The Real Iron Man?

Enter the Sarcos XOS Exoskeleton. Brainchild of Steve Jacobsen, reclusive Utah genius engineer. I saw this in Popular Science (yes, I occasionally read Popular Science, so shoot me) and got excited.

Sarcos' newest Powered Exoskeleton allows an average man to carry thousands of pounds and hike for days without feeling fatigued, to jump higher, and to be impervious to enemy fire. Like Iron Man's suit, the XOS acts as a human's "mechanical shadow," meaning that it reacts instantaneously to muscle movement and takes care of all the work for you.

Basically, it gives you super-speed, super-strength, super-endurance, and super-durability. Kinda like Iron Man. Only real.

Don't believe me? Here:

Something Nice-Looking Back Home

Well, when I first saw the preview for Something Nice Back Home, the word FILLER popped into my head...

Unfortunately, last week's episode was mainly a transition piece, setting our characters in place for this season's three-hour (but two-week) finale. And as my roommate Joel so eloquently put it, "it's hard to care about Jack's health on the Island, when we know he's perfectly fine in the flash-forward." Well-said. And I would add, "it's hard to care about Kate and Jack's ill-fated romance, when we know they end up separated in a later flash-forward."

Other than that utter lack of suspense, this week's episode was full of red herrings, misdirection, and repetition, along with a few un-explain-ables. It wasn't terrible, like Ji-Yeon, but it was certainly a little frustrating.

"People don't get sick here. They get better."So Jack must have gotten sick for a reason, right? According to the writers, it's because he's lost "communion with the Island." I assume that they mean because he called the Freighter, which is obviously a threat to the Island. So now the Island is rupturing his appendix? To keep him from leaving? How smart is this Island? Not smart enough to realize that there is an experienced surgeon on the beach with him (Juliet)? Not smart enough to realize that there is a Medical Hatch full of supplies? Maybe the Island didn't think the survivors could work together well enough (and fast enough) to save Jack (they almost didn't).

"At least I'm not seeing things anymore..."
In my opinion, this trio of jungle adventurers was the most interesting part of the episode. For one, what "things" are Claire referring to having seen? Has she been having weird visions? And then why does Miles take such a keen interest in her and her baby? Some fans are theorizing that Claire actually died last week when Keamy fired an RPG at her house, but I don't (want to) believe that. Maybe Miles knows more about Aaron than we do...

And how 'bout when Miles heard those whispers! It was the first time we heard what he hears, and you know what? It wasn't ghosts. It was the past. That's right - he heard the last few minutes of Rousseau and Karl's lives. So maybe Miles isn't a ghostbuster after all. Maybe he can just hear the past. Maybe, like the precogs in Minority Report said, heinous acts like murder leave a violent mark on the fabric of space-time, and maybe Miles is good at finding those (like Naomi's death).

Also of interest: more Sawyer and Claire romance. How many times has he called her sweetheart this season? I love Sawyer. He's turned out to the unambiguous on-Island hero of Season 4. Claire's the only girl on the Island that'd I'd be interested in dating, (last season I would've included Juliet, but this season she seems to have more baggage than I thought, and she did have an affair with a married man...) so I'm pulling for this romance.

"If you have problems, you need to figure them out, because I can't have you like this around my son."
Oh, Kate. Beautiful, attention-starved, manipulative, two-faced Kate. For a few scenes, I thought she had actually redeemed herself in the flash-forward future, but then she went right back to the character I hate. Some fans were mad at Jack, labeling him "too paranoid" and "distrustful" of Kate. Okay, wait just a second:

1) Jack's last wife cheated on him.
2) Kate has proved herself to be untrustworthy and emotionally fickle over and over again.
3) He overheard her hiding something from him.
4) In the end, his suspicions were correct. She was hiding something from him, and she was doing it for the man she slept with on the Island, Jack's main rival for her affections.

What part of that is paranoid?

