By With the season finale of LOST scheduled for this week, I thought it was only fitting to show the clip of the final moments of LOST’s two Korean characters, which were killed off just a few episodes before the season finale:
It has been interesting to see the perceptions of the two Korean characters, Sun played by Yun-jin Kim and Jin played by Daniel Dae Kim, change as the plot of this drama developed. In Season 1 Korean netizens were outraged by the portrayal of these two characters, which by Season 6 they had become two of the most popular characters on the show. By the way I wonder if Yun-jin Kim is still complaining about discrimination?
Anyway via Monster Island comes this interview with Daniel Dae Kim in the LA Times:
Word had gotten out that, late in the final season, an event would take place and a few characters would die. But that’s all Daniel Dae Kim knew until he received the telltale message from the production office in Burbank: Executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse wanted to speak with him on the telephone.
“We knew that death was in the air and that there was going to be an event that caused a lot of deaths,” Kim said during a phone interview from Baton Rouge, La., where he was filming “The Killing Game” with Samuel L. Jackson. “We just didn’t know what that event was going to be or who would be involved. But once you get the phone call that both of them want to speak with you at the same time, you know 90% of the time it’s not good news.”
By now, the “Lost”-verse knows it was terrible news. Not only did Kim’s heroic Jin die, but he also drowned in a final act of love with his wife, Sun (Yunjin Kim), minutes after viewers saw Sayid (Naveen Andrews) run off with an exploding bomb in an effort to save the rest of his castaway friends.
It was as emotionally draining as it was beautifully executed, so perhaps it’s a good thing that Tuesday night’s “Lost,” titled “Across the Sea,” breaks from the character drama and answers some island questions, giving Losties a chance to grieve and regroup. [LA Times]
You can read the rest at the link, but it was good to see Kim get another acting role on Hawaii Five-O so he doesn’t have to move his family. I am looking forward to seeing this new series and hope it works out for Kim who from everything I have seen and read appears to be one of the nicest guys in acting.
8:38 am on May 23rd, 2010 1
One of my favorite things to do lately has been to see the various places where "Lost" is filmed here on Oahu (like the Hangang-daegyo Bridge HERE). I should post on that sometime (more than just THIS).
I'm really going to miss this show.
Indeed, some Netizens can get antsy about anything, and there is no portrayal that will please everyone. But clearly those two characters grew a lot, and the Jin character is probably one of the nicest and most loyal on the show.
8:47 am on May 23rd, 2010 2
I was going to add about "Hawaii Five-0"… I hope it is given a chance to work, too, but they're going to have to make it gritty, not formulaic. Formulaic shows about Hawaii (e.g., "North Shore") don't play so well.
It would be nice if they get into some of the seedier side of this island, which has drug problems (meth, especially), racial tension (going from and to all directions), and corporate corruption (the remnants of the Big Five [see here], Hawaii's answer to the chaebol).
9:58 am on May 23rd, 2010 3
"Formulaic shows about Hawaii (e.g., “North Shore”) don’t play so well. "
The original Hawaii Five-O and Magnum P.I. were pretty formulaic, but I get your point. As fun as those two shows were, they were produced ages ago. Tastes have changed. One thing, though. If I were you, I'd worry it would glorify the seedier side of Hawaii if it took the direction you suggest. Not all kids get subtext (How many kids get what Full Metal Jacket was really about? I wonder if Kubrick knew he produced one of the most effective recruiting tools ever made.)
10:34 am on May 23rd, 2010 4
Indeed, I was speaking of more recent efforts. I was in diapers during the days of Hawaii Five-0 version 1.
I think they could show things a bit seedier without glorifying them, à la the first seasons of CSI. There's not a lot of bling-bling ain't-it-cool love of gangsta life here on Oahu, so I'm not worried about that. I'm thinking more like the highlighting the groups that don't like each other (er… some of whose members don't like the other groups), issues like Native Hawaiian self-determination, the colonial aspect of the place and how it still pervades things, Japanese (and to a lesser extent, Korean) tourists coming in and acting like this is Hawai-ken Prefecture, illegals from the Pacific Islands, pot growing in forested areas, environmental groups slicing people's tires to fight against the SuperFerry [see HERE], the tension between the military people and the locals, the car theft, the somewhat visible sex trade, the rich who think that the laws don't apply to them, and the massive potholes.
10:54 am on May 23rd, 2010 5
Hawaii Five-0 did show show the seedier sides of Honolulu for most of its run. In its last 3 of its 12 seasons the plots centered more and more on the rich and bored.
