Glee
I love Glee, I love the music, the episodes and buying the albums. But when I buy an album of a show or movie I expect all of the songs to be included. So far Glee has a stupid regional thing going on. Some soundtracks at a certain store have different songs, all have songs missing and it’s a pain finding that one song you really want to get.
It’s easy to explain why this is. The people behind the show are milking soundtracks as much as they can, as if they release partial ones they can release multiple soundtracks which means multiple sales. Certain tracks being in certain stores are also a way to entice the store to sell the CDs.
Please stop being a total pain in the ass Glee, I’d like to listen to your music but you make it so damn difficult.
Sad TV and OF is back!
Outrageous Fortune was on tonight. Two words: Totally Awesome.
Then Private Practice came on, and it was sad. Damn them.
LOST
The final just aired here in New Zealand. I was good all week, I avoided all spoilers, I wasn’t tempted to peek at what happened in the final. I’m glad I didn’t spoil it, it was worth waiting for the end.
I loved the final up to the point. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the last few minutes, so I’ll leave that alone for now.
Something I love about this show is that we got an ending. That’s rare in television, when the fickle networks cancel anything that looks like a ratings hole (something longer series tend to be). LOST managed to get an end instead of being dropped suddenly (Traveller anyone?) and for that I am thankful.
We also got answers to many of the questions. What the hell was the smoke monster? Where did the polar bear come from? How were all the dead people showing up all over the place? What was the point of the island? Who was Jacob? Why did The Others want the names of everyone who crashed? What was up with the hatches? Why did the plane crash? Why did they have to come back? Why didn’t Richard age? What did Juliet mean by "going Dutch" when she died?
What the hell was the smoke monster?
The result of Jacob pushing his brother (the man in black) down the light at the centre of the island. While the man in black died (his body showed up later, clearly dead) the smoke monster was born in that instant.
Where did the polar bear come from?
In the 70s the island was home to the Dharma Initiative, a organization who were performing experiments on the island (trying to find out about its unique properties). They had multiple hatches doing different experiments, one was a zoo with different animals. So they where the ones who bought the bear to the island originally.
What was up with the dead people showing up again?
They weren’t. None of the dead came back to life (with the exception of those who talked to Hurley). The black smoke monster/man in black has the ability to take the form of anyone who is dead. This means he appeared as Jack’s father, he was the one manipulating things throughout the series. When Alex came back and told Ben to do what Locke said, it was actually the man in black doing it for his own agenda.
What was the point of the island?
Beneath the island is a source of light, something important that is part of everyone. Think what you want, the point of the island is to keep it there and protect it from those who would want to do harm to it. After Jacob and his brother fought, the focus changed to keeping the malevolence born (the smoke monster) trapped on the island as well as keeping the light safe.
Who was Jacob?
You heard Ben talk about Jacob throughout the series, but he really didn’t show up until the end. Before that it was the man in black who was manipulating thing (Jacob’s cabin was actually home to the man in black). Jacob is not god, he’s not an angel and he’s not a divine being. He’s a man, born like any other (as a twin) and is the current guarding of the island and the light. He is the one calling people to the island, for the purpose of finding his replacement.
Why did The Others want the names of everyone who crashed?
They needed to know because that’s what they were told to do, from Jacob. Although it is unclear who was calling the shots, since it turns out a lot of their instructions came from the man in black, and Jacob would already know the people who crashed since he was the one calling them.
What was up with the hatches?
They were the different experiments by the Dharma Initiative, built in the 70s.
Why did the plane crash?
You can blame Desmond for this, but also Jacob. Jacob wanted certain people on the island, so they would come. However what caused the crash was Desmond not pushing the button in the Swan hatch, causing the built up magnetic energy to release, crashing the plane that happened to be passing overhead.
Why did they have to come back?
They never should have left. The people who left were candidates to replace Jacob, and they were all needed on the island. So Jacob convinced them to come back, in different ways (like talking to Hurley on the mainland). Jacob seemed to have the ability to leave the island at certain points in time.
Why didn’t Richard age?
