Summary: Flashsideways reveal that Sawyer has become a cop. His partner, Miles, sets him up on a date with Charlotte, but when she finds his folder for hunting down Mr. Sawyer, he forces her out. Miles discovers Sawyer has been lying and Sawyer comes clean with him. Kate suddenly smashes into Sawyer's car and he chases her down. On the island, MIB sends Sawyer to Hydra Island for recon, revealing that he wants to use the plane to escape. Meanwhile, Claire attempts to kill Claire, shaking her up. MIB talks to her and reveals a bit about his own past. Claire eventually apologizes to Kate. On Hydra island, Sawyer finds the Ajira survivors all dead and meets Zoe. He unearths that Zoe is working for Widmore and he meets with Widmore. Sawyer makes a deal to bring MIB unsuspecting to Widmore. Upon returning, Sawyer tells MIB about Widmore and helps MIB prepare a plan. After, Sawyer reveals to Kate that he's playign both sides and plans to escape with Kate on Widmore's sub.
The Good: This episode is based on a fun idea. Sawyer's recon mission i enjoyable to watch, and it's nice to see Sawyer using his conman skills to play a Sayid role, extracting information from Zoe, attempting to unearth who she is and why she is there. The flashsideways are similarly fun as we see Sawyer in a surprising role as a cop. It's a nice alternate reality for Sawyer, and I liked seeing this version of Sawyer also struggle to deal with the baggage of the letter. Again there were lots of nice throwbacks in this episode. The return of the pigeon drop was welcome, and it nicely set up the twist that Sawyer is a cop. It was nice to see brief appearances of Liam and Charlotte in the flashsideways as well. However, the best reference was easily Sawyer's return to the cages and him picking up Kate's dress. It makes perfect sense for him to pause for a moment and feel nostalgic for such an emotionally intense period of his life. The moment has a lot of emotional resonance. The Claire storyline is pretty solid and it features some of Evangeline Lilly's best acting on the series as she tries to process that Claire is not what she expected and just tried to murder her for no reason. Seeing Kate so shellshocked is disheartening, and her final hug with Claire was really good. You can tell that Kate wants to comfort her but is unsure if it's another trap and if Claire still wants to kill her. There's also a chilling moment as we see Sayid leave Kate to her fate at Claire's hands. It's evident that the infection inside of him is spreading and it's changing who he is. The Bad: Looking back to "What Kate Did", I was skeptical of the flashsideways initially. But those feelings were put on the backburner with the last four episodes being so creative with their storytelling. They made the most of the limited flashsideways story, doing something really powerful and interesting in each episode. But this episode doesn't have that same emotion, and my skepticism over the flashsideways has returned to the forefront. Even though they have provided good episodic stories, I don't think that the flashsideways are interesting as a cohesive story yet, and I don't know that they ever will be. The reason that the weaknesses of the flashsideways are exposed in this episode are because of the weakness of Sawyer's arc. Unlike Jack, Locke, Sayid and Ben, Sawyer is a character who already found fulfillment in his new life with Juliet. He already got over his past and found a happy existence for himself. Thus, seeing Sawyer try to find fulfillment in the flashsideways feels like a meaningless story; a weaker version of what we have already seen on the island. And with there not being anything else going on in the flashsideways, the story falls flat. No amount of buddy cop storylines, character cameos, and references can salvage a weak story. This episode suffers from being a lot of set-up. Considering how compelling Sawyer was early in the episode, I was looking forward to his episode. However, his storyline in this episode was far weaker than what we saw from him earlier in the season. It's disappointing to see what is likely Sawyer's final centric episode become a mostly uninspired and simplistic set-up episode. The others remain as frustrating as ever in this episode. Even with Sayid being clear that the people who stayed behind would die, Cindy still asks what happened to these people. Additionally, I was confused that they did not know that MIB is the smoke monster. Did Dogen not share any information with his own people? Why would he ever expect them to remain loyal if they don't know that MIB is the enemy? It's all as frustrating as ever. The cop reveal is fun, but it is shocking to me that the cops would be listening in on Sawyer having sex with this lady. There's no way that cops would ever operate like this. The Unknown: Who was MIB's mother? Why was she crazy? How did this impact MIB? Did she also live on the island? What is Widmore hiding in the sub? Who killed the Ajira people? Was it Widmore? MIB? Someone else? I suspect that it was Widmore. How is Widmore aware of MIB? Ben didn't know about him, so how does Widmore? How did he get back to the island, and how did he know to prepare to fight MIB? What are his motives? Is he choosing a side or is he a sort of wild card? Will Sawyer's intentions be discovered by MIB or Widmore? What will happen? Will he be able to escape on the sub? What will become of Sawyer arresting Kate in the flashsideways? Best Moment: Not much stands out. I'll go with the fascination of MIB's story about his mother. Character of the Episode: Sawyer. Conclusion: This was entertaining and solid television, but it was severely lacking in emotion and memorable moments. One of the flattest episodes of "Lost" you can find, and a very disappointing Sawyer-centric story. Score: 59
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Summary: In flashsideways, Ben is frustrated when he is pulled from his history club meetings to cover detention by Principal Reynolds. Ben decides to make a play for his position when he learns from Alex, his student, that Reynolds has been engaging in sexual activity with the school nurse. He confronts Reynolds with a threat, but Reynolds threatens to write a bad recommendation for Alex if he lets Ben take his position. Ben gives up his plan for the sake of Alex's future. On the island, Ilana learns from Miles that Ben killed Jacob and gets him to dig his own grave. While he digs, Ben is met by MIB who offers to let Ben join him. Ben is freed by MIB and goes, but Ilana gives chase. Ben explains why he killed Jacob to Ilana in a passionate speech, and Ilana decides to accept him. Ben chooses to go back with Ilana. Hurley and Jack encounter Richard who leads them to the Black Rock, telling them that everyone at the temple died. Richard has Jack light a dynamite fuse for him because he wants to die but can't kill himself because of Jacob. Jack agrees but sits with Richard, believing that he has a destiny and that the dynamite won't blow up if Jacob has plans for him. The fuse abruptly stops and the dynamite doesn't blow up, confirming Jack's theory.