Here's a good question about the new Five-0- Will it take the old show's approach where it rarely delved into the detective's private lives or will it go CSI Miami where there is a whole bunch of soap operas involving the main characters plus the crime fighting. Most modern cop dramas(Law and Order have usually been an exception) have mixed soap and crime. That's formulaic, and I don't particularly care for it as seen by the little primetime television watching I do.
11:16 am on May 23rd, 2010 6
You're asking for a lot. As you just pointed out, there are a lot of different perspectives from which to view Hawaii. Trying to create a television program with a coherent theme, but represents all those points of view may result in something interesting to eggheads and academics; like 'The Wire.' But, it probably won't be entertaining or sustain popular ratings.
P.S., I spent time in the 'seedier' sides of Oahu. The parts Dog Chapman tends to visit. They are still more idyllic than a lot of other places in the States I've been to.
12:36 pm on May 23rd, 2010 7
So, real issues. OK, that would make for an interesting show…But, do you honestly believe Hawaii Five-O 2.0 will be anything more than a kitschy throwback with some updated gadgetry, like the new Night Rider series?
12:42 pm on May 23rd, 2010 8
I was so young last time I watched the show, I just remember that that opening sequence was probably the best ever made for a TV show up to that point.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXfyhqXxf3E
12:43 pm on May 23rd, 2010 9
You both make valid points. Unlike Night Rider which relied on gadgetry, its mere identity as a cop show may be enough to sustain a new show, assuming the crime stories are compelling.
And that same status can be enough to provide the coherent link.
I'm not saying it should address all those issues; I'm just saying that a show taking place in Hawaii should actually seem like it's taking place in Hawaii. Boston, for example, has its Irish roots, and Miami its Cuban connection, Los Angeles its Mexican influence, and Hawaii has its Haole-versus-Japanese-versus-Islanders-versus-new-immigrants vibe. If they start having Mexican drug cartels, for example, then the show has failed. There's plenty going on here to sustain a crime show. (Maybe I should actually go watch the original to see what kind of stuff they did before.)
Don't go too far the other way, though. This isn't Hong Kong and it's not run by triads.
12:45 pm on May 23rd, 2010 10
Hawaii Five-O starring…Gary Busey?!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8LHQSTWt3U
Oh, and Sammy singing the theme song…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wn06KJNbVEs&fe…
Man, this is fun.
12:46 pm on May 23rd, 2010 11
I'd like to see either the original opening theme music or a only-just-slightly modern reworking of it. Familiar, yet up-to-date.
10:09 pm on May 23rd, 2010 12
Here is the opening credits for the new Hawaii Five-0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLKdYXyQa90
2:36 am on May 24th, 2010 13
After looking at the casting and opening credits of the new Hawaii 5-0, it seems they decided to go with the 'formulaic' beefcake and babes thing.
If they spend more time posing and posturing, like the CSI: Miami crew, or doing unrealistic, elite commando stuff, than thoughtful and believable police/detective work, then the viewers may soon tire of it.
2:43 am on May 24th, 2010 14
Q: What is Lost called in Korea?
A: Dragonheart Jin: Protector of Dokdo
2:53 am on May 24th, 2010 15
The original Hawaii 5-0 pilot had McGarrett as very James Bondish. When the show did episodes, the character was different.
Television pilots will always be more flashy. They are trying to sell something- a new new show.
I have a problem with a woman being Kono. Filling the shoes of Zulu who portrayed the original, are too big a shoes for any woman. Then what did I expect? A 200 plus pound Hawaiian woman playing a police detective.
5:16 am on May 24th, 2010 16
I like it. Kinda what I had in mind.
7:13 am on May 24th, 2010 17
The new Hawaii Five-O intro has promise… but there are a few problems that need to be worked out.
They need to drop that nightvision-green auto-tracking reticle nonsense… unless, of course, a late-90s Vancouver production look and feel is what they are shooting for.
Next up, somebody needs slapped for displaying Hawaii waters in green. That's fine for Seattle Five-O or Incheon Five-O… but not for Hawaii… beautiful blue water, guys, beautiful blue water.
In the original, there was an urgent camera-on-a-helicopter shot zooming UP to a building ledge where a dark-suited man surveyed his city… which then cut to an impeccably-groomed and deadly-confident Jack Lord turning around with an aura of hyper-awareness, looking you straight in the eye and, with a slight smirk, daring you to funk with His island.
While that iconic shot must be paid homage to, it should be IMPROVED upon.
Instead, we get a quick flash with a cheap-ass zoom lens shot of a bowlegged guy in a poorly-cut suit with his back to the world who looks like he might be desperately waiting for a date that isn't ever going to show or, maybe, looking around for his lost pistol.
