Tonight's 'Survivor 13: Cook Islands' Blogging Schedule

As per the usual, I'll be watching the show (you knew that) here on the East Coast. As important events air, I'll post East Coast Updates here. They generally include Reward, Immunity, and the boot. Later on tonight, I'll post a full recap/review of the episode.

In order to view the newest posts to the blog, you may have to refresh the main blog page. Sometimes it also works even better to hit the Archive link for October (located in the right sidebar of the main page).

Survivors ready?

'Lost' - "Further Instructions"

Sometimes the dead come back. And, sometimes they're still good-looking, too.

Oh, but I'm ahead of myself here. Tonight was the third episode of the anticipated six or so episodes before the show goes back on hiatus. Supposedly, we'll have 23 new episodes this season, but we're only getting a handful for the fall.

The spoilers had it right, yet had it wrong, too. Yes, this show was focused on John Locke, that's true. But another happening just didn't happen. Even according to the TV Guide, Claire was supposed to discover the two newcomers, Paulo and Nikki, in Jack's tent. It didn't happen. At the end of the show I noticed them in the crowd, but no tent incident and not even an introduction at all. Was it a foiler instead of a spoiler? One that even hit the big time? If the scene was cut, I certainly have to wonder how they're going to introduce these two new characters. Did they just fall out of the sky? Well, it's Lost. It could have happened.

Onto the show...
This week, it was more of Locke's backstory shown. We found out nothing further about the captives (Sawyer, Kate, and Jack). But I've always maintained that Locke is the key to the island, so it was all good for me. As its usual way, the show was set between present island happenings and flashbacks. Oh, and one odd dream-like mystical sequence, too.

The show's opening included Locke's previous statement "Each one of us was brought here for a reason." They briefly recapped Locke's decision to stop pushing the button - "You killed us all!" "No, I saved you all." And, then his admission that he was wrong as the hatch imploded.

Cut to the new -- Desmond was seen running naked through the woods and John Locke was laying wounded in the grass. Charlie discovers him and Locke asked for his help. Well, he lost his voice somehow, so he wrote it. He wrote to Charlie that he needed to "speak to the island." He wanted Charlie to guard him as he built some sort of meditation hut.

Now, since the show jumps back between flashbacks and the "now," it's hard to make it all make sense when writing about it. (That is, if Lost makes sense at all!) So, I'm going to segregate the flashbacks and the "now" and you'll see some connections betwixt the two.

Locke's Tale in Flashbacks
An unshaven Locke was driving a pick-up truck through a rural area and picked up a young hitchhiker named Eddie. Within minutes of picking him up, local police stopped the truck. When the cop asked Locke what was in the back of the truck, he replied, "Groceries and guns." Yep, there sure were guns of all types. Locke told the cop to look in a red book and he'd find all the proper records. Apparently all was legal and Locke (with the hitchiker) went on his way.

Locke took Eddie to what seemed to be a commune, one which had taken in Locke after his problems with his father. It was a place where he felt he was part of the family once again, a "real family." They talked about how some folks are farmers and others are hunters. All seemed hunky-dory. And, it was, on the surface.

Ah, but this wasn't just a commune. Eddie saw mysterious happenings by a greenhouse which seemed to be guarded and off limits. John just sort of hushed him and told him they had orchard duty.

Eddie told Locke that he wanted to be in on whatever they were going to blow up as he figured from the gun delivery, fertilizer, and mysteriously guarded greenhouse that was what the group was all about. John Locke laughed almost to a guffaw and told him he'd talk to Jan and Mike (the commune leaders).

But it was Jan and Mike who wanted to talk to Locke first. They had found that Eddie was a newly-hired cop, gone undercover to bust them. Bust them for bombs or terrorist activities? Nope, it was a major marijuana growing operation. John, who often lectured Charlie about drugs, was involved in heavy pot trade.

After they told him how he screwed up the whole operation, he told them he'd fix it. He went to the woods with Eddie on the premise of a hunting trip. John confronted him asking if the cops had picked him to target and Eddie finally admitted it. John had given Eddie an unloaded gun and was planning to shoot him. Eddie told him that he was a farmer, not a hunter. John told him he was wrong -- "I am a hunter." He took aim, then couldn't pull the trigger. End of the flashbacks.

The "Now" On The Island
Now, where did I leave off? No, I'm not Lost. Well, maybe. Oh, yeah... Locke was building his "magic hut" as Charlie dubbed it. He warned Charlie not to come in and his voice was still gone missing. When it was completed, he stepped inside.

Fire, potions, mystery, and meditation were the name of the game inside the hut. Boone (played by Ian Somerhalder) appeared, looking darn good for a dead guy. "I was the sacrifice the island demanded. I'm here to help you find your way."

He took Locke on a fantasy dream sequence to the airport, the one where the passengers boarded Oceanic Flight 815. It was the same, but different. The people were the same, but Hurley was a ticket agent; Desmond was on the escalater; Claire and Charlie were a couple with a baby; Henry was the security man.

