Lost: Season 2, Episode 8: Collision Review

Collision
Original Airdate: November 23, 2005
Writers: Javier Grillo-Marxuach & Leonard Dick
Director: Stephen Williams

In the podcast commentary, the writers stated that the mission of this episode was to make the merge between the two halves of 815 as messy as possible. That way, the episode wouldn't be bogged down with tons of exposition that the audience already knew. With Shannon’s death, a major piece of this work was done for them. Any chance of a calm union was shattered as that bullet entered her. In “The Other 48 Days”, we backtracked to see how Ana-Lucia and the Tailies got to that point. Now we move forward to see how it shakes those on the island and begins to shape the rest of the season. Although some did roll their eyes when they realized it was another set up episode, it appears that “Collision” has wrapped up that phase of this season.

Ana-Lucia is at a critical point and through this episode she struggles with how to proceed. Once the confident leader of the Tailies, she falls apart from both guilt of taking an innocent life and anxiety of what Sayid would do to her. Initially she panics, turning the scenario into a hostage situation. After she loses her cool, she soon loses the rest of her Tailies, starting with Eko, her closest associate on the island. She doesn’t know whether to kill Sayid, let him go, merge with the tribe or go out on her own. In the panic, she thinks she'll survive alone in the jungle with some supplies.

It is much like her flashback self (ironically, she is the one who takes orders). Ana-Lucia's finding it hard to adjust to work on the force again, especially with her mother as the captain. All we know at this point is that she was involved in some incident on the job that required counseling. She is confused and panicked then, as the sight of the baby at the domestic disturbance causes her to go overboard (an interesting casting choice, Michael Cudlitz as Ana-Lucia's partner, usually plays the guy in authority who goes overboard.) The episode does a good job at hiding the reveal that she was pregnant and miscarried because she was shot in the line of duty. There were hints given on the island, as Ana-Lucia’s answer to if she had any children hinted that she was withholding something. Clearly her dark tale of loss and revenge would provoke such a response.

This episode introduces another character with parental issues. Ana-Lucia's mother is unfortunately underused, but that could mean we may see more of her in other flashbacks, like Jack's father. She clearly has a strong influence on her daughter, giving her patrol duty, but assigning a safer neighborhood to go down. However, Ana-Lucia tends to look at things as they affect her, and having two such personalities clash makes for interesting drama.

This is the third time we’ve seen her kill someone in as many episodes. The murder of the man who killed her baby (which is certainly understandable) is meant to draw parrallel to her current situation with Sayid. Ironically, it is she that is in the position of the man she killed. Because of that, she believes that Sayid would take the same actions against her. Lost often pits its characters in situations similar to those in their flashbacks, as the writers said (I’m paraphrasing) to see if they would make the same mistake again or learn.

Seeing Sayid not exact revenge will likely be a big part in Ana-Lucia’s redemption. She soon sees that not everyone will react to the loss of a loved one the same way she would. However, if Eko didn't fight Sayid after Shannon's death, Sayid might've killed her there in the heat of his anguish. Because he was forced to cool down and reflect, in addition to looking back at his own history of violence, calling back to his torture of Sawyer in "Confidence Man", Ana-Lucia was spared. However, he never said specifically that he wouldn't kill her.

Unlike many of the other survivor’s first flashbacks, Ana-Lucia’s first flashback doesn’t specify exactly why she was on the plane. I’m not sure if we can assume what Ana-Lucia’s next actions were after killing that man. Since he was the guy responsible for Ana-Lucia’s miscarriage and Ana-Lucia let him go so she could kill him later, those facts would be enough for the other LAPD officers to suspect her of it, and that’s not including if the gun she used was police issued. They could certainly use Kate’s backstory to draw a parallel to Ana-Lucia’s. Perhaps unlike Kate, Ana-Lucia was on her way to LA to turn herself in because of something she experienced on the run. In “Exodus”, she told Jack at the bar that “the hard part’s over”.

Ana-Lucia still isn’t a likeable character. However, we haven’t seen much of Ana-Lucia besides being the tough girl who goes against our established characters. Lost always goes deeper to give us a three dimensional view of the characters. Her character development in this episode is meant to show that she is in line for a change. Think about the initial impression we had of Jin: it wasn’t that good. As season one progressed, we learned more about his hard past and his genuine love for Sun and he became extremely likeable. She won't turn into a likeable character like Jin is, but we should expect her attitude and behavior to evolve.

