Wednesday Night TV

During Lost tonight, KFC ran the ad TV Squad mentioned a while back with the high pitched sound that only young people can here. I guess I just barely still count as young for these purposes, and boy was that sound ever annoying. What exactly was the point of that? Nothing makes me crave chicken like irritating noises. But that's got nothing to do with anything, just random griping. Lost and Jericho after the jump.


Lost: Three stories going on this week. First, Sun finds out about Juliet's fertility specialty. After a confrontation where Juliet reveals the truth, they head to the staff hatch, where there's a hidden room with an ultrasound machine. After explaining that men on the island had unnaturally high sperm counts, Juliet determines that the baby is eight weeks old, so the baby is Jin's, but this also means that Sun and her baby will die without some kind of medical miracle. In an entirely expected final scene, Juliet goes off and leaves a message for Ben, indicating what she learned about Sun, and that she would next try to find out if Kate is pregnant (since Sawyer would be pretty potent on the island as well).


In Sun's flashback, we learn that being Mr. Paik's enforcer was not in fact the deal Jin made to marry her. It was only when Sun borrowed money to pay off a blackmailer that his debt was escalated to where he had to get his hands dirty. The blackmailer in question was Jin's mother, who he thought was dead, but it turns out she was a prostitute. In an effort to save him from that shame, she not only forces him into a life of crime, but when he finds the money Sun is using for the payoff, she manages to make him feel like an inadequate provider for that extra kick in the balls. So in previous flashbacks, when we felt like the tension between them was merely Sun's unhappiness with what Jin had become, we know now that it was also Sun's guilt at her own responsibility for the situation.

Back on last week's camping trip, the guys find that the parachutist has a stick in her chest and that she's dying. When looking for something to use to treat her, Hurley sets off a flare gun. Shortly after, Mikhail comes running to them. This is interesting not only because he managed to survive his encounter with the security fence, but also because it seemed like he was running towards the flare. Was he expecting that woman? If so, why? Mikhail strikes a bargain to save the girl in exchange for his release, and Desmond agrees over Charlie's objections. Mikhail tries running off with the phone, but Jin manages to catch him, but Desmond still honors the agreement to let him go. The parachutist asks where she is, and Hurley explains their situation, and she replies that they can't be from flight 815, since that wreckage was found with no survivors.

We're left with fun questions everywhere. Are we back to the purgatory theory that was so popular in season one? Or is it some kind of Others conspiracy to create fake wreckage and bodies so no one comes searching for them? How close are we to the week deadline for Ben coming back? What about Mikhail and the flares? Whoever thinks Lost has lost it just doesn't know how to sit back and enjoy a cool story.

Jericho: Russell and his friends from New Bern, fresh off their agreement with Dale and Skylar, stage some kind of sit-in at the salt mine, and Mayor Gray threatens to break it up. When Dale refuses to give up any ground, it turns into a shootout, with one New Bernian dead. Russell doesn't seem as aggressive as the rest of New Bern, and warns Gray and Johnston that news of the shooting could start a war between the towns, so Johnston heads out with Russell to save his sons. He meets with Constantino, who explains all about his hatred for Jericho and that he has the Green boys in custody for sabotaging the factory. He demands to see them, but Constantino tells him to take off, so Johnston just kind of wanders around until he finds a truck.


Constantino is interrogating Jake and Eric. They seem to just be asking Jake questions about Hawkins, but beating the hell out of Eric and asking about Jericho's defenses. One of Jake's cellmates turns out to be Maggie the fake marine, who thinks if she gives up Hawkins' name and whereabouts, they'll take her along, and she can pass information to Hawkins once he kicks their asses. It sounds like a really stupid plan, but it apparently works perfectly, and she meets up with Hawkins and Ted.

The plan is for Maggie to get re-captured, steal some keys like some kind of ninja, then Hawkins sets off some explosions in town and free everyone in the ensuing chaos. But it's a good week for improbable plans, since Hawkins has no trouble getting his hands on explosives and she easily takes some keys from a guard. Ted's supposed to factor into the plan somehow with a rifle, but he's never shot a guy before and bails. So Hawkins has to take on the guards by himself, but luckily they're pretty incompetent. He gets off four shots before anyone reacts. Hawkins and Maggie each catch a flesh wound, but everyone manages to escape, thanks to Johnston conveniently showing up in a truck right as the shootout ends.

The episode ends with Hawkins, Eric, Jake, and Johnston walking back to Jericho after the truck gives out, carrying Maggie, who may bleed out from her leg wound. They actually share a nice family moment at the end, which was one of two high points in an otherwise stupid episode. The other was Jake giving us a sliver of hope that Heather is still alive, saying "We can't even be sure Heather's dead with the lies they're spreading." But at this point, I may not see her come back. I feel like the quality has fallen off enough that I might give up on Jericho if it gets renewed.