True, Jack never should have proposed to her if he can't trust her. But who can trust Kate? She's obviously still not ready for any kind of emotional commitment. If she did make a promise to Sawyer (probably to check up on his daughter), she should have just explained that to Jack, that she was doing it out of friendship, and out of care for Clementine. She shouldn't hide it from her husband all sneaky-like, and then lie about it several times.

Then, when Jack finally got the truth out of her, he asked, "Why didn't you just tell me?" Kate's response was the most revealing: "Because he wouldn't want me to." WOW. I don't blame Jack for getting upset after that. By saying that, Kate is admitting that she cares more about what Sawyer wants than about being honest with her husband. And I didn't see Jack's response as possessive. All he's saying is that he cared about her enough to get her off the Island and to love her and Aaron in the real world, whereas Sawyer apparently chose to stay behind (good for him).

Did Jack handle the event perfectly? No. But still. I couldn't believe it when Kate had the audacity to tell him to stay away from her son while he "figures out" his "problems." Honestly, Kate. You hid something from your husband about your last lover. Then you lied to him about it twice. Then you told him you did it because you cared more about Sawyer's wishes than about being honest with Jack. He gets upset, and then you blame him for having "problems"? Kate, you need to cut this whole histrionic/narcissistic/BPD stuff out...his only problem right now is you. Well, and his dead dad who keeps popping up...

"Dad?"Well, we all knew after that terribly-written scene in the Mental Hospital with Hurley ("We're all dead, dude") that Jack-Daddy would be paying Jack-Junior a visit. Was I the only one hoping they'd actually have a conversation for once? Was the smoke detector a hint that apparitions of Jack's dad are manifestations of the Smoke Monster? I think so. I'm not sure that the Smoke Monster "shapeshifts" though. I think that in addition to pulling memories out of your brain, as it did with Eko, it can also put things into your brain, in order to manipulate you. That could explain many of the visions both on and off the Island. As far as I can remember, each character that has had a vision has come into close contact with the Monster, but I could be wrong.

In the most bizarre part of the episode, Christian Shepherd showed up at Claire's side in the middle of the night, cradling Aaron. Why? And where did he take her? How did he convince her to leave Aaron behind?

I think that Aaron might be Jacob. Aaron is one of the few people to ever be born on the Island, which would give him some kind of special communion. Perhaps in the future, Aaron gets sent way back in time and grows up on the Island becomes the elusive/ancient/immortal/all-powerful Jacob. Why else is Aaron so important to the mythology of the story? Why is the Island insisting that he go back to Claire? What interest does Jack's Dad a.k.a. Smokey have in Aaron? Where did we last see Jack's Dad? Oh yeah...in Jacob's cabin. Perhaps, like the off-Island war between Ben and Widmore, there is an on-Island war between Jacob and Smokey. That might explain why Smokey wants Claire to abandon baby Jacob in the jungle...

Next WeekIt looks like a return to form. Will we finally learn more about Jacob? I really hope so. Will we learn where Claire has been lead to? My guess: Jacob's cabin. Will John Locke have a crazy secret for us in his past? Yes. Will we figure out what on earth Horace Goodspeed is doing in the jungle 12 years after his death? I hope so. Cabin Fever looks like another mythology-packed roller coaster ride in the mold of The Man Behind the Curtain and The Shape of Things to Come.

The most interesting lines from the preview?

"We've been waiting for you for a long time..."

Horace to Locke. Who's this "we"? The dead members of Dharma? Why've they been waiting on Locke? Can't wait to find out.

"There are consequences to being chosen..."

Ben to Locke. I think Ben is referencing his own consequences. When he was chosen, by Richard or Jacob or the Island or who knows what, to lead the Others, he had to carry out the Purge. Will Locke be asked to make a similar sacrifice? Will Jacob tell him to wipe out the Freighter, including the seemingly innocent Miles/Dan/Charlotte/Frank? I won't be surprised...

One last thing, to answer my question last Friday...
Kate: Dead Boyfriend she pretty much got killed
Sun: Jae Lee, who died because of her adultery
Sayid: Either Shannon or Nadia

Later this week: my Jewish Theory of Lost...

