wish list for the remainder of the season

I really didn’t see that coming. In [i]The Beach[/i] Prince says “You can either spend eternity suffering on Fire or enjoying yourself on Water.” Only then did I realize the shocking secret of Fire and Water. My immediate thought was that this was going to be like [i]Tapestry[/i], the [i]Star Trek: The Next Generation[/i] episode where Captain Picard dies and learns that Q is God, but it’s really a dream. But [i]Heaven and Hell[/i] ruled out that possibility.

Looking back, there were some subtle hints as to the true nature of the two planets. But they also put in things to throw us off, like Duke’s speech in [i]Gondola[/i] where he strongly implies that he is an Insect. It’s obvious now that he meant something else, I’d have to watch my tape again to reinterpret that in light of the later revelation. In [i]Girltown[/i] Stan wonders if he is dead, but that obviously isn’t the case. Besides, the characters didn’t know they were dead, and some were even killed. I wouldn’t think one could die in Heaven.

It appeared that this was just a case of two planets colonized in the distant past. One planet has everything, the other has nothing. So naturally there’s some kind of conflict. And the ruler of the unfortunate planet wants to destroy the fortunate one out of spite. But [i]The Beach[/i] and [i]Heaven and Hell[/i] revealed a startlingly different story.