Threat Level Midnight

by Courtney Hilden

"Threat Level Midnight" was not just the title of the episode, but the title of Michael's movie, that he apparently spent eleven years on. The episode is the movie (an abbridged version, sadly) and the office watching it.

This episode is possibly the best idea the writers have had for an episode. It plays off of already established information (Michael's bad movie script from so many years ago.) One of the best parts of the episode was that it brought back multiple characters that have since left the show (mainly, Michael's ex-girlfriends, Jim's one ex-girlfriend, and that goofy friend of Michael's that no one likes.)

This episode highlights what the show does best: silly situations and Michael's huge, unreasonable ego. All of the actors did a great job acting in the various parts of the movie, perfectly playing both their characters and their character's characters. Andy totally nailed it as a bad actor playing a Jersey man. I also loved how Holly saw how Michael's goofiness, although sometimes fun, is also out of control and frequently is the most obviously immature thing about him. Michael might want to get married, but he has no idea what that would really mean, and Holly is hopefully realizing that the desire to get married does not necessarily make him compatible for her.

Honestly, I would watch a whole episode of just Michael's various movies. Jim's Goldface character was possibly the best villian of all time. Could we please have a sequel episode of Goldface's evil behavior? Please?

The End

by Courtney Hilden
Spoiler Alert!: The ending to Lost's finale episode is discussed in this review.

So, here I am, having just watched the series finale of Lost. I'm pretty stunned.
I guess, after all this time, that I should have known that this was a long con, and that none of the people ever survived, they just died in that plane crash. The show as we saw it was an opportunity for them to each find their own redemption. The ones who did presumably moved on to heaven and those who didn't continued to live in an unreal, painful existence. This show worked awful hard for us as viewers to believe in that redemption and for us to buy into the final part of episode.
As to the Sawyer/Kate/Jack triangle: there's a part of me that wished they wouldn't answer the question, because I feel like these three are best with all the tension between them. (And seriously, wouldn't it be great if the show had Sawyer/Jack?) I wanted the three of them to be the guardians of the island, because, as Jack himself said so early on: "live together, die alone."
It was good to see so many of our favorite characters again: Juliet, Boone, Shannon, Daniel, even Vincent showed up.
I love that Juliet ended up being Jack's ex-wife, and that they were capable of getting along with each other even after their divorce. I also love that Boone and Shannon were found in a bar fight. (Isn't that where Christian should have been?) I'm glad that some of our favorite couples, notably Charlie and Claire, were reunited.
The episode had some great funny moments. Kate telling the Lockness Monster that she had "saved him a bullet," was the kind of classic quip you'd expect on Buffy. I also love the great discussion surrounding ducktape. "I don't believe in much," Miles told us, "but I do believe in ducktape." Amen! It was these little details in the episode that made it fun to watch, especially for fans who could spot moments that were based off of earlier parts in the series, like Smokey and Jack lowering Desmond down to see the light and Kate and Charlie being present for Aaron's birth.
In fact, it was those details that were similar to the Charlie-centric episode "Greatest Hits." It reminded the audience of all of those characters and moments that they loved most.
The best part of the episode? The action, unquestionably. Watching Jack and Smokey the Lockness Monster square off on that cliff, fighting it out, with his knife in the traditional place that Locke always kept it was wonderful and amazing.
As always, I'm still left with some questions. I'm not a super fan of the show, so sometimes I wonder if it's just my lack of knowledge or if I'm supposed to be wondering those things. I want to know how Desmond knew about the bright light at the center of the island. Was this part of the knowledge he gained after Charles Widemore put him through that electromagnet test? I'm also curious as to if the white hair that Richard found was there because Richard wanted to really live again or if it was because Jacob's final destruction removed the magic keeping Richard in stasis. And how did the Lockeness Monster get that boat to stay?
And there were a lot of things that I was unhappy with. I'm still very iffy on this whole "they were really dead all along" business, since I was hoping for something more profound. I wanted Ben to make it off the island. And I disapprove of Sawyer/Juliet. I feel like Juliet belongs with someone else, though the whole "we can go Dutch" call back was awesome.
I guess what really bothered me about the ending to the show was that it's unclear to me if good and evil exists or if they're just part of a bigger plan that is beyond such a dichotomy. The ending made me wonder if the world we've been watching for six seasons was real or if it was the Sideways world. I'm inclined to believe, as previously stated, that the Sideways world was the real one, and that our characters are dead. But then I wonder about the Present world: did the airplane make it off the island? Where did those characters go? Or were those last shots of the crash supposed to tell us that crashed and died too? The lack of clear answers for these new mysteries is frustrating. It left me feeling like this wasn't so well-planned, it just kind of looks that way.
The final flew by amazingly fast, especially given how much information they had to soar through. I'm glad it's over in some ways, since it's a relief, but I'm sad since I'm already missing my favorite characters. If Sawyer wants to come live with me and give me a nickname, that'd be fine by me.
Overall? This finale was no where near as good as Buffy the Vampire Slayer's, which will probably always be the finale to beat in sci-fi fantasy shows. At the same time, it wasn't as overbearing or disappointing as Battlestar Galactic. It was sort of meh, which is too bad, because all the fans expected better.