Lost Episode Reviews

"Not in Portland" and "Flashes Before Your Eyes" aired on February 7 and February 14, 2007, respectively.

SPOILER ALERT: I WILL DISCUSS PLOT POINTS HERE, SO IF YOU DON'T WANT THINGS RUINED, THEN AVERT YOUR EYES FROM THE SCREEN

I apologize for the delay in reviewing last week’s episode of Lost. All I can tell you is that there was a bit of a crisis here involving no hot water in my shower and me heating up water on my stovetop. But of course, that is the very reason I have a Tivo. Well perhaps not the very reason, but you get what I’m saying. Anyways, I was able to watch last week’s episode and this week’s and that’s why I can now talk with you, my fellow Lost enthusiasts about the long awaited return of Lost. Let’s start with last week’s episode and work to the present.

I’ll be honest with you, when last week’s return of Lost finally came around, I had actually lost a bit of interest in the show. I attribute this completely to the fact that nearly three months off is way too long to wait between episodes and that in that hiatus I had become somewhat disillusioned with my choices on TV (but that’s for another column on another day). However, as soon as I started watching the so-called Spring Premiere of Lost, I remembered why I should have been missing the show that whole time. Last week’s episode was intense, surprising, and just plain weird; and I loved it.

I have to say though, I think the thing that surprised me the most was that Kate and Sawyer actually managed to get off of Island 2 as this was pretty much the exact opposite of how Lost normally works. In a typical Lost storyline, this departure from Island 2 would have taken like three or four episodes (at least, with several unrelated episodes in the middle of this, causing the storyline to actually take almost twice as long) and would have involved a lot of episodes in which people stood around and didn’t do a whole lot. But thanks to the added time pressure of Ben’s surgery (I’ve long since argued that the element of time can do wonders for a movie or TV show, just look at 24), they had no choice but to resolve this issue in a timely manner. Now if they can just manage to find several other people who need surgeries, they’ll be able to resolve virtually every major storyline by May.

However, the departure from Island 2 did raise a question for me, which might be related to the plot or might just be plot holes. When everyone was on Island 1, they were in constant fear of The Others because The Others were able to move through the jungle quickly and deftly and without mistakes, yet when Sawyer and Kate were being chased through the jungle on Island 2, The Others seemed a bit more Keystone Copish as they bumbled around and screwed up on a regular basis. Now this could just be that this was done to allow Kate and Sawyer to escape without a great deal of delay and without having to come up with clever ways in which Kate and Sawyer could outsmart The Others, or perhaps The Others on Island 1 aren’t quite the same as The Others on Island 2. Ever since the first appearance of the book, The Bad Twin, on the show last season, I’ve believed that there is a dichotomy to the show that has yet to be revealed. I could be wrong and it could just be the two islands or the two groups living on those islands, but I feel like maybe there is something more to it. At least I hope there is, because otherwise I’ll be disappointed.

The other big deal that was announced during this episode was that Alex, whom I’m pretty sure is the French Woman’s daughter, is apparently also the daughter of Ben. Now maybe this is all just a ruse that The Others have created to keep Alex from knowing the truth, but what if he is actually her biological father? All this time we’ve been led to believe that Rousseau just got shipwrecked on the island and that her husband and fellow shipmates got sick and she killed them. But maybe she’s really just a cast-off from The Others, kind of like her daughter, but just on Island 1. I know this is all random speculation and probably irrelevant, but that’s one of the best parts about watching the show; being able to make ridiculous guesses as to what things mean or as to what’s going on. And that’s another thing I missed during that hiatus, a period we’ll refer to as “The Daybreak Mistake.”

Last couple things about this episode before I move on to the most recent one: why was Carl in that Clockwork Orange-type room listening to house music? And why do they even have such a room? Why was it a big deal that Juliet was able to get her sister pregnant? As far as I know, people have been getting pregnant without sex for quite some time now. Does Juliet really hate the island and was she basically kidnapped and taken there by those creepy dudes who had her ex-husband hit by a bus? And how did they get him hit by a bus? What is going to happen to Jack now that he’s served his purpose and he’s all alone? And most importantly, was the line that Juliet’s ex-husband delivered shortly before his death while on the phone the funniest insignificant line in the history of the show (to refresh your memory he said “ because you’re insufferable, and you’re mean. Well you asked me for the truth, Mom.”)?

Now on to the next episode, which I have to say, was one of my all-time favorites. It wasn’t just my one of my favorites because it answered two of the questions the show had presented for us (why Desmond could see the future and who he was protecting), and it wasn’t just one of my favorites because it was a cool, weird story, it was one of my favorites because I think Desmond has become of my favorite characters. This guy is clearly a top-notch actor (I’m not the only one who thinks so by the way. He was nominated for an Emmy last year for his work on the show), and on top of it, his character might be the most tragic figure of all. Sure all the other people on the island have had sucky lives, but what is more sucky than what happened to Desmond ever since he dumped his girlfriend (both times)? I think only Locke can really compete with Desmond in the suckiest life competition, but since Locke has gotten the use of his legs back, Desmond wins that battle in my opinion.

There isn’t really a whole lot to say about what actually happened in this particular episode, because most of the story was Desmond’s trip back in time, the specifics of which don’t have much meaning for the rest of the show, other than the fact that Desmond will always try and use his power to save people as a way of making up for his failure to fix his biggest mistake. I have to say though, when I first realized that Desmond was trying to save someone from a death that would come no matter what he did, I assumed it was Claire that he was trying to save, which I’m sure everyone thought. But when I found out it was Charlie, I felt a sense of relief. I mean really, what has Charlie brought to the table on this show, other than hobbit related jokes? If there’s anyone who can go, it really is him. So be forewarned, hobbit. Get your resume up to date right now, because your time is nigh.

The last thing I want to discuss relating to this episode is beards. From the moment I saw Desmond’s beardless face, I realized that he looked way better with a beard than without. And then I started realizing that the same could be said for Jack, Sayid, and obviously Sawyer. Now perhaps this revelation came to me because I have a beard now and I think that I look pretty good with it, but perhaps it really is true. So ladies, (and gents if you aren’t feeling like Tim Hardaway right now), what do you think? Have beards made these guys look better? And, most importantly, has a beard made me look better? Discuss.

Next Week on Lost: I had heard them promise that questions would be answered when the show returned from the dark period known as “The Daybreak Mistake,” but I didn’t really believe them. Next week however they promise that they will reveal the answers to three of Lost’s biggest mysteries (which leaves a mere 10,328 to go). What those mysteries are, I’m not sure. One of them definitely seems to be what happened to all the people that The Others kidnapped, but other than that, I’m not sure. They did suggest something about the meaning of Jack’s tattoos, but I don’t think that could be one of the show’s biggest mysteries, unless Jack has a tattoo which is a map of the island like Michael Scofield had a map of the prison on the show, Prison Break. The only thing we do know is that the people that The Others kidnapped are there to “watch” something. Perhaps they are watching the show, just like you and I, or maybe they are like the millions of people who surf the internet every day looking to just watch people do sexual things, I’m not sure. What I do know is though, that this upcoming episode looks awesome.