Many have expressed their dislike of Ana-Lucia's character, Michelle Rodriguez’s acting talents or both. I’ve already discussed how I feel about her character and Rodriguez’s performance doesn’t bother me. Ana-Lucia’s presence, especially in the last few episodes, has been rather large. Perhaps as the tribes merge, we’ll see the focus return to the ensemble or our established favorites and the Ana-Lucia animosity will subside.

Speaking of our favorites, they’re still doing their thing, filling out cryptic crosswords in the Hatch-elor Pad or playing golf again. The reintroduction of golf certainly provided an excellent source of contrast between the two tribes’ lives on the island. There’s no way anyone would’ve been up for golf at the Tailies’ camp. The difference is really nailed as Eko interrupts Jack and Kate’s game carrying Sawyer’s lifeless body (Evangeline Lilly's face flawlessly transfers from amusement to grave concern in an instant). *There’s* a collision right there. It couldn’t be at a more inopportune time for Jack and Kate’s budding relationship. Not only is Sawyer back in this triangle, but Jack has to stop the quality time to save his life.

Kate is suddenly in conflict too. The writers said that Sawyer and Jack are two halves of the perfect man for her. I personally think that Sawyer is the guy she would have fun with, but she'd settle down with Jack. However, these relationships and the triangle are rife for drama, especially in the scene with the bedside manner. Kate is able to coax Sawyer to swallowing the pill and in doing they share a tender moment, which Jack witnesses awkwardly.

Not all the collisions are disastrous. Jin & Sun and Bernard & Rose’s respective reunions were certainly potent. We know that Daniel Dae Kim and Yunjin Kim have extremely good chemistry, but Sam Anderson and L. Scott Caldwell were a great treat to see together too. You could definitely imagine them married. They did a great job before this episode of those moments where they (mostly Rose) reflected on their loved one on the other end of the island.

It was interesting to see Michael reunite with Sun. Early in season one, they appeared to be making a potential love triangle between Michael, Sun and Jin. However, they decided to change that and have Michael focus more on his son and develop the potent and complicated love between Jin and Sun. Now the writers are more focused on making it a friendship than anything with romantic tension, which was a smart decision: we have a more potent triangle with Sawyer, Kate and Jack (possibly a quadrangle with Ana-Lucia).

Michael’s reunion with Vincent certainly could’ve been played as comedy (as one said, it would’ve been if it was the final shot of the episode), but it comes off as another part of the nice ending. Vincent is the only connection he has to his son aside from bizarre apparitions.

One meeting everyone was hoping for was appropriately underplayed and that was the one between Eko and Locke; a simple ‘Hello’ from both sides. There really wasn’t a way they could make this reunion live up to the hype the fans have generated for it. The collision of Shannon’s death was dramatic enough to allow them to take their time with the Locke-Eko storyline. Also, Eko has shown himself as a man of few words, and those he speaks are concise. Eko and Locke's relationship is clearly one that will develop through this season and beyond.

The final reunion is one where we’re left to draw our own conclusions. When Jack is ready to confront whoever was responsible for shooting, he is ready to go with the stockpile of weapons in the Hatch-elor pad. This is a big change from the reluctant Jack who kept the suitcase of guns hidden and had the key wrapped around his neck (another change is that he insists that Locke push the button when the alarm goes off). However, when he learns it is Ana-Lucia, he obliges Eko with his request to go alone and unarmed. With the final shot, the tribes are officially merged and we can only ask what can happen after this.

Eko had some interesting moments in this episode. We learn a bit more about his distaste for violence, as he doesn't want Jack bringing any weapons. The writers have said these guns would play a big role this season, as they have with Jack's willingness to bring in guns into the equation. Now we see a contrast between Jack and Eko, one that may be interesting to see play out.

Early in the episode, Eko takes Sawyer to the other camp, not for Sawyer, but for himself. It seems like of the castaways, Eko is the most active in pursuing redemption, which is interesting since we don't know any of his past misdeeds and hasn't done anything morally questionable in his time on the island.

One of the difficult things to do in crafting an episode like this, as the writers said in their podcast, is how to merge these two tribes without bogging down the episode with exposition that the audience already knows. Sometimes it doesn’t work (as many pointed out when Michael first entered The Swan bunker). While I think they could've shown some tags of explanations at the beginning of some scenes, the urgency of Ana-Lucia's personal crisis and saving Sawyer were higher than comparing notes.

