I watch a lot of TV, but I can't watch it all. Despite Mr. Springsteen's declarations to the contrary, there is quite a bit "on." Even if you narrow it down to the big… 5? 4? broadcast networks, there's a whole bunch of stuff watched by millions of people that I don't know anything about. Imagine my surprise after I finally gave in and watched seasons 1 and 2 of Lost this summer, thinking I was joining everyone else in the country, suddenly some other show I didn't know anything about starts beating it in the ratings. Criminal Minds, starring Mandy Patinkin (whose name, thanks to Mr. Show, always makes me smile) had a few hundred thousand more eyeballs on it last night than Lost did. But Lost still won the 18-49 demographic. So I don't have to start writing about Criminal Minds, because nobody over 49 reads our blog, and nobody under 18 watches Criminal Minds. Dodged a bullet!

Okay, was that some bullshit?  Cuz I think that was some bullshit.  And I'll tell you why.

1. Predictable – When the episode started, Eko was barely hanging on after the hatch blast (but apparently he can go from semi-consciousness to running through the woods with no problem).  And as the episode went along, it was just a downward spiral of him running through the woods, relatively weak, until the cloud caught up with him (we'll get to that in a minute).  Plus, the entire episode was about him, so they really made it pretty obvious.  So obvious, in fact, it almost made you think they were throwing you a curveball.

All the best deaths so far have been surprises (Shannon, the Ana Lucia/Libby two-fer).  This was kind of a let-down. 

2. So long, tailies – Bernard, better watch your back.  As was mentioned in the comments, it seems like the whole tail plot only served to provide the writers with some expendable characters. 

3. Umm… so the angry cloud did it? – The angry cloud hasn't made in appearance in a long-ass time.  I think it would have been more compelling if Eko had been killed by an Other or died in an attempt to do something constructive, it would have had more of an emotional impact. 

4. Eko's entire tenure on the island was kind of dumb – I'd say that Eko probably had one of the best, if not the best, backstory on the island.  It was exotic, it was emotionally gripping.  But he spent the entire time on the island chasing ghosts in one form or another.  Had he been kind of a renegade (like he was when they first crashed), as opposed to some sort of pseudo-spiritual leader, I would have enjoyed the character more.   

Anyways, that's probably all I really have to say on the matter, other than to advise other Lost cast members to not get arrested. 

Anyone else have any thoughts?