Lost: The Worst and Best

After a blogging break, I'm back with more Lost musings. I'm part way through season 4 now, and haven't commented for a while, so I will do so briefly now. Season 1 "The Losties" was magical and got me thoroughly hooked. Season 2 "The Tailies" was really a continuation of season 2 with a few interesting new characters added. I particularly liked Eko and Libby, but they were eventually killed off. In fact the only tail section survivor left is poor old Bernard, not a particularly likeable, nor important character. Season 3 "The Others" started off with a bang. The season opener showing Otherville on the day of the crash took my breath away. But after that, the season semed to be less Lost-like than I was used to. I found it cruel, irritating and confusing at first, but as we learned more about Ben and Juliet, the answers and new mysteries came fast and furious, and I again found myself mesmerized. Season 4 "The Freighter People" introduced a whole bunch of new characters, some endearing (Daniel), some infuriating (Miles). Again, I found the early episodes to be less enjoyable than earlier seasons, and I concluded that I find it difficult to warm to characters I don't know, particularly when the writers seem to take great delight in obscuring the motivations of the new characters. Furthermore, season 4 introduced the new technique of featuring "flash-forwards" in some episodes instead of the familiar "flashbacks", with no warning. Again, I found that irritating at first, but eventually became fascinated with seeing glimpses of the future, and puzzling out how the plot arc could possibly lead to what we were seeing.

Now I comment on three consecutive episodes in particular, illustrating the good and the bad. The Sun- and Jin-centric episode 7 "Ji Yeon" was mostly uninformative: it didn't really answer any questions, nor raise any new questions. The only question seemed to be: Will Jin arrive at the hospital in time, and why is he so worried about a stupid panda? Imagine my irritation when it turned out Sun's off-island experience was a flash-forward, while Jin's was a flashBACK. Not fair. It seems that this episode was designed for no other reason that to elicit the "HUH???" response. And the episode ending twist was actually a double-twist: Jin is dead in the flash-forward (even though Sun non-sensically keeps asking when he'll arrive at the hospital), and the spy on the boat is....MICHAEL! Hurley's appearance to support Sun was a nice touch.

The 8th episode was also disappointing. "Meet Kevin Johnson" was almost exclusively a flashback showing how Ben recruits Michael. Nothing terribly surprising or interesting there. The parts that I would be interested to see weren't shown: How did Michael get back to New York and settle Walt at his mother's and start living his life without revealing that he had been on Oceanic 815? Then the "twist" at the end (Rousseau and Carl's end) seemed to have nothing to do with the rest of the episode. Very disconcerting.

But episode 9 "The Shape of Things to Come" was superb. It was absolutely packed with interesting and surprising occurances, one shocking twist after another, an emotional ride for the viewer and the characters.
On the island the boat's doctor is found dead in the surf, but the boat says he's there and fine! (more time-discontinuity). Daniel lies about it, Bernard catches him out (good job Bernard!), he is forced to admit they aren't there to rescue the Losties. (Surprised?). Jack has a mysterious ailment. The ambush at Otherville is dramatic, and gut-wrenching. Sawyer and Hurley defy Ben's commands to rescue Claire. Stirring. Ben's face-off with the mercenary ends shockingly. Even though Ben is (so far) basically evil, you can't help but feel for him. Ben summons the smoke-monster! Wow! So a mystery posed in the very first ever episode is semi-explained. Yeah, smoke monster, way to go! And the dramatic show-down between Locke and Sawyer has been brewing for some time. I loved their parting comments. Sawyer: “If you as much as harm one lock on his curley head, I’ll kill you” Locke “Fair enough.” Wow, Sawyer is getting soft. Risking his life to save Claire, then standing up to Locke to protect Hurley!

But all that is only half of the story. The flashforward was equally packed with fascinating stuff. It featured Ben AND Sayid, and told the story of how Sayid ended up working for Ben as an assassin. We learn that Sayid eventually finds and marries Nadia, only to have Widmore (or somebody) kill her. Why did Ben wake up in the middle of the Sahara??? We see Ben-as-James Bond. Interesting. The conversation between Ben and Sayid shows the humanity of both men.

BEN: We're finished here, Sayid. Turn around and walk away. Mourn your loss. Get on with your life.
SAYID: I have no life. They took it from me.
BEN: Go home, Sayid. Once you let your grief become anger, it will never go away. I speak from experience. This is my war. It's not yours.
SAYID: I spent the last eight years of my life searching for the woman I love. I finally found her and I married her. And I buried her yesterday. So don't tell me this is not my war. Benjamin... Who's next? BEN: I'll be in touch. (Ben smiles secretly.)

It leaves the lingering question: Could Ben have set up the whole thing in order to recruit Sayid?

And finally the scene in Widmore's bedroom was thick with meaning. Some exerpts: Widmore: I know who you are, boy. What you are. I know that everything you have you took from me. Again Widmore: That island's mine, Benjamin. It always was. It will be again.
Ben: But you'll never find it. Widmore: Then I suppose the hunt is on for both of us. Ben: I suppose it is. Sleep tight, Charles.

Delicious episode.