Summary: In flashforwards, Desmond furiously leaves once he realizes everyone is trying to get back to the island. Eloise explains that they have to replicate the circumstances of Flight 815 to get back to the island and Jack needs to give Locke something of his father's. Jack goes to see his granddad Ray and gets a pair of his father's boots from him to give to Locke. Kate comes to Jack's place at night, having decided to go back to the island but refuses to say what happened to Aaron. At the airport, Sayid is brought in in handcuffs and Hurley has also managed to find his way there. Ben shows up at the last minute with injuries. The plane takes off and Frank is revealed to be the pilot. The plane crashes, but Jack, Kate and Hurley suddenly find themselves on the island after a flash. They are discovered by Jin wearing a Dharma Initiative uniform.
The Good: Jack's story here was really good. We've gotten used to seeing Jack be the stubborn and logical guy who needs hard proof for everything that he does. Yet "316" pushes him in a way that forces him to grow out of this, accepting faith in the way that Locke always wanted him to. We see Jack's change in a number of great scenes in this episode. For one, we see him accept the ridiculousness of what he has to do to get back to the island. We know that Locke would go along with it without a second thought, but naturally Jack angrily declares how absurd it all is. But he's going through a change, and for the first time we actually see Jack calm himself down and accept something that makes no logical sense. He finally takes that leap of faith and it feels like a huge character moment for him. Additionally, we can see the effect that this change has on Jack for the rest of the episode. When Kate asks Jack to never ask about Aaron, Jack actually agrees and doesn't ever ask her what happened to him. When Hurley and Sayid show up at the airport, Jack is the one who points out how insane it is that they both managed to get to the same flight as if it was destiny. And Jack is the one who almost always asks questions about everything that's going on. For once, we see him remain quiet and not question every little detail. He finally seems to have discovered what destiny means, and is transitioning to being a fervent believer like Locke was. This story is told very well throughout the episode and gives it an emotional core, something that the other episodes in season 5 have been lacking so far. A key aspect that helps Jack go over the edge and start believing is Locke's death. It's great to see Locke's death weigh on Jack even after Jack is off the pills and is actively on his way back to the island. It also gives Matthew Fox a good chance to show off his talent as he portrays Jack's pain and guilt in a very subtle way, as Jack tries to accept what happened to Locke and move on. But of course, Jack can't evade Locke's suicide letter, and the emotional highlight of the episode comes when he finally reads it. The simple message of "I wish you had believed me" is incredibly powerful and perfectly frames the regret and deep sorrow that Jack feels after his stubborn refusal to believe anything that Locke said caused so many bad things to happen (Locke's death, the freighter finding the island, leaving everyone else behind). The episode does a lot of other little things that work really well. The opening sequence is terrific, and watching Jack's return parallel "Pilot Part 1" was a delight. The ending scene is also excellent, and a Dharma Initiative Jin finding his old friends is a perfect cliffhanger that leaves me really excited to see what comes next. As ever, Ben has a lot of nice moments in this episode. His stone-cold "who cares" when Jack questions what will happen to the other passengers was terrific. I also got a good laugh out of Ben saying "my mother taught me" after Jack asks how he can read. It's a good line made funnier when you remember that Ben's mother died in childbirth. Even in innocuous interactions like this, Ben still goes out of his way to lie. Lastly, I really liked Hurley buying out the remaining 78 seats to save lives. It's in-character for Hurley to do something like this and is a good reminder of how good-hearted he is. The Bad: The one huge problem with Jack learning not to ask questions is that we don't get answers for questions that we, the audience, are asking. While Jack not asking questions is good for him, it's horrible for all of us watching because we desperately want to know what is going on. It ends up being incredibly frustrating how important questions go unanswered throughout the episode, and it makes this episode feel incredibly unsatisfactory from a plot perspective. For example, the episode starts with Desmond telling everyone that Eloise is crazy and that she ruined his life and nobody should listen to her. Nobody asks a single question after this to get more clarity. Nothing. It's ridiculous that Jack and Sun don't care to learn more about Eloise, and it's frustrating to get no answers about Eloise after waiting so long to see her reappear in the show. And now with the story shifting back to the island, will we ever get more answers about Eloise? Seeing the Lamp Post was good and answered one question, but we really needed more. Furthermore, Eloise's vague statements got frustrating really quickly. Any time that a character asked her a question or there was a chance for her to explain the importance of what is happening, she deflects the question and dances around a satisfying answer. It gets unbelievably frustrating and it becomes apparent that the writers had no clue how to answer these questions anyways, which is a huge disappointment. We never understand why it's important that everyone has to return and we also don't understand why they have to recreate the circumstances of the first flight. Having some stakes here would have done wonders to get me invested but we get nothing from Eloise. And to cap off the frustration, there's a moment when Jack asks Ben for more clarification, but instead Ben ignores the question and launches into a monologue about Thomas the Apostle. I'm sure that it's thematically significant, but it's ultimately an incredible frustrating moment because of how the writers went out of their way to not answer our questions. While I really liked the opening scene, it hurt the drama of the episode to know that they will return to the island by the end. Instead of being excited when the plane took off, I was readying up for the inevitable. It would have enriched the drama if we didn't already know that everyone will get to the island by the end of the episode. Frank's appearance is a lot of fun, but it's absurd that he wouldn't panic when he realizes that the plane is going back to the island. Surely he would at least try something to prevent going back to the island. The Unknown: Who built the Lamp Post? Why doesn't the Dharma Initiative still use it? When did Eloise take control of it? Why do they have to recreate the circumstances of the first flight? Why not just enter the established window that they can get to the island? If you need specific circumstances to find the island, how do the others travel to the island? What does Eloise mean by saying the effects will be unpredictable if not everybody returns? Why would it be unpredictable? Did Ben kill Desmond or Penny? I'm very concerned after seeing what happened to him. What happened to Kate that made her choose to come back to the island? Where is Aaron? How did Sayid get arrested? Why? Why was he being taken to Guam? How did Hurley find out about the flight? How did he get out of jail? Did he run into Eloise somehow? What is Hurley hiding from Jack? Why did Jack, Kate and Hurley go back in time? Wasn't their return supposed to stop the time travel from happening? Instead they further contributed to it. Was this one of the unpredictable effects Eloise was talking about? What happened to Sun, Sayid and Ben? Did they go back in time too? If not, what happened to them on the plane? Did the plane crash? What happened to Sawyer's group? Are they all members of the Dharma Initiative now? How long have they been there? What time period did Jack, Kate and Hurley show up in? Best Moment: Jack reading Locke's letter. Character of the Episode: Jack. Conclusion: This was a truly mixed episode. I really loved some aspects of it but was disappointed and frustrated by other aspects. In the end it's a solid episode, but one that should have been much better than it was. Score: 64
0 Comments
Summary: In flashforwards, Sun threatens Ben at gunpoint but Ben claims that Jin is still alive and offers Sun proof. Kate realizes Jack still wants to go back to the island and angrily leaves. Ben takes Jack and Sun to meet Eloise and they run into Desmond. On the island, Jin experiences Rousseau's group being attacked by the smoke monster. The group walks into the temple after it and they come back changed. Later, Jin sees Rousseau kill Robert. After another flash, Jin finds Sawyer's group. They continue towards The Orchid, but after a few flashes, Charlotte collapses. Daniel stays behind with her and she dies. Meanwhile, the group finds The Orchid but a flash makes it vanish. They find a well and Locke goes inside of it. Another flash occurs and the well is gone, Locke falls into a cavern. Locke is met by Christian who gives him more instructions. Locke accepts his destiny and corrects the frozen donkey wheel.