The Good: Ben's story is fantastic in this episode. The flashsideways are back to being about fulfillment as they offer Ben another chance, giving him the choice between his own power and Alex's life. And this time he makes the right decision, and doesn't give up Alex's future for his own personal gain. The story left me feeling really happy for Ben, seeing that he doesn't have to be a manipulative liar and is capable of being better. It's always impressive how "Lost" makes me sympathize with Ben despite all of his despicable actions. It's strange that this episode works so well, because the flashsideways story sounds like an awful idea on paper. A story that takes place in a high school? Pass. But it works absurdly well. Surprisingly, Ben is in his element as a teacher, and it is wonderful to see the relationship he has with Alex, having not given in to his worst character traits in this alternate universe. The high school symbolizes a perfect world for Ben, one where he can live a simple and happy life despite having no power at all. Compare this to the island, a place where he has power, but he is now miserable and unhappy. You can't help but wonder how much better of a person Ben would be if he had never taken up any power. This implication is what brings suspense into the high school storyline. Your stomach turns a little bit when Ben tries to take Principal Reynolds' position because you get the sense that it will ruin everything that Ben has. And there is tension that Ben will choose wrong again, because Sayid was unable to find fulfillment in the previous episode. The writing and acting in this storyline helps it maintain drama despite being based on such a mundane premise. It shouldn't work, but it ends up being enthralling television. The island story is very effective. The story of Ben literally digging his own grave, being faced with the consequences of his decisions is very powerful stuff. It isolates Ben and makes him feel despair and powerlessness in a way that Ben rarely feels. This effectively makes us sympathize with Ben throughout the episode and builds nicely to the episode's climax as Ben opts to not kill Ilana, instead giving her a really passionate speech (see: Best Moment) because deep down he doesn't want to leave to go with MIB. It shows very real character growth that Ben chooses not to go with MIB's promise of power, instead opting to do the right thing because he understands that power is not the most important thing to him. Again, this episode has a few nice callbacks and moments. Ben's speech about Napoleon and power at the start of the episode was a lovely bit of tongue-in-cheek storytelling. I was also pleased to see Miles digging up the diamonds Nikki and Paolo were buried with, as well as Ben going through Sawyer's stash. I really enjoyed the ending of the episode as we got an old school montage as Jack and Hurley arrive and reunite with Sun. Jack and Hurley's story is a perfect B-plot. The encounter with Richard is very dramatic. Richard has been fascinating to watch in his few scenes this season, and Nestor Carbonell has done an outstanding job of showing us the collapse of this character's world. When he says he wants to die, you buy into his emotional state. But what's most fascinating is the effect that Richard has on Jack. After his experience in "Lighthouse", Jack has now become a man of faith. So when faced with somebody who has lost faith, naturally Jack will do his best to "fix" him and restore his faith. Jack's choice to light the fuse, willing to risk everything because he believes that he has a greater destiny, is a fantastic character moment, showcasing the change in Jack. The ending with the fuse going out was a superb moment, concluding a tremendous B-story. The Bad: It's a small issue, but it is notable that this episode doesn't progress the plot very much at all. Ben's story is grounded in character and emotion, but it does very little for the show in the grander scheme of things, which is especially underwhelming when you remember that there are only 10 episodes left with plenty of plot threads needing to be resolved. Furthermore, it's disappointing to see Ben get a story in the flashsideways instead of a traditional flashback, especially since he's so connected with the others and the history of the island. You just can't help but feel disappointed that we didn't get a chance to get more answers with another look into Ben's past. That being said, I will always prefer a beautiful and emotional story like we got in this episode to an episode all about plot and giving out answers. Hence why it's only a small issue for me. Did Principal Reynolds have to be so comically awful? Give the guy one admirable character trait at least. The Unknown: What changed in the flashsideways world to get Ben and Roger off of the island? Could their presence be another hint that the flashsideways is an epilogue, not an alternate reality? If the bomb exploded, surely Ben and Roger would have been killed. What is Jacob's plan for Richard and Jack? What kind of powers does MIB have? I was very surprised to see him free Ben using some sort of godly ability. What else can he do? How did Widmore find the island? What role will he play in this Jacob vs MIB conflict? Will he pick a side, or will he be a sort of wild card? What are his plans for everyone on the island? He seems to have a destination in mind to land. Where? Also, is Widmore the person that Jacob said was coming back in "Lighthouse"? Best Moment: Ben's speech to Ilana was phenomenal. Michael Emerson was remarkable in this scene and his word really pull at your heartstrings and make you feel for this awful, awful person. Every beat of his speech was executed perfectly, and Ben's regret and loneliness are really easy to relate to. Ending the scene with Ben choosing to come back with Ilana because he just wants to belong somewhere is both hopeful and sad all at once. Simply beautiful storytelling. Character of the Episode: Ben. Conclusion: Emotionally, this episode did everything perfectly. I don't think that this episode had a big role in the overarching story of season 6 (except the ending), but it was focused, powerful, and memorable. If there's one thing you can count on from "Lost", it's that the show will always provide superb character stories like this one that are capable of wowing you emotionally. Even in episodes that don't have much plot movement, it's important to remember that very few shows are capable of nailing down the emotional aspects of storytelling quite like "Lost". This was an excellent episode. Score: 74 Summary: Jake gets in trouble after working on a case he shouldn't have been working on and arresting an innocent man. Rosa and Amy try to get O'Sullivan drunk to see if he set up Jake. Terry and Charles fight over who gets to sell Scully candy.
The Good: O'Sullivan is like a funnier version of John Kelly. His open corruption leads to some really funny lines and his cartoonish evilness is self-aware enough to be really funny. He is more of a caricature than a character, but he makes the show funnier. It's amusing that he was behind the whole candy conflict between Charles and Terry. And it's more amusing that him setting up Jake would be out-of-character because he doesn't hide when he's blackmailing. There were some funny moments in the ridiculous storylines of this episode. The Bad: It feels like "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" should have ended last season. The writers have lost sight of what made the show funny and what made these characters likeable. Now we just see silly, nonsensical stuff in almost every episode and this is probably the worst example. Holt behaves like a clown in every episode, and he is more of a joke dispenser than an actual character. He's changed, but not in a way that feels organic. Jake getting in trouble here doesn't work at all because this is the same behaviour that Jake did in previous episodes, but it wasn't addressed as anything too serious back then. We have been conditioned to laugh at Jake's antics because this is a lighthearted, unrealistic cop show. To suddenly change that by using Jake being Jake for a realistic political message about cops is jarring. Amy and Rosa getting drunk had funny moments, but it feels like we have seen inebriated characters far too often this season. The show is running out of ideas for how to be funny. Terry and Charles' conflict is really bad and overly childish. There are good lines but both characters come off poorly. Best Moment: O'Sullivan's constant attempts to blackmail Character of the Episode: O'Sullivan. Conclusion: This episode had some laughs, but it also had heaps of absurdity. This last season has not been going well so far. Score: 45 Summary: Jake decides to drive Doug to prison after her gets arrested but things get tense when Doug reveals that he plans to escape.
The Good: This was a proper farewell to Doug, and every interaction and callback landed. Jake and Doug have such a fun relationship, and it was enjoyable to see them ham it up for one final time. I applaud the decision to center the entire episode on these two without any unnecessary B-plots. It helped make this episode stand out. True to Pontiac Bandit episodes of the past, there were plenty of fun twists and turns mixed in with the fun of the Jake/Doug relationship, and it led naturally to a great ending as Doug and Jake's friendship shines through, and Doug somehow manages to make one final escape - this time with Jake's help. The jokes were very good in this episode, some of the funniest of the whole season. I really liked the brief cameos from Holt, Rosa and Charles, as all three added some good laughs. The Bad: This episode celebrated past Pontiac Bandit episodes, but it didn't add any new ideas. Emotionally and comedically it worked extremely well, but it can only get so far while looking into the past. Furthermore, I predicted every single twist and turn beforehand because I've seen 7 Pontiac Bandit episodes now and I can see where things are headed. It takes away a little from the episode when I can predict everything. Trudy's appearance didn't add much and was more annoying than anything else. Best Moment: There are plenty of lovely jokes. I'll go with Jake consistently ending up calling Trudy instead of who he wants to call. Character of the Episode: Doug. Conclusion: I had a lot of fun watching this episode. It was predictable, but it gave us a lovely conclusion to Doug’s story. Easily the best episode of season 8 so far. Score: 69 Summary: Amy and Jake struggle to balance parenting with their career. Charles tracks down a serial killer alongside Jake (when he has time). Holt moves in with Rosa temporarily and she tries to help him get over Kevin.
