What was on TV? Wed, Nov 17, 2004

K-Mart purchased Sears and Wal-Mart threatened to swallow America whole. Let's see what was on TV.

8:00 Lost on ABC

1x09 "Solitary" (record America's Next Top Model on UPN)

Part of why I still love Lost is that it's about community, about reaching out to people even when it seems impossible. Those ideas resonate more with each passing week, and they are front and center in this episode.

In the b-story, everyone is anxious and tense, avoiding each other and snapping at each other (gee, I wonder why this resonates today!). Jack feels like he can solve it by being the big hero, whether anyone wants that or not. Michael wants to build some plumbing. But it's Hurley who has the best idea of all. He builds a golf course. And people have fun, they create memories, and they smile! And you realize you've barely seen most of these actors smile before, and it's beautiful. By the end of it all, you truly feel like this place is a community.

Meanwhile, Sayid has exiled himself after he tortured Sawyer. But he can't escape people, and he can't escape himself. He thinks he's going to find answers in the jungle. All he finds is more questions, and a kindred spirit.

And so we are introduced to Danielle Roussau (Mira Furlan), of one of Lost's absolute best characters. Furlan is truly excellent in the role, and you feel this woman's pain and loneliness and paranoia. Furlan and Andrews' scenes together are all remarkable. We can actually see Sayid's intelligence background (way more than we do in any torture scene), as he so easily unravels who she is and what she wants. But of course he does that because he sees his own reflection. He knows what it's like to be lonely, to grieve, and to forget any way of communicating besides violence. His flashbacks show you this backstory, and they are wonderful (Sayid is always such a great romantic hero, and the Nadia story breaks my heart every time). But it's his interactions with Rousseau that truly resonate and hold up today.

The whole episode is great, and deepens the show's mythology in truly exciting ways (whispers? sickness? weird transmissions? she killed her husband? a missing baby?). But what lingers is Andrews and Furlan's final scene, when she confesses that she wants to keep him simply so she won't be alone anymore, and violence is the only way she knows how to express that. Meanwhile, he confesses that he is done with self-flagellation and endless grief, and he must return to his community. He can't be like her. And in a moment of true mutual understanding and grace, she lets him go.

This episode was written by David Fury. Fury is best known for his work on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff Angel. He has also written for 24, Fringe, and The Tick.

This episode was directed by Greg Yaitanes. He has worked as both a producer and director on Presumed Innocent, House of the Dragon, Banshee, and House.

9:00 Jack and Bobby on the WB

1x10 "Lost Boys" (record Category 6: Day of Destruction on CBS)

Much has been made of the impact of Will and Grace. But watching broadcast TV in 2004, its impact feels negligible. Queer audiences could find their stories on HBO and Showtime. But on broadcast tv, options were scant (outside of reality shows). Aside from Will and Grace, there was precisely one scripted show on broadcast tv with a regular gay character, Kevin Hill. And it was on UPN, the smallest of all the networks, and it was cancelled after one season.

Gay characters were still confined to the occasional very special episode. GLAAD even gave out an award for the best very special episode, or for an "Outstanding Individual Episode (in a series without a regular gay character)." This year, Jack and Bobby was the winner.

It's Thanksgiving, and matriarch Grace's troubled gay little brother (Tom Cavanaugh) drops by unannounced. Future president of the United States Bobby is thrilled to see him, but his older brother Jack has other things on his mind: his onetime friend Matt (Suits' Patrick J. Adams) just died by suicide. Flashbacks reveal that they were once close, but things started souring once Jack began dating preacher's daughter Missy. Matt became closed off, resisted Jack's attempts to set him up with Missy's hot friend, and said some truly nasty stuff about Missy. He distanced himself from Jack, and when pressed, he revealed that he did it because he becomes an asshole around Jack, because he's in love with him. Jack told him to reach out to someone else, his parents, a counselor, anyone, but he didn't get anywhere. And Jack didn't know how to handle it, and they grew apart. Now he's guilty, but he decides to tell Matt's parents what he knows, only to discover his mother already knew. Did he tell her? Did she figure it out? Did she just know? We don't know, all we know is that he didn't get the support he needed.