The Good: One of the biggest disappointments of season 4 was the anticlimactic death of Rousseau. I was really hoping that one day we would get a centric episode for her. Luckily, that partially materialized in the first half of this episode. Watching Jin experience what happened to Rousseau's crew was tremendous and some of the most entertaining and engaging storytelling that we've gotten out of the time travel aspect of the show so far. The show does a fantastic job of making us understand why Rousseau was so crazy; wouldn't you be after witnessing the insanity that we see in this episode? The scenes with the smoke monster were horrifying and felt like they were straight out of a horror movie. There was so much more mystery introduced in this episode regarding the smoke monster and I'm really excited to learn more about it and the mysterious temple. I'm really glad that we were also shown the moment of Rousseau killing Robert. We've heard her describe the moment before and it was harrowing and brutal. But experiencing it ended up being surprisingly impactful and I really enjoyed that scene. The rest of the island story continued the suspenseful fast pacing of the season. Charlotte's death was an effective dramatic moment and seeing her almost childlike state of ignorance as her brain gets scrambled was horrifying. Daniel's grief after she dies was excellent and gave some power to the moment. The final scenes with Locke were superb. They were mysterious and game-changing in a way that would fit right in with a season finale. It was really powerful to see Locke come to terms with the fact that he's going to have to die. The flashforward story had some excellent scenes too. The drama at the marina lived up to the exciting cliffhanger of the last episode with Kate's anger towards Jack and Sun's anger towards Ben being really well executed. Also, Ben being frustrated after being threatened with death by both Sun and Jack was terrific. It makes me really wonder about Ben's intentions, and there's a nice sense of irony with how Ben is finally trying to do something helpful and is being threatened by the very people he's trying to help. Lastly, I really like how Ben used the wedding ring as proof that Jin is still alive. Locke intended to use it to keep Sun away, but naturally Ben turns it around and uses it to bring Sun back. The Bad: Charlotte never became a fully fleshed out character. As a result, her death was lacking in emotional impact, and I only felt something because of Jeremy Davies' acting. Charlotte deserved to have more screen-time to stand out more as a character. She has to be one of the dullest main cast members in the entire series. This episode doesn't quite work as well as some of the other great episodes of the series. I think part of that is because of how vague the story has been so far. For example, we know that this time travel issue happened "because they left", but why? Why did it happen? And how will bringing them back stop it? I get that this is part of the mystery, but it's difficult to fully engage in the urgency of the story if I don't understand what is at stake. It's also difficult to see how bringing the Oceanic Six back will help everyone else, especially if they are travelling through time. Trying to actually think about the story really ends up hurting your brain and things don't make sense like they should. Another frustrating moment is with Eloise at the end of the episode. In "The Lie" she says that everyone needs to be brought together or "god help us all", yet now she can apparently make do with just Jack and Sun. What????? That makes no sense and it completely destroys the sense of urgency that this storyline had been building. And we never got a concrete answer as to why Ben went after Kate or what his goals were. It would be nice to shed more light on these things instead of leaving us to connect the dots ourselves. This episode does a lot of things right, but unnecessarily leaving things unclear is definitely hurting the show. This was technically a Jin/Sun episode. Unfortunately, the episode was so packed with other events that their story got lost in the shuffle. I thought that the stories of Jin deciding not to bring Sun back, and Sun learning that Jin was still alive were solid, but they was hugely overshadowed by everything else that was happening. The Unknown: I have a seemingly endless list of questions after this one.\\ Why did the smoke monster attack Rousseau's group? What was the goal? Why did it take Montand into the temple? What did it do to him? What did it do to the others? It seems that the monster is what caused the sickness that Rousseau described back in "Solitary". What exactly did it do? We also here Robert say the "security system" line from "Solitary". How does he know it is a security system? Why is it protecting the temple? What is in there? Is this temple the same one that the others use? Does the smoke monster protect them? Is this why Ben was able to summon it back in "The Shape of Things to Come"? I have a ton of questions about this temple, the smoke monster, and its connection to the others. How was Ben keeping everyone safe? Is he referring to murdering Widmore's men? Was Widmore after the Oceanic Six? Why? We know that he likely was responsible for Nadia's death. But why? What is his goal? He's allied with Sun too. How does that tie in to everything? How did Charlotte know about the well? Was she on the island before The Orchid was built? What is the significance of the memory she has of Daniel? Why does he tell her not to come back to the island? Was Daniel grief-stricken and determined to keep her safe? Was he attempting to change time somehow? We know that Daniel will end up with the Dharma Initiative eventually. How does that tie into things? Is Christian aware of all the time travel that's happening? Or was he only able to speak with Locke because he chronologically appeared at The Orchid after his talk with Christian in "Cabin Fever"? How does Christian know about Eloise? How is Eloise connected to this story? Is she Daniel's mother? How does she connect with everything that's going on? What is she going to do with everyone that showed up at the end of the episode? What will happen to Sawyer's group now that Locke has fixed the wheel? Will they be sent back to their time? Or do they have to wait for the Oceanic Six to return for that to happen? Will they get stuck in the past? Perhaps during the Dharma Initiative days? That could explain why Daniel was with them in the opening scene of "Because You Left", Best Moment: Rousseau shooting Robert. It's so tragic to see Robert talk down Rousseau only to try to shoot her anyways. The scene is executed terrifically. Character of the Episode: Rousseau. Conclusion: This episode was really fast-paced and jam-packed with exciting moments and big developments. However, I think there was a bit too much here and a lot of the story didn't get the clarity that it needed. This is still a very good episode, but one that could have used some slowing down. Score: 68 Summary: Monica attends a cooking class to feel better after she gets a bad review. Rachel gets jealous when a lady starts flirting with Ross. Phoebe helps Chandler prepare for an interview.
