Wash ,'War Stories'
[NAFDA] This is where we talk about the show! Anything that's aired in the US (including promos) is fair game. No spoilers though -- if you post one by accident, an admin will delete it.
From Cleo's recap:
Ethan, by the way, is really scary. I think he must have taken some ass-kicking-on-film lessons from Cousin Tom, because he basically picks Jack up by the ankle and whacks him back and forth against the rocks like Bam-Bam or something. "IF YOU DON'T STOP FOLLOWING US," says Ethan, "I WILL KILL ONE OF THEM." In reply, Jack bleeds on the mud.
More:
And then Jack sits up in the rain and the violins start in and the camera pulls back and Charlie just lies there and he is dead. Totally dead. Stone cold dead. An ex-Charlie. Joined the rock band invisible. The internets burst into flame and JJ Abrams' inbox crashes under the weight of the death threats. And then Jack gives Charlie three or four more savage punches to the sternum while Kate wails. Seriously, this is what "beating a dead horse" looks like, in case you've ever wondered, except that OMG CHARLIE'S NOT DEAD! CHARLIE IS BREATHING! and the scene swings back from "the ballsiest move in the history of genre television" to "criminally manipulative." Kate and Jack cry and hug and cradle him and smile and hobbit makes three.
And if you listen very carefully, you can hear Charlie gasping, "Shattered... sternum! Internal... bleeding! Ack...!"
I have a new cleolinda tag! Yay!
and the scene swings back from "the ballsiest move in the history of genre television" to "criminally manipulative."
I know I'm biased by the Joss love, but I'd place several Mutant Enemy moments as ballsier than that. Angel killing Jenny Calendar, "Close your eyes," and "And yet, somehow, I just can't seem to care" all come to mind.
Oh, how this cracked me up:
The jungle. Jack is flailing through a meadow like a muppet. I think Jack has problems.
Since Charlie wasn't staying dead, how can that scene be ballsy?
Killing a hobbit and keeping him that way? I think the Kittens could probably take lessons from Dom's fan base. That'd be ballsy, and why I didn't think it was happening, certainly not just after sweeps.
Sorry Liese, about the spoil. When I wrote it, I was cynically thinking no one on my friend's list would have bought the fakeout, and figuring it was mildly vague.
Since Charlie wasn't staying dead, how can that scene be ballsy?
I think she was referring to the hypothetical scene in which he stayed dead with the "ballsy" statement. MostlyDead!Hobbit got "criminally manipulative" instead.
Mmm. In my head the scene swung from potentially ballsy (at my least cynical) to the manipulative side.
I don't think it would have tripped my OhPlease!ometer nearly so badly if not for the dramatic pause for tears between resuscitation attempts.
But a TwoP poster had the best idea I've heard: Charlie dies, Jack & Kate bury him or leave him in the jungle, then later on around the campfire he comes strolling out of the jungle all better. The creepiness and WTF?!? factor would offset any cop-out.
Maybe he did really die, and the Mysterious Island Powers brought him back.
Didn't he really die? Jack thinks it was him that brought him back, but he may have been a gimme.