Locke still couldn't talk, but Boone told him he'd talk when he had something to say. The ongoing theme to the "dream" was that he had to clean up his own mess. It was apparent that Locke had to save someone, but everyone they went by Boone pretty much declared as safe or not in trouble.

"You have to clean up your own mess. They've got him. You don't have much time."

A bear's face briefly flashed the screen, then John burst from the hut with a knife in his hand declaring that he had to save Mr. Eko's life. Charlie followed him although John asked him not to. "Bad things happen to people who hang around me." They found signs that Eko had been dragged by a large polar bear. (Woohoo! The polar bear is back!)

As they tracked through the woods, they came upon the site of what was once the hatch, now just a huge crater in the ground. Then John found an "active kill" - a dead animal of some sort - and decided the bear must be nearby. A noise in the woods! Run! John Locke throws his knife... right into Hurley's canteen. The timeframe is such that Hurley is on his way back to the camp after being released by the Others.

Hurley told John and Charlie about the Others taking Jack, Sawyer, and Kate captive. They told him that John wanted to save Eko and that the bear was nearby. "What bear?" Well, dang it, what other bear, dude? Sheesh! Hurley headed to the beach campsite and Charlie and John continued on their mission at hand.

They came across what appeared to be the bear's lair. Okay, bear's den? A cave and John insisted he enter alone, leaving Charlie to look worried outside. With a lighted torch in hand, John stumbled over what seemed to me to be a computer part of some kind, perhaps it was some metal casing from something else.

He found a skull. And, he found Eko. And, even better yet, Eko was not the skull! He also found the bear. Eep. He fought it off with the torch while dragging Eko from the cave. Eko was in very rough shape.

Meanwhile, Hurley came across the still naked Desmond in the woods. He gave Desmond his tie-dyed shirt from his pack and they talked about the "fail-safe" key Desmond had used when the button wasn't pushed to save the world. (If you watch the show, you know what I mean.) Hurley told Desmond that the sky turned purple and everything vibrated. Desmond seemed to know that the Others took captives and that "Locke's going after them. He said so in a speech." Hurley told him no; Locke's going to save Eko and kill bears.

Back to Locke and Eko, John told Eko he saw Boone and that if he hadn't have stopped pushing the button, he wouldn't have had to save him (Eko). Cleaning up his mess, eh? John apologized. He also said he could have saved them -- Sawyer, Kate, and Jack.

Eko came to for long enough to tell Locke that it wasn't too late. He could still protect and save them. "You will find them. You are a hunter, John." He then closed his eyes. Charlie and John carried him back to the beach camp where there are two new people lurking about in the crowd not introduced and that was that for the episode. Locke said he will find their friends and bring them home.

Okay, the new issues this week:

• In the cave, that didn't look like the giant polar bear to me.
• Why was Locke messed up with a militant pot operation? How did he go from there to working in a box factory?
• Didn't Mike (commune) make a showing as an Other before? He looks familiar.
• How come Desmond lost all of his clothes in the explosion of the hatch, yet doesn't seem to be hurt at all?
• How does Desmond know things which happened or will happen? Has he become suddenly psychic?

No answers this week, just new questions.

Oh, heck. I'm Lost.

TV Newsy Bits - Monday, October 16, 2006

It's Monday! That means I watched How I Met Your Mother and Heroes. Yes, I watched The Class, but I'm writing that one off a bit. Well, maybe not. I don't know. The jury is still out on that one for me. (And I also got a summons to do actual jury duty today. Hopefully it's a television show jury! Yeah, right.) I tried once again with Studio 60 and it's just not keeping my interest. I ended up turning to the earlier news and plan to hit the sack a bit early. After all, Letterman is a rerun tonight.

In Blog TV News, don't forget there are show discussion posts for people following AOL GoldRush, Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, and the odd bedfellows of Nip/Tuck and The Bachelor. If you're following the AOL contest and want to talk clues, or if you're a fan of any of those shows - drop on in! There are some great folks talking about 'em! The links are also located in the right sidebar of my main blog page.

In other TV news, here's the Link o' Interest I've found:

• Janelle and Will from Big Brother 7: All Stars will be doing a Jokers Update chat next Thursday, Oct. 26.
• In-depth info on next week's Amazing Race episode. Minor spoilers, beware.
• What? You haven't had enough of Boston Rob (Survivor, TAR, etc.)? Check out his latest TV adventure.

'The Amazing Race 10' - Ep. 5 -or- "Is that a homeless cow?"

Seven teams remain. Who will be eliminated next?

Finally, the teams go to another country. While I found Vietnam a wonderfully exotic and interesting place, this is supposed to be a race around the world. More than one leg in one country feels sort of like they're stagnating. At least, it does to me.

Unlike last week's rather close departure times from the Pit Stop, I noticed there was a three-hour gap between first and last place. That would be Rob/Kimberly and Dustin/Kandice, respectively. Will it matter or will the teams encounter another infamous TAR bunching point waiting for something to open or a flight or somesuch? Only time will tell.

