"Dead Is Dead" Postmortem

Whew. This season is officially perfect. We're talking first-season brilliant. The actors finally have the material needed to turn out the sort of powerhouse performances award shows revolve around. The plot, for all its twists and turns, is definitely headed somewhere specific (although fantastically still eluding us). And every Wednesday night I'm left with the need to recover from a slightly swollen brain. So much awesomeness.

Slightly unrelated, did you hear the hilarious rumor about Matthew Perry appearing in the finale? As Jacob? Yes, I know. Could that BE more random?

Back to "Dead Is Dead."

Doc Jensen has a great review (as per usual). And Michael covers the rest. My own viewing notes are pretty illegible, mostly because every thought was interrupted by another one. When Ben told Locke he was there to be judged by "I believe you call it the monster," I typed the word "craptastic" and essentially stopped taking coherent notes.

Michael Emerson won me over. I mean, he's been consistently brilliant from the beginning, but this week I couldn't help but jump on the Emerson bandwagon. Give him an Emmy. He's simultaneously creepy and sympathetic. I almost cried for him during his judgment scene, and yet screamed for joy when Desmond tackled him. It's the most fun love/hate relationship in my life right now.

And the Desmond/Penny story remains the heart of the show. For me, anyway. The writers are aware of this. Which is why they like to tease us with the possibility of devastation. But it won't happen. Not for a while, anyway. And every Charlie mention gets me. Think they'll bring back Dominic? (In my notes, when Ben tells Sun to apologize to Desmond for him, I wrote: "I am borderline dying." Yes, that's how much I care.)

Oh, and I love Alex. Even when she's Smokey.

And John Locke remains that sort of fascinating elusive mystery. Is he really weirded out by his own resurrected self? Suddenly he and Ben have swapped places, with Locke in the driver's seat and Ben asking the questions. And I don't trust him.

Okay, folks, as the second-to-last season starts winding down (Say it ain't so!), I'm itching for some answers about Claire, Christian, and all other possibly dead folks. And I'm anticipating some head-inverting Eloise scenes. What about you?

TAGS: Ben, Michael Emerson, Postmortem, Recap
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