Suddenly, it cuts to an unshaven and startled Alex O'Laughlin, as McGarrett, jerking around with a troubled crease in his forehead as if he got caught with a wide stance in an airport bathroom… or his connection is late and needs a fix RIGHT GODDAM NOW… while the two frames on the left show him looking disturbingly like Steve Buscemi's happy zombie plotting to kill a child… and a grey-green Smeagol in a t-shirt learning how to shoot.
The we get an irritated Scott Caan sitting up out of the bushes and waving his gun around as if he slept there after a night of heavy drinking with a old Polynesian hooker who wallet… and now he wants everyone to just leave him the hell alone until he can walk without puking.
Danial Day Kim looked good… for what they showed of him… the primary frame being him sitting in what looked like a Dharma Initiative bunker while a side frame showed his head explode in a puff of smoke… or maybe he was firing a shotgun at the unlucky cameraman… hard to tell.
Next up, Gracie park appears to put the Kung Fu hurt on an old black woman with graying hair who is slightly skinnier than she is.
Then we get the old mothballed Magnum PI helicopter dusted off and repainted in flat black… presumably with a Homeland Security grant.
There is a quick flash of t-shirted New McGarrett elbowing some shorter and smaller guy in the guts next to a storage shed… with his gun pointed in the complete opposite direction from where the action is.
A final shot shows the whole group in their office… with New McGarrett's left arm in a sling… which is pretty fitting with the original as it seems Old McGarrett got shot in the left arm about every other week.
All of this is interspersed with stock footage of Hawaii… although, at half the length of the original intro, it was cut to the point of incoherence.
The updated music has great drumming.
That's my review.
Based on the intro, I suspect it will be painfully formula.
6:49 pm on May 24th, 2010 18
I definitely have to say, out of all the deaths on Lost, this one was the most poignant. I really liked their characters together, and I especially liked how easily Jin picked up English.
9:00 pm on May 24th, 2010 19
Wow…thanks for the spoiler warning, ass-hat!
9:30 pm on May 24th, 2010 20
Speaking of spoilers, what did y'all think of the finale?
SPOILERS AHEAD!
I thought somebody needed kicked directly in the nuts.
The ending did a good job of finalizing most of the characters. The ending did absolutely nothing with the island except leave it open for a sequel movie or series with different characters.
The location for the "heart of the island" was far less spectacular than it should have been.
The final battle with the Locke doppelganger was right out of a direct-to-video B-movie.
There were far too many unanswered questions that should have been answered… and lots of loose ends… and the final two hours had a bit of filler as if they only had an hour and 40 minutes of script.
In the end, there was no tension or intrigue… which is what made the show attractive.
Anybody agree or disagree?
3:57 am on May 25th, 2010 21
nb, while I agree it's good form to provide "spoiler alert" for things in a show, the Jin-Sun scene depicted above was aired almost three weeks ago (May 4 in the US). Maybe GI Korea (who shouldn't be called an ass-hat, IMO) simply assumed anyone following the show carefully would have seen that episode (or heard about it) by now.
I know I did, and I didn't supply a spoiler alert, which I shall remedy right now.
4:13 am on May 25th, 2010 22
I tend to agree with you, ChickenHead, though I'm not thinking someone needs to be kicked in the nuts.
I wrote HERE about my own lame working theory from the beginning that they were all in some sort of Purgatory, trying to work their way out. (Mr Eko's premature demise seemed to reinforce that.)
SPOILER!
SPOILER!
SPOILER!
Now my working theory [HERE, where I wrote some opinions much like your own] is that "maybe they survived the crash, they all died in the crash, and they never crashed, all at the same time." Jack himself, as he lays dying on The Island, sees his own plane fly overhead and not crash.
There's some control had by some between these three separate trajectories — Eloise Hawking asks Desmond if he's going to take her son away, too (presumably to the scene in the church) — and he says no. For whatever reason, these three trajectories do come in contact — maybe Jack is rewarded for saving The Island's light by all his friends being given the goodness they earned on The Island.
Bear in mind that the church scene may not have been immediate after the events of that day — at least for everyone besides Jack. His father, after all, explains that there's no "now" where they are. Also, Hugo suggests to Ben that he had been a great #2, indicating some time had passed. And they are all in Los Angeles in the weeks — not years — after the plane would have crashed, whereas Jack's death on The Island would have been about three years later.
I stand by my all-three-trajectories theory, but I'm left not knowing for sure the hows, whys, and whats.