Another Delay

After a very bizarre episode of Lost, I'm going to need a few days to think. I'll have my thoughts up on Monday...

Until then...ponder this:

Hurley has been "visited" by Charlie. Jack has been visited by his father. Will each of the Oceanic 6 (except for Aaron, of course), be visited by a dead person to convince them to go back to the Island?

Sun=?
Kate=?
Sayid=?

Who Is Iron Man?

If you're a normal person, the only superheroes you've heard of are the staples: Superman, Batman, and Spider-man. Iron Man doesn't show up on your Pop-Culture Radar, except for possibly in reference to a Black Sabbath song. But if early reviews are to be trusted, Iron Man will be a household name after this summer. Here's everything you need to know to stay ahead of the curve:

The comic book world is split into two fictional universes: DC and Marvel, the two publishing powerhouses. After a slew of terrible movies based on their beloved characters (Daredevil, Hulk, and the Fantastic Four, for starters), Marvel decided to finance their own film company, Marvel Studios, and develop franchises in-house. This summer marks the arrival of Marvel Studios' first efforts: this Friday's Iron Man, and June's Edward Norton reboot, The Incredible Hulk.

Writer/Director/Actor Jon Favreau (Swingers, Elf) was chosen to direct Iron Man, and Robert Downey, Jr. was picked to star as Tony Stark. Tony Stark is not your average superhero.
Bio
Born on Long Island, Tony Stark enters MIT at the tender age of 15, where he establishes himself as an engineering genius. When his parents die in a car crash, he inherits the family business, Stark Industries. Tony quickly becomes a billionaire designing advanced weaponry for the American government. On assignment in the Middle East, Stark is injured and captured by the enemy. A piece of shrapnel in his chest threatens to stop his heart. His fellow prisoner, another designer, helps him build a device to keep his heart beating, and later a suit of powerful armor that Stark uses to escape.

Back at home in the U.S., Stark improves upon his armor, eventually becoming Iron Man. As a cover, Stark tells the press that Iron Man is his personal bodyguard and corporate mascot.

Powers
Aside from being an engineering genius, Stark's a normal human being beneath his armor. But then there's the armor. Other than the obvious super-strength, super-endurance, and super-durability that the suit bestows upon him, he can also fly. And shoot "repulsor rays" from his palms, along with a variety of other on-board weapons systems.

Other Characters
Virginia "Pepper" Potts - Stark's secretary and love interest (Gwyneth Paltrow).

Jim Rhodes - Stark's jet pilot best friend, who eventually becomes an armored hero himself, War Machine (Terrence Howard).

Obadiah Stane - Second-in-Command at Stark Enterprises, Stane is ruthless and power hungry. He steals Stark's armor designs and builds a suit of his own, becoming the Iron Monger (Jeff Bridges).

This movie is supposedly one of the greatest popcorn flicks of all time, according to critics, and will likely be the start of a new franchise (sequels). Eventually, Marvel hopes to gather all of their major characters together into an Avengers movie, once their individual movies do well. In addition to Iron Man and the Hulk, Marvel Studios already has Thor, Captain America, Ant-Man, and Nick Fury in the works...

Here's the Iron Man trailer, in case you haven't been assaulted by all the TV ads yet:

I Really Wish I Could Do This

From the Willie Fuchs/Irfan Rhemtulla 2007 Tour...

Stupid, yet somehow funny...

I think I only laugh at this because it reminds me of my friend, Irfan. One night in college, at a Jack-in-the-Box drive-thru, he was dared to annoy the people working there. Irfan said, quote, "One Large Vanilla shake, please. And if that shake were an elevator, I'd want it at full capacity," end quote.

The Shape of Things to Come

Lost is back, and so is Antiborium. We both had a good excuse for our respective leaves of absence.

Last week's episode? Brilliant. In my opinion, The Shape of Things to Come surpassed The Constant as the best episode of the series thus far. It was a gamechanger. No answers, but a whole lot of new questions.

