Lost - Further Instructions

Houston we have a problem, season 3 continues to stall before it can get started. For those of you unaware while this is the third episode but before broadcast it was planned as the second. This episode focuses on the camp and the aftermath of the explosion at the end of season 2. Before I go into the episode itself I don't believe that rearranging the episode does anything to help or hinder them as they are largely character based moody episodes that don't have much of an opening night feel to them it pains me to say it but despite the episodes being individually decent they do not flow together well which results in a tough sit.

The episode itself is a case study in John Locke in that he wakes up after an explosion and decides to go on a vision quest so the island can tell him what to do. Anyone else would have checked they were in one piece, checked everyone else was ok and then regrouped back at the camp. Needless to say via a memorable vision quest scene and an excellent cameo from Ian Somerhalder as the deceased Boone to go off and find Eko who is missing. The rest of the episode is Locke and Charlie mounting a rescue of Eko from a feral polar bear. The flashback is based around an episode of Lockes life when he's living in a hippy commune growing drugs and is duped by an undercover cop. Its good stuff as the more we find out about Locke the more we find that theres nothing to him as he goes through life being dictated too by other people and events feeling more and more sorry for himself with each of lifes defeats. Lockes strength as a character is his shallowness and the extreme lengths he goes to on the island to make himself look the opposite. 

We also see Desmond and Hurley for the first time this season, Desmond appearing to be in shock and naked as he was at the epicentre of the explosion. We don't find out a lot about the explosion but we do find out it likes thirsty Scots. He hooks up with Hurley whose on his way back from the pier where The Others kidnapped Jack and co. The main thing of interest happens at this point as Desmond tells Hurley to relax as Locke has made a speech about making a rescue attempt - a speech he doesn't make until later in the episode! Something has happened to Desmond but we don't know what yet!

Watching this episode back there are a few surprising nods to Live and Let Die, ie the drugs and the hairspray moment. We don't find out anything about the explosion although there is the prospect of finding something out in the future with Desmond. This is a good episode enough to get a 6/10 from me but its frustrating as the season continues to open at a snails pace. Desmond steals the show despite having limited screen time and its nice to see Charlie doing something. Hurley though has gone through the ringer in the last few episodes he's had his girlfriend killed, been forced to go on an expedition, tasered, tied up, blindfolded, then told to bugger off by The Others and made to walk back across the island - poor sod! To sum up its a good episode but frustrating and it feels like the producers and the show have lost their way.

Lost - The Glass Ballerina

This is an episode that I'd forgotten about and wasn't expecting to come in this position. After last weeks episode I rolled into this episode looking forward to seeing what was going on at the camp after the explosion and that isn't touched upon this episode. In all honesty I'd forgot that Sayid, Sun and Jin were on the boat looking to link up with Jacks party in an ambush attempt. As enjoyable as this episode is there is an element of "hurry up and get back to the hatch" about this episode.

I enjoyed this episode and in particular the flashback, we get some meat on the bone of Sun and Jins story. Despite being a shared flashback between the couple a lot is packed in such as the state of their marriage, Sun not being a pure as we're led to believe, Jin willing to do so much to keep Sun in his life and the effect Mr Paik has on their lives. I don't need the flashback to always be pivotal to the episode and this one works as a rather nice character piece.

Its a busy episode away from the flashback as Kate and Sawyer are put to work clearing rocks and we see and meet more of The Others including someone who looks to be the girlfriend of Karl from last week. The Others mount an attack on the boat as Sayid sets up a trap, this all feels like its writing by numbers to get the boat away from the Losties but it makes Sayid look stupid as he tries to set up an ambush with three people while trying to keep it a secret from one of them. Sun being the one to actually shoot someone is a good touch and helps the episode in its mission statement to "muddy" her.

The final scene with Jack and Ben is a good one, it asks questions such as what is their interest in Jack and why isn't he being put to work with Kate & Sawyer. I could have done without the TV and "current events" moment which ties The Others and the show to America in a way that takes the shine off. The Red Sox joke could have been done any other way any other time and it doesn't land at this moment but nice try. 

To sum up a very good episode 8/10 but not the episode this viewer was looking for.

February Football 2021

A new thing for the blog as I rank the football matches I watched in February from least favourite to favourite. Based on nothing more than my opinion and enjoyment from watching each match.

Sporting Lisbon 1-0 Benfica, Primeria Liga, a turgid game with both teams trying to out troll each other.

Cagliari 0-1 Atalanta, Serie A, awful vicious and nasty game. For some reason it looked like both teams wanted a fight.   

West Bromich Albion 1-0 Brighton, English Premier League, Brighton played like they'd lost their souls to Crystal Palace. West Brom were Sam Allardyce 101. 