As one user said on one of Lost’s many internet forums, this episode was effectively the writers way of typing “4 8 15 16 23 42” into their computer and hitting “Execute”. That said, it isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Now everyone (except for Walt and the deceased Shannon) is back with the Fuselage tribe. However, the status quo has been altered dramatically. It is easy to forget because of Lost’s airing schedule that only four days have passed on the island since this season has started. The initial segment had plenty of drama on it, but it took a bit too long in the season to move forward. Some believe this is because they deliberately slowed down the pace not to overwhelm those jumping on the bandwagon. Now everything should be on track for the real story to commence.

Score: 8/10

The Chronic-WHAT-cles of Narnia

For starters, Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Boxing Day, Happy Festivus and may all the people who are offended by any of these two word phrases chill out.

Second, I've finally gotten time to update my site. Since I fell so behind on Nip/Tuck's 3rd season, I'm going to go back to my season two reviews and write from there. The finale was great, even though the reveal was a bit obvious. I'm almost up to date on Lost's second season, so that should be ready by the time "The 23rd Psalm" airs.

Finally, I must praise SNL for producing the funniest thing they've done in years, the short "Lazy Sunday". You can now download it for free on iTunes and I recommend it highly. Chris Parnell and Andy Samberg rapping about "dropping Hamiltons" and catching a matinee. It is the new Cowbell sketch. I assure you. I'm hoping that this marks the end of the way too long creative drought SNL has been under.

Lost: Season 2, Episode 7: The Other 48 Days Review

The Other 48 Days
Original Airdate: November 16, 2005
Writers: Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse

Director: Eric Laneuville

I'm always willing to cut a show some slack for doing something different. This helps keep the show fresh so it won't go through the motions with whatever routines the show has grown accustomed to. Lost felt they had a great opportunity to do so at the pivotal moment where the two tribes merge. They could've easily gone forward, having the episode pick up after the shocking end of "Abandoned" with flashbacks covering the title time frame, but such a scope required more time. It's the first episode that doesn't have flashbacks (unless you count the whole episode as a flashback) and doesn't feature any of the other survivors until the final five minutes, and most of that is footage from past episodes.

However, the scope may be too big for an hour to do it justice. Even the writers in the official Lost podcast admitted that it was tough to write this episode. The other survivors had a full season to develop their characters and document in great detail their time on the island. Although there were fewer survivors to cover, Ana-Lucia gets most of the characterization. Lost takes its time revealing its mysteries and its characters, and that is a major handicap for this episode. One of my friends suggested that the tailies should get an entire season. I think that may be a bit much and would really damage the momentum of the show, which has been criticized for being slow this season, but they probably should’ve taken another episode and possibly intercut it with what we’ve seen.

This episode focuses on The Others and how they affected Ana-Lucia’s tribe. There is still a lot of mystery about them, but this episode is the clearest example to date of how they operate. They are very good at what they do, sneaking in undetected, abducting the ones from their list and leaving before anyone can come close to catching them. There are a few exceptions, as Ana-Lucia clubbed one woman over the head and Eko managed to kill two of them. Some have theorized that The Others have some superhuman abilities and this episode doesn’t support that. They are strong and quick, but nothing to indicate something special.

Ana-Lucia gets the spotlight, but Eko has some important moments as well. Many have compared him to Locke, but his time on the island was much different than Locke’s. My friend used the allegory that Locke was the preacher to Eko’s monk, and that makes some sense. After he kills the two Others, he takes a 40 day vow of silence and creates that stick he carries around by aggressively snapping apart a tree. Some have compared Eko to Moses, who also carried a stick. This would also help tie in to the Biblical themes of the show.

One has to wonder how the dynamic would’ve changed had Eko chosen not to be silent during the first 40 days. The leadership behind this tribe would’ve been altered dramatically, as his silence allowed Ana-Lucia to take on that role. As he breaks his silence to console Ana-Lucia and tells her that she “waited 40 days to cry”, it could be that Eko’s taciturn tenure was in some way teaching Ana-Lucia something like Locke has done for his castaways.

We finally get to see a clear shot of the Dharma logo in the tailies bunker, which some saw in “Everybody…” It is an arrow. Unlike The Swan station, there isn’t much in this station except for a trunk filled with cryptic (what else) items: a Bible, a radio and a glass eye. Some believe that the glass eye belongs to Dr. Marvin Candle, who may have some prosthetic parts. I wonder what function this bunker has, if it is possibly the fall out shelter Desmond may be heading to following “Orientation”. Are there any correlations?