The Good: This is vintage "Friends". All three storylines are pretty good and utilize the characters well, and the jokes are witty, well-written, and hilarious. Ross and Rachel's story is the highlight here. Rachel's jealousy is tremendously fun to watch, and I'm glad that her emotions weren't just explained away with "it's because she's pregnant", which is always cheap. Her interactions with Ross were fun, and I really laughed at how Katie flirted with him. The whip joke was a really funny pay-off to the Indiana Jones bit with Ross being as wonderfully awkward as ever. More impressive was how Rachel joking about wanting to talk about things early in the episode came back as a serious plot point later. That was excellently executed. The two side stories were less impressive but still really funny. Joey is funny as ever as he tags along with Monica. Monica getting so upset and then taking a class to feel better is in line with her character and thankfully the writers don't make her too annoying in these scenes. Chandler doing his best to not make funny jokes during an interview is a funny idea and there are some good laughs in his story. It was nice to see Phoebe honestly try to help him for once. The Bad: It's disappointing to be back at Ross/Rachel for what feels like the 400th time. If this episode wasn't so funny and well-executed, I would be much more annoyed at this. Best Moment: Rachel seriously thinking about getting back together with Ross and both of their awkward reactions after that moment were really funny. I loved the continuity with Rachel's joke from earlier and I think that this is a perfect use of awkwardness to create comedy in a way that isn't uncomfortable to watch. Character of the Episode: Rachel. Conclusion: This was excellent stuff. Three consistently well-written stories with consistently funny jokes and a sense of important story progression. This feels like a season 1-5 "Friends" episode in those regards, and I definitely mean that as a compliment. Score: 73 Summary: In flashforwards, Sayid is attacked by somebody with Kate's address. Jack goes to Kate, who is following the lawyer who confronted her. Kate lets Jack get in and they go together. They get nowhere and Jack convinces Kate to meet with him and Sayid at the marina. Sun comes along with Aaron. Kate is angry upon seeing Ben and figures out that the lawyer works for him. On the island, Charlotte wakes up and is okay. The group decides to head back to the beach, and on the way Sawyer witnesses Kate helping Claire give birth. Another flash happens and the beach camp is back. The group finds an outrigger on the beach, likely from another plane crash. They take the outrigger to go around the island, but are attacked on the way. Another flash happens and they get to land. Elsewhere, Rousseau's camp crashes on the island and they find Jin in the water, dehydrated but alive.
The Good: This season has had a sense of urgency in both storylines. The flashforwards have a time limit to get everyone together so the episode has a rush to ensure that everyone is together. On the island, the nosebleeds are becoming a bigger problem, and this provides the urgency in that storyline. Daniel, Locke and the others need to find a way to stop these flashes from happening, and due to the imminent threat, this story is also exciting to watch. "Lost" is using fast pace and urgency really well to make the drama more engaging. The developments in this episode were solid. The island story has some great moments involving the time travel. Sawyer seeing Kate was a surprisingly emotional moment, and I really appreciate how this moment was executed. Sawyer losing Kate has been emphasized really well in this season, and it's sad to see Sawyer try to maintain his tough exterior while going through this pain. It was nice to see how this moment affected Sawyer for the rest of the episode. The time travel also introduced another mystery involving the outriggers, which I'm interested in. I also really laughed at Sawyer's "thank you lord... I take that back!" The flashforward story also had some nice developments. Kate's investigation of Norton was interesting to watch and there was a nice red herring with Claire's mother talking to him. Naturally, the one after Kate was Ben (whenever something happens it's ALWAYS Ben), and it seems like he's been orchestrating something involving the Oceanic Six. Perhaps he's been the one terrorizing them in an attempt to bring them together. This is a really interesting twist and I'm invested in finding out what his plan is. I was glad to see Jack and Kate together again. It's evident that while Kate is upset at him, she does still love him and was happy to see him back in good health (no beard!) and caring for her again. That made the ending scene of the episode more impactful as Kate realizes that Jack may not be reaching out to her to return to her life and that he still wants to go back. This marina scene provides a really exciting set-up for the next episode with Sun seeing Ben and Kate readying to blow up at Jack. The Bad: The one development I don't like is Jin's survival. It's just absurdly unbelievable that Jin would somehow have survived this long in the water. Furthermore, he was right in the middle of the explosion that sunk the freighter. How can you propose that he survived that? Also, it must be incredibly lucky for Jin to be travelling through time along with everyone else, especially seeing how far away he was from the island. There are a few too many contrivances here for Jin's survival to be a good reveal. This episode doesn't feel coherent in a way that all of the great "Lost" episodes are. Season 5 seems to have done away with having character-centric episodes to the same degree as the last 4 seasons, and that hurts an episode like this one. While the story progression is good, this episode is not a memorable standalone experience. While that definitely doesn't make this episode bad, it holds it back from being better. The Unknown: Who was the man in the hospital working for? Was he also sent by Ben? I don't see how anybody else would know where Sayid was except for Ben. I think it's likely that all the attacks were orchestrated by Ben. It doesn't make sense for others to be after the Oceanic Six. It seems that both Miles and Charlotte have been on the island before. Could this be why both of them were chosen by Widmore to be part of the science team on the freighter? Who left the outriggers? And who started shooting from the other outrigger? Apparently this was from the airline Ajira. Will we see another plane crash before the series ends? Could this be the airline that brings the Oceanic Six back to the island? Jin interacting with Rousseau was a huge surprise and a delight. But how is it that Rousseau doesn't remember him? Of course I can't blame her for forgetting Jin's face after 16 years. But I wonder if there's another reason. Will we see what happened to Rousseau's team after they landed on the island? Is Sun going to try to kill Ben? What will happen next? Best Moment: Sawyer seeing Kate again was a really powerful scene and I love the impact that it had on him for the rest of the episode. Character of the Episode: Sawyer. Conclusion: This episode had more strong story progression, but it doesn't do a whole lot to stand out. In the end, it's a solid but unspectacular episode. Score: 65 Summary: In flashforwards, Desmond goes to Oxford to find Daniel's mother but finds that all records of Daniel have been wiped from the institute. Desmond is directed to visit Theresa, a girl who Daniel left in a catatonic state. Desmond learns that Widmore funded Daniel's research and learns from him that Daniel's mother is in LA. He and Penny decide to go there. On the island, Juliet determines that the people who attacked them are the others. Daniel, Miles and Charlotte are captured by one of them, Ellie. The others think that they are US soldiers and Daniel goes along with it. He discovers that the soldiers left a hydrogen bomb on the island and that they were killed after refusing to leave. Daniel is taken to the bomb by Ellie since he claims he can disable it. Daniel tells Ellie to bury the bomb. Sawyer and Juliet arrive to save Daniel. Locke enters the camp and speaks with Richard but doesn't get anything useful out of him. The time jumps again and the others' camp is gone. Charlotte has a deadly nosebleed and falls unconscious, possibly dying.
