SPOILERS HO

* The House Next Door’s Todd VanDerWerff returns with reviews of the latest episodes of TV’s two great science-fiction dramas, Lost and Battlestar Galactica. I don’t think I have particularly novel thoughts about either episode this week, but here goes anyway:

* Regarding Lost, like everyone else, I’m guessing that the H-bomb is buried in that Chernobyl-style concrete block in the original Hatch, and that maybe that was the origin of the “press the button, save the world” mission; and that the adorable British soldier girl who Daniel Faraday told she looked familiar to him is a) his mother; b) Mrs. Hawking, the scary time-cop lady who is apparently Ben’s superior in some way.

* But what struck me is how much confidence the show’s creators have in their ability to push our buttons at this point, and how much fun they’re having as a result. There’s no reason to introduce the birth of Desmond and Penny’s son Charlie in flashback, then reveal that he’s currently about two or three years old–but they do it that way because it’s fun to make our minds do a little work in order to piece together that timeline. Similarly, it’s fun to make our brains race around the history of the show to connect Adorable Soldier Girl with Faraday’s Mom with Mrs. Hawking, or the H-Bomb with the giant concrete block in the Hatch that Sayid said reminded him of Chernobyl. It’s fun in the same way it’s fun to have Young Widmore cockily say “Do you think some old man knows this Island better than I do?” and then cut to bald badass Locke punking him out with his Awesome Tracking Skillz, Bourne-style.

* I do agree with Ross Douthat, though, that some of the scariness of early Lost has been, well, lost now that we know so much more about the Island and the Others and the Dharma Initiative. I mean, I find it to still be a very intense show–as with Battlestar Galactica, The Wire, The Sopranos, and Deadwood, maybe I’m just naive, but I honestly have no idea whether any of the characters will live to see the end of any given episode, which is truly thrilling. But it’s true, and something I’ve discussed with people recently, that the sense that our heroes are up against enemies who are supernatural, almost existential, threat to them has been lost to a certain extent. I think that element will be reintroduced as Jacob, whoever or whatever he is, becomes more prominent in the storyline. The show’s last genuinely terrifying moments all took place in Jacob’s cabin, after all.

* As for Battlestar, like I think I’ve said, I’ve been pulling for an officer-corps revolution for at least a couple of seasons–since Baltar started really ranting about the Adama/Roslin aristocracy–so it’s nice to see it happen. All of the show’s power struggles, coups d’etat, civil wars, and juntas have heretofore involved palace intrigue, some combination of Roslin, Adama, Lee, Baltar, Tigh, Zarek, Cain and her Pegasus successors, and/or the Cylon leadership squaring off over this or that issue. This time around, Zarek’s involvement is largely as a satrap for Gaeta and the rebellious military; what you’re seeing is the fleet’s middle class rising up against its upper class, which feels right.

* Cleverly, the show reinforces this by putting all of its main characters on the targeted side of the rebellion. Roslin, Adama, Tigh, Lee, Starbuck, Baltar, Chief, Anders, Athena, Six, and Tory, under siege by the likes of Gaeta, Zarek, Racetrack, Seelix, and a bunch of assholes from the Pegasus? Clearly the ruling class is in trouble.

* This line-up also subtly conveys the dire straits humankind now finds itself in. When you look at that list of characters, I count a grand total of four prominent human beings who are still truly loyal to the government, maybe only three depending on WTF is up with Starbuck. Every other main character is either a Cylon, a traitor, or dead. When the show forced me to acknowledge this last night, I was actually pretty shocked and wondered how things could continue from here. Which is exactly how I want to feel after watching Battlestar Galactica.

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