Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Lynn Phegley Watches "Lost" - "Dr. Linus"

My mom's name is Lynn Phegley. She teaches music to elementary school kids in Grand Blanc, Michigan. She likes classic Hollywood musicals, trashy romance novels and "Sex In The City."

And for some reason she's seen damn near every episode of "Lost."

Each week of the series last season, I'm opening up the blog to mom to share her thoughts on what happened. I guarantee that those of you who like to read blogs digging in to the metaphorical underpinnings of the show looking for clues and analysis will almost certainly get nothing out of this. And thanks to this site for the screencaps.

Let's begin.

COMPARING THIS WEEK WITH LAST WEEK

[Me: Last week you said Sayid was always a killer. This week, we get a similar choice for Ben, and he choses to be good. Has Ben always been a killer?]

"YES."

[Me: But then why was he able to give up power to let the girl get her recommendation letter? Is it because he knew from the island that it was up to him to save her?]

"Well, if they're in parallel universes, they don't know what the other one has realized."

[Me: There are some connections they don't comprehend like with Jack's surgery scar.]

"[Laughs] Well, no one could comprehend this because it's stupid. It's far too complex to be comprehended. I think Ben is having a temporary change of heart because he's an outcast. He's got no one to go with. Nobody wants him. They're all castaways in some form. They're social castaways. That's why they're stuck in this parallel universe. Because none of them can relate to other people.

"What you're seeing of the character of Ben is him in his most hyper-nerdiness. You see Jack as a great, wonderful doctor though he's not that wonderful all the time, either. You see them in their hyper-characterization. But the purest form of Hurley is on the island.

"But no one trusts Ben. He made his bed and now he has to lie in it.

"I couldn't tell you who's going to get redeemed. Who could tell you that? Sayid was always evil, but he was sympathetic as a torturer. But at heart, he could do anything that anybody needed him to do. So could Ben, though. Ben might be having second thoughts now that what's his name is saying there's going to be this big war. 'Come on to the other island.'

"But there's people with Ghost Locke who might not want to be there."


ON THEM GETTING BACK TO NIKKI AND PALO

"[Laughter] I saw Miles there with the diamonds, but I didn't realize he'd dug them up. How do you know that?!? That wasn't told in the story. You just assumed it. That's what's wrong with this story. You can't just assume stuff in a story."

[Me: Yes, you can! There are plenty of ways to imply that action has happened without showing it. He heard their thoughts from their deaths with his powers then dug up the diamonds.]

"Well, they didn't imply that very well! They didn't show anything. They just showed him looking at the diamonds.

"So what do you think they'll imply next? Do you think we're going to flash to pirate times [for Richard]? I'd like to see that!"

WHO'S GOOD Vs. WHO's EVIL

"Jack has not changed. He's just on to the game. He's knows he's invincible or something. That's why he wouldn't get blown up.

"How would I know what Jack thinks? The only person who you know what they think is Hurley. He tells what he's thinking. I'm telling you, Hurley still has good intuition. 'You better not do that, dude...blah blah blah...we better get out of here, man.' At the end of the story, he'll be the smartest one on there.

"I get the whole good vs. evil thing, but I don't care about all that. I just want to get to the end of this damn story. I'm starting to feel like not watching it, I'm telling you.

"I don't like mysteries. I just want to know the ending. And it said on the TV description 'Ben deals with a lie.' What lie did he deal with?"

[Me: He lied about killing Jacob.]

"Oh, well. The only fun thing that happened tonight was when they all met on the beach. It was like a soap opera or something. Like a romance movie. Here comes Hurley in slow motion! It was like Bo Dereck in '10!'"

WHAT ABOUT JACOB?

"That's the real thing. Whoever Jacob is, it doesn't matter. That's what's wrong with this story. I don't know who Jacob is, and I don't care. He's only been in it for two episodes. They only ever talk about Jacob, but you never see who he is. Who cares? He's just glimpsed. He's a character who's never been seen or heard from."

I JUST WANTED TO INCLUDE THIS LAST BIT

"I saw 'Alice in Wonderland' this week. I'm tired of these movies with the animation. It's like 'Star Wars' where the cards are fighting – the queens have these soldiers that are like playing cards, you know? And when they have a little battle and this scene that's all animated where there's a billion soldiers that all look the same. That is getting dull.

"I said, 'I wonder what the next thing in animation is?' and Liz said, 'I think it's "Avatar."' And I said, 'Oh God, I hope not. That looks too bizarre to me.' I don't like 3D either. It makes me seasick."

2 comments:

Phillyradiogeek said...

Dude, your mother's hysterical to listen to, but seriously, does she like anything? It would be good to know what she considers "good" so we know what she measures shows up to (besides Sex and the City, that is).

Brian said...

Her current favorite is "Big Love" which she frequently compares "Lost" to. Not so much in a, "this reminds me of..." way, but more in a "this is why Big Love is the superior show" way.

But, even with the things she likes, she is entertainingly critical.