Happy Momma's Day from Rider

Be thankful you've got a better mom than Owen's.

Blockheaded Observations on Lost 4.11

I have a shameful confession this week. I fell asleep during "Cabin Fever."

I have no excuse. If I were employed and had a tiring week with no sleep, that would be one thing. But I'm an unshaven slug who ambles around the house in a tattered bathrobe and South Park lounge pants. There's no reason for nodding off during what sounded like an excellent episode.

I remember four things.

• Keamy had an iPod strapped to his bicep, and the mere sight of it caused Captain Gault his life.
  
• Christian and Claire were acting like a Sith Lord and his dark apprentice.
• Hurley shared a tender chocolate moment with Ben.
• Locke said he had to "move the island."
  

Which begs the question: How does one man move a land mass surrounded by water?

Answer: Lift with your legs and follow Ross Geller's advice.*

* A joke I'm stealing from my Significant Other, who managed to stay awake.

Blockheaded Observation on Lost 4.10

Admittedly, I'm tardy with my weekly post on my favorite show. This is clearly a weak attempt to put something out there before tonight's episode airs. Also, I'm breaking the speculation theme I established less than two weeks ago.

But I've gotta say: the writers are getting too cute with their red herrings.

Right before Jack saw his dad in the hospital lobby--which some fans attribute to a corporeal form assumed by the smoke monster--he hears a smoke detector going off.

You're pushing it, guys.

Cool Exec With a Heart of Steel

Boxter, the official mascot of Rider's Block, was very excited to hear that Iron Man made over $100 million on opening weekend. He's been running around in his little helmet since Friday.*

I was excited to see one of the best superhero adaptations ever committed to film. This is what happens when a comic book publisher has complete financial and creative control over their own properties. DC and Warner Brothers can go suck it with their deadbeat dad Superman who never throws a punch. Feh!

I compare Marvel Studios to the Cylons: they have a plan. Did anyone else sit through the credits and get chills with the promise of that epilogue? And when I heard they've got a Robert Downey Jr. cameo in the upcoming Incredible Hulk...hoo boy, it is on.

I browsed through Rotten Tomatoes for critical reaction to past Marvel franchises, and it's pretty much on track with my tastes. Up until now, I considered Spider-Man 2 to be the best superhero movie. It currently ranks at 93% with 228 reviews. Compare that with Iron Man at 94% with 160-plus reviews.

I stand by my statement that Marvel needs to tap a solid composer for soundtrack duties, but I ended up buying Iron Man's "Merchant of Death" on iTunes anyway. Boxter likes it too.**

* Which meant he had to learn to eat pet food through a straw...no mean feat for a canine.
** I think...hard to tell through the faceplate.

Blockheaded Speculation on Lost 4.9

Even though "The Shape of Things to Come" blew many of the previous episode's theories out of the water, I appreciate Cuse & Lindelof's collective genius all the more.

You know what else I appreciate? The fact that folks who might normally look down their noses at the sort of plots easily embraced by comic book fans are now deeply invested in this show and have been duped into world-class geekitude. They think comics are "gay" because major characters have strange powers, get punched ad infinitum without serious injury, and fight powerful villains.

Meanwhile walking scar tissue Benjamin Linus is summoning smoke monsters and teleporting to Tunisia so he can face off against a British Lex Luthor...in an episode penned by a pair of comic book writers.

I loves me the irony as much as the blockheaded speculation. Try these on for size:

• Alex is not dead. You'll buy this if you think Ben is always two steps ahead of everyone else. For almost four seasons this master tactician has had a plan. Are we to believe that while he somehow knew the island could keep Michael alive, when his adopted daughter's life was at stake and the island might not protect her--he wouldn't release Smokey before her execution? I say he knew she would recover. Like how Locke was "lucky" when the bullet passed through his body where his kidney used to be--Ben knew from where Keamy was pointing his gun that that part of her brain contained memories of Karl and her early '90s fashion sense, and good riddance to both. But what about the ending with Widmore where Ben talks about taking out Penny? Well, if Alex is actually dead...
  
• Ben will leave the island by the season finale. When we see Ben waking up in the desert, that's hours after Alex's supposed death. He dons a Dharka and takes his grief with him into the future, pissed about the "changing of the rules." (Or it could be he knows Alex is fine but uses her shooting as an excuse to escalate his war with Widmore.)*
• Widmore is immortal and was on the Black Rock. Actually, this is a theory of McGone's which I lifted to pad this post. Aside from being a graphic designer, mixologist, and TV drama theorist, he is also a freelance illustrator of comic books. See? I brought this post full circle.
  

* Backpedal much, Rider?