Lost: Season 2, Episode 3: Orientation Review

Orientation

Original Airdate: October 5, 2005
Writers: Javier Grillo-Marxuach and Craig Wright
Director: Jack Bender

We could call this initial three-parter “Orientation”, since this trilogy serves to introduce what will be the status quo for the season, largely due to the new information about the still mysterious hatch. This episode illuminates us more about Locke, flashing to a time when his trademark faith wasn’t as solid. Although the flashbacks are rather brief, it does work within the context of the main show. A little more is gathered about the people who captured Michael, Sawyer and Jin, but it is the return of a familiar face that really has us wondering what the big picture is.

These “Others” recapture Jin and take Michael and Sawyer with them. Although they may be unaware of the actions that The Dharma Initiative has taken, they conduct their own mind tests on the trio. They throw in Ana-Lucia, who gains their sympathy by recanting a horrifying story of being left all alone on the island since the crash. This story is merely a ruse so she can get Sawyer’s gun and some information. Ana-Lucia’s introduction to the island isn’t meant to endear her to the audience, but this development is welcome, since I wasn’t expecting much from her aside from another person to throw into the Sawyer-Jack-Kate dynamic.

This episode marks the return of Michelle Rodriguez as Ana-Lucia, the woman Jack met at the airport bar before their fateful flight. From the beginning, speculation abounded as to whether those in the back part of the plane survived. Rose believed that her husband was still alive despite everyone telling her otherwise, now this episode shows that at least one person survived. Ana-Lucia’s survival will certainly be a surprise to the other survivors, especially for skeptic Jack.

So we return to the Desmond/Jack standoff from the last two episodes, which thankfully ends in the prologue. Jack is once again skeptical about Locke’s faith, and his questioning brings Locke to recall when he lacked faith. It’s hard to believe that the same Locke on the island was sitting in that counseling group chiding the woman who was upset over thirty dollars. But we know that this takes place some time after the events of “Deus Ex Machina”. He’s still reeling from his father and mother manipulating him out of a kidney. He can’t trust anyone now and is deeply cynical.

This angry Locke finds some comfort in a woman named Helen. She is attractive and kind, but Locke is still ruminating over his father. Often John will drive to his father’s house and park there for hours, even if he spent the night at Helen’s. A direct confrontation with his father, who makes Jack’s dad father of the year, doesn’t keep him from coming back. Helen gets him to let go, but this epiphany would be short lived. In “Walkabout”, Locke speaks to a woman named Helen on a “phone sex” line. Some assumed that Locke’s relationship with Helen went south and he is using this other woman to play the role of Helen because he can’t move on and I agree with that.

Kate, still in the conveniently wide air vents, finds her way to Desmond’s toy chest. In an attempt to subdue him, Desmond’s gun goes off, hitting the computer. This is thoroughly unwelcome news for Desmond, who frantically works to fix the computer. But before he can, Jack wants him to answer his questions. Desmond reveals that the around the world race he embarked upon lead him to be shipwrecked on the island. A man named Kelvin took him to the hatch and taught him how to operate the station to “save the world”. Jack doesn’t buy it, believing that it is all a psychological test and Desmond’s isolated, sleep deprived mind has been warped to believing it.

To convince Jack, Desmond asks that he watch the Orientation video in his study. Locke sums it up best with a quote that could sum up the show, “We’re gonna need to watch that again”. Often fans find it beneficial to watch episodes multiple times to pick up clues they missed the first time. This ominous video leaves that impression immediately, but it does give us some idea as to what is happening. The theory that the island is an area for scientific experiments is certainly one that would work in the main scheme of the show.

“Orientation”, the film, raises many questions with its answers. Among the speculations I've read: that the bearded professor in the video was one of the people who kidnapped Walt. Another was that Dr. Candle appears to have a fake left arm since it doesn’t move during his “Orientation” presentation. Whether this is just mere overzealous speculation, we’ll have to see. There are also several warps in the film, where it is clear that some of it has been removed, especially during a key part where Candle advises them not to use the computer for an unknown function.

Jack isn’t impressed and just assumes that it is scare tactics to make the person behave in a certain way. Although he is adamant, he never actively tries to stop Desmond from repairing the computer. Jack is stumped. This bizarre reunion between him and Desmond is something far beyond anything Jack can explain, a reaction he tries to hide from the others when Desmond recognizes him.

When the panicked Desmond flees and Jack confronts him alone, we see Jack finally face this. We still don’t know much about Sarah or her marriage to Jack, but from his “I married her” line, it must’ve ended badly. Because of this reconnection with Desmond and the memory of his first encounter with his wife, it has turned him. This is what pushes him to return to the hatch, correct Locke and push the button himself. Throughout the episode, Jack plays the role Locke inhabited in his flashback, whereas Locke takes the role of Helen. Locke guides Jack to push the button as Helen convinces Locke to let go (and it would be a let down to have them miss the 108 deadline this early in the season.)

Why Desmond decided to flee is an interesting choice for his character. He claims that pressing the button helps save the world, but as it appears that the countdown will hit zero, he runs to some unknown location on the island. Hopefully this will all make sense as we learn what the incident was and when Desmond returns. Desmond has become as interesting as Roussaeu, and I look forward to seeing him again, popping up when necessary.

One aspect of the final scene that doesn’t quite work is the follow through of Hurley’s character. He initially freaks out when Locke recalls the numbers for the code, but backs down when Locke recalls the last number incorrectly. However, when Jack confirms the final number is one of the numbers, Hurley doesn’t react. Considering he almost blew up because of the numbers in the season finale, this restraint feels very contrived for the sake of not having the countdown run out at this point.

Nevertheless, this is another solid episode, solidifying what we can expect (as much as Lost will reveal) from the second season, which doesn’t look like it will suffer from the sophomore slump anytime soon. This episode provides some answers to pacify the rabid critics of the show’s deliberately slow pacing, but still gives more questions to help keep the mystery going along as we plunge deeper into the island’s mythology.

Score: 8/10