The Good: Desmond's story is disconnected from the rest of the episode but it's still really engaging. For the most part, it starts as a mysterious exploration of Daniel's past, with Desmond learning more and more shady details about Daniel's time in Oxford. The mystery is developed really well, and the scenes with Desmond are good. What was missing was the emotional aspect, and I was worried that Desmond would be a simple bystander in his own episode. But the mention of Widmore completely turned that on its head, and it eventually became clear that this episode was about Desmond overcoming his own cowardice to confront Widmore to save the people on the island. The confrontation with Widmore is a terrific scene with Desmond taking control of the conversation to get what he needs. Widmore's response suggests that he does respect this response, and I was surprised to see genuine concern from him regarding Penny. Clearly Widmore is scared of the threat that Ben poses to her. That confrontation was a really suspenseful and well-written scene that served as a strong climax for Desmond's story. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The island story is superb, and it's dripping with tension and mystery. What impressed me the most is the pacing, which has been outstanding since season 4 started. This was particularly exceptional though. The slow reveal of the story with the others fighting against US soldiers who left a bomb on the island was perfectly paced to make every small reveal have an impact on us. Moments like Daniel bringing up the hydrogen bomb, Juliet determining the two men are others, and Locke learning that the man he's been hunting is Widmore were a delight to watch. I'm also very pleased to see the time travel being used to resolve some loose threads remaining in the series. We know that the US army is involved with the others because of the army knofe from "The Other 48 Days", and it was so satisfying to see that built into a complete storyline that also gives us some fascinating insight into the history of the others, something that I hope we will learn much more about in these final two seasons. It was also nice to get confirmation that there is a process in choosing the next leader of the others, and even though all the little details likely don't line up with previous seasons, it's good to get some idea of how the others function, especially with how badly season 3 failed at giving us concrete answers about the others. Surprisingly, this episode doesn't have much emotional resonance, which is rare for "Lost". But even without that, this still managed to be terrific because of how satisfying it was to watch. We know and love all the characters in this episode, and they have been written very well since the start of the series. Because of that, "Lost" is able to do a fast-paced plot-heavy episode with tremendous success because if you are still watching at this point, you are already invested in everything that is happening. Without actively having a reason to emotionally engage, we are somehow able to be invested in what's happening anyways. It's a testament to the success of this show that an episode like this is so engaging and so much fun to watch without having a particularly compelling emotional core. I was still utterly fascinated by Locke's conversation with Richard, Daniel's investigation of the bomb and the ending moments of the episode as Charlotte potentially seems to have died. These dramatic moments were elevated to a higher level because "Lost" has been so consistently surprising and interesting for four seasons straight now. Having a consistent high quality always pays dividends when you get to the later episodes of a TV show and this is a prime example of that. The Bad: The one weak aspect of this story is Daniel's romance with Charlotte. Charlotte still hasn't been properly fleshed out as a character (likely an unfortunate consequence of the shortened season 4) so it's difficult to understand her or what her relationship with Daniel is. As a result, I can't properly buy into Daniel's love for her as an emotional beat in the story. It makes moments like Daniel's confession of love and the horrifying final scene less powerful than they could have been. I wish that Charlotte had been given more time to develop as a character in the last season. The Unknown: What happens to the bomb? Do the others bury it like Daniel said they should? What did Daniel do to Theresa? Why did he immediately leave afterwards? Does this have something to do wiith why he was a "head case"? Why was Widmore invovled with funding his research? Did Widmore put him up to the task? Is this why Daniel was on the boat? He's Widmore's scientist? Why does Ellie remind Daniel of somebody? Does he know who she is? Will Penny's choice to go with Desmond be a terrible idea? We know Ben wants to kill her and he is in LA. Is Charlotte dead? Best Moment: Desmond's scene with Widmore. Character of the Episode: Daniel. Even though this was a Desmond episode, Daniel was at the center of everything. Conclusion: This was a superbly paced episode, and one that delivers hugely because of how good "Lost" has been up until this point. This was really gripping to watch and I enjoyed every second of it. Score: 73 Summary: In the flashforwards, Hurley takes Sayid to his house to protect him and explains things to his parents who half understand. Sayid is taken to Jack who helps him recover. Jack sends Ben to pick up Hurley, but Hurley is terrified and turns himself into the cops. Ben visits the lady from "Flashes Before Your Eyes" and is given 70 hours to gather everyone to go back to the island. Kate speaks with Sun who has returned to LA. On the island, the survivors try to start a fire to have food but struggle. Suddenly, they are attacked by flaming arrows and scatter into the jungle. Juliet and Sawyer stay together but are accosted by two men in US army uniforms. Juliet's hand is almost chopped off but Locke arrives and saves them.
The Good: Hurley is of course the stand-out of the episode and a lot of the content surrounding him is quite good. The scenes of him on the run are wacky fun in true Hurley style, and I especially enjoyed the silly yet suspenseful scene in the convenience store. We also get a nice cameo from Ana Lucia as Hurley's visions manifest to get him to find a way to save Sayid. Naturally it all goes back to his relationship with his parents, who have been key figures in Hurley's previous episodes. The stories that Hurley tells sound so obviously insane (see: Best Moment), and there is likely no reason at all for his parents to believe him or help him. But it's telling that they do try to help him out, and it says a lot about their relationship with Hurley. It feels refreshing to see good, caring parents for once in "Lost". The end of the episode leads up to a terrific moment as Hurley is confronted by Ben (and comically throws a hot pocket at him). Ben, as ever, puts on a compelling argument and for once we're actually siding with him because Ben will genuinely help Hurley here. But Hurley heeds Sayid's warning, and in a brilliant moment, he refuses to listen to a word that Ben says and lets himself get arrested, grinning giddily at Ben as he's taken away. It's an excellent moment, and a surprising twist in the story. I also really liked Kate and Sun's meeting. Sun has changed into a more hardened character and she's become really fascinating to watch. I like the detail that she remembered how Kate was supposed to go get Jin but she never did. That was something I completely forgot about, but it makes perfect sense that Sun would remember this and feel bitter about it. I think that Sun absolving Kate of this and forgiving her was a beautiful moment. I also really like how Sun commanded their conversation the entire time. She has changed significantly and I'm excited to see how big of a role she will have in the story going forwards. The Bad: The stuff on the island in this episode didn't quite do it for me. Neil came right out of nowhere to suddenly exist, all to have a comically terrible death scene mere minutes after his introduction. I understand that he was in the "Lost" webisodes, but to shoehorn him into the show so sloppily and kill him off cheaply is really bad. I also wasn't a huge fan of the flaming arrow attack since it seemed unfeasibly well coordinated, and also incredibly dangerous seeing that these arrows were being fired into the jungle. The issue with the flashforward