Sheffield Utd 2-1 West Bromich Albion, English Premier League, a relegation six pointer which was disappointingly low grade game with a leaden foot Sheffield playing a West Brom team who didn't look bothered. 

Fulham 0-0 West Ham, English Premier League, some nifty play in midfield in the first half hour by Fulham but bar that nothing for the notebook.

Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-0 Leicester City, English Premier League, Wolves took an hour to realise they could win if they have a go. 

Manchester Utd 0-0 West Ham Utd, FA Cup, the game never got out of second gear. West Ham could have done a lot more.

Atalanta 0-1 Real Madrid, Champions League, a game spoilt by a harsh red card. Atalanta played decent when down to 10 but Madrid were a shadow of themselves. 

Liverpool 0-2 Everton, English Premier League, Everton got ahead quickly and Liverpool proceeded to run down dead ends and into Everton players for 85 minutes.

Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 Leeds Utd, English Premier League, a convoluted game where both sides overcomplicated their attacks. Livened up by a classic own goal and good final few minutes.

West Bromich Albion 1-1 Manchester Utd, English Premier League, Baggies went ahead in the first minute and it could have been a nightmare Sam Allardyce scenario, Mancs didn't fire and the game petered out. 

Lazio 1-4 Bayern Munich, Champions League, a game of two halves - high scoring with all the goals coming before the 50th minute before the game turned into a foul fest. 

AC Milan 0-3 Inter Milan, Serie A, Inter completely contained Milan and never looked in any danger. 

Leicester City 1-0 Brighton, FA Cup, good build up play from both sides but poor up front. 

Liverpool 0-1 Brighton, English Premier League, a poor Liverpool couldn't find there way through against Brighton who exercised their game plan perfectly.

Burnley 0-2 Man City, English Premier League, a comfortable win for Man City who never got out of third gear.  

Fulham 1-0 Sheffield Utd, English Premier League, good play from Fulham who were able to get a steady stream of flowing attacks against a scrappy away side.

Manchester Utd 9-0 Southampton, English Premier League, Southampton got a man sent off early and it killed the game. Most Southampton players gave up at various stages of the game and the goals came at decent times for trading. 

Genclerbirgili 0-3 Besiktas, Super Lig, good attacking away performance in very poor snowy conditions.

Derby 1-1 Nottingham Forest, Championship, nice fun East Midlands derby. 

Juventus 3-0 Crotone, Serie A, dominating performance by Juve against the bottom team.

Everton 0-2 Fulham, English Premier League, fun win for Fulham with Everton unable to keep the ball and Fulham misfiring in the final third for the first half. Quality wise things improved in the second half when Fulham scored and Everton remembered what to do with a football.  

Roma 3-0 Udinese, Serie A, comfortable win for Roma who got ahead quick and closed out the match.

Burnley 0-2 Bournemouth, FA Cup, fun lively game with the underdogs giving a fair go creating good live market positions.

Fiorentina 3-0 Spezia, Serie A, decent game but Spezias lack of touch up front showed.

Leicester City 1-3 Arsenal, English Premier League, a game livened up by both teams playing in the Europa League three days earlier. Both teams ran out of gas and a hectic start turned into an enjoyable game of cat and mouse. 

Arminia Bielefeld 0-3 Wolfsburg, Bundesliga, good game and the wolfs really went for it.

Brighton 1-2 Crystal Palace, English Premier League, a proper Billy Big Bollards game from Brighton who aren't as good as they think they are and Palace felt like they had two attacks and scored from both. 

Juventus 0-0 Inter Milan, Coppa Italia, a fun attacking game with the away team overcomplicating attacks and rueing missed chances. 

Leeds Utd 0-1 Aston Villa, English Premier League, good attacking game with Villa going one up early and able to hold Leeds at bay.

Adelaide Utd 1-2 Perth Glory, A League, a lively Australian league game with wave after wave of Perth attacks after Adelaide took the lead. 

Aston Villa 1-2 Leicester City, English Premier League, good game with Leicester on top early with Villa making a game of it in the second half.

Man City 2-1 West Ham Utd, English Premier League, good game management by West Ham who deservedly nearly got something.

RB Leibzig 2-1 Ausburg, Bundesliga, good game with lots of chances, tackles, crosses and chances. Ausberg made a decent game of a potentially one sided gubbing.

Spezia 2-0 AC Milan, Serie A, Spezia god bless them were useless upfront and brilliant everywhere else. They outfought Milan and it was fun to watch.

AC Milan 4-0 Crotone, Serie A, top vs bottom of the league and a fun little game.