As I mentioned in “…and Found”, Eko’s phrasing over Goodwin was much more ambiguous than we thought. Jin’s question is only one word, “Others”. It could’ve meant “Did the Others do it?” or “Is he one of the Others?” Since we didn’t know the full context, we assumed that Eko meant the first one. This is a good instance of how this show changes upon rewatchings.

One thing worth noting is Goodwin’s strategy integrating himself into the tribe. If he had not alerted Ana-Lucia to Bernard, she wouldn’t have been able to save him. This could be seen as either the surefire way to earn the tribe’s trust, easing his integration into the island’s inner circle. On the other hand, he could be saving Bernard because Bernard is essential to The Others and how they function or what they hope to accomplish. This thought is more for the notion that I find it difficult to comprehend how Bernard or Rose are “bad”. We know that many of the people in the Fuselage tribe have done very bad things (Kate, Sawyer and Sayid have committed murder), but what defines good is still unknown. However, Sam Anderson (Bernard) did play Holland Manners on Angel, so he could be the real Mr. Sawyer for all we know.

It is odd that there was a person on each side of the island waiting nearby in the jungle for the survivors to come mainland: Ethan and Goodwin. Were they working together, or are there multiple groups of Others warring against each other for whatever essence those they take possess? One thing worth noting from “…and Found” is that when we saw The Others walk by, we only saw white legs. And The Others Ana-Lucia’s tribe have encountered have been far more primitive from the seabillies who took Walt. On the lines of abduction, why did it take The Others a few weeks to take someone from the fuselage (Claire and Charlie) where the tailies had abductions the first night?

They do a good job misleading the audience to believing that Nathan is the plant, from the similarity between his name and Ethan’s to their same home country. Nathan also served to show the flawed nature of Ana-Lucia’s leadership, as she is unaware of the mole right in front of her and goes with her grudge against Nathan first.

That isn’t to say that Ana-Lucia is any worse a leader than Jack is. Her tribe faced far worse situations than Jack’s tribe has. Because there was no doctor, the man with the broken leg died from his injury. Because there was no one as adept at tracking as Locke (or at least Eko kept it to himself), they had to gather around chickens to catch them (interesting note: Goodwin grabs it and snaps its neck. Foreshadowing?)

The knife the female Other carried was twenty years old, which coincides with the time frame of the Dharma Initiative. The US Army label invites a lot of speculation. Was the US government involved in the Dharma Initiative? Or was the US Army dispatched to the island to help contain the “incident”? Were the original Others American soldiers? Goodwin did mention that he was glad Ana-Lucia knew what the Peace Corps was. He also had an American accent.

One mini-gripe I have, how did they lose all the tribe? Three were taken the first day, nine the next and two died. Doing my math, that would mean that there are nine members. What happened to the other four? Did they disappear randomly like Cindy?

We never saw if anyone in the tail end encountered the “monster”, Rousseau or many of the other elements that made up a major part of the Fuselage’s struggle. Such questions are casualties of the television format (regardless of an annoying “extended” episode which consisted of a montage of the previous episodes). How will they react? Have they encountered them before?

This episode was probably one of the toughest episodes to write. They had to write, as they called it, “a clip show for a season they never shot”. While there was a lot of interesting developments, there wasn’t enough time to adequately detail everything on their island to give them justice. To condense a season into an episode is a difficult, if not impossible task, and that’s why they should’ve taken more time, perhaps to make this episode a real “extended” episode.

Overall Score: 7/10

Lost: Season 2, Episode 6: Abandoned Review

Abandoned
Original Airdate: November 9, 2005
Writers: Elizabeth Sarnoff
Director: Adam Davidson

It will be interesting to see how future Lost viewers, unaware of this episode's promotion, receive "Abandoned". The advertisements hyped this episode as the one we would be talking about for the rest of the season, largely because they promised a major character would become "lost forever". Of course, most things can’t stand up to this type of episode and unfortunately, this episode is one of them. However, the final twist at the end was worthy of such hype and although the character who died didn't offer as much to the show as Sawyer, Locke or Hurley does, the ramifications will be huge.

Shannon has been far from the most sympathetic or intriguing character on Lost. However, her initial snobbery wasn't just to give us someone to hate. It was all part of her arc, transforming into someone much more selfless. We found out that she wanted to be useful, something we wouldn't have thought of when we saw her painting her toenails in the pilot. She knew French, which helped them understand a little bit about Rousseau and bond with Sayid. Following her brother's death, we've seen a lot more maturity from her, which makes her death a fitting end to her arc. Going with cliches, it also works since she made love to Sayid and he professed his love for her, an easy ticket to death in drama.