Meanwhile, Grace is mad at her brother: he cheated on his boyfriend, he's a drunk, he's a bad babysitter, and she even has to pick him up from jail. After she bails him out she reveals that she blames herself for all his troubles. Their parents kicked him out after he came out, and she should have done more, even though she was a single mom at the time. But he assures her: he's who he is, and it's not because of their parents, or because he's gay. He's fallible, just like her. He's got a point: she's on the verge of an illicit affair with her TA. The TA is played by Bradley Cooper, so it's understandable even if it's a very bad idea. In the end, they have a very believable sibling relationship.

This is a very special episode. It won an award for "best gay episode on a show without a regular gay character," so it inevitably centers on the concerns of straight people. There is lots of crying. But the episode willing to traffic in gray areas and uncertainties, and I respect that. It shows queer kids that the world is cruel to people like you, you aren't crazy. But also that people might be more accepting and kind than you imagined. And that you don't have to be perfect to be worthy of love

This episode was written by Barbie Kligman. She has written for Private Practice, The Vampire Diaries, and the Magnum P.I. reboot.

This episode was directed by Bryan Gordan. He has directed episodes of The Office, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Party Down.

10:00 America's Next Top Model (recorded)

3x09 "The Girls Meet Taye Diggs"

The production of this episode was quite troubled. The girls take their international trip to Japan, but apparently they were turned away at customs because people thought they were sex workers. They had to spend a night in Guam.

So that explains why the commercials in this episode look cheap and terrible. But I don't think they would have been good or even fun no matter what. Watching these girls fail at speaking Japanese is painful. As is seeing the girls choke down and try to sell the local cuisine.

At least we have the acting challenge. They have to play an extremely melodramatic deathbed scene, full of medical jargon and French. Watching the girls stumble their way through is a blast. Taye Diggs (star of the current ANTM lead-out Kevin Hill) shows up to assist and he is a really good sport about it. It's peak Top Model silliness, and without it, this episode would have been a total waste of time.

Late Everwood (recorded)

3x06 "Shoot the Moon"

Best episode of the season so far, easy. Our teen protagonists are seniors, we have to do a college applications episode (and make sure we set up a way to keep them in Colorado next season). But Everwood really makes the most of it. We explore Amy and Ephram's different approaches to the future, their relationship and their dreams. Their fathers try to influence them, and they fail. They're growing up and will do what they want. And it all culminates in that perfect twist at the mailbox, perfection.

But what really brings this storyline to the next level is the b-story with Irv and Edna. We explore a common experience, but one that I don't think I've ever seen depicted on television: what happens when you and your partner have different goals in retirement. Here we see that the problems that Amy and Ephram face never go away, that love doesn't magically align all your goals. Both storylines end in such an unsettled place, promising lots of drama to come.

I haven't even talked about my favorite scene in the episode, the one between Ephram and Dr. Abbott. The two characters don't get a lot of scenes together, so it was a real treat. It's a moment of true and totally unexpected intimacy, and it's beautiful.

This episode was written by Michael Green. Green is the showrunner of Blue Eye Samurai and a big-time screenwriter. He received an Oscar nomination for his work on Logan and wrote the screenplays for Alien: Covenant, Blade Runner 2049, and all three of Kenneth Branagh's Hercule Poirot movies.

This episode was directed by Matt Shankman. He has been directing television for over two decades, including episodes of House, You're the Worst, and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. He directed all nine episodes of Marve's Wandavision, and then got hired to direct the upcoming Fantastic Four movie.

Late Night

Tonight on Late Night, Conan savagely roasts his employers in a segment called "Late Night Budget Cuts." There are tons of silly and inventive gags involving the whole crew, and Matt Walsh makes a cameo (this is Matt Walsh from Veep, not the nightmare podcast man).

What Else Was On

• This week's CSI:NY included footage of a real-life NYPD terrorist response drill. Another one for the copaganda files. They claim it was a coincidence, but the show shot in LA, so I'm not buying it.
• Special Sweeps guest star: Billy Porter on Law and Order

TiVo Status

2 episodes of Everwood, the three hour Masterpiece Theater miniseries The Lost Prince, and The Office Christmas Special from across the pond (I’ll watch that one closer to the holidays, after I’ve rewatched the series), the two hour first part of Henry VIII, and the four hour miniseries Category 6: Day of Destruction, one episode of Frontline (1 hour). 14 hours, 14 hours of space left.