The Good: This is fine comedy overall. Jake and Amy's story is basic, but it works well enough and provides some good laughs. And it also leads up to a nice moment at the end of the episode as Jake sees Mac pull himself up. Holt and Rosa's story is very goofy but it has some fun lines here and there. The Bad: I don't have much to say about this one because it is very by-the-numbers. It's a basic sitcom plot with characters doing silly things in the A and B story. There are some laughs but nothing special throughout the episode. No character or story manages to stand out. Best Moment: Terry dissing Jake in the cold open and Jake's reaction was fantastic. Character of the Episode: Jake. Conclusion: This episode had some good moments but it felt too familiar and uninspired. Season 8 has been missing that spark of creativity that was there in previous seasons. Score: 57 Summary: Captain Holt fights against O'Sullivan when he fakes an incident of unjust hate against cops. Jake and Charles investigate but are derailed when Charles is threatened with cancer. Ros is brought in to find evidence but only agrees to do it at the promise of seeing Holt's tattoo. Amy and Terry work on reducing crime in the streets, but Terry gets sick and struggles.
The Good: The political aspects of the show were handled better here. A message wasn't shoved down our throats, and this time it didn't feel like the show was trying to be something else. The politics were woven naturally into the story. Some of the characters had nice moments to shine. It was fun hearing Charles' horrible innuendos again, and I enjoyed Holt's pride as much as ever. The Hitchcocks and Scullys from the other precincts was another fun idea. The Bad: Unfortunately I feel like the characters aren't being written as well anymore and Holt is the biggest example. Holt is far too silly and hardly feels like himself this season. Outside of the scenes with O'Sullivan, that was very much the case here. Jake and Charles' story is really bad. Its one thing to have a more serious storyline in an episode. But to have Charles be threatened with cancer and then attempt to make us laugh at that fact is really disgusting. Any gags surrounding Charles' cancer in this episode didn't work, and everybody comes off as horrible friends to him with how little they tried to make him feel better when he was faced with the vey real possibility of lethal cancer. Terry being sick wasn't a good gag and it got old quick. None of his jokes really worked. Best Moment: Holt clarifying that he is only inspired by pieces of Charles' speech rather than the whole thing. Character of the Episode: Holt. Conclusion: Poor writing and strange tonal decisions hurt this episode, and this was another episode that gives me the feeling that "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" is struggling for quality in its final season. This wasn't worth my time. Score: 44 Summary: In flashsideways, Sayid returns home in LA to his brother Omer, who has married Nadia. Omer is in trouble after borrowing a loan and he wants Sayid to help deal with it. Sayid initially refuses because Nadia doesn't want him to be a bad person, but after Omer is hospitalized and Sayid is picked up to meet Keamy, Sayid kills all of them. On the island, Sayid confronts Dogen and Dogen fights Sayid, trying to kill him. Dogen wins but his conscience intervenes. Dogen wants Sayid to leave. Claire arrives at the temple and demands that Dogen meet with MIB. Dogen refuses and Claire is captured. Sayid is sent by Dogen to kill MIB. Kate returns to the temple and tells Claire that she took Aaron. Sayid meets MIB and stabs him but it doesn't kill him. MIB convinces Sayid to deliver another message: for everyone to leave the temple by sundown or they die. Some people leave and a panic starts. Sayid finds Dogen at the pool and Dogen tells him his backstory. Sayid kills Dogen, which allows MIB to enter the temple and start slaughtering everyone. Ilana's group arrives and they take Miles to safety. Sayid, Claire, and Kate end up going with MIB.
The Good: This was a dark and depressing episode in all the right ways. The last two episodes have shown our main characters (Locke/Jack) get happy endings in the flash-sideways universe. In a lot of ways, it feels like this season has been celebrating the characters by giving them happy endings in the flash-sideways, while challenging them in meaningful ways on the island. With this in mind, it would be so easy for "Lost" to fall into a pattern and become predictable in these final episodes. So naturally, this episode completely bucked that trend and gave us a haunting and depressing character piece on Sayid that gave him anything but a happy ending. Leave it to "Lost" to always surprise you in meaningful ways while telling a really compelling story. As mentioned above, Sayid's story is really dark, and it works superbly well. Sayid has always been one of the most inherently tragic and intense characters on the show, so it makes perfect sense to have his episode feature a turn towards darker storytelling. Sayid's flashsideways story may not be as entertaining to watch as the others, but it is based around a spectacular idea. Unfortunately for Sayid, even in this idealized flashsideways world, he still doesn't get what he wants. He isn't with Nadia because he is still wracked with guilt over the horrible things he has done, and no matter how hard he tries, even in this world Sayid ends up becoming a coldhearted killer in order to pave his own future. For Sayid there is no escaping his nature, and that is an incredibly sad gutpunch to realize, made worse by the realization that other characters (Jack/Locke) were able to find peace, but Sayid still is unable to (see: The Unknown for speculation as to why). This inherent evilness to Sayid is contrasted perfectly on the island, where Sayid appears to have literally become evil now that he has been infected. The episode plays up the mystery of if this is actually Sayid impressively well. From the subtlety of this strange British accent that Sayid has developed to the extremely out-of-character claim from Sayid that he is a good person, there are always reasons for you to doubt that Sayid is even himself anymore. And that mystery builds and builds to the end of the episode where we see Sayid at his most ruthless, murdering Dogen and his translator in cold blood, damning everyone in the temple to death. It's a shockingly ruthless move, especially since Dogen had just opened up to Sayid about himself in an attempt to make peace with him. And Sayid responds to Dogen's one moment of tenderness by killing him, a decision that the Sayid from previous seasons likely would not have made. And the cherry on top is the scene where Ben confronts Sayid in the pool. Ben tries to get Sayid to come with him and that there is still time, but in one of the episode's best and most chilling moments, Sayid replies with a cold smile "not for me". Simply brilliant storytelling. The island story had some tremendous and exciting moments throughout even without Sayid's storyline. The fight between Sayid and Dogen was intense and excellent, and it has to be one of the best choreographed fight scenes in the show so far. It was intense and thrilling. In contrast to epic action, we also got an amazing conversation between Sayid and MIB that had me at the edge of my seat. It was amazing to watch MIB manipulate Sayid to get control over him, while also doing what Dogen and the others failed to do: showing Sayid that he understands him and offering Sayid something to gain. Their entire scene is tremendous, and I love that Sayid initially listened to Dogen by stabbing MIB (almost) immediately. Poor Sayid really does want to prove that he isn't as awful of a person as he thinks he is. But it just isn't meant to be. Lastly, I thought the climax of the episode was dramatic and excellent. Dogen's backstory was sad and engaging, and it was the calm before the storm as MIB's attack on the temple provided the episode with an exciting game-changing climax that completely changes the story for season 6. I also really enjoyed the eerie "catch a falling star" sequence to end the episode as MIB assembles his new army, planning to get off the island. This episode was so different that it was even short on references to season 1. The first five episodes had the same centric episodes as season 1 (two-part premier, Kate, Locke, Sawyer), but this episode bucked that trend with Sayid. However, we still got a nice callback to "Solitary" when we see the picture of Nadia that Sayid had early in season 1. And while it's not a season 1 reference, I was thrilled by the cameo appearance of Keamy, who is just as much fun to watch as a mob boss making scrambled eggs