"Hi, Jack...I'm just washing my shoulders. Honestly."
Here's Kate doing what she does best, i.e. reconfirming herself as my least favorite character. How many times is Mrs. Self-Interest going to bounce between Jack and Sawyer? How long until they both figure out she's a manipulative little girl?

Dead Doc?I have problems with this development. So far this season, we've been led to believe that time off the Island is congruent with time on the Island. The only discrepancy has been when objects (Dan's rocket) or people (Frank, Sayid, Desmond) travel to or from the Island, during which time is "dilated" (it passes regularly for them, slower for us depending on their speed).

I'm hoping that Sayid slit Doctor Ray's throat open with a fingernail and then commandeered the communications room, and is lying to Dan about Ray's fate.

The Real Ben
I honestly hope Michael Emerson wins an Emmy for this episode. Performances aside, think about all that we learned about him in 4.09:

1. He can apparently teleport through time and space (more later).
2. He dresses like Jeff Probst.
3. He can speak both Urdu and Arabic.
4. He visits Tunisia often.
5. He's very comfortable with a variety of guns and telescopic batons.
6. He has a secret room inside of another secret room.
7. He has some means of summoning the Smoke.

I absolutely loved his flash-forwards in the Middle-East, and would religiously watch a spin-off called The Linus Identity or Bendiana Jones.

The biggest questions from those scenes are:

1. How did he get to the middle of the Sahara?
2. Why was he wearing a parka that belonged to Dr. Halliwax (a Marvin Candle alias)?
3. Why was there cold vapor coming off of his skin?
4. What logo was that on his parka?
5. Why was his arm injured?
6. Did he kill Nadia himself so that he could manipulate Sayid into working for him?

"Well if we aren't playing by the rules anymore..."
Apparently Ben can summon the Smoke from his secret room, behind a door covered in hieroglyphs that appear to come from two separate cultures. How? What's in that room? A bunch of volcanic ash that he dropped down through a Cerberus Vent? Did the Island take his "offering," embody it with electromagnetic energy, storm up through the underworld and wreak havoc on those who posed a threat to It?

Best Scene EverI won't even attempt to analyze this instant classic. I will simply list the questions I had afterwards:

1. Widmore: "I was wondering when you'd show up..."
Why was Widmore expecting Ben? Because of Alex's death?

2. Ben: "Iraq is lovely this time of year"
Why does Ben mention this? Is he letting Widmore know that he killed Bakir in Iraq?

3. Widmore: "Since the nightmares started..."
Why is Widmore having nightmares? For how long? Are they related to the nightmares that Walt's grandmother mentioned were plaguing that child?

4. Widmore:"Are you here to kill me?"...Ben: "We both know I can't do that."
Why can't Ben kill Widmore? Do they need each other alive? Is the Island keeping Widmore alive? Is he immortal and ageless like Richard Alpert?

5. Widmore: "Don't look at me with those horrible eyes of yours..."
Why do the writers keep mentioning Ben's eyes?

6. Widmore: "I know who you are, boy..."
Why does Widmore call him "boy"? Did he know Ben as a child? Is he hundreds of years older than Ben?

7. Widmore: "I know what you are..."
Who says that? Does he mean Ben's a murderer (the Purge), or that he's not quite human?

8. Widmore: "Everything you have, you took from me."
Is Widmore just talking about the Island, or more than that?

9. Ben: "You'll wish you hadn't changed the rules."
What rules? No killing family members? In what context? I refuse to believe that the show is about a game between two rich white men. I think he may have been referring to Fate.

10. Ben: "I'm going to kill your daughter."
I wonder if Ben will get Sayid to do it...that will make for a great scene somewhere down the line. Sayid was there for the phone call in The Constant.

11. Widmore: "You'll never find her."
Where is Penelope hidden in 2005? Isn't she trying to find the Island/Desmond?

12. Widmore: "That Island's mine, Ben. It always was. It will be again."
Was Widmore in charge of Dharma, or was the Island "his" even before then? Was he on the Black Rock?