It's off to Chennai, India! For some reason, Vietnam doesn't allow the sale of tickets at airlines and all plane tickets must be purchased from travel agents. It doesn't seem to be a show rule, but a restriction placed by the government. That's odd.
Sarah told us more about her feelings for Peter in a confessional segment. She doesn't put him on the pedestal she once did. Yes, Sarah! Dump him. He's a pompous so-and-so who treats you poorly. He's using you and he really seems like he's not a nice guy, not at all.

Tyler and James saw an addict shooting up drugs near the railroad tracks, so we heard another "so happy to be recovered" bit. The ChoBros have really hooked up with Lyn and Karlyn to develop an alliance which seems to help Lyn and Karlyn more than themselves. Peter seems to be getting creepier in each leg of the race. In addition to treating Sarah poorly and being a pompous you-know-what, he's taken to spying on the other teams to get a step ahead and mocking other teams.

So, what do the ChoBros do? They borrow a cellphone and make a totally fake phone call to make reservations so he could eavesdrop and freak out. And, that he did. Ultimately, it didn't really help the brothers out much, but it was worth it to make a fool of Peter. Even the Barbies (Dustin/Kandice), Peter's supposed allies, were turned off by his spying and no longer trust him.

The teams ended up split between three flights to Chennai. Some had to buy tickets for a connection and poor David and Mary were alone on a later flight. Again, it really didn't make a huge difference in the overall race.

Once in Chennai, the teams had to take a bus to Mallapuram. While David and Marry and the ChoBros tend to look at everything as wondrous and exciting, Rob mumbled, "From one polluted city to another." And, his lovely Kimberly declared she wanted to go to Europe. Tyler and James got lost with a lost cab driver, but most of the teams made it to the arts and crafts store where they received their next clue -- a Detour.

The Detour, a choice between two tasks which are relevant to the region or its culture, was between Wild Things or Wild Rice. In Wild Things, the teams had go tie a crocodile's snout shut, tie the crocodile to a stretcher, then transport it to a man who would give them their next clue. In Wild Rice, teams had to take colored rice powder to make designs according to speculation. Believe it or not, the crocodile choice seemed to be the easier of the two tasks. Most of the teams picked Wild Things, but David/Mary and James/Tyler struggled through Rice.

In personal bits, Mary declared she would not fight a crocodile no way, no how. Sarah told Peter she's not having fun when he told her he has to either win or just not care and that she should just have fun. She's tired of him giving up or pushing her so hard. All she really wants is a middle road and he's not giving her one. (Dump him, Sarah!) Peter and Sarah passed by their "allies" Dustin and Kandice who were stuck with a flat tire. And, tonight's Dumb Line of the Week came from Kimberly. Now, they're in India. Anyone who knows anything about India knows that the folks there often think the cow is a sacred being. They wander the streets, no one bothers them. So, Kimberly sees one and says, "Oh. Is that a homeless cow?" Even Rob thunked his head over that one. Duh.

Next up was a Roadblock -- a task which can only be completed by one member of each team. This one was a hoot! They had to go to the Karthik Driving School, take a lesson, do a road test and receive a driver's license in India. Of course, if this were happening in the USA, it would take the whole season, but we're talking India. Hand signals and a Harpo Marx horn to honk at children and animals (and only children and animals, please) were the rules of the road. Other than those, the only rule was to make it out of there alive without hitting anything, it seemed. All on the left side of the road, as per their laws.

License in hand and driving school car on the road, it was off to the Pit Stop. Here was the order of arrival:
1. Peter/Sarah - Each won a home gym for placing first in the leg.
2. Dustin/Kandice
3. Rob/Kimberly
4. Erwin/Godwin
5. Lyn/Karlyn
6. Tyler/James
7. David/Mary

This was the first of probably three non-elimination legs this season. Unlike the last few years which had the money and possessions stripped from the teams in last place, Phil Keoghan (the Philiminator) told David and Mary that they're "marked for elimination." In the next leg, they must arrive in first place or suffer a 30-minute penalty. That time penalty could very well knock them out, so first or the closest they can get to it is a must. Next week should be interesting. They're not the fastest or strongest team, but I'd like to see them hang in there.

Rob and Kimberly weren't as annoying with bickering this week, but I still wouldn't miss them if they were out of the running. I like Peter less each time I see him. The ChoBros, Erwin and Godwin, are still my favorites for the win. Of course, I'm horrible at picking the winning team so that might be bad luck for them. This week they wore LOST shirts with a picture of Phil on them and a lookout notice for a missing Kiwi. Phil is from New Zealand, thus the Kiwi. He laughed at the shirts when they got to the Pit Stop. I think Phil likes these guys, too!

'The Amazing Race 10' Pit Stop Arrival East Coast Update

Arrival order -

1. Sarah/Peter - Each won a home gym
2. Dustin/Kandice
3. Rob/Kimberly
4. Erwin/Godwin
5. Lyn/Karlyn
6. Tyler/James
7. David/Mary

This was a non-elimination leg. David and Mary are still in the race. The rules have changed - they keep their money and possessions. But, if they don't come in first at the Pit Stop in the next leg, they will receive a 30 minute penalty as they're "marked for elimination."

A full report will be posted later tonight.