storyline is that not much actually happened in this episode. It was very much an in-between episode to set up future events. The writers tried to give it some added stakes with the focus on Hurley's regret about lying, but a problem emerges because we don't know why Hurley regrets lying so much. It's treated like a huge deal, but I just don't buy that Hurley is so torn up about lying and why it was so difficult for him. The story feels remarkably shallow and it isn't enough to center a character-centric episode on. The final scene was unfortunately quite frustrating. It's a big reveal to see the lady from "Flashes Before Your Eyes" again, but the scene is ruined by a lot of unnecessary vagueness. Ben asks what will happen if he doesn't get the Oceanic Six together in 70 hours and the only answer we get is "god help us all". But... why???? The show isn't telling us any stakes and is instead replacing stakes with unnecessary mystery, and that badly damages my emotional investment in this storyline. This episode had a lot of unnecessarily vague dialogue when we should have been getting answers, and I found that to be very frustrating. The Unknown: Was the Ana Lucia vision just another manifestation of Hurley's craziness, or was it something else? Who is the person going after Kate? Who would only want to take Aaron from her without it going public? How is Ben going to get Hurley out of prison? Also, who is Jill? Is she one of the others? Ben alludes to other people checking in, so it's clear that he's planning something. What is he up to? Who is the mysterious lady from "Flashes Before Your Eyes"? Where is she? What is the facility that she is in? I noticed a Dharma Initiative logo in there. Does she work for Dharma? Also, what is the huge pendulum thing? It seems to be marking a location. Is she locating the island? Who fired the flaming arrows? Was it these mysterious army men that captured Sawyer and Juliet? Are they US military? Why did they claim that the island was theirs? Was this before the others arrived? Or did the others originate as US military soldiers? Best Moment: Hurley telling his story about what happened on the island. It's all true, but "Lost" does a terrific job of showcasing how insane Hurley sounds as he tells this story. It's a sweet moment when his mother chooses to believe him rather than betray him to the police. Character of the Episode: Hurley. Conclusion: This episode had some good aspects but it's bogged down by some silly writing and the sense that this is all just set-up with a rather flat character-centric story for Hurley slapped on top. It's entertaining to watch, but well below the standards for "Lost". Score: 60 Summary: The opening scene shows Dr. Marvin Candle responding to an incident in The Orchid concerning time travel. Daniel is there. In flashforwards, Jack and Ben arrange to contact everyone. Sun meets with Widmore. Kate is contacted by a lawyer who wants a blood sample of her and Aaron so she runs away. Hurley and Sayid are on the run and they are attacked at their safehouse. Sayid is shot by a dart and goes unconscious. On the island, the beach camp has vanished. Daniel explains to everyone that they are all likely skipping through time randomly. A flash of light occurs every time they are whisked to a new time period. The group goes to the hatch and Sawyer tries to contact Desmond but it doesn't work. The group decides to head back to the beach. Daniel has an idea and manages to contact Desmond, telling him he's special. Daniel tasks Desmond with going to find his mother in Oxford. In the present, Desmond wakes up and remembers this, choosing to go to Oxford. Locke is also skipping through time, but Richard and the others are not. He sees the Beechcraft crash and is shot in the leg by Ethan before time jumping again. He is met by Richard who tells him that he needs to bring back everyone who left and that he needs to die to accomplish this.
The Good: The pacing of this episode reminds me of the excellent "Confirmed Dead" from last season. There's a lot going on in this episode, and the pacing is superb, making this feel like a pure thrill ride and the plot for season 5 gets kicked into motion. The island story is excellent. Implementing time travel is always a big risk, but "Lost" is so far doing it really well by establishing set rules and following them. Daniel is used perfectly here to give out explanations and simplify time travel for anybody that gets confused, and Jeremy Davies' eccentric performance adds a lot to these expository scenes. I'm really excited by the implementation of time travel since I do enjoy sci-fi, and this is an excellent way for the show to adapt and give us some answers about the history of the island and its inhabitants. I hope that the potential of time travel is utilized properly. The writers do well to not allow the time travel to completely take over the episode. Even though much of this episode works as exposition, there is still a very dramatic story being told here. Sawyer's presence adds some much needed emotion as he's forced to come to terms with everyone on the helicopter likely being dead after going to the freighter. As ever, Sawyer is really compelling here, and his anger throughout the episode feels justified. There is also a level of tension that comes up towards the end of the episode as Charlotte experiences a nose-bleed. Nobody seems to panic (except Daniel), but of course we know how serious this is after watching "The Constant", and it seems like the time skipping needs to be stopped soon or there will be deaths. This is an excellent source of constant tension that will likely elevate the suspense of the island scenes in coming episodes. I also really appreciated the subversion away from the rules of time travel at the end of the episode. It's always difficult to find a way to make time travel dramatic, but "Lost" accomplishes this through the use of Desmond who is considered to be special (likely because of his experiences in "Flashes Before Your Eyes" and "The Constant"). Sure, not everything makes perfect sense with Daniel talking to Desmond, but there always has to be a certain level of suspension of disbelief in time travel stories, so I don't think that it is an issue. Locke's scenes are really well done. We can already see the potential of time travel in action here as we get to actually see the Beechcraft crash onto the island, and there's also a fantastic cameo from Ethan, who is the latest to be responsible for another leg injury for Locke. These scenes don't add a whole lot to the story, but they are essential for easing us in to the idea of time travel and the kind of situations that could potentially pop up in this season. Another excellent scene is the meeting with Richard, which raises plenty of questions (see: The Unknown). There is so much mystery here and their conversation is written in a way that really fascinates us into asking questions to find out where the story is going without giving too much away. The scenes in the flashforwards are pretty solid too. It's mostly just set-up for the rest of the season, but the content here is enjoyable to watch. Jack and Ben are just setting out to contact everyone, yet the hilarious irony is that everyone else is making it perfectly clear that they want nothing to do with Ben. It was awesome seeing another nicely choreographed Sayid fight. The opening scene of the episode was superb. While its become customary for "Lost" to surprise us in its season premiers, I was still thrilled by the reveals that we got in this scene. I was overjoyed to finally get a glimpse into the Dharma Initiative for the first time since "The Man Behind the Curtain", and the reveal that time travel would be a significant plot point of the season had me grinning from ear to ear. Daniel's presence raises tons of questions, and it doesn't give too much away. It's a perfect reveal to kick off the season, and I'm really excited to find out how and why he ends up working at the Dharma Initiative. The Bad: This episode is hurt by the fact that it has no centric characters, so the emotional core isn't there. The craziness of the plot makes up for much of this, but that level of emotional engagement is noticeably missing and it prevents this episode from being better. If Ethan met Locke before he crashed on the island, why didn't he remember him? Are we really supposed to believe that he just forgot? Or that he didn't mention this experience to anybody else? This seems