as he is being a ruthless mercenary. The Bad: The temple storyline ended up being a questionable waste of time. The temple is supposed to be a big part of the show's mythology and could have provided a crucial look into the lives of the others and answered plenty of questions. But all it amounted to in the end was a bunch of frustratingly vague characters who never answered questions properly and caused endless frustrations before the temple storyline got unceremoniously killed off. The others have to be the biggest disappointment of "Lost' so far, so I was really hoping that the temple would correct that and fill in some gaps about why they are here, how their Jacob religion works, how they decide their leader and what their goals are. Instead we get nothing at all, and that is a massive waste of potential. Furthermore, the others are incredibly confusing in this episode. In "LA X Part 2" we saw that Dogen learned of Jacob's death and sent orders to release a flare to summon everyone to the temple. And it's clear from Richard's face that he understood that the message of the flare is that Jacob is dead. Yet this episode still has a scene where Sayid reveals that Jacob is dead and that's somehow a big shock for everyone. They have known this for several episodes now! Why is this a surprise? And it is alarming how quickly they abandon Jacob and turn to MIB's side. It's incredibly unclear why these people stay here and believe in Jacob if news of his death is enough to instantly send them running to MIB's side. This makes absolutely no sense, and the thoughtlessness of this storyline is really anger-inducing, because we should have spent more time exploring the culture of the others in this season and in season 3 so that we might be able to understand their actions better. I really just wish that the others had been developed better, because as things stand right now, they are a ridiculous and contradictory faction of people. One incredibly stupid twist was the reveal that Dogen was the only one keeping MIB out of the temple. Now I can buy into the idea that Jacob gave Dogen this power, that is not the problem. What is the problem is that Dogen, the only thing protecting the temple, is inexplicably left alone with Sayid who the others believe is corrupted! Why doesn't Dogen have any protection? It's simply absurd. Furthermore, we saw in a previous episode that some of the others were going around making ash circles around the temple, seemingly to keep MIB out. Did those just disappear? Apparently they didn't even matter because MIB came in anyways. That's really poor writing to forget about this detail. A final frustration comes from how inept Jacob and the others are at communicating. MIB had one single scene with Sayid, and he told him everything he needed to know. And in this one scene, MIB told Sayid more than the others told him in the last 4 episodes. Seriously, why did the others need to be so vague? Had they at least communicated, I'm certain that Sayid would not have sided with MIB so easily. It's no wonder that Sayid chose MIB, because the others gave Sayid no reason to stay with them or trust them. Additionally, I have to question Jacob's decision-making. The others are supposed to be his people and he is their god. So why did he just condemn them all to death, knowing that MIB was going to wipe them out or make them join him? Jacob comes off as an awful leader if he just allows this to happen, and it makes me question if the others even mattered at all. The Unknown: Why is Sayid unable to have the happy ending that other characters got? Is this because he is still somehow infected in this alternate universe and is therefore incapable of finding true happiness and closure? This could give credence to the idea that this alternate universe is somehow happening after the events of season 6 and is a sort of epilogue for the characters. Sayid hesitated and let MIB say hello before he stabbed him. The episode doesn't play with this idea much, but would Sayid have actually killed him if he attacked before MIB even said a word? It's an interesting idea to think about. How does MIB plan to give Nadia back to Sayid? Could this possibly be tied into the alternate universe, because Sayid is with Nadia in that world. Does this mean that MIB is responsible for this alternate reality? What is next for Sayid? He definitely does seem to be colder than before, so I think that the infection is a real thing. Is there any way for him to break free from it, or disinfect himself? Or will he remain "evil" until the end of the show? What is Jin doing in the freezer? Why was he captured? Is there any significance to Sayid encountering him? Best Moment: Sayid and MIB's conversation was gripping and thrilling from start to finish. MIB remains fascinating to watch, and watching Sayid grapple with morality and grief is always compelling television. Character of the Episode: Sayid. Conclusion: This ended up being a real mixed bag. On one hand, there were several terrific scenes here and Sayid's story was profoundly sad and memorable. But the plot-related events of the episode were hugely disappointing, with the resolution of the temple storyline and the others being wholly unsatisfying. This is probably one of the toughest episodes of the show for me to score because some parts of this episode were the best of the season so far, while others were the worst. I want this to score much higher, but I can't justify calling this any more than a really good episode as a whole. Score: 67 Summary: Flashsideways reveal that Jack has a kid, David, with his estranged wife. Jack's relationship with David isn't very good, but after talking with his mom, Jack reaches out to David and discovers that he has secretly been playing piano. They share a sweet moment together. On the island, Hurley is contacted by Jacob to take Jack on a mission to a lighthouse where he has to help somebody get to the island. Hurley and Jack go together and run into Kate along the way. Once at the lighthouse, Jack sees that Jacob has been watching him since his childhood. Frustrated, Jack destroys the mirrors in the lighthouse. Jacob reveals to Hurley that this is what he intended and that they need to stay away from the temple. Meanwhile, Claire has captured Jin and Justin and has become crazy like Rousseau. She demands Justin tell her where the others are keeping Aaron, and when he doesn't, Claire kills him. Jin tries to tell Claire that Kate took him, but when Claire reveals she would kill Kate, Jin says he was lying and insists that Aaron is in the temple.
The Good: This episode makes it pretty clear what this season is trying to accomplish with the flashsideways. In this alternate reality, our main characters are being given closure, overcoming flaws and insecurities that they were unable to overcome in the other universe. This does give me some ideas on what the flashsideways really are (see: The Unknown), but more importantly, it allows me to appreciate the stories being told. Despite this version of Jack not being the Jack that we know, it is still powerful to see some version of Jack overcoming his parental insecurities and connecting with his son, successfully overcoming a lot of the baggage that his relationship with Christian left him with. The scenes between Jack and David were surprisingly engrossing, and their sweet moment together near the end of the episode was emotional and beautiful. The main island story is pretty well done. Jack and Hurley's trip is a lot of fun, and it does echo more traditional "Lost" episodes with characters going on an unknown mission of self-discovery following some vague purpose that may or may not even exist. Season 6 as a whole does seem to be echoing this idea a lot. "The Substitute" was also structured similarly with Sawyer going on a journey with MIB with the promise of answers at the end, compared to Jack going with Hurley, serving as a stand-in for Jacob, with the same promise of answers at the end. I really like this parallel, as it not only serves as a neat celebration for the storytelling style of "Lost", but it also has a lot of subtle details that enrich the storytelling (contrasting characters like Jacob/MIB and Jack/Sawyer). This episode in particular feels like a direct follow-up to "White Rabbit" and it shares a lot of similarities. For one, Jack's story arc is a very similar adventure of self-discovery. In season 1, it was a story about Jack resolving his inner turmoil so that he can find himself and become a real leader. Here, it's a story about Jack pushing away the doubts that have crept into his mind since his failures at the end of season 5, fully accepting that he is on this island for a reason. It's a similar story of leaving the past behind and