch?


If Walt's mother, after ten years, still wanted Michael to be the father, I don't think she would have kept his letters (with drawings and photos) from Walt. - Rona

Susan didn't want Michael to raise Walt... that was just an excuse by the step-father in order to dump Walt onto Michael.

And why wouldn't the mother save the letters from Walt's biological father? Perhaps she knew that one day Walt would ask about his real dad, and whether he truly loved him (which is also a talk show staple).


The scene where Walt didn't recognise, or even suspect the identity of his father, seemed more of a dramatic plot device than a realistic one. - Rona

His mother just died and his step-dad disappeared... now some stranger shows up and says, "Hey, I'm your dad and I'm going to take you with me." Walt's suspicion had nothing to do with not recognizing the identity of his biological father... it had to do with him not understanding why a guy who never seemed to care a bit about him (from Walt's perspective) suddenly shows up and wants to take him away.


In an earlier ep, Michael is shown to be harboring quite a bit of racial hostility towards the Korean couple. - Rona

I detected no hostility from him towards the Korean couple... towards Jin, yes. But I found that to be a reaction towards Jin's hostility towards him, not because of any hatred of Jin's race.


For a man with such a mindset, I find it hard to believe that he wouldn't express any resentment towards his wife's white husband (such resentments are a staple of talk shows). - Rona

Putting aside that I disagree that Michael was racist towards the Korean couple, just because you harbor hatred or racist feelings towards one group of people doesn't mean you harbor them for all groups equally. The racism we often see depicted by Asians towards Blacks isn't often shown towards Caucasians.


This is also the second time "psychic" powers have been associated with a character (earlier, it was with Claire). - Rona

Actually, you'll find that the comic book/polar bear reference showed up in the second episode.


So again, not new, why bring it up now? Apparently your answer boils down "it's new to me". - Anonymous

It was new to me, too. Thank you, Influx!

TV Guide had another article on that. ABC admits that it's generating more money for them, never mind the irritated Tivo owners (or the troglodyte VCR owners like me...)

Darth Sarcasm: Actually, you'll find that the comic book/polar bear reference showed up in the second episode.
Yeah, but for some reason I never got the impression that it had anything to do with Walt the first time.

Great ending, too. I notice that they didn't clearly show Claire's belly, which means we may find out in the next ep that they somehow took her baby.

Yeah, but if the first thing she says in the next episode is "Dingoes stole my baby!!" I will consider this show to have Jumped the Shark.

Death Sarcasm, this is supposed to be a board on Lost, not me. Focus on the show and not criticising me. As a parent, I just didn't relate to how the characters behaved. This show is hardly realistic anyway. My comments on the racial tension reflected the fact that I'd watched a program on the L.A. riots a few days earlier. I assumed that the writer was trying to touch upon the much discussed tensions between the African-American and Korean communities in L.A.

No one knows if those bears were polar bears. They could have been albino Asian honey bears (since the show takes place in the Pacific region).

Albinos have pink eyes. From what I can tell those bears had black eys, black noses and very big white teeth. They sure looked like polar bears to me.

And as for Claire's baby if she says it got voted off the island that'll be the shark leaping phrase for me.

Rona, part of participating on these boards is discussing not only the topic itself, but responding to posts made by others. If Darth's comment was critical of you, then it was criticism of the mildest sort, as he was merely pointing out what seemed to him to be inconsistent behavior on your part where you go out of your way to criticize.

As for the racial tension, why make this assumption? Just because you saw something on a series of riots that occurred 13 years ago? Jin and Sun lived in Korea, and Michael lived in (IRRC) New York. Neither, to my knowledge, lived in L.A.

{i}No one knows if those bears were polar bears.

If it looks like a polar bear, and walks like a polar bear, and quacks like a polar bear...

Londo: Vir I feel like I am being pecked to death by those earth creatures, they have feathers, bills and go quack?

Vir: Polar Bears?

Londo: Yes Polar bears. I feel like I am being pecked to death by Polar Bears.

No one knows if those bears were polar bears. They could have been albino Asian honey bears (since the show takes place in the Pacific region).

Maybe it was a Sugar Bear. Super Golden Crisp, anyone?

Death Sarcasm, this is supposed to be a board on Lost, not me. Focus on the show and not criticising me. - Rona

First of all... I respect you enough to spell your name correctly.

Second of all, you were the one who said that the family dynamic rang false for you. You were expressing your feelings. So you brought yourself into the discussion, not me.

My response was that your reaction seemed to conflict your previous criticism of the show.


As a parent, I just didn't relate to how the characters behaved. - Rona

But that's not what you said... you said it "rang false," which is different.


This show is hardly realistic anyway. - Rona

And at no point did I say anything about the show's realism. I merely pointed out that you seemed to dislike when the show portrayed the characters' negative characteristics, and then expressed displeasure when it portrayed their positive ones as well.

In fact, in this latest post, you seem to be the one arguing that the show's not realistic enough because you couldn't relate to the characters, thus the situation rang false to you.


My comments on the racial tension reflected the fact that I'd watched a program on the L.A. riots a few days earlier. - Rona


But that's not what you expressed. You said that Michael demonstrated racial hostility towards the Jin in an earlier episode. But that's not what happened... he demonstrated hostility because Jin attacked him.


No one knows if those bears were polar bears. They could have been albino Asian honey bears (since the show takes place in the Pacific region). - Rona

Good point. Except, unlike Michael's supposed racial hatred of Jin, the characters have described them as polar bears.

Darth Sarcasm: But that's not what you expressed. You said that Michael demonstrated racial hostility towards the Jin in an earlier episode. But that's not what happened... he demonstrated hostility because Jin attacked him.
Yes, Jin attacked him. But he still expressed racism toward Jin after being attacked, whether he's justified or not.

Maybe it was a Sugar Bear. Super Golden Crisp, anyone?

LOL, can't get enough of that Sugar Crisp!

Yes, Jin attacked him. But he still expressed racism toward Jin after being attacked, whether he's justified or not. - Josh M

Maybe I'm not just recalling... but what racism did he express?

The only thing I recall was Michael suggesting racist attitudes as the motivation for Jin's attack on him... which was later disproven (it was the watch). But that's not a racist expression in itself.

And racism is never justified.

Fine, then his anger was justified. Anyway, some may believe that Michael just thinking that Jin attacked him because Koreans don't like blacks is a racist attitude and/or expression.

Now you're quibbling...

In any case, speculationg that a physical assault may be racially motivated is a far cry from demonstrating "racial hostility" towards another person. Michael's hostility toward Jin was a result of a direct, physical assault, not because Jin was Korean.

That's your opinion. Others, like Rona, may believe that his attitude to both.

The only reason I mentioned the polar bear not being a polar bear is that in a future episode, I wouldn't be surprised if we were thrown a curve ball. In other words, things might not be what they seem to be.

I hope I'm not being offensively critical of the show. I thought the whole point of NitCental was to point out nits and faults. It would get a little boring if all everyone every said was "this show is perfect, nothing's wrong".

And it would be equally boring if we were somehow prohibited from responding to each other's posts, and from pointing out nits and faults in them.

Just saw episode 3 again 'Tabula Rasa', I know the rain stops and starts very suddenly on the island which isn't that unusual but I wonder if Walt stopped the rain when Michael told him that he would look for Vincent as soon as the rain stopped.

Boone and Locke’s discovery of Claire takes place “two weeks” after her kidnapping at the end of Raised by Another, as Claire tells Libby in the third scene of Act 1 of Maternity Leave.