13. Ben: "You'll never find it."
How has Ben hidden the Island from Widmore?

Big Question: What is the relationship between these two men? What history do they share? What do they each want with the Island? To protect it versus exploit it? I doubt it's that simple anymore...

Stray Observations:

Sawyer was definitely the Hero in this episode. Do I sense a budding romance with Claire? I hope so. Less men for Kate to manipulate.Charlotte is very attractive. I'm hoping the writers make her more likable pretty quick, before she turns into another Anna-Lucia. And do I sense some chemistry with my fellow-geek Dan?
Hurley is a terrible babysitter.

Complaints
Danielle better not actually be dead. And I'm mad that they took out Alex. Why do all the women on this show get shot just to act as a plot device for a male character? Shannon, Anna-Lucia, Libby, Ben's mother, Nadia, Alex, etc. I will be extremely upset if Juliet, Charlotte, or Claire goes out this way. Is there no room for heroines on Lost? Kate and Sun could bite it next week, though, and you wouldn't hear a word from me.

Next Week
Something Nice Back Home: What's this with Jack? Menstrual cramps? In the promo for next week, I'm pretty sure Juliet mentions his appendix, which has me worried that this subplot is a meaningless diversion. I'm hoping there's an Island-related reason for his illness. My mother made a good point, though, that we could be witnessing the genesis of Jack's painkiller addiction.

Lost Writers Speak

A Must-Watch Video for Lost fans:

...the second caller is cute...

Lost Extended

It's official - ABC has greenlit an extra hour of Lost this season, which means we'll get 14 of the originally-planned 16 hours of story. So, the rest of the season looks like this:

4.09 "The Shape of Things to Come" - 24th April, 10pm-11pm
4.10 "Something Nice Back Home" - 1st May, 10pm-11pm
4.11 "Cabin Fever" - 8th May, 10pm-11pm
4.12 "There's No Place Like Home" - 15th May, (Finale Part 1) 10pm-11pm
4.13 "Untitled" - 29th May, (Finale Part 2 and 3) 9pm-11pm

That's right, there will be a two week break between Episode 12 and the two-hour finale, thanks to the two-hour finale of Grey's Anatomy, for those who'd rather watch whiny doctors hook up and then whine about it, and then hook up with someone else to make them feel better, and then whine about that, and then...

Lost's Final Five (Or Six?)

In less than two weeks, Lost is back with the remainder of Season 4. Whether that means five episodes or six is yet to be determined. Here's a look at what we do know (thanks to EW's Jeff Jensen, and various posts on DarkUFO and LostPedia). First, some overall observations, and then an episode-by-episode preview.

Overall, we'll learn the following:

How the Oceanic 6 leave the Island (not rescued by the Freighter?)
What happens to the survivors who stay behind on the Island
Why Sayid is working for Ben
Who's in the coffin
A new "game changer" at the end of the season (like last year's flash-forward)
We'll see "all three levels" of The Orchid Station
A "major and mysterious" storyline for Claire (finally, my girl gets some much-needed attention!)
Penelope Widmore, Charles Widmore, Richard Alpert, and Matthew Abaddon will appear

Episode 9 - The Shape of Things to Come (April 24th)
The flash-forward is focused on.....Ben........(highlight to reveal).
The Barracks are under attack.
The Smoke Monster will appear, and its mythology will be expanded.
Here's a brand new promo from ABC:

Episode 10 - Something Nice Back Home (May 1st)
The flash-forward is focused on.....Jack........(highlight to reveal).
Walt's Island visitations are "alluded to."

Episode 11 - Cabin Fever (May 8th)
The flashback is focuses on.....Locke......(highlight to reveal).
Richard Alpert will appear.

Episode 12 - There's No Place Like Home (May 15th)
No details yet.

Episode 13 - Untitled Season Finale (Unless a sixth hour is greenlit by ABC)