accepting a new role, and there's even a similar character moment of Jack frustratedly destroying something (coffin/mirrors) at the climax of the episode. Another neat parallel comes from the return to the caves, and the sighting of the coffin, two key images from "White Rabbit". Season 6 has been relying heavily on parallels and callbacks to the past, but not in a bad way. Instead of throwing around references just for the sake of throwing them around, these parallels are being used to enhance the story, and I really like that. Claire's story is pretty good as well. Emilie De Ravin does a surprisingly good job being unhinged, and her brutal murder of Justin is a very memorable moment. It's very easy to buy into Jin's growing fear of Claire that results with him lying to her about Aaron. This story also has a really good ending as MIB arrives, clearly having manipulated Claire into serving him in the same way he manipulated Ben last season, and Sawyer in the previous episode. Dogen's appearance in the flashsideways was a fun appearance. The Bad: While I do like the parallels in this episode, sometimes they are hammered in far too hard and the moments don't feel earned. The biggest example of this is Jack destroying the mirrors in the lighthouse. The destruction of the coffin in "White Rabbit" is a really powerful moment that stems from Jack's frustrations at once again being robbed of the closure he needed. This moment with the mirrors doesn't have that same weight to it, and I didn't feel as connected with Jack's emotional state as I should have been. I get his frustrations throughout the episode, but I don't entirely understand why Jack would be so furious at finally confirming that he is here for a reason. Again, the flashsideways haven't hooked me as a standalone story. I appreciate them for the character work they are doing but I'm still not sure about how I feel about seeing so much of this world. I would rather spend my remaining time on the island or exploring the versions of the characters I have come to know over the last 5 seasons. There's no way that this lighthouse wasn't found earlier, especially since it is right on the coast, seemingly close to the caves. The excuse that "we just weren't looking for it" is very weak and doesn't satisfactorily fill in this blatant plot hole. Jacob's motivation for hiding all of these details to give Jack this experience feels a little bit cheap and too convoluted. Wouldn't it just be easier for Jacob to tell Jack? "Lost" has never been good with characters being honest with each other, but this is pretty frustrating because you get the sense that Jacob is only being this vague for the sake of the plot. The Unknown: Why didn't Jack remember his appendix being taken out? Is this a hint that the worlds are somehow connected? We know that Jack lost his appendix on the island in season 4. This, combined with how the characters are overcoming their flaws, suggests that the flashsideways could be some sort of perfect world designed for the Flight 815 survivors, possibly by Jacob or MIB. Who is Jack's ex-wife in the flashsideways? Is it Sarah? Juliet? Somebody else? Is somebody actually coming to the island? Or was that made up by Jacob as a cover for Jack's personal journey? If there really is someone, who is it? What is going to happen to the temple? Is the person coming to the temple MIB? Why did Jacob get Hurley and Jack away from there but leave Sayid behind? Sayid has had a noticeable British accent since he came back to life. At first I thought it was unintentional, or maybe it had to do with Sayid being exhausted after dying. But his accent is still there. Is there a reason for this? Is this a hint about how Sayid has been "infected"? Best Moment: Jack and David's moment together. Character of the Episode: Jack. Conclusion: This was another really strong episode. It's not quite as effective as the previous one and there are some issues, but I still enjoyed a lot of the storytelling here. Score: 69 Summary: Holt reveals he and Kevin are separating. Jake and the Nine-Nine join Holt at his lake house. Jake invites Kevin secretly in hopes of reconnecting him and Holt.
The Good: This feels more like classic "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" with the story of the squad taking a trip and getting up to some ridiculous tactics. Holt is a lot of fun as usual, and I enjoyed his relationship with Kevin a lot. The main story was solid enough and had a nice resolution. Terry was really funny here with how he played both sides, and the continuity jokes regarding Terry's loves and hates were really funny. I enjoyed high Rosa and Stephanie Beatriz did a terrific job extracting comedy out of her scenes. The Bad: This was a classic episode, but that also means that it feels like a retread. Once again we have Jake projecting his divorced parents onto something else, which feels like a tired story. The lake house trip is also something we have seen before so it doesn't feel special. The examination of Holt and Kevin's relationship is nothing special, and is handled with a heavy-handedness that is very typical of "Brooklyn Nine-Nine". The show is always better when it avoids serious storylines like this one. Amy and Charles' story has its moments but overall it doesn't work too well because both characters feel very two-dimensional and boring throughout. Also, Jake is acting like he isn't even a father in these first two episodes and has completely neglected his baby. That's pretty weak writing. Best Moment: Terry's out-of-nowhere hatred for ledges was a funny joke. Character of the Episode: Terry. Conclusion: This feels more like "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" than the last episode. Nothing here was anything special, but it was a fine episode of comedy. Score: 62 Summary: After Rosa leaves the force, Jake tries to prove to her that it's not all bad. Amy tries to strengthen her relationship with Holt after maternity leave. Terry gets annoyed at Charles' attempts to better himself.
The Good: Thankfully the cast is as good as ever and the jokes here are mostly good. Amy and Holt going through "Scully's" book of relationships is a blast of a story with a lot of good laughs. Jake makes some fun jokes throughout the episode as well. As ever, the cold open is really good as the show gets its COVID jokes out of the way while also including an excellent laugh with Jake somehow causing absolute chaos with an unintentionally epic handshake. The Bad: This episode is far too politically charged and it doesn't work. I understand that following the George Floyd incident, it feels strange to have a comedy cop show airing. However, I don't think that addressing the problem this openly in a single episode is a solution. It doesn't make up for 7 seasons of ignorance towards the corruption in the NYPD, and having such a serious turn for seemingly no reason (from a story perspective) in this final season doesn't work. With just 10 episodes left, I want to enjoy the time I have left with these characters. Spending an entire episode on politics is not what I need from this show, what I need is a good laugh. It doesn't help that "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" has always been extremely heavy-handed with its storytelling, preventing the show from exploring the ideas of police corruption in any meaningful ways. Lastly, I thought Charles' story was poor. There weren't any good laughs here, and Charles was more annoying than funny. Best Moment: The cold open. Character of the Episode: Amy. Conclusion: This episode didn't do much outwardly wrong, but the decision to focus on politics didn't work. I'm disappointed that "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" felt obligated to address the political situation in the world currently because it made for a weak return for season 8. Hopefully the rest of the season won't be as imbued with politics as this episode was. Score: 54 Summary: In flash-sideways, Locke is living happily with Helen. He gets fired after skipping his work meetings on his trip to Australia and ends up getting a new job opportunity thanks to Hurley. Locke takes a new job as a substitute teacher and debates calling Jack for the consult. On the island, MIB visits Sawyer and offers to take him somewhere where he can find out why he's on the island. Sawyer runs into a terrified Richard and doesn't trust MIB. He still agrees to go along but is wary. MIB takes Sawyer to a cave where several names have been written on the wall and scratched out. The names correspond to the people Jacob met in "The Incident". Sawyer is perturbed by this and agrees to help MIB leave the island. Meanwhile, Ilana's group head to the temple and they bury Locke at the beach camp on the way.