Marseille 0-2 Paris Saint Germain, Ligue 1, a more even match than the score suggests with Marseille unable to break through and a fantastic counter attack goal from Mbappe.   

Swansea City 1-3 Man City, FA Cup, dominant display from city with Swansea limited to attacking on the the break. 

Ross County 1-0 Celtic, Scottish Premier League, wave after wave of Celtic attack but a rare foray forward on the 70th minute put County ahead and pulled them out of the relegation zone. 

Leeds 2-0 Crystal Palace, English Premier League, a good attacking performances by Leeds who tore a rigid Palace to bits. Palace fought back and were still looking competitive until the final ten minutes. 

Leicester 3-1 Liverpool, English Premier League, Liverpool fluffed endless chances, finally went ahead, conceded an equaliser and imploded. 

Bologna 1-1 Benevento, Serie A, a first minute home goal brought the away side out and created an attacking and exciting game. 

Freiburg 2-1 Borussia Dortmund, Bundesliga, Dortmund are insane this season. 

Aston Villa 1-0 Arsenal, English Premier League, a top smash and grab by Villa who went ahead in the opening minutes and made Arsenal combust.

Watford 1-2 QPR, Championship, a nice game with QPR showing flair and Watford being very workmanlike. QPR looked like they'd rue not scoring from a nifty first 30 minutes, Watford were very rigid. Good game.

Sevilla 0-2 Barcelona, La Liga, good fun game.

Leeds 3-0 Southampton, English Premier League, an eventful game which turned on Saints not waiting for the refs whistle and having a goal disallowed, Leeds powered ahead after the break.  

Verona 1-1 Juventus, Serie A, Verona went for it and tried to take the game to Juventus, the away side went ahead at a good point for neutrals giving the home side no choice but to go for it second half.

Sevilla 2-3 Borussia Dortmund, Champions League, a game that started and finished well but for the middle 60 minutes when Sevilla played like they were a few goals up and were trying to see out the game.

Sheffield Utd 0-2 Liverpool, English Premier League, an enjoyable game with plenty of chances for Liverpool. After our recent league form is was a comfortable "nervy" win. 

Juventus 2-0 Roma, Serie A, an even game full of incident that saw Juventus overtake Roma in the league table. 

Newcastle Utd 3-2 Southampton, English Premier League, an all action first half saw Newcastle got 3-1 up the second half was all Southampton attack as Newcastle had a man sent off.

Macarthur FC 2-2 Western Sydney Wanderers, A League, a fun lively derby. 

Hertha Berlin 0-1 Bayern Munich, Bundesliga, a game made fun by Hertha putting up a fight and making the game even.

Inter Milan 3-1 Lazio, Serie A, fun attacking game with goals at the right moments and an attacking away team.

Arsenal 4-2 Leeds Utd, English Premier League, a full on attacking  high scoring affair with a late first half goal and two mid second half Leeds goals causing a potential 1.01 wobble on the match result market.  

Borussia Dortmund 2-2 Hoffenheim, Bundesliga, an all action game where Dortmund continue to be insane - watching them defend a corner is like watching a cat disable a time bomb.

Atalanta 3-1 Napoli, Coppa Italia, one of the most attacking games so far this month with lots of trading opportunity. 

Liverpool 1-4 Man City, English Premier League, a possible title decider settled by Alisson hitting his head and thinking he was Bambi.

RB Leipzig 0-2 Liverpool, Champions League, a game of chances, saves, tough tackling and settled on the night with a few goals after the break.

Napoli 1-0 Juventus, Serie A, an all attacking game where the only goal was a penalty yet its one of the best games I've seen so far this month.  

Wolverhampton 2-1 Arsenal, English Premier League, a good game with a good solo goal by Pepe. The game was turned on its head by David Luiz being David Luiz - giving away a foul and getting sent off. Wolves got a good winner and Arsenal imploded.

Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 Bayern Munich, Bundesliga, Eintracht took advantage of a slow starting Bayern who eventually got going got a goal and entered a game of cat and mouse as Eintracht fought to keep ahead.

Erzgebirge Aue 3-3 Hamburger SV. Bundeliga 2, a fantastic attacking game with a second half comeback from two goals down by the home team.

Barcelona 1-4 Paris Saint Germain, Champions League, a special night for Mbappe with a display that will be talked about for years.

Bayern Munich 3-3 Arminia Bielefeld, Bundesliga, the home side had just arrived home after winning the world and had yet to acclimatise. Bielefeld took advantage, Bayern found their feet and fought back and the match ended with the away side clinging on for dear life. 

Everton 4-4 Spurs, FA Cup, full of excitement, incident and tactical changes. Trading wise the only way it could have been better was if the final goal of the first half had been an equaliser.