Perhaps this is why we haven't seen Shannon's flashback episode until this episode. Other than this instance, we've only seen her character in flashbacks as the way she was when Lost started, like when she conned Boone out of some money. Her story of losing her father (to Jack's future wife no less) and being cut off by her wicked stepmother (Boone's mom) makes her far more sympathetic. One person commented that like Boone, she died when she achieved what she wanted out of life. Throughout the flashbacks, others see her as weak and incapable no matter how hard she tried to shake that image. But before she died, she receive some vindication as Sayid believed that she was seeing Walt.

Considering he was shot a few days earlier and has lacked any proper medical attention, Sawyer appeared to be the most likely "lost forever" candidate. While it would've been a gutsy move, it wouldn't have been a smart one. Sawyer, as the sarcastic bad boy, offers a tremendous amount to the show. To kill him off only six episodes into the second season would be a recipe for failure, no matter how realistic it would've been. Shannon is a much safer choice as her storyline is resolved and her contribution to the show wasn't much.

Although she didn't add much to the show, the impact of her death is what makes it worthwhile. Much like her brother Boone, whose death caused a significant rift between Jack and Locke regarding the island, Shannon's death will have a deep effect on both Sayid and Ana-Lucia. Sayid has become much tenderer through his relationship with Shannon. Although Shannon's death was accidental and likely orchestrated by The Others, it doesn’t matter to Sayid. We know that Sayid is a tough man with a dark past and it appeared that he was going to get another chance, but where would the fun be in that?

The last two episodes preferred character development to advancing the storyline of the island, but this week we saw a little more of the island story. The ever elusive Walt appeared once more to whisper backward cryptic messages (this weeks was along the lines of “They’re coming, and they’re close,”) and the whispers returned. Some people have broken down the audio of these whispers and the results appear to be saying things like “Dying sucks” and “Hi sis”. This certainly raises speculation that Boone is somehow involved in the whispers (the "Dying sucks" is similar to something he said at Shannon's father's wake). I recall hearing the faux-Mr. Sawyer’s last words as a whisper in “Outlaws”. Could the dead be involved with the whispers? If so, what is their purpose? Are they leading her to her death or trying to change fate?

When Walt last appeared to Shannon, he was soaking wet. Producers hinted that his wetness could be a hint to what would happen if the button wasn't pressed, but perhaps it was some foreshadowing to Shannon's death. Her obsession with finding Walt led her to being shot in the rainstorm. As Shannon is gone, I'm still not sure what they were going for with her Walt visions, but having Sayid see him too means that it isn't just in her head. We must remember that only a few people, including Shannon, know that something went wrong, but only the raft pack and we know the specifics. So these sightings of Walt must've only confused her more.

Walt's apparition also served as catalyst for the C-plot, involving Charlie and Claire clashing over Aaron. Charlie and Claire are an interesting pairing for television. Shippers have followed this couple since the beginning, but since Aaron was born, their relationship has been more parental than romantic. They haven't even kissed, yet Charlie is acting as Aaron’s father. The situation gets tenser as Locke provides some help for the restless Aaron. We see more of the childish side of Charlie, as we last saw in “Everybody…” as he attacks Claire’s parenting skills while confronting Locke.

Locke’s part in the story also provides some interest to the arc that has largely been dormant since early in the first season. We know Charlie has one of the heroin filled Virgin Mary’s and this news isn’t going to go well with Locke. Locke spent a large amount of time helping Charlie tap into his potential on the island and kick his heroin habit. Now Charlie is teetering towards using again.

Another interesting moment is Locke's moments caring for Aaron. He has had an interest in this child since before he was born, building him a crib last season. As he tucks in Aaron, calming him, he says that babies like to feel constricted and they want independence when they are older. This could easily tie into a lot of the Dharma type experimentation occurring on the island and The Others, who have a high interest in children, as well.

Now we learn a little bit about what the Tailies have been through, as Ana-Lucia tells the raft pack that The Others have kidnapped members of their tribe in large numbers. This helps us finally understand their fear and it is further drilled when Cindy disappears in the short time it took them to climb up the hill with Sawyer. Their problems they hoped to avoid with the Fuselage camp is now right there beside them. Such a quick event drives places Ana-Lucia in a panicked state where she’ll make the fatal mistake.

