October 4, 2006: Leader of the Pack
OK, forget the onion. This show has more layers than a bad day on
Project Runway. I am completely wrapped up in Jake and all that comes with him - his past with Emily, his ability to work a black box, his leadership skills that pour out during panic situations while his personal issues sit on the back burner, waiting to be reheated.
Eric's affair is bothersome but puts some much-needed faults into his expected perfection. But there seem to be a lot of things that aren't what they seem on the outside... Gray (
Michael Gaston) and Shepp's secret about the "heart attack" in the mine (I'm still not convinced they just
let him die); Skylar's real personality hidden under the safe, mean girl she pretends to be; Robert Hawkins, his U-Haul and the cement-filled wheelbarrow in his basement. I felt bad for his wife and kids, wanting to join the rest of the town at the cookout but confined to their house for reasons unknown to us. What was he moving in the U-Haul? How did he know the Asian news anchor - on the only TV signal coming in over the satellite - was speaking Mandarin?
There were moments that I loved... moments that balanced out all the questions. The little jokes from Stanley (
Brad Beyer), even though he was the only one who had been out in the rain; Jake sitting with Heather at the cookout; Dale finding that train full of food. There are seconds of salvation in between long stretches of frustration, but both are worth it.
Still, whatever happened to the prisoners? And where did the passengers of the 747 disappear to? It seems the answers are lying all around the Kansas farms, and I'm ready for Jake to keep pushing.
Let the theories begin....