inconsistent. The Unknown: Why is Daniel working at Dharma? What is his goal? Did the Dharma Initiative succeed at manipulating time? It seems that the frozen donkey wheel was there before the Dharma Initiative got to the island. Who put it there? What other time periods will we explore while the island is skipping through time? What will be revealed to us from these time periods? Why does Sun want to kill Ben? Is he the second person she blames for Jin's death? Why? She shouldn't know about how Ben killed Keamy to detonate the bomb. Did Locke tell her this? Who are the men that are trying to kill Sayid and Hurley? Who do they work for? Widmore? Ben? Somebody else? Is Desmond special because of his exposure to electromagnetism or is it something else? To what extent can he break the rules of time travel? How did Richard know all of these things to tell Locke? Like the bullet, and Locke needing to die to brign everyone back to the island. Does Richard have time-travelling powers that make him aware to it, similar to the mysterious lady from "Flashes Before Your Eyes"? Or is something else going on. Could this have happened because it's Richard from the future telling this to Locke? What is the significance of that compass? Best Moment: The opening scene gave me chills and it sets up the season perfectly. Character of the Episode: Daniel. Conclusion: This was a plot-driven sci-fi episode that had a lot of surprising and exciting developments that set the stage for the rest of the season. The emotional edge was missing, but I can't ask for a more exciting platform for season 5. Score: 70 Summary: Flashforwards take place after the events of Through the Looking Glass. The death of Jeremy Bentham has shaken Jack and it's why he tells Kate to go back. Kate goes home and has a dream about Claire. Sayid breaks Hurley out of his institution and kills somebody who was watching him. Sun connects with Widmore. Jack goes to see Jeremy Bentham and finds Ben who tells him that everyone has to go back. Bentham is revealed to be Locke. On the island, Keamy takes Ben back to the helicopter but he and his men are attacked by the others. Sayid fights Keamy, who is shot in the back by Richard. Ben is freed and returns to the orchid. Locke and Jack meet again and talk. Locke tells Jack to lie about his experiences on the island when he leaves. Locke and Ben descend into The Orchid, Sawyer, Hurley and Jack go back to the helicopter. The helicopter takes off and goes to the freighter. However, there is a fuel leak and Sawyer jumps off to reduce weight. He returns to the island. At the freighter, Michael, Jin and Desmond used liquid nitrogen to freeze the bomb. At The Orchid, Ben prepares to move the island but is interrupted when Keamy comes down the elevator, revealing that if he dies, the bomb on the freighter blows up. Ben kills him in a rage, activating the bomb on the freighter. The helicopter is forced to land on the freighter for fuel and everyone hurriedly fills it and they leave the freighter. Jin and Michael are left behind and die in the explosion. Ben causes an explosion and descends into a frozen chamber to move the island. Locke is given the role to lead the others. Ben turns a frozen donkey wheel, which takes him off the island, and the island moves. With nowhere to land, the helicopter crashes in the water. The people aboard are rescued by Penny and Jack tells everyone that they have to lie.
The Good: True to the style of all previous season finales, this was an action-packed, thrilling episode with several twists and turns that provided an incredibly satisfying conclusion to season 4. There were engaging storylines going on everywhere, and there were dramatic moments around every corner. I really love the action-packed style that "Lost" adapts for its season finales as it always creates a riveting sense that what you are watching is important, and it always provides an immensely satisfying climax for each season. The storyline on the island and the freighter was a blast to watch and was filled with thrills. The resolution with the mercenaries was really satisfying. It was a blast to see the others return to their ruthlessly stealthy and efficient style of fighting in the jungle, which we haven't truly seen since season 2. The action was top-notch and I loved the fight between Sayid and Keamy, which was shot really well to maximize the suspense. Keamy was a really fun character even though he was a fairly two-dimensional villain. Kevin Durand's performance added a lot to the character and made him a brilliant mix of charismatic and intimidating. His scenes in this finale were excellent. I thought that Keamy's arrival in The Orchid later in the episode escalated the tension spectacularly, and seeing Ben violently murder him was incredibly cathartic and was made all the more horrifying with Ben's creepily detached reaction when he realizes that he killed everyone on the boat. This scene was one of the best of the entire finale. The other scenes at The Orchid were also a lot of fun. I'm always happy to see Jack and Locke together on-screen, and their talk in this episode was as excellent as ever. Their argument didn't simply feel like a rehash of their previous arguments, but it instead had a feeling of tiredness to it with both Locke and Jack understanding that they can do nothing to make the other change how they believe. The most substantial part to this conversation was certainly Locke asking Jack to lie once he gets off the island. This pays off brilliantly towards the end of the finale, but I will discuss that later. The other highlight of the scenes at The Orchid has to be the interactions between Locke and Ben, which are as captivating as ever. From the banter about Locke not knowing what anthuriums look like to Ben comically doing everything that the orientation videeo tells him not to do, I was having a blast watching these two on screen together. It all leads up to a beautiful final scene as Ben accepts that Locke would be a better leader than him and admits that he has been too emotional in his decision-making. Ben deciding to face the consequences himself and to step aside to make way for Locke is surprisingly noble, and the show does a fantastic job of making this mean something. Then during the frozen donkey wheel scene (a masterclass of mystery that I will discuss in a second), "Lost" once again shows that it understands how important emotion is in storytelling by focusing the scene squarely on Ben instead of playing up the mystery aspects of the show. When Ben turns the wheel, it's a powerful moment because we can understand what Ben is sacrificing, and seeing him in tears is shockingly moving. It is brilliant how the scenes in The Orchid from the start to the finish of the episode were grounded in reality by focusing on the relationship between Locke and Ben, and then on the weight of the sacrifice that Ben had to make. It is masterful how "Lost" manages to weave emotion into significant plot moments that have no right being as powerful as they are. I have plenty more to say about the frozen donkey wheel scene. Outside of the excellent emotional pay-off with Ben, this scene was an outstanding piece of mystery building. For one, it actually answers several questions. We now know that turning the wheel is what somehow sent Ben to Tunisia back in "The Shape of Things to Come", nicely tying up his storyline for season 4. Furthermore, this could also explain the Dharma polar bear from Charlotte's flashback in Tunisia. It seems like the polar bear may have turned the donkey wheel and been teleported to a desert. I have plenty more questions about this (see: The Unknown), but it is a pretty big reveal. The frozen donkey wheel scene also does really well to build mystery. The cold temperature, the mysterious hieroglyphics, the obvious age of the structure, and its supernatural properties raise so many interesting questions with exciting possibilities regarding where the show can go from here. Furthermore, the very existence of an ancient donkey wheel capable of teleporting islands is such an absurdly hilarious concept that it becomes a brilliant bit of mystery. The other scenes at the beach camp and the freighter are also pretty good, even if they don't have the same level of excitement. The bomb provides a good bit of drama, and it serves as a strong way for Michael to earn some redemption before he dies. I really liked the final scene between Jin and Michael since it neatly pays off of both characters