Ana-Lucia was anxious as the Tailies traveled to the Fuselage camp, butting heads with the calm Eko about whether Sawyer’s life was worth placing the other castaways in danger. Of the Tailies, Eko is the only one who could rival Ana-Lucia in leadership if he wanted. The other three seem content with following. He manages to get Ana-Lucia to go the way that will get Sawyer help, although Ana-Lucia is clear that she doesn’t care about his well being. After what they've been through, Ana-Lucia is focused only on preserving her fellow castaways.

All these pieces bring these characters together: Shannon, who wants to have some leadership and power, but can't because other question her and Ana-Lucia, a leader whose power is being questioned. The collision works rather well, and really nails the point of how important this merge is. Although the episode was hit or miss, the end of this episode is going to have consequences that will ripple through the rest of the season and the series.

7/10

Lost: Season 2, Episode 5: ...in Translation Review

…and Found
Original Airdate: October 26, 2005
Writers: Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse
Director: Stephen Williams

When Lost first started, I wrote off Jin as a character who would likely be killed off early because of his inability to communicate with the rest of the survivors. As season one progressed, he was given a bit more characterization. This came largely from his relationship with Sun. While there is genuine love between these two, it has been marred by secrets and complications. Sun learning English (and planning to leave Jin before the fateful flight) along with Jin’s involvement in her father’s dirty deeds divided them, but their time on the island has given them time to go back to the basics of their love. Jin no longer has to be the muscle and Sun has used her English to help him connect with everyone else.

Now both are on opposite sides of the island and their thoughts are on each other. I liked how this episode juggled flashbacks from two different people, as they thought of the moment when they met. Aside from one moment in “Special”, all the other episodes have had their flashbacks from one person. This dual storyline worked because of the ending. In the future, they will probably have to do this to keep the flashback gimmick fresh, possibly to accentuate the chance encounters we’ve seen in past episodes or use them to tell parallel stories.

The trigger for the flashbacks, at least for Sun, is the loss of her wedding ring. This guilt is amplified since she is one of the people who knows that something happened on the raft and the uncertainty is making it worse. Although it is “just a ring”, it is symbolic of Jin, and losing that along with her husband is too much for her. On the other hand, Jin is likely thinking of his wife because he realizes he’s back on the island and wants desperately to reconnect with her to resolve the issues between them.

Sun gets help from three different people regarding the location and each offer a different solution. Jack’s solution, buying a new one, isn’t practical, but it does offer some clues as to Jack’s marriage, which we assume ended badly. Hurley’s is comical and is a highlight of the episode, as they watch over Vincent to see when he’ll go to the bathroom. Their vigil also brings about questions of Hurley’s mindset, which following last week makes sense.

Finally, Locke provides the most useful, albeit frustrating advice for someone looking for something: stop looking. As much as seekers hate hearing it, it is often true. However, Kate finds it in the moment that Sun isn’t thinking about her ring. Unfortunately, it felt a little predictable that her ring is with the bottle. Some people who analyze the show frame by frame noticed this in “Everybody…” and thought it was an error in continuity.

Not looking applied to Jin’s flashback, as they make it clear in the teaser that flashback Jin isn’t looking for love, despite what his destiny believing roommate says. Despite being the doorman at the hotel Sun's suitor owns, Jin doesn’t even glimpse her until the end of the episode because his respectful bow blocked her from his view. Jin’s story focuses more on the class structure that we saw in “…in Translation” and keeping Sun out of it was wise since the love story would’ve overtaken his story. He clearly wants to make his way up in the world, but he still shows loyalty to his class when he lets the little boy into the hotel to go to the bathroom and quits after the manager reprimands him for letting “you people” in. Ironically, scorning this upper class contempt would place him with Sun, a member of the upper class.

Jin’s relationship with Michael has evolved a lot since Jin fought Michael over that watch. They’ve bonded building the raft and it is evident as Jin desperately fights to go find him in the jungle. This type of loyalty is also evident in the flashbacks, as he stands up to the snobby hotel manager. Eko, despite Ana-Lucia’s better wishes, appreciates this and this venture gives us some insight into the mystery man. Jin’s time with Eko also shows that Jin’s English has improved significantly. It is a testament to Daniel Dae Kim’s acting talents since he isn’t fluent in Korean (Yunjin Kim, however, is), but he can pull it off so well.

After weeks of Ana-Lucia being the dominating presence in the tailies, we finally get some characterization from the other leads in the tail section, Libby and Eko. Eko particularly gets to shine as he helps Jin through the jungle to find Michael. He is the breakout character among the new arrivals, between his large stature juxtaposed with his soft-spoken manner. Lost is all about mysteries, and this new character appears to offer the most.