The Good: An episode centered around MIB is always welcome, and I thought that we got a lot of good content here. MIB's story was so mysterious and full of tension and suspense, expertly brought on with a few key choices. The partnership with Sawyer was one of those excellent choices. Sawyer is completely disinterested in island mythology, which should feel frustrating because everyone watching wants to learn more. But it actually works brilliantly because Sawyer ends up purely acting out of self-preservation in his interactions with MIB, making his actions feel more realistic and immersive overall. He doesn't ask the nitty-gritty questions, but he asks reasonable questions when he's confronted by MIB. Sawyer, like us, is unsure of if he should trust MIB, and confronts him numerous times about this. Their dynamic is really engaging to watch and their conversations are extremely well-written throughout the episode, culminating in an outstanding scene in the cave (see: Best Moment). MIB himself gets some really interesting moments. We see him get confronted by a mysterious kid (see: The Unknown) multiple times in the episode, seemingly stopping him from murdering both Richard and Sawyer. Not only does this hint at more answers about MIB and Jacob, but it also draws a curious parallel between MIB and Locke when MIB angrily shouts "don't tell me what I can't do!" in a terrific moment. Perhaps they are more similar than MIB lets on. I really liked the POV shots of MIB when he's in his smoke monster form. That was some really clever and inspired camera-work, which we don't usually see a whole lot from "Lost". Lastly, I really enjoyed MIB's "inside joke" as he threw the white rock symbolizing Jacob into the ocean. A pleasant surprise of this episode is that it gives a proper send-off to Locke. Locke finally gets buried and is eulogized by Ben in a great scene. Ben's words are heartfelt and filled with remorse, but also hilariously awkward as Ben gives a powerful eulogy to the man that he murdered. Frank's comment at the end about this being "the weirdest damn funeral I've ever been to" is really funny. But more than just this burial, the send-off for Locke comes in the flash-sideways where we see Locke living happily with Helen, seemingly at peace. We can see the difference immediately. Locke merely laughs after the humiliating scene where he falls into his lawn and the sprinklers go off, an incident that likely would have frustrated the Locke that we knew on the island. It's surprisingly fulfilling to see Locke live happily with the woman he loved, especially considering his devastatingly tragic fate. A story of Locke living with Helen while accepting the reality of his situation as a cripple by becoming a substitute teacher is heartwarming. In this world, Locke has found the inner peace that he never had in 5 seasons of "Lost", and I think that this is as good of a send-off for Locke as we are going to get. As is typical of season 6 so far, there were plenty of Easter Eggs here. Sawyer gets to talk about Of Mice and Men again, after he brought it up previously in "Every Man for Himself". This connection to season 3 also draws a parallel between Sawyer's journey with MIB in this episode with Sawyer's journey with Ben in "Every Man for Himself". There's another clever reference in the flash-sideways with Locke's alarm, which is the same sound that the alarm made in the hatch when there was less than 4 minutes left. Lastly, this one isn't technically an Easter Egg, but it is an absolute delight to see Ben as a European history teacher complaining about coffee. The Bad: I find it hard to believe that Locke's body was carried all the way back to the beach camp to be buried. That seems like a lot of work. Also Locke must have been dead for several days now at least, and his body hasn't been preserved since it came to the island. That body should be rotting a lot more than what is shown. I'm still feeling uncertain about the flash-sideways world. Locke's story was far more interesting and emotionally powerful that Kate's in the last episode, but I still struggle to fully invest in these alternate versions of the characters we already know. And I still can't help but wonder what the point of it all is. The Unknown: So are the candidates the people who are being considered to replace Jacob? How is somebody selected to be the replacement? Who is the little kid that MIB keeps seeing? Is it younger Jacob? What are the rules that are mentioned here? Curiously, this parallels the Ben/Widmore relationship with these mysterious rules. Are these rules somehow connected? What is MIB recruiting for? An army to help him get off the island? Who else will he get to join him? Why is MIB only able to impersonate Locke now? Were his abilities to be other people somehow tied to Jacob? Was MIB Christian this entire time? It sounds like Locke is on good terms with his father in the flash-sideways. What is he going to be like? Will we get to meet him? Best Moment: MIB and Sawyer in the cave. Terry O'Quinn continues to be outstanding, and he once again stole the show in this episode. His performance, combined with big reveals, memorable dialogue, and a huge decision for Sawyer made for a tremendous climax to the episode. The scene starts off mysteriously and builds to huge revelations as we discover that Jacob wrote countless names on the wall, presumably all candidates that he brought to the island. MIB reveals to us exactly what a "candidate" means, and I think this is an excellent choice because it grounds the reveal in reality. Instead of being this huge, mythical moment, MIB points out the absurdity of it all, claiming that Jacob ruined lives by bringing people to the island. It's likely that he's manipulating Sawyer here, but he makes an excellent case, and you can't help but get the feeling that MIB himself has had his life ruined by Jacob, who is presumably the reason that he can't leave the island. The scene has an emotional intensity to it, elevating this big reveal to something more. MIB's list of choices for Sawyer is also excellent, and it builds to a stellar closing scene as Sawyer agrees to help MIB leave the island. The whole sequence is a brilliant piece of drama. Character of the Episode: MIB. Conclusion: This was an excellent hour with excellent performances, big reveals and a lot of well-written scenes. The flash-sideways story still feels a little awkward, but everything else worked really well in this episode. I've got very little to complain about with this one. Score: 72 Summary: In the flash-sideways, Kate escapes in the taxi and abandons Claire after stealing her stuff. After removing her handcuffs, Kate realizes Claire was pregnant, and after feeling bad, she returns to her. Kate helps Claire out and takes her to the hospital when she has a false labour. On the island, Dogen learns what happened to Sayid and runs some tests on him which involve torture. They tell Jack he is sick and tell him to give Sayid a pill. Jack refuses and swallows it himself, but Dogen forces it out of him, revealing that it's poison. He tells him Sayid has been "claimed" and that this will corrupt him. Sawyer leaves the temple, and Kate and Jin go after him with Aldo and Justin. Kate knocks them out and continues on her own. She finds Sawyer at the barracks but isn't able to get much out of him in his grief. Jin heads back to the temple but Aldo and Justin find him. Aldo prepares to kill him but he's shot by Claire.
The Good: This episode had some engaging parts. The temple storyline remains very interesting. The mystery of what happened to Sayid was explored nicely, and I'm glad that Sayid resurrecting was treated like a huge deal. The episode builds up a lot to the Jack/Dogen scene towards the end where Dogen reveals everything he knows about what happened to Sayid, suggesting that we might finally get to see the "sickness" that Rousseau talked about back in "Solitary", one of the show's longest running mysteries. The scenes between Jack and Dogen were also really well done. Dogen was frustrating at first (see: The Bad), but he's growing as a character and the final scenes made him much more interesting than he initially seemed. Jack had a really good episode full of decisions as he debates what to do with the pill. His decision to take it himself to force Dogen's hand was an excellent moment and was suitably dramatic. Sawyer continues to be really compelling. His grief is heartbreaking to see, and the reveal that he planned to marry Juliet was really sad. Kate gets some good scenes too when she realizes how broken Sawyer is and that there's nothing that she can do to help him. I liked the build-up to the Claire reveal. The traps set all over the place built up some interest and the ending scene where she appears and ruthlessly kills Aldo was a huge surprise. Its been a long time since we've seen Claire, and with her apparently having been "claimed", I'm sure that she's going to feel like a very different person now. The cliffhanger works so well because you can't help but get excited to see how Claire has changed. We got some more lovely references in the flash-sideways. Seeing Ethan as the doctor (and using his real last name Goodspeed) was a delight, and we got a terrific line when he tells Claire he doesn't want to unnecessarily stick her with needles if he doesn't have to. The Bad: This episode feels like it is killing time. There isn't much happening here that is compelling, and I found myself wishing that the episode pick up the pace so we could move on to more interesting things. It doesn't help that this is a Kate episode, since Kate has always been one of the least compelling characters on the show. There wasn't anything interesting done with her in the entire episode, and all of the most interesting moments involved Jack or Sawyer instead of her. The vagueness of the others really annoyed me for much of the episode. We should have learned about Sayid's situation very early in the episode, but instead we have to sit through what felt like endless scenes of Dogen and his translator making vague statements about infection and medicine, not explaining important details oto anybody. It's so frustrating because the lack of communication is done for no reason other than to hide details from the viewers, because it makes no sense that Dogen doesn't reveal what he knows to Jack in order to get Jack to trust him. Furthermore, if Jack's group