Disappearing acts

Since "Lost" is about to go bye-bye for the next three months, I wrote a column expressing my dissatisfaction with a lot of what's happened this season.

Haven't seen "Gilmore" yet, but some thoughts on "Friday Night Lights" and "House" -- both of which featured characters who went without a trace at some point -- coming right up...

Well, based on the early numbers, it looks like the "Friday Night Lights" audition in the "Studio 60" timeslot didn't bring a single new viewer back to the Tuesday airing. Not that I expect the show to survive to next season anyway, but couldn't they at least tease me with false hope every now and then?

As for the episode itself, a much stronger effort than last week. I like that the show isn't ignoring the realities of Street's recovery (the no ejaculation rule is a bummer, though I would think/hope it's temporary), yet is willing to be just sunny enough to show him and his two backstabbing pals having a fine old time on their day trip. Taylor and Saracen both struggled in their own way between, as Matt put it, doing what's right for the team versus what's just right. They're essentially in the same situation: considered too young and inexperienced for the job, in the position because of Jason Street, constantly having their authority questioned, etc. One of the things I like most about this show is the natural rhythms of the dialogue, the way conversations circle back over the same handful of phrases ("He was promising things") without sounding like a Sorkin pedeconference, and either Saracen or Taylor tends to be at the center of those exchanges.

The writers are still struggling with what to do with Tyra, who parachutes in for a few scenes each week that have little to nothing to do with the rest of the cast. The shame of it is that the actress playing her seems much more talented than the one who plays Lyla, but she's a square peg right now. (Smash isn't doing much better, spotlight-wise, but at least he's on the team, and the previews next week suggest he's finally getting his moment.)

So with Voodoo gone and the last win all but overturned, how dead is their season? Can a Texas high school team with two losses get within sniffing distance of the playoffs? What's interesting is that we've now gone six episodes and only seen three games. If that pace keeps up, Berg and company may be able to save up on life without football stories for next season... ahh, who am I kidding? Let's move on before I get too depressed.

Nice to see Pruitt Taylor Vince, my favorite character actor whose name sounds like it's listed backwards, wearing a ginormous fat suit on "House," but the meat of the episode was Detective Tritter's roto-rootering of House's life and pill-popping. Wilson is a terrible liar, and I look forward to seeing how he and House get out of this mess. Back during the Vogler arc, people kept speculating that House would wind up saving Vogler's life. The writers avoided the thorn in the paw approach back then; can they resist that temptation again? And what the hell happened to Chase for the second half of the episode? Does he hate fat people that much?

What did everybody else think?