Richard believed he was in hell, due to his sins. When offered the job as Jacob’s adviser/liaison. he asked to have his dead wife brought back as payment. But Jacob couldn’t do that (neither could the man in black, although he could make it look like it). So Richard asked for absolution, but Jacob couldn’t offer that either. Finally Richard asked to never die, and Jacob said that was something he could do. So simply put, Richard didn’t age because that was his payment from Jacob. However in the final we see that Richard does begin to age, which makes him realize he wants to live.
What did Juliet mean by "going Dutch" when she died?
Look at her conversation with Sawyer in the final, when they met again. He asks her out to coffee, but mentions he only has a dollar left (since the machine ate his other one). When she was dying, her consciousness was drifting between the realities. That’s how she knew it worked, that they did succeed in their plan of stopping the plane from crashing.
There are so many more questions that did get answers, and that’s why I love this show. Most things can be explained, some can be guessed, and others are left open. It was a show that was definitely different. I’m sad it has gone.
Azula – A Downfall
Originally Posted: September 21st, 2009
Azula is a princess of the Fire Nation and she’s terrifying. She uses fear to intimidate those around her, her family, her friends, her subjects. Fear is how she lives, and she loves it.
Throughout the avatar series Azula has been terrifying. As a firebending prodigy she quickly controls any battle.
Now the reason I’m talking about this fictional character is because she was my favourite from the Avatar series. Avatar: The Legend of Aang (or Avatar: The Last Airbender depending on your location) is a story about a world split into four nations, the Water Tribes, Air Nomads, Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation. Each is focused around one of the mythical elements with certain people in each nation having the ability to manipulate their element, known as ‘bending’.
Only the Avatar can master the four elements, the most powerful bender in the world. His or her job is to keep the balance between everything, the spirits, nature, humans. The Avatar is considered to be the spirit of the world. When one Avatar dies, a new Avatar is born in the next nation in the cycle. Water, Earth, Fire and Air. The cycle continues on, and there is always an Avatar.
One day the Avatar vanishes, and the Fire Nation uses a comet to strike a terrifying blow against the Air Nomads, all but wiping them out completely. Only one Air Nomad survived, the next Avatar.
The story follows how four friends, Katara (a waterbender), Toph (an earthbender), Sokka (a non-bender) and Aang (an airbender & the avatar) journey around the world so that Aang can master the four elements and defeat the world’s greatest threat, the Fire Lord. Leader of the Fire Nation it’s his mission to use the returning comet to end the war.
So anyway, back to Azula. She’s one of the villains in this series, second only really to her father. Always cool, calm and collected Azula strikes fear everywhere.
But as the chapters flip by, and we get closer and closer to the final battle, Azula starts to slip. You can really see this for the first time in The Burning Rock Part 2 where she’s hit by the biggest blow so far, being betrayed by her friends. I guess controlling them with fear wouldn’t last forever.
After that she was alone, and her appearances were disturbing at best. Gone was the cool calm Azula, her skillful firebending turned wild. You can really see the first example of this in The Southern Raiders where she attacks Zuko.
Throughout the last episodes, Sozin’s Comet you can see she’s becoming more and more paranoid and mad. She nearly threw a tantrum when told she wasn’t going to Ba Sing Se, until she learnt she was going to be named Fire Lord. Then she started banishing anyone who displeased her or anyone she deemed a threat or traiter. This eventually left her with pretty much nobody in the palace, all the servants banished. She even confused her old teachers, the scary twins, banishing one and not the other.
You can see that her mother was on her mind, from her conversation with her mother in her mirror. She never felt she had her mothers love, feeling that Zuko would have everything.
In the end her last battle was wild. The music as it was going on was pretty sad as you could see her losing it and her wild bending burning a lot of the capital city. She tries to kill Katara with a lightning blast, but Zuko takes it. Eventually Katara manages to trap her with her waterbending and ties her up, where Azula’s sanity is hanging on by a few threads. Screaming and trying to firebend she ends up collapsing in loud tears as she realizes she’s lost. She’s alone.
Which is why I say poor Azula, because even though it’s a fictional character, you get involved with the story. Watching her decline and her sanity leaving her was hard, as all that is left for her is pity.