is so important, why doesn't Dogen share what he knows with them so that they understand the situation they are in? It makes no sense that he keeps so much secret. This kind of frustration feels a lot like early season 3, which I thought the writers had learned from. I'm not pleased to see them making the same mistakes again. The flash-sideways story was a nice story of bonding for Kate and Claire but it made no sense. Your telling me that Claire is seriously going to confide in a criminal who hijacked a taxi and threatened her at gunpoint just because she felt lonely? Seriously? Anyone in her shoes would be terrified of Kate! I can't buy into them forming a bond because Claire should be terrified to be with her after what she did at the start of the episode. Furthermore, how is it that nobody called the cops on Kate? Claire didn't call them, and neither did that taxi driver since Kate is miraculously able to keep using that taxi without arousing suspicion. There is so much ridiculousness in this storyline that it becomes impossible to take it seriously. Furthermore, I'm not convinced that this flash-sideways world is any more than just silly Easter eggs and references. There hasn't been anything yet to convince me that this is a story that is worth telling. Some other small things bothered me. It was cool seeing Aldo again but he was so needlessly aggravating in a way that made me not enjoy his presence at all. Jin's choice to return to the temple perplexed me. Sun isn't there! Why wouldn't he want to get away so that he could look for her on his own? You can see the writer's fingerprints all over Jin's decision to go back. There was no logical reason for the character to return, he only did because it was needed for the story. I feel like I've seen Sayid get tortured 100 times in this show. I think it was done to parallel "Solitary" in this episode, but it feels so repetitive since the irony of the torturer being tortured has happened so much now. The Unknown: Why is it so important that the group stays in the temple? Why is it so bad if some of them leave? What is this infection that Sayid has? Is it the same thing that happened to Rousseau's team? How is this going to affect Sayid? Is the person we are seeing even Sayid anymore? How will he change? Apparently the same thing happened to Claire too. How? Do you have to die in order to be "claimed"? Is this MIB's work or is it unrelated? Is there a connection between the two timelines? Kate lingered on Jack for a while as if she knew she remembered him, and Claire's statement that she just knew the baby's name would be Aaron is a little strange. Best Moment: Sawyer talking about Juliet's death on the dock and accepting responsibility for it was really sad. The way that Sawyer has changed throughout the seasons after key moments in his life has been really impressive. He's definitely one of the best written characters on the show. Character of the Episode: Sawyer. Conclusion: This was a weak and frustrating episode in a lot of ways. There were good scenes, but not enough to distract from the fundamental problems. I expect a lot more from "Lost". Score: 53 Summary: In the flash-sideways, Kate escapes from Edward and hijacks a taxi which has Claire sitting in it. The airline loses Jack's coffin and he's upset about that. Jack meets Locke, who lost his box of knives, and offers to give him a consult for his condition. Jin's money gets taken away. On the island, the group goes into the tunnels underneath the temple but are captured by the others. Their leader, Dogen, threatens to kill them but Hurley reveals the guitar case, which has an ankh inside it, carrying a piece of paper. After reading it, Dogen lets them in. He tries to save Sayid using a pool, but it doesn't work and Sayid dies. Hurley reveals that Jacob is dead so the others make preparations and send out a flare. Richard sees the flare and panics. MIB emerges from the statue and knocks out Richard, taking him with him. Jack picks a fight with the others, but they stop when Sayid wakes up.
The Good: I enjoyed much of this episode. It's a lot of table-setting, but it is done well and is very exciting. The intro to the temple was superbly done, and it is a really impressive set. The scenes at the temple were packed with mystery and I'm intrigued by this new group of others. I want to learn more, so the episode did its job of getting me hooked for the season. There was still some emotion here that gave the temple story some heart. Jack and Sawyer's emotional states are being set up well. Jack is wracked with guilt over what he's done, and we can see that the guilt is undoing the transformation he made last season. The episode even parallels Jack trying to save Sayid to Jack trying to save Charlie back in "All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues", making it explicitly clear to us that Jack is returning to his stubborn self in his grief. His faith has been shattered, and I'm interested to see if he finds a way to rediscover it. Sawyer on the other hand is processing his grief normally. He's passed the point where he wants to kill Jack and is accepting what happened. I'm curious to see how Sawyer is able to move forwards without Juliet. Then of course we get to Sayid's revival at the end of the episode. Sayid's death was sad and had some good farewells, but it was a bit flat compared to Juliet's death. Now we get to see why. During a really touching scene as Hurley says farewell to his friend, we get a hint from Miles that maybe something isn't right with Sayid. And the end of the episode gives us the stunning reveal as Sayid comes back to life, wondering what happened. The moment lands really well and it's a great cliff-hanger to take us into the next episode. The story at the statue was kept short but it was consistently interesting. We got a fantastic scene between MIB and Ben (see: Best Moment), and then we get a pretty great moment as MIB takes out a stunned Richard and walks off into the jungle. I'm very excited to see what happens next with MIB and I hope to see more of him in the next episode. I have my criticisms of the flash-sideways (see: The Bad), but there were more fun moments and references in there. I enjoyed seeing Frogurt shouting at Kate, and there was a nice reference to "White Rabbit" when Jack tells Locke "you won't believe me if I told you". The Jack/Locke scene was surprisingly good, and it was nice to see these two interacting as helpful strangers, offering advice to each other about their respective problems. I hope that we see more of these two together in the flash-sideways. The Bad: The flash-sideways world feels strange to me and I'm not yet engaged in the storyline. Last episode worked because it had the emotion of the survivors never actually going to the island and getting to LA X. This episode doesn't have that added emotion, so it relies on us caring about this storyline. And at the moment, I'm not invested in seeing this version of the characters. These aren't the same people I've invested the last 5 seasons in, so I'm not very interested in what happens to them. This is why Kate's escape doesn't work for me, because I'm not invested in her getting away safely. The scenes in the flash-sideways mostly dragged until the really well-written Jack/Locke conversation. Once again, this episode fell into the trap of having too many frustratingly vague statements. Something like the translator claiming that the paper said they have to save Sayid or it would be bad is needlessly frustrating. Just tell us what the paper says! Instead, we apparently learn that Sayid dying would be an apparent calamity, but we have no idea why. It feels like fake stakes, and I'm unable to properly understand what it is that the others are afraid of. These kinds of lines are still very frustrating. The Unknown: What did Juliet mean by "it worked"? Did she see the flash-sideways universe as she died? What was written on the paper inside of the ankh? Why did it convince Dogen not to kill everyone? I presume that the pool was used to heal people, but it doesn't appear to be working anymore. Why? Is it because Jacob died? How did Sayid end up coming back to life? Did the pool actually work or was it something else? Who is Dogen? How connected is he to Jacob and the others? What will we learn about the others in the temple? How different is this group of others from the others that were led by Ben? MIB says to Richard "it's good to see you out of those chains". Does this mean that Richard came to the island on the Black Rock? It seems that these two have met before. When and under what circumstances? Will Kate be able to escape in the flash-sideways? Is Sun able to speak English? What happened to the coffin and Locke's box of knives? Best Moment: MIB's speech to Ben about Locke, tying back to his own motives was superb. I have to keep praising Terry O'Quinn because he has been stellar in this role, and he adds and extra level of engagement to this scene. The dialogue is extremely well written. MIB's analysis of Locke is profoundly sad and it hammers in how awful his death really was. I'm really pleased with how this scene was used to give us a motivation for MIB, proving that he will not be a 2-dimensional villain. He wants to go home, and I'm curious to learn why. The entire scene was just 2 minutes, but it was packed with information and emotion, and I loved every second of it. Character of the Episode: MIB. Conclusion: This episode felt more like moving pieces into place than the last one, but some excellent scenes gave this one some extra weight to it. Overall, this is a very exciting part 2, and I'm interested to see what's to come for the rest of the season. Score: 69 Summary: In flash-sideways, the island is shown to be at the bottom of the ocean. Flight 815 doesn't crash and Desmond is on the plane. Charlie chokes on heroine in the bathroom and Jack saves him, but he is arrested. Meanwhile, Jack's group has traveled back to the present from 1977. Sawyer attacks Jack but stops when he hears Juliet trapped under wreckage. Sawyer goes to get her but she dies. Sayid is going to die too, but Hurley is approached by Jacob's ghost, telling him to take Sayid to the temple. Everyone agrees to go along with it. Bram and his men go inside to find the man in black (MIB) and they learn that Jacob is dead. They try to kill him but MIB is revealed to be the smoke monster and he kills all of them.
