Spoilers.
Lost Official Site
The Time: Wednesdays, 9:00 PM, ABC
The Show:
When
Oceanic Flight 815 from Sydney to London went down somewhere over the
Pacific, the survivors of the crash found themselves marooned on a
tropical island. But this is no ordinary island; it has
unusual magnetic, temporal, healing and seemingly supernatural
properties, and is fraught with constant danger. There are
mysterious black smoke-like creatures, polar bears, and even
apparitions of the dead roaming the forest. The island is
also the former secret haven of a group called the Dharma Initiative,
who were running experiments utilizing the unique properties of the
island via research stations that dot the landscape. Now the
Oceanic survivors, led by Dr. Jack Sheppard, Kate Austen, James
“Sawyer” Ford, John Locke, Hugo “Hurley” Reyes, Sayid Jarrah and
others, seek a way to escape the island and its many dangers.
But there are people, both living on the island and seeking the island
from outside, who are at war for control of it, and the Oceanic
survivors find themselves caught in the middle. Told via
nonlinear fashion that incorporates flashbacks and flash forwards, Lost is one of the most unique and densely mythological shows on television.
The Stars:
• Matthew Fox – Dr. Jack Sheppard
• Evangeline Lilly – Kate Austen
• Josh Holloway – James “Sawyer” Ford
• Naveen Andrews – Sayid Jarrah
• Terry O’Quinn – John Locke
• Jorge Garcia – Hugo “Hurley” Reyes
• Daniel Dae Kim – Jin Kwon
• Yunjin Kim – Sun Kwon
• Michael Emerson – Benjamin Linus
• Henry Ian Cusick – Desmond Hume
• Elizabeth Mitchell – Juliet Burke
• Jeremy Davies – Daniel Faraday
• Nestor Carbonell – Richard Alpert
• Alan Dale – Charles Widmore
The Episode: “This Place is Death”
The “resurrected” Jin is going through the time shifts as the other island Losties are, but his experiences show us the goings-on of Rousseau’s early adventures on the island. Later, a reunion provides a brief moment of happiness before a death follows it. Meanwhile, in L.A., Ben is finding that gatheirng the Oceanic Six for a return trip to the island is problematic at best.
The Lowdown:
First of all, if you haven’t read Devin’s Lost doctoral thesis, do so now. Here’s how this episode addresses those concerns:
1. Fix the Oceanic 6 – This isn’t really something that can be done in one episode. However, the characters really haven’t changed that much since the beginning of the season except for Jack and this story element of getting the O6 back to the island is dragging. Best off-the-island moment is when a perturbed Ben stops the van he’s driving when Jack says he’s going to kill him after learning that Ben was responsible for trying to wrest custody of Aaron from Kate, and Sun had repeatedly threatened to kill him. After everything he’s done for them. Ingrates.
2. Move the Story Forward – Big progress this episode, at least on the island. The Walk in the Jungle has finally landed the island Losties at the Pirate Wheel of Destiny. Jin and the others (not the Others) are finally reunited and the light moment of the episode is Sawyer going all huggy kissy when finding him. Jin’s Rousseau adventure showed us that all of Rousseau’s shipmates were corrupted by Smokey. Severed arm was a nice touch. If memory serves, I believe this is the first time we’ve seen Smokey’s hideout, which appears to be a temple with some hieroglyphics on it. Smokey is still, I think, the biggest element they need to explain, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they take it all the way to the final episode.
Key exchange between Christian Sheppard and Locke: “I told YOU to move the island,” and “When has listening to that man ever gotten you a damn thing?” After Smokey, the whole dead guys running around thing is also screaming to be illuminated. I know it’s a biggie, but give us something. This goes back to the series premiere. Who are they? Figments? Smokey’s pals? Jacob’s minions?
The show did move Charlotte forward…straight to the hereafter. Do the producer’s of Lost have something against attractive women on the show? This island’s knocked off more ass than Wilt Chamberlain. Her death might have had more resonance if they hadn’t essentially given it away two episodes ago. Speaking of resonance, was it supposed to be shocking that Hawking was Faraday’s mother? Really?
3. Introduce Communication – Work in progress, although Charlotte did provide a nice bit of info on herself and Faraday.
4. Don’t Do With Desmond What [It Looks Like They’re] Going To Do With Desmond – This remains to be seen. But on another note, it seems a safe bet to assume he’s going island hopping without Penny again.
5. Reveal There’s An Intelligence Behind the Time Jumping – This seems to be somewhat apparent now. And Christian is clearly tapped into it.
The balance of the good stuff goes with the island happenings rather than the L.A. happenings on this one. I’m looking forward to seeing what Locke has to do and say to get the O6 back on the island and what lands him in the coffin. Pretty good episode.