Libby is given a short sequence which in addition to getting Michael to run out in search of Walt, also helps gives us a sense of her character. Ana-Lucia still isn’t winning any popularity points, but Libby’s apology to Michael helps her in terms of audience sympathy. Her fear towards The Others is certainly noteworthy as it causes her to change the inflection of her voice.

The Others have caused the Tailies a lot of problems, but like many of the original 48, they aren’t ready to compare notes with each other. Eko does provide some brief insight, but only after Jin stumbles upon Goodwin’s body. In retrospect, Eko’s quote is much more cryptic when seen in context of the next few episodes. I’ll go over that in a future review.

At the beginning of Lost, it was clear that the Fuselage castaways were not alone. Now we know of several groups/people on the island, some of whom may be connected: Desmond, Roussaeu, Ethan (although he’s dead), the “Sea-billies” who kidnapped Walt, the tailies and these Others Eko and Jin watch walking. These are much different from any Others we have seen on the show so far. They are much more primitive looking: barefoot, caked in mud and wearing nondescript clothing. The appearance of the bear certainly adds an ominous tone to it (in addition to Libby’s question of did they see “the kids”.) How or if they are connected to any other groups we’ve seen is up for debate. I don’t believe they are part of any other group we’ve seen, which would open up a lot for potential ways the mystery can take us. It is also worth noting how they are walking, which is less natural, more sneaking type of walking.

One thing I read in Entil’s review, which certainly makes sense, is that despite the carefulness and precision of these Others, Michael is able to run around the forest without them discovering him. Michael is clear that his search for his son is more important than being quiet and careful, but it seems odd that they wouldn’t have run into him. It could’ve been interesting to have him be attacked by one of them, only to have Eko kill him before hurting him. The Others and their motivations is still vague, so perhaps their reasons would explain why they didn’t go for an obvious target like Michael.

Ana-Lucia is certainly more than just a wrench thrown into the Sawyer/Kate/Jack triangle, but it appears that there is definitely something going on between Sawyer and Ana judging by their interactions in this episode. Of course, two people who hate each other, but hook up because of it is a long standing trend in TV. It would certainly work well, as Sawyer’s smart ass attitude is against Ana-Lucia’s leadership, which she has had since crashing.

Although this episode is harshly criticized for not advancing many of the overall arcs, it still does a good job of developing characters. It is a critical point for Eko, who we see is a lot more than just the heavy among the tailies. Some have complained about the show’s slow pacing this season and this episode doesn’t help satisfy those critics. Although to a degree I agree with them, this episode wasn’t an entire waste.

Score: 7/10

Lost: Season 2, Episode 4: Everybody Hates Hugo Review

Everybody Hates Hugo
Original Airdate: October 12, 2005
Writers: Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis
Director: Alan Taylor

Now that the prologue of this season has been established, we’re back in the groove season one established of story progression with flashbacks to help develop characters. This will help the viewer return to the status quo (if there is one) of this show while the first act of the season plays out. It helps even more when the character in focus is Hurley, who is a favorite among fans.

Although this episode scaled back on the revelations prevalent through the first three episodes of the season, it was still a good character study of Hurley (who I hope will get another episode this season). “Numbers” provided a darkly comic look at his life following his lottery win and the bad luck that pursued, but in this episode, we explore a more serious aspect of what he lost. This coincides with Jack assigning him to take inventory of the food and ration it so it will last. Again, he is in control of something everyone around him wants. Now he is worried that he’ll be outcast again when people learn what he is doing.

We haven’t seen much of this Hurley on the show, someone whose anxiety almost drives him to blow up the bunker. Before this, he has been the favorite character among many fans of the show because of his jovial attitude towards life. In this episode we see his uncertainty and reluctance to change, stemming from the day he won the lottery and lost his best friend.

One thing I've liked about the characterization of Hurley is that his weight isn’t an overwhelming feature of his character. Also, they wisely decided not to ignore it entirely, as it would be unrealistic that no one would acknowledge it. Too often, we see “the fat guy/girl” in movies and TV as fat foremost. In this episode’s opening dream sequence, they seem to overcompensate for their lack of overt fat characterization by having Hurley dreaming of ravenously eating everything in the bunker. However, considering they haven’t had mainland food in a month and a half and even slender Kate devoured a chocolate bar, I may be overreacting.

The imagery in the dream was interesting enough. Jin’s appearance (and Walt’s picture on the carton of milk Hurley drank) could be the island trying to tell Hurley that something went wrong with the rescue mission. The change in languages between the two of them is certainly another aspect to drive this sequence further into bizarre territory. Of course, the chicken man serves to trigger Hurley’s memory to that last day with his friend.

Hurley and his friend Johnny (special guest DJ Qualls) had great chemistry, which is what a lot of this episode rode on. I hope that they will incorporate him in more Hurley flashback episodes. Johnny’s exuberance throughout the day with Hurley is negated when he learns the truth, which makes us understand why Hurley feels so anxious with his job. Hurley won’t have to look for a job the following day: Johnny will and that rift signifies the end of his friendship. Money changes everything, and we know that Hurley is adamant against change. This insecurity manifested itself again when he’s given control of the food, something everyone wants.

It causes friction with his best friend on the island, Charlie. Johnny is clearly a parallel to Charlie. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen much of Charlie since midway through the first season, as he has been focusing on Claire, who hasn’t had the attention the main cast usually gets. This episode changes that trend a bit. Charlie’s attitude, along with many of the politics about the hatch, is a bit childish. Since the leaders of the island appointed themselves to these positions, those not in power have reason to question why they have the power and why some people get some things and others don’t. It doesn’t help that there is no solidarity among the leaders, with Jack wanting secrecy and Locke openly asking any questions posed.

Since much of the focus of the first three episodes cover what was in the hatch, not much attention has been paid towards the other survivors, whose minds must be on those who left on the raft a few days earlier since the hatch is a big unknown. Of course, they have no way of knowing what happened to them, so the writers toss them a hint of uncertainty through the bottle filled with the messages. However, this doubt remains between Claire, Shannon (who apparently has become friends with Claire) and Sun, the only other person directly connected to the raft pack (my nickname for Jin, Michael, Sawyer and Walt, mainly the first three as Walt is MIA). Sun’s decision to hide it from the others was wise, as no one needs their hopes squashed yet, but it clearly will be hard for hear to bear it alone.

As it turns out, those who abducted the raft pack aren’t nearly as insidious as initially believed. They are the other Flight 815 survivors and they are afraid of anyone outside their group. Something has caused their initial tribe of 23 to dwindle down to five. Though some of our castaways have died, 43 are still alive. It appears that the threats looming over and occasionally visiting the original survivors, like disease and The Others, has engulfed the tailies. I wonder if they have encountered the “security” system. It will be great to see the flashbacks of the furious five to learn what happened during their time on the island.

Aside from the main Hurley plot and the B-tailies plot, the moments with Sayid exploring the magnetic core of the hatch produced some low-key, but possibly significant moments. This concrete offers some idea as to what the “incident” Dr. Marvin Candle referred to in the Orientation film. Of course, the comparison to Chernobyl is going to get raise certain expectations as to what the incident was. It will likely be some time before we learn significant details, but this morsel is enough to keep the speculation going.

Sayid’s attitude toward this is an interesting medium between Jack and Locke. The latter two men are clearly defined as a man of science and faith respectively. Sayid goes in with an open mind. He isn’t looking to confirm Jack or Locke’s beliefs, but to find out the truth and report it. Perhaps his time in Iraq conditioned him to keep his questions to himself for fear of what the government could possibly do.

I enjoyed having Rose return to the show. Unfortunately, because L. Scott Caldwell had other obligations, her role in the first season was limited to the first half of the season. Rose offers something that the other characters don’t: that of a guardian. Locke is close, but he is much more of a teacher and guide to the island than anything else. Rose’s maternal nature provided a necessary way to help Hurley from detonating the dynamite. It also made a sweet moment at the end, as she tucked in the chocolate bar for her husband, when they would reunite.

Some viewers questioned Hurley’s choice to give out all the food in the bunker instead of rationing it out. Hurley’s logic does make sense: there isn’t enough for forty people to survive on for a long period. However, this food could’ve easily been used as a form of payment in exchange for being on button duty. I don’t mind his solution, because it provides a nice moment to play against Bernard’s gratitude after learning his wife survived. “Lost” certainly benefits from feel good moments like this one considering the dark tone that’s always there.

While fickle viewers may complain that “nothing happened”, this episode had a lot of interesting character development, as they focused on Hurley’s dark side. Although many of the island mysteries remain unexplored this week, the character study is certainly worthwhile to develop Hurley. Some complained that there was no follow up about Hurley’s number, but what could they really do that would satisfy everyone? Those numbers appear to be one of the MacGuffin’s of Lost.

Score: 8/10