The Good: As ever, a new season starts with a shocking and entirely unexpected opening sequence. Following up the explosion with what seems at first like a rewritten timeline (see: The Unknown) was a real shock and I was stunned throughout the entire opening of the episode, wondering what direction the show was going to go in. But more on that alternate reality later. Right after the opening we return to the main island plot and it's clear that we will get continuation of the main island story. Thankfully, the events towards the end of season5 were not rendered meaningless and there is still plenty of story to continue with. The scenes with Jack's group were tremendous. There was a vivid sense of despair and sadness in these scenes as nobody looks happy to be back in the present. Sawyer angrily rages at Jack in a terrific scene, and Jack looks shocked and helpless after realizing that his plan didn't work. There were some other excellent sad moments to follow up on the season 5 finale. Juliet's death was superbly done and Josh Holloway was every bit as good as he was in "The Incident" as he tried everything in his power to save Juliet only to have her die in his arms. It's very tragic. Sayid also gets a terrific moment before falling unconscious, pondering that he will be punished in the afterlife. The episode maintains this dark and depressing aura throughout and it is very effective. The scenes at the statue are extremely tense. We get a huge reveal as we find out that MIB (man in black, it's what I'm going to call "Locke" until we have a name) is actually the smoke monster. This brings up a hell of a lot of questions and connections (see: The Unknown), and it's really fun to think over everything to fully understand the significance of this reveal. On top of that, Ben is put in a really tense spot as he has to hide what he's done from Richard and the others while also fearing what MIB might do with him now that he's got what he needed. Ben is terrified for his life here, and is probably thinking back to how he killed Locke once he was done manipulating him, afraid that MIB will do the same with him. The confrontation between Bram's group and MIB was superbly intense, and the sequence where the smoke monster murders them all was outstanding and filled with suspense. The storyline is helped along by how incredible Terry O'Quinn is at portraying this villain. He's unnervingly terrifying and he steals the show every time he's on screen. It's a terrific performance that makes me really appreciate his versatility as an actor. I really enjoyed the alternate reality scenes in this episode. I'm not entirely sure what's going on (see: The Unknown) but I am enjoying the scenes we are getting. I would presume that this alternate reality is somehow connected to the main storyline in an important way. This storyline is really delightful and is packed with terrific callbacks and references, with minor changes to the characters that make things more interesting. For example, it's really great to see Rose comforting Jack about the turbulence instead of the other way around. There are other similarly delightful moments: Hurley being the luckiest man on Earth, Charlie saying he's supposed to die and even referencing his iconic "terrific" from "Pilot Part 1", Boone saying he'll stick with Locke if the plane ever goes down, Arzt being fascinated by Hurley, Jack being told by Rose he can "let go", Desmond appearing on the plane, etc. All of these moments were really well done, and they make this alternate universe storyline more emotionally satisfying. The ending scenes with everyone arriving in LA X was surprisingly emotional. "Lost" has always been incredible with these departure/arrival scenes, making use of how we care about these characters to make them feel deeply powerful. This one works so well because with everyone arriving at LA X, you understand that in this reality they will not meet and bond with each other like they did on the island, which creates a profoundly sad feeling throughout the scene, a fitting conclusion to what has been a dark and sad episode. The Bad: I am nervous about the alternate universe storyline though. I really hope that it has a major importance to the story or else it might just feel like fanfiction as a sort of "what if" storyline. I'm not a huge fan of that idea because I'm invested in the story of these characters that I've been following since season 1. These alternate reality people are similar, but not the same, and I'm not as invested in them as I am with the characters on the island. I hope that this storyline shows its purpose soon and is used sparingly. If this alternate reality is replacing flashbacks in this last season, I'm not sure that it's a good thing. I have some small nitpicks as usual. Ben should be covered in blood after he killed Jacob, the little splatters on his shirt would not be accurate. Furthermore, even in the dark people will absolutely notice the blood on his shirt and be curious about it. Additionally, I was annoyed that Jin didn't question Hurley asking him about the temple. He just answered the question. There should be no way that Hurley knows this information, and Jin should be far more curious how he obtained the information. The Unknown: Did a new reality just get created by the detonation of the hydrogen bomb? How will this new reality tie into our current reality? What is the blood on Jack's neck? Why is Desmond on Flight 815? Did Locke actually go on the walkabout in this timeline? How and why did everyone get transported back to the present? Was it because they were successful in creating a new timeline? How is Jacob able to appear to Hurley? Is this another one of his abilities? Is he sending Sayid to the temple to be saved in the same way that Ben was in the last season? The reveal that MIB is the smoke monster answers some things but also raises more questions. If he's the smoke monster, does that mean that the vision of Alex that Ben had last season was also orchestrated by him? Does this mean that he's the one who killed Mr. Eko? It seems that MIB can appear as people who have died. Have all of these visions of dead people been MIB? Like Yemi? Christian? Ben's mother in "The Man Behind the Curtain"? Also, why is he unable to cross circles of ash? Is this why there was ash around the cabin? To keep MIB out? What was it that Juliet wanted to tell Sawyer? Best Moment: It's tough to choose. I'll go with Juliet dying in Sawyer's arms for the pure emotional impact, although MIB killing Bram's men is a very close second. Character of the Episode: Sawyer. Conclusion: This was a packed part 1 of a premiere that went at an excellent pace. Season 6 was set up perfectly, but there were also plenty of gripping, intense moments to make this feel like more than just a set-up episode. Score: 75 Summary: Rachel becomes increasingly irritable as her due date is delayed. Monica and Phoebe bet on when Rachel will have her baby. Joey takes Chandler to the premiere of his movie but gets upset when Chandler falls asleep.
The Good: The episode's ending is really good as we get a sweet moment between Ross and Rachel before she gives birth. I thought that the storylines all had pretty funny resolutions. Rachel trying to get Ross to have sex with her was really funny, and there were some really clever jokes that lead up to a great ending gag as Ross exclaims "I'm good!" when the baby immediately starts to come. The final scene with Monica and Phoebe is excellent as Monica tries one final time to win her bet before getting overcome with excitement about Rachel's new baby. Joey forgiving Chandler after seeing how much he has to pay him is a funny resolution to their story. The Bad: Joey and Chandler's story feels like pure fluff and the resolution feels so cheap that the entire story becomes a waste of time. It's especially hard to buy into this story when we have never seen Chandler support Joey in the way that the show describes. This is why it's important that we should see these characters being good friends instead of only seeing the funny moments where they have conflict with each other. Monica and Phoebe betting on Rachel was a typical late-season "Friends" storyline where characters do pretty terrible things for no good reason. Rachel becoming so unreasonably annoying is a poor use of the unpredictable pregnant woman trope and it didn't make me laugh at all. It's especially problematic because much of this episode hinges on erratic Rachel being funny. Best Moment: The final few minutes with Ross and Rachel, particularly Ross' sarcastic comments at how poorly Rachel is doing in trying to get him to have sex. Character of the Episode: Ross. Conclusion: This episode starts off really poorly but it does become something better by the end. Even still, this is still a weak episode of "Friends". With the season finale coming up, hopefully season 8 can end with a bang. Score: 54 |
Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
March 2024
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