and their friendship. Lastly, I thought that the scenes with Daniel, Miles and Charlotte were also quite good. It was nice to see Daniel earn Juliet's trust as well. Sawyer's decision to jump off of the chopper was another big moment that I really liked. I thought that Sawyer's decision was explored well, and it leads to a harsh realization when Sawyer learns that his heroic act may have resulted in him being the only survivor since the boat exploded. Obviously the big scene is Jin's death, and while I think the moment was hurt by the flashforwards (see: The Bad), it was still pretty gutwrenching, mostly due to Sun's reaction. Yunjin Kim did a tremendous job of portraying Sun's grief, and her reaction was every bit as heartbreakingly brutal as it should have been. Then we get to the ending stretch of the episode, which I thought was really effective. I was concerned that knowing who makes it off the island would remove any interest I would have in actually seeing the Oceanic Six get rescued. However, my concerns were mostly unfounded. I was surprised by how emotional it was to see the survivors finally be rescued, even when I knew exactly what was going to happen. There was a lot of weight to seeing Jack, Kate, Sun, Hurley and Sayid finally reach civilization, having decided that they're going to lie about everything. I'm impressed that "Lost" still got so much emotion out of this scene. Then of course there's Desmond and Penny's reunion, a scene two seasons in the making. I've been very invested in this relationship, so seeing them finally reunite was one of the episode's best and most cathartic moments. It's a moment that was well worth the wait and it fits the season finale. I'm very glad that flashforwards didn't spoil this scene. I really enjoyed the flashforwards in this episode. They were mostly setting up season 5, but the scenes were really well done and covered a lot of ground for a lot of characters. As expected, the season finale finally picks up on the aftermath of "Through the Looking Glass" and it sets up each character's storylines going into season 5. These scenes were very well done, and there were several really compelling moments. Kate's dream was an excellent piece of suspense-horror that plants the idea in her brain that she needs to go back to the island. Sayid breaking Hurley out is an engaging storyline, and it raises some really interesting questions about both characters (see: The Unknown). Sun's offer to ally with Widmore is fascinating and sets up what could potentially be a really exciting storyline for her next season. And of course, Jack has an excellent final scene as he meets with Ben and comes to terms with the fact that he's going to have to convince everybody to come back to the island. The set-up for season 5 was done tremendously well, and it felt really exciting to finally progress forwards in the timeline for the first time since season 3. And of course since it's "Lost", they had to throw in a wonderful twist at the end of the episode with Locke being revealed in the coffin. I could see most people figuring it out before the reveal, but the pan over is still an excellent moment that raises several big questions. The Bad: The biggest problem with this episode is how the flashforwards from previous episodes spoiled what would happen here. A lot of the drama was lessened because we already know the fates of many of the characters. Jin's death was the biggest hit since it became clear that he would die, and thus it didn't feel like the tragedy that it was meant to be. We had made peace with Jin's death six episodes ago, so watchign him die here wasn't as evocative as it could have been. Other things were affected too. While I did praise the emotion that I felt watching the Oceanic Six be rescued, I can't deny that the moment would have been even better if I didn't already know that they would be rescued. Sawyer's choice to jump was also hurt by the fact that I figured out it would happen well in advance because we know that Sawyer doesn't make it off the island. There were several other smaller moments that were also hurt by this, but I won't list them all out here. As a whole, I thought that the flashforward structure of this season did have the unfortunate effect of reducing the impact of several scenes in this finale. I had some issues with the plot too. It felt weird to have Desmond explain so much about the bomb out of nowhere. Then even worse was when Michael suddenly started explaining a lot instead of Desmond. The dialogue here was pretty weak. I also didn't like the idea of Jin staying behind with Michael inexplicably. There's no reason that Jin wouldn't immediately leave to ensure his own safety and he looks like an idiot for staying behind with Michael. Michael's death also feels somewhat anticlimactic since he didn't do much to grow as a character. He only froze the bomb in this one scene and didn't even end up saving Jin. It's disappointing that his return didn't amount to more. Lastly, the fuel leak was a typical TV show plot contrivance, and it was strange that Frank flew for so long without noticing it. The Unknown: How did Locke leave the island? Why? What were the terrible things that happened when the Oceanic Six left? How did Locke die? Was it actually suicide? Sayid seemed to think that something else was going on. Who was the man watching Hurley? Was it one of Ben's men? Widmore's? Somebody else? Why is Sun helping Widmore? What are her goals? Was Kate's dream sent by the island somehow? Or was it her own guilty conscience? Will it help convince her to go back to the island to find Claire? Was Charlotte born on the island? Who were her parents? How did she get off the island? Why and how did Christian appear with Michael? He said that Michael could go. Does that mean that he was the one preventing Michael from dying? Is he responsible for a lot of the island's magical properties? Who is he exactly? Is he Jacob? Who created the frozen donkey wheel? Why did they make it? How did they know that it would make the island move? Did they know it would make the island move? Why is it so cold in the room? Who made the hieroglyphs? Was it the same people who made the donkey wheel? How much did Dharma know about the donkey wheel? Did they use it? Did they test it on the polar bears? Why was it blocked away underneath The Orchid? Was The Orchid successful with its time travel experiments? Did the time travel only work because of the location right next to the frozen donkey wheel? How does Ben know about the frozen donkey wheel? Who told him about it? Widmore knew too. Does the donkey wheel have something to do with Jacob? Best Moment: Ben turning the donkey wheel. Character of the Episode: Ben. Conclusion: "Lost" really knows how to do season finales. True to the previous three season finales, this was another action-packed and thrilling episode, but one that didn't forget to include many powerful character moments and emotional scenes. This was a terrific way to end a terrific season. Season 4 was terrific. I'm incredibly impressed with how "Lost" reinvented itself in this season, bringing in flashforwards, telling stories at a quicker pace, and focusing more on mystery and plot. It's incredibly rare to find a show that returns to a high standard of quality by morphing into something different. Season 4 deserves credit for pulling off this feat. The season did have its flaws to be sure, but as a whole it was easily the most consistent season in the show and it had several stand-out episodes, including the all-time great "The Constant". I think that this was the best season of "Lost" since season 1 and it deserves tons of credit for streamlining the plot while also maintaining the emotional power of the first three seasons. I do think that all of the seasons we have seen so far have been great (I was harsh on my reviews of seasons 2 and 3, a bit unjustifiably. I think that these seasons only disappoint in comparison to season 1, they are still great seasons of television on their own), but season 4 did something truly special by changing the formula so significantly, and having such compelling character stories and mysteries. I really loved this season. Score: 80 Summary: Joey practices being a game show host with Ross and Chandler. Monica and Phoebe throw a baby shower for Rachel but have to call her mother at the last minute because they forgot to invite her. Rachel's mother decides to stay with Rachel for eight weeks after she gives birth.
The Good: The game show parody is a lot of fun, and Joey, Ross and Chandler's wacky antics are pretty funny. The episode is built on a fun idea of Rachel being unprepared to have her baby. The Bad: The episode doesn't deliver like it should. Monica and Phoebe are really weak in this episode, and watching Monica attempt to suck up to Rachel's mother so much is annoying and not funny. Once again Monica is written to extremely cartoonish levels in an attempt to make her funny. Rachel's story is a good idea but it isn't executed well. It's hard to believe that Rachel wouldn't have done any research on how to be a mother before now, and I'm shocked that she didn't even mention that Ross would be there to help her out so she wouldn't need her mother. The game show story is fun but it ultimately ends up feeling like needless filler. Best Moment: Ross, Chandler and Joey getting really into bamboozled was really funny to watch, and it's an excellent joke on how ridiculous game shows can be. Character of the Episode: Joey. Conclusion: This episode had a few good ideas and jokes but the overall package isn't done very well. It's another disappointing episode. Score: 54 Summary: Flashforwards show the Oceanic Six returning from the island and reuniting with their families. Sayid reunites with Nadia. Together, they all lie to the press. Sun buys a controlling interest in her father's company as vengeance. Hurley has a surprise party but is haunted by the numbers. Jack learns Claire is his half-sister. On the island, Locke, Hurley and Ben head to the Orchid but find that Keamy is already there. Ben gives himself up and gives Locke instructions. Jack finds Sawyer's group in the woods and the two of them find Frank and the helicopter. They decide to go save Hurley at the Orchid. Kate and Sayid go after Jack and Sawyer but are captured by Richard. Sun and Jin arrive on the freighter and reunite with Michael. Desmond finds a bomb on the freighter.
The Good: This episode was mostly set-up, but at least the set-up was very entertaining. The island stories didn't have much of an emotional core to them, but there were a lot of significant plot developments that set the stage for what should be an action-packed two-part season finale. The drama was consistently strong throughout the episode with plenty of twists and turns that keeps us on our feet. Twists like the bomb on the freighter, Richard capturing Kate and Sayid, and Jack and Ben turning himself in are brilliant moments that maintain my interest in the story. The one biggest issue with this finale is that the results are pre-determined (see: The Bad), but the episode does well to keep me engaged and in suspense in spite of this by making the path to the Oceanic Six getting off the island and wildly unpredictable as possible. Even though I know what is going to happen, this episode positions all of the characters far apart, making me wonder how exactly these characters will link up and leave and what will become of everyone else. It takes some very impressive writing to make me feel so much suspense. There are two specific moments on-island that I really want to highlight. The first is the reveal of the bomb on the freighter. This moment works so well and has a huge impact because the entire episode establishes over and over that the freighter is the safest place to be and that everyone needs to get off the island as soon as possible. This all builds to the end of the episode where the bomb reveal throws that notion out the window. Suddenly nowhere is safe. The reveal lands brilliantly and is a perfect execution of a plot twist that exists solely to increase drama and stakes. The second moment I want to highlight is the ending montage that catches us up with every character's location going into the next episode. This montage is superbly executed and gives me legitimate chills to watch it. I can't think of a better final scene to build excitement going into the last episode of the season. The flashforwards were excellent too. It's with these scenes that the episode manages to be more than just set-up. Every scene set in the future is excellent, and I like that this episode tackled what will likely end up being the first scenes that take place chronologically after the season finale. It gives a nice sense of beginning and end to this finale. Anyways, just about every scene that takes place off the island is great. Sayid's reunion with Nadia is a great moment that's coloured in tragedy because we know of Nadia's eventual fate. Sun buying out Mr. Paik's company was an extremely satisfying moment of revenge and it pushes Sun in an exciting new direction (see: The Unknown). Hurley, as usual, provides the comic relief and his surprise party is a lot of fun. It also neatly plays off of Hurley's trauma following his experiences with the numbers and on the island. I also found it hilarious that the party was island themed because Hurley's mom "just doesn't get it". The best of the flashforward scenes was absolutely Jack's. Seeing him say some words for his father was really powerful and it pays off of one of the show's longest-running personal storylines. The reveal that Claire was Jack's half-sister was really well done and Matthew Fox plays off of the scene personally. The scene is powerful, and Jack's guilt for leaving behind Claire and lying about it gives an additional reason for why he falls off the deep end in "Through the Looking Glass". The Bad: This season finale is hurt by the fact that we know the fates of many of the characters. Ben giving himself up doesn't entirely work because we know he will be fine and will eventually end up off the island in Tunisia. We also know that the Oceanic Six will leave the island but everyone else will stay behind, and the drama is lessened because we know this information. Obviously there is still plenty of drama, but there is less drama than there could have been if we didn't know the fates of so many of the characters. It's an inherent flaw of the flashforward structure, and an issue that was always going to crop up once the island story started to catch up to the flashforward timeline. The Unknown: What is at The Orchid? How is the island going to be moved here? How does Widmore know about The Orchid? Why doesn't Juliet know about it? Was it kept secret? What was the message that Ben communicated with the mirrors? I'm guessing that it was to Richard. What did he say? If Gault didn't know about the secondary protocol then why does Daniel know about it? Charlotte doesn't seem to know about it either. Could Daniel be more loyal to Widmore than he lets on? He seems to be more informed than everyone else. Who is the second person that Sun blames for Jin's death? I suspect we may find out in the next episode. Why did the numbers appear in the car? Is Hurley's curse back? Is it the island sending a message? Or is it just a coincidence? What does Richard plan to do with Sayid and Kate? What is Ben's plan? What does he hope to accomplish by turning himself in? Will the bomb be defused? Will it go off? How will people react to the freighter having a bomb on it? Will they return to the island? Who put the bomb on the freighter? Was it Keamy? Does it have something to do with the device he had on his arm? Best Moment: Jack learning about Claire. Character of the Episode: Jack. Conclusion: This was all set-up, but the episode was really exciting and it flew by while I was watching. This definitely did its job and I'm really looking forward to watching the two-part final episode of the season. Score: 69 Summary: Joey does an interview for Soap Opera Digest and does his best not to blow it.
The Good: This is an excellent concept for an episode. The interview scenes are fun, and the episode has a predictably amusing ending as Joey messes up the very last question. The writers throw in several clever jokes throughout the interview. The Bad: Unfortunately, the interview is only about 10% of the episode and the other 90% is a clip show. Joey is funny so most of the jokes are good, but it's so unnecessary and disappointing to get a clip show here, especially with how good of a concept this episode had. I was expecting an excellent episode after the first scene and was bitterly underwhelmed once the clip show started. Best Moment: Joey claiming that he's shy around women. Character of the Episode: Joey. Conclusion: This could have been terrific, but instead we got a lazy clip show episode that served no real purpose. What a disappointment. Score: 